“They just argued like always,” she said softly.
Jake wasn't sure what to say so he just pulled Alyssa to him. She rested her head against his chest and cried. He stroked her hair as he searched for the words to say.
“Is he going to be back?” Jake asked, “Is she going to let him move back in?”
Alyssa pulled back and said, “She's thinking about it.”
Jake sighed as he looked at Alyssa.
“I have my birthday in two weeks. I'll be eighteen,” Alyssa said, “Mattie's mom said I could stay with them until the end of the school year. I'm going over there tonight. I can't stand my mother right now.”
Jake nodded and hugged her again.
“I have to get home,” he sighed, “My dad's already going to be pissed.”
“Oh!” she said, “I'm so sorry I kept you out late.”
“It's not a problem,” he grinned.
He was about to lean down and kiss her when Mattie came out.
“My mom says we need to get over there, if you're going to stay the night,” Mattie said.
Jake smiled and shook his head.
“I'll see you on Thursday,” Alyssa smiled.
“Thursday,” Jake repeated and got into his truck.
Chapter 11: Alyssa
Alyssa had trouble falling asleep on Mattie's family's bumpy sofa, but she made the best of it without complaining. Mattie had offered Alyssa her bed, but she didn't want to intrude any more than she already was.
Her mind raced about what to do about her mother. She didn't want to move out yet, but she didn't want to put up with Cody either. Sure, she'd only be leaving a few months before she planned to, but she was scared. What if she began to get along with the squad again? Did she want to? Could she still be friends with Mattie if she did? Then there was Jake.
Tall, handsome, sweet, incredibly kind, Jake. She liked him a lot, but he was even busier than she was and then there was his father.
“Maybe those things don't matter,” Alyssa sighed rolling over onto her back, “Maybe we just have to keep going.”
When Alyssa finally fell asleep she dreamed that she was running a race against the other girls on her squad. She ran past person after person, each of them acting weird. Jake's father was doing a weird dance that looked to be a one person tango, her mother was dressed in mourning clothes singing opera, Mattie was attempting to cheer, but failing miserably. Jake was juggling while riding on a
unicycle. Even her dream-self stopped to admire him as he kept every object moving in perfect timing. The dream suddenly changed and she was in the locker room, but instead of the girls from her squad, it was full of chimps wearing the girls' uniforms.
Alyssa woke up giggling. Her dreams had always been strange, but the chimps sent her over the edge of weird. After she finished laughing she remembered that something had woken her up, but what?
She saw the blinking light of her cellphone. Who would be up this late to send her a text? After all it was midnight and she had school in the morning.
“Hey, U awake? It's Jake,” the text read.
“Yea, what's up?” she messaged back sleepily.
“Couldn't sleep,” he replied.
“Me neither,” she lied, not wanting to let him know that he had woken her up from a very amusing dream.
“Want to meet me somewhere? Just to talk?” he replied.
“Where?” she asked.