Next Year in Israel (14 page)

“In a few minutes. Save—”

I kicked Mia’s ankle. It could end up a disaster.

Mia’s eyes danced. “He wants you too.”

“Shush,” I repeated.

Ben walked over to us. “What was that?”

Jake waved to me from the steps. I waved back. Waving meant nothing. He waved to everybody.

“We’ll catch up with you later,” I said.

Ben kissed Mia’s forehead, near her eyebrow. “Wait up, Jake.”

“Be a little more obvious,” Mia said.

I needed to take small steps. It was my chance to hang out with the star of my dream, and I couldn’t let it slip away. “I’ll call Avi.” It’d be rude to show up at his house if I was obsessing about Jake.

Mia took her hand out of her pocket. “Here’s my phone.”

I picked up my backpack. “I’ll use mine.”

She giggled. “I’m about to witness something major.”

“Should I do it here?” I said. “Maybe I should call from our room?”

“Now or never.”

We walked down the steps quietly. It wasn’t a dream. It was real. And it was the biggest break of my new life.

“Call his house ‘cause he’s at school.”

That was lame. He wouldn’t answer, and I’d be blowing him off in a message. I might as well text him if I wanted to be a jerk. On the other hand, if I called and spoke with Tova, it might seem less jerky. I dialed Avi’s number shakily.

“Hallo.” It was Tova.

“Hi, Tova. It’s Rebecca. Is Avi there?”

“
Lo
, he’s still at school.”

“Something came up. I won’t be coming to visit tonight.” I couldn’t use a fake excuse.

“Are you sick?”

“Lo.
” I swallowed. “I’ll come next Friday.”

“Good. You have homework?”

“
Ken
,” I said. It was kind of true. “I have a history essay due on Sunday.”

Was I making a stupid decision? Avi had kissed me. I liked him. There was no guarantee anything would happen between Jake and me.

“I look forward to seeing you next Friday. Please tell Avi
shalom
for me.” I hung up before she had a chance to ask me another question.

“I’m glad you’re staying this weekend,” Mia said.

“Me, too.”

~ * * * ~

At lunch, Mia and I sat down five tables behind Ben and Jake. It was close enough for me to see him, but far enough away that he couldn’t hear us.

“He’s walking over,” Mia said as I looked at the piano and pretended not to notice.

I scooted in my chair. I needed to hint but not be lame.

Jake squatted down, so his eyes were at my level. “Need your advice.”

“Fire away.” I smiled.

“Do you think Jordyn would kiss me?”

I bumped the leg of the table. Mia waved to Ben.

Jake’s gaze locked straight onto mine. “What do you think? Would she go for me?”

Jordyn? I didn’t want to hear him talk about her. I wanted him to want me. “She’s not for you.”

“Why not?” Jake glanced at the food cart approaching our table. “Hey, Jordyn. What’s up?”

Jordyn placed a tray of hard-boiled eggs on our table and moved on.

“See?” I jiggled the tray of eggs. “Want one?”

He laughed. “When are you leaving for the weekend?”

Mia kicked me underneath the table. I glanced at her. Did she expect me to blurt out that I changed my plans for him?

“Actually, I’m staying here this weekend.”

He looked at me for a moment. “Cool. See ya.”

He didn’t want me! “Bye.”

Mia watched him sit down with Ben. “He’s totally into you.”

“He asked me about Jordyn.”

“He barely noticed her. Why don’t I tell Ben you want to hook up with him?”

“Bad idea. It’s immature.” I mashed up one of those hard-boiled eggs.

“Don’t worry. He won’t ditch you without a kiss first.”

I scooped a tablespoon of Gevina cheese into my bowl. Gevina tasted like cream cheese and sour cream mixed together.

“Want to wonder
What if
forever?”

Mia was right. Nothing was gonna happen unless I took a chance. It was time for the new me to snatch an adorable boyfriend. “Do it now before I chicken out.”

Mia sauntered over to Ben’s table.

My heart thudded as I chewed my egg salad, and I didn’t dare to turn around. It would have been like watching an overtime shootout in a hockey game. It took her exactly twenty seconds to return.

“What did Ben say?” I had to ask.

“He’ll take care of it.”

I giggled and hoped it would be immediately.

“Ben’s talking to him now. You two would make the cutest couple.” Mia poured me water, lifting the pitcher up and away from my glass in a waterfall effect. “He’s walking toward us; talk about work.”

I exhaled. There wasn’t much to say about being a maid. “Let’s clean the bathroom first today.”

“That would be good,” Mia said.

“It’s full of crap,” I said.

Jake tapped me on the shoulder. “Want to study tonight in your room?”

I missed a breath. Study in my room meant making out. “Sure,” I managed to say.

“Gotta get to the fields. I’ll come by after dinner.”

“Bye.” I wanted to jump up and down. It was gonna happen. Me. Him. Kissing.

“I’ll go to Ben’s room as soon as he shows up,” Mia said on the way to our room. “You may straighten my bed.” Neat me picked up Mia’s clothes that landed everywhere except her cubby. She didn’t mind as long as I left her bed alone.

“Dinner will be awesome. Maybe I’ll wear my black skirt and burgundy sweater.”

Mia kicked a pebble off her fur-lined Croc. She insisted on wearing her Crocs without socks, even though the weather was chilly. “Don’t stay dressed up for him. Be casual.”

“Yeah, I’ll change into jeans. Work’s gonna take forever.” How would I get through it when my dream about Jake was about to come true? We’d be kissing in my room on my bed!

I pranced down our hallway. It was gonna be the best Shabbat.

Mia followed. “You and Jake can double date with Ben and me.”

I slid our door open. All of our clothes were tossed on the floor next to our sheets and blankets. Leah was rummaging through our stuff like the airline security guard who had inspected my luggage. “I found drugs in the other dorm. Those students are going home on the next available flight. Pass me your bookbags.” The purple veins burst from her neck as she searched. “Everyone stays in their rooms after work. No Shabbat dinner. No socializing.”

I squinted at her. The restriction would ruin my plans. I waited for Mia to argue the group punishment was unfair, but she sat down on her bed. Her freckles seemed to turn to an ashy white shade.

“I will be checking on you every hour,” Leah said on her way out of our room. “I’m disappointed in all of you.”

Mia reached for her pillowcase that had been tossed on the floor. It had an ink stain the
kfar
laundry hadn’t been able to get out after her pen had leaked while she had done homework on her pillow. “Who do you think it was?”

“Dunno.”

“Too bad we’re grounded tonight,” Mia said.

I picked up my sheets. “Yeah, no kissing Jake.”

~ * * * ~

“Let’s go find Jake,” Mia said when Leah lifted our restriction the next day. The students who had gotten caught were on their way home.

“How do I look?” I brushed my hair and fake-smiled.

“Fine.”

“I have bags.” I dusted powder under my eyes. I had been up until midnight, upset about Leah’s unfair group punishment. Oh, well. I’d just have to cover up those dark circles.

“He won’t notice.”

“I hope not.” I wondered how long I’d have to wait for the kiss. Would it be there in his dorm? In his room? Would it play out like Mia and Ben’s hookup? Or would we sneak off somewhere by ourselves? The hallway? Outside? Would he suggest studying in my room again? In that case, it could be hours before we kissed. I felt happy as we walked to his dorm. We had been at the
kfar
for two and a half months, and I had already gone from a never-been-kissed dweeb to cool-girl Becca.

We went to Jake’s room first. His bed was made. The sheets and blanket were tucked in tight, and the pillow was in the middle of a perfectly folded sheet. Good. He was a neat freak too. I wondered where he was, but I didn’t say anything. Maybe he was in Ben’s room.

“Have you seen Jake?” Mia asked Ben when we got to his room, which was the next one over.

“He went to the beach. Left an hour ago.” Ben shrugged.

Why’d he go to the beach? Something felt wrong. Like he went so he wouldn’t have to see me.

“I’m going to the bathroom.” Mia read my mind.

“I’ll go with you.” I followed her into the hallway, my heart thudding.

“Jake’s not blowing you off.”

“He is.” He knew I was into him. Why didn’t he tell Ben that he’d see me later? Why did he just leave?”

“He’ll come by later,” Mia said. “He probably didn’t want to smother you by showing up at our room this morning.”

“I have a really bad feeling.” I sounded shaky. I needed to pull myself together. Mia hadn’t seen me upset, and my image would take a beating if she did. Losers cried, like I had at home, and I didn’t want to regress.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“He’s changed his mind,” I said, then bit my tongue.

“Hang out with Ben and me the rest of the day. We’ll listen to music.”

I had to be strong. Ben would tell Jake if I ran to my room in tears. “Okay, for a couple of songs.”

That afternoon, we ran into Jordyn, smoking a cigarette on the grass with her new roommates. “The guys who went to the beach made out with some girls,” she said.

She was talking to me. I felt blood rushing to my face as if I had been slapped.

Jordyn smiled. “I overheard them talking in the bathroom. You’re Jake’s best friend. Can you ask him out for me? ‘Cause I’ve got a crush on him.”

“Shut up,” Mia said. “C’mon.” She led me to our room.

I sat down on my bed. “I can’t go to dinner.”

“Don’t believe her. She’s lying like she did about me. Jake’s a good guy.”

“I’m going to the Deleck.” I couldn’t deal with Jordyn.

“Give him a chance.”

“Why didn’t he invite me to the beach?” Ugh. My wall was crumbling down. Mia knew I was freaking out inside.

~ * * * ~

The situation didn’t improve at the Deleck. As soon as we walked in, I spotted Jake. He was in front of the cash register, standing alone, paying for a sandwich. Mia bit her lip. I immediately turned around to head out the door, but Mia took my arm and pulled me further inside. She obviously wasn’t going to let me run and hide. I tried to pull myself together as she led me to Jake.

“Hi,” I said stiffly, hoping he’d tell me it was a big misunderstanding.

He looked at the counter. “Hey.”

“How was the beach?” Mia said.

He fiddled with his sandwich. “Okay. See ya.”

My eyes watered as he walked away. There
had
been a girl at the beach. A tear slid down my face. I tried to keep my head straight and pretend I wasn’t crying.

“What can I get for you?” the cashier asked.

“Two pita ‘n’chips.” Mia gave me a thin napkin. “Jerk. It means you’re meant to be with Avi.”

I took the napkin and wiped my eye.

~ * * * ~

“Skip school with me today,” I said to Mia the next morning. I could always play sick. I had done it hundreds of times at home. She opened her cubby. “Everybody will know you’re upset. It’ll blow over if you be casual.”

Casual? Jake ditched me, and Jordyn was gonna use it against me. He would ignore me again, and Jordyn would tell him that I cried my eyes out. He might even brag about the other girl loud enough for the entire class to hear. Everybody would be talking about stood-up me.

“I can’t deal,” I said.

“You can’t avoid him.”

She was right. If I managed to avoid him at the dining hall and school, I’d run into him at the Deleck like I had the night before. There was no way out. Eventually, I’d have to go to school, and I would see him. “This sucks.”

At school, I chatted with Mia about our teachers and didn’t say hi to him. He stuck to Ben and didn’t say hi to me like he normally did. In history, I took my seat awkwardly. The classroom felt empty from the vacant desks belonging to the students who had been expelled. Jake sat down next to me and opened his textbook.

Mia kicked me under the desk.

I turned around to her, grateful she was there to talk to. She nodded at me.

“Hey.” I tried to sound natural as I spoke to Jake. It was what Mia would have done.

“Hey,” he said unenthusiastically.

The old me couldn’t come back. The past few months of having friends were the best times I had in years. I had to get back to where I’d been last week. If only I could travel backwards and delete the scene in the dining hall when I thought Jake might think of me as anything other than a friend. He probably set up the date because Mia egged him on. If I hadn’t gotten overly confident about myself, Jake and I would be sitting next to each other laughing about something. We’d be friends, and I’d be having an easy day. I shouldn’t have taken the chance.

Leah paced in front of the blackboard. “Tonight’s homework is a two-page essay on what has affected you the most in Israel. You may start writing it now while I get your quiz together.”

I tore out a piece of paper and looked at Leah’s red lipstick that was smudged on her front tooth as she got out our quiz. I glanced over at Jake. He was staring at Leah. I needed to fix it before it turned into a bigger mess. My heart was already crushed, but my friendship with Jake couldn’t end. It proved that my metamorphosis was
real
. He wouldn’t have talked to a pathetic loser.

Luck was on my side. Jordyn’s head was down on her desk but I knew she was watching me, hoping for another screw-up. I wasn’t foolish. She could pounce any second. One good sign was that Jake hadn’t moved his seat away from me. I had been ditched by enough friends to know that moving a seat away from me meant it was over. Jake had also said hi to me. If he truly wanted to break up our friendship, he’d give me the silent treatment. Maybe he just wanted to forget about what had happened, too? I wrote
Friends?
on my paper.