Read Crushing on the Enemy for Free Online Page A

told Officer Bryant. Mostly, she had lied to him, because she wanted him to believe that his dead best friend's daughter was a normal happy teenager. Well, that and she sort of liked Jake. He had a redneck charm that appealed to her, even if it would make her mother cringe.

    “Go change for practice, Alyssa,” the coach said, dismissing her.

    Alyssa quickly changed into her practice uniform and headed out to the field. She was thankful that she was the first to arrive, because her eyes grew wide when she saw Jake and the other members of the Rattlesnakes' football team cleaning the field.

    “That's how they got out of being arrested,” she thought to herself, “They must have made an arrangement with our school board. I wonder if they'll be banned from playing the rest of the season?”

    Her eyes settled on Jake, who was working hard beside his teammates even though he wasn't part of the crime.

    “I hope not,” she frowned to herself.

    A couple of the boys noticed her and flipped her a bird, but Alyssa didn't respond. Instead she began her stretches without taking her eyes of Jake. Their eyes met for a minute and he flashed her a conspiratorial grin before returning to his task.

    Her heart skipped a beat and she blushed. Alyssa's smile only faded away when Coach Bowens and the rest of the squad arrived on the track. With a sigh she resigned herself to three hours of torture.

    Alyssa tried hard to lead the girls in their normal practice, but none of them seemed interested in listening to her. Instead they broke into small groups and practiced individually. Giving up wasn't something Alyssa was accustomed to so she spent the time practicing by herself and then ran laps for the last hour.

    She left fifteen minutes early, hoping to avoid the rest of the squad, but they had already helped themselves to her belongings. The jeans and t-shirt that she had worn to school was now covered in red sharpie.

    “TRAITOR!” and “SNAKE LOVER!” was written on every inch of her clothing. For a moment she considered telling the coach, but couldn't bring herself to admit how much their actions had hurt her. She walked to her car and avoided making eye contact with anyone. Jake smiled at her as she walked past, but she pretended not to see him.

    Alyssa ran to her car, fearing they had vandalized it too, but thankfully there was only a small note tucked under the windshield wipers. She snatched it up and stared at it in disbelief.

    “Keep on smilin'” the note said in big curvy letters and ended in a smiley face.

    Alyssa's heart skipped a beat when she realized it was Mattie's writing. Was she aware of what was going on? Of course she was, most of the school had to be aware. At least Mattie seemed to still be in her corner, even if she didn't deserve it.

    Alyssa didn't stop to pickup something to eat on the way home, because she didn't want to take the chance of encountering someone else would sneer at her. She sighed in relief when she found that Cody's car was still not parked in the driveway.

    “At least I should have a quiet evening to catch up on homework,” she sighed and killed the engine.

    Inside she found her mom crying at the kitchen table. Her hands shook as she crossed the room and stood by her side.

    “Are you okay, Mom?” she asked softly.

    “Yes, honey, I'm okay,” her mom said and attempted to wipe away the tears that had fallen freely down her cheeks.

    “Then why are you crying?” she asked and put a gentle hand on her mom's shoulder.

    “I filed for divorce today,” she said.

    “What?” Alyssa asked.

    “I don't want to talk about it right now, honey,” her mom said.

    “I'll give you some time alone,” Alyssa nodded.

    She secretly dumped the ruin clothes in the trash bin without telling her mother. Cody would be gone from their lives for good now, but would her mother survive it? Alyssa hadn't seen her mom look so broken since her father died.

    “I miss you, Dad,” she sighed