Jake Taylor

Jake Taylor is a main character in Leslea Wahl's The Perfect Blindside alongside Sophie Metcalf. He is also featured in the book Secrets: Visible and Invisible in the short story "More Precious than Gold".

Personality
Jake is very jaded with Silver Springs and wishes that he moved to Vail instead. He makes no effort in school and doesn't do his homework, even asking Sophie to do it for him, which angers her to the point that she plans to reveal who he really is to everyone.

His true nature returns when he volunteers at the Special Olympics with his teammates Rachael and Tommy Henderson and takes a particular liking to a boy named Mitchell with Down Syndrome.

When he uncovers the truth, that Deputy Grady is involved in a drug ring, he chooses to stop it as quickly as possible to avoid more people becoming addicted after hearing Rachael's story about her friend Emma dying, which sparks his inner heroism.

Eventually, he starts thinking about God more at Sophie and his mother's urging and when faced with life-threatening danger, he starts to realize that he shouldn't have dismissed God so quickly after fame, and starts to become religious again.

Plot
Prior to the events in the novel, Jake lived in Kansas and became an Olympic silver medalist in snowboarding.

At the start of the book, Jake moved to Silver Springs, Colorado to be closer to the USA Olympic Snowboarding Training location. Jake wanted to move to Vail, Colorado, and is very sour about being forced to live in a small town.

His only joys are hanging around Mallory, the head cheerleader, exploring the abandoned mine, and aggravating the intelligent Sophie Metcalf. He puts little effort into his grades, and tries to convince Sophie to do his schoolwork for him.

Later on, Jake sees through Hollywood's façade of glamour after attending the Kids' Favorites Awards, and finds Sophie's brutal honesty refreshing and starts to crave her company.

Sophie and Jake later tour the abandoned mine, and once they return Jake's tires have been slashed. The next day they go back to investigate, and while Jake drives home, he is pulled over by Deputy Grady and marijuana is discovered in his jeep. However, Jake does not use drugs, and realizes that someone planted it there and is out to get him.

The news breaks out that the famous Jake Taylor smokes weed, and Jake approaches Deputy Grady to see how the story leaked to the public, as it was supposed to have been kept quiet. Deputy Grady replies that a paparazzi reporter must have been watching them.

Unconvinced of his explanation, Jake secretly follows him and discovers a secret drug route in Silver Springs. Due to a conversation with his teammate Rachael Edwards about her friend Emma killed in a car accident due to intoxication, Jake decides that he can't afford to let another innocent person to become addicted and goes to the abandoned mine where the stash is being kept.

He snaps grainy pictures of the cocaine being held there to Sophie, but is caught by Deputy Grady and held hostage. While Deputy Grady calls the other drug dealers, Jake manages to send a text in '49ers code to Sophie where his whereabouts are.

Sophie solves the riddle and manages to distract the captors with firecrackers while she aids Jake escape.

Sheriff Miller arrives and promptly arrests Deputy Grady, and finally Jake and Sophie attend the Snow Ball together.

Personality
Jake is much more humble and sweet. His interactions with Jet show that his patience has also increased and that he doesn't hold grudges. His newfound virtues are tested when Jet routinely glowers and lashes out at him because of his fame. Jake's competitive side is revealed through his friendly athletic rivalry with Ryan throughout the short story.

Plot
Jake flies in with Sophie to a summer camp to help underprivileged kids. He has a hard time bonding with Jet, due to the latter's bitter resentment of Jake's fame and riches. He, along with Ryan, help rescue Jet when he is trapped by boulders reaching the treasure.

Trivia

 * Before he was an Olympic snowboarder, Jake shredded on a skateboard
 * Jake is 16-years-old
 * The close-up photo of Jake is a picture of actor and model Wade Poezyn, someone who Leslea Wahl stated that she imagined what Jake looks like