I pass my slips of paper to Tili; she grabs my hand. “I’m obsessed with your ring,” she moans.

Okay, am I supposed to apologize? Moan with her? Excuse the ring?

Why does everyone else in the entire world seem to know how to respond like a normal person and I just feel as confused as I do in the Israeli makolet buying Hadassah rosemary?

“Temmy got it for me,” I say, twisting my Hadaya name ring.

Tili wriggles back her sleeve to reveal a name bracelet. “I couldn’t decide between the bracelet and ring and I totally should have gotten the ring! Uch!”

“Uch!” I agree.

Tili rolls back her other sleeve and checks the time. “Kay, we totally still have time to get bagels and iced coffee.”

Well, there goes the rest of my money. “I’m pumped,” I say weakly.

Tili smooths the bow in her hair. “Me, too. Iced coffee is legit the best thing ever. I’m taking a suitcase full back with me.”

I laugh at the sudden image of Tili unzipping a suitcase full of iced coffee sludge, and Tili laughs with me.

Having friends is fun!

“And then there’s a model of the Mizbeiach!” Avrumi is overflowing with excitement over his trip to Machon Hamikdash with one of Mommy’s millions of cousins. “There’s a Kadosh Hakodoshim but you can’t go in. You just stand by the glass but you can see the Aron. And fake model Kohanim! So you can see the begadim! It’s insane. And the instruments for the Leviim also. Then we got Katzefet.”

“Like in the times of the Beis Hamikdash,” I say.

Temmy snorts.

Avrumi grins. “Eggzackly.”

He’s so chilled, my brother. I used to be like that. Not caring what anyone thought, just being myself, but now with the silky hair and the fancy clothing and the friend with the VEJA sneakers, I never know what I’m supposed to say. At least, not around her. Around my family, I don’t have any doubts.

“Vessels of gold, vessels of old, best observed with ice cream cold!”

Avrumi leans over and pats my shoulder. “Not your best work,” he says kindly. “I blame the heat.”

So I pat him back, just not as kindly.

The mirror is my new best friend. Aside from Tili, of course. And, apparently, Kayla. I roll my eyes at my own stupidity and then stick out my tongue. A flash of silver makes me lean closer to my reflection. I’m getting my braces off the day after I land back in America. I’ll probably fall asleep in Dr. Elliot’s chair from exhaustion, but I guess that saves me from the whole “awkwardly giving him thumbs-ups to questions I can’t possibly answer with his tools in my mouth.”

What will I look like without my braces? I’ve had them for two years, and I never really thought about it before.

There are a lot of things I never thought about before Hadassah and Temmy got their hands on me. I’m angry, suddenly, that they’ve flipped my whole world upside down. I feel like a snow globe that someone shook and then when all the glitter settled, revealed a different picture than the one it had held previously. I kind of liked my own picture. Or maybe my old life was the part with the glitter falling and swirling in a giant messy dance?

I was so busy just being that I never thought past that point.

But here I am, smiling in the mirror at someone I don’t recognize. The anger disappears as suddenly as it came. My big sisters were just trying to help.

I flash my smile again, uncertainly. I really do look so different. Who knew hair and a little mascara can make such a difference?

Everyone else, apparently.

Tzvi flips the burgers. The grill is creating a smoky haze over the porch. I squint through it at the little crowd. Avrumi is standing way too close to the fire, Hadassah is arranging buns artfully in a basket, and Temmy and Nechemia are entertaining the little kids with a puppet show.

I glance at my watch. Tili said maybe she’d stop by. Why wasn’t she here yet? Did she forget? Did I do something wrong during bagels and iced coffee earlier? Use the wrong word, eat too quickly? Was it the whole “sitting like a ten-year-old boy” thing Hadassah keeps harassing me about? “Stop SLOUCHING,” she keeps hissing, “and cross your legs. Or your ankles. But don’t just fall into a chair like that.”

To which I have told her she’s, “Picky, picky, being sticky on the topic of seating and eating.”

To which she muttered a whole string of words under her breath that I was unable to hear.

Shame.

Maybe I slouched? I feel a drip of sweat slide down my forehead. What if my first-ever friendship only lasted two days? Maybe I’m a terrible friend. Maybe I’ll never have another friend again—

The door buzzes, and a moment later Temmy leads Tili out to the porch.

She bounds over and grabs my arm. “Sorry I’m late! I was helping Sarit with bath time. Ohmigosh, this is so fun. You have the coolest family, Dahlia!”

Well, that’s definitely the first time I’ve heard that.

But as I look around at the laughing chaos on the porch, I can’t help swelling with pride.

Yeah, I have a lot more than good hair. I have a cool family.

To be continued…

(Originally featured in Cozey, Issue 1005)