Next Year in Israel (4 page)

“That’s not even a rashguard,” Jordyn pointed out. “It’s too baggy.”

“Your cheetah print is very vogue.” I pulled my arms through the shirt.

“Thanks,” she said. “Nobody’s going to be wearing a tee shirt.”

“It’s a retro mix-’n’-clash look.” My reasons for wearing the tee shirt were valid. Klutzy me plus a swimming pool equaled a mega disaster. It wouldn’t be pretty if I lost my balance and had a swimsuit malfunction.

Jordyn sucked in her cheeks, making her heart-shaped face look pinched. “Promise me you’ll take off that stupid shirt when we get to the pool.”

I sat down on my bed, unsure what to do. She’d get more annoyed if I kept arguing, and I was already skidding on thin ice with her. Then again, I couldn’t pull off prancing around in a swimsuit as if I didn’t care. My mousy hair, bony shoulders, and nothing-special lips were pretty unremarkable.

And I was just as gross on the inside. Weak. A failure. The victim. Oh, how I wished I was somebody else—somebody pretty and popular.

Jordyn looked away from me. Why was I so lame? She wasn’t being mean. She sounded like she was trying to help. I had to get it together and stay focused.

Mia opened a bottle of suntan oil and squeezed out a line across her collarbone. “I don’t know why I’m bothering. I always burn.” A drop of oil dripped onto her paisley one-piece bandeau. She let the oil sop into her suit and didn’t try to rub it out. Instead, she went for the oil on her collarbone, smearing it across her neck and shoulders.

“I’m fine once I get a base tan,” I said, relieved we weren’t talking about my tee shirt anymore. Mia’s pale complexion was smothered with freckles, and since I had spent most of the summer inside, I was almost as pale as her. Jordyn already had a bronzed lifeguard tan that made her look like she spent all of her time at the beach.

We were the last to arrive at the pool, thanks to Jordyn’s insistence we be fashionably late. The American boys were congregated by the diving board, and as we stepped on the pool deck and positioned ourselves inches from them, I realized Jordyn had been right. There wasn’t another nylon tee shirt in sight. I had to take it off, or I’d come across like a prudish bore. But how could I do it gracefully? With my luck, I’d get my head caught in it and not be able to get it off quickly. If the boys would just turn around and face the pool, I could pull it off without a scene. I dropped my towel on the ground and waited for the right moment.

“Did you girls forget my name?” asked the American guy with black curly hair. He was the same boy who Mia had identified as having stepped on her foot.

My turn to answer. I was standing directly in front of him, and I hadn’t uttered a single word to him or the other boys since we had arrived. “Ben,” I said and wondered if I should try to smile. He wasn’t bad looking—hazel eyes and clear skin, despite a weak chin.

“Cigarette?” He held out the pack.

“I just quit.” What would Mia and Jordyn talk about, in my position? Whatever I said, I had to do it fast. The silence was becoming noticeable.
Let him talk
, I thought. That way, I wouldn’t say anything retarded.

He yelled something in Hebrew across the pool to the gorgeous guy—the one who had talked to us in the dining hall.

“Hottie’s name is Caleb,” Jordyn translated. “They’re talking about their families. Ben’s parents are Israeli and grew up in Caleb’s neighborhood.” Jordyn tapped Ben on the shoulder and said something in Hebrew.

Ben turned toward us. “Sorry. You don’t speak any Hebrew?”

“I’m fluent,” Jordyn said.

“
Lo
.” Step one for me. I hadn’t messed up my answer. I even threw in the Hebrew word Jordyn had used to make fun of me.

The tall guy with straight, sand-colored hair spoke. “Sure ya do. You know
shalom
.”

“Okay,
shalom.
” I tried to remember his name and came up blank. I had met him the day before when Leah had the forty of us Americans introduce ourselves. Whoever he was, he had brown eyes, full lips, and good taste in clothes. His boardshorts were the same sky-blue color as my tee shirt.

He shook his head, passing on Ben’s cigarettes. “I’m Jake, and you are?”

“Jordyn, Rebecca, and Mia,” Mia said.

Jake leaned forward. “Who’s got boyfriends at home?”

My back tensed. The boys at home stayed away from me like poison. If word got around about anyone liking me, that brave soul would have gotten ragged on.

“Wouldn’t you love to know?” Mia asked.

“Hmm. That means you don’t.” Jake kept prying. “You would say his name if you did.”

Mia didn’t miss a beat. “Not necessarily.”

Jordyn blew smoke rings.

“What about you, Rebecca?” Jake asked. “Boyfriend?”

Sweat trickled down my legs. Mia hadn’t answered his question, and making up a phony boyfriend would mean more questions. “Maybe.”

Mia tapped my shoulder and whispered, “What a cutie,” into my ear. I looked down at the concrete. She giggled.

“Talking about me, or the maybe boyfriend?” Jake said.

“No,” I said. “I mean
lo
.”

Jake’s eyes wandered up and down my body. “Are you going to take off your shirt?”

My heart pounded. Did he want me to, or was it a
she’s-ugly
joke? Guys like him didn’t care what a girl like me looked like. Joke or not, I had to take it off. Not doing it would be way too nonconformist. “Maybe.”

Ben lit himself another cigarette.

“Who’s swimming in the races?” Jordyn barked.

“Hey Jordyn, you got a boyfriend?” Jake asked.

“You’re kidding, right? ‘Cause I’m out of your league.”

“Ooh, busted.” Jake winked at us.

“I asked who’s swimming,” Jordyn said. “It’s Americans versus Israelis.”

“I’ll swim,” Jake said.

“Rebecca?” Jordyn prodded.

I couldn’t say no. It would come across anti-team. “I’ll do the team relay.”

“Me too,” Mia volunteered.

I got my shirt off without an incident while Jake and Ben swam in the butterfly race.

When it was time for the relay, I stood in line behind Jordyn and watched the boys on the grass. Ben’s head was cocked toward Caleb as they jabbered in Hebrew. Jake had on mirrored sunglasses, and his head was turned toward the Israeli girls sunbathing. I couldn’t help but smile. Nobody was laughing at me. I was exactly where I wanted to be: hanging out with adorable guys. Safe from being teased like I had been at home.

The whistle blew. Jordyn dived in. She glided underneath the water, and I glanced over my shoulder. My Israeli opponent was chatting with her teammate.

“Go, Jordyn!” I yelled.
Win, win
, I chanted to myself. Jordyn plowed her way in my direction.
You can do it
, I thought. Jordyn was inches from me. I exhaled and jumped in once she touched the wall. When I came up for air, the Israeli girl was an arm’s length ahead of me. As much as I tried to catch up, she beat me. In the end, Mia made up for my loss with her win.

It was clique-divided after the meet was over. The Israelis watched us from their side of the pool. We watched them from our side. “This is lame. I’ll start the party.” Mia toweled off her hair and headed toward their side.

“We beat them.” Ben picked up Jordyn’s pack of cigarettes.

“I knew we would,” Jordyn said, as if we didn’t already know that she loved winning. “We almost lost it.”

My stomach churned into tight circles. I was the only one to lag behind in the race.

Jordyn’s eyes accused me. “You lost your lap.”

My past was cropping up, as if I had
Loser
stamped on my head. Soon, she’d give me a nickname, and I’d be mocked and left out of everything.

Jordyn spoke Hebrew to Ben.

Obviously, I was no match for her. She’d tear me all the way down if I said anything. I looked away, at the Israelis. Caleb stood by the edge of the pool, and Mia was talking to him.

Her hand was an inch from his washboard abs. “In the water.”

“Lo
,” he said.

“Yes,” Mia insisted.

How could she do that? Caleb was the hottest guy there. Mia was borderline chunky, but she acted like she didn’t care about that or what anybody else thought. It was similar to Jordyn’s attitude, but less stuck-up. More down-to-earth.

I could never pull an attitude like that off. Forget about flirting. Heck, I barely got through the
Are-you-gonna-take-off-your-shirt?
conversation.

Ben glanced in Caleb’s direction, and Jordyn looked over her shoulder. Mia put her hands on Caleb’s shoulders and pushed him into the pool. The Israeli girls laughed.

Go Mia. Everybody saw that push. Risky move. Would he be pissed?

Caleb surfaced and said something in Hebrew. She shrugged and made an
oops
face, then jumped in. “English,” he said with a smile.

“Okay. What movies have you seen?” Mia swam around him. He answered her in broken English.

Jordyn rolled her eyes. Talk about being saved. Who cared what Jordyn was saying? Mia was in the pool with Caleb.

Ben walked over to the Israeli girls on the lounge chairs. One of them turned over to talk to him. There was more splashing as others jumped into the water, joining Mia’s party.

“Slut,” Jordyn said as Mia pulled herself out of the pool. And I wondered if Mia had just earned herself a place on Jordyn’s hate list.

Chapter 5

OUR SCHOOL WAS THE THREE-story gray building pictured in the study-abroad brochure, and I was impressed by the palm trees and flowers in the courtyard in front of it until Leah handed us our schedule. Every hour from eight AM until six PM was occupied by school or work. Weekends were limited to Friday afternoon through Saturday night.

“The schedule is kind of heavy,” Mia whispered to me. “What about Sundays?”

“We must work from dusk till dawn,” I said.

Jordyn yawned.

“Girls,” Leah said. “No talking. Two unexcused absences from school or work will result in an airplane ride back home. All grades will be in the same History class. You’ll be assigned your jobs tomorrow.”

The classrooms looked the same as the ones at home, but the biggest difference was the atmosphere. Not all the teachers were organized, and they insisted that we address them by their first names, which felt grown-up, as if we were adults. After our placement tests, Mia and I risked our lives running across the busy two-lane highway to get to the Deleck. Jordyn passed on going with us because we saw Caleb walking to the dining hall with his friends, and she wanted to run into him.

At the Deleck, the line of waiting people spilled out the door. Food was served cafeteria-style from a long counter. I picked up a red tray and glided it along the metal bars designed as a counter. Mia eyed the French fries under the heat lamp. “Jordyn said the fries are good.”

My mouth watered. Those fries were thick and oily.

“What do you want?” asked a twentyish man behind the counter. His English was better than Caleb’s. I sighed in relief that we didn’t have to speak Hebrew.

“Two falafels with hummus, please,” Mia said.

He picked up a piece of steaming pita bread from the oven that looked fresh compared to the packaged kind that I had eaten at home, placed three medium deep-fried falafel balls in it, then added hummus, cucumbers, tomatoes, some French fries, and a dollop of tahini-sesame dressing.

“What’s with fries inside the pita?” I had eaten falafel many times at home and had never seen it served with fries on top.

Mia licked her lips. “It must be Israeli. I’ll take fries in anything.”

“Two Cokes, please.” I handed the cashier a gold coin.

He pulled out two Cokes from the refrigerated case behind him and held out his hand.

I continued to face him like a moron. I would have given him more money if I knew what I owed him.

Someone behind me sighed. Another person muttered under her breath.

“I… I don’t speak Hebrew,” I said. The line had grown by ten customers who were probably cursing me.

An Israeli student in line behind us said, “Two more s
hekels
.”

I pulled out the coins from my pocket. Were they
shekels
or cents? I couldn’t remember if a
shekel
was worth more or less than a dollar.
Give me a minute to convert it in my head
, I wanted to tell them. The cashier swiped the money away as if my hands were deformed. He gave me our sandwiches, wrapped up to go, then handed the Israeli student behind us a Coke.

Back at the
kfar
, we sat on the benches in the school courtyard. I took a bite of my sandwich, and the lemon and garlic in the hummus exploded in my mouth. “Scrumptious,” I said. “A hundred times better than the
kfar
food, even though I was the foreigner who needed help to pay.”

Four Israeli girls walked by. We waved, wanting to start a conversation with them, but they laughed and continued walking. I tapped my foot on the bench. “Somebody teach us Hebrew.”

“We do need to learn Hebrew.” Mia pulled back the wax paper around her sandwich. “It’ll give us clout.”

“Especially with Caleb.” I wanted to know what had happened between them. Mia had left the pool with him, before Jordyn and me. “He’s friendly.”

“He is.” Mia took a bite.

When Jordyn and I got back from the pool, Mia had been on her bed looking through the English-Hebrew Dictionary. She had shrugged her shoulders and given us vague answers about Celeb. I’d imagined that he kissed her in his room after she taught him a new English word.

“He speaks English well,” I probed delicately.

Mia swallowed. “He understands a lot.”

I was on target for getting her to talk, if I could keep my tone neutral. I wiped the corner of my mouth. “He’s cute.”

Mia took another bite but didn’t chew. “I’m sure he wants to hook up.”

“Really.” I smirked.

“Yup,” Mia said. “Sad for him it didn’t happen.”

We cracked up until we got back to our room.

~ * * * ~

Later, there was a knock at our door. “Can I come in?” a deep voice hollered.

Jordyn put her hairbrush on the side of the sink and opened our door. “Yes.”

It was Ben. “I was chosen to be a team leader,” he gloated, making his way into our room.