The stranger and Ta looked at each other. Both burst out laughing. The man opened his arms wide, got up, and threw them around Ta

"Can I sit here?”

I glanced up from my desk. A girl I didn’t know stood there. She looked… different. Her glasses could have walked off a page from my Aunt Rina’s high school yearbook. Her stringy blonde hair was gathered in a haphazard ponytail; her chunky, worn sneakers looked totally out of place in a room full of brand-new school shoes.

“Is the seat taken?”

“Oh! Umm… no, not yet.” I’d been so taken aback that I’d forgotten to answer. The girl dumped her stuff into the seat. A worn backpack, a lunch box (who brings a lunch box?) that looked like a hand-me-down from an older brother, and a tissue box.

“I’m Simi,” she said simply. She smiled, revealing braces, as she tilted her head sideways, eyeing me with interest. “I’m new here.”

No kidding, I thought to myself. “W-welcome,” I offered feebly, looking away.

Simi seemed happy with my less-than-gracious response. “Want to come over this afternoon? I’d love to make new friends here. You seem nice! We could play with my dog, Barney, and my pet lizard. Her name’s Cocoa. She’s funny.”

“I-uhhh…” Before I could properly answer, our new teacher walked in. I smiled apologetically and stood up, silent along with the class.

Later, I rushed out to recess before Simi could ask me again. At lunch, I ran to the cafeteria with barely a pause to smile at her. I felt guilty avoiding her, but I didn’t know what else to do. Simi just… wasn’t my type. She seemed to really want to be my friend, but I wasn’t sure I could be that for her. I walked home feeling torn.

“Welcome home, Dassi!” my father’s voice boomed. “How’s sixth grade?”

What was Ta doing home? And who on earth was that bearded, dark-haired man next to him?

“Hi,” I said. “Pretty good, I guess.”

“Wondering why I’m home so early?”

I nodded, feeling a bit shy in front of the stranger.

“This is Rabbi Ravizad,” Ta explained. “He’s here from Eretz Yisrael, and I just happened to bump into him at the grocery store—” The stranger and Ta looked at each other. Both burst out laughing. The man opened his arms wide, got up, and threw them around Ta.