Page 33 of The Friendship Fight
“Well, I’d like you to meet my friends.” Raina motioned to Nicole and Jesse. “This is Jesse, and you’ve already met Nicole.”
“Hi.” Tzipora gave them a small wave.
Raina moved forward to give her sister a hug. “Has anything interesting happened lately?”
“Abba’s been having some problems at work. He and Ema haven’t told us anything, but it’s ridiculously easy to eavesdrop on them. Some big-shot’s trying to tear down the hotel, so Abba’s been working overtime to stop him. He’s trying to help the hotelandplan the summer events at the same time, so he’s basically never home.”
Before Raina had a chance to react, a shout came from downstairs. “Kids! Dinner!”
Tzipora jumped off her bed. “Well, wouldn’t want to give the parents more reason to punish me,” she said sarcastically, grabbing a sweatshirt from the closet and pulling it over her head.
Nicole grinned for the first time since arriving at Raina’s house. “I like her.”
“Please don’t corrupt my sister,” Raina said with a sigh. “But if you do, please do it after dinner.”
ChapterEleven
Jesse followed Raina down the stairs, biting his lip. To be honest, he had no idea how this dinner would go. It couldn’t be worse than a dinner at Nicole’s, where everyone sat in complete silence for an hour, or with Zara and Dean’s mom, where each bite was accompanied by a snide comment. But other than that, Jesse had absolutely no idea what to expect.
“Raina!” a tall-ish woman exclaimed once they stepped into the dining room. Raina’s mom set a plate down on the table before handing Tzipora a bunch of napkins. Her hair was covered with a colorful scarf, and her long, navy dress reached her wrists and knees. “And friends. Nicole, we’ve already met, and you must be Jesse.”
Jesse smiled charmingly. “It’s so nice to meet you. Raina speaks very highly of you.”
Normally, he would’ve shaken her hand, but Raina had explained how her parents followed something calledShomer Negiyah—boys and girls didn’t touch, no matter their age. Raina didn’t care about the rule, but she had warned Jesse not to touch herself or Nicole around her parents.
“Of course she does, we raised her properly.”
Standing next to Jesse, Raina shifted uncomfortably. “Um, why don’t we all sit down? Are the boys coming?”
“Yes, they should be inside by now,” Raina’s mom replied. “Tzipora, please go check on your siblings and make sure they didn’t forget to lock the back door. ”
Tzipora disappeared briefly, then returned with two dark haired boys, one a few inches taller than the other. They both wore a small odd-looking black cap and identical scowls.
“Dad said he’ll be out in a minute,” Tzipora reported. “Esti’s with him, probably bothering him. And Ariel and Tal forgot to lock the back door,as usual.”
“My husband is such a busy man,” Raina’s mom said, clearly directing the words to Jesse and Nicole. “He works for a hotel and spends all his spare time trying to help fix their problems.”
“Let’s all sit down,” Raina said for the second time.
She pulled out one of the chairs, motioning for Nicole to be seated. Jesse sat to Nicole’s left, and Raina took the seat next to him, with one of her brothers sitting beside her.
“So are you Ariel or Tal?” Jesse asked, leaning around Raina slightly.
“Ariel. I’m older. I’m the better brother,” the boy replied, his eyes twinkling.
They were the same blue as Raina’s, Jesse noted. The hair color was a stark contrast, but if Jesse looked closely he could spot the facial similarities between the two siblings.
“We’ll be having matzah ball soup first,” Raina’s mom told them. “It’s a traditional Jewish soup that we have on Friday nights and holidays. It’s broth and vegetables—”
“—with a big fluffy ball!” Esti interrupted excitedly. “I want two today, Ema!”
Ariel scoffed. “Don’t be stupid. You have to be ten to have two matzah balls.”
“Ariel!” Raina’s mom scolded. “We do not use that word in this house.”
“Blah blah blah.”
Esti’s lip began to wobble and Tzipora’s chair scraped against the floor as she pushed it back from the table.
