Phone Calls From a Rock Star (33 page)

After talking to my father, I decided to
shower and get the sticky mess out of my hair. I was climbing the
stairs to my bedroom when my phone rang. My heart danced when
Jake’s number came up on the ID.

“
Where are you?” he
demanded.

“
Home,” I whispered, a tiny
sob blocking my throat. “And I need you.”

“
I’m on my way,” he said
and hung up his phone.

After my shower, me and the girls curled up
on the sofa and watched movies. None of us spoke, though every once
in a while, a whimper would escape my lips.

Annie leapt off the sofa when the doorbell
rang and returned a second later with Jake. He rushed to my side
and took me in his arms, dropping kisses on my head. I closed my
eyes and inhaled his scent, comforted by his mere presence.

He loosened his hold to peer down in my
face. “What happened? I was on my way to your school to surprise
you when I got your message.”

I shook my head, not able to retell the
nasty day. Annie spoke for me. She explained to him about the
tabloid article, the reporters in the parking lot, and the nasty
girl at Burger Kastle. His body tensed and he held me securely to
his side.

“
Are you okay, Iz?” he
asked. His blue eyes were laced with concern and anger.

“
I’m fine,” I promised. And
I was. Everything was perfect when he was around.

He kissed my forehead. “I’ll drive you back
to school tomorrow. If those reporters are hanging around, maybe I
can get them off your back.”

***

He stayed with us that night with me
situated comfortably in his lap. We watched television and ordered
pizza and when I woke the next morning, I was safely encased in
Jake’s arms on the sofa. The girls must have thrown a blanket over
us and slept in my room for I couldn’t find them anywhere.

Jake’s eyes were closed but a tiny smile
appeared on his lips. I snuggled under his chin, content to be with
him.

“
I missed you, Iz,” he
murmured.

***

I rode with him in his car as we drove back
to school. Annie and Cammy were in front of us in Annie’s car. Jake
held my hand the whole way, glancing at me often. He was so
handsome to me in his jeans, t-shirt and bandana. He wore dark
sunglasses over his eyes and my heart thumped each time I looked at
him.

He released my hand to turn down the radio’s
volume. He cleared his throat and I stared at him, nervous
butterflies beginning to flutter in my stomach.

“
Iz, I’m really sorry about
this whole Monique mess. I never intended for you to get caught up
in the middle of it.”

“
You couldn’t possibly know
what those tabloids would do,” I said.

“
I figured they’d spot me
and Monique, but I thought I’d have a chance to explain the whole
thing to you before it blew up into something it’s not. It never
occurred to me that they’d camp out at your school. I’m really
sorry, angel.”

“
It’s not your fault,” I
whispered.

“
Yeah it is,” he said, his
voice agitated. “I really didn’t want to get mixed up in Monique’s
affairs again, but she called, and I felt guilty. She doesn’t have
many friends and none she can count on to help her out in
situations like this. I asked Nick to come with as sort of a
chaperone, you know, so that you wouldn’t suspect anything. I love
only you, I swear. I don’t ever want to lose you, Iz. Monique is
nothing to me.”

My heart fluttered.

“
I trust you, Jake,” I
whispered.

I did trust him. Before I met him, I would
have been ready to stereotype him as a partying womanizer, ready to
jump from bed to bed. But he wasn’t like that—none of them were.
Jake had character and a strong respect for life he’d learned from
his father.

“
Good,” he said, eyes on
the road again. He relaxed and squeezed my hand. “Because from the
moment I met you, I knew I loved you. No one else could ever come
close to replacing you.”

My heart sang as I scooted as close to him
as the seat belt would allow. I let his hand go to wrap mine around
his bicep. “One good thing came out of this. At least all those
women out there know you’re mine.”

He flashed a wide grin and dropped a quick
kiss on my head. “That I am.”

When we finally reached my school, my
stomach lurched, and not just because I knew he’d be leaving me
again, soon. I think even Jake was taken aback by what greeted
us.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Jake whipped his Mustang into a spot next to
Annie and cursed loudly, making me wince. He yanked my cell out of
my pocket and handed it to me.

“
Call the girls and tell
them to stay in the car until I say so.”

I did, eyes wide and frightened. He yelled
at his attorney in his cell phone while I watched the circus that
had erupted in the parking lot overnight. Once Jake finished his
call, he shoved his phone in his pocket and gave me a weak smile.
“Are you up for this?”

“
Do you think something’s
happened?” I whimpered, fear gripping my heart.

“
No. They saw you leave
yesterday and never return. They probably think there’s a story in
it.”

I massaged my forehead in frustration. So
what if I left school for the night? As long as I had parental
permission, why should they care? It was no concern of theirs.

“
Let’s get this over with,”
I murmured. I knew I couldn’t stall much longer.

“
Wait until I get your
door.” He jumped out of the car and raced around to my side,
yanking open my door. He motioned for Annie and Cammy to get out
and get behind him. He wrapped his arm around my waist and tucked
me neatly into his side. We’d only managed a few steps before we
were hounded.

“
Jake, I take it the rumors
about Monique are false – that you’re not really going to marry
Monique?”

Jake’s snort vibrated down to me and I
smiled a little bit.

“
Jake, are you and Isabella
back together?”

“
Isabella, what do you
think of Jake’s relationship with Monique?”

Jake paused and placed his lips near my ear.
“Hang on, angel.”

He straightened and stared at the horde
surrounding us. “Leave her alone, okay? Monique and I are not a
couple. I never broke things off with Isabella, end of story. Now
go away. Back off. There are kids trying to study here.”

He gave my waist a quick squeeze and pushed
his way through the crowd, ignoring their continued questions.
Annie and Cammy were right behind us and I hardly took a breath
until we were safely on the other side of the gates.

He released me and took my hand. “Are you
alright?”

“
Jake,” I said, panic
creeping up my throat. “They had video cameras. Did you see
that?”

He ran his hand through his hair before
pinching the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, I saw that. But maybe
they’ll leave you alone now that they know there’s nothing going on
with me and Monique.”

He sounded as doubtful as I felt.

Dean Fletcher met us in front of the Admin
building. He asked if we were okay and offered Jake one of the
guest dorms for the night. Jake declined and disappointment flooded
my heart. I wanted him to stay.

He walked us to our dorm but pulled me aside
as the girls scampered in the building. “I have to get home, but
I’ll see you next weekend.”

“
Yeah, bright and early
Sunday morning,” I chirped with false happiness. It still hurt a
bit that I wouldn’t be part of his birthday celebration. But if I
just said the word, he’d arrange it.

He grabbed my face and smiled. “You know all
I want for my birthday is for you to spend that entire week with
me. And you could throw in one of those little nighties – maybe in
black.”

“
I’ll see if they have one
in your size,” I teased.

He grinned, crinkling his eyes, and captured
my lips with his. I wrapped my arms around his neck and melted into
him.

All too soon, he pulled away. “I have to go,
Iz. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“
If you can fight the mob,”
I muttered.

“
I’ll be fine,” he said
with a kiss. “But you, please, don’t leave campus. If you
absolutely have to, don’t leave alone.”

“
What about when I leave to
come to your place?” I asked.

“
Maybe Annie’s boyfriend
can walk you out,” he suggested.

“
I can handle myself,” I
said. He frowned. “But if it will make you feel better…”

He kissed my nose. “It will. Bye, angel. I
love you.”

He kissed me once more and sprinted down the
sidewalk.

***

The week before Spring Break crept by
slowly, as if taunting me. I saw my face a dozen times on TV that
week and let me tell you, my fifteen minutes of fame was definitely
running over time. It was not fun—not in the least.

Seth thought it was hilarious and called me
often, asking for my autograph. I hung up on him.

Annie snuck into town to buy all the latest
tabloids instead of waiting for her subscription to be delivered on
Saturday. She went through each one, reading aloud the bits of
information on me and Jake—especially the big story on how he came
to my rescue and valiantly escorted me back to school. The photo
accompanying that article was actually very good. It was of me
leaning into his body, and his arm wrapped possessively around me.
I cut it out and put it in a frame.

Cammy, bless her heart,
started a scrapbook.

Things at school began to change. Instead of
whispering behind my back, everyone seemed to be taking up my
cause. They cursed the reporters lurking outside the school grounds
and warned me whenever one was too close to the fence.

Well, nearly everyone supported me. Kimberly
and her band ignored me, and Alicia sneered anytime she caught my
eye. Lance and his group totally avoided any kind of eye contact,
but Krysti offered me small smiles from time to time. I didn’t let
any of it bother me, though. The high school drama I’d fretted over
seemed trivial compared to what was happening outside those
gates.

Jake called constantly to check on me. He
told me he hired a contractor who was fencing in his entire estate,
including the lake. He said he wanted me to feel comfortable when I
was there with him for the week and not feel like eyes were
constantly on me.

Every single time I thought about the week I
would spend with him, all alone, I wondered if he would finally
agree to consummate our relationship. Little spasms would shoot up
my spine and tickle my stomach when I imagined it happening but I
wasn’t entirely sure Jake would relent. I could try to seduce him
but I had no experience in the matter.

My parents knew of my plans to stay with
Jake. My mother told me I was a legal adult, and she hoped I would
be smart. My father, though, was not as easily placated. I
explained to him awkwardly, grateful it was over the phone, how
Jake felt about the whole sex matter. I told him of our talk and
how Jake wanted us to wait, that he thought I was too young and
that we hadn’t been together long enough to develop the emotional
part of our relationship. My father was speechless for a moment but
after that, he, too, gave me his blessing. He did mention that he
hoped I would use my head and realize that Jake was right. He told
me that he agreed with Jake and that if Jake and I truly loved one
another, we could wait a while before allowing our relationship to
become physical. I almost told him every father hoped the very same
thing for his daughter but I decided against it. No need to bring
on premature aging.

I thought things would die down but
apparently inquiring minds really wanted to know every aspect of
Jake’s love life because there were always a few reporters hanging
out near the parking lot. It frustrated me to no end and I slammed
the door to my room Friday afternoon. I threw my books on my bed
and plopped down in a huff.

Annie stopped filing her nails to raise a
brow at me.

“
Why do they stick around?
How interesting can I be? All I do is go to class,” I
fumed.

Annie’s face puckered into a wry grin.
“They’re waiting for you to screw up.”

I fell back on my bed, knocking my head on a
textbook. “They should have been here at the beginning of the
year.”

Annie dropped next to me and grabbed my
shoulders, forcing me to sit up. “Don’t ever say anything like that
around them or anyone else for that matter!”

I wrinkled my nose. “Why?”

“
Because,” she groaned. “If
they get wind of your…bad judgment…of earlier this year, they’ll
turn it into some kind of sordid story.”

I dropped my head and slumped my shoulders.
“I see your point.”

She gave my shoulders a quick squeeze and
dug the remote out from under my pillow. She turned on our tiny TV
and scooted up to the head of my bed. “Let’s see what the gossip
mongers are saying about you today.”

“
Wonderful,” I moaned.
“Can’t wait.”

She tuned into
Entertainment This Week
.
I watched with little interest as Ms. Silicone droned on and on
about some big star’s revealing vacation pictures. We even got a
glance at the blurry images. She moved on to the next star’s
unfortunate love life before playing footage of the front of Jake’s
house. I grabbed Annie’s arm.

“
That’s Jake’s
house!”

“
Shhh,” she shushed
me.