Crushing On The Enemy (Crushing on You 1)
Page 5
“Screw off!” Jake retorted and stomped into his bedroom.
He stopped short of closing the door and returned to the kitchen. Jake snatched the classifieds off the table and returned to his room. He knew he had to direct his anger into something useful or he would have to endure another restless night of sleep.
He thumbed through the classifieds and circled anything that looked like something he might be able to do. Even if he had to work late nights and weekends, he was going to have the money to get the hell out of t
his town when he graduated college.
Chapter 5: Alyssa
Alyssa's dreams were filled with images of Ryan, Katie, and most surprisingly the Rattlesnake player who had retrieved her pom-poms. His blonde hair and blue eyes haunted her. Alyssa knew she should be grateful that he had retrieved her pom-poms before they were destroyed by the stampede of fans, making their ways to their cars.
Quietly, she climbed from bed and crept silently downstairs to get them. Her mom was already up and making breakfast.
“Hey, honey,” she said quietly.
“Hi Mom,” she yawned.
“Are you okay?” her mother asked.
“I'm fine,” she said turning to head back upstairs.
“Did you lose the game?” she asked.
“No, we won,” Alyssa said and sprinted back up the stairs.
If her mother had came to her last night and asked what was wrong, Alyssa would have poured her heart out, but this morning the wound felt raw. She didn't want to think about it, much less talk about it. In fact, she had decided that she was going to live the rest of her life pretending it didn't happen.
Alyssa dropped her pom-poms into the sink and cleaned them slowly, making sure that every last strand was perfectly clean. If she had to pay to replace them, her mother would kill her. Pom-poms were quite expensive after all.
After she finished with them, she turned her attention to her uniform. The butt of her skirt was dirty from sitting on the concrete. Usually her mother took care of her uniform, washing it by hand for her, but this time Alyssa wanted to do it herself. After all, if she cheered in college her mom wasn't going to be there to do it for her.
The work occupied Alyssa's hands, but not her mind. Hot tears fell down her cheeks as memories from the night before surfaced.
“Stupid! Stupid! STUPID!” she said and turned the water off.
She slid down the wall and wrapped her arms around her knees. She had spent three years dreaming of the day Ryan asked her out and it had only been a joke.
“I bet Katie put him up to it,” she sobbed, “she's mad because I'm head of the squad and she's not.”
A knock on her bedroom door startled her.
“I'm not hungry!” she called.
“I've brought it to you,” her mother answered through the door.
“Fine!” Alyssa sighed and forced herself to her feet.
She straightened her brown hair and wiped away her tears the best she could. There was no use in trying to act like she wasn't upset, because her mother wasn't that stupid. Actually, she didn't think her mother was stupid at all. She just chose to ignore when Alyssa needed her. The thought made the beginnings of anger stir within her belly.
“This isn't her fault,” she sighed as she walked to the door, “so, don't take it out on her.”
“Thanks, Mom,” she said taking the plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast.
“Can I come in?” her mother asked.
“It's not a good time,” Alyssa said.
“I'm worried about you, darling,” she answered.