Crushing On The Enemy (Crushing on You 1)

“She sounds happier than I expected,” Jake laughed.

Alyssa nodded in agreement and finished her breakfast. The only thing she had to do was convince her mom that this was a good thing, at least, it was a good thing for her.

Chapter 22: Jake

The rest of senior year seemed to move slowly, but then suddenly Jake was walking across the stage to receive his diploma. It didn't hit him that high school was really over until that moment. His step faltered for a moment, but the crowd didn't seem to notice. They were too busy cheering him on.

Right after the graduation ceremony he and Alyssa joined the rest of their graduating class for a party, but left early because some kids brought beer and neither of them wanted to get involved with the stuff.

They drove out to the park and watched the sunset. Jake couldn't quit smiling and he noticed that Alyssa was having the same problem. He played with a lock of her hair, twirling it around his fingers.

“I can't believe we're leaving for Georgia next month,” Alyssa sighed.

“I know,” Jake nodded, “time is moving so fast. I feel like it's trying to race ahead of me.”

“I invited Mattie to stay with me until the semester starts. Her older sister is coming in and she doesn't want to see her. I might be her only escape from a miserable summer,” Alyssa laughed.

“I'm glad you invited her. That way you'll have someone to hangout with while I'm at practice,” Jake nodded.

Jake still found Mattie slightly annoying, but he put up with her for Alyssa's sake. Alyssa's mother had taken the pressure off of them about living together, by agreeing to rent Alyssa an off campus apartment as long as the kids didn't move in together until they were married. Jake knew that Alyssa had been just as relieved as he had been, even if neither of them had said it out loud.

Slowly over the next two weeks Jake said goodbye to friends and packed away his room. He hadn't realized how much stuff he had accumulated while growing up. He had to wade through deciding what to take and what to leave behind. Since he was going to be living in a dorm he couldn't take everything. Which, was a good thing because he had already promised that he'd help Alyssa move her things. Which was only fair, since she needed more stuff to fill her apartment.

Two days before they were to leave the guys from his team threw them a going away party. Alyssa almost forgot about it and he had to swing by and pick her up at the last minute.

“I'm so stressed out!” she said on the way to the party, “I have so much stuff left to pack before Friday.”

“You don't have to leave when I do,” Jake said for the thirteenth time that week.

“Yes, I do,” she sighed, “I have to sign the lease on Monday and then I'm going to need the rest of the summer to unpack my things.”

“It'll be fine,” Jake laughed.

Chapter 23: Alyssa

Alyssa managed to get everything packed and together she, Jake, her mom, and Mattie loaded her stuff into the backseat of her car and the bed of Jake's truck. She was glad for Jake's help, because she didn't know the first thing about packing her stuff in so that it would all fit and nothing would get broken.

On her last night in Ohio they roasted marshmallows and stayed up as late as they dared. When Jake headed home to say goodbye to his parents and get a goodnight sleep, Mattie disappeared too, leaving Alyssa alone with her mom as they cleaned up the kitchen.

“I want you to be caref

ul in Georgia,” her mom said, “and I want you to call me at least once a week, more often would be good too though.”

“I will, Mom,” Alyssa sighed.

“I mean it, Alyssa,” her mom said, “I know I haven't always been the greatest mom, but I want you to stay in touch. I don't want you to forget about me.”

“I won't,” Alyssa said, “Do you honestly think I could ever forget about you?”

“I forgot about my parents for awhile when I was in college,” her mom said.

“If I don't call you, then you call me,” Alyssa said and gave her mom a hug,

“You just remember that if you start ignoring my calls,” her mom laughed.

The next morning Alyssa's hands were shaking so badly she didn't think she was going to be able to drive. When she had daydreamed about leaving Ohio she didn't think it was going to be this hard. She also thought that she would be riding with Jake, but they both would need their vehicles when they got to Georgia.

Everyone came over to Alyssa's house for breakfast before they set off on their journey. Alyssa was too nervous to eat much, but sat with the others while they chitchatted.