Archenemy Read Free

get it.
    â€œShe goes right for the person’s ankles and won’t let go,” Eva said.
    â€œYikes.”
    â€œIt’s kind of endearing, if you think about it. You know that she loves people that much.”
    I can’t say I drew the same conclusion. “So you can never bring her in the house?”
    â€œOnly when strangers are here. For some reason, she doesn’t bite family members. Maybe she trusts that we’re coming back.” Eva bit her lip and looked away, thinking about what she just said. “Of course, you’re not exactly a stranger, so maybe we could bring her inside and see what happens.”
    I imagined Skittles gnawing away at my leg. “Maybe some other time,” I said. “When she gets to know me a little better.”
    Eva nodded and then went back to the task at hand. She stuck pieces of tape on the back of the picture she was holding and pointed to another bare patch of ceiling. I took the picture from her and stepped on the bed.
    â€œHere?” I asked.
    â€œYes, please,” she said, licking her lips.
    â€œEva—time to go!”
    It was her dad’s voice.
    Eva rolled over, grabbed the phone on her side table, and checked the time. “Yikes.” She turned her head and yelled, “Coming!”
    â€œWhere are you going?” I asked.
    â€œChurch,” Eva sighed.
    â€œYou go to church on Thursday?”
    Addie nodded. “And Friday and Saturday and Sunday and Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday.”
    It had never occurred to me that the church was even open on weekdays. For the last couple years, my family hadn’t even gone on Sundays.
    â€œWanna come?” Eva asked.
    â€œThink I’d rather pass the soccer ball with Belle,” I said.
    Eva bent her knees and got up like she was doing a sit-up. “No fair,” she said. “You’ll be playing soccer while I’m yawning in a pew.” She picked up the stack of studs. “Will you at least do me a favor?” she asked.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œBefore you leave, will you finish putting these pictures up? Otherwise, I’ll have to ask my dad to help, which would be totally weird.”
    â€œAs weird as me being here alone in your house?”
    â€œWhy is that weird? Mi casa es su casa.” She held out the pile of pictures.
    â€œHow am I supposed to lock up when I leave?”
    â€œDon’t worry about it,” she said. “We leave our house unlocked all the time. Mom and Dad say a community is a neighborhood that keeps its doors open.”
    I didn’t know what to say to that, so I stopped arguing and took the pictures.
    â€œEva!”
    This time it was her mother’s voice.
    â€œI said I’m coming!” Eva hollered. She brushed past me, and I got another whiff of her. When she got to the door, she turned back toward me. “Thanks, Addie,” she said and closed the door behind her. A few seconds later, the door opened again. “Feel free to take a picture home with you. Any soccer stud your heart desires.”
    She waved her hand across the room, said, “See ya,” and closed the door again.
    I scanned the wall and the stack of pictures in my hands—but I didn’t take a soccer stud. I took a soccer babe. It was an action shot. The model was just about to kick the ball. She had on a sports bra but no jersey. I didn’t find the picture on the walls or in the stack. I hadn’t even noticed it until the breeze from the open window sent the picture fluttering through the air. Where had it come from? The top of a dresser? Under her bed?
    In any case, I figured she wouldn’t miss it much, so I folded it neatly and stuffed it into my soccer bag.

O
    ur fifth game of the season comes three days after my whiffed pass to Eva against Cardinal Creek. I spend each day in between trying to convince myself she didn’t intentionally sabotage me.
    Yes, she’s been mean to me ever