The first couple weeks after New Years were very calm. School started up again and everybody went back to their normal routines, including me and Ben.
The good news was that MLK Weekend was coming up, and that meant one thing:
A REGIONAL USY WEEKEND!!!
I was so excited. This particular weekend-long event would take place in the awesome city of Beverly Hills. It's such a cool place; the lights, the people, the girls...yes, the girls.
But there was only one girl on my mind right now. This girl was Dara Karpen, a member of TBZ's USY Chapter. Dara was amazing in almost every possible way, except for her douchebag boyfriend Roy. Yes, my dreamgirl was taken.
But it was okay, because there would be tons of fine girls in BEVERLY HILLS.
Now, one thing about USY weekends is that you always meet new people, even if you think you know everyone there is to know. There's always faces you haven't seen...and girls you haven't hooked up with yet.
Today's story starts on Friday morning. The scene: The airport!
My mom, Shayna, accompanied me and my brother Darren to the airport in Downtown Phoenix, more commonly known as Sky Harbor International Airport. At the airport, we met up with Ben, Aaron Youngston (who had moved to Arizona last year from Boston), Melinda, and her mom Marryl, aka our Youth Director. Dara wasn't there, sadly. It would've been nice to see her beautiful smile.
Shayna and Marryl kvetched for a while, but then it was time to go. My mother said "Goodbye." to Darren, but then told me to stay for a second.
I thought that maybe it would be more of a heart-felt goodbye, but instead, my mother looked at me and said:
"Don't get any STDs, Michael."
Thanks for the advice.
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The flight went by quickly. I sat by Ben of course, and we talked about many things. Mainly we discussed our procedures in the event that I meet a girl and need a moment alone with her. I always made a point to let Ben know that the same thing would go if he meets a girl...but Ben never really meets girls.
We arrived at LAX at around 3:00 PM. Beverly Hills here we come.
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The synagogue in Beverly Hills was amazing. It was called Beth Shalom (we always jokingly called it BS). It was a huge synagogue, with a huge chapter too. I had some friends that went to that synagogue. The first one I saw was Gahl Sinai, who greeted me and Ben with huge hugs. He immediately told me about some girls that were anxious to meet me, and he lead me and Ben down the hall to the Beth Shalom Youth Lounge.
Wow, was he right. I can always trust Gahl's opinions on women!
I was greeted by several: OMG! It's him! It's the Mac-Attack!!!
Suddenly, behind all the screaming girls, I heard a familiar, heart-breaking voice:
"Hi, Mac."
Everybody moved away from her and froze silent, including Gahl and Ben. They all moved out of the way, for they needed to reveal that the voice was none other than Rivka Pasternak. The one that got away.
I suddenly felt uneasy. She looked great.
"Hi, Rivka. How are you?"
"I've been missing you, Mac. You never call."
Did I mention that the room was still silent????
"I, uh, guess I've been busy. I've thought about you a lot."
"I've thought about you too."
Gahl finally broke the silence.
"So, everybody here knows Mac...and I guess you all know Rivka too."
Some of the hotties seemed disappointed, but all of a sudden I didn't care. You know what else...I suddenly started asking myself: "Dara Who?"
"I don't believe everybody knows me, though! I'm Ben."
Nobody seemed too enthusiastic. The tension was still there, but suddenly a good friend of mine walked in, and his presence can break ANY tension.
"SHALOM!!!" and under his breath "I'm starving, where's the food???"
"B! My good friend, B. Oh, it's so good to see my good friend B!" I said, obvious to everyone that I was in a very uncomfortable situation. I suddenly hugged him very tightly.
"It's good to see you too, Mac-Attack and...oh, uh, Rivka." Now B knew why I was uncomfortable. You see, it was at one of B's parties that I first laid eyes on the beautiful Rivka Pasternak. She saved me that evening from my crazy ex, Carrie Wilcox.
Then, suddenly: "I'm Ben!"
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Before we knew it, the sun had set and it was Shabbat. I love USY Shabbat; it's magical. However, there was something awkward about spending my Shabbat with a girl who had broken my heart without any effort months before. I was definitely surprised when she insisted on sitting next to me, Ben and Gahl during services.
Then, suddenly, the rabbi began to speak. For some reason, he got to the subject of the devotion between a man and his wife. Love and stuff. I felt a hand grip mine. I looked down and it was Rivka's hand. You know what...I gripped back.
There was a weird sensation, being around Rivka again. I suddenly felt like...like maybe I had another shot with her.
But the weekend was just getting started. Friday ended quickly, and it was time to go to our host-homes. Ben and I were with Gahl of course.
The three of us stayed up all night talking about many different things. Sports, movies, but the subject of Rivka came up.
"Don't think we didn't see that huge smile on your face when Rivka held your hand tonight, Mac."
"Yeah, Mac. I haven't seen you that happy in a while, now that I think about it."
"Guys, it's nothing," I assured them. "So she held my hand, I won't get my hopes up. You were both there at Disneyland. You know she's kind of a tease."
"And you're not??"
Which reminded me of this USY Weekend last year when I told this girl from Vegas all about how I felt her and I could really be happy together...then I didn't get her number.
"Okay, guys. Whatever you say."
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Saturday came, and the same type of things were happening. The three of us got to synagogue...and Rivka was waiting for me so the could wrap her arms around me and hug me for a long time. It was just a hug; no big deal.
Except as we walked to the sanctuary, we did it hand in hand. It wasn't a big deal; just two people who happen to have somewhat of a history holding hands.
Then, during lunch, I found myself feeding her...it wasn't a big deal. Everyone needs to eat sometimes.
So what if she would casually say to me: "God, Mac, how could I have forgotten how cute you are?"
So what if I would drop in the line: "I missed those eyes."
It wasn't a big deal...was it?
But it was, and it all became clear to me during Havdallah that evening.
As we sang the words of Eliahu Hanavi, she came in real close and whispered in my ear: "I was so wrong over Labor Day Weekend. I shoulda spent the day with you, but I think we need to make up for some lost time tonight."
"That sounds good to me." I whispered back.
Havdallah ended, and Rivka and I were holding each other. I didn't want to let go...even as I saw all these girls walking by us and suddenly frowning. I actually even saw one start crying on Ben's shoulder...btw, he hooked up with her that night.
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Now, the best part of USY Weekends are the dances that they hold on Saturday nights. The music is always really upbeat and awesome. All the girls are usually willing to dance with ANYONE, but tonight I was taken by a beauty from San Diego.
We danced all night, and then we got tired of dancing. We started walking around, hand in hand.
"Rivka," I suddenly said. "This weekend, us being together on this weekend, what do you make of it?"
She stopped and looked at me for a second. She put her arms around me and said: "We have a certain chemistry, Mac. I can't describe it, but you make me feel so...you make me feel so..."
"Beautiful?"
"You make me feel like I'm someone worth loving, and no guy has ever looked at me the way that you do."
"Really? You know, it's funny Rivka."
"What is?"
"You make me feel the same way."
"Then what are you waiting for?"
She was obviously referring to the fact that I hadn't kissed her yet.
"Oh, right. Well, maybe I like a girl to take control." I said smiling.
"Then let me do the honors."
At that point, she moved even closer to me and kissed me. We kissed for a long time, and it was one of the best kisses I'd ever had...actually, it WAS the best kiss I'd ever had.
You know, I don't know what time we started kissing, or even what time we stopped. I can even honestly tell you that I don't recall ever kissing her again after that USY weekend.
It's funny how some things happen when you have a great moment. During this weekend, Rivka and I had many moments and took advantage of every moment. I didn't care that she wasn't going to stick around for a while, the thing I'd been putting so much emphasis on for the last few months.
Nothing else mattered, because during that weekend, the one who got away decided to come back for a little while.
Sincerely,
Mac-Attack
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