The Gathering Read Online Free PDF Page B

youngest.
    "Didn't your father tell you to leave it alone?"
    Joe sat back down and made a face at his parents behind their backs.   Lorraine sighed.
    "I saw that, young man."
Rachel and David laughed quietly.   Aaron found himself smiling at the thought of this Gathering and seeing his friends.   It had been six months since the last Gathering and he always enjoyed seeing Alia and Sean as well as the Hearsts, Turners and Forresters.   Lorraine looked at her husband.
    "You look happy."
    "I am."
    "You love a good party.   You always have."
    "Sure do.   Besides everyone is envious that you're my date."
    "Shut up."
Aaron laughed.   He looked at his wife and it occurred to him that he still had no idea why she had married him.   Lorraine Levine was, by all accounts, gorgeous.   She was blond and curvy with the biggest brown eyes Aaron had ever seen.   She had been out of his league when he first asked her out twenty years ago, but she had still said yes.
They were the youngest of all of the dignitaries, but Aaron was a rabbi in great standing.   That was why he was chosen to lead his people five years before when Rabbi Goldfarb had passed away.   Aaron was forty and Lorraine was thirty-eight.   He often missed the Old World and the Gatherings were a piece of that, something that was still tangible about the past.  
    "Knock it off, Rachel!"
    Aaron looked over to see his two oldest going at it again.   He looked at Lorraine who just shook her head.
    "This is gonna be a long trip," he said.
    She nodded and settled in.   She could not wait to get to the Fail.

 
     
     
     
     
    7
     
Rebecca Stark was sitting at the kitchen table reading a book about King Arthur.   She mulled over the picture of Guinevere and Lancelot and sighed.   Alisha walked into the kitchen and grabbed an apple from the large bowl near the sink and turned around, leaning against the counter.
    "What's the matter, Beck?"
    Rebecca turned around and shrugged.
    "Nothing."
    Alisha walked over to the table and sat next to her sister.   She reached over and moved the book so she could see what her little sister was staring at so intently and smiled.
    "An undeniable love."
    Rebecca started to blush and looked down at the picture.   Alisha smiled and pushed the book back.
    "Anyone in mind?"
    Rebecca smiled.  
    "No, not really.   Lish?"
    "Yeah?"
    "Do you think any boy will ever like me?"
    Alisha cocked her head and shrugged.   She looked at the teenager, her shoulder-length brown hair, nose covered in freckles and those warm brown eyes hidden behind the wire-framed glasses.
    "Sure.   Why do you ask?"
    Rebecca shrugged and continued to look down.
    "C'mon, Beck."
    "It's just that I'm not exactly beautiful like the rest of the girls in this family.   I mean I wear glasses and have this awful dull hair.   I heard some of the other girls at school say how plain I was.   Why would anyone like me?"
    Alisha dropped her shoulders and leaned on the table.
"Well, first things first.   You're only fifteen.   You're just starting to grow up, Beck.   Give yourself a chance.   You probably weren't paying much attention when I was fifteen 'cause you were still playing with dolls, but I was a mess."
    "But boys still noticed you."
    Alisha laughed.
    "No, they noticed these."
    Alisha pointed to her chest and continued to laugh.
    "I developed early and they weren't interested in me, only these two."
    Rebecca blushed and looked down.
    "I don't have that problem."
    Alisha took her sister's hand.
    "Do you know why Vance fell in love with me?"   Alisha asked.
    "Because of your boobs?"
    Alisha smiled.
    "Although he likes them, no.   He fell in love with me because of who I am… every part of who I am, not just what I look like.   He thinks I'm beautiful because he loves me."
    "He likes your boobs."
    Alisha laughed and shook her head.
    "Do you want to fall in love right now?"
    Rebecca shook her head.
    "No, I just want someone I like to ask me to dance and maybe