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Authors: Pnina Baim
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doing a good deed by keeping the kid-at-risk in a safe environment. Although that irritated her to no end, the truth was that she had nothing to do, and left to her own devices she had hooked up with a boy she would probably never see again on the pretense of getting over another boy whom she’ll never see again. If nothing else, maybe she’d learn Hebrew. “Fine, I’ll go.”
Henny and the other woman smiled widely, obviously thrilled with this new development, and her mother let out a deep breath. “Okay, then, let’s get you ready.”
Chapter Seven
A typical day in seminary could be summed up in three words: boring, boring, and boring. Every day was the same. Gaby woke up, put on the same floor-length black skirt and collared button-up shirt that fit the school’s dress code, dragged herself to class, and watched teachers talk over her head on topics far beyond her ability to understand. If she couldn’t pass high school, why would anyone think she would be able to delve into the esoteric meanings of Tehillim?
Gaby was sure she would have died, literally expired in her bed at night, if not for her roomies, as they liked to call themselves in that weird seminary vernacular the girls had come up with.
Gaby first met Serena on the front steps of the building, when Serena offered to help Gaby drag her single duffel bag, filled with appropriate clothing choices her mother had quickly purchased over the weekend, up the stairs to the main office. Serena had loitered while Gaby checked in with the dorm mother. When Mrs. Belsky wondered aloud where Gaby would sleep, Serena immediately jumped to offer the extra bed in her room.
Rikky was another roommate. She was a funky European girl who hailed from Belgium, and apparently Serena’s new BFF. For some reason that Gaby couldn’t fathom, the two girls had taken Gaby under their wings.
Sarah, a quiet girl from Baltimore, was the fourth roommate. She was a sweet girl, but she was more interested in reviewing her school work than partying with the other three. Sarah, according to Serena, had undergone a dramatic change. In just one month of seminary, she went from going on co-ed trips to Poland and deferring acceptance to Yeshiva University so she could spend the year in Israel, to deciding that YU was too modern for her and daydreaming about her fantasy life married to a full-time learning boy.
To Gaby, ending up in SBY, as her seminary was colloquially known, and in Serena’s room, seemed like incredible divine intervention. The odds of her getting accepted into the only seminary that didn’t count amongst their student body at least a couple of girls from Gaby’s high school was nothing short of a miracle. By some coincidence, Serena was the only other student in the entire school from Brooklyn. She wasn’t friends with anyone from Gaby’s high school, and had no inkling of Gaby’s less-than-impeccable reputation. Without the fear of being stuck with the label as the bummy girl from a dysfunctional family, she was able to relax a little.
The fact that Serena and Gaby were the only two girls that were “in-towners” bestowed upon them a certain intangible coolness that they enjoyed exploiting when it was convenient. Gaby couldn’t deny that if nothing else, this whole seminary experiment was worth being on the same team as Serena, the most popular girl in the school.
It was an interesting anthropological scenario. Despite Serena’s eccentric habits of staying up half the night, writing in her journal, and listening to alternative, underground music, she was popular, at least among the students. She dressed in the most fashionable brands and seemed to have an unlimited expense account, which she was quick to share. If anyone was homesick and needed a shoulder to cry on, Serena was willing to sit and commiserate with them over their loneliness. Serena’s mother, after a long battle with breast cancer, had died when Serena was
Henny and the other woman smiled widely, obviously thrilled with this new development, and her mother let out a deep breath. “Okay, then, let’s get you ready.”
Chapter Seven
A typical day in seminary could be summed up in three words: boring, boring, and boring. Every day was the same. Gaby woke up, put on the same floor-length black skirt and collared button-up shirt that fit the school’s dress code, dragged herself to class, and watched teachers talk over her head on topics far beyond her ability to understand. If she couldn’t pass high school, why would anyone think she would be able to delve into the esoteric meanings of Tehillim?
Gaby was sure she would have died, literally expired in her bed at night, if not for her roomies, as they liked to call themselves in that weird seminary vernacular the girls had come up with.
Gaby first met Serena on the front steps of the building, when Serena offered to help Gaby drag her single duffel bag, filled with appropriate clothing choices her mother had quickly purchased over the weekend, up the stairs to the main office. Serena had loitered while Gaby checked in with the dorm mother. When Mrs. Belsky wondered aloud where Gaby would sleep, Serena immediately jumped to offer the extra bed in her room.
Rikky was another roommate. She was a funky European girl who hailed from Belgium, and apparently Serena’s new BFF. For some reason that Gaby couldn’t fathom, the two girls had taken Gaby under their wings.
Sarah, a quiet girl from Baltimore, was the fourth roommate. She was a sweet girl, but she was more interested in reviewing her school work than partying with the other three. Sarah, according to Serena, had undergone a dramatic change. In just one month of seminary, she went from going on co-ed trips to Poland and deferring acceptance to Yeshiva University so she could spend the year in Israel, to deciding that YU was too modern for her and daydreaming about her fantasy life married to a full-time learning boy.
To Gaby, ending up in SBY, as her seminary was colloquially known, and in Serena’s room, seemed like incredible divine intervention. The odds of her getting accepted into the only seminary that didn’t count amongst their student body at least a couple of girls from Gaby’s high school was nothing short of a miracle. By some coincidence, Serena was the only other student in the entire school from Brooklyn. She wasn’t friends with anyone from Gaby’s high school, and had no inkling of Gaby’s less-than-impeccable reputation. Without the fear of being stuck with the label as the bummy girl from a dysfunctional family, she was able to relax a little.
The fact that Serena and Gaby were the only two girls that were “in-towners” bestowed upon them a certain intangible coolness that they enjoyed exploiting when it was convenient. Gaby couldn’t deny that if nothing else, this whole seminary experiment was worth being on the same team as Serena, the most popular girl in the school.
It was an interesting anthropological scenario. Despite Serena’s eccentric habits of staying up half the night, writing in her journal, and listening to alternative, underground music, she was popular, at least among the students. She dressed in the most fashionable brands and seemed to have an unlimited expense account, which she was quick to share. If anyone was homesick and needed a shoulder to cry on, Serena was willing to sit and commiserate with them over their loneliness. Serena’s mother, after a long battle with breast cancer, had died when Serena was
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