I Know Why
Disclaimer: All the characters you recognize aren't mine.
XXX
Chapter 1
It was the first day of sophomore year. Fifteen year-old Ziva David had just moved to Washington D.C. from Israel, and was the "new girl" everyone in high school was talking about. Her older brother Ari was also going to high school with her, but he'd be a senior. Talia was too young for high school; she was entering sixth grade.
Ziva, nervous to start school in America, had slept poorly the night before. She had rushed to get ready that morning: putting on a worn yet cute pair of jeans, a simple black t-shirt, and her navy blue running shoes. She had joined Ari at the bus stop and waved goodbye to Talia as she left with their mother.
The bus ride was noisy for such an early time. Ziva found herself sitting with a girl her age named Abby. She had introduced herself right away, and Ziva, though shocked, liked the girl immediately. Abby had jet black hair, pulled up in two pigtails. She wore a short red and black skirt and a black tank top. She was obviously Goth, but that didn't stop her nice and bubbly disposition.
Their bus pulled up to the school, which was already crawling with kids. Ziva, holding on to her schedule and map of the school like a lifeline, made her way slowly through the crowd until she reached her locker. There was a boy already at the locker next to hers. He was pretty cute; green eyes and messy brown hair. He had a nice smile, and grinned her way as she walked up.
"Hi!" he said cheerfully, sticking out his hand. "I'm Tony DiNozzo. Who are you?" Ziva shook his hand and smiled shyly.
"My name is Ziva David. I just moved here from Israel."
Tony's eyes widened. "Israel? That's pretty cool. How do you like D.C. so far?"
Ziva shrugged and spun the dial on her locker, concentrating on getting the numbers right. "I have not seen much of it yet. But it is very nice so far." She pulled her locker open and checked her schedule - Biology first. She grabbed her notebook, her accordion folder, and a pen. Tony peered over her shoulder at her schedule.
"Oh hey, would you look at that," he said. "We're in all of the same classes!" Ziva smiled and shut her locker. She was glad to have someone she knew in her classes. Right before she could answer him, a group of three girls walked up to their lockers. Tony groaned quietly, rolling his eyes. Ziva shrunk back against her locker slightly, not knowing who these girls were, but Tony obviously disliked them. One girl was definitely the leader; she had reddish brown hair and light brown eyes. She was pretty enough, but looked a little snotty. She, followed by the two other girls, stopped in front of Tony.
"Have a nice summer, DiNozzo?" the girl asked.
"It was wonderful, Todd," he retorted sharply. Tony turned to Ziva. "Ziva, meet Caitlin Todd. This is her posse, Jeanne Benoit and Erica Barrett." The girls took in Ziva, who looked back at them casually, trying to avoid their x-ray eyes. Caitlin made a slight face, and then turned back toward Tony.
"It's good to see you've made a friend, DiNozzo," she snipped. Caitlin turned back to Ziva. "But don't listen to a word he says. He can't even get names right. I'm Kate, and this is Jeanne and E.J."
Ziva nodded. "I'm Ziva."
"I gathered that," Kate drawled sarcastically, and the other girls laughed. "Well, I'll see you around. Bye, losers." Kate and her posse left, leaving Tony and Ziva to walk the opposite way toward the biology classroom.
Ziva cleared her throat hesitantly. "Who are they?"
Tony exhaled loudly. "Girls you really don't want to get involved with. They're not the nicest people, and they'll taunt you over anything. I dated Kate for, like, three weeks in seventh grade before breaking up with her because I hadn't liked her in the first place. She makes it her sworn duty to annoy the shit out of me every day of my life, except for over the summer when she's away. She's recruited E.J. and Jeanne to bother me too."
"Oh," Ziva said. Before she could say anything else, Abby came running up to them, grinning broadly.
"Hey Tony!" she squealed.
"'Morning Abby," he replied. "Do you know Ziva?"
Abby nodded. "She's on my bus. Hello again!" she said with a smile. Ziva smiled and waved. "Have you seen Tim yet?"
Tony shook his head. "Nope. The only people I've seen are Kate and her posse." Abby made a face. Just then, another boy came up to them from the opposite direction as Abby. He had sandy brown hair and hazel-green eyes. He smiled cheerfully as he joined them.
"Oh hey, Timmy!" Abby exclaimed, giving him a hug. Tim shook hands with Tony.
"Who's this?" he asked, gesturing to Ziva.
"Ziva David," she introduced herself. "I just moved here. It's nice to meet you." Tim nodded and reciprocated the greeting. The class began entering the room, and the four walked into the class, choosing a table where the four of them could sit together. When their teacher began talking, Ziva and Tim took notes, Abby doodled, and Tony feigned sleep. Ziva smiled as she observed her new friends. They were all very different, she observed, but she liked it.
XXX
Ziva and Tony had lunch fifth period with some of the seniors. Abby and Tim, unfortunately along with Kate and the posse of girls, had fourth period lunch. While the two were in the lunch line, Ari came up and joined them.
"How's your day going, Zi?" Ari asked.
"Pretty good," she said. Ziva turned to Tony. "Tony, this is my brother Ari. Ari, this is Tony." The two boys shook hands. They all grabbed their lunches and went off to their different lunch tables. Tony led Ziva to a table that had three boys already sitting there. They introduced themselves to Ziva: Jimmy Palmer, Ned Dorneget (Tony called him Dorney), and Ray Cruz. Ray told them that Adam Eshel, his cousin, was also part of their group, but was sick. The three boys occupied one side of the table, so Tony and Ziva sat on the other.
"Is Ari your only sibling?" Tony asked as they ate.
"No," Ziva replied. "I have a younger sister, Talia, but we call her Tali. She is eleven. Do you have any siblings?"
Tony shook his head. "Abby and Tim have siblings, though. Abby's brother is Luka and Tim has a sister, Sarah." Ziva nodded, and the rest of their lunch continued in silence, broken only by the laughter of the other boys as they told lame jokes.
At the end of the day, Tony and Ziva got ready to leave, all the while Tony complaining about the homework they'd been assigned. It made Ziva laugh. "I'm going to have so many issues with this stuff," Tony grumbled. Ziva smiled. "Do you have a cell phone?"
"Of course," she answered immediately. "Why?"
"Let's exchange numbers," he offered. "I'm not kidding about me needing help, and it might be useful to you." He grinned at her and she couldn't help but smile back.
"Okay." They exchanged numbers quickly, and walked outside. "I will see you tomorrow, Tony," she called as they split to go on their buses.
"Bye Ziva!" he called back. Ziva bounded up the stairs behind Abby, noticing that Jeanne was right behind her. Frowning, she sat down with Abby.
"Since when is Jeanne on our bus?" she asked.
Abby rolled her eyes. "Ugh, Jeanne Benoit. She's so annoying. But yeah, she lives in our neighborhood. It's bad, especially when Kate and E.J. go over her house."
"Sounds pretty bad," Ziva agreed. Abby nodded and pulled out her iPhone. She put in her headphones, and Ziva pulled out her iPod and did the same.
XXX
At dinner that night, Ziva's parents asked all about their first day. Tali was very enthusiastic, telling them about the friends she'd made. Ari had made some friends too. Ziva told them about Tony, Abby, and Tim; even briefly mentioning the boys she'd met at lunch. She excluded all mention of Kate, E.J., and Jeanne.
After dinner, Eli disappeared into his study, as usual. Ziva and her siblings went off to do homework. Tony did end up texting her for help, and even after homework had been finished, they kept talking. Ziva enjoyed talking with him. Back in Israel, she did have a few friends, but they weren't as exciting and funny as her new ones.
Around ten p.m., Ziva heard yelling coming from down the hall. She knew without listening to the words that it was her parents. They had been fighting a lot these days. Tony had signed off and gone to sleep a few minutes before, so Ziva slipped out of her room and down the hall. Peeking into her parents room, she saw that yes, they were fighting. Loudly. Rivka got mad, and after swearing at Eli in Hebrew, began marching toward the door. Not wanting to get caught, Ziva rushed into the closest room: Tali's.
Tali jumped when Ziva appeared in her room. "Geez, Zi, what are you doing?" she asked.
"Hiding," Ziva said. "Be quiet."
Tali giggled, eyes twinkling mischievously. "Spying on Abba and Ima again?"
Ziva laughed too. "Yes, Tali, if you must know." Once she knew Rivka had gone, Ziva slipped out of her sister's room and into her own. Ziva prepared for bed; brushing her teeth in the small bathroom she shared with Tali, combing her unruly curls, and climbing into bed. Just as she drifted off, she heard the yelling begin again.