The Road to L.A. (3 page)

Aaron, who had been quiet the whole time, unexpectedly chimed in, “Does your school library have a good selection of science fiction books?”

              “Library?” Jake wrinkled his nose.

              “Ignore him,” Amanda sighed.  “My brother is a nerd.  All he does is read." 

All three kids, save Aaron, laughed at Amanda’s blunt confession. 

              “Don’t worry, Aaron.  You stick with me and you won’t get beat up,” Jake said. 

              “Does this mean we can hang out with you guys?” Amanda asked, almost too eagerly.  She so desperately wanted to make friends so she wouldn’t be stuck hanging out with her dull brother all day.  She loved Aaron, but reading was definitely not her favorite thing to do in her spare time.  Jake had nodded his head in affirmation and then looked at Carly, who also nodded.  She had liked the twins then. She liked them even more now.  Presently, she glanced in Aaron's direction, noting that his glasses had thickened over the years.  He had also outgrown his sister in height but remained slender and lanky.  Just like his sister, his green eyes stood out in contrast to his fair complexion and jet black hair.  Besides his engaging eyes, his other highly-notable feature was his amazing intellect.   

Her ruminations were quickly interrupted when the waitress reappeared with the orders.  She noticed the new addition to their group. 

              “What can I get you, hon?” she asked Carly, getting her writing pad and pen out of her apron pocket. 

              “Just water, thanks,” Carly replied, wanting to save her appetite for her father’s delicious empanadas tonight.

The waitress grinned at Carly and said knowingly, “You gotta keep your figure trim for these good-looking guys, huh?  Don’t blame you.  They’re gorgeous.” 

Amanda groaned loud enough for the waitress to hear, or so she hoped.  The waitress, in turn, scowled at the twin before leaving.

              “I swear, if I had a dime for every time you guys get hit on, I’d have enough to buy this place.  Again, why do we keep coming here?” Amanda growled. 

“Because everyone comes here.  It’s the place to be,” Carly explained matter-of-factly, as if Amanda should already know that.  Amanda didn't appear to be appeased by that answer and simply rolled her eyes. 

Carly only briefly wondered why it was such a big deal that Jake and Roy got hit on and why it irritated the twin so much.  She was actually proud to be with such attractive company.  Why the twin made it out to be such a negative thing only confounded Carly.  The thought evaporated moments later when the waitress set the water in front of her and the milkshake in front of Amanda.  Jake and Roy's food came out shortly thereafter. 

After spending almost an hour with her friends, Carly decided it was time to interrupt the good time and excuse herself.     

              "Sorry guys, but I gotta go.  I have to be home in fifteen"  She quickly stole a fry off of Jake's plate. 

Jake likewise looked at the time display on his cell phone and decided it was time for him to get home as well, but not for the same reason as Carly.  Carly still had a curfew, even though she was seventeen years old.  Jake, on the other hand, needed to get home because he wanted to get some practice in before meeting with Garrett and the Flaming Dogs tomorrow. 

              “You wanna come with me to the studio tomorrow?” Jake asked Carly, to which her eyes lit up.  She blurted out, “Sure!”

              “Hey, I’m coming too, right?” Amanda reminded him.  Jake threw Amanda a look that seemed to suggest that she was crazy for thinking otherwise. 

              “Just making sure,” she replied sheepishly before consuming the vestiges of her milkshake. 

After paying the waitress, Jake, Carly, and Amanda cleared the booth and walked toward the exit.  Aaron and Roy decided to stay behind to finish their food and order dessert to go.  As the trio left the diner, Jake noticed a few purposeful glances aimed at the girl walking beside him.  He smiled knowingly.  Everywhere they went, Carly always seemed to attract glances from the opposite sex.  Jake knew quite well the reason for all the male attention.  Carly was extremely attractive.  Her body was absolutely amazing.  Even though she stood no more than 5 feet 6 inches tall, her legs dominated her slender physique, making her appear taller than she actually was.  And her tiny waist and full hips gave her svelte figure a natural hour-glass silhouette.  Not to mention, the swell of her perky C-cup breasts never went unnoticed.  She was also blessed with a beautiful, heart-shaped face, complemented by high cheekbones and a small straight nose.  And her full and pouty lips and the brightest brown eyes Jake had ever seen completed the stunning picture.  Jake especially liked it when she swept her long, dark brown hair into a thick ponytail, making her stunning facial features stand out even more.  

              “Jake, you picking us up tomorrow?” Amanda interjected suddenly, interrupting his thoughts. 

              “Huh?” Jake blinked somewhat sheepishly. 

              “For practice.” Amanda intentionally spoke the words with slow clarity so as to jog his memory.

              “Oh, yeah,” Jake agreed, the mental fog clearing.  Thoughts of Carly had temporarily dazed him, which was unnerving to him. He didn't like it when he got lost in thoughts pertaining to her looks.  It confused him utterly. 

He then heard a female voice repeatedly calling out his name.  Beside him, Amanda let out a loud groan.  When he turned to see who it was, he was nearly knocked over by Susan.   The platinum blonde wrapped her arms around Jake’s waist to embrace him, then jumped back and spat excitedly. “Jake Harmon!  I'm so glad I ran into you.”

Carly was momentarily stunned to see her here.  But then she recalled the conversation she had had with the cheerleading captain after practice and it all made sense.  Of course Susan would be here considering that she had been told that Jake would be here too.  It was funny to Carly, though, that Susan would pretend in front of Carly that she had simply
ran into him
.

              “He was just leaving, Susan,” Amanda growled. 

Susan turned to face the twin and almost immediately grimaced, the sunshine on her face temporarily clouding over with an unmistakable sign of displeasure. 

Susan rolled her eyes and said to the twin, “Didn’t see you there.”  

The animosity between Susan and Amanda was so obvious it almost seemed comical. The perky blonde flashed Jake a dazzling smile and said, "I’m having a little party next weekend, and I really want you to come.” 

Jake sighed and replied, “I don’t know, Susan.  We’ve got an away game next Friday and I don’t…” 

Susan cut him off with a sudden gush of desperation.

              “Come on, Jake!  It'd mean so much to me.  You just have to come.” 

Jake sighed again.

“It just wouldn’t be the same without you.  We could really get to know each other.” 

Amanda had finally grown tired of the ridiculous display before her and brusquely cut in.                “Look, we have to go.  Jake has more important things to do."  The impatience and annoyance was unmistakable in the twin's voice.

Susan rolled her eyes and replied, “Whatever.  This is between me and Jake.  So why don’t you just mind your own business.” 

Jake reacted with his quarterback reflexes, knowing Amanda too well.  Before the twin could reach out and land her fist squarely into Susan’s nose, Jake had zipped behind Amanda and encircled her waist, pulling her away.

              “Why don’t you go eat something, you anorexic slut!” Amanda growled, struggling to break free of Jake’s iron grip.

              “You’re lucky Jake’s holding you back,” Susan instigated.  Jake threw Susan a disapproving glance, and the tiny blonde immediately ceased her verbal assault.  

              “Jake, I hope you’ll decide to come,” the blonde said sweetly.  "And you're invited too, Cabrerra," she said to Carly before finally departing with a wink.   

Amanda relaxed and Jake released his grip. 

              "Why can’t I hurt your girlfriend just a little bit, huh?” Amanda snapped.

              “She’s not my girlfriend,” Jake emphasized.  "She’s not my type.” 

              “Not your type, huh?” Carly asked.  “What is your type, Jake?  Because you must know that you have a ton of girls vying for your attention.”

              “I don’t know what my type is.”

Amanda rolled her eyes.  “Come on, Jake.  Stop trying to side-step the question.”

              “Look, I don’t feel comfortable talking to you guys about this,” He said.  He turned to escape from the awkward topic of conversation.  Amanda and Carly had to sprint to keep up with him. 

              “Jake, come on.  Enlighten your pals,” Carly pleaded. 

              “I don’t want to talk with my girl friends about this.  Roy…yes.  I can tell him.  Aaron…again, yes.  You guys…no.”

Amanda and Carly stopped abruptly, laughing as Jake fumbled for his keys in his pants pocket and struggled to unlock the door to his truck.

              “What’s wrong, Jake?  Never seen you this bothered,” Amanda teased, snickering with vicious delight. 

              “You girls are crazy.”

              “We’re just teasing,” Carly said, still giggling. 

              “You still picking us up tomorrow to go to the studio?” Amanda asked as he climbed into his truck.  .

After igniting the engine, he rolled down the window to answer Amanda's question.  Smiling mischievously, he said, “I’ll think about it.” 

Before Amanda or Carly could utter a single word in protest, he sped off. 

Chapter Three

              After-school practice seemed to go rather well that Tuesday afternoon.  Jake’s father had found only a few flaws with regard to Jake’s performance on the field, which was an extremely rare occurrence.  Jake thought that perhaps his father was just in a good mood, although one couldn’t tell by the rigid expression on his weathered face.  No one had been able to tackle Roy as he had zigzagged his way around the other players, making it to the end zone with impeccable ease.  Coach Harmon appeared immensely pleased by Roy’s performance.  Jake's friend Chad, however, had been moodier than usual, and Jake guessed it was because Coach Harmon had yelled at the poor boy earlier regarding a fumble. As punishment, Chad had been ordered to run extra laps around the field.  Jake finished his assigned laps quickly before leaving practice.  After showering and dressing, he entered the old gymnasium at the East end of the school campus.  An infectious pop tune rang out from within the gymnasium, and Jake figured the cheerleaders were still practicing.  He leaned against the doorway and watched the girls as they practiced a new routine for Friday night’s football game.  Heavily entrenched in how revealing their attire was on their nicely toned bodies, he almost didn’t notice the music coming to an abrupt halt.  Carly saw Jake and waved at him.  Then she held up her finger to instruct him to wait while she grabbed her things. Susan, however, held her up in the locker room - which seemed to be happening quite frequently lately.

              “Hey, you and Jake seem to be pretty close," she said.  “Are you guys dating?”

Carly scoffed at the absurdness of that idea and corrected her.  “No, we are not together.  We’re just friends.” 

              "You're not like friends with extra benefits, are you?"

Again, Carly dispelled that assumption with a wrinkle of her nose.

Susan seemed relieved and quickly changed the tone of the conversation.   

              “Do you know if he likes anyone at Lakeview?” Susan pressed.  “I know you must have the inside scoop, being his friend.” 

Carly sighed impatiently, eyeing the clock on the wall.

              “Look, he rarely tells me anything about stuff like that.”

              “Can you find out?” Susan asked, her eyes alit with flickering curiosity.

Carly sighed again and asked, “Why Jake?  I’m sure there are other football players you could date?”

Susan scoffed at the daftness of Carly’s comment and replied sardonically, “Are you crazy?  Look at him.”

Carly became increasingly uncomfortable with the topic of conversation.  To end it, she simply acquiesced to Susan’s implicit demand.       

              “I’ll do my best to find something out and let you know.”

              “Great!” Susan piped, a satisfied expression on her face.  “You can tell me everything tomorrow at practice.” 

              “Yeah, sure,” Carly replied before walking off as quickly as she could to get away.  She breathed a sigh of relief when she finally reached Jake, who was waiting for her by the bleachers. 

              “Thought you’d never get out of that locker room,” Jake said, grinning.  His large blue eyes twinkled.

              “Yeah, sorry,” Carly replied, wondering why she was apologizing to him when it was partly his fault that she was late.

              “We’re going to go pick up Amanda first and then head over to the studio.  She’s at home waiting for us.”