You Are My Sunshine

PART 7

Abigail waved goodbye to Jake from her door as he reversed the car and drove away. The previous night was one of the best she had experienced in a long time. She rushed to get ready for class, she and Jake had spent a lot of the time that she would have usually been getting ready talking. As she walked through the living room, she stubbed her toe on Jake's guitar case. She gasped in pain, as well as shock. She could only imagine how important to him this guitar was. She quickly grabbed her cell phone from her dresser and called Jake.

"Hey, miss me already?" Jake answered the phone.

"You left your guitar!" She exclaimed.

"Oh, I guess I did. You've got to get to class. I'll come back to get it." He calmed her.

"Are you sure?" she urged, "I can wait for you to come back."

"I'm sure. It'll give me an excuse to come back and hang out for a while." He hinted.

"Jake..."She said, accusatorily.

"I didn't leave it on purpose. Just a coincidence." He laughed. "Have fun in class."

"I'll talk to you later." She said, hanging up.

She quickly changed into a black pair of jeans and a yellow tee shirt and threw on her vans. She ran out the door to her car. She made it to class in time, but her mind was elsewhere. It was with Jake. She couldn't take her mind off of his smile. His smile made her heart feel like it was going to explode. She caught herself smiling like an idiot at nothing but her own thoughts and quickly redirected her attention to the professor, who was going over the same information as last lecture, thankfully.

When her classes were done for the day, she walked back to her car and drove home. She opened her door to her lonely apartment. She put down her bag and decided to listen to the album that Jake had convinced her to buy. She turned on the turntable, not the vintage kind- but the kind you get from Target for under one hundred dollars. When the needle hit the plastic of the record, the music that came from the speaker was a little different than what she had expected, but pleasant. She sat on the couch and continued to read the book Jake had left in the cafe that she had traded for. She tried to read for what seemed like forever, but she still couldn't bring herself to bring her mind off of Jake.

She thought about what he said about his band. "Known." She mumbled to herself.

She opened her browser and searched. "Jake Kiszka" she said aloud as she typed.

She hit the enter button. The page loaded and she gasped. "Known." she laughed. "KNOWN?"

The results page was filled with his pictures, biography, and links to his band's music. She clicked the first picture, he was dressed in a suit, missing the shirt. The hat on his head was three sizes too big, but he made it look elegant. The next picture was an action shot. She zoomed in on his face, just to make sure it was the same boy who slept in her bed. It was. His hair wet with sweat clinging to his face as he played on an outdoor stage. She continued looking at pictures and news articles about the band.

Her phone rang, disturbing her spiral into his fame. "Jake." She answered.

"Hey!" he said. "I'm glad you made it back from school."

"Jacob Thomas Kiszka, born April 23, 1996 is the twin brother of the band's vocalist, Josh Kiszka and the older brother of the bass player Sam Kiszka." She read aloud from her browser.

"Oh dear god." Jake said, worriedly.

"You're famous, Jake." She said. "You literally are...oh my god." She fumbled.

"I guess you would have to figure out the extent of the band's fame at some point." He sighed. "I just wanted to get to know you better before the time came so that I wouldn't ruin it with-" He trailed.

"Ruin it with what?" she asked.

"Tours. I travel the world, Abigail. I didn't want to have to give you up because I decided to be in a band with my brothers." He said.

"Jake. You know as well as I do that you're happy in this band. I can tell by these pictures and videos. You love your brothers. You love what you do." She said.

"But what if I want to love you? What if I wanted to give all of this up and settle down and have a life with you Abigail?" He shouted.

"Jake...I'm not worth that. I'm not worth your career and your family. I'm jealous. I'm needy." She sighed.

"I disagree." he laughed.

"Do you want to come over?" She asked, "And talk about this?"

"I'm in the parking lot." He said.

"Of course you are." She said, hanging up.

Jake knocked on the door as Abigail closed her browser. She reset the needle on the turntable and opened the door. She smiled at the boy who was only a tad bit taller than her. His hair was pulled back in a low bun, like he'd gotten tired of it being in his face.

Jake pulled her into a hug. "I didn't mean to shout. I'm very frustrated." he apologized.

"I know. I wasn't helping anything by searching for you on the internet." She laughed.

"You're actually smart for that." He said, releasing her, "I could have been an axe murderer."

"An axe murderer would not have carried me to bed." She laughed.

Jake invited himself in as Abigail shut the door. "Stephen Stills. The record you bought the day we met."

"Yeah, this is the first time I've listened to it." she admitted.

Jake sat on the couch. "Are you mad that I downplayed the extent of the band's known-ness?" he said with air quotes.

"Not at all." She said, taking a seat beside him.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. "I don't want to give up on everything I've ever known, but I would do it for you. Just to be able to call you mine."

"I would never make you do that." She said, sitting up.

"What will you do when this two weeks of my vacation is over?" He asked.

"Long distance relationships are a thing." She reminded him.

"I don't know that I could go that long without seeing you. Hell, I was waiting in the parking lot for you to get home so I could see you again." He explained. "That actually makes me sound really creepy, but in reality- you make me desperate. You make my heart feel full. Like there was a piece missing and you're filling that hole."

Abigail rested her head on Jake's shoulder.

"Ex machina." She whispered.

"Do what now?" Jake asked.