Cake: A Love Story (13 page)

I followed Jake through the passage that led outside. He put his hand on the small of my back to guide me out to the little balcony. The simple polite gesture sent shivers down my spine.

“Sorry about that back there with my mom. I hate when she does that.”

“Does what?”

“Reprimands me like I’m five.”

“That’s what mom’s do,” I replied.

“Yeah, well my mom does it a lot. I think she thinks I’m an idiot.”

“She might be on to something,” I smirked.

Jake grinned.

“I’m just kidding. I can tell you’re a smart guy.”

“Oh yeah? And how can you tell that?”

“Just by the way you carry yourself. You seem intelligent.”

“I seem intelligent?” Jake laughed.

I nodded.

“I dropped out of school at thirteen.”

“Oh damn…never mind.”

Jake grinned.

“Like totally out of school or were you one of those weird homeschoolers?”

Jake laughed. “I was a weird homeschooler.”

“Was it your choice to leave school?”

Jake didn’t answer right away. Oh God, was it too personal? Should I avoid asking him questions about himself?

“I was suspended for fighting and then refused to go back after that. But, you know, for obvious reasons, it was easier for me to be at home,” he finally said. “Plus I had a lot more time to work on my music. If I hadn’t been a weird homeschooler I don’t think I ever would have gotten good enough to do it professionally.”

I nodded then decided I should probably clarify my joke. “You know I was only kidding about the homeschooler stuff, right?”

Jake smiled. “No you weren’t.”

“Yes, I was,” I smiled up at him. “I’m sure there are plenty of perfectly normal homeschoolers.”

Jake laughed out loud. “See? Another off-handed insult!”

“Sorry,” I grinned. “I have a problem. I’ll try to control myself.”

“No, please don’t,” Jake replied. “Everyone is so careful around me all the time. It’s nice to hang out with someone who isn’t worried about offending me. I mean, like, you’ve pretty much insulted me in every conversation we’ve had. Well done, Casey.”

“Well, thank you. I really do try.”

“I can tell and I appreciate it,” Jake grinned.

I laughed. It made me feel so much more relaxed knowing that Jake wasn’t easily offended. I stopped worrying about being careful around him. He was like anyone else…only way more talented…and much hotter.

“Wait, though, you didn’t just pick up music once you dropped out of school did you?”

“No I’ve been playing the piano since I was three.”

“Geez, you overachiever.”

Jake laughed. “Hey that wasn’t my fault. I would much rather have been outside playing.”

“And you play the guitar too. Any other instruments?”

“Um…,” Jake grinned shyly.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Oh no, now you gotta tell me.”

“I play a few others.”

“Like how many others?”

“Maybe like 30 or so.”

“30!?!”

“Or so,” he grinned.

“Good Lord. What are you, like, a musical genius?” I squealed.

“No. It just comes easy to me. And I like to know how things are played,” Jake replied, like it was no big deal.

I stared at him in shocked surprise. “Well damn. I’m impressed. I had no idea there were even 30 instruments to play.”

“Seriously? Casey, there are thousands.”

“Really? Wow, you must think I’m totally ignorant,” I admitted. “In my defense, I don’t come from a musical family.”

“You’re more book smart. Nothing wrong with that.”

I smiled at him. Jake was a sweet guy. I liked the way he made me feel special.

“So how old were you when you first started touring?” I asked.

“Sixteen.”

“Of course,” I teased.

Jake shrugged his shoulders.

“I knew you started out young but I didn’t realize you were that young. Damn, at sixteen I still had braces and slept with stuffed animals. And here you were playing in front of thousands of people.”

Jake laughed. “Hardly. If a thousand people came to see me play that was a big crowd. It’s not like I started out in super stadiums. You need to think on a lot smaller scale Casey.”

“Proms?”

“No…not that small,” Jake laughed. “…like fairs and colleges and rec centers.”

“But now you play in front of thousands of people, right?”

“Yes.”

“Do you ever get scared before you go out on stage?”

“No.”

“Never?”

“Um…maybe sometimes, I guess, when I’m going to be on TV or something. But once I start performing I’m fine.”

“It doesn’t freak you out having all those people screaming for you?”

“No. It’s an awesome feeling being up on that stage with the music and lights and the roar of the crowd.”

“Ewe…that sounds horrible to me. You’re brave,” I grinned. “I’m more of a cerebral person myself. About as daring as I get is reading the last page of a book before starting it.”

“Oh God. I hate reading. One of the worst past times I could think of.”

“Do we not have anything in common at all?” I laughed.

Jake shrugged. “Maybe you should take some risks, Casey.”

“Maybe you should read a book, Jake.”

We both stared at each other for a second before bursting out in laughter.

“So did you go on tour by yourself when you were sixteen?” I asked.

“Yeah. I mean, the label sent a guardian with me but he was pretty useless.”

“Why didn’t your parents go?”

“Because of my younger siblings. They couldn’t just leave and my dad had to work. I think that is why my mom is so overly protective. She had to stop mothering me before she was ready.”

“There is probably some Freudian message in all that,” I grinned.

“Don’t even go there,” Jake gagged.

I laughed then looked out over the railing.

“Wow, that’s a long way down,” I said.

“Are you afraid of heights?” He asked.

“No, not really. Just afraid of falling to my death.”

“Trust me Casey, there are a lot worse ways to die.”

Seeing that those words were coming from a person who had first hand knowledge of such things, I was a bit jarred. I looked at Jake but he didn’t seem to be affected by what he said. It was more like he’d been stating the obvious.

“You know, I read that if you were to drop a penny from the Empire State Building and it hit someone in the head it would crack their skull,” Jake said, still looking over the edge.

“No way is that true,” I replied.

“I read it on the internet Casey, so of course it’s true,” Jake explained with a serious face but he was clearly joking. “Shall we try it?” Jake said as he pretended to drop a penny.

“First of all, we aren’t on the Empire State Building,” I grabbed his hand and laughed. “And secondly…you aren’t taking into consideration terminal velocity and air resistance.”

“Huh?”

“The penny is too light. The wind will kick it around.”

“Huh?” he repeated.

“For your theory to work, your penny would have to be coming down like a rocket. There are too many factors that will stop that from happening, mainly air.”

“Wow Casey…way to take the fun out of that theory,” Jake proclaimed, pretending to be pissed. “I forgot I was dealing with a college student.”

“Oh I’m sorry Jake. Would you rather I dumb it down for you?” I joked.

“God no,” he laughed. “I’m just learning so much from you.”

“Oh yeah, I’m sure,” I giggled. “Everyone loves a smart girl.”

“I think it’s refreshing, to be honest. I like that you’re confident in your smartness. And before you tell me that smartness isn’t a word, I already know that.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I grinned. I was really flattered by his words. Most guys were so intimidated by smart girls.

Jake smiled then looked back over the railing. “Man, I gotta say, this wedding is way more fun than I thought it would be.”

“I know. I’m having the best time,” I replied.

“I’ve been so busy with the tour that I haven’t really taken any time for fun.”

“Really? That is surprising.”

“It is?”

“Yeah, I mean…aren’t you people supposed to be wild and crazy?”

“And by ‘you people’?” Jake asked, in amusement. “You’re referring to rock stars in general?”

“Yep.”

Jake smiled. “Well…if you must know, I’m kind of a disgrace to ‘my people.’”

“Oh really, and why is that?”

“I’m not a drug addict.”

“Oh.” I laughed, surprised by his answer. “Are you saying that most rock stars are drug addicts?”

“I’m saying that the vast majority of us are, yes,” Jake nodded.

“Why?”

“Easy access to anything you could ever dream of and the money to make it happen.”

“And you’ve never done drugs?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say never,” Jake responded honestly. “When I was younger I experimented a little with weed but I hated the way it made me feel. Most people get mellow when they smoke pot but not me. I would, like, freak the fuck out. I really hate the feeling of being out of control so I just stopped.”

“It wasn’t hard to stop?”

“No because I wasn’t addicted in the first place. I only did it a handful of times. What about you?”

“I’m a good girl. I’ve never touched drugs,” I admitted.

“That’s good.”

“I mean…my friends were nerds. The only peer pressure we put on each other was getting the highest test grades.”

Jake shook his head laughing. “A whole other world?”

“Yeah. It’s a lot easier when no one you hang out with is cool,” I laughed.

“Yeah. I can imagine it would be. So when did you transform into cool Casey?”

“Well, you know, I think she was in me the whole time,” I laughed. “But my first year in college is probably where I blossomed, I think.”

Jake nodded. “Did you party a lot?”

“Yeah, I went to a lot of parties but I’ve never been much of a drinker. I don’t really like the taste of alcohol. If I drink it has to be one of those foo-foo sugary drinks like a Daiquiri or a Margarita.”

“I hate sugary drinks. I’m not a fan of sugar in general.”

“No way! I LOVE sugar. That’s my downfall. I could eat Mitch and Kate’s whole damn wedding cake if you let me at it,” I joked.

“Jesus. How do you stay so thin?”

“Two words…spin class.”

Jake laughed.

“Do you drink?” I asked him.

“Yeah, but not a lot. I like beer.”

“Yuck. It tastes like urine.”

Jake raised his eyebrows. “When have you ever tasted urine?”

“I haven’t, but I assume that is what urine would taste like.”

Jake grinned, then shook his head, “It doesn’t.”

“Ewe…there is only one way you’d know that,” I squealed.

Jake nodded.

“Oh my God…that’s disgusting…you drank urine?”

“Once.”

“Well I should hope it was only once! Jesus,” I said shaking my head.

Jake laughed. “And it wasn’t on purpose.”

“And again…I should hope it wasn’t on purpose,” I said, still shaking my head in disbelief. “So tell me Jake, how does one accidently drink urine?”

“Well it was while I was on tour a few years ago and we were hanging out after a concert…anyway, I got a call and left and some other guy took my seat. Well one of his friends decided to play a trick on him when he left for the bathroom and replaced his beer bottle with one from the fridge, which the friend had conveniently peed in earlier. Anyway, I came back in, took my seat and picked up the beer thinking it was mine. Some of the guys started screaming for me to stop but it was already too late.”

“Oh no…oh God no,” I squealed, covering my ears. “Don’t even tell me!”

“Oh yes. And I took a giant frickin’ swig too. The minute it hit my palate…oh my God, I just knew! And by that point it was already going down my throat.”

“No you didn’t!?!” I cried. “You swallowed it?”

Jake looked at me with a sheepish grin. “I heaved for hours!”

“So gross…so so gross. What did you do to that guy?”

“I gave him a beat down and fired him,” Jake laughed. “Then I hired him back once I got the taste of urine out of my system.”

I shook my head, smiling. “Guys are so different than girls. If a girl had done that, which she never would! But if she had, God forbid, that would have been the end of the friendship for sure. And guys, they just pat each other on the backs and go, ‘great idea, man.’”