Chapter One
I had been on a plane for twelve hours. A nonstop flight from Paris to Seattle. I had a severe case of jet lag and I just wanted to go to sleep. Unfortunately, after I met the family I was going to be spending the next ten months with I had a two hour drive from here to the little town that they live in. I hope my first time in America is worth it.
I piled my black curls up on my head and hoisted my bag up on my shoulder, looking around for my host family. It didn't take long to spot them, there were three of them of them and they were waving their arms and shouting my name. Sort of hard to miss.
"Bonjour!" the women, who I assumed was my host mother, said.
I smiled a little, "Salut. Etes-vous.. I mean, are you Mr and Mrs Connweller ?" I asked, reminding myself to speak English. I wasn't fluent, but I could speak it pretty well. The girl, whose name I was pretty sure was Kim, hadn't looked up from her journal yet.
Mrs. Connweller nodded, "We are. But you can call us Molly and Hank. And you're Elodie Dubois, right?" she asked.
"Yes, it's um nice to meet you."
Mr. Connweller… Hank smiled and held out his hand, "It's nice to meet you to, Elodie. And this young lady is out daughter Kim."
Kim jumped when she heard her name. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. That was rude. That was really rude," she stood up and held out her hand like her dad had done.
"No, no. It's fine."
Molly smiled, "Let's go get your bags, sweetheart." I nodded and we made our way over to the baggage claim. After five minutes of waiting I finally spotted my two lime green bags.
The ride wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Kim turned out to be a pretty great conversationalist. She told me all about the school I would be going to and what all the kids were like. She told me about her house, the room I'd be staying in, and I told her about Paris. What it was like there. I taught her how to say a few words in French, to during the two hours that we were driving.
When we got to the house she brought me up to her room where I would be staying.
"That's your side. You can decorate it anyway you like," she said, indicating to the side with the white twin bed. Her's was blue and was covered in scraps of paper with words scribbled on them and pictures of her and some boy. A very handsome boy who looked like he was into body building.
"Merci. I mean, thank you."
"You're welcome." Kim pulled her hair into a ponytail and climbed into her bed. "'Night. We can talk more in the morning about what's going on."
"Ok. Goodnight." I took a deep breath and climbed into my bed, without bothering to change my clothes. I was so tired.
I was also a little worried about this America thing. This is the first time I've ever been away from home. And I didn't even have my mom to talk to. But the Connwellers seem nice. And I've wanted to come here for years. I need to stop worrying. And I need to go to sleep.
I closed my eyes and started counting sheep. Not that that ever did anything. Suddenly I heard a creak. Like the window being pulled open. I took a deep breath and cracked open my eyes.
Kim was sneaking out the window.
I had to resist the urge to laugh. As rude as it may sound, Kim didn't really look like the sneaking out the window type. But I guess you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. When she had disappeared through her window I was up and peeking out the window. Kim had managed to grab onto the tree, whose branch was right next to the window, and climb down the tree. The bodybuilding boy was waiting at the bottom.
Aw. That's sweet.
He grabbed her hand and… they walked into the woods? I guess he hadn't driven. Maybe there was a short cut in the woods to wherever they were going or something. Either way, I'm way too tired to worry about it. I've barely known the girl a day and I'm already prying into her life. I shook my head and climbed into the bed.
Ten minutes later and I was still awake. I decided it was the fact that I hadn't brushed my teeth or gotten into my pajamas. So I climbed out of bed and changed into my softest, most comfortable pajamas. I brushed my teeth and got into the bed. My bed.
Two hours later and I was out.
I woke up groggy and disoriented. My first thought was Where am I. And then I realized where I was. My new home. I saw Kim asleep in her bed and wondered what when on last night. Never mind, I really did not want to know what went on last night. I walked slowly over to my bag and pulled out my phone, which was unsurprisingly dead.
Oh no. Mom was going to kill me. I swore I'd call her the second I got here. I rummaged around my bag for the charger and quickly plugged it in, staring at it until it lit up. I dialed her number as quick as I could. Since its six here it'll be lunchtime there.
"Maman! C'est Elodie," I whispered into the phone, trying not to wake up Kim. Mom! It's Elodie
I could practically hear her glare, "Vous étiez censé m'appeler il ya des heures!" You were supposed to call hours ago.
"Je sais que maman. J'ai oublié." I know mom. I forgot.
"C'est bien ma chérie. Qu'avez-vous fait en Amérique? " It's alright sweetheart. What have you been doing in America?
"Rien. Je n'ai pas vraiment été en Amérique assez longtemps pour faire quelque chose," Nothing. I haven't really been in America long enough to do anything.
"Oh. Eh bien comment va ta famille d'accueil?" Oh. Well then how's your host family?"
"Ils sont gentils. Ils ont même une fille de mon âge. Ecoute maman, je dois y aller. École commencer bientôt et je dois me préparer. Vous aimer!" They're nice. They even have a daughter that's my age. Listen mom, I've got to go. School starts soon and I've got to get ready. Love you!
"Je t'aime aussi. Au revoir. " Love you to. Goodbye.
The phone clicked off and I set it down on the- my – bedside table. It was nice to be able to talk in French again. It so much less complicated than English…
I stood up and looked over at Kim, who was still sleeping. If I had done my normal wakeup call she wouldn't even still be on the bed. But I couldn't really do my normal wakeup call in someone else's house. I debated waking her up and decided against it. If she wanted to stay out all night with her boyfriend then so be it. Plus I didn't really know her and waking her up would be kind of awkward. I grabbed the clothes I had decided to wear on my first day of school out of my bag and hurried over to the bathroom.
After taking a quick shower and washing the plane off of me I pulled on the shirt- a long sleeved, round neck, loose fit, grey T- the jeans- flare jeans, dark wash with a dirt fade along the front- I put in my earrings- silver hammered hoops- and put on my favorite burnt orange wool blend scarf. In my family, we take fashion a just a little bit seriously. I slipped on my black flats and blow-dried my hair before re-curling it. Although my hair was naturally curly it never really looked the way I wanted it to.
When I got back to the room Kim was up and rubbing her eyes. When she saw me her brown eyes went wide. "Crap. How long have you been up?"
"Half of an hour."
"Ok. Well you look great. Where'd you get that scarf?"
"It was a… gift.."
She grinned, showing off perfect white teeth, "From who? A boyfriend?"
I laughed, "Maybe." It actually was a gift from my old boyfriend. And I know most girlfriends don't keep their ex's gifts, but what was he going to do with Emilio Pucci scarf?
She sat up in her bed and rubbed her arm awkwardly, "Well I um normally just wear sweats and T-shirts to school it is the first day and I was kind of wondering if I could maybe… you know…"
"Borrow something? But of course!"
She looked so relieved I couldn't help but smile, "I know it's kind of weird since we barely know each other-"
"No matter. For the next ten months we're host sisters. Might as well act like them."
She smiled, "Thanks Elodie."
"Call me Ellie. All of my friends do."
Kim nodded, "Ellie. Well, what can I wear?"
I looked her up and down for a second and then moved over to my bag. I had the perfect outfit for her. A J-crew blazer, a solid light pink boat neck, black cotton Capri leggings, long Brewster leather boots, my Mulberry Sofia tote bag, pinch post earrings, and a muted pink scarf with black polka dots and fringed edges. "Try this."
She bit her lip and carefully took it from me, holding it like it was as precious as diamonds. "I- thanks. Are you sure this'll look ok?"
"It'll look great. Can I do your hair?"
She looked at my hair before nodding and heading over to the bathroom. I heard the shower running and made my way downstairs. Mrs. Connweller or Molly was up and darting around the kitchen, cooking bacon, eggs and pancakes somehow all at the same time.
"Mrs. Con- Molly. Do you need any help?" I asked.
She turned and smiled at me, "Don't you look cute! And no, honey, I'm good."
"Ok." I turned and started to walk away, but then I got an idea. "Molly, since you're making breakfast do you think I could make dinner?"
"Oh I wouldn't want to trouble you on your first day."
"No, no it's fine. I want to."
"Well… if you want to. I suppose it would be nice to try a classic French meal."
I grinned, "Thank you," and darted upstairs to find Kim in the outfit I gave her and a rat's nest of wet hair.
"Can I get started?" I asked and she nodded. I quickly got to work on her hair. When I was done she had a perfect milkmaid's braid on her head.
She smiled and turned to look at me, "Thanks Ellie, it looks great."
"Anytime. When does school start and how do we get there?" I asked her.
"Nine and my boyfriend Jared usually drives me. You won't mind riding with us, will you?"
I shook my head, "Of course not."
The next thirty minutes was spent eating breakfast with Molly and Kim. Kim's dad had left early to go to work. Apparently he was a lawyer.
I had just finished cleaning my dish, which I only got away with because Kim's mom had been looking away when I excused myself, when Kim's boyfriend pulled into the driveway. He honked the horn twice and Kim and I grabbed out bags and headed out the door.
The second Kim got in the car Jared leaned over and kissed her. He didn't even notice I was in the car for a few seconds.
"Jared, this is our foreign exchange student Elodie."
He smiled at me, flashing his pearly whites. God, does everyone in this town have perfect teeth? "Nice to meet you Elodie."
"Nice to meet you to. And Ellie's fine."
"She did my hair and let me borrow an outfit. How do I look?" she asked him.
"Gorgeous as always," he said, leaning over and kissing her again.
The whole car ride was full of mushy gushy romance that had me ready to roll down the window and puke. Just because I'm from Paris does not mean I'm a hopeless romantic who likes to hear all about how beautiful Kim's eyes are twenty times. Gag.
School was- well, everyone sort of crowded around me wanting to get a good look at the new girl. The fact that I was French just made it so much worse. If someone asks me to say something in French one more time I'm going to stab them in the eye with my pencil. I was glad, however, that I had Kim to sit with at lunch. She introduced me to her best friend Ruby and a couple other guys who were Jared's friends. Oddly enough, they all looked like they could be brothers. Tall, dark, handsome, and very… muscly. It was weird. But they were all very friendly.
But the food. Oh dear god the food.
Back home we have amazing, mouthwateringly, delicious food. This food made me want to go home and cuddle a bowl of boeuf bourguignon. I resisted the urge to rant about it.
"Hey! Where've you been all day?" one of Jared's friend's asked someone behind me.
I turned around and met the eyes of the hottest guy I've ever seen.
Hello all! This is The Foreign One, the first book in my Imprinted series. I had another book, The Wild One, up but it wasn't working out so I decided to make that one the thirdish book and this one the first. So. I hope you guys like it! What do y'all think of Elodie? Do you know any French customs that I should know about?
ANYWHO Review/Favorite/ Follow. Two little reviews and I'll update. Cross my heart. Also, Elodie's last name is pronounced du-BWAH
~Cecile
Disclaimer- I don't own Twilight and I probably never will.