Summer of 2008 was the best summer ever. B's party was fun, but there were some other really good highlights:
I was reelected to my position on the board of Temple Beth Zion USY (Religion/Education; kinda fits when your dad is the rabbi!)
Melinda was elected Prez and Darren was elected VP.
We found a new hang-out spot; this really great pizza place called By the Slice.
Most importantly, though, I was able to spend the whole summer just hanging out with my friends, and not having to worry about Carrie Wilcox.
Things were going really great. It was unfortunate that summer had to end so soon, but at least I knew that a new school year would mean a new USY year, and a new USY year means REGIONAL EVENTS!!!
West Coast Region USY always has a Disneyland trip over Labor Day Weekend to kick off the new USY year. It was an overnight trip and it was always tons of fun. Ben and I were looking forward to seeing all of our regional friends from California. We always had a lot of fun with them.
It was the day before the trip. I was sitting and watching some TV when my cell phone rang. The Caller ID read 858 555 4256.
I was trying to figure out where 858 was, but then I answered the phone to hear a voice that I had kinda missed.
"Mac, it's Rivka Pasternak!"
My heart leapt. Rivka Pasternak was a girl who I had met a B's party earlier in the summer. Her and I had a brief moment, but we didn't have much of a chance to talk.
"Rivka! Hi. How are you?"
"I'm doing okay; I've been thinking about you a lot."
Music to my ears.
"Me too, Rivka. I haven't been able to get you out of my head."
Then the beauty from San Diego spoke words that I hoped she would say:
"Will you be at Disneyland??"
I was now trying to contain my excitement. I was gonna be at Disneyland with Rivka Pasternak, my San Diego girl.
Trying to sound laid back: "Yeah, I'll be there."
She said: "Okay, good. I was hoping you would say that. I gotta go, but I'll see you at Disney. Bye!"
Had I been dreaming or would I actually be seeing her again? I was most definitely excited.
The next day came, and at midnight on that Saturday night, we arrived at Temple Beth Zion to load the bus. I had been txting with some of my regional friends all day, getting pumped up to see them. As I entered the Youth Center, I saw Melinda sitting with Ben. Also sitting with them was Aaron Youngston, one of our USY friends who had moved to Arizona to Massachusetts the year before. He was a nice guy, but he was very negative about West Coast USY, as he came from Boston/Rhode Island/Connecticuit Region (aka BRI/CONN).
"Hey, guys." I said.
"Hey, Mac," said Ben.
"Hey, Mac," said Aaron.
"Hey Michael," said Melinda. (Melinda refused to call me by my nickname, it was quite frustrating).
Just then, Marryl Moskowitz, our youth director (and Melinda's mom) came into the room.
"Hey, guys. Let's get on the bus and head to DISNEYLAND!!!"
One hundred USYers ran out of the Youth Center and onto the bus. I sat next to Ben, Melinda sat next to Darrin, Aaron sat next to his Boston Red Sox pillow (his best friend). We were on our way to the happiest place on Earth, where my love from San Diego awaited me.
FAST FORWARD SEVERAL HOURS........
We were now at Disneyland. I don't know if I mentioned this yet, but the Mac-Attack LOVES Disneyland. I love Disneyland even more than I love the ladies (wait, I didn't say that!)
I called Rivka.
"Where are you?"
"I'm between Disneyland and California Adventure!"
"I'll be right there. Don't move!"
I ran to where she was. She saw me, she ran to me! We were running to each other and then, we were together, and we didn't stop moving. She jumped up on me and kissed me. It was a great kiss, one that only lasted a little while, but seemed to last forever. It was a great kiss basically.
Suddenly:
"Well, I guess I'll see you later!"
And she was gone.
Suddenly, the really stretched out face of Brian Berg appeared.
"So, you and Rivka getting busy, eh?"
"Not quite, B. I thought we were, but I guess not."
I was really confused, but just then I saw my really good friends Ori Braddok and Max Altman run up to me. I was really glad to see them. Also in the distance, I saw Gahl Sinai, Dean Weiner, and Tara Hudson. Tara was with her boyfriend, Jacob Josephson. There were some other familiar faces too.
"MAC-ATTACK!" is what they said when they saw me, seemingly all at the same time.
"Hey, guys." I said.
I suddenly explained my confusing situation to them. I really was very confused about the whole thing. Even B interjected and told them all about his party and about how Rivka had pined for me at Convention.
Ori looked at me: "This really sucks, Mac. What are you gonna do?"
"I guess I will just have to hang with all you kids for a little while," I said, trying to sound like the inspiration to them that I always had been.
So I did hang with all of them for a while. It wasn't too bad. In fact, we had all just gotten off of Space Mountain when I got a txt from Rivka.
The txt read like this: "I'm @ Splash Mtn. Let's meet up, k?"
I looked up: "I got a txt from Rivka. I'm meeting her at Splash Mountain."
Everybody seemed happy for me.
"Ben, I need you to come with me; I need a wingman."
So he came with me. BUT, as we approached Splash Mountain:
Txt message reads: "I'm @ Thunder Mtn. Line for Splash was too long. I'll wait 4 u."
So we went to Big Thunder Mountain, and then: "I'm @ the Castle. I'm waiting in the front."
Ben looked at me.
"What's so worth it about this girl that we had to leave our friends to go chase her around?"
"There's something about her, Ben. There's something between us, I just know it. I need to find out."
Ben looked at me again.
"Mac, how long have we been best friends?"
"Since 6th Grade, so about 4 years."
"And have I ever given you bad advice?"
"No."
"Then listen to me. The girl isn't worth it."
I took that in for a second, but suddenly Rivka appeared in my eyesight. She was now next to me.
Ben said: "I'll see you later, Mac."
He walked away, but I was finally alone with the beauty from San Diego.
I leaned in to kiss Rivka, but she turned away. "We need to talk, Mac."
Oh no. This wasn't good. I just knew this wasn't good.
"What's wrong, Rivka. I thought we were going to hang out today."
"Truth is...I have a boyfriend, Mac-Attack."
The glass window that was my heart was shattered by the baseball that was her words.
"Rivka...I...what do you want me to say? Just tell me what you want me to say."
"You don't have to say anything."
"What about our kiss this morning?"
"We were caught up in a moment."
"And B's party?"
"That was 3 months ago, Mac."
"And my heart?"
"I didn't set out to hurt you, Mac. In fact, I think we could've really been something. But things happen."
She got really close. She kissed me on the cheek.
"Maybe things will change by the next event. Maybe we'll have another shot."
She walked away. The beauty from San Diego who just tore out my heart and threw it in the garbage walked away. Maybe it was fitting that it started raining at that very moment.
I sat on a bench, getting soaked by the rain, when a familiar face came into view. It was Melinda, and I was glad to see her.
"I saw what happened," she said. "I'm sorry."
Trying to sound tough, I said: "Well, you know, I'll deal, because I'm the Mac-Attack and..."
She wrapped her arms around me, and I was silent. "You're a great guy, Michael. Rivka will regret this. You're gonna find someone else."
Then all of our close friends appeared. Ben, Ori, Gahl, Tara, Jacob, Dean, Max. Darren, B, and Aaron came around as well. I felt embarassed, because here I was, the Mac-Attack, sitting in the middle of a theme park crying over a girl who I barely knew. But at the same time, it was good to know that I had great friends who would still think the same of me.
I guess it took having all my friends around me that made me realize that maybe Rivka hadn't put the broken peices of my heart in the trash; maybe she had put it in the Recycling bin so that I could reuse it for someone else.
After all, the whole world is going green anyway! Maybe Rivka was too.
Sincerely,
Mac-Attack
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