The Exchange Student

We could hear the sirens as my dad was speeding away from the bank.  Eventually, the cop cars started disappearing behind us.  I was extremely scared, and I knew how much trouble my whole family would be in if we were caught.  It was my responsibility to keep this a secret from everyone.

That night was two years ago.  My family and I were barely making it with our tiny house, little food, and unemployed parents. My mom and dad had become horrible people.  I’m the oldest daughter of three, so they always expected me to take care of my younger siblings.  If anything happened to them, I”d be in big trouble.  I’d understand them being angry if I let one of them break their arm or something, but one time my six year old brother, Joshua, got a paper cut while drawing a picture and my dad hit me with a belt.  My parents stopped letting me go to school because they thought I was too stupid.  Anytime I was sick, I’d be punished for that as well.  I always made meals, and I had to be very creative because we never had enough food.  I felt like I was carrying our entire family.  I had thought about running away several times, but I knew I’d be leaving my ten year old sister to carry the whole family, and I couldn't do that to her.

One evening, as we say down for supper, my mom said that she and my dad had an announcement.

“It’s obvious that we’ve been struggling with money the past few months,” my mom said.  “Your dad and I have come up with a solution, but we need the three of you to keep it a secret.”  They explained to us that they were planning to rob our local bank, flee across the country and change our names.  It was a sick plan, and I shouted at my parents.  All that did was earn me the belt again.  I begged my parents not to go through with it over the next few days until the big day finally came.  

I was given a small box to keep important stuff in.  My dad said if the plan worked, we could easily replace anything we didn’t bring because we’d be rich.  

I don’t remember much of that day besides my siblings and I crying and hating our parents.  We all walked into the bank fifteen minutes before closing.  We sent Joshua to the workers, pretending to be lost while my dad snuck up on them and attacked all of them.  

Then my mom got the money, and I scooped up Joshua and Bella and ran to the car.  My dad changed our licence plate and we drove off as the police got there.  

That day, my name changed from Anna to Beth.  Joshua became James, and Bella became Hailey. 

That was three years ago.  We live in a huge house in California.  I go to a fancy school and I’m the richest kid there.  It’s finally my senior year of high school, and my family and I are millionaires.  It still bothers me when I think about that night, but my whole family has kind of moved past that.  

My best friend, Alana, always asks where we moved from, but she might figure out our secret if I tell her.  I always just say that I can’t remember.  

I found out this morning that a foreign exchange student is coming to our school for six months, and my principal asked me if my family was willing to have her live at my house, since it's so big and he knew that we'd take good care of her.  I was super excited, and I was hoping that we’d become super good friends.  I told my principal that I’d let him know by Monday, since I was planning on telling my parents over the weekend.

At breakfast on Saturday morning, I sat down with a big smile on my face.

“Well, someone’s excited for breakfast,” my mom said, staring at me.

“No, I actually have some news for you guys,” I said.

“Ooh, did you get a boyfriend?” Hailey asked excitedly.  My brother looking disgusted, looked up at me.

“No, I don’t have a boyfriend,” I said, laughing.  “So, my principal was wondering if we were willing to have a foreign exchange student come live with us for six months.  I thought everyone would be okay with it, so I told him probably, but I’ll let him know Monday.”

“Well, you can tell him no!” my mom said, looking angry.

“Why, mom?” I asked, in a disappointed tone.  “It’ll be fun.  And we have enough money for her---”

“And what if she finds out how we got all the money?” my dad said.  “We won’t be able to hide it for very long.  None of us have birth certificates.  She’s going to want to know where we’re from.  And if she keeps asking about it, Beth might have another one of those anxiety episodes again.  She’ll be too suspicious.”

“It’s called a panic attack, dad,” I said, rolling my eyes.  “And my principal will be even more suspicious than the foreign exchange student if I just suddenly tell him no.”

“She’s right,” Hannah chimed in.  “Beth basically already told him yes and it would be super weird for her to change her answer for no reason.”

We continued to discuss and debate about it all weekend, but by Monday morning, my parents had finally agreed.  It was going to be difficult keeping our secret from the foreign exchange student, but I had confidence that we could do it. 

When I went to school on Monday, I was super excited to get more information about the foreign exchange student.  Right after third hour, the principal came up to me with the biggest grin and handed me a stack of papers that had all of the information about the student.

Her name is Emerly Muller.  She’s my age, so she’s also a senior in high school.  She’s from Berlin, Germany, and she is a very talented volleyball player.  I was so excited to go tell my parents!  The rest of the day went by very fast, and when I got home, I almost forgot to shut the front door because I was so eager to tell my parents. 

“She’s from Germany!” I said, as I ran in the living room.

“Who is?” my mom asked.

“The foreign exchange student!”  I said smiling.  Her name is Emerly, she plays volleyball, and she’s my age.  Isn’t this just amazing?”

“Yes, I’m very excited for you,” my dad said.  “I think you two will become great friends.”  

I was so happy to hear him say that.

“She comes on Friday, so everyone needs to be ready,” I said.

“I hope she’s pretty,” my brother said.  “Then all of my friends will want to come over all the time.” 

We all laughed.

I had been impatient all week, but Friday was finally here!  I got to school an hour early because I was too excited to wait.

“Going to school early isn’t going to make your waiting time shorter,” my dad said on the way to school.

“I know,” I answered.  “I felt like I should anyway.”

When I got to school, I went to the office and I was immediately greeted by the principal.  He let me know that Emerly was on her way, and that she was really excited to meet me.

I waited about twenty minutes, but then, there she was.  The girl that could be my best friend.  The girl that I would be sharing the next six month of my life with.  I excitedly jumped up and walked over to where she was standing.

“Hi! I’m Beth!” I said, holding my hand out for her to shake.  She ignored my hand and immediately went in for a hug.

“Beth!  I’ve been dying to see you, it’s so great to see you in person!” she said happily.

After that very sweet greeting, we spent the day getting to know each other while I showed her around the school.  Her English was amazing, and she was super nice.

After school, my dad picked me up and was the first family member to meet her.  When we got home, my whole family was waiting to meet her.

“Wow, your house is so big.  Your family is sweet.  It’s so perfect here,” Emerly said, looking at me.  “So, where are you guys from?” 

 I could already feel myself getting nervous.

“I don’t like to talk about my past,” I said, looking away from her.

That’s the dumbest thing I could have said.

“What---”

“DINNER!” my mom yelled from downstairs.  

She saved me from that conversation...for now.

We had a big feast for Emerly’s first night.  I ate so much that I was uncomfortable.  Emerly enjoyed it, too.

“So, what is everyone’s name?” Emerly asked.  We went around the table and everything was going fine until my brother, James, almost called himself his old name, Joshua.  He was still learning.

“My name is Josh-James, I mean” he said.

My mom’s face turned red.

“What?” Emerly asked. “Josh?”

Everyone just stared at the floor.

“This family is weird.  What’s going one?” she demanded.

“I told you we couldn’t do this,” my mom said.

Emerly stayed a few more days, but suspicious things kept happening that made her question us.

One night, when I finished brushing my teeth, I found Emerly sitting on my bed.

“Your family has no birth certificates.  No one will tell me where you’re from.  Your brother has two names.  You have random anxiety when we’re talking about how rich your family is.  What is your secret?” she asked seriously.

“I can’t tell you,” I said sternly.

“Then let’s see what the police have to say about that,” she said with a smirk on her face.

I don’t really remember what happened that night, except for the police.  They figured out everything, and we were all arrested.  The last thing I did was look back at Emerly.  She’d ruined our lives but we deserved it.