Forgotten Faces

“Jake, get up!” I yelled into his ear. I’ve been yelling at him to get up for the past hour. He won’t budge! Unless, I try something that would definitely make him all pissy but we need to go!

I took my idea to the challenge; I walked into the kitchen grabbing a glass of cold water and my air-horn. I walked back into his room and balanced out the glass of water on his stomach. Then, I covered my ears with ear muffs and I blew the horn.

Jake woke up immediately, the water spilt all over his pants (like I planned), and his face looked startled. When he looked at me holding the horn, he gave me a death glare, “What the hell, Janie?!” he yelled. I didn’t bother with his tone as I threw him a shirt, shorts, and underwear as I said, “You need to wake up, and we’re going to get you a job.”

“What, why?”

“You didn’t expect me to take care of you the entire time you’re here, did you?” I asked.

“Well, I would’ve gotten a job eventually.”

“Jake, it’s been three weeks since you’ve moved in; you don’t do anything but sit on your ass.”

“I go places.” he defended himself.

“Yes, but with me. Now, hurry up! I got you an interview in 20 minutes,” I stated while walking out of his room.

It’s been a good three weeks with Jake. Of course there was the occasional brother/sister fights, but what else is new?

Johnny and I have gotten closer too. We’re going to celebrate our one month anniversary soon. Yes, cheesy, I know. But, we thought it would be funny to try it. Anyway, he and I have been great; I can honestly say that I’ve fallen fast for him. “Janie, are you still in there?” Jake asked tapping my forehead. I wacked his hand away and he laughed.

“Come on.” I said to him, leaving him to lock the door.



We walked into Skin Deep Tattoos where my brother would have his interview and the first thing we hear is, “Hey Jan, who’s the cutie?”

I cringed as I turned to the girl that I despise more than Blake, yes I know, crazy right? Well nothing bad happened between her and me, it’s just how she’s so nosy and her voice sounds like a high pitched squeaky French whore. “Delilah, this is my brother Jacob. Is Caleb here?” I asked.

“He’s at his station, in back. Are you here to get a tattoo because I don’t see you on his list?”

“I don’t need to be on his list, but thank you for telling me.” I smiled and ushered my brother to follow me. The second our backs were turned, I relaxed. I knocked on the deep purple colored door and was called in. “Hey Caleb, I brought you a new employee.” I said to my friend.

“I’m already hired?” Jake asked.

“Not yet. I’m Caleb, you must be Jan’s little brother, Jake. I heard you can draw?” Caleb asked my brother.

“I guess so, but I don’t know how to tattoo anyone.”

“You don’t need to do tattoos or piercings; you can draw the sketches and do other stuff. But, I want to test your skills,” he said by pulling out a sketch book and pen. “Draw me a pair of wings, without feathers and make it look boney.” He instructed.

“Okay, I think I can whip up something.” Jake sat down in Caleb’s chair as we walked out of the office.

“Do you really want your brother drawing a tattoo for you?”

I nodded, “Caleb, he’s an amazing artists and I don’t see why not. He’d be perfect and maybe after a while you could start him as a trainee?”

“I’ll see what I could do.” He smiled. I gave Caleb a hug and walked back into his station. I saw Jake working hard on the drawing; I didn’t want to disturb him so I walked back out of the room.

“Hey Caleb, if I’m not back within an hour tell Jake that I’ll be back soon.”

“Yeah. Sure. Where are you running off to?”

“I’m just going to get something to eat, waking him up is tough work.” I smirked.

“You used your air-horn, didn’t you?”

“You know me so well.” I laughed and yelled a goodbye on my way to the door. I decided today I’d go out to lunch, so I chose to eat at some outdoor café. It was a beautiful day so why not?

I could see the beach from the seat I was at, such a beautiful sight. It’s nothing like Illinois; the city, the taxis, the business. California is where I belong, it’s calming, quiet, and everything a person would hope to find. I’m glad I had the chance to escape my life there. It was stressful and lifeless. Now, I realize that it wasn’t because of Blake; it wasn’t because of the high school rumors, or the fights with Jake, or the nagging of my parents. It was the feeling of all the pressure and stress that made me want to leave. I moved to California for my own self being. I was finally happy.

“Janelle Tyler? Is that really you?” A deep voice said from in front of me. I looked up to see a familiar face, but the name won’t come to my thoughts. “Yes, that’s me.” I said.

The man smiled and sat down saying, “How are you? It’s been five years since I last seen you. What are you doing here in California?” he asked. The mysterious man was really nice, I guess we went to high school together, but why isn’t his name coming to my head?

“I was here for college but now I live here with my brother.”

“Really, that’s cool. Done anything interesting? I’m sure you’re still a partier. You were the one for the attention back then.”

I laughed. “Yes, I sure was, but no, I’m not really the same. I’m not a teenager anymore.” After we spoke for a while longer, I realized I still haven’t gotten his name. “I’m sorry.” I interrupted him. “I don’t mean to be rude, but what was your name again?”

He smiled, “Carter Davis, I grew up with you and”-

“Blake Walker.” I finished his sentence. “But you were more of a friend to her than me. I barely took notice in you once we went to middle school.” I reminded him.

“You’re taking notice in me now.” he smiled, “By the way, why did you and Blake stop talking to each other? You two got into a fight and got kicked out of the ceremony. What happened?”

“You really don’t know?”

“I have no clue, Blake stopped talking to me, everyone gave me a look when I walked down the hall and I was basically out of the circle.”

“Rumors went around about Blake and I. She slept with Dean behind my back for two months and I apparently slept with you.”

“But you didn’t. Even if we did, why would it have been bad? Blake and I weren’t even dating.”

“Blake has had a crush on you ever since we were little, but I doubt the feelings are still there. I mean, she’s madly in love with her boyfriend Zacky.”

Dean laughed, “I bet she is, she always cares for a lot of people, yet she can be a huge bitch… I’m guessing you still talk to her?”

“Barely, my boyfriend, Johnny, is best friends with her boyfriend and when we re-met, I guess we gained contact.”

“Do you have her number? I’d love to talk to her again.” He said. I thought about the pros and cons on this. They could become friends, he’d explain what happened that night, and we can all be friends again. The bad thing could be that she’d bitch me out for giving him her number, or if she saw us hanging together she would be pissed off. “Sure, I’ll give you mine and hers.” I said happily as I took his phone and punched in both of our numbers. When I handed it back I looked at the time and laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Carter asked.

“I was supposed to be at my friends tattoo shop forty minutes ago. I have to go though, my brothers waiting for me there.”

“Oh okay, I hope to see you around. It was nice seeing you, Janelle.”

“Nice seeing you to, Carter, bye!”

“Bye.” He smiled and waved as I walked away.



I walked into the shop and was immediately attacked by Jake’s questioning. “What took you so long? I was done with my sketch an hour ago!”

“I went to go eat lunch; can I see your drawing?”

“Caleb’s printing it out. He said that someone wanted it to be tattooed on them.”

“You actually know the person who’s getting it.” I said walking over to Caleb. When I was shown the picture I was amazed, I never knew my little brother was such an artist. I mean, I’ve seen him do simple things but I, personally, wanted to test his skills with this project. “Wow, that’s really amazing.” I complimented the drawing, “Jake, how come you didn’t go to school for art?”

“Mom and dad wanted me to play football and they wanted me to either be a lawyer or a doctor. They thought the whole art thing got in the way of everything,” he stated.

“You should’ve done what I did, go to school for what you want, no mater how upset your parents will be. I love what I do and I get paid for it.”

“Where do you work? You haven’t gone to work since I’ve been here.”

“That’s because I’m on vacation. I go back soon though and I work for Warner Brothers as a music producer. I haven’t really done much, since I started last year, but I’m getting there.”

“I never knew that? How come you never told me this before?” questioned my younger brother.

“We’ve never had the best relationship, Jake… Anyway, Caleb! I called to my blonde friend, “Can you make an appointment for me Saturday at nine?”

“In the morning?”

“Yes, in the morning, this tattoo will take all day! Maybe even two days!”

“You’re the person getting my drawing tattooed?” Jake asked. I smiled up at my brother, “Yes, I am. Now, how about we go back home, I have a date with Johnny tonight.”

He laughed, “Okay, fine.” Then he walked out of the shop, waving a goodbye to Caleb and Delilah the whore.

“Janie, you’re hiding something.” Caleb sang.

“What makes you think that?” I said crossing my arms and giving him a glare.

“One, you were in a way better mood when you came back, so something must’ve happened while you were at lunch. Care to explain?”

“I ran into an old friend from high school.”

“You went to school in Illinois. What’s the person doing here?”

“I don’t know…?” I said questionably. I honestly don’t know why he’s here. I haven’t seen the kid since the night I dropped Blake, him, and myself off at that party. I shook my head and looked at Caleb, “I really don’t know, I’ll ask him though, but at the moment I have to go. My brother is very impatient.” I smiled. Caleb just rolled his eyes and gave me a hug, kissing the top of my head. “See you Saturday, Janie.” He called out as I waved a goodbye to him and ignored the whore giving me a nasty glare.



Around 7 o’clock there was a knock on my door, I went to go answer the door but Jacob beat me to it. “Hello, Jonathan. What brings you to my lovely home?” My brother said to Johnny. Did I mention that Johnny and my brother have gotten close with each other? Since our dad lives all the way in Illinois, Jake told Johnny that he’d play the ‘dad figure’ every time he came over. And when he said he’d play the dad figure, he meant it.

“Hello, Jake. I’m here to pick up my lovely girlfriend for a date we have tonight.” He smiled playing along with Jake’s role play moment.

“Come in, come in. Sit down, now Mister…?”

“Seward.”

“Mr. Seward, what are your plans with my sister tonight?”

“We’re going out to eat and then we’ll wing it from there.”

“And by wing it you mean getting in my sisters pants?” Jakes eyes zoned in on Johnny’s face. Johnny’s face started to blush as he started to nervously reply in gibberish. This was my cue to walk in with all smile and a slight giggle and I answered for him, “Jake, leave my boyfriend alone, he meant we’ll figure out what to do after dinner, and I don’t think he’ll be able to get into my pants since I’m not wearing any.” I stated as both men turned around and looked at me. I was wearing a floral skirt with a tan-ish v-neck shirt tucked in. A braided belt wrapped around my waist and I wore an owl necklace, bow earrings, and my ‘reach for the stars’ bracelet. To me I looked like I was a girly version of myself in high school but I like this outfit.

“Janie, you look pretty.” My brother complimented. I looked up at him and once I saw he was sincere I smiled and thanked him. I looked over at Johnny, who was still taking in my new look and his face was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. I walked past my brother and in front of Johnny. When we locked eyes, we both smiled as he said, “You look beautiful, Janelle.”

I kissed his lips and thanked him. I grabbed onto his hands and asked, “Are you ready?” he nodded his head with a soft smile. As we were walking out the door Jake called out, “I want her home by midnight!” We both laughed at my ridiculous little brother and headed towards Johnny’s car to head to the restaurant where we’ll have our first date.