"I'll think about it," she says, then tosses her hair to the side and leaves me standing alone as she walks inside the barracks. No smile. No forgiveness. No bear hug.
Whoa. I just got a dose of Miranda the Diva dissing me.
Chapter 13
There's a point in time when even the strongest person cracks underpressure.
The next morning our unit marches across the large courtyard and doesn't stop until we get to what's obviously an obstacle course. There's no doubt in my mind that this will be a challenge for me.
"We'll be testing your strength and stamina," Sergeant B-S says to us. "This course should be completed in less than three minutes."
I tell myself not to look over at Avi, but as usual I have a serious lack of self-control. My gaze wanders to him and I find him looking straight at me. So now our eyes are locked. My insides are melting, but I'm still angry and hurt. Even though it's scorching hot outside and I can feel the sweat running down my back and in between my boobs, a chill runs down my spine.
Sergeant B-S orders Nimrod and Avi to stand at the start of the obstacle course. Both get ready to race. "When the sergeant blows his whistle, they take off faster than Mutt when he spots a new dog at the dog park.
I watch Avi whiz through the course as if he's been doing this his entire life. I can't help but admire the muscles that bulge from his arms as he jumps to the monkey bars and grabs the first bar, then skips two bars at a time until he's done. Then he crosses the balance beam.
When he gets to the high rope, he uses his thigh muscles and arms to pull himself to the top, rings the bell, then grabs a handle that brings him down to the ground. Nimrod is right behind him. At the half wall they're neck and neck.
I'm holding my breath, wondering who will win. They reach the part of the course where you duck low under a set of entwined ropes. Avi gains a little ground as he slithers on the ground, not hesitating one iota.
In the end, Avi is the one who crosses the line first. Nimrod is close behind him. Both are breathing heavily as Sergeant B-S tells us that Avi clocked in at thirty-eight seconds and Nimrod at forty-one.
Liron and Ronit line up next. When Sergeant B-S signals them to go, Liron blows Ronit away as she effortlessly does each obstacle. Ugh, no wonder Avi is attracted to her; not only is she pretty, but she can scale walls and shimmy up ropes. It's probably more impressive than being double-jointed. Liron clocks in at one minute one second while Ronit lags behind, finishing at one minute thirty seconds.
"Get in the same groups you were in yesterday," Sergeant B-S calls out.
I try to act cool as I walk over to Avi. Unfortunately, I'm not paying attention and trip over something or someone. Oops, it's Tori... I've stepped on the back of her foot again and her shoe came off.
"Ouch!" Tori yells out. "That's the second time you've done that, you spaz."
"Well maybe if you walked faster I wouldn't step on you.
Nathan grabs my shoulders. "Stop getting in fights with Tori," he says as he steers me away from her.
"She's rude."
"She's hot."
"So am I," I say as I wipe away another sweat drop that's falling down my forehead.
"I didn't mean hot as in sweaty. I mean hot as in--"
"I know what you meant," I say, cutting him off. Seriously, ever since Nathan finally stopped being obsessed with Bicky, he's been acting like a Bachelor reality show contestant. Since our third kiss and his breakup, he's gone out with more girls than I can count on two hands. And it doesn't help that he's been lead singer for Lickity Split, because lately he's been taking his groupies backstage and making out with them. He hasn't gone out with anyone twice yet. It's like he wants to make sure he doesn't get involved so there's no repeat of what he went through with Bicky. I wonder why the change in tactic since he met Tori.
I grab Nathan's hand while we wait for our other team members to assemble. Nathan pulls his hand loose, but I know Avis watching so I grab his hand again and squeeze my nails into his skin as a warning not to snatch it back.
Avi growls, "Wait here" and walks away to talk to Liron and some of the other Israeli team leaders.
"You're getting me in trouble with Avi," Nathan says through gritted teeth and a fake smile which makes him look like a marionette on Prozac.
"Do you remember when you had me fake-kiss you in front of your ex-bimbo Bicky, to let her know it was over between you guys?"
"Yeah. I seem to remember you biting me."
"Nathan, that was because your tongue crept into my mouth."
"I was making it authentic. Besides, don't deny you were getting into it."
"Because I was fantasizing you were my boyfriend." It's the honest truth: When I started kissing Nathan that last time, in front of Bicky, I was totally imagining he was Avi when we were last together--which was seriously the best night of my life. After fooling around in the car didn't work, Avi and I moved onto the deserted beach. His touches and kisses and caresses were more than OMG!
"He's looking at me like he wants to kill me," Nathan complains.
"Good. Now that he's watching us, kiss me," I whisper softly, moving my lips closer to his for a repeat performance.
Nathan pries his fingers loose and steps away, although we're far enough from our other team members that nobody can hear us. "Are you kidding? First of all, didn't you sign the Sababa rule sheet attached to the brochure? It said, specifically, no fornicating. We're in Israel. For all I know fornicating might include kissing."