Crushing on the Enemy (2 page)

His surprise and hurt turned to anger and he threw the album across the room. It knocked into a vase, shattering the glass into a million shards. The noise echoed around his skull as he tried to control his shaking hands.

Jake's head turned to the living room. The light had just turned on and he could hear his father's angry feet stomping through the house. He had no right to be angry! Not after what he had done!

Jake retrieved the album and met his father in the hall.

“How could you do this?” he demanded, thrusting it into his father's face, “This is mine! How could you do this? You have no right to ruin my stuff! No right, do you hear me?”

“Your mother is gone, Jake!” his father shouted, “GONE! She left both of us! She just didn't leave me when she ran off, Jake! She left you too! She hasn't even bothered to call to see if we're still alive!”

Anger roared hot in Jake's stomach as he tried to bite back his words, but his rage played folly with his heart and he let his father have it. There were things about Jake's life that his father didn't know. Things he had kept from him, because he didn't want to hurt him.

“You're wrong!” Jake shouted, “WRONG! I knew she was leaving! You made her feel like she was suffocating. You can't do that to a person and expect them to hang around, and now that she's gone you're doing it to me! I chose to stay with you, because I knew you needed someone to look after you!”

“Get out of my sight!” his father yelled.

“Gladly!” Jake shouted and stomped off to his room.

He changed into his pajamas and crawled under the blankets. Anger kept his thoughts churning inside his brain. He loved his dad, but he didn't know how much more of this he could put up with. When sleep finally claimed him, his hands were still clenched into angry fists at his side.

Alyssa's spirits were lifted as soon as she walked into school. The building was decorated with the school's colors and a lot of the students were wearing their school pride shirts as well. A grin spread across her face as she walked into the cafeteria. Her eyes darted quickly around in search of Ryan, but she couldn't find him. She sighed and made her way to the table she shared with the rest of the squad.

The day passed in a blur and soon she was in her uniform waiting for the time to go out. Her hands shook with anticipation and she could hardly stand still. She had spotted Ryan in the halls a few times, but hadn't been able to talk to him. Her mind played at what they might talk about over dinner after the game.

“Look at that,” she heard Chelsea say to Lisa.

Her head snapped in the direction the other girl was pointing and her heart dropped into her stomach. Ryan was playing with one of Katie's perfect curls and grinning like a fool. What could they possibly be talking about?

The coach yelled for Ryan to get his butt into the locker room and Katie rejoined the squad. Alyssa wanted to ask her what they had been talking about, but the noise of the crowd in the stands above them was too loud to allow for conversation. She had no choice but to push her fears out of her mind and put on her school spirit smile as they ran out to take their spots.

The crowd roared in appreciation as the squad appeared and Alyssa was instantly taken to the happy place that only a roaring crowd could provide her with. She waved to the crowd focusing on the faces she recognized. For a moment she felt a pang of guilt when she spotted, Mattie.

Mattie had been her best friend through middle school and her freshmen year of high school, but since then they had gone their separate ways. Mattie and Alyssa had tried out for the squad together, but Mattie hadn't been chosen. Almost instantly their friendship had fallen apart. Now, Mattie sat alone at the top of the bleachers watching as her once-best friend cheered on the team.

Alyssa felt her smile falter for a second and forced herself to look away. She allowed herself to hide behind the smile and spirit that had gotten her to where she was now: lead of the squad.

Alyssa and the other girls cheered until they were hoarse. The Panthers made touchdown after touchdown, but the Rattlesnakes were keeping up. Her heart pounded in her chest as the clock ticked down. There was only thirty seconds to go and the Panthers were ahead by one touchdown. The game had already gone into overtime and if the Rattlesnakes scored another touchdown, the teams would be forced to call a tie and have a rematch. Alyssa sighed, because that wouldn't be good for morale.

The Rattlesnakes' quarterback was in possession, but the boys were quickly gaining on him. The squad had long ago given up on their regular cheers and turned to shouting encouragement. Alyssa let out a loud purr the girls had adopted, because of their feline mascot.

“YES!” she yelled out as the boys tackled the opposing quarterback just before the buzzer sounded.

A loud rain of cheers sounded from the crowd and she hugged the other girls. She couldn't quit screaming out her glee even though her throat was already sore. Her grin became even wider when she spotted Ryan running off the field, surely he was running out to her so they could celebrate the victory together. She broke free of the hugs and squeezes of the other squad members and started towards him.

Alyssa froze in her tracks when he pulled Katie into his strong arms and laid one on her. She watched in horror as their lips met and she saw his tongue dart into the other girl's mouth. How could they do this to her? Katie knew how much she liked Ryan! Oh! Ryan had even asked her out? Had it been a joke?

Her grin turned into a frown as reality overcame her. She could feel several sets of eyes watching her, wondering what she would do. Alyssa took a deep breath and gathered her discarded pom-poms into her arms. She grinned at the other girls and walked calmly out of the stadium. As soon as she was around the corner and out of sight, she threw her pom-poms to the ground and ran to the parking lot. She was nearly to her car when her silent tears turned into heaving sobs. Alyssa could feel her perfect makeup running down her face, but she didn't care. It didn't matter. None of it mattered. Ryan had not only hurt her, but he had made a fool of her in front of every person on the squad. Him and his teammates were most likely in the locker room laughing at her right now.

Alyssa sank to the ground and leaned back against the front of her car. She struggled to breathe as the sobs kept coming.

“Pull it together,” she cried to herself, “I can't let Mom and Cody see me like this, I have to pull it together.”

Alyssa managed to get to her feet when she saw one of the Rattlesnakes' players carrying her pom-poms. The anger that she had managed to suppress burst from her belly and she couldn't believe that he would dare even touch her pom-poms! He wasn't even from her school! This jerk had no reason to touch anything that belonged to the Panthers.

She sprinted across the parking lot and snatched them away from him.

“Those are mine!” she shouted.

“I found them back there and was going to leave them so they could be found...” the boy tried to explain.

“Sure, whatever,” she said and turned to walk away.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“That's none of your business!” she turned and shouted, “Don't you have a pity party to get to? I'm sure you snakes are used to losing by now though,”

Alyssa didn't give him time to answer before she got into her car and drove away. She turned on the radio to drown out her emotions, but it didn't work. For a moment she considered stopping for a burger, because she had been too nervous to eat before the game, but changed her mind when she realized everyone would soon be there.

“I could go to Mattie's,” she sighed, but before the words were even out of her mouth, Alyssa knew she wasn't going to.

That friendship was history.

“How am I ever going to look anyone in the eye again after this?” she cried and turned the car toward home.

Her mom complemented her on being on time, but she didn't respond. She kicked off her shoes and threw her pom-poms down by the door before dashing upstairs to the sanctuary of her bedroom. Her whole body shook with sobs and she half hoped her mother would come talk to her. She strained her ears to listen for her to come up the stairs, but the sound never came.

Jake rolled his eyes as the girl drove away. She was pretty, but her attitude definitely left something to be desired. What the heck did she think he wanted with her pom-poms anyway?

“No good deed goes unpunished,” he sighed as he limped across the parking lot to his truck.

His foot was still killing him and he just wanted a hot shower. Today had been a total wash-out. He had overslept and woke up with a headache that could have shaken the dead, and as if his pounding temples weren't enough to deal with he had stepped on a piece of glass from the broken vase as he dashed through the house to get ready for school.

Jake knew he should have told the coach and sat the game out, but his pride wouldn't let him. Besides, what sort of cry-baby would he sound like?

“Sorry Coach, I can't play because I cut my foot,”

Yea, that would go over really well. Wimps didn't get sports scholarships. He had suffered several injuries on the field and played through them. It's what athletes did. He climbed into his truck and kicked off his shoes. Jake didn't even have to look down to know that his foot was bleeding again. Sighing, he threw his helmet onto the passenger's seat and leaned his head back.

He was going to be in big trouble come Monday morning. The coach was going to tear into him for not staying for the after game talk, but Jake didn't care. He had too many things on his mind to be locked in the locker room with his teammates, especially, after he had let them down.

His coach told him again and again, if he wanted that sports scholarship, their team needed to go to state this year. That's where the college scouts would be. Jake had been hopeful, but the season had started out just as badly as every other had. What the hell was he going to do if he didn't get a scholarship? Live with his father for the rest of his life?

“I'm just going to have to work harder,” Jake mumbled determinedly.

The parking lot was beginning to come alive with first signs of people leaving the game. Jake turned the key and pulled out. He didn't want to be stuck in the mess that would soon form as everyone tried to leave at once. Usually, Jake would linger with his teammates until the traffic was gone, but tonight he just needed some time alone to think.

For the first time he realized that he might not get the scholarship and he had to come up with a backup plan. He thought about talking to his dad about it, but decided against it. Jake didn't think he could handle telling his dad that they had lost another game and it was his fault. Well, technically it went back to the photo album, but he had broken the vase. So at the end of the night, it was still his fault.

Jake drove through the drive thru window of the first burger joint he saw and began the hour drive home. Usually, it would only take thirty minutes, but the traffic from the game was thick and seemed to crawl.

Under normal circumstances Jake would be infuriated and impatient, but tonight wasn't normal circumstances. Tonight everything seemed different. His once certain future seemed to be slipping through his fingers.

His cellphone rang and he glanced down to see the coach's phone number. Jake pulled into the empty parking lot of the grocery store and answered it.

“Hey,” he said.

“Where the heck are you, Jake?” the coach demanded.

“Almost home,” Jake sighed.

“You should still be here,” the coach said, “I know you're upset, but you're part of a team, and teams stick together, Jake.”

“I just have a lot on my mind,” he said.

“Well, you best get whatever it is off your mind, Jake, if you want that scholarship,” the coach snapped.

Jake looked at his phone for a minute and then flipped it shut, ending the call. He'd deal with it on Monday, but right now he just wanted to get home.

He had planned to sneak in through his window, but his dad was sitting on the front porch when he pulled into the driveway. Jake's brow furrowed in confusion. His dad looked happy. Oh God, he thinks we won the game! Jake sighed and took a deep breath before getting out of his truck. He nearly forgot to kill the engine in his haste to get away from his dad.

“So how's the champ?” his dad asked.

“We lost the game,” Jake said avoiding his father's eyes.

“What do you mean you lost the game?” he demanded, “and why are you limping?