First Kiss (Heavy Influence) (2 page)

Alyssa

Today was going to be different. I could feel it when I woke up. A strange excitement - I couldn’t put my finger on why. Maybe it’s because I knew I’d be spending the whole summer with Matt. Or was it because I was finally
gonna be in high school in a few short months? Nadine and I were the first to plant ourselves on the retaining wall across the street from my house. I wondered whose pool we’d infiltrate or if we’d go down to the beach. I was antsy with anticipation of Matt’s arrival. It was already hot. As ideal as Nicole’s pool was, one of her older brothers could be such a jerk. He wasn’t very accepting of us as a group. Our gang consisted of several guys. We were now a co-ed sampler of newly minted high-schoolers and knowing him it would just be one more reason to give us a hard time.

              Greg Santana rolled up on his bike in all his plumpness. His jet-black hair made his fair skin look paler. His stomach spilled over his pants. I wondered how he kept up with us. I’d been going to school with Greg since kindergarten. He was the class clown and had no filter. His older brothers had a huge influence on his behavior and he was always eager to share the going’s on with them. It was quite gross and at the same time intriguing to listen to. Like the time he brought over his brother’s video camera and showed us first hand what’d gone down with a freshman in the boy’s locker room. Kids actually did get stuffed into lockers and trashcans. It really wasn’t just something made for TV. This one poor kid got all his clothes taken away behind his back as someone distracted him. He was left standing in his underwear and everyone was laughing at him. I guess they’d finally found his clothes in a trashcan across campus. That was the saddest thing to watch and we all grew quiet with fear. Through hushed tones we wondered out loud how we’d get through our freshman year, especially the guys. Remembering their worried expressions made my stomach turn.

“What’s up?” Greg said, nodding. He was panting and sweating buckets already. I didn’t get how he didn’t keel over and faint. I was happy to see him riding his bike. Most of the time he had one of his brothers drive him over. He climbed off of his bike, letting if fall onto the sidewalk, and walked toward us. He stood there breathing heavily and lifted his t-shirt, wiping his sweaty face, exposing his pale-white protruding belly to us.

“Greg, you really need to get some sun on that thing. Your arms are super tan and your stomach belongs somewhere else,” Nadine said, crossing her arms in disgust.

“Nadine!” I choked, trying to not laugh. She was so abrupt and embarrassing sometimes. Well,
a lot
of the time.

“Well, it’s true. Tan fat is better than white fat.”

Greg lifted his shirt again, rubbing his stomach. “My food baby likes being white.”

“In all seriousness, Greg, I also used to be chubby in grade school, but I got my shit together. Tan that thing or don’t flash it at me.” Nadine faced away mock gagging and Greg laughed. I laughed too, nudging his arm. He was such a good sport – always taking everyone’s shit.

“So what’s going on?” Greg wondered aloud. “I need a pool, or let’s go down to the beach.”

“Not much. Did you go by Matt’s house?” I asked casually, not making eye contact, worried he would read my mind if our eyes locked.

Thinking of Matt Squire with his bold green eyes made me warm inside. I totally crushed on Matt. He was fast becoming Abercrombie status. He was the only guy who made me nervous. I wondered when he’d show up.

“Nope, they went to Vegas.” Greg answered, kicking the rocks around in the
flowerbed next to the retaining wall. “What’s going on today?”

My fire went out. I slumped, kicking my feet hard against the wall. I was bummed I wouldn’t see Matt and wondered how long he would be gone.

“I don’t know” I said, sulking, “Beats me. We should go to Nicole’s.” I hopped off the wall, frustrated.

That’s the moment my world began to change. Jake Masters, the boy next door, pulled into his driveway. I’d known Jake practically my whole life. He’s someone who’s spent the night at my house, sleeping next to me, piled on the floor in front of the TV. Nadine perked up instantly, fluffing her hair while glancing down at her chest. I then glanced down at mine, and back at hers. She pulled down on her tank top to show off her boobs a bit more. I looked back down at my chest. What the? I thought. What’s she doing? Glancing in Jake’s direction, I didn’t think he noticed us.

When Jake was home he was always out in his garage. He was either rehearsing with his band or tooling around with his truck. He never said anything to us besides a “Hey” or a head nod from time to time. Jake would small talk my dad when he watered the lawn. He and I would chat every now and then, but for the most part, we kept to ourselves. Jake was older than me. He was finally a senior, the same age as my brother Kyle. Jake and my brother used to be close, but Kyle went the nerd route and Jake went the wannabe rock star route.

I watched Nadine mess with her clothes and hair. “What are you doing?” I giggled.

“What?” she whispered loudly. She tossed her hair to one side and poked her chest out more.

I fluffed my own hair mocking her. “This,” I said. I puffed up my chest, looking over a Jake.

He took off his shirt, throwing it over onto the nearby lawn and Nadine and I stared in awe. Watching him hose down his truck half naked made the world stop. I glanced back at Nadine who had her mouth wide open, nearly drooling.

I looked at Greg, remembering that he was there. I was a little embarrassed. He glanced between
Jake and us.

“Uh, you guys are weird,” he said uncomfortably. “I’m outta here. I’ll meet you at Nicole’s.”

He slowly rode away and I began to laugh. Nadine’s eyes were intently placed on Jake.

“Dude, what are you doing?” I said. “Do you like him or something? Do you want me to introduce you?” I laughed. As long as I’ve known Nadine she never acted this way towards Jake. I’d never realized she even knew he existed.

Nadine sat back on the wall and all of a sudden began to laugh loudly. I looked at her like she’d gone crazy. She leaned over, whispering. “Just go along with me.”

I started laughing loudly too. Sure enough, Jake looked over and smiled at us. I felt like an idiot.

“God, he’s so freakin’ hot,” she said under her breath, nearly hyperventilating.

I laughed loudly, for real this time.

Jake smirked as he continued washing his big black truck, “You girls wanna share what’s so funny?” he shouted over to us. Nadine turned, eyeballing me, and like telepathy I turned to face Jake.

“You want some help?” I shouted back. He stopped washing and smiled the most brilliant smile I’d ever seen.

Jake shrugged his shoulders. “Sure, if you guys wanna help…that’d be cool.”

Nadine nudged me with a wicked grin, striding ahead of me. I quickly followed behind her. We crossed the street without a word. I awkwardly cleared my throat, introducing them to each other.

“Jake, this is Nadine,” I said, giving a weak smile. “She lives around the corner.” I raised my arm and pointed, waving it around like a spaz.

He cracked his brilliant smile again. “Yeah, I’ve seen you before,” he said. “You go to my school. What’s up?”

He nodded his head as he examined us a bit more closely. His eyes parked themselves on mine. My stomach went nuts and I began to fidget with my shirt, looking away briefly. Jake looked around awkwardly too and laughed a little.

“Wha’cha guys up to this sweltering morning?” He turned and walked into his garage, grabbing two rags and raising them up.

Throwing each of us a rag, he resumed scrubbing his truck. Nadine mouthed
“Oh my freakin’ God!”
and turned, dipping her rag into the bucket. I stood there dumbfounded. This was new to me, the whole manipulating the situation thing. I’d only seen it on TV. Now we were the characters.

“So, Jake, how’s the band doing?” I tried to make small talk as I diligently washed the windows on the other side of the truck; but at the same time I really did wonder. I glanced into the garage. “Looks like your garage has turned into a professional studio, what’s that stuff on the walls?”

He looked up, wiping his damp brow with his forearm. “That’s sound proofing foam. It’s as sound proof as I can it get for now and the band is doing great,” he explained, walking toward me. “We just had a show at the Roxy in Hollywood. You should come to the next one.”

My heart began to race and my throat thickened. No words would come out and all I could do was gulp, trying to find moisture. He finally continued, taking the pressure off.

“We’re a lot better than you probably remember,” he said, coming closer to me. He tossed his rag back and forth between his hands, his eyes scanning my face. “Look at you, you’ve grown up.”

Like a loud gong, Nadine’s voice rang out. “Yeah, we’d love to come and see you play.” She rounded the
backside of the truck, standing a little too close to Jake.

He backed away, looking her up and down. “Uh, yeah, anytime, just let me know.”

“Hey, would you like me to rinse the soap?” Nadine asked grabbing the hose off the ground.

“Yeah, before it dries, that’d be cool,” he said, flashing a wink at her.

What the hell? Was he flirting with her? I glanced at Nadine as she squirted soap off. I wondered if she saw what I saw. Her body language was not what I was used to. I was embarrassed at her boldness toward Jake.

“God, it’s so hot,” she said, holding the bright yellow nozzle over her head squirting water straight up into the air. I squealed as it rained down on us. I dashed over to the nicely manicured lawn and grabbed Jake’s shirt holding it over my face.

“Ahhh, shit,” Jake shouted, laughing loudly. “Nadine, be careful of the garage,” he warned, jogging to the sidewalk, guiding Nadine’s direction of water works.

Abercrombie, most definitely, I thought, staring at Jake’s glistening wet torso. God, I’d never noticed how studly he was. His muscular build left me speechless. Covering my mouth I giggled and he took notice.

“What? You think you’re gonna stay dry?” He shouted, running toward me. He grabbed my waist, twirling me around – then held me in a tight bear hug up off the ground.

“Nadine! Let her have it!”

The water rained down on us, and then fell directly upon me, stinging my skin. Jake held me tightly to his chest. I could barely move; squealing and laughing so hard I almost peed. I buried my face into his shirt I still held in my hands. Jake finally released me and I quickly footed it across the street, avoiding any more water games.

“You bitch!” I shouted through fits of laughter. I leaned against the wall trying to catch my breath. I was soaking wet.

Jake ran after Nadine, grabbing the hose from her. He held her wrists together with one hand while he used his free one to soak her down. She didn’t fight to get away like I did. She clearly liked the attention. Jake stopped and stared over at me. I was surprised to see how much bigger he was than Nadine. Nadine had always been taller than me. I was already 5’8. I considered both of us pretty tall. Jake must be over six feet tall – his voice shook me from my thoughts.

“Ok,” Jake shouted over at me, “I promise we won’t water fight anymore. Come back and help dry.”

Sopping wet, Nadine futilely tried to fluff her hair. She finally stopped fussing at it. I walked back over, giving her a defiant smile and she winked at me satisfied. I was both relieved and a little of something else I couldn’t pin point. My insides were excited and awake.

“Be right back.” Jake said going into his garage and vanishing into his house.

“Oh my God, he is so to die for! When he was holding me back from squirting you, I wanted him to pin me against the truck and kiss me,” she confessed, practically swooning. “You have to find out the deets on what’s up with him.”

My chin must have hit the ground. I was shocked hearing her fantasy. “What do you mean?” I said, pretending I didn’t get where she was headed. Drying my arms and face with his shirt I noticed how nice it smelled. I took in a deeper whiff and my eyes rolled back into their sockets. “Dude, you gotta smell this!”

Nadine took a quick sniff and grabbed the shirt out of my hands and stuffed her face in it. Jake unexpectedly walked out his front door and we both spun around to face him. Nadine threw his shirt onto the hood of the truck.

“Here ya go, I just pulled them out of the dryer.” He handed each of us a hot towel. “After you’re done drying yourselves you can use them to dry the truck. Oh, and make sure you don’t touch the tires, my mom’ll kill me if I get black stains on them.”

As he turned back to shut the front door, I quickly reached up and grabbed his shirt. I tucked it into the back of my shorts.

We heard a shout from down the street.
“Nadine!”
We could see her mother wearing a bright red caftan and black leggings as she stood on the sidewalk, looking for us.
“Nadine!”
she shouted out again.

“Shit! Shit! I totally forgot,” Nadine said in a panic. “I forgot I have a dentist appointment.” Glancing down at her watch she went on, “Now I’ll have to change and we’re gonna be late. She’s
gonna kill me! I’ll see you at Nicole’s later.” She threw the towel at us and turned to run home.