Crushing on the Enemy (8 page)

“I hope so,” Alyssa smiled, “You get so tense when you talk about him.”

“Sorry,” Jake said, blushing.

“No, don't be,” Alyssa said.

She stopped and put her hands on his shoulders. Jake watched her rise to her tiptoes and he wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned down. Their lips met for a second before the sound of a barking dog made them both jump apart.

An elderly couple walked by giving them a knowing smile.

“Young love,” the older woman sighed when she thought they were out of earshot.

A few seconds later Jake and Alyssa both broke out into a fit of laughter. Jake wasn't sure why he was laughing, but it felt so good, like the first breath of air after coming up from below the surface of the water.

When the sun began to set they began the walk back to Jake's truck. He knew he was going to miss curfew again, but it was worth it.

“I wish this moment could last forever,” Alyssa said pausing at the end of the trail, “It's so peaceful out here.”

“We'll come back,” Jake assured her.

“I hope so,” Alyssa grinned.

Jake opened her door and waited for her to get in. She began to move and then paused. A second later she gave him a quick kiss and then scurried into the truck. Jake's heart pounded in his chest as he walked around to the driver's side. He was really beginning to like Alyssa.

“I have practice tomorrow, work Wednesday, and then a game on Thursday, but we could hang out on Friday if you want,” Jake suggested.

“That sounds good,” Alyssa smiled, “but I think I may come to your game.”

Jake wasn't sure what he thought about that. He wanted to see her again as soon as possible, but he knew the guys would never let him live it down. Jake shook off the worries, because after high school if things went right he most likely wouldn't see them very often.

“You need better cheerleaders,” she grinned, “so, I thought I'd bring you some spirit.”

“I'd like that,” Jake grinned.

Jake had planned to hang out in the parking lot with Alyssa for awhile, but as soon as they pulled in, another girl was at Alyssa's window. She looked wild eyed and panicky.

“Cody's car is in your driveway,” the girl screeched.

“What?” Alyssa demanded.

Jake could tell that Alyssa was close to tears, but wasn't sure what to do.

“I heard them arguing when I drove by the last time too,” the girl screeched.

“I have to go, Jake,” she said turning towards him.

“I can drive over too, just in case,” he offered.

A grin spread across his face when her eyes lit up.

“Thank you,” she said and gave him a quick hug.

Once back at Alyssa's house they found that Cody's car was gone, but Jake still waited until he found out that her mom was okay before he left.

When she came back out he could tell she had been crying.

“They just argued like always,” she said softly.

Jake wasn't sure what to say so he just pulled Alyssa to him. She rested her head against his chest and cried. He stroked her hair as he searched for the words to say.

“Is he going to be back?” Jake asked, “Is she going to let him move back in?”

Alyssa pulled back and said, “She's thinking about it.”

Jake sighed as he looked at Alyssa.

“I have my birthday in two weeks. I'll be eighteen,” Alyssa said, “Mattie's mom said I could stay with them until the end of the school year. I'm going over there tonight. I can't stand my mother right now.”

Jake nodded and hugged her again.

“I have to get home,” he sighed, “My dad's already going to be pissed.”

“Oh!” she said, “I'm so sorry I kept you out late.”

“It's not a problem,” he grinned.

He was about to lean down and kiss her when Mattie came out.

“My mom says we need to get over there, if you're going to stay the night,” Mattie said.

Jake smiled and shook his head.

“I'll see you on Thursday,” Alyssa smiled.

“Thursday,” Jake repeated and got into his truck.

Alyssa had trouble falling asleep on Mattie's family's bumpy sofa, but she made the best of it without complaining. Mattie had offered Alyssa her bed, but she didn't want to intrude any more than she already was.

Her mind raced about what to do about her mother. She didn't want to move out yet, but she didn't want to put up with Cody either. Sure, she'd only be leaving a few months before she planned to, but she was scared. What if she began to get along with the squad again? Did she want to? Could she still be friends with Mattie if she did? Then there was Jake.

Tall, handsome, sweet, incredibly kind, Jake. She liked him a lot, but he was even busier than she was and then there was his father.

“Maybe those things don't matter,” Alyssa sighed rolling over onto her back, “Maybe we just have to keep going.”

When Alyssa finally fell asleep she dreamed that she was running a race against the other girls on her squad. She ran past person after person, each of them acting weird. Jake's father was doing a weird dance that looked to be a one person tango, her mother was dressed in mourning clothes singing opera, Mattie was attempting to cheer, but failing miserably. Jake was juggling while riding on a unicycle. Even her dream-self stopped to admire him as he kept every object moving in perfect timing. The dream suddenly changed and she was in the locker room, but instead of the girls from her squad, it was full of chimps wearing the girls' uniforms.

Alyssa woke up giggling. Her dreams had always been strange, but the chimps sent her over the edge of weird. After she finished laughing she remembered that something had woken her up, but what?

She saw the blinking light of her cellphone. Who would be up this late to send her a text? After all it was midnight and she had school in the morning.

“Hey, U awake? It's Jake,” the text read.

“Yea, what's up?” she messaged back sleepily.

“Couldn't sleep,” he replied.

“Me neither,” she lied, not wanting to let him know that he had woken her up from a very amusing dream.

“Want to meet me somewhere? Just to talk?” he replied.

“Where?” she asked.

“Anywhere but here,” he replied, using her line from earlier.

“Another fight with your dad?” Alyssa typed.

“Yep,” he replied.

“Park?” she asked.

“Sounds good,” he said.

“Be there soon,” she said.

Quietly she dressed and grabbed her backpack. Alyssa didn't think she would be back in time to gather her school things so she had to take them with her. She thought about waking Mattie to tell her, but didn't want to ruin her sleep as well.

Alyssa stopped at the twenty-four-seven gas station and got a cup of coffee. She was going to need the caffeine if she planned to pull an all-nighter. Pausing, she also picked up a couple of sodas and headed to the register.

The cashier was twisting her gum around her finger, so Alyssa told her to keep the change.

She took a wrong turn and had to back track, so it took her longer to get to the park than she had anticipated. When she arrived, Jake was already there waiting for her. He was sitting on the hood of his truck drinking a sports drink.

“Hey,” she said walking up to him.

“Hey,” he said.

For a few minutes she stood leaning against his truck and neither of them spoke. She could tell that Jake was just as tired as she was. Alyssa found herself missing the lumpy sofa back at Mattie's, but there was something exciting about being out in the dark.

She glanced up at the sky and without the glare of city lights the stars were brighter than she had ever seen before.

“It's nice out tonight,” Alyssa smiled up at him.

“Yea,” he sighed.

“Want to talk about it?” she asked.

“Not really, it's just the usual bs.” Jake replied.

“Okay,” Alyssa nodded, “let's talk about school spirit.”

“Ha ha,” he said.

“No seriously,” she said.

“What about it?” Jake asked.

“That's the complicated part,” she sighed.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“I've lost mine, have you seen it?” she laughed.

“No, but I'll check the glove box in a minute,” he chuckled.

“I guess, I don't know, it just seems that everything I thought about my school, my friends, was a lie,” she sighed.

“No,” Jake shook his head, “Your school has always had plenty of spirit.”

“True, but I've lost mine,” she sighed.

“No, you've just redirected it,” he said.

“Huh?” she asked, arching a brow.

“You have other things you're busy with, like your mom, Mattie, figuring out what you want to do after high school,” he said.

“True, but I miss it,” she sighed, “I miss being part of them.”

“What's to miss?” he asked, “They sound like a bunch of diva wannabes.”

Alyssa sighed and was quiet for a moment. He didn't understand. Maybe boys were unable to understand what she meant, but that wasn't fair, because Mattie didn't understand either.

“Why would you want to be part of that?” he asked.

“Because I don't have anywhere else to belong,” Alyssa said turning away.

She didn't know why, but she feared she was going to breakdown into tears right on the grass. She hadn't been thinking about the squad on the way over, and she hadn't planned to bring it up at all. She was here because Jake's father had upset him again. Alyssa was shocked at how comfortable she felt around Jake. She had told him the truth, and she hadn't even told Mattie that much.

“No one belongs at high school,” Jake said, “I mean it's only four years and it's not supposed to last forever. I don't think we find out where we belong until we realize that and leave the silly notions behind.”

“Silly notions?” she asked and turned to face him.

His words stung more than Alyssa would have liked to admit.

“I don't mean you're silly,” he sighed, “I mean that school spirit is everything. The notions like if you're not popular in high school you won't get anywhere in the real world either.”

“Oh, yea,” she nodded.

She didn't tell Jake, but sometimes she did believe those things. When she watched the adults around her in social situations it was always the same. The popular people and then the others.

“Even adults have a social order,” she added.

“Maybe, but you have to remember we're not wolves, nor hunters and gathers any more,” Jake said, “We can survive without the tribe.”

“That sounds lonely,” Alyssa frowned.

“Nah, it sounds freeing to me,” he chuckled, “I mean if we listened to the others we wouldn't be hanging out at all.”

“Truth,” she laughed.

The rest of the night passed quickly and soon they were watching the sunrise.

“The sun should have stayed down,” Alyssa laughed.

“Why?” Jake asked.

“Because it means we have to get going,” Alyssa said.

“Oh, yea, school,” he nodded.

“Yea, back to our own tribes,” she laughed.

Thursday night came and went. Jake fell into bed ecstatic his team had won the game and he had hung out with Alyssa afterward. He couldn't believe she had shown up in the green colors of his team and cheered him on. He could hear her voice urging him on again and again.

Jake couldn't remember the last time he had felt this good. He had talked to his dad before falling exhausted into bed and he had agreed to meet Alyssa. Jake was terrified that his dad might make another scene, but was hopeful that he could survive dinner without being a butthead.