Chapter One
"And we are done!"
The words emanated from the bubbly blonde with the words Cheer Captain printed on the front of her pink t-shirt. Carly furtively glanced at her watch and noted the time with mild irritation. She hadn't counted on practice running this late and knew her friends would be waiting for her at the diner. As of right now she was already twenty minutes late. Carly was determined to make haste. She had begun to sprint to the women's locker room when she heard a voice calling to her. She immediately recognized that voice. In fact, it was hard to confuse its source.
"Where are you headed off to?"
Carly halted, turned, and waited for Susan to close the distance between them. Her first instinct had been to ignore Susan and pretend she hadn't heard her calling her name. But because Susan was in a position of power this year as the cheer captain, Carly wanted to stay in her good graces and not cause any friction. Her anxiety over being late, though, was making it hard to stay put to see what the perky blonde wanted. Particularly since the petite ball of energy could talk and talk endlessly without ever letting anyone get a word in edge-wise. Carly groaned inwardly at her misfortune.
"I'm headed to The Pit Stop to meet some friends, and I'm already running kind of late." She conspicuously glanced at her watch, hoping Susan would get the hint.
"Oh," Susan replied. "Well, some of the girls and I were thinking about getting mani's and pedi's in town. But I guess if you're busy you can join us next time."
Carly groaned inwardly again. This time it wasn't because Susan was holding her up, but because she knew the blonde was trying to integrate her into her popular circle of friends and Carly fully appreciated the kind gesture. And yet here she was blowing Susan off by declining the invitation. A feeling of guilt had prompted that groan and was now consuming her conscience. Not that Carly really cared to be a part of Susan's elite clique. She just figured that if she ingratiated herself with Susan and her friends she would have an easier time as a cheerleader this year. But Carly couldn't let down her real friends either, so she strategically replied, "How about this weekend we all go to Cleveland for a shopping trip. I think my parents are going to let me use their car on Saturday."
Susan appeared genuinely interested in Carly's offer because the cheer captain's face brightened to the same color as her platinum blonde locks.
"Sounds great, Cabrerra. Call or text me to let me know the details."
Carly was relieved to see that the conversation was over as evinced by Susan's retreat in the opposite direction. Susan turned around once, however, to quickly inquire who exactly Carly was meeting at The Pit Stop. Despite conjecturing Susan's true intentions about the inquiry, Carly willingly offered the sought-after identities and noted that one of the names seemed to spark Susan's interest. Her eyes twinkled and a smile formed on the blonde's lips before she replied, "Cool. Have fun."
With that Susan turned and was off.
After grabbing her personal effects from her locker, Carly made every effort to avoid any more run-ins with people she knew. She needed to get to the popular diner immediately. After a quick jog to her car and the toss of her duffel bag and purse into the back seat, she was finally on her way. Fortunately, it wouldn't take too long to get to The Pit Stop since Clanton was such a small town. In fact, Clanton, Ohio, embodied what many considered a typical rural town with just enough suburban flair to make living there tolerable for its younger residents. Long stretches of farmland surrounded the country road leading into town, with ranches and barns sporadically dotting the flat landscape. The city square of Clanton was probably the liveliest place in town, although the new strip mall being built would likely change that. Also, a few fast food "joints" and three sit-down restaurants provided some entertainment. One of those sit-down restaurants was owned and operated by Carly's parents. Mr. and Mrs. Cabrerra were both well-respected members of Clanton and owned a Cuban restaurant located on the town square. Carly sometimes worked there as a waitress during the summers. She didn't mind it but hoped her parents weren't grooming her to one day take over the place. She sometimes daydreamed about getting out of this small and stifling town to explore what else was out there. In fact, her current desire was to go to college in a big city such as Cleveland, which was only an hour-and-a-half southwest of Cleveland. That was the important stipulation, that the city had to still be within reasonable driving distance from Clanton. Because while she longed for an escape, she was still nervous about going too far away from home. She attributed this to her upbringing. Her parents had always been overprotective of their only daughter and had sheltered her all her life. Their nurturing had made her life very comfortable. But she now knew that it had also stifled her pioneering spirit and sense of independence. While she wished she could change some aspects of her childhood, there was one thing that she would never change - meeting Jake Harmon.
Carly easily recalled the day her parents had had the Harmon family over for dinner. The family was one of the more affluent ones in town, largely due to Mr. Harmon's status as head football coach and Mrs. Harmon's family pedigree. Mrs. Harmon was the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Clanton, which owned and ran a dairy farm and a grocery store. Their son Jake only completed the picture of a perfect family. He was popular in school, good at sports, and was showing signs of having inherited his mother's attractive features and father's impressive height. Carly remembered how she had stared at Jake, who occupied the seat across from hers at the dinner table. She had especially marveled at the twinkle in his large blue eyes that hinted at an adventurous spirit she longed to experience. She felt the tickle of nervous excitement as the parents retreated to the living room, leaving her and this boy alone to play. Not shy in the least, Jake had risen from his half-eaten dessert and followed Carly outside in the yard. Running around in a dizzying game of tag, it didn't take long for Carly to decide that she liked this boy. It seemed as if they had played for hours and, after falling to the ground in a breathless heap, they exchanged names. Even though they had been formally introduced earlier, this was their own way of cementing the start of a friendship she couldn't wait to fully explore.
From that point on, their relationship had blossomed. Because Jake lived only a few houses up the street from Carly’s, she was usually over at his. It was more fun to play at his house because there were no rules and very lax adult supervision. Carly frequently marveled at how completely free Jake was to do whatever he pleased. To Carly, it appeared that Jake enjoyed all the freedoms of an adult, with no one telling him what to do or when to do it. In fact, she couldn't recall a time when either his father or mother had imposed a curfew on him or assigned limits on his play activities.
Although Carly was Jake's closest companion throughout their childhood, he also had had his other friends. Together they had formed a rambunctious band of boisterous little boys with nothing else on their minds but mischief. Carly always knew, though, that she was special to Jake, and sometimes she was allowed to hang out with him and his male companions. They all treated her like one of the boys and even included her in some of their neighborhood pranks – which often ended with her in deep trouble. Jake was rarely punished for his antics. Either it was because his parents were hardly ever around or because they simply did not concern themselves much with his daily activities. Mr. Harmon's head coaching duties kept him very busy and his mother either attended charity events or hosted them herself at the local country club.
Even now as Carly swung into one of the parking spaces in front of The Pit Stop, she could easily recall how deeply she had envied the leniency of Jake's childhood experience. She had no doubts at all that this is what made him such a strong, independent personality now. He always appeared so confident and sure of
everything and easily took charge with little fear of failure. He was a leader, brave and unrelenting. That is what she and countless others saw when they beheld Jake Harmon, the golden boy of Clanton, Ohio.
Chapter Two
Jake strummed the strings of his guitar, playing a tune for Garrett that he had written himself. Ever since finding the guitar tucked away in one of the spare bedroom closets five years ago, Jake had tenaciously learned how to play it. Whenever he had the free time, he would retreat in complete solitude to either his bedroom or the basement and do nothing but practice for hours. He found that he couldn’t put the instrument down, no matter how hard he tried. At first, the sounds that came out from under his novice fingers sounded like random notes converging to form something just short of a melodic tune. They desperately longed to be ordered into some harmonizing sequence. In time, however, Jake caught on to the workings of the instrument and immediately discovered a natural-born musical ability. He seemed to only get better at it. By the time Jake reached high school, he was playing tunes that only the most talented rock musicians could successfully tackle. Without reservation, Jake knew that playing music was what he was meant to do.
Amanda closed her eyes and took in the catchy melody. Having met Garrett at Clanton’s music store several weeks ago, she had discovered through idle conversation that Garrett was a local rock musician with his own band. She had enthusiastically bragged to Garrett about Jake’s phenomenal musical talent. So, Garrett had agreed to meet Jake and see what the kid was all about. Presently, Garrett nodded his head to the music that streamed out from beneath Jake’s gifted hand and immediately knew he liked what he was hearing. He silently admitted to himself that this kid was good. But he sure as hell wasn’t going to let him know that. He had dealt with too many cocky musicians to last him a lifetime. Jake’s fingers fell away from the strings and he looked up at Garrett, awaiting the verdict.
“Well, what do you think?” Jake asked expectantly.
“I’d say Amanda did me a favor by introducing me to you.”
Garrett looked at Amanda, who was grinning broadly at the magnanimous praise.
“How long have you been playing?” Garrett inquired, eyeing Jake intently.
“I was about twelve or thirteen when I found this old guitar in my parent's house. I started to play it and practiced whenever I could. Even turned on some old rock songs and tried to play along.”
“Yeah, like who?” Garrett asked, sitting up in his chair.
“Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC.”
“Yeah? Who was your favorite?”
“I think,” Jake began, not taking too long to think of his answer, “it’d have to be AC/DC. I like the hard rock and heavy metal feel of their songs. That’s what I wanna get into.”
“I like that,” Garrett said, laughing and nodding his head.
“I like this guy,” Garrett reiterated to Amanda. She flashed him an I-told-you-so smile.
“So you going let him play with the Flaming Dogs?” Amanda asked eagerly. She had a feeling it wouldn’t take much to convince Garrett to let Jake join the band. He had just witnessed Jake’s talent.
“We’ll see how he does,” he told Amanda, then turned to Jake. “Come by the studio for practice tomorrow night. You can meet the other guys, and then we’ll go from there. But if you always play like this, we’ll definitely have a spot for you. We need another guitarist, anyway.”
“I’m your man,” Jake said, grinning confidently.
"I think you might be right," Garrett replied.
Jake then packed up his instrument and thanked Garrett for his time so that he and Amanda could soon be on their way to The Pit Stop to meet friends. Their moods were elevated after the successful meeting with Garrett, and they couldn't wait to share the news with the others.
The diner was packed as usual. It had, in fact, become a popular hangout among the high school crowd, especially since it offered a casual atmosphere and live karaoke during the weekends. The fact that the pizza was a local favorite didn't hurt business either. They quickly spotted Aaron and Roy sitting at one of the booths and made their way over. Jake briefly noted that Carly was not there yet.
Before anyone could say anything, Amanda blurted out, "Jake may be a member of the Flaming Dogs soon!"
Roy's and Aaron's eyes lit up and they wasted no time congratulating their friend.
“Apparently, they need another guitarist. Isn’t that perfect timing?” Amanda added enthusiastically, wrapping her arms around Jake’s shoulders and squeezing him.
“How do you think your dad’s going to take it?” Roy asked, munching on a cracker he had pulled out from the basket on the table. Roy had known Jake for about three years now, having met him their freshman year on the junior varsity football team. Roy knew all too well how obsessed Coach Harmon was about Jake’s successful performance on the football field. In fact, Harmon's quest for his son to become a professional football player like he had been before his knee gave out had started early. Every year Jake had been a little league football player with his father acting as team manager and coach. Mr. Harmon had been hard on all the players, with the parents backing his controversial coaching style. They deferred to Coach Harmon's method of training the boys because his former status as an NFL player made him a local celebrity and well-respected pillar of the community. Also, his methods resulted in consistent wins. No one questioned him when it came to coaching football. While he was hard on the boys, he was even harder on Jake. It wasn't uncommon to see Coach Harmon ordering Jake to run extra laps for minor mistakes on the practice field. And it also wasn't uncommon to hear the coach's bellowing, raspy voice directed at Jake, berating him for slack performance. Jake very much understood Roy's concern, as he himself felt it too. But he refused to let his father dictate the direction of his life.
“My dad doesn’t need to find out right now. As long as I keep showing up for football practice and playing every Friday night like he wants me to, it won’t matter.”
“Let’s just hope you don’t have to play with the Flaming Dogs on a Friday night during football season,” Roy reminded his friend, popping the remaining remnants of the cracker into his mouth.
Jake was a bit worried about that as well but refused to show it. He shrugged to appear calm and cool about it and said simply, "It'll be okay. I'll figure it out."
The waitress then appeared at their table to take their orders, her pen and pad ready. She looked immensely pleased as she eyed her patrons and smiled sweetly at Jake and Roy.
“Well, we got us some local celebrities in here,” she said, flipping her curly blonde hair back and popping her chewing gum. “Two of Clanton’s finest. Congratulations on your win against Lakewood last Friday.”
“Thanks,” Roy said, grinning widely. He enjoyed the attention that their athletic status bred.
“Ya know, it’s been the talk all around Clanton that there were some college football scouts at that game last Friday. It makes me wonder if I shouldn’t be getting your guys’ autographs right now,” the middle-aged waitress stated, winking playfully.
“Can I have a strawberry milkshake?” Amanda interjected unexpectedly, growing impatient. Aaron tried to hold off a smirk. He knew his twin sister too well. She had a low tolerance for superficial frivolity and could be a hard-ass sometimes. She hadn't been the easiest person to grow up with, as her mostly blunt and to-the-point personality and inability to sugar coat things necessitated thick skin. But beyond her tough, tomboyish exterior she was one of the most down-to-earth, caring persons he knew. He was amazed, though, how despite their being twin siblings, their personalities had diverged completely. While Amanda was tough and into sports, Aaron was sensitive and into reading, math, and science. While Amanda was built for physical pursuits, his frail frame was built for mental pursuits.
Following Amanda's brusque comment, the waitress glared at her for a brief moment, then hesitantly wrote down her order and asked the others what they wanted. After she had
finished writing everything down, she looked up and said to Roy and Jake in a flirtatious tone, “We’ll continue our conversation later, boys.”
With that, the waitress winked at the two male athletes and sauntered away.
“Ugh, I’m getting so tired of this place. Do we always have to come here?” Amanda mumbled under her breath, appearing agitated.
“I knew there were scouts at that game,” Roy said enthusiastically, ignoring Amanda's query. “I’ve seen them at the practice field, too, after school.”
“Maybe they’re here to check you out, man. You’ve scored more touchdowns than anyone on the team. The Panthers wouldn’t have made it this far without you,” Jake said.
Roy grinned and returned the favor. “I wouldn’t be able to help the team like I do without the best quarterback throwing me the ball.”
Roy’s jovial demeanor suddenly transformed as he said in a solemn tone, "I just hope I get recruited. I really need something to happen. This is our last year of high school.” He leaned back and stared dreamily into space. “I’m hoping Texas picks me up.”
Roy’s face was more serious than Jake had ever seen it. Jake just nodded.
“What about you?” Roy asked Jake.
“I’m hoping this music stuff works out,” Jake replied matter-of-factly.
Aaron, who had been consumed with an article in a science magazine, now joined the conversation. “What if you get the chance to go pro like your dad? Isn’t that what he wants?”
Jake just shrugged his shoulders and leaned back, feeling awkward in the ensuing silence as everyone waited for his answer. He didn’t know what to say at this point. He decided to change the subject to avoid further discussion on a topic that garnered so much uncertainty and apprehension.
“Where’s Carly? She was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago."
Jake reached into his pocket for his cell phone, but never got to dial her number because Roy soon announced her arrival. Jake glanced outside the large eatery window and saw her swinging into the parking lot in front of the diner.
The Road to L.A. Page 1
