Under Pressure Read Online Free Page A

instant, the truth trembled on her lips. Then the vision of herself in Tar Heels blue swam up to the front of her mind. She set her mouth firmly closed and followed Sophie from the car.

T he Copperheads had a scrimmage the following Monday. Elise scored the first goal with a spectacular header. Coach Berg even clapped. Two day later, in the game against Norcross, a notoriously tough team from the other side of Fraser, she prevented a goal after Sophie had let the ball get by her.
    It’s gotta be the supplements , Elise thought to herself in her room late at night. Like magic. That was how she’d started thinking of them—and she was thinking of them all the time now.
    In class, whenever she was feeling anxious about anything—a trig quiz, the AP American history exam—she closed her eyes and summoned up the image of those precious blister packs waiting for her in the quiet dark under her mattress. No matter what happened in school, at least, she knew what to expect on the field.
    A couple of days after the Norcross game, Elise came home after school to find the door to her bedroom ajar.
    Weird , she thought. She always made sure to shut it tight every morning now. A little finger of fear touched her throat.
    She pushed the door the rest of the way open, fast, and glanced around the room—the dresser draped with clothes, the unmade bed, the textbooks spread on the floor were where she’d left them last night.
    Elise almost threw herself toward the mattress, falling on her knees and shoving both hands underneath it. The tip of a fingernail bent back, but the pain only registered as a twinge. She grabbed the blister packs and pulled them out.
    One packet, completely gone. Each little pill pocket had been emptied. A second packet, four pills left. The third, ten pills.
    There were at least twenty here! Elise thought. Someone had been in her room. Someone knew about the pills. And someone was taking them.
    Darren. Who else could be snooping through her room? In an instant, Elise was on her feet. She flung the door open. Her brother’s door down the hall was shut tight, as usual, but his backpack was by the front door. He was home.
    Elise ran down the hall. Without knocking, she flung open her brother’s door. Darren was lying on his bed, holding a beat-up library book about Robin Hood in front of his face. He looked up, blinking, as Elise rushed over to the bed. She’d never felt so desperate. She grabbed her brother by the shoulders.
    â€œYou’ve been in my room!” She pushed her face up to his. “How dare you go through my things! Those were mine! I need them. You can’t just take things that aren’t yours!”
    Darren stared up at her, his big eyes like a fawn’s behind his glasses. “Wh-what?” he stuttered.
    â€œYou know what I’m talking about!” Elise raged. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she was overreacting, but she couldn’t help it. It was as if some stranger had taken over her body.
    Darren pushed himself upright, knocking his book to the floor.
    â€œAre you okay?” he asked timidly. “Wh-what’s wrong?”
    His soft little voice brought her back down to earth. Elise looked down at his face and saw that it was utterly innocent. She shook her head, and the rage cleared from her vision. Elise took a deep breath. Her hands were shaking.
    â€œUm … yeah. I’m okay,” she muttered and stumbled into the hall, leaving her astonished brother staring after her. “Sorry.”
    Back in her own room, Elise stared at the mostly empty pill packs strewn on the carpet. She sat, thinking, for a moment, then studied the calendar on the wall. Fifty pills at two per day… times two weeks… plus an extra on game days. Elise exhaled and picked up one of the packets from the carpet, flipping it around in her hand. She’d taken them all herself. Why didn’t I see that before? God, I’m