Jezebel clucked her tongue as she slowed for the red light. “.” She muttered. “What if we’re late?” She turned to Eli, who sat in the passenger seat and was currently fiddling with the radio. He shrugged.

“If we are, we are. It’s not like we can do anything.” She rolled her eyes.

“Helpful, Ellison, really.”

He smirked. “What I’m here for, baby.”

Kevin grumbled from the backseat, where he’d been relegated. “Would you two stop flirting and concentrate on the damn road. You’re sickening me.”

Jezebel snorted. “Kevin, hon, you know this isn’t flirting. Me and Eli would never work.”

“Aw, honey, you sell yourself too short. I’d definitely do you with those massive of yours.” Eli snickered, spreading his hands apart in a gesture to show how big they were.

She stared at him, pursing her lips. She didn’t mention the fact that he had done her that one time they were drunk in the first year of college. But she knew he was thinking of it, and let go of the steering wheel to flip him the finger. “You. Shh. Let me drive in peace.”

Eli shook his head, laughing as he twisted in his seat to look at Kevin, who was steadfastly watching the road outside and ignoring them. As the car lurched forward when the light turned green, he waved his hand. “Hey, Kevin. Kevin. Hey. Hello?”

“What?” Kevin asked irritably. He’d been told he couldn’t drive (neither Jez nor Eli trusted him with a car after he’d crashed Eli’s beloved truck hours after passing his test) and was grumpy about it.

“So this girl…do we have to take her everywhere with us, or will she be fine on her own?” He was, of course, referring to the exchange student they were en route to picking up. He had agreed to this strange idea of Kevin’s only because the money she paid to come to America and for accommodation would make their rent that much easier to manage. He was a little worried – despite the fact that both he and Kevin were Korean, with Korean parents, they spoke little to no Korean.

“I think we have to be nice to her on her first day, Eli.” Kevin told him, eyebrows drawing in a frown. He ran a hand through his dark hair.

“Yeah, yeah, I know that.” Eli coughed. “I just meant, like for the week or so. I can’t miss work or anything. I need the money.” He pulled a face. His parents weren’t exactly supportive. They’d expected him to do much better in his exams, and considered the fact that he’d barely scraped by with the grades for college as unacceptable, despite the fact he’d tried. Not as hard as they wanted him to, granted, but he had still tried.

“I dunno.” Kevin shrugged. “We’ll see when we get her?”

Jezebel chuckled from the driver’s seat. “Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I intend to be very welcoming to my guy.” She flashed a grin at Eli, before returning her attention back to the road quickly, narrowly missing the curb as she swerved to the left.

“Jez, are you trying to live up to your name?” Kevin asked impertinently. Her eyes narrowed as she gave him a dirty look through the rearview mirror.

“What on earth are you suggesting, Kevin?” She didn’t sound amused. Her name was a sore point with her; she despised the jokes people liked to make about her name being associated with a Biblical harlot. She didn’t sleep around, not really. She’d just had a wild period in the first year.

“Nothing, nothing.” Kevin slunk down in his seat, away from her glare. He hadn’t meant to upset her. There was a strained silence for a few minutes as Jezebel kept on driving, and Kevin attempted to look contrite.

“Turn here.” Eli interrupted lazily. For once, she made the corner smoothly and they were driving into the airport’s vast car-park. “Try and get as close to the entrance as you can.”

“I don’t think I’ll get very close.” She sighed. “Ah well,” she smiled as she paused to let a family drag their cases across the road, “at least Caleb was nice enough to lend us his truck.” She patted the steering wheel, waiting for the family to be gone. “We’d never have fit them and their cases, otherwise.”

“Caleb’s a nice guy.” Kevin agreed. “Always willing to help out.”

Eli merely grunted in answer, having taken to glowering out of the window at passersby as Jez continued her search for a parking spot. He didn’t say anything more as Kevin tried to be helpful and pointed out any empty spaces he could see. They cruised around slowly in their search, much to the chagrin of the man behind them.

When Jez finally found one, it was minutes before they were supposed to meet the two Korean students, and she and Kevin sprinted towards the entrance as Eli ambled behind them. He wasn’t in a rush. They could get there before him, that was fine. Kevin found the professor first; he was an amiable middle aged man who smiled at them gently when they appeared, out of breath, at the agreed meeting point for the hosts.

Eli came in a few minutes later, to find Jez chatting away with the professor, and Kevin looking as if he was about to burst from excitement. A few other students he knew milled around, also waiting for their new roommates.

***

Nara, meanwhile, was sat next to Jaeseop, a fellow exchange student who she knew fairly well from classes and had been making interesting conversation with on the plane. They were literally just touching down, after a relatively uneventful flight. She packed her iPod away into her bag, brushing crumbs off her lap, sending an unsure smile Jaeseop’s way.

“Looks like we’re here.” She told him in Korean. He inclined his head.

“Yeah, finally.” He replied. He rolled his neck, stretching his arms out a little. “That flight felt like it was going to take forever.”

She chuckled. “I think it did take forever. It’s a good job I had my iPod, or I might possibly have died of boredom.” Pulling the zipper of her bag closed, she sighed. “I hope my ears unblock after we get off the plane. I can barely hear you.”

Jaeseop nodded distractedly, a piece of paper lying on his lap. On it, he had the information he received about his host in an email. A picture of a girl with blindingly red hair and a nose stud stared back, the name Jezebel Collins typed underneath it. He half wondered if he’d be able to pronounce her name.

He swallowed, a little nervous. “Nara…” She looked up curiously. “D’you think they’ll be nice, these people we have to stay with?”

A reassuring smile spread across her face. “I’m sure they’ll be fine. And if not, we can always ask to get transferred.” She shrugged. She didn’t know why she was so sure they would get on with their hosts, but she just had a good feeling. Not that she thought relying on ‘good feelings’ was sensible, but they could hardly be axe murderers, right?

“True.” Jaeseop slung his backpack over his shoulders, still holding the papers. He waited as she slid out of her seat, following behind her as they trudged off the plane.

It was bright and sunny outside; so bright in fact, that he had to shade his eyes with his hand. He only hoped that boded well for a good stay.

***

“Where are they?” Kevin grumbled. “We’ve waited ages.”

Eli blinked at him, arms crossed. “Kevin, it’s barely been ten minutes. How have we waited ages?”

“Go away with your logic.” Kevin glared at him. He kind of wanted to cross his arms too, just to look as surly as Eli did, but he knew it wouldn’t work. Eli had much bigger arm muscles than he did, and if there were any hot girls around, he didn’t want to look inadequate.

Jez clucked her tongue. “Children.” She called. “Behave. They’ll be here in a minute, now quit your whining, Kevin.” She rolled her eyes. Sometimes – okay, scratch that, most times – she wondered why she was even friends with the two of them.

“Yes, mommy.” Kevin said acidly. This was not his day. He’d hoped it would be a nice meeting with their exchange student, but as usual, his best friends were belittling him and finding it funny.

Jezebel’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t call me mommy.” She hissed, as people started turning around. A steady stream of passengers were disembarking, complete with tired eyes and heavy bags.

They waited patiently (or, impatiently, in Kevin’s case) as people spilled forward. Jaeseop and Nara were among the crowd, desperately seeking their hosts. Nara sighed, nudging Jaeseop.

“Can you see them?” She muttered, frantically searching through the throng of college-aged kids. None of them looked like the people she was staying with.

“I can see mine.” Jaeseop replied. It was kind of easy to spot his; her bright red hair made her distinctive. “Look, come with me and we’ll ask her if she knows your guys.” He told her. She nodded,  pushing the trolley she had found to contain her bags forward. She really didn’t understand how Jaeseop had managed to get away with only having one.

They tried to shove through as politely as they could, sending a lot of accented ‘excuse me’-s  out, as they neared their target. The woman, who had a cheerful smile, noticed them almost immediately.

“Guys!” She said loudly to the two boys next to her. “It’s them!” Eli turned around.

“Hi.” Jaeseop said nervously. Now he was here, it was scary. He hadn’t been overly concerned before – arrogantly, he had assumed that his English would be enough to get by. But now, when he was stood in front of the girl he would have to spend a year with, her accent unfamiliar and he surge of people around him speaking in rapid English, he was a little frightened. He felt displaced.

Nara had no such compunctions. This was what she had dreamed of for so long – and now, here she was. She was stood on American ground, ready to take on the world. Or, at least, it had that kind of feeling. She fished her own papers out of her carry on, hoping to match the pictures with faces.

And when Eli turned around, she did just that. He raised one eyebrow, then gave her a slow smile. “Kevin.” He said. “I found her.”

It was strange how his words affected her; she had not found anyone quite as attractive at first glance since, well, Kiseop. But she was taken, and it was only a physical attraction, based on a shallow analysis of his features (muscular arms, hawk-like nose, and dark, y eyes). She ignored it, thinking she would tease Kiseop with it later, in their phone conversation.

She didn’t realise that Eli was thinking along similar lines, only he did not factor in a boyfriend.

***

Kevin, she learned, was a year or so younger than Eli. He had pretty, almost feminine sort of a face and liked to argue with Eli. When she tried to say his name correctly and came out with and unsure “Kebin?” his face had fallen, but he had given her a grin and told her “Close enough”.

She liked him. She didn’t find him as attractive as Eli.

It was nice that she and Jaeseop could stick so close together, because the girl he had been assigned lived in the same building as Eli and Kevin, and spent much of her time with them.

“Not all of it.” She had laughed. “I’d go crazy if I did.” This had started another round of bickering between her and Kevin, and Nara had settled back to watch comfortably as Jezebel started the drive home, cases heavy in the boot of the truck.

It felt almost as if she was with her friends back home. Sure, she couldn’t understand a word or two when they talked too fast, and they weren’t her actual friends yet but that didn’t matter. They argued the same way her friends did, and the atmosphere in the car was one of friendship. Besides, she was jetlagged and probably a little out of it; it was likely she was projecting her feelings onto them, but what did it matter?

The drive took a little longer than she had expected, and when they pulled up outside of the towering apartment block, she was half-asleep. Rubbing her eyes, she stumbled out of the car next to Jaeseop, who gave her a lopsided smile and took his case gratefully when Eli unloaded it carefully. Her three cases were soon deposited in front of her, and she could only stare at them blearily.

“Could you – could you help me with them?” She mumbled in just-comprehensible English. Eli gave her a kind smile.

“Of course.” Taking one, he yelled for Kevin, who was currently debating the merits of ordering Chinese or pizza with Jez. “Grab one of her cases, you idiot.”

For once, Kevin did not argue with his friend, and instead took the other, smaller case. He rounded on Nara happily. “So, Chinese or pizza? What’s your choice? Jaeseop voted pizza.” He stumbled a little on Jaeseop.

She went for pizza, and after they had dragged their cases into the lift (thankfully in working order, but Kevin assured them it wouldn’t be soon), dropping them off in their respective homes, they came back to Eli and Kevin’s living room. As they waited for Eli and Jez to return with the food (the pizza place refused to deliver to their flat; Nara decided not to ask why), Kevin gave them the tour. Two bedrooms, one shared by Kevin and Eli, the other vacated by Kevin for Nara, a kitchen, bathroom and living room; Kevin told Jaeseop that Jezebel’s place was nearly exactly the same, just with a lot more glitter.

After that, it was food and then both Nara and Jaeseop were shoved into their respective rooms by an insistent Jezebel to sleep their jetlag off.

Yes, Nara thought, just before she fell asleep, I could be very happy here.