Dryvetyme Onlyne

Jacob (Jake) Brahms:

Oh Jacob – the quintessential middle child. Pinioned between two older brothers and two younger twin sisters, there are times when it seems that the brown-haired and brown-eyed Jake is bereft of a personality, but not because he hasn’t tried. However, any time your two older brothers left their mark at your High School – one (Abraham, aka Abe) as a star athlete, the other (Isaac, aka Ike) as debate team captain and Student Body President – and your younger sisters (Sarah & Rachel) have been doted upon for their entire existence, you’re bound to have a severe identity crisis. It’s not that he’s ignored at home; far from it actually. The problem is that Jake’s older brothers aren’t at home anymore, but their presence lingers perpetually, as one is a junior cornerback at Cal and the other is a freshman government major at Stanford. Those are large shoes that Jake’s supposed to be filling, and according to his parents & teachers, he’s failing miserably.

So, who’s Jake? What’s Jake all about? How does Jake stand out? Well, for starters, he’s the one-man labor force at the Brahms household. What? Do you really expect the twin 13-year-old princesses to actually do anything around the house? Better yet, do you really expect his parents to ask the twin 13-year-old princesses to do anything around the house? I don’t think so. Jake’s spent his whole life frustrated with having to live up to his older brothers’ accomplishments and resentful that his little sisters get all the attention and adoration. But what does he do about it? Nothing.

The aggravating thing is that Jake’s really a good kid: he makes A’s & B’s, he never gets in trouble, he does what his parents and teachers ask of him, and he takes care of his responsibilities. His parents won’t let him get a part-time job, but they do make sure that he is compensated for his chores by giving him an allowance that covers the costs for the insurance and gas on his car (his eldest brother’s old car, a 1997 Toyota Corolla). Nevertheless, Jake does nothing to stand out. He has no interest in sports; he’s too shy to think about being in debate, on the stage, or involved in school politics; he’s thought about writing for the paper, though he’s not sure if he has any talent with writing; and his ego has been bludgeoned so much that he has no idea how to speak his mind, even if he wanted to do so.

And his freshman year of High School was probably the worst year of his life, as he spent the entire year hearing all about the greatness of Abe & Ike and then having the teachers wonder why Jake didn’t seem to be as outstanding as they had been. It was torture to walk down the halls seeing his brothers’ pictures in various trophy cases and hearing how their accomplishments resonated in people’s memories. The only thing that Jake could do was slink down the halls and do whatever he could to hide in his rote, passionless efficiency, content in knowing that, if he did what he was supposed to do and didn’t rock any boats, no one would have to know about the legacy he’s “supposed” to fulfill.

But upon entering homeroom on the first day of his sophomore year, he saw her, sitting there silently, yet with eyes full of life. He had never seen someone like her before, but then again, he has never really paid much attention to the girls in his classes before this day. Cassy changed his world that Fall semester, though it wasn’t until his friend Bobby started talking to her in English class about their mutual experience of being raised by their grandparents that Jake ever had the guts to even look Cassy in the eyes. He was so stunned to see someone speak her mind so forcefully & so forthrightly, so he quickly latched himself onto her small, but strong social circle.

It’s is a bizarre circle, one comprised of 5 people of divergent tastes, proclivities, and backgrounds, but it’s is also a circle comprised of 5 people who have each other’s backs in any given situation. Jake has finally found a peer group where he can be pushed to do and try all sorts of new things, but also supported when he’s afraid to move out of his comfort zone. This has been and will continually be quite the growing experience for Jake, who’s suddenly started to grow really up and do so for the first time.