Crushing On The Enemy (Crushing on You 1)

fight came back to her. She glanced at her alarm clock, it was only five o'clock. She had fifteen minutes to work out before her mad morning rush to get to the game day breakfast.

Chapter 2: Jake

Jake killed his truck engine and gathered up the fast food bags that littered the floorboard. He didn't like when the guys left their trash in the truck, but it was easy enough to cleanup. The sun had sat long ago and his dad should have already been asleep, but the kitchen light was still on. Jake sighed when he spotted his father sitting at the kitchen table with his head in hands.

“Looks like I'm in for another long night,” he sighed as he grabbed his stuff and headed into the house.

“Where were you?” his father asked as soon as the door opened.

Jake shut the door and locked it before turning to answer. He took a deep breath in preparation for being called a liar.

“The guys and I went to see the new slasher flick that opened last night,” he said.

“You and the guys, huh? You sure it wasn't you and Betty? I've seen how she looks at you,” his father said, crossing his arms.

To most it would sound like his father was teasing him about a girl having a crush on him, but to Jake it was like an interrogation. He had spent the last four years being told again and again to stay away from girls until he was done with college. That a girl would only get in the way of his dreams and put his life in the gutter.

Jake had followed his father advice even if it left him feeling like the odd man out. He was the only guy on the team that hadn't had a girlfriend. His teammates knew the reasons behind his actions, but it still annoyed Jake.

Ever since his mother had left the summer before his freshman year in high school, his father had changed. He was angrier and easily irritated. Jake was never sure how to handle him, but he tried his best. After all, once he got the football scholarship to the state university, the only one that would be left to listen to his lectures of the evil of relationships would be, Cally, the German Shepard.

“There were no girls there, Dad,” Jake sighed, trying not to let his dad know how annoyed he was.

“It's your life you're throwing away, Jake,” his father sighed.

“Yes, Dad,” he said as he made his way to his room.

Jake had to fight the urge to slam the door. It would be an easy way to take out his frustrations, but it would only lead to shouting. Besides, Jake didn't want to turn into an angry jerk like his father.

“One more year,” he told his reflection as he glanced in the mirror.

He ran his hands through his blonde hair before flopping onto his bed. He pulled his IPod from his pocket and put in the earphones. Music instantly filled his ears and allowed him to ignore his father's angry pacing.

“That anger's going to kill you, old man,” he thought as he skipped to a louder song.

Jake had been told by several of his friends to tell his dad to butt out of his life, but Jake wasn't raised to be rude to his parents. He knew his dad thought he was doing the best thing for him, but it was hard to deal with. It sucked that his dad couldn't see that he had to live his own life, but the situation was only for one more year.

After dozing off for a few minutes, he kicked his shoes off and headed into the kitchen for a snack. His stomach was growling and it wasn't going to be patient enough to wait for morning. He crept out of his room silently praying that his father was in bed. A sigh of relief escaped his lips when he entered the empty kitchen.

He poured himself a glass of milk and grabbed a banana. Jake switched on the light above the stove and sat down at the table. He frowned when he discovered his photo album laying open on the table. His dad must have been looking through its ancient pages again. Jake tried to keep the album hidden, because he didn't think obsessing on the past was good for his father.

He opened the album and began to flip through its pages. His eyes grew wide and he dropped his banana into the unfinished glass of milk when he realized his dad had cut his mother out of every photo inside.

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.