Author's Notes:

Hi there! This is my first time to write a story.. I actually wanted to write a long time ago, but I can never get my thoughts organized! Hopefully, this chapter is organized enough.

Standard disclaimers apply: if you aren't of legal age in the city/state/country where you are, then please don't read further! If you are offended by homosexuality, then please leave. This story will contain male-to-male intimacy and sex, although this will be a "slow" story, read: no sex on every chapter! So if that's what you are looking for, then please go look for another story.

This is my original work. This is also fiction; any resemblance to real life people and situations are purely coincidental. Please respect my rights as an author; don't engage in intellectual piracy.

I would love to hear from you! Comments and suggestions are very much welcome. Criticism will be accepted as well, but please be nice about it :)

I also love editing stories of other authors! If you are a writer and you need an editor/a second pair of eyes to look over your work, I would love to do it! You can reach me at riley.bolt at gmail dot com.

I hope you enjoy this one!

The Exchange Student - Chapter 2

by Riley

"So, where are we off to first?"

We just rode my car, and I'm fumbling for my seatbelt. This is a disaster, I thought to myself. I'm looking like a complete klutz in front of him.

"Uhhh, there really isn't much to see around, if you're hungry, we can go to the mall and look for a place to eat, then you can look at the stores and stuff after if you want."

"I'm not really hungry... Are you?"

"No, I guess not... Let's just walk around then." I replied.

He remained quiet the rest of the way to the mall. I didn't really have a question to ask, so instead, I pointed at him some of the fast food joints we hang out in, some Starbucks, and bookstores.

"Okay, we're almost there."

He didn't reply, so I looked at him, and he looked nervous.

"Are you okay? You haven't talked in a while."

"Yeah... Yeah I am... I guess I'm just thinking how different it is here... Uhh... Ryan?"

"Yeah?" I glanced at him, and he was blushing a bit.

"Do you... wanna go catch a movie?"

I was stunned for a few seconds. Like a date? I thought to myself. "Oh... Sorry, I can't stay late on school nights. Pretty lame huh?"

He seemed disappointed, but then he smiled and said, "Oh okay, no big deal."

What the hell am I doing? He's practically asking me out... I wish. But, being a good 'host' that I am, I suddenly said, "You know what, we don't have that much homework anyway, so yeah, a movie would be great!"

"Really? Won't you get into trouble or anything?" He was smiling really wide now, like he can't contain his excitement.

"Nah, my parents will understand. What movie did you want to see?"

"We can see the new Mission Impossible movie?"

Great, he's straight. What was I thinking? Why do I keep falling for straight guys?

I just smiled and nodded. I was about to reach for the wallet in my pocket, when he grabbed my hand.

"This one's on me, since it was my idea to watch anyway."

"You don't have to do that, it's okay, really."

"How about I pay the movie and you buy the popcorn? We can switch the next time." he said while grinning.

"Okay." Wait a minute. Did he just say, the next time?

"Here," he said, handing me my ticket, with that sexy smile of his.

I bought us our popcorns and sodas, and then we got in. He was seated at my right.

Ten minutes into the movie and I'm cold already. Damn, I forgot my sweater. Sebastian must have noticed, as I was hugging myself and rubbing my arms.

"Are you cold? Do you want my jacket?" He didn't wait for me to answer; he just stripped his jacket off and handed it to me.

"But you'll be cold. I'll try to hold it out." I guess I wasn't doing a good job convincing him, as he took my right hand and put it inside the jacket sleeve. His hands were cold, and it sent shivers to my spine.

"Do you want me to put your other arm in?" He gave me a look that said, I'll do it if you're that stubborn.

I gave him a meek smile and said, "I can do it, thanks."

"And don't worry about me, I'm hot," he said with an evil but playful smile.

I rolled my eyes and laughed, but really I was thinking, yeah you are!

I couldn't concentrate on the movie. His smell is so intoxicating, I wanted to rub his jacket all over me so I can smell him all day. I better stop this train of thought before it becomes hard, so to speak.

Not much else happened during the movie. We chatted occasionally about some of the action sequences.

We got out after the movie, and I returned his jacket to him. "Thanks again for lending it to me."

He just smiled and wore it. "I guess we should go home then, I don't want you to get into trouble with your parents."

"Really, this isn't a big deal. But yeah, let's head home. Where can I drop you off?" I just realized that all this time, I didn't even know where he's staying.

"Oh, you don't have to. I can just take the bus or something."

"Don't be silly, I wouldn't want you to get lost." It was my turn to give him an evil, playful smile.

"Hey, I'm not that naïve you know! I can know my way around new places..." He didn't seem offended though, he knew we were just bantering.

"Where are you staying anyway?"

"In a flat a few blocks away from our school..."

"You would say flat."

"Are you mocking me?" He said with a raised eyebrow. Suddenly he gave me a bear hug from behind, trapping my arms beside me. It was actually a bit painful, but I was more aroused.

"Hey, stop!"

"Then be nice to me." He practically whispered it to my ear. Another shiver up my spine. He released his death grip on me after a few seconds, then gave me a pat at the back. He was smiling.

I was rubbing my arms, because really, it did hurt a bit. But I was smiling at him and laughing. "Really, I'll just drop you off, no big deal."

"Okay, if you insist."

We got into my car and I drove, headed back to our school. "Let me know where to turn and stuff."

Pink's Raise Your Glass started playing on the radio. I didn't realize that I was bopping my head and singing a bit, because Sebastian was staring at me and sniggering.

"What?"

"Nothing... Haha... You're cute... uhhh... when you're singing."

Damn, he keeps sending me these mixed signals, I don't know if he's straight or not. I usually have a pretty good radar, but when I really like a guy, my bias comes in the way. "Make a right turn here."

After a few minutes, we reached his place. I didn't know if his family owned it or he's just renting it; I didn't want to ask because I didn't want to invade his privacy.

"Do you wanna come in for a bit?"

"Uhhh, maybe next time, I really need to go home; I forgot to call my mom," I said as apologetically as I can.

"Okay, cool, I'll hold you to that. Thanks again for showing me around Ryan, I had a great time."

"Yeah? No problem, me too."

"Hey Ryan? Can I have your number? I may need help with homework." He was looking at the ground when he asked me, so I couldn't read him properly. I can't help but feel happy. I was pretty sure he was straight after picking out MI to watch. I was determined to not fall for him, but he's making it hard for me.

I gave him my number, then got in my car. "Well, see you tomorrow!"

"Thanks again Ryan. Have a safe drive!"

--

"Honey, where have you been?"

"Sorry mom, I forgot to call. We have this exchange student, Sebastian. I showed him around town for a bit."

"That's kind of you honey, just don't forget to inform us the next time," my mom said with an understanding smile.

I love my mom a lot. We have an easy relationship. We're not that close, but we make it a point to ask how each other's day went. She works as a dentist so her schedule is pretty loose, unless of course her appointments fall on the same day. My dad's a vice president for an auditing firm, so his schedule is really tight. We actually barely see him. Today, it's just me, my mom, and my younger sister, Angela, at the dining table. My older brother Matthew, or Matt, just started his first year in college.

Matt and I were pretty tight, since we're just two years apart. We used to share a room, before he moved to the dorms. I was really sad when he left, but that's life. He can read me easily, when something's bugging me, or when I'm lonely or bored. I think he even knows that I'm gay, but he never confronted me or asked me. He never asked me if I had a girlfriend or if I were seeing someone. We would just hang out and play PS3 or shoot hoops when we have finished our homeworks.

A few years ago, I caught him jerking off. Back then I didn't know what that was; I guess you could say that I'm a late bloomer. I mean, I knew about sex, but I didn't know about masturbation.

I got home early from school, and I guess he didn't expect anyone to be home at that time, because he didn't lock our door. I could hear loud panting when I was about to open our door. I thought he was hurt or something, so I opened the door quickly, and was shocked to the core, because that's when he started to come! Oh my God, now that I think about it, his face was so fucking hilarious! It was a mix of ecstasy and pure surprise. His face was really red, both from just having an orgasm, and from being caught at a really intense moment.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?" He was still breathing heavily, and trying to cover himself up really quickly. I couldn't tell if he was mad.

"I live here! This is our room! What were you doing?"

"I... Uhhh... Nothing okay? Leave me alone!" How do you explain that to a younger brother? He turned his back to me, wore his boxer shorts and a shirt, then stomped out of the room.

Later in the day, I was finishing up my homework in our room, when he came in.

"Ryan, can we talk?" he said, then sat on his bed.

"Sure... Give me a sec." I finished my homework and packed everything away, then sat on my bed. "What's up?"

"Uhhh... What happened earlier... Can you not tell anybody, please?" He was blushing, but he seemed determined.

"Okay... But what were you doing anyway?"

"You really don't know?"

"No..."

And so he explained it to me. I think that's when I started becoming attracted to guys, not that I can pinpoint a specific point in time I wasn't attracted to Matt or anything. He is handsome, I admit, but I didn't feel anything for him. I love him as a brother, and maybe even a really good friend. We never did it together, like together together. But some nights, when he probably thought I was asleep, I could hear him do it.

A few days after that incident, I asked Luke about it.

"Why? Have you been jerking off Ry?" he said, while giving me his signature wiggling eyebrows and doing jerking off motions.

"NO!" I blushed furiously, because honestly, I have. "I was just curious that's all."

"Yeah, guys do it... Most of the time they do it while watching porn."

"Oh, okay..." That's how close we were, we could talk about jerking off as if it's nothing at all. I wanted to ask if he did it, but I didn't know if it was appropriate to ask that, so I left it at that.

--

I was doing it almost daily after I learned about it, and I started browsing the internet for porn (straight, at that time) too. At this one particular site, there was an ad at the right side; two guys were jerking off side by side. I was intrigued; I didn't know that you could do it with other people. So I clicked it, and that's when I learned about gay sex. Even when I was watching straight porn, I found myself looking more at the guy than at the girl. I knew right then that I was `different.' I was excited and scared.

--

After dinner, I went upstairs to my room and started doing my homework. After about 15 minutes, I received a text message. I thought it was Luke, asking if he could come over and do homework together. He actually lived just a few houses away from ours, so it wasn't unnatural for that to happen. I was surprised when I opened the message and it was Sebastian.

S: Hey Ryan! Thanks again for showing me around! What are you doing now?

R: Hi Sebastian. It was no problem at all, and thanks for the movie and the jacket. Just finishing up my homework... You?

S: Of course you are :-p Just finished mine too, haha. Can we hang out again sometime?

I was about to reply when...

"What's with the goofy face?" Luke just walked in my room, unannounced of course. What was I thinking earlier? He never texted if he could come over anyway, he just did.

"Nothing."

"Who are you texting with?"

"Uhhh, Sebastian."

"Sebastian? Who's Sebastian?"

"The exchange student? Stella and I introduced you to him at lunch today."

"Ohhh right, sorry I forgot, hehe. What are you guys texting about?"

"He just thanked me for showing him around town a bit. We watched Mission Impossible 4."

"WHAT?!" Luke's sudden change of tone caught me off guard. "Dude, we were going to see that together!"

Shit! I totally forgot. We talked about it the previous week. "Oops, sorry Luke, I forgot. I asked him what he wanted to see and he said MI, and I forgot about our plans. Sorry."

"Damn... I really want to see that and Maria doesn't want to..."

"Sorry... I'll watch it with you again if you want."

"Nah, nevermind... I'll just ask Ed." Ed is one of his football buddies. Theodore is his real name, but he'll kill you if you called him that. Ed's a pretty cool guy, definitely not the jock stereotype. I mean, physically he is, but he's as cool and kind as Luke. He hangs out with us during lunch. "So, why were you smiling a goofy smile?"

"I already told you, nothing." Christ, how am I going to explain this? Fortunately, he didn't ask more. He just shrugged his shoulders, then told me about his tryouts. He didn't need to tryout actually, it was just a formality. Luke is a really good player, plus everybody liked him because he's not arrogant like most guys on the team are.

We were just shooting the bull when we my mom's head popped inside my room. "Honey, it's getting late, why don't you get ready for bed? Lucas, are you staying over?"

"Not today mommy, maybe next time," Luke said smiling. We called each other's mother mommy. We were too old for it, but they loved it, so we continued doing it. That's how close we were to each other's family. Luke was an only child, so her mother loved me like her own.

"Okay, good night then! I'm sleeping early today because I have a patient early in the morning."

"Good night mommy. See you tomorrow Ry."

"Bye!"

I got up from my bed to brush my teeth and to pee. And then I remembered, I haven't replied to Sebastian yet. I finished quickly and looked for my phone. I didn't hear that he sent me another text message.

S: I guess you fell asleep... Well, good night then! Sweet dreams! :-)

Shit, day one of meeting Sebastian, and I'm already in danger of falling for him. Hard.

-------------------

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the delay, but I had a family emergency to attend to over the weekend. To make up for it, I made this chapter longer! I hope it's not boring though.

I got many emails for my first chapter, thanks so much everyone! I'm really glad you liked it. I replied to everyone who emailed me, so if you didn't get a reply, you probably mistyped my email address, or maybe I missed it (no unread messages in my inbox though).

I hope chapter 2 lives up to your expectations. If I haven't already said it before, this story is slow paced, but if it's too slow, let me know and I'll see what I can do!

Again, comments/suggestions/criticisms are very much welcome! You can see my email address above. Also, I created a Google group so I can send updates there (not the story itself, but updates as to when I have sent a chapter to Nifty, if a chapter will be delayed, that kind of stuff). The group is http://groups.google.com/group/the-exchange-students. It's public so you can join and leave whenever you want.

I hope you enjoyed chapter 2 as much as I enjoyed writing it!

xoxo,

Riley