heard this a million times before.” Mia drummed her fingers on the table. “I’m not living in fear.”
Jake raised his eyebrows at me. I sipped my Coke casually and offered him the can.
“Don’t be dumb,” Ben said. “Terrorists—”
“Oh, just kiss and make up.” Jake took a swig of my soda.
Ben pulled Mia out of her chair and kissed her hand. Mia kissed him back on the lips.
“Get a room,” Jake said.
Ben took his sandwich, and he and Mia walked away. I wondered what to say. Terrorists weren’t on my easy-conversation list. Music had worked with Avi. If I really got desperate, I could talk about Leah.
“I’m calling you Becca,” Jake said.
“No one ever calls me that.” I pictured Derrick calling me Pugly at school.
“Rebecca sounds way uptight. Becca’s more you.”
I wondered what Becca was like. Was she someone Avi had kissed? She definitely wasn’t a loser. She was pretty and had a certain kind of oomph that Jake thought was cool.
“Say Harvard for me,” Jake said. “I know how it sounds. Roll the r off your tongue.”
“I don’t have an accent.” I tossed my empty can into the trash.
Jake walked next to me. “Roll the r off your tongue.”
I didn’t answer him.
“Roll the r off your tongue,” he said again at the school courtyard. “Please. Don’t ya miss hearing everybody speak the Harvard way?”
“Nah.” I said. “You must miss San Diego?”
“Only the mountains and skiing. You ski?”
Skiing had been a disaster the one time I had tried it. After I managed to get off the chair lift, I went out of control, screaming my way down the bunny slope. “Once. I need lessons or something.”
“I’ll show you how it’s done. I’m an excellent teacher. No yelling. The trick is to let your body go.”
I giggled. Like when I kissed Avi.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.” I played along.
“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.
Jake raised his eyebrows at me. I sipped my Coke casually and offered him the can.
“Don’t be dumb,” Ben said. “Terrorists—”
“Oh, just kiss and make up.” Jake took a swig of my soda.
Ben pulled Mia out of her chair and kissed her hand. Mia kissed him back on the lips.
“Get a room,” Jake said.
Ben took his sandwich, and he and Mia walked away. I wondered what to say. Terrorists weren’t on my easy-conversation list. Music had worked with Avi. If I really got desperate, I could talk about Leah.
“I’m calling you Becca,” Jake said.
“No one ever calls me that.” I pictured Derrick calling me Pugly at school.
“Rebecca sounds way uptight. Becca’s more you.”
I wondered what Becca was like. Was she someone Avi had kissed? She definitely wasn’t a loser. She was pretty and had a certain kind of oomph that Jake thought was cool.
“Say Harvard for me,” Jake said. “I know how it sounds. Roll the r off your tongue.”
“I don’t have an accent.” I tossed my empty can into the trash.
Jake walked next to me. “Roll the r off your tongue.”
I didn’t answer him.
“Roll the r off your tongue,” he said again at the school courtyard. “Please. Don’t ya miss hearing everybody speak the Harvard way?”
“Nah.” I said. “You must miss San Diego?”
“Only the mountains and skiing. You ski?”
Skiing had been a disaster the one time I had tried it. After I managed to get off the chair lift, I went out of control, screaming my way down the bunny slope. “Once. I need lessons or something.”
“I’ll show you how it’s done. I’m an excellent teacher. No yelling. The trick is to let your body go.”
I giggled. Like when I kissed Avi.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.” I played along.
“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.
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