Friends and Relationships in the Life of the Mac-Attack

Since there isn't a whole lot of drama happening in my life right now, I've decided to update you on some friends of mine and the drama surrounding their lives. I'm going to start with my friends from L.A., Jake Josephson and Tara Hudson.

Jake and Tara have been together since sophomore year. Recently, they broke up and got back together shortly after. Since then, the two have been very insecure about the position of their relationship. They have both become extremely paranoid. I noticed this when I went to L.A. this past weekend to visit my Grandma in Malibu.

"Jake!"

Jake didn't know that I was gonna be in town, but Tara did. I hoped to surprise my good friend, but instead, I got this reaction:

"Mac-Attack? You're in town? Tara, did you know about this?"
"Yeah. I picked him up from the airport."
"You didn't tell me?"
"I wanted to surprise you."

Jake looked at me.

"Mac, can you excuse us for a second?"
"Um, okay."

As soon as I was gone:

"Why would he tell you and not me? I'm just as close with him as you are, Tara. I think he has a thing for you. And the worst part is this: it's highly probable that you have a thing for him!"
"You're being ridiculous, Jake. It's just Mac."
"And every girl wants Mac. You're gonna tell me you don't find him attractive?"
"So I suppose it's okay for you to find other girls attractive, but it's not okay for me to find other guys attractive. Is that how it is?"
"What are you getting at?"
"When we rented "The Time Traveler's Wife" and you couldn't keep your eyes off of Rachel McAdams. I bet you were wishing you could leave me for her!"
"So you are attracted to Mac."
"No, I'm not. I'm showing you how stupid you are."

Suddenly, Jake kissed Tara.

"I understand. That was irrational and I'm sorry."
"It's okay, but we need to stop fighting. I don't wanna lose you, baby. I love you too much."
"I love you more."

I then felt it was safe to come out from hiding.

"Hi, Mac."

He hugged me as if everything was normal.

"Hello, Jake. Uh, are you surprised?"
"Yup. I'm glad to see ya, big guy."
"Big guy?"

The next day, after going to services over at my grandmother's synagogue in Malibu, I drove into the San Fernando Valley and visited Gahl Sinai, my best USY friend. He enlightened me on the situation between Tara and Jake.

"It's been like that since the game last month. As soon as they got back together, they became insecure and stopped getting along so well."
"Except when they're making out."
"Who doesn't get along when they're making out?"
"Good point."

I was brought back for a moment to a date that I had last year. The entire time, the girl was interrogating me about my reputation. When I dropped her off at her house, she spent five minutes making out with me. Though we didn't get along for most of the date, we sure got along during those five minutes.

"So, speaking of making out, do you have a girl right now?"
"Actually, I kinda do."
"Tell me more."
"I'm not sure that I should."
"Come on, Gahl. You've never failed to tell me something about your love life."
"That's because I haven't had much of one."

I laughed.

"Who is it? Do I know her?"
"I'm afraid you know her very well."
"So who is it?"

Gahl took a deep breath.

"Okay, you need to promise not to punch me. This is kinda against the Bro Code."
"I won't punch you. Who's your girl, Sinai?"
"I'm--I'm kinda seeing Rivka Pasternak."

Well, that certainly wasn't who I was expecting. Rivka Pasternak was a girl I hooked up with last year. I had relatively strong feelings for her at that point, but those feelings had long passed by now.

"Rivka?"
"Yes. I'm sorry, Mac."
"Sorry? Why are you sorry?"
"I know how much you liked her."
"Yeah. A year ago!"
"You mean it's okay?"
"Gahl, it's not like I'm the only guy in USY who has hooked up with her. I'm certainly not the most recent one. Her and I are friends. Nothing more."
"Wow. Thanks, Mac-Attack!"
"You don't need to thank me, man. Have fun with her and treat her right. That's all."

I hung out with Gahl for another hour before we headed to Universal City to have dinner with our friend Max Altman.

"So, did Gahl tell you about his lady-friend?"
"Yes, Max, I told him."
"Jealous, Mac?"
"I gotta ask you, Max, why would I be jealous? I've been in three relationships since then!"

Max laughed.

"What about you? You seeing anyone these days?"
"Nah. Though I did hook up with Missy Weinberg last weekend at a dance."
"Didn't you go out with Missy last summer, Max?"
"Yeah."
"And you hooked up with her again?"
"Yeah."
"Is she the same one that ordered you to call her five times a day while you were in Washington DC?"
"Yeah."
"So you dump her because she's a little crazy. Then you hook up with her after a few months, knowing how crazy she is."
"Pretty much."
"You can be a dumbass sometimes."
"Strangely enough, I can live with that."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

I came home late the next night, so I took the day off from school. However, I got a phone call during the late afternoon that would tell me exactly what I missed.

"Mac, I need some advice. Can you meet me for dinner?"

Ben sounded like he had a real emergency.

"Yeah. Let's do By the Slice around 7."
"Alright. Perfect."

When I got to By the Slice, Ben was already at a table. He was a mess.

"What's up?"
"It's Sam."

Sam Bernstein was Ben's girlfriend. The way he looked, it seemed that she may have broken up with him. This couldn't be good.

"She didn't break up with you, did she?"
"No. Worse."

What could be worse than a break-up?

"Mac, I'm in love with her."

A very accurate answer to my question.

"Well...Congratulations!"
"Yeah, right."
"Doesn't she love you too?"
"I have no idea. Why would she?"
"Well, she's dating you, and she's very obviously crazy about you."
"If she loves me, why hasn't she told me?"
"You haven't told her, Ben. Maybe she's waiting for you to make the first move."

Ben buried his face in his arms. Obviously, he didn't have much confidence in his relationship.

"What is it with all the insecurity in the world these days?"
"What do you mean?"
"I was in California this weekend and I hung out with Tara and Jake. They are so insecure about their relationship. It's not even funny."
"Why would they be insecure?"
"Well, they broke up last month and then got back together. Now, I suppose they are worried that they'll break up again."
"Interesting. Anyways, what am I supposed to do about this Sam thing?"
"Ben, you need to tell her how you feel. I'll bet you anything she feels the same way."

Ben looked at me, suddenly with pride.

"You know what? I'm gonna tell her. I'm gonna tell her right now!"

He stood up and began walking.

"Ben!"
"What?"
"You wanna leave money for the tip?"
"Oh, yeah. Sorry."

He walked back to the table, put down 5 dollars, and walked out. I was suddenly eating alone, so I decided to make a phone call to someone I had been thinking of quite often.

Meanwhile, back in California, Jake and Tara were having a phone conversation of their own.

"Are you thinking of leaving me for that girl in our Pre-Calculus class?"
"Hell no. Are you talking about Rita Jones?"
"That's the one. I saw you flirting with her."
"I loaned her a pencil. Jesus, Tara, why is there always the third degree?"
"I just don't wanna lose you."
"If you don't start trusting me, you are gonna lose me."
"You don't trust me much more, Mister. You totally lost it when I picked Mac up at the airport."
"Cus I don't wanna lose you either."
"God, why can't we just trust each other?"
"I don't know. Maybe getting back together was a bad idea."
"Maybe. So, we're done?"
"It would appear that way."

After the mutual break-up, they mutually hung up their phones.

Back in Phoenix, Ben was pulling up to Sam's driveway. She saw him pull up through her bedroom window and immediately ran outside.

"Hey! What are you doing here?"
"I have to tell you something."
"Do you wanna come in? My parents are out right now."
"Yeah. That'd be nice."

They went inside her house. It was a nice house; two stories, with marble on the walls and a tile floor in the kitchen.

"It's a good home. I don't think I've ever been inside."
"We're always in public or at your house where your mom won't give us any alone time. My parents probably wouldn't give us much privacy either."
"Well, we have plenty of privacy now."
"We do."

They kissed.

"Now, what did you need to tell me?"

He took a deep breath.

"I love you."

She didn't seem surprised.

"I love you too."

Ben did seem surprised.

"You do?"
"Of course I do."

He kissed her.

"Wow, I'm so glad you do."

They kissed again.

"Because I love you so much."
"I've loved you since that night on the basketball court. The night we had our first kiss."

Once again, they kissed.

"Really."

Another kiss.

"Yes."

And another kiss.

And soon, there was no more talking. There was just kissing, and lots of it. Shortly after, there was more than just kissing. They began removing articles of each other's clothing and heading up to Sam's bedroom. They got onto her bed and continued to kiss.

"Are you sure about this?"
"Absolutely. I want you to make love to me. Don't you want to?"
"Of course."

She handed him a condom.

"I love you."
"I love you too."

They kissed again and then the rest is history. The two had sex for the first time that night. I knew it as soon as Ben got to school the next day. He was ridiculously happy.

"You got laid, didn't you?"
"Damn right I did. And with the woman I love."
"So she loves you back."
"Hell yeah."
"Didn't I tell ya?"
"You did. So, how was your night? I'm sorry I bailed on you."
"It's cool, bro. My night was okay."
"What did you do?"
"I ate and I went home."
"That's all?"
"Well, I also got to talk to someone."
"Who?"

The special someone I called was none other than Brittany Zieglar of Las Vegas. We talked for two hours about practically nothing. Sometimes, those are the best conversations.

"Brittany Zieglar. Why am I not surprised?"
"Because she's basically perfect."
"You know, I would be jealous, but my girl isn't just basically perfect. She is perfect."
"Well, I'm seeing Brittany in a few weeks. The Passover Tournament Championship in San Diego next month. Since it's over Spring Break, her and a few other Vegas people are gonna come out and watch the basketball games."
"Looks like basketball won't be the only thing on your mind while we're in San Diego."
"Nope. I suppose not."

Relationships are an interesting concept, one of which I do not take lightly. However, I take having fun very lightly. At this point in my life, as I watched the drama unfold in the relationship of Tara and Jake, and as I witnessed Ben and Sam take the next big step in their romance, I was happy to just be single. Being single gives us the freedom to do what I love doing best, which is having a good time. I knew that come next month, when I would finally be seeing Brittany again, I would be having the time of my life.

Sincerely,
Mac-Attack