Next Year in Israel (18 page)
“When her friends brought up God, I brought up baseball. They’re Padres fans.”
“I couldn’t live with all their rules,” I said. “What about you?”
“Not. Dinner last night was okay, though.”
“Kind of cool.” I thought of how dressing up and good food made it fun. “Leah loved it.” The last person at the bus stop was stepping up to the bus as we jaywalked across the street.
“Run, Becca,” Jake yelled and started to run.
“Wait for us,” I yelled as the bus pulled out. We were so close and kept running. Maybe it’d stop. But the driver continued on, waving to us while the bus speed away.
“Let’s go back to Leah’s,” I wheezed.
“I’ve got a better idea. Let’s take a different bus,” Jake said.
I jerked my head. “We don’t know which one to take.” Other than a few cars, the streets were empty. The neighborhood seemed safe, but it was getting dark outside.
Jake smiled. “Buses and the Orthodox. Sounds like a movie that goes straight to DVD.”
“Not funny.” A torn classified newspaper section blew on my foot. I kicked it away.
“We’ll figure it out. There’s a map in English posted at the stop.” Jake scanned the street. The coast was clear. He stepped into the street, walking close to the curb.
“What’s wrong with going back to Leah’s?” I followed him on the sidewalk.
“Did you really want to stay for
havdalah
?”
“I don’t.”
“Then why did you just say ‘Let’s go back’?” Once he reached the bus stop, he ducked his head to read the schedule.
“Leah wanted us to.”
Jake eyed me over his shoulder. “Want to make her happy? Bet you can’t stand to disappoint anybody.”
My face flushed. Was I that easy to read? “Well, yeah. I like making people happy.”
“There’s another bus that should be here any second.” Jake said. “I got us covered.”
“Cool,” I said. “Crisis solved.”
“It’s like you’re all good,” he said. “Thinking about everybody else first.”
“Don’t be fooled. I’m rotten inside.” I put my backpack down and couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll always remember this weekend.”
There was a guy a few years older than us on the bench, checking his phone. “You two students at Tel Aviv University?”
“We’re high school exchange students,” Jake said.
“You look older. Like it here?” the stranger asked.
“‘Course I love it here,” I said. There was more to it than changing who I used to be. I felt like I belonged, and I hadn’t felt anything close to belonging in years.
“She’s a picky person,” Jake said. “Finds it hard to love anybody.”
“Totally untrue.” I rolled my eyes. “Only those who aren’t mean jerks.”
“I’m meeting my friends at the beach. You want to come?” the stranger asked.
Weren’t there any hermits in Israel? That was cool of him to invite us, but we needed to get to the
kfar
.
“No,” Jake answered. “We have to study for a test.”
“Hebrew?” the stranger asked.
“History,” Jake answered, then started speaking to him in Hebrew.
Show-off. He had to flaunt his Hebrew. At least he wasn’t being a jerk about it.
Should I have let the kiss happen in front of Leah’s? We were getting to know each other better, but it was complicated. If we hooked up, everybody would be talking about it. It’s their second hookup. Are they exclusive? He flirts with everybody. She must be his friend with benefits. She’s not good enough to be his girlfriend.
Jake said, “Becca,” and continued in Hebrew.
“It’s not nice to talk about me when I can’t understand.” I wasn’t gonna fall for him again. The
He-stood-you-up flop
had almost ruined my social life.
“Is she your girlfriend?” The guy asked.
“She wants to be,” Jake said.
I smiled at my backpack on the ground. “I am not his girlfriend. It would ruin my reputation.”
Jake bumped my knee. A shiver went up my spine.
The bus stopped in front of us. “Nice to meet you,” Jake said to our new friend and picked up my backpack. “I’ll carry this.”
“Thanks.” I stepped onto the bus.
Jake took my hand “I’ll get your fare too.”
I squeezed his fingers. He was right; I wanted more than just friendship. Nobody at the
kfar
had to know if we hooked up again. I didn’t have to blab to Mia. He didn’t have to tell Ben or Caleb. It could be our little secret. If there was one thing I was good at, it was secrets. After our first hookup, we had slid right back into the friendship zone. It could be the same if we both kept our mouths shut, and I wouldn’t have to do any damage control.
I could see the
kfar
as the bus slowed down. “That was fast.” I kept my hand in his.
“Want to study for the test?” he said.
I wanted to kiss his fingers one by one. Why deny myself something I wanted? He wanted it too. “Okay.” I picked up my backpack with my free hand and followed him off the bus. On the pavement, he turned around and waited for me. “We can go to my room,” I said as I stepped down onto the ground. “Mia’s always in Ben’s room on Sundays till curfew.”
Jake leaned over and whispered, “Good.” I had a plan for my room. I’d give him a
thank-you
hug when we got there. After all, he went to Leah’s with me. Jake was smart enough to know what the hug meant. He’d hold me tight, and then I’d look up into his eyes, and he’d kiss me. It’d be the same kind of hot kiss we had before.
“Hey Jake, Rebecca.”
We turned around. Mia, Ben, and Jordyn were heading toward us.
Jake let go of my hand.
“How was Leah’s?” Mia asked.
Jake smiled at me. “Fine.”
“Great,” I said.
Jordyn’s eyes narrowed in on me. “How was Shabbat dinner?”
“Fine,” Jake said. “We’ll catch up with you later.”
He was on the same wavelength. Get away from them. Get to my room. Make out.
“Did Leah make you pray all night?” Jordyn asked. “Were the men jerks?”
Since when did Jordyn care about the Orthodox? She had politely turned down Leah’s invitation. “They were on their best behavior for their guests,” I said.
“Ready to convert?” Jordyn asked.
“Nah.” I didn’t know how religious I wanted to be.
Jordyn turned to Jake. “What did Leah’s apartment look like?”
“We’ll tell you later,” I said. “I have to go to the bathroom.”
Mia smiled, obviously not buying my excuse.
“Rebecca wants you, Jake,” Jordyn said. “She’s slobbering.”
I wanted to punch her.
Ben snickered.
“She knows what sexy is,” Jake said.
I shifted my weight.
“We’re going to the Deleck,” Jordyn said. “Want to come with us?”
“Sure,” Jake said, and I wondered what kind of game we were playing.
OUR LAST FIELD TRIP WAS to the Dead Sea, and as we gathered around Chatterbox to listen to his explanation, Ben turned on Mia’s phone and aimed it at the scab on her leg. “Send this picture to your parents.”
“Ouch,” I said. “Your scab’s gonna hurt in that water.” At thirteen hundred feet below sea level, even the air around the Dead Sea smelled salty.
Mia turned her phone off. “They e-mailed me five times a day when I had a cold.”
Jordyn pulled back the top of her Time box. “Cigarette?”
“Thanks.” Ben took the first one from the pack.
She held up the box to me.
“Nah.” I hadn’t used the
I-quit
excuse in weeks. There was no reason to. Either I smoked or I didn’t.
She flipped her hair and held it up to Jake. He smiled at her. “I might for you.”
“They’re on the table.” Jordyn threw Ben her silver lighter. “Take one if you want.”
I took off my capri pants that I was wearing over my bathing suit. Did she have to be so sickening sweet? “I’m going in.”
Jake’s eyes cased my body.
‘Follow me,’ I wanted to say.
“Keep your eyes closed if you go under,” Leah yelled from two picnic tables over. “Don’t swallow any water.”
The coarse sand felt like cat litter beneath my feet. A thick fog on the water floated up toward the cloudy sky. “I think, deep down, Jordyn might be an okay person,” Mia said.
I put my ankle in the cold water, and the salt immediately made it tingle. “Can’t she focus on her new friends and leave us alone?”
“There aren’t many of us left,” Mia said. Since the exodus of homesick students and the drug bust, our program was down to thirty-one students.
“It is kind of impossible to fade into the woodwork here,” I agreed. “Even for me.”
Mia lay face down on top of the water. “I can float on my stomach.”
My hair felt crusty from the water. “I bet I can’t sit down on the bottom.” I flapped my arms and bent my knees out. “Is Jordyn still pouncing on Jake?”
“Can’t see. Ben, get in here,” Mia hollered.
I turned toward the mountains that looked mauve in the early daylight and closed my eyes. If I could only show Jake how I felt. If only I hadn’t spoiled the moment in front of Leah’s apartment, or if he hadn’t stalled when we ran into everybody after our weekend together.
“Splash him when he comes in,” Mia suggested.
I could do that. I’d aim at his chest, being extra careful not to hit his face. Naturally, he’d splash back. Then I’d say that I had something to show him, and we’d swim away. When I stopped swimming, he’d move closer, and I’d give him the most amazing kiss.
Mia tapped my elbow. “You okay?”
“Fine. The mountains are beautiful. There’s nothing like those cliffs at home.”
“Hey, Becca,” Jake said from behind me. He wrapped his arms around my neck and tucked his legs underneath my arms. “Give me a piggyback ride.”
I played along. “Ouch. Get off me. I can’t carry you around.”
“You’re smiling, aren’t you?” he asked.
My back was on fire. If he stayed on for one minute, I could get away from Mia. “Okay,” I said. “I’ll take you on a short ride.”
Jake inched his hands down. “What’d you get on the history test?”
Perfect. He was keeping it going. “Ninety-nine. What’d you get?”
He moved his hand to my belly button. “Ninety-five.”
“I missed one multiple choice question.” I was thrilled by his touch. “The essay saved me.”
“The essay saved me,” he mimicked.
I caught my balance. “One point from a hundred. You have to get off,” I said. I was gonna kiss him when he leaned in and looked into the water.
“You’re getting on my nerves, Becca.”
“What?”
“You heard me,” he said.
What happened to making out? I leaned over, and he let go of me. “You’re bragging about your ninety-nine.”
My grade had nothing to do with us. “I’m not. You asked me what I got.”
The water rippled away from his hands. “Think you’re better than me?”
“I don’t.” I was just playing my role. ‘C’mon,’ I wanted to say. ‘Just kiss me.’
He stepped back.
“Sorry you thought I was bragging.” I hadn’t been bragging, just answering his question.
“Swim closer to the beach.” Chatterbox’s bald head was coming toward us. “Leah and I can’t see you. It’s supposed to rain. Do you want to hike Masada or go back to the
kfar
?”
It took me a moment to figure out what Chatterbox was asking.
We had planned to hike up Masada, to see the fortress ruins that afternoon. It would be a mess to hike in the rain.
“How far up is it?” I asked.
“Far up,” Jake said. “It was on the test.”
“I got it wrong,” I emphasized the
g
in
wrong
. “Is there a cable car that goes to the top?”
“I called. It’s not working today,” Chatterbox said.
“What does everyone else want to do?” I said.
Jake scowled at me.
“It’s a tie. What do you and Jake want to do?”
“Becca wants to go back to the
kfar
,” Jake said before I had a chance to answer.
“Okay. Back to the
kfar.
” Chatterbox walked away.
Jake shook his head. “That’s what you were going to say, right?”
“I guess.” I was still unsure why he was pissed at me. The grade conversation was over.
“You’re lying again,” he said. “Think about what you want.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Mia. You wanted to know how she voted before you answered. You’re, like, her fake sidekick.”
So what if I was aligning myself with Mia? Being her friend had helped me change. I was wickedly more popular than I had been at home, and she was a good role model. I couldn’t stand up to Jordyn. I was lucky Mia was my friend. If she hadn’t been, I wouldn’t be where I was. And there was no way I was slipping back into who I used to be.
“Afraid she’ll unfriend you.”
“Not.” I looked away. Who did he think he was? He had no idea what it was like to be an outsider. “Friends don’t talk to each other this way.”
“I see right through you.”
I wanted to splash his eyes.
IT WAS MY IDEA TO eat at the Deleck on Thanksgiving. I thought it would cheer Mia up. As we sat there and ate, I tried to get her to smile. I waved my pita under her nose. “Tastes almost as good as pumpkin pie.”
She wouldn’t smile. “It’s depressing. Today’s a normal day here.”
It was bizarre to be eating falafel on Thanksgiving. For a moment, I missed home. Not school—I’d never miss that. But my house and my family. Mom at the kitchen counter, still in her bathrobe, dicing onions and celery for her “famous” stuffing. She never got up before eleven AM on Thanksgiving, and lollygagged around the house in her pajamas.
“Do you have Thanksgiving with your mom or dad?” Mia asked.
“Both. I eat with Mom and my cousins on Thursday and go to Dad’s on Friday.”
“Two Thanksgivings,” she said, as if it were a
shekel
she found on the ground.
“Yeah, Dad has a second Thanksgiving. His friends bring their leftovers, so he doesn’t have to cook. Do your parents have a big production?”
“It’s huge. My grandparents, aunts, and uncles come. Aunt Julie helps cook and set up. One year, she left our house in a tizzy before we ate ‘cause Mom wouldn’t let her stuff the turkey.”
“We’ll be home in twenty-one days,” I reminded her. “In time for your brother’s Bar Mitzvah.” Mia had told me about it—the service at their temple, and of course, the rockin’ party her parents had planned afterwards. Lunch and a DJ. Mia said it was the same shindig she had.