Chapter Six
Weeks passed and Ziva had fallen in love with the Gibbs family. Abby had become her best friend, Tim had become a good friend, and Jack was like Ziva's older brother. Laurence had finally been accepted into a college near by. Jenny had Ziva had caught up on a lot of stuff. Gibbs and Ziva were getting along fine. School was only a week away. Abby and Ziva had went down to the mall one day and bought a bunch of back to school stuff. Angela, one of Abby's close friends, had met up with them to hang out. The three of them had had a lot of fun.
Ziva was really enjoying her stay in America. More than she'd ever expected, although, she still missed her father and her old bedroom and the stray cat that roamed her backyard.
It was the night before the first day of school. Ziva was extremely nervous. Butterflies had erupted into her belly all day. What if people think I'm weird? What if I get bullied? What will this American school be like? Am I going to be made fun of for my accent? Ziva's mind was filled with many questions and she feared the answers to most wouldn't be what she wanted to hear. At least she had Abby. Abby and Jack and maybe even Angela and Timmy would be there for her, right? Right? she asked herself. To help calm her, Ziva went ahead and picked out her outfit and checked her bag to make sure she had everything she needed. It didn't help. She had went through all of her clothes trying to look normal. However, as an abnormal Israeli, how would she ever become a normal American?
Finally, she picked out a pair of black cargo pants her father had bought for her and an olive green tank-top. Along with it, she picked out her Batman converse. The wording was in Hebrew, though, instead of English. Ziva had decided to be herself. She was content. Until she remembered what Angela had told her the other day at the mall.
"These jeans are really you," Abby said.
"At least in these people will think you how to act normal," Angela said, "I mean, sure, cargo pants and tanks are your thing, but in America, you'll really stand out."
Then she remembered she wasn't supposed to stand out. Maybe being someone else and keeping cool was a better idea than being her cargo-pants-and tank-top-ninja-Ziva. So, she threw those clothes back into her suitcase and grabbed a pair of regular jeans and regular red tank-top. She decided to keep the Batman converse. They were just going on her feet.
Finally happy, she made sure her stuff for school was in her bag and ready for tomorrow. Jenny had come in and talked to Ziva a bit before heading off to bed with Jethro. About an hour after, Abby came to see if Ziva had fallen asleep yet. She hadn't. The two of them listened to Brain Matter (something Ziva had learned to like) until they fell asleep on the floor. When morning came, Jenny was knocking at Ziva's door yelling at them to wake up. Ziva and Abby woke up slowly. They let out soft laughter when they saw where they were. They hadn't fallen asleep on the floor like little kids since Ziva's first night.
The two of them quickly went to their rooms and got dressed. Ziva pulled her hair up into a tight pony-tail, her curls as wild as ever, and put on a light layer of eyeliner and lip gloss. After she finished, she headed downstairs with her bag on her shoulder and her phone in hand. She was texting Eli about how her morning was going. He hadn't replied at first, but Ziva had confidence he would soon. Abby and Jack were in the kitchen nibbling on muffins and sipping of juice. Jenny was no where in sight.
"We'll be leaving to catch the bus here soon," Jack informed her.
"A bus?" Ziva asked, almost amazed. Ziva had heard the term "catch a bus" before and knew what it meant. Surprisingly, that wasn't what shocked her. She had expected them to drive one of the fancy cars or walk. She didn't think they would actually have to take a bus to school.
"Yeah, in about twenty minutes," Abby said, "Why?"
"No reason, I was just . . . wondering," Ziva said. Ziva had never rode on an actual bus. She's rode the smaller van like buses in India and Iraq. She rode on an old city bus a few times back in Tel Aviv, but it was nothing like what they had in America. She had seen a few movies where kids rode long yellow buses called School Buses, but she'd never actual seen one in person. Except the time her and Ari took a walk to an old junk yard where a junked up school bus was abandoned at. The windows were busted out and most of the seats her tore out. There was also a lot of graffiti and the paint was chipping.
Back at her old school, all she had to do was walk half a mile from Mossad to the learning building. She was never able to ride the bus. Ziva would only ride a ity bus if she honestly had to and had rode in the big vans on group trips to far away cities. They finished their breakfast and headed outside after locking up the house. The three of them walked down the street to the corner where there was a blue yellow sign with a bus on it. There were two other girls standing there. They were giggling and laughing and looking into tiny mirrors while applying make-up and foundation. One was a bit shorter and wore her hair in a tight ponytail. She wore a bright pink t-shirt and short shorts. The other was an inch taller with her light brown hair up in a perfect bun. She wore a light blue tank-top and blue jeans.
"Just try and ignore those preps," Abby muttered.
"Oh look!" the shorter one shouted as they approached, "It's freak 1 and freak 2!" She made sure to emphasize the word freak.
"And whatever that little twerp is," the other one added.
"Probably their side kick, freakazoid!" They burst into laughter. Ziva didn't get the joke, she thought they were stupid idiots.
"Hey, lay off!" Jack warned, "Besides, I think you're just jealous."
"Of what?!" the taller one asked it a rude tone.
"You fucks don't have sidekick as cool as Ziva," Abby replied.
"Who would even want to be their sidekicks?" Ziva commented, making sure they all heard. Just then, the bus came and they all boarded. Ziva was a skittish, but she quickly sat down in an empty seat near the back. Jack sat next to her.
"By the way," Jack began, "the one in the pink was Bethany and the taller one in the blue was Jeanne."
"Abby told me about them," Ziva replied. Jack nodded. He saw a look of worry on Ziva's face and nudged her shoulder.
"Hey," he mumbled, "don't worry, we got your back. Besides, in a school this big, not many will notice you unless you want them to."
Ziva chuckled. "That's good I suppose." Jack nodded. They sat in silence for the rest of the ride. When the bus stopped in front of the front entrance of school, everyone began to stand up and walk to the front. Back at home, you weren't aloud to stand until the bus was completely stopped. Ziva stood up moments after Jack and nearly lost her balance. Luckily, no one noticed. Well at least she didn't think no one did, but there was one person who did.
He saw how she was so stunned. He saw how she looked normal, but knew she wasn't. He could tell by the look on her face and the style of her hair. But, he had to admit, she was cute. Almost more than cute. He smiled as she lost her balance and had to clamp her hand down on the back of the seat. He watched as she followed Jack and Abby off of the bus. She and Abby walked very close together and laughed together. Was that the girl that was staying with the Gibbs? Had she and Abby become best friends? He wasn't sure, but he really wanted to find out. Even though he was already in a relationship, he still wanted to meet her. Besides, the relationship was failing, just as he knew it would. Tony DiNozzo had always had trouble keeping a healthy relationship for more than a year. He was shocked it had lasted this long.
Abby showed Ziva around the entire school campus. Buildings 1, 2, 3, and 4 were all behind the front entrance building. These buildings were all the freshmen, sophomore, and some junior classes. Other classes were in buildings 5 and 6 across the street going north. Almost all of the senior classes were in buildings 7, 8, and 10 across the street going east. Building 9 was the gym, teacher lounge room, locker rooms, and the coaches'. The track and football field were behind the gym. The baseball field was behind buildings 7 and 8. The library was next to the front office entrance and the auditorium was behind the cafeteria. All other classes were in buildings 11 and 12 in front of the gym.
Ziva was more than shocked at how horrifyingly giant the school was. Luckily, she and Abby had first, third, and fifth period together. They had met up with Angela, Tim, Jack, and Ziva met Temperance and Camille. Ziva had a class together with Angela and Temperance. Ziva had gym class with Abby and Temperance, and civics class with Camille. Three periods she didn't have with anyone she knew. At least not anyone she knew yet. Abby had pointed out all of Ziva's classes and where they were. Ziva thanked her. The ball rang and Abby and Ziva headed for Mr. Harmon's Chemistry class. Tim was in the same class.
The class started out with a long and boring lecture about what the class was and what standards they'd be studying this upcoming semester. Papers to and packets were passed out to keep in our binder. The bell finally rang after an hour. Even after an hour of an expert explaining it, Ziva had no idea what chemistry really was. She had had to learn how to build and disarm bombs and explosives as well as other things, but she'd never heard of chemistry. Next Ziva had Algebra 1. She had at heard of Algebra and new it had to do with math, but she had no idea it what kind of math it was. The moment she saw several equations with tons of random numbers and symbols, she wanted to drop dead. She could barely understand math in the Hebrew writing, let alone English. After an hour of Mrs. Crump going over examples everyone should already know (everyone except Ziva, but no one noticed her) and a million more examples of more advanced yet similar problems, the bell rang, releasing them. Ziva was more than thankful for the bell, however she feared it. She just hoped that English/Language Arts with Ms. Hampton wouldn't be too difficult to understand.
Ziva saw Abby and Tim talking by the stairs on her way to third period. When Abby spotted Ziva, she waved frantically, her chain bracelets jingling. Ziva waved back and headed their way. Abby pulled Ziva into a bear hug. It took Ziva by surprise. She hadn't expected Abby to hug her. They said bye to Tim and headed for building two. Ziva followed Abby up the stairs and around the corner and down the hall until they reached a door with a sign next to it that read Hampton English Class. They walked in and took a seat in the back. There was two minutes until the bell rang and students were still coming in and sitting down. The teacher was no where in the room, though. The bell finally rang and moments later a young and petite woman walked into the room. She wore a red blouse, black skirt, and black pumps. She wore light make-up and her light blond hair was flowing over her shoulders.
"Alright, class, hush up," she ordered. The class fell silent and she pulled out a paper and pen. "Sarah Allens," the teacher called.
"Here," a short and skinny girl up front mumbled.
"Madison Anderson," the teacher called out.
"Yeah," a chubby girl with black hair and thick make-up muttered. She was like Abby, but painful to look at. She wore black skinny jeans, red Converse, a black t-shirt with BODTF in bold and creepy letters on it. She also had a bunch of bracelets up her arms. Some said Black Veil Brides, Pierce The Veil, Sleeping With Sirens, Panic At The Disco, and Asking Alexandra. (A/N: I am discribing on of my best friends, I am not being mean or anything. I am not emo but I adore these bands and some of my closest friends are gothic and emo. Just so you all know, I am not being judgemental or whatever, I'm just trying to bring some of the major changes between Israeli teens and American teens.) In a way, Ziva found her quite odd, but she say a dark beauty in her, just like the one she found in Abby. Only this time, she wasn't sure if this girl acted as happy and hyper as Abby. She just couldn't really see it.
"Michael Bishop," the teacher asked. A boy with long and bushy hair raised his hand and mumbled his presence. Her wore a gray t-shirt with a bunch of odd smiley faces on the back. Ms. Hampton went through a few more students until she reached Ziva. And surprisingly, she pronounced Ziva's first and last name correctly. When the teacher finished roll call, she passed out two text book. Then an extremely thick workbook. Ms. Hampton mainly went over the main standards and what they would be working on the following week. After the hour of class ended, the bell rang and released all the students. After saying goodbye to Abby, Ziva headed for building 3 for civics class. On her way, she felt herself be pushed to the ground. Ziva was both stunned and hurt. When she looked up, she saw a few girls and guys laughing at her. She recognized two of the girls from the bus stop this morning. Ziva quickly stood up and faced the girl who, if she remembered correctly, was Jeanne. She must have been the one who shoved her.
"What's your problem?" Ziva hissed.
"My problem," Jeanne replied rudely, "is your ugly face. I mean, just look at you!"
"My face?" Ziva asked, "Well, I don't suppose you've looked in the mirror lately."
"Whatever," Jeanne mumbled. Ziva snickered and walked away satisfied. She saw Camille as she entered the room. She also saw the vacant seat next to her. Ziva thought she'd sit there. When she did, Camille was happy to have her sit down beside her. Unlike the other classes, this one was smaller. There were only about fifteen students. In Ziva's other classes, there were at least thirty kids. Back at Mossad, when she was schooling, there was an average of ten students per class.
A younger man wearing a polo and khaki pants walked in and quickly made it to his desk. The class fell silent as he began tying on the keyboard of his laptop. He soon stood up and walked to the front and center of the class. "Alright," he began, "so, I'm Mr. Riley and as you know, I teach civics. Now, can anyone tell me what the first ten amendments are called." A boy in the back row raised his hand. Mr. Riley pointed to him and asked, "Name?"
"Justin," he replied, "and the first ten amendments are called the Bill of Rights, sir."
"Good," Mr. Riley said, "Now can anyone tell me what these amendments do?"
Camille raised her hand. Mr. Riley pointed to her and asked for her name. "My name's Camille," she answered, "and the Bill of rights state our rights and freedoms."
"Okay, Camille," Mr. Riley said, "name three rights or freedoms."
"Well, there's the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and the right to bear arms."
"Good job," he congratulated. "Now can anyone define legislature for me?" He pointed straight at Ziva and said, "Define legislature for me." Ziva was frozen. For one, she had no idea what exactly an amendment was nor had she any idea what legislature meant, but she kind of wanted to say a degree of murder.
"Uhm. . . I haven't the slightest clue," Ziva answered.
"Seriously?" Mr. Riley asked, taken back by this.
"Yes," Ziva said awkwardly. He cheeks were slightly flushed. She'd thought this schooling stuff would have been easier than this. Of course, this was America.
"Okay then," he said. "Then how about you here," he said looking at the kid in the middle of the first row. He answered correctly. They spent the rest of the class going over amendments and who passed them. After the class finished and bell rang, the students left and headed for fifth period. Ziva's fifth period was Spanish class with Mrs. Gomez. Luckily, she spoke Spanish fluently. Abby, Angela, and, Temperance had this class fifth period, too. When Abby spotted Ziva, she hurried over to her. They soon meet up with Temperance and headed across the street for building 6.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed chapter six. The next chapter should be up very soon. And I just want to say that I didn't mean anything bad or negitive or jugmental when i added Madison. I am only trying to show the huge differences between America and Israel. Not many high school stories where Ziva comes from Israel do this, and i felt it needed to be done. Also, Madison is pretty much my friend Jacklyn. Jacklyn is one of my greatest and closest friends. I am not emo or anything, though I kinda used to be, but now I'm mainly just a punk tomboy or whatever you want to call me. Anyway, the bands i mentioned, I love those bands. If you do too, great, if not, okay. If you've never heard of them, just know that usually these are rock and emo pop artists. I know I've said a lot on this, but I just want you all to know I meant nothing bad or biased about Madison's description. And also, I'm sorry i ended the chapter on such a blunt note, but I promise the next chapter will be super amazing. Also, I know you all are probably begging for romance between our characters, but i will tell you that the main romances are between Temperance/Seely and Ziva/Tony. Within the next few chapters, things should speed up. Then things will get exciting.