First Kiss (Heavy Influence) (3 page)

“OK,” I shouted after her. I stood there in silence, feeling weird and suddenly self-conscious. I looked over to Jake shrugging my shoulders. He smiled back and continued to dry his truck.

I watched Jake from the other side of the truck. His bare chest rubbed against the window as he attempted to dry the roof. The sight made me weak. I felt like a total perv but I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Then suddenly he opened the door and I quickly looked away, praying to God he hadn’t seen me ogling his all too perfect frame. He stepped up into the cab and continued drying the roof. My heart raced and my mouth went dry leaving my tongue feeling like cardboard. All I could see were his impossibly firm waist muscles shifting under his smooth, lightly tanned skin; I nearly jumped out of my own skin when his voice rang out.

“So, little Miss Alyssa Montgomery, what have you been up to all this time?” He asked, “You’re nearly all grown up.”

Laughing nervously, I fumbled for words. “Uh, well, just super stoked to finally be starting high school,” I stuttered, walking over to his side of the truck. I inspected his work, as if I really cared. “I’ve been taking piano lessons, playing volleyball and just hanging out really, not much else. What else is up with you?”

Jake was quiet for a few moments as his eyes searched my face. I felt the heat rising in my cheeks. I wanted to die. Finally he spoke.

“Besides rehearsing like a mad man with the band and just barely getting through school, you’re lookin’ at it,” he said. “Not sure if you knew, but we kinda been doin’ little mini-tours. So I’ve been missing a lot of school, but I managed to eek out getting into the 12th grade.” A proud grin stretched across his too handsome face.

“How does your mom feel about you eeking by?” I asked curiously. “My parents would kick my ass if I got anything below a B.”

“By eeking I mean I’m not an A student, more like a solid B some C’s. I think with everything that goes on with the band, she’s just happy I’m making it through.” He shrugged. “You know, we have a pretty beefy tour lined up this summer, so I’m stoked.”

His eyes sparkled when he spoke. I never noticed how blue they were, especially in contrast with his died black hair. Jake used to have light brown, nearly blond hair. Then one day it was black, and he’s never gone back.

“Wow, Jake, I had no idea. I feel bad for not paying attention,” I said, shamefaced. “Does your band have a website?”

              “Yeah, wanna come in and check it out?”

My insides tumbled around as I stared back at him. Nadine was right. He really was to die for. “Um, sure.”

I knew his mom wasn’t home. I assumed she was working. His dad had passed away when he was younger. I barely remembered his dad. Taking in a deep breath, I calmed myself. What the hell did I think would happen anyway? Stupid Nadine, this was all her fault. Ok, breathe deeply I told myself, desperately trying to stay calm. Like an out of body experience I saw myself running across our lawns into my house.

“Are you ok?” he asked.

My frantic thoughts stopped in their tracks. “Yeah. I was just thinking if there was anything I needed to do.”

             
“Alright, cool.” He turned, leading the way into the house.

I continued to fight the voices in my head, trying not to look like a schizophrenic. Besides,
whom was I kidding? I was no match for Nadine and her big boobs. Not to mention all the hot chicks who were always hanging around Jake. The Envies, as we underclassmen called them. I guess I had been paying attention to a portion of Jake’s life instead of Jake himself. But now that Nadine had shed light on him my eyes were wide open.

3

Alyssa

I hadn’t been inside of Jake’s house in over two years. We walked through the foyer and into the living room. I was shocked by the change. I didn’t recognize one thing from years ago. The inside was totally remodeled. Gone was the 60’s-ish shag carpet, replaced with dark hard wood floors. The mute gray fabric sofas had been replaced with dark tan leather ones. They looked expensive and totally plush. A huge TV, the size of a bay window, covered the far
wall. And an electronic system stared back at me menacingly.
Note to self: Never Touch That.

The other
wall, which was once solid, was now all windows, allowing a view of the pool and back yard. The back yard appeared to be the same. It had always been landscaped like an oasis with huge banana trees, ivy and those sweet smelling Gardenia flowers. I loved his back yard – it reminded me of being poolside in Hawaii.

“The computer’s in my room,” he said. “Oh, take the slaps off. Kate doesn’t want us grimmin’ up or scuffin’ her shit. Like rubber will scuff, but whatever.” He shrugged and a flash of irritation ran across his face.

I stopped just short of the earth tone runner leading toward the hallway. “Oh, ok.” I said, kicking off my flip-flops. “Hey, just curious, why do you call your mom by her name?”

Jake looked at me with hooded eyes and a bent smile. “Because when we’re out doin’ band shit, the last thing I wanna shout out is –
Hey Mom
– so, naturally.” He shrugged. “And at this point I prefer it.”

Walking over the yummy rugs in my bare feet, I could feel why Kate didn’t want them messed up. I sank in an inch they were so deluxe. We continued down the hallway until we reached a door at the end. Jake had changed rooms. He used to be in the closest room to his mom’s, now he was the farthest. The first thing I noticed was a French door opened at the other end of the room. It led out to the back yard. A hot tub was just to the right of it. What a guy, I thought. Of course he’d want this room. I would.

“Wow, this is cool, when did you switch rooms?” I said, marveling at how neat everything was. Matt’s room was a messy piece of shit compared to this. “I would die to have a hot tub right next to my room. Dude, you have your own bathroom too!” I walked from one side to the other, scanning every inch of every surface. I landed on his bed, crossing my legs up underneath me, batting my eyes. “I’ll trade you.”

“Ha, I’m sure you would,” he said, pensively. His eyes locked on mine and my hands went numb. He flashed his perfect smile at me and shook his head. “Is your dad still a hard ass?”

“Yep, the older I get, the more of a hard ass he is. My poor guy friends don’t even come to the door anymore. They just hang on the corner until I come out.” I laughed at the thought. But it wasn’t funny. He was way too strict and because of this my brother, sister and I always lied to him. “But, he loves me, so what can I do?”

“You can’t do anything, and I see why he’s such a hard ass.” My hands tingled hearing his words.

Was that a compliment? Why would he say it like that? I felt the heat start to rise in my face.

“What?” he said perplexed.

“Nothing,” I laughed nervously, shaking my head. My spastic insides were getting the best of me, and I got up to look out into the back yard. Gah, I knew he totally caught me staring at him like an idiot. I scrambled to find anything to move me from my embarrassment, “When ya gonna pull up that music?”

“Hello, can’t you see I’m booting up my computer?” He replied playfully. “See, clearly this is why your dad is a hard ass.”

Finally, in a more neutral mood I walked over to Jake. I bent down, leaning over his shoulder as he pulled up his band website. I was impressed. It was done up professional, just like all the other hot bands out there. There was his picture, as big as life, staring back at me like someone I didn’t know. He clicked on the music player and turned up the volume. Unfamiliar sounds streamed out of the speakers, a guitar riff and keyboard melody drifted out over the room. Drumbeat followed and then a voice, a voice I didn’t recognize. I really liked it, the alternative rock-punky vibe. I closed my eyes. 

“So,
whose singing?”

“It’s me! Duh!”

“No!” I shouted, “Oh my God! You sound so good, like so old! I mean not like an old man or anything. Wow, you totally kill it!” I was completely floored. Nadine was gonna shit a brick when she heard him.

Jake lowered the music and spun around in his chair to face me. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I kept taking in slow deep breaths in an attempt to steady my racing pulse. Without a word he got up and walked out of the room. I took this opportunity to look around more closely. The walls were plastered with posters of rock bands, surf shots and bikini girls. The bikini girls were all types. I couldn’t tell what kind of girl he was into. I wondered if he had a girlfriend. I got up quickly and snooped around to see if he had pictures with any girls lying around.
Anything to identify a special someone. I only found party pics and band snap shots. Yes, there were girls and 2 of them were in most of the shots. Hmm, I wondered.

I sat back down on the bed just as Jake came through the door. My insides were tense and it made me fidgety. He was carrying a bag and some water.

“You thirsty?”

I nodded my head yes. Why was I speechless? Come on Aly,
it’s only Jake, I reminded myself. Get over it. He tossed me a small bottle of water and sat down next to me. He placed the bag on the floor at his feet. I nearly drank the whole bottle of water in one gulp.

“Shit, you were thirsty! You want more?” he said, pulling what appeared to be t-shirts out of the bag.

I licked my lips. “No thanks, this is good. I didn’t realize how parched I was.”

Jake stopped and stared at me with a crooked grin and my heart skipped. We were only inches apart and his blue eyes took my breath away. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. I swear I must have been drooling.

“Parched huh? Who says that?” he teased. “That’s a word my grandma uses.” I was ok with him teasing me. It pulled any weirdness out of the room.

“I read a lot, for your information. English literature is my fave.” I tried to think of something else to add, but nothing came to mind. I leaned into him with my shoulder. “So there.”

That same scent from earlier caught my attention, the scent that was on his shirt. God that smell was gonna be the death of me, none of the guys we hung out with smelled as good.

“I wanted to give you some merch,” he said holding up a black t-shirt with the words
– Rita’s Revolt –
printed in white bold letters. That must be his band name. “And some CD’s, you can pass these singles out to your friends, and you can have these,” he said holding up hard CD cases.

I grabbed the t-shirt and held it up, staring at it more closely.

“Jake, I’m super impressed, I really had no idea. I know I keep sayin’ that, but geez.” I smiled at the t-shirt. Then instantly melted from the shock of electricity I felt when he touched my knee and thanked me.

“So Alyssa, tell me more about what you’ve been up to.” His hand remained on my knee. “You say you read English literature, like what?”

This time he wasn’t being a smart ass. I leaned back against the pile of pillows, putting my arms behind my head. This prompted him to pull his hand away. I was relieved.

“Well, I really like Jane Austin. I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but I really like those old-time, long ago romance novels.” I paused, “The kind where the guy is chivalrous. Guys seem to be such jerks these days. You know, our friend Greg, Greg Santana, the bigger one? The stories he shares with us about his brothers – it’s like shock factor or something.”

“Oh, I know exactly who you’re talking about and yeah, I agree. Those guys are idiots and they think their shit doesn’t stink, a bunch of jock dorks.” He shook his head. “Not sure what’s up with Greg being so fat knowing how his sporto brothers are built. I fucking hate sportos. So, what kind of stories has Greg told you?”

I pondered for a moment if I should tell him. What the heck, I thought; it would be nice to have someone other than a bunch of 14 year olds to give perspective. I mean
, Greg could be lying for all I knew.

“Well,” I started laughing nervously. “I don’t know,” I squirmed, and his smile grew bigger.

“Look at you, you’re blushing!” He grabbed my shoulder and his face fell flat. He leaned in closer. “What’s tubby telling you anyway? I wanna know if he’s feeding you a bunch of bullshit.” His intensity surprised me. He got up and sat back at his desk. He leaned way back in his chair and stared at me, waiting for my answer.

“Jake, don’t embarrass me. I feel silly even talking about it with you.” I looked down at my feet. “I mean, he just tells us stories about how they bet on how many blow jobs they can get—”

Jake interrupted me right away.

“Ok, so this is really what you talk about with the guys you hang out with? Blow jobs?” Jake was aghast. “Do you even know what that is? I’m no expert on when chicks start learning this shit. I never talked about this stuff with girls.”

“Yes. I know what it is.”

“OK, well let’s hear it.” He didn’t smile or flinch.

I stared at Jake, completely horrified. I couldn’t believe the direction our conversation had gone. My face must have said it all. We sat there in silence for what seemed like forever, and then he spun around to face his computer.

“Alyssa, don’t always believe what you hear. Guys talk shit, they make stuff up and they lie,” he said while he typed. “Trust me. I used to make shit up all the time. I know it was only a few years ago.”