Lucy, Chapter One

Carlie had been so excited to meet her very own international exchange student from America, but she wasn’t prepared for this… this boy. Now she has to take Lucas, the big, goofy, annoying American, to her all-girls school and the pandemonium that ensues not only engulfs the entire school, but also turns her world upside down and makes her question if she is the girl she wants to be.

LUCY

Chapter One

Carlie fidgeted nervously as she and her parents waited and watched the monitors that showed the corridor leading from customs and immigration out to the waiting area. It was a futile exercise. She had no idea what Lucy looked like, just a nebulous image of perfect hair and big, straight, white, American teeth.

Her excitement mounted as other families received their exchange students. A new arrival would wander towards the rotary sign and the official representative would check her list and pair them with their new family, checking IDs in a flurry of smiles and back-pats.

There were only a few families left when a tall pale boy with broad shoulders and dark messy hair sauntered towards the group rolling a trolley laden with a suitcase and a broad flat box. Carlie dismissed him quickly and looked back up at the monitors, waiting for Lucy.

“The Weaver family?” The Rotary Exchange official called out.

“Huh?” She swiveled her head around.

The Rotary Exchange lady was standing with the tall pale boy, biting her lower lip and looking around.

“Yes, that’s us,” Carlie’s mum said as she pushed her towards them.

What was happening? Why was that boy smiling at her?

“We are the Weavers,” her mum said to the official. “I am Rachel, this is my husband Paul and our daughter Carlie.”

“Right,” the official smiled broadly. “This is Lucas.”

Lucas turned his big goofy smile on her parents as he stepped forward to shake their hands and then he turned back to her with his hand extended.

She shook her head. “There must be a mistake. We’re waiting for Lucy. Lucy Gray.”

Lucas dropped his hand. “No, it’s Lucas. I’m Lucas Gray.”

“I… I don’t understand,” Carlie stuttered. “We’re expecting a girl.” Her mind flashed back to the official document from Rotary Exchange that clearly listed Lucy’s sex as female and her hobbies as scrap booking, going to the movies and reading Jane Austen novels.

Half of Lucas’ mouth turned up into a crooked smile and he looked down at himself. He held his long arms up for a moment and then let them fall back to his sides.

“I’m pretty sure I’m a guy,” he assessed.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re a guy who likes Jane Austen and scrap booking?”

“Well sure. I think it’s fairly sexist to assume that only girls could enjoy those things.”

His eyes were mocking her with their playfulness and it made her want to scream. This was so far from being fair that it wasn’t funny. She had been wishing for a sister her whole life, and this is what she gets? A… a… boy! A boy who wants nothing more than to tease her?

“Can we swap him?” She asked the Rotary Exchange lady.

“Carlie!” Her mum scolded. “This is not a puppy dog, this is a human being!” Then she turned to the Rotary lady and put on her smooth lawyer’s voice. “I’m sorry, we’re just surprised. We were expecting a girl. It’s just that Carlie goes to an all girls’ school and Lucas would probably have a terrible time there. It might be best if he was matched with a family with a boy.”

The rotary lady sighed. “There’s nothing I can do about it right now. When I get back to the office I can make some phone calls and see if I can arrange something else.”

Her mum smiled the generic smile that meant she was trying to get someone to do something for her. “Thank you so much…” Her eyes flashed down at the lady’s name tag then back to her face. “…Linda. And if you have this problem with a girl, please do keep us in mind. We would love to host a girl, even if she wasn’t the same age as Carlie.”

Carlie pulled her carefully curled hair back into a messy pony tail as she exited the terminal, making a bee line back to her dad’s car through the thick haze of heat that had already descended on the day.

She couldn’t believe this had happened. She knew it was all Lucas’ fault. He had been grinning the whole time, as if this was all a big joke to him. Well, he wasn’t going to find it funny when he was transferred to some awful family that lived in the middle of the boonies. Good riddance!

There was some confusion as her dad tried to figure out what to do with the big cardboard box that wouldn’t fit in the boot of the car.

“It’s my bike,” Lucas said. “We could take it out of the box and put it in the back seat with us.”

That’s how Carlie came to spend the next thirty minutes crammed into the back seat of her dad’s car with an overgrown American buffoon and his bike. The bike seat was so close to her face that she could smell it, a putrid combination of leather, stale sweat and something else, something indescribably repulsive.

She turned her face away in disgust and caught sight of Lucas grinning. He wasn’t making any noise but she could see his shoulders shaking just slightly, as if he was laughing secretly. She glared at him and turned her head the opposite way and looked out the window for the rest of the journey.

He made pleasant conversation with her parents on the trip home. Her mum complained about the terrible roundabout near the airport exit that stopped traffic dead in all directions.

“What sort of genius puts traffic lights on a roundabout? Have you ever seen anything so idiotic? Can you believe that the city actually paid someone to do that?”

Lucas agreed with everything that either of them said and was generally pleasant and polite.

“Look at that!” Her mum said pointing to the enormous red tunnel vent that was so big and such a bright red that it could have been mistaken for a four-year-old’s rendition of a firehouse. “That is supposed to represent a Poinciana tree. Have you ever seen anything more ludicrous in your life? There’s a purple one at the other end of the tunnel that is supposed to represent a Jacaranda. They’re not even native species! What sort of a imbecile is in charge of city planning these days?”

“Yeah, it doesn’t exactly fit in with the surrounding architecture does it?” Lucas encouraged, not that her mum needed much encouraging.

“Do they have anything that ugly in America?” Her dad asked.

“Oh much uglier Mr. Weaver. Much, much uglier.”

“Really?” Her mum’s voice was full of wonder.

When they were finally home, and she was rid of the disgusting bicycle, her parents hovered around irritatingly. They had both planned on going back to work for the rest of the day, but since the unexpected development of Lucas they seemed hesitant. Her mum made sandwiches and Carlie sat at the dining table pretending to read while her parents whispered to each other in the kitchen.

After lunch Lucas asked if they had wireless internet and he produced a laptop computer that he set up a video conference with his parents on. He talked to them at the dining table and their sharp American accents pierced the previously untainted air. He introduced her parents to them and her mom stepped shyly in front of the camera, which was built into the computer.

“Hi.” She gave a small wave. “I’m Rachel, and this is my husband Paul.” She pulled Carlie’s dad in front of the monitor.

“Hello,” he said uncertainly.

“Hi.” A woman’s voice came from the computer. “I’m Maya, Lucas’ mom, and this is his dad Tyler. Is your son there too?”

“Ah… actually we have a daughter.” Her mom motioned for her to join them.

Carlie shook her head.

Her mom’s eyes flared momentarily and Carlie decided it wasn’t worth the argument that would surely ensue. She skulked around the other side of the table and stood with Lucas and her mum and dad in front of the computer.

Lucas’s mum smiled pleasantly at Carlie and then her gaze settled on Lucas. Carlie could sense the hostility radiating from her. Her head cocked just a few millimeters to the side and one eyebrow rose as if she was asking a question that she already knew the answer to.

His dad stood in the background and bit down on his lip to try and conceal the amusement that was plain on his face.

“Well, I’m sure it’s getting late in Denver,” Lucas said.

His mom turned back to her parents and thanked them for looking after him. “We’ll talk again later,” she said to Lucas in a tone that was light enough to pass as casual, but had threatening undertones.

Carlie liked his mum. She hoped he got into all sorts of trouble for this stunt. She hoped he got sent to some god awful family out Woop Woop with one of those annoying little yappy dogs that would wake him up about ten times every night and do a poo in his luggage. That is exactly what he deserved.