First Kiss (Heavy Influence) (16 page)

***

The sun hung low, casting a hue of golden tones over everything it touched. It was a luminous late afternoon and the intense heat was finally subsiding. Staring at the water, I wanted to go swimming. I was overwhelmed with mixed emotions, and the water would be a soothing remedy. I moved, quietly, to an unoccupied lounge. Nadine hopped up, taking a seat next to Chris.

Hearing my name called out shook me from my cloud.

              “Dude, Aly! Turn on the music,” Nadine shouted “Hello, you there?”

             
Chris looked quizzically at me, mouth half open. “So, Aly…Jake Masters? Really?” He clearly didn’t believe what Nadine had told him, whatever that was. My mouth hinged for a few seconds. “Ha! Aw, Aly, you’re pink. Does that mean I’m right?”

Chris continued to chuckle and Nadine punched him in the arm.

              “Don’t tease her, you jerk.” Nadine scolded.

             
“Ouch!” Chris winced, holding the accosted area and playfully shoving her back. Nadine grabbed his muscled-up bicep and rubbed it, apologetically. “This time I swear I’m not teasing her.”

Chris continued to observe me. We all silently glanced back and forth at each other. Chris shook his head and said, “Wow, little Alyssa and Jake Masters. Who woulda
thunk it?”

             
I was insulted. “What’s that suppose to mean? And besides, we’re friends. We just started hanging out again, that’s all,” I said, defensively.

Nadine and Nicole came to my guard as well. “Yeah, and why not Jake Masters?” Nicole piped in.

              Nadine punched Chris again and he yelped, getting up and taking a few steps away.

“Hey, man, I
don’t mean it like that.” He smiled. “I mean, shit man, I guess I could see it. Aly, growin’ up n’shit.” He looked at Nadine and then to me. “It’s just hard for me to think of you any other way than my little sister’s annoying friend.”

             
“Oh, now I’m annoying!” I chided, half laughing. “You’re a dick, keep digging yourself a hole, douchebag.” I playfully hurled the worst words I could come up with, at him.

             
“Oh, douchebag am I?” he exclaimed, quickly dashing over and scooping me up into his arms. I fought him, knowing he was about to throw me into the pool and I heard Nadine scream as she flew into the water in the arms of one of Chris’ sporto friends.

Chris held me tightly as he jumped towards the water and j
ust then, in mid-air, I glanced up seeing Jake come out of Nicole’s house into the backyard. Chris held me firmly as we hit the water. I opened my eyes to a million little bubbles as I struggled against his tight grip, he didn’t let go of me until our heads popped out of the water.

“Next time you’ll think about call
ing me a douchebag.” He laughed, taunting me with a little splash to the face. Chris effortlessly climbed out of the pool. The muscles on his back flexed and shimmered in the late afternoon sunlight. Hopping to his feet he turned, surprised to see Jake. “Oh man, speak of the devil,” Chris said loudly and I could feel my face getting red. “We were just talking about you. What’s up bro?”

Was this really happening?

16

Alyssa

I wanted
to scream. I now stood at the shallow end of the pool and stared dumbly at everyone. What the hell was Jake doing here anyway? Nadine waved eagerly for me to get out of the pool, but my feet were stuck to the bottom as if encased in cement.

             
“Yeah man, Aly said she’d be over here,” Jake explained.

             
“Hey it’s cool,” Chris said, awkwardly looking around. “Your girl was teasing me so I had to let her have it.”

             
I wished I were a mind reader. Jake glanced over at me, giving a nod and lop-sided smile. Chris continued with his nonsense and I wanted to punch him. Jake stood there glancing between everyone.

             
“So, you and Aly, huh?” he asked, snooping – like it was all a lie or something.

I wanted to sink to the bottom of the pool. I pictured myself hurling one of the nearby plastic dog toys at his head.

              “Somethin’ like that,” Jake remarked, validating the rumors.

My head must have exploded. I only heard ringing in my ears. Did I hear him correctly? Searching for Nicole, she’d moved to a lounge, sitting down with a towel up to her mouth to hide her expression. Our eyes met and thankfully I finally felt my feet against the pool’s smooth black bottom, though I was practically hyperventilating. 

“You got a towel for her?” Jake asked.

             
“Oh, yeah.” Chris readily bolted over, grabbing a fresh towel from a large rattan basket near the fire pit.

Jake stood poolside in all his hotness, holding a towel open for me. I emerged fully clothed, sloshing over to him. His brilliant smile broadened across his face. I was mesmerized and breathless. Awkward silence hovered like the L.A. smog as they all watched us. Nadine came to the rescue, clearing her throat.

“So Jake, did you work out the sitch with the party?” she prodded, moving closer to Chris. She killed me! She was a piece of metal and a good looking guy was the magnet – she was always makin’ moves.

“Yeah, I did. That’s why I came over. Nine tonight. Two-thirteen Circle Court, Hermosa.”

With a towel draped over my shoulders, for a brief moment I felt at ease. My friends and Jake were all in one neat little box. The fear of Nadine freaking out, whoosh, it was gone and if Jake didn’t care about Rachel, neither should I.

I dried myself, rubbing the towel up under my eyes. I knew I looked like a drowned raccoon with mascara melted underneath my eyes like black candle wax.

“So…what are you doing here,” I asked softly, surprised that I was embarrassed by his presence.

“I had it out with Rachel and I told everyone to leave.”

“So, what does that mean?”

“It means I’ll see them later and Rachel will get over it.” He wrapped the towel more tightly around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze. “Walk out front with me.”

I trembled inside. “I’ll be back,” I called out.

Jake and Chris exchanged nods.

“So, when you playin’ next? I hear you’re going on tour soon,” Chris asked.

“Yeah, we leave in a couple of w
eeks, back before school starts,” Jake informed.

My stomach sank. He never mentioned he would be gone the entire summer. Chris finally finished
ooo’ing and ahhh’ing over Jake’s impending tour, while I had a nervous breakdown waiting.

***

I sulked, leaning against Chris’s beat up SUV parked in the driveway. That’s one thing I could give Chris, even though his family had money, someone would never guess it with him driving that piece of shit around town. I liked that quality in a guy. Too bad he could be such a jerk. I finally met Jake’s gaze and his lips peaked with a smile. I went mushy inside.

“What are you staring at,” I demanded, playfully.

“Oh, just a little raccoon,” he brushed my matted, sticky hair away from my forehead.

“Oh, my God,” I laughed, wide mouthed. “I knew it! I thought the same thing when I got out of the pool.” I futilely rubbed the towel under my eyes. The mascara was already dried like black tar.

“Oh don’t freak out,” he chuckled, his eyes twinkling like jewels.

“You’re the last person I expected to see here,” I admitted.

“You told me to text, so I did. Then I remembered you said you’d be here, so I walked over.” He took a step back from me, with his arms outstretched. “Everything ok?”

I watched the palms of his hands turn upwards. My head
was swimming. I sighed deeply. “I just didn’t expect you here, that’s all.”

“I just came over here to apologize about Rachel and to tell you I told her to
cool it, that hooking up with her was a mistake.” He huffed, backing away from me. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come here, but I thought we were on the same page. You know, no bullshit.”

“I’m not bullshitting,
” I quickly affirmed.

“Aly, I’m not sure what’s going
on here, this thing with us.” He shook his head, looking as confused as I felt.

“I know, I know….” I said, maybe a little too strongly. I put my face in my hands, speaking into them. “I just want to be alone with you, for a little while. This Rachel stuff is…she’s super territorial and I don’t get it…and what do you mean by telling her it was a mistake?”

Jake stared back at me blinking twice. He was silent for a long moment before speaking. “Ok, here’s the deal with Rachel, she’s been hanging around for years, literally.” He sighed deeply, stumbling with his explanation. “She’s best friends with Sienna. You know Dump, our drummer? She’s his girlfriend.”

“I know all this, Jake.” I reminded him.

“Wait, just listen. I knew she’d always liked me, and one night, we were drinking after a show, doing things we shouldn’t be doing, and we hooked up.”

I swore the earth shook when I heard his admission.

“Ok,” I said, trying to keep my cool. “So here we are. We admit we like each other, and now you’re leaving on tour? I mean, when were you going to tell me?” I sighed, only able to stare down at my bare feet. I couldn’t look at him. “I don’t know what to think. I’m bummed to hear you’re leaving for, like….weeks. The whole summer, that’s all.”

I finally lifted my head and met his eyes.

“Try not to think about it then.” He laughed and I gave him a tight stare. I didn’t think it was funny. I was bruised up inside because of all these emotions bouncing around like a boomerang. “Aly, I have shows here all over LA and OC, so I’ll be home some of the time, and I’ll be back one week before school starts.”

Hearing what he said only relieved my dismay for a split second when I spotted w
hat would only worsen my attitude, bobbing and weaving in the distance.

“Great,” I muttered and he turned to see what I was looking at. Matt and Grant were coming towards us on their skateboards.

Jake threw his hand up. “Ok, well, are you coming? I don’t really want to hang out here, you know. Grant doesn’t think the best of me since I didn’t pick him to be in the band.”

“Why didn’t you?”

Jake shrugged. “Believe it or not I actually do think he’s better, but it’s the age thing, with Grant being only 14. Notting, our manager, doesn’t want to babysit.”

“Really, did you tell Grant that?”

“No, of course not,” he guffawed. “We just picked Mike because he was the oldest. He fit pretty much what we were looking for, with all of being 17 or older. Look, are you coming?”

As soon as he spit out his last word I heard the slapping of the skateboard against the cement curb as they rolled up.

“Hey,” I greeted, half-heartedly. Jake stepped away from me as Matt walked up. I felt as if I should have a sign on my head flashing
Awkward
. Matt still had no idea I’d had a change of heart. What if Jake had a change of heart about me while he was away? Then I’d be breaking Matt’s heart for nothing. I was so confused, but every fiber in me wanted Jake, not Matt.

“Dude, Aly, what
happened to you?” Matt chuckled, “You look like shit.”

“Aww, did you get pushed into the pool?” Grant teased as he put his arm around my shoulders, giving me a squeeze. Grant stared
at Jake, giving him a head nod. “Sup Jake.”

“Hey man,
” Jake said a bit uneasy. “Alright Aly, I’ll talk to you later.”

I was frozen. I wanted to say that I’d be right there, but nothing came out. I wasn’t ready to tell Matt, but I knew he was about to find out, everyone on the other side of the house now knew about Jake and I. I felt guilty. But Matt took his sweet time figuring out if he liked me, so I shouldn’t feel bad, I told myself. I stood silent, watching Jake’s God-like figure walk away down the street. I felt a hard nudge at my shoulder.

“What’s he doing here?” Matt asked.

“Huh, what?” I responded, in a daze.

“I asked what Jake was doing here. Is everything ok?”

“Uh, yeah, everything’s fine. I need to go home and change. Just look at me.” I looked down at myself, holding my arms out to the side with a crooked smile. “Not my best look.”

“Alright, you comin’ back?”

“I don’t know,” I replied, distracted. “I need to go back inside for a sec.”

Dashing back poolside, I quickly unloaded a plan & requested everyone not to let on about Jake to Matt. I wanted to do it myself.

They nodded back at me in understanding. 

17

Alyssa

             
It was nearly dark and my stomach was in knots with the anticipation of the evening’s unknown events. I said goodbye to my parents and walked out the door, hoping they wouldn’t ask questions. I cut across our freshly mowed lawns, looking around to see if anyone was watching me. I felt like I was doing something wrong – which I was. If my dad knew what I was up to he’d lock me in my room with a dead bolt. I knocked softly on the door and waited. I was hoping it would be his mom who answered the door, but it was Jake, in all of bright-eyed perfectness. My knees buckled.