Three Amazing Exchange Students


I walk into class just as the bell rings. I promptly take my seat, noticing that for the first time all year, there are people occupying the three seats behind me. Curious, I take one more look before Mr. Ellison starts talking. They’re all strange looking boys. One has light blonde hair pulled into a ponytail, with curls at his ears that make him look like a wigged judge, but with a kind face. The youngest looking has a more stern and serious appearance, short dark hair, and is wearing a prestigious looking suit. The last, and oldest looking, has blonde hair as well, but it’s shorter and falls to his shoulders in waves. He has on capris and a ruffled white shirt. They look like they’re ready to go be in some play, but I shrug it off as the class starts discussing “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”

“Now,” says Mr. Ellison, “before we being, I’d like to introduce you to some special students we have here today. Mozart,” The boy with the curly ponytail bows. “Napoleon,” The one with the short dark hair briefly waves. “And Benjamin.” The last boy stands and smiles. “Now one of you will have the chance to escort them to their classes throughout the day. Luckily, Klarissa has the same schedule as them so we will have her do it.” Normally I might have been not as enthusiastic to have three weird looking boys follow me around all day but Mozart? Benjamin? Napoleon? Could they really be…? I pondered this all class period while my three new comrades listened attentively to the class reading, asking many questions about the ‘intriguing manner of speech’ in the book.

The bell rang again before I knew it, and we were off to Spanish. Today we were getting some new vocab words and learning about the verb ser. I kept checking on the three boys, wondering how they were adjusting. Mozart seemed to find no interest in it at all, though he was picking it up well. Benjamin was being very attentive but kept scribbling something on a paper. And Napoleon just kept saying, “Oh this could be helpful! Oh this could be helpful!” After completing a worksheet, I finally got some time to really talk to them.

“So what are your full names?’” I ask.

“Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.”

“Napoleon Bonaparte.”
“Benjamin Franklin.”
Whoa. They really were special. Mozart seemed to know it, but Benjamin and Napoleon had it coming for them.

“What are you doing here?” I almost shouted.

“Examining the music program.” Mozart said.

“Whatever I feel like I wanna do! Gosh!” says Napoleon. Oops wrong story. “On a tour with my father.” replied Napoleon.
“Exploring the different cultures of America.” answered Benjamin.
Yeah, this is going to be an exceptionally different day. The bell rang once more, signaling it was time to go to 3rd hour. After stopping at my locker, we rushed to College Algebra. Mr. Samuelson answered some of our questions from the previous assignment, and then we started on a new one- ‘Functions and their Graphs.’ I looked at Mozart.
“Can’t we turn these odd expressions and funky lines into like notes or something?” he questioned.
“Wait,” said Napoleon, “so if I had an army of x2+31 men and our enemy had a militia of x3-4, who would win?” There was an awkward pause, after which I glanced at Benjamin who was just mumbling and nodding his head. The rest of the period goes by with Benjamin helping Mozart and I with the new assignment, and Napoleon muttering something about France and trying to order us around.

Our next class is Physics; one I’m hoping can be made a little more exciting with the new students. It is a lab day, bound to be interesting. Once we get in there, Napoleon goes crazy with the baking soda and vinegar while Benjamin messes with some wires and takes Ryan’s bifocals from off his face. Mozart goes off in a corner and plays with some triangles that are meant for vibration tests. Soon Napoleon has convinced everyone to join him in making a huge eruption. We all gather around to watch as he combines 5 pounds of baking soda with 2 cups of vinegar. It’s going to be pretty good until Mr. Sanders walks in and tells us we have 2 minutes before the bell rings and we have to clean up the mess. Needless to say, we’re late to our next class, but that doesn’t really matter because it’s Show Choir.
I go to the piano to play the warm-ups for the class but Mozart cuts in front of me. “This is more like it!” he hollers. He sits down and starts to play intricate sonatas, showing up all the piano players who have ever gone through Manti High School. While he is relishing in what is bound to be his favorite class, we all sit back, content to listen. Benjamin is watching intently, appreciating the talent that is being displayed. Napoleon is nestled on two chairs, playing with some toy soldiers he stole out of Nick’s backpack. He doesn’t listen when Mr. Thompson tells us to write a critique on Mozart’s songs. Soon the bell rings, and we hand in our papers and head for lunch.
We get our trays and head for a table. It’s not until after I introduce the three to my friends that they look down at their food. “What is this putrid blob?” inquires Mozart.
“Yes, it looks quite like regurgitated pig slop.” states Napoleon.
Benjamin is just staring at it with a blank look on his face.
“Well that’s called stuffed frank but, you know.” I say.
“No, we don’t know. Do you…eat this??” pipes up Benjamin.
“What about this squishy red stuff? Do we put it on top?” asks Napoleon as he starts to dish out his Jell-O onto his hotdog.
“No! No.” I say. “Believe me that won’t help.”
“Oh.” they all agree in unison.
“And this brown liquid?” asks Mozart. “Is it safe to drink?”
“Yes.” At least I hope…
It doesn’t take long for us to swallow all that we can manage, and then we go dump our trays and start for 6th hour history. We are learning about the late 1700’s. We begin reading about the Second Continental Congress. On July 26, 1775 they established the United States Post Office and named Benjamin Franklin as the first Postmaster General!
“Hey I totally have the same name as some cool guy in history.” says the Benjamin Franklin in our classroom.
Next we read about the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and the ensuing rise and fall of Napoleon’s First French Empire! “Whoa.” says our Napoleon. “This sounds exactly like something I would love to do. Stupid guy, thinking he can come and take what should have been my rightful place in history!” No one knows what to say so we all just work quietly on our worksheet until the bell rings. When it does, we head out for the last class of the day.
We enter seminary and Brother Bond shakes our hands. We sit down and say the scripture and sing a hymn, which Mozart assists on accompanying for us. Throughout the lesson all are attentive, especially Benjamin. He comments frequently and asks many questions, while Mozart asks a few, and Napoleon one or two.
At the end of class we shuffle out quietly, and then pause outside on the sidewalk. Mozart, Napoleon, and Benjamin thank me for the wonderful time. I tell them that I was the one who needed to thank them. I had a great time, and would never forget this day with my three new friends.