Living With My Enemy

Chapter 1

The doorbell rang as my eyes slowly opened from a deep sleep. "Who would come to my house at 1:30 in the morning?" I mumbled as I looked at the clock. I decided to check it out. I put my long, brown, bed-head hair up into a ponytail, just in case I had to look somewhat presentable, and crept downstairs. My mother, Anne, and my father, Joe, already had answered the door, and stood in confusion.

"You know my daughter?" Joe asked.

"Yes, sir. I need to talk to her." The deep voice said.

"At one freekin' thirty in the morning? I don't think so. Go home." My father replied.

"Dad!" I started, "I need to talk to him. I can handle this, get some rest" I said.

My father never let me step in. He was the ruler of the house, who controlled everything. Ever since I've turned 16, I've tried to gain some independence and control. This situation was something that I wanted to deal with. My father needed to accept that he didn't have to control everything anymore.

"Joe," mom started, "Samantha is old enough to deal with him" she said facing towards dad.

"Fine honey." He said to Anne. He then turned to me and said, "Be careful" and walked back to his room.

I slowly walked to the door, and saw someone who looked painfully familiar. It was Jeremy Hopkin. Jeremy and I have always hated each other. Since the first day we met in kindergarten, we were known for shooting each other nasty looks. Not to mention, we were neighbors. He was always confident, trying to one-up me. But today, his head drooped to the ground, looking like a sad dog.

"Jeremy?" I asked quietly. He looked up shyly and I saw tears in his eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I need your help, Samantha" he finally said.

"My help? You never want anything to do with me, Jeremy" I said lashing out.

"Well I need it now" he mumbled again.

"Yeah, sure. Get some sleep Jeremy." I said acting annoyed.

"Samantha? Haven't you figured it out yet!"

"No? What is there to figure out? You've always hated me!" I yelled.

"Samantha, I love you."

I looked at my toes. Jeremy Hopkin loves me? No. No. No. Was this for real? All of the times he has bumped me into a locker, made fun of me in front of his friends, and shot me a dirty look, has been out of love? This has happened before. A boy plays with my heart by saying he loves me, and then gets a laugh out of it.

"Jeremy? Is this a joke? You come to my house at 1:30 in the morning to tell me that you love me?" I yelled at him.

'You know what Samantha?" He screamed, "you'll never understand! Okay! My life is horrible right now. My mom just left my dad for a rich guy in Vegas, and we are living in our neighbors shed. We can't afford that huge, fancy house next to you anymore! We need somewhere to live. So why not live in the home of the person I love? Samantha, your beautiful. I would never use you to my advantage. But my dad and I need shelter. I'm surprised we haven't frozen to death yet living in that shed" he said.

This was so much to take in. I didn't have words. How was I supposed to respond to that? We didn't have room in my house for any more people. All rooms were occupied by the rest of my siblings and parents. They could get away with sleeping in the basement. But if I said yes to them staying here, my father would be furious.

"Samantha? Could we stay here?" He asked. I looked into his eyes. You could see fear, hope, sadness. There was no more confidence. There was no toughness. We weren't enemies anymore.

"Jeremy, my parents would kill me."

"Okay Samantha, I get it. Sorry for bothering you" Jeremy said as he started down the porch steps.

"Wait, Jeremy! We can make room" I replied.

And for the first time in my life, I was in control.