Next Year in Israel

by Sarah Bridgeton

  “Come on, tell me.”

  “There’s nothing to say.”

  “Why are you here?”

  “Stop with the twenty questions.” I turned to the door of my room. “Room two. My little palace.”

  He followed me inside. “I’m here to pad my college applications. The study abroad experience that will set me apart from everybody else.” No surprise. He probably had a 4.0 and amazing SAT scores in addition to varsity sports. Why not throw another carrot into the mix?

  “I don’t need to pad my grades,” I said. The cover up was getting easier to maintain.

  “Which bed is yours?” he asked.

  I pointed to my bed by the window.

  “Love the screen patch. Whose picture?”

  It was Jordyn’s magazine picture of a model kissing a hot shirtless guy in jeans.

  “Who’s in front of the chair lift?” He pointed to one of the photos above my bed. It was the picture of Mom and me when she had dragged me to a work conference in Vermont because she needed a ski buddy. We were on skis, bundled up in matching snowflake hats.

  “Me and my mom,” I said.

  “See, you like skiing. I’ll teach you how it’s done, along with a bunch of other things.”

  Jake’s intentions were very clear. “What are you talking about?”

  “You know,” he said, walking to the door. “I can tell what you’re thinking.”

  I watched him walk out of my room, speechless, as a thrill shot through my spine and landed in the middle of my heart.

  Chapter 10

  I WAS A GROUCH THE morning we left for our second field trip. Chatterbox stepped onto the bus, thrilled to see us again. “It’s been awhile. Miss me?”

  Nobody answered.

  “This time it’s Haifa and Golan Heights. In Haifa, we will—”

  “Quiet or turn on some music,” Ben shouted from the seat behind Mia and me.

  “Music,” Chatterbox repeated as though it were his idea.

  “It feels empty without them.” Mia referred to the three students who had decided to go home. “They’re missing this trip.”

  “School is too easy.” I laughed. Even a liar like me who was pretending to be an overachiever wouldn’t use that lame excuse to run home. Sure, the kfar had less homework, but that wasn’t the real reason they decided to leave. “It’s the cushy rooms and gourmet food.”

  “They were lucky to escape,” Jordyn said.

  I wasn’t gonna fall down like a domino. Their decision reminded me how much I didn’t want to give up. “Solitary confinement would be worse.”

  Jake walked over to us. “Miss the defectors. We’ll get through their betrayal. Let me hug ya.”

  “It’s not all about you,” Jordyn said.

  I thought of my bedroom at home. I had an extra plush mattress and my own bathroom. “I miss my bedroom and bathtub.”

  “I miss my friends,” Mia whined.

  “You told me they’re boring,” I reminded her.

  “If I were at home, I’d be at a yearbook committee meeting,” Mia said.

  I closed my eyes again. If I was at home, I would have been alone in my room studying or watching TV. “I’m tired. Be quiet.”

  Jake pulled my hair. “What was that?”

  My heart bounced. I hadn’t been able to fall asleep after he left my room the night before. He could get any girl. Why me?

  “Nothing,” I said.

  “What’d you say?” he said.

  The bus horn honked. “Does anyone have an aspirin?” I asked loudly. “I have a headache.”

  Jake walked up to Jordyn’s seat. “No tight tank tops or short shorts for the religious sites.”

  “Shut up.” Jordyn adjusted the strings holding up her bikini top. “I’ll cover up when we get there.”

  “Tight and see-through, I hope,” Jake said.

  Mia handed me two aspirin. “He likes a good-girl challenge.”

  “We’re blowing off his flirty talk,” I reminded her.

  “That’s over. I’ve got Ben.”

  “I’m into Avi.”

  “Sure.” Mia stepped over my feet and sat down with Ben.

  There were several Avi questions floating around. Was the kiss a one-time thing? Would he become my boyfriend? Avi was cool—a safe hookup. There would be less embarrassment if I messed up the relationship. Jake wasn’t as safe. Any mess-ups would be talked about by everybody at the kfar. Why jeopardize my reputation? Mia had made her entrance, and I was progressing. I had Mia for a friend, Jordyn was focused on Caleb, and Jake was nothing but a friend, a guy who flirted with everybody. Taking him seriously was plain stupid.

  As we pulled into our first stop, my headache went away. Outside, I smelled salt water. We followed Chatterbox to the foot of a hill covered with evergreen trees. “That’s the Baha’i Shrine and Gardens. The gold-dome building is a combination of eastern and western architecture.”

  The off-white marble lines detailing the dome made it look like a golden upside-down cake that had a point in the middle. Huge columns held up the dome on top of the white square building. After climbing millions of steps to the entrance, the view of ships sailing and ivory buildings dotting the surrounding hills was postcard-perfect.

  “The Baha’i built their religion based on the unity of all world religions,” Chatterbox explained.

  “We know this already,” Ben said.

  “Take off your shoes,” Chatterbox ordered and spoke in Hebrew to Leah.

  Mia turned on her phone and typed her parents a message that we were on our way to see the Baha’i shrine. “I like that they think all the major world religions represent one changeless and eternal belief of God,” she said as she sent the message.

  “You sound like a textbook,” I couldn’t help but point out.

  “That’s me.” She raised her hand. “Call on me, teacher. I know the answer.”

  “My parents used to live here in Haifa,” Ben said. “This is the best city. It’s just like San Francisco.”

  “Caleb told me buses and restaurants don’t close for Shabbat,” Jordyn said, bragging about her inside source.

  Chatterbox removed his black leather sandals. “We’ll see the visitation room of the complex where the Baha’i leader is buried. No talking or taking pictures.”

  Ben smirked at Chatterbox’s rule.

  The white walls inside the gold dome looked washed out in contrast to the Persian carpets lining the floor. We walked up to a threshold strewn with red rose petals. A translucent curtain hanging from the threshold blocked our entry into the restricted tomb area. Through the curtain, I saw a crystal ceiling chandelier, vases of white roses, and two burning candelabras. The casket was placed out of sight, making the area look like a funeral parlor. While Mia watched the candles, I wondered how realistic it was to combine all religions into one. Would religious wars stop?

  Outside the Dome, lavish gardens of manicured evergreen and palm trees dripped with beauty. Flowers in every imaginable color lined the trees and walkways, uplifting the grounds into another notch of perfection. For lunch, we ate at a falafel stand a step above the Deleck. And I wasn’t sick of eating falafel—I stuffed my pita with couscous and olives from the topping bar, ate it from the top down, and reloaded more toppings until there was nothing left to eat.

  After lunch, we drove to another hiking trail. While we waited on the wheat-colored grass for Chatterbox to get off the bus, Jake stepped on my foot. “No hiking shoes?”

  I moved my foot away. “Left them at home. Are my feet gonna be sorry?”

  Chatterbox lit a cigarette. “This is the ancient city of—”

  “Better mood?” Jake whispered.

  “Maybe.”

  “I’ll go in front,” Chatterbox said.

  Mia and I walked at the end of the line.

  “Are your parents divorced or married?” Jake asked as we started down the hill.

  “What?” I didn’t get why he was probing for information on me.


  “I’m taking a poll to see how many of us come from messed-up families.”

  “You mean dysfunctional,” Mia said. “There’s dysfunction in everybody’s family.”

  “Divorced,” he answered for her.

  “My parents have been married for twenty years,” Mia corrected him.

  “What about you, Miss No Hiking Boots? Divorced or married?”

  “Divorced. Yours?”

  “Married for fifteen years.”

  “Aren’t you seventeen?”

  “He’s my real dad. One divorce, two marrieds.” He moved up the line.

  I laughed.

  “How can you laugh about it?” Mia asked. “I’m scared. My fear of heights is coming back.”

  “I’m laughing at Jake, not the divorce. Follow me around the steep areas.”

  “Do your parents still fight?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “In eighth grade, Mom and Dad had a court battle over child support.” I kept the rest to myself. Mom had decided I shouldn’t see Dad until the case was settled. Dad, displeased, showed up at school one day. I’d thought he might’ve been there to talk to the principal about my nickname. But Dad took me out for lunch, and at McDonald’s he relentlessly talked about the court case.

  Mia stopped walking. “I’m losing my balance.”

  “Keep going,” I said. The gaps between our feet and the ground got steeper as we descended onto another plateau. I inhaled deeply. My body felt lighter.

  Mia’s hands trembled. “That’s sad they still fight.”

  “It is,” I said. Too bad I couldn’t do anything about it. They were my parents. “Hey, do you hear water?”

  We both stopped and looked around us. A spectacular waterfall fell from the ledge above into a pool of water below, and we stood by a trail of rocks that led to the bottom of it.

  “Careful here.” Chatterbox jumped onto the first rock. “It’s slippery. Ben goes first.”

  Ben followed him, hopping onto the rock. He didn’t stop before continuing down the rest of the path. Once he was at the bottom, he put his hand in the water. “Fucking freezing.”

  “Watch your language,” Chatterbox yelled. “Get back on the rock below me and help everyone.”

  Jordyn laughed. “Did Ben just drop the F-bomb in front of Leah?”

  “When it’s our turn, you go first,” I told Mia as Jake started down.

  “No, you go first, and I’ll go last,” Mia said.

  “If I go first, you’ll have to look down to talk to me.” I thought it would scare her to look down.

  Jake jumped to Chatterbox’s rock. “Need extra help?” I heard him say.

  “Get into the water and make sure no one swims into each other,” Chatterbox said.

  Once Jake was on the bottom rock, he took off his tee shirt and dove right in.

  “Jordyn, you’re next,” Chatterbox said.

  Jordyn jumped to him, unafraid of losing her balance.

  “I don’t think I can do this,” Mia said. “I’ll slip and crash.”

  I couldn’t let Mia give up. She’d regret being the one who chickened out. “Don’t jump; climb down backwards like you’re using a pool ladder. You won’t fall that way.”

  “Mia, go,” Leah said.

  Mia squatted down, putting her hands on the ledge where we were and turned around backwards. “Are you the camping-type at home?”

  “Nah,” I said, relieved she was trying to distract herself. “I’m a nice hotel kind of girl.”

  She was too scared to laugh, and she continued down, one step at a time. Once she got to Chatterbox’s rock, she let out a big sigh, aware that everybody was watching her.

  “Turn around and grab my hand,” Ben said to her.

  She turned around, and reached for his hand.

  Leah tapped on my shoulder. “Rebecca, your turn.”

  Adrenaline pumped through my body as I made my way down to Chatterbox using Mia’s crawl-down method. I wasn’t scared of heights. I just didn’t want to fall in front of everybody. Once I reached Chatterbox, I turned to face Ben.

  Ben held out his hand, and I leapt into the air toward him. He caught my hand mid-air, and when I landed, I immediately let go of him and went on.

  By the time everybody else got down, we were all swimming, except for Leah who had decided to sit on the rock where we had piled our clothes and shoes.

  “Want to jump?” I asked Mia, pointing to the different path that led to the waterfall. “It’s only ten feet.”

  “No.”

  “How about from the halfway point? It’s like jumping into the deep end of a pool.”

  Ben waved from the top rock, which he had climbed to. “Wahoo,” he yelled mid-air before plunging in the water.

  “We’ll jump together,” I suggested.

  “I don’t know,” Mia said.

  “Follow me.” I said.

  “Oh, all right. I trust you.”

  I climbed up rocks, noticing the one I was on was covered in moss. “Watch out for the moss,” I said. “It feels like slime.”

  “Gross,” Mia said through clenched teeth.

  I figured her one-word answer was my cue to be quiet. She was lagging behind me, but she hadn’t stopped or complained. So I continued on slowly until I reached the midpoint and waited for her.

  “I can’t believe you made me do this,” she said once she caught up to me.

  “Me, either. Look.” We edged back, behind the waterfall, and watched the scene below us. Ben and Jordyn were taking turns sticking their heads in front of the waterfall. Jake was climbing up the rocks toward us. Leah was guarding our clothes and Chatterbox’s gun, which he had placed next to her for safeguarding, and Chatterbox was swimming toward the middle of the pool.

  Chatterbox looked up. “It’s safe to jump.”

  Mia and I stepped forward, through the waterfall, which felt like a cold shower. Her hand held mine tightly. I smiled. “One, two, three—”

  She closed her eyes, and I laughed as we took off.

  Chapter 11

  “WAKE UP, LOVES. BREAKFAST AND school,” Leah yelled into our room as the alarm clock beeped. I was already awake, but Mia and Jordyn hadn’t budged.

  “Okay.” I wondered why Jordyn wasn’t up.

  “Five more minutes,” Jordyn peeped.

  I closed my eyes again, snuggled under my wool blanket, and drifted back to sleep. When the alarm clock went off again, I hit the snooze button for another fifteen minutes. My bed squeaked when I finally pulled myself up. Jordyn’s eyes were open, staring at the ceiling. Usually, she was blow-drying her hair by the second snooze. “Are you okay?”

  “Caleb broke up with me.” That explained why she had been quiet after Leah had ushered her in at curfew the night before.

  “Why?”

  “He wants to date other girls.”

  “I’m sorry.” I wanted to heal her broken heart and wondered if I should say something else to cheer her up.

  “I think he was cheating on me.” She lowered her voice. “Do you notice how Mia flirts with him?”

  I looked over at Mia’s closed eyes and open mouth. Except for pushing him into the pool, she had ignored him until Ben had become her boyfriend. She still didn’t talk to him much. “She’s with Ben.”

  “Doesn’t mean she isn’t trying to get Caleb. He’s better-looking than Ben.”

  “She likes Ben for his personality.” She obviously chose him for his status, but it seemed as if they enjoyed being around each other. She thought he was funny.

  Mia’s nose snorted. “I’m up. What are you two talking about?”

  “I broke up with Caleb,” Jordyn said. “I want to be with other guys.”

  I picked up Mia’s toothpaste apprehensively. An upset Jordyn wasn’t good. Bad things would happen. “We’re late,” I said.

  “I hate chemistry.” Mia pushed off her blanket. “We’re already late. Might as well ditch.”

  “I’m the queen of skipping school,” I
boasted. I was finally telling the truth.

  “I’ve only skipped school twice at home,” Mia said. “How often did you do it?”

  “The last Thursday of the month, as long as there wasn’t a test.” It was the only way to get out of the place I hated most, and it had been easy with Mom at work.

  “You never got caught?” Mia sounded like she didn’t believe me.

  “I almost did once. Mom came home from work early. I told her it was a teacher workday. She never checked. What’s our excuse for skipping chemistry?” I grinned.

  “I slipped in the shower and hurt my ankle,” Mia said. “You and Jordyn helped me get dressed. Jordyn can carry my books. I’ll fake a limp.”

  Jordyn sat up. “Leah’s not going to buy it.”

  “She will. I’m a great actress.”

  “Then Rebecca carries your books,” Jordyn said.

  “Okay,” I agreed. It wasn’t below me. Nor was using an excuse. But after we got dressed and walked to school, I felt increasingly nervous about Mia’s plan. Faking a limp was more complicated than it had to be. Mia would have to hobble around for a few weeks. Couldn’t she say she had a headache? Then again, that wouldn’t let Jordyn and me off the hook. This way we wouldn’t get in trouble as long as Mia pulled it off.

  While we crossed the school courtyard, Mia complained about always being cast in supporting roles for school plays at home. Jordyn, clearly irritated, wrinkled her nose and changed the subject to Caleb. My nervousness eased up a bit. Mia wasn’t going to flub it. Limping would be her well-deserved acting role.

  At school, Mia didn’t hesitate as she knocked on Leah’s door. “Stop smirking,” Jordyn whispered to me while we waited for Leah. I heard Leah’s office desk chair scoot from the other side. A moment later, Leah opened her door. “Girls. Lovely for you to join us.”

  “I slipped and hurt my ankle in the shower,” Mia said.

  I looked at the English books in Leah’s bookcase to distract myself from laughing. Most of Leah’s books had the word Jewish in the title. Jordyn took a deep breath, and because she was congested, she sniffled. I turned my attention away from Leah’s furniture. The fact that I was looking away made it obvious I was trying to hide something. Whenever I lied to Mia, I always tried to look her in the eye.