Mattie left soon after Alyssa's mom left for work. Jake and Alyssa sat awkwardly together on the sofa.
“Do you want to watch a movie or something?” Alyssa asked.
“That sounds great,” he said.
She put in a DVD, but neither of them paid much attention to it. About fifteen minutes into the film the phone rang, but Alyssa ignored it after glancing at the caller id.
“Aren't you going to get that?” Jake asked.
“No,” she shook her head.
Jake wasn't going to ask any more about it, but Alyssa began to ramble almost too quickly for him to keep up with.
“It's Cody, my mom's soon-to-be-ex-husband. He's a real jerk and I don't even know why my mom married him. She's been weird since my dad died,” she said.
Alyssa stopped mid-sentenced and blushed.
“I'm sorry, you don't care about any of that,” she sighed, “let's talk about sports or something.”
“
Actually sports is the last thing I want to talk about right now,” he admitted, “If we don't go to state I have no chance of getting my scholarship.”
“You'll get there,” she grinned.
“I doubt it,” he chuckled.
“You just have to change the way you look at it. Don't think about have-tos or ifs. Just see it and do it,” Alyssa said turning to face him.
“Easy for you to say,” he laughed, “Your school has won the last seven years,”
“It's because we have spirit!” she laughed.
“I think it's more than that,” Jake said doubtfully.
“Maybe, but you have to submerge yourself in the cheers and the roars of the crowd,” Alyssa said.
Jake watched how the light danced through her blue eyes when she talked about cheering and winning. He wasn't sure that he believed what she was saying, but she looked very pretty when she was saying it.
“I'll try,” he laughed.
“You better,” she grinned.
“Or what?” he asked playfully.
“I'll tell the world you were carrying around my pom-poms,” she laughed.
“I was just trying to steal some of your school spirit,” he chuckled.
Alyssa slapped him playfully on the arm and they both jumped when the doorbell rang.
“I'm not expecting anyone,” she frowned.
She sprinted to the door and before she even opened it Jake could hear his father's angry voice.
“Where is he?” his father shouted.
“What the hell are you doing here, Dad?” Jake demanded as he jumped over the sofa.