Knowing Jude

In gaining one friend-Isaac-regaining another one-Jax-I have also sort of... Well, definitely lost one.

Three weeks later, I still have no idea what happened.

I have a feeling Jax breaking up with her has something to do with it, because she doesn't talk to him either. He also told me she didn't take the breakup well.

Does she think I had something to do with it? That maybe I asked him to stop things with her? I might have not approved, but that wasn't my call to make.

I would like to talk to her, but she doesn't hang out around me anymore, and she went ahead to switch her sitting position in English class. I have had a lot of time to assess the status of my friendships, and I think it's a bit worrying that Nicki is the only girl left in my life I can call a friend. I talk to Lilian regularly, but she's my sister and I might be cheating if I add her to this list.

To make matters worse, Jen's group of friends seem to have gained a renewed harshness towards me. I have a couple of theories in my head, and so do Simon and Nicki.

"He's going to get you in trouble," Simon says, rubbing the end of his pencil into his scalp.

I groan and keep my attention on the history textbook. Really fighting the urge to look up and meet those black eyes that mess with my pulse each and every time. "I refuse to have this conversation again."

"He's right, though." Nicki supplies from my other side. "She's right there, but he keeps looking this way."

"And she doesn't look happy about it."

"Oh God," Nicki groans from beside me, and that gets my attention.

"What?" I ask, my eyes shooting to her. Her eyes are directed towards the doorway, and I look there too. Cole's eyes are already directed towards our corner, and he starts making his way over. Behind him is Jude. I never used to have any classes with Jude, but now I do. It wasn't just his P.E that got rescheduled. Word around says it was to separate him from that Hardy guy, but to me, it makes no sense. If we could all change classes to escape people we don't like, high school would be a lot easier to get through.

"This is the second reason Jen's friends hate you," Simon mutters.

Apparently.

The two take the empty seats in front of us, then both turn to look at us. Cole shoots a smile Nicki's way. "Your hair is actually paintless today."

Nicki rolls her eyes but says nothing.

Nicki. Says nothing.

My eyes are pulled from watching my friend curiously when a white sheet is flapped in my line of sight. Jude is giving me a small smile. "Good news," he announces.

I lift an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"I aced the midterms."

I snatch the sheet from his hand and look it over. It's his Math paper from the midterm exam that ended last week. My eyes skim to the top right corner of the top sheet. A smile forms on my lips as I look at the B+. "I'm a hundred per cent sure he cheated," Cole says, now turning to us.

"Shut up!" Jude orders.

"You can't just shoot up two grades because of a few weeks of tutoring."

"A few weeks of very many hours, prick. After every session I'd go over what we studied every next day and do a shitload of extra work," Jude informs him, and I stare at him as if I'm looking at an alien version of him. "You, you put in extra work?" I ask.

"He might be a bookworm after all," Cole says.

"Can't a guy want to improve one stupid grade without being labelled?"

"Congrats," I tell him. "So, you all good now?"

"No, I want to get better, I want more."

Cole chuckles. "You always want more."

"Fuck you, Cole."

"Silence, class!"

Mr. Tanner our history teacher is here, and the boys turn back around.

Sometime in the middle of the class, Nicki decides it would be fun to keep kicking the back of Cole's chair, and he keeps looking back at her, a smile on his face. If I'm not wrong, Jude is dozing right in front of me. One elbow is propped on the desk, his cheek resting on his palm. He hasn't made a single movement in the last five minutes. Simon is busy on his phone.

I have absolutely no idea what he does on his phone all the time.

The teacher upfront has gotten into some sort of discussion/debate with the students up front, and my eyes keep looking at the clock. Three more days, and I'm out of this dreadful place for an entire week for the half-term break. I doodle on the side of my book.

While most of the teachers have already returned our scripts, Mr. Tanner is taking his sweet time. No hurry. Teachers have deadlines for these sorts of things, and he always keeps them to the last minute.

The bell finally rings, and I quickly take my books and shove them into my bag.

"You're so annoying," Cole's saying, turning round to Nicki.

She sticks her tongue out at him, her books already in her bag. "I have Art next. I gotta rush, see you guys later," she says rushing out of the class.

"Yeah, that's why she didn't have any paint on her yet," Cole muses.

"I'll see you in the evening," Jude tells me, then the two leave.

Simon stands up, stretches and yawns.

And I thought I was bored.

I

"I want to skip Physics so bad," he mutters, sluggishly gathering his books.

I stand and tap him on his back. "Free advice. Don't."

"You have a free lesson."

I grin and shoulder my bag. My phone buzzes in my jeans pocket as I walk towards the door and I reach for it, then unlock the screen to look at the message.

bump into someone, or rather, someone bumps into me, and I watch in horror as my phone crashes to the floor.

"Watch where you're going," an unpleasant voice snaps, and I look up to find Jane Aubry glaring at me.

Nicki and Simon were right, Jon shouldn't have stared.

I'm pretty sure she bumped into me. But then again I wasn't exactly looking where I was going, so I'm at fault too. I would have owned it if she hadn't sounded so rude and wasn't trying to kill me with her eyes.

I mentally roll my eyes and bend to pick up my phone, but another pair of hands is already doing that, and I straighten up to find Jon handing it to me.

"Thanks," I say, but I know he just made things worse.

I can practically feel her fuming. I focus my eyes on my phone, though. Whose web of cracks on the screen has multiplied twofold. It has also gone off, so I push the button.

Come on, don't die on me!

My inner rant is interrupted when Jane pushes into me again, then grabs Jon's hand and sashays towards the door. "Come on, babe. Let's go."

That little part of me that still has a crush on Jon watches in a little envy and absolute hate towards her. If she thinks she's going to push me around whenever her stupid ass is feeling insecure, then she has another thought coming. Simon comes up beside me and slings a hand across my shoulder. He looks down at my phone as we leave the class. "Still working?"

"Yeah," I mutter in relief as the screen lights up.

"I said it, he shouldn't have stared."

I take the steps leading to the balcony one by one, nodding along to the music in my ears. For once, I don't feel like sitting around doing Math. The midterms are over, I think we all deserve a little break before we get to the second half and start stressing about Mocks.

Knowing Jude, he'll most probably jump at the opportunity to ditch books.

I start singing out loud to the song when I get to the top of the stairs but shut up immediately when I notice a figure on the otherwise empty balcony. He has heard me and turns to look.

Isaac.

I take down my earphones and walk over to where he's leaning against the railing. I pretend I wasn't just singing off-key to a song I don't even know the entire lyrics to.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, peering over the railing.

"Just wanted to be somewhere quiet, I didn't think anyone hangs out here," he replies.

I look at him and smile. "I do."

He laughs quietly, then stares at the pavement below. "I see."

Then we stand there for a while in silence. Looks like he came here to think.

"Sorry for sort of intruding, I meet my Math partner here so..." I trail off and shrug.

He shakes his head and looks at me. "It's fine. I'm glad you showed, actually."

"Oh?" I mutter stupidly.

"Yeah, my thoughts were running with me again."

His eyes slip away again, quickly, as if he doesn't want me to look into them for long and maybe figure something out. But I don't need to look into them. The quietness of his voice alone is giving away his low mood. I chew on the inside of my cheek before asking, "What's up?"

I don't want to push it. If he wants to talk, I'll listen. If not, good too.

It's as if he has been dying to let it out though because he doesn't stall for more than ten seconds.

"Me and Dad, we weren't on good terms."

Oh.

I have no idea what to say to that.

Thankfully, he keeps on.

"And I didn't get to say goodbye. So I didn't get to apologise."

Now I wish he couldn't have kept on.

I bite onto my lip and stare at the pavement too.

"That's..." I start but trail off. That's what? I don't want to even imagine how that is. If you wronged someone you cared about, but never got to say sorry, and never will.

"It's okay," he mutters. "When I feel so bad about it, I remind myself of all the reasons why we didn't get along, and it's sort of justifiable but it still bothers me. Remembering the good times we had is what makes it unbearable."

"If it wasn't your fault you weren't on good terms, you shouldn't beat yourself about it so much," I mutter. Then I shrug because I'm not sure I'm right. No matter whose fault it was, that was his father. Even if it had been his father's fault and he had been the one who was to make the amends, then Isaac surely wishes he had. "I mean "

"He found something out about me and didn't take it well. Got way stricter and imposed all these groundings and curfews and just..." he talks over my pathetic attempt to sound more understanding. "And I found out something about him later so I sort of used it to blackmail him into leaving me alone. We never used to get along before, but then it got worse."

He laughs, humourlessly, and scrubs his hand down his face. "God, I blackmailed my own father."

"You must have had a good reason," I mutter.

He nods. "I did. I just wish things turned out differently."

I nod. Been there. Can't change a thing, however.

There's another silence which he again breaks. "So, who's your Math partner?"

I straighten from leaning over the railing and take a glance at the time on my phone. "Jude," I say.

Who is currently running late.

But who is surprised?

"Jude? Oh, okay. Your phone has been through a lot, huh?" he asks, eyeing the cracked screen.

As you reach the final pages, remember that 000005s.com is your destination for the complete story. Share the joy of reading with others and spread the word. The next chapter is just a visit away! I nod. "I should probably get a new screen. A new phone, actually."

"Yeah," he agrees.

A throat is cleared somewhere behind us. We look to find Jude standing there, his eyes switching between us.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

Isaac straightens, his arm brushing against my side. I hadn't realised we were that close.

"No," I reply, wanting to get his eyes off Isaac because that's one nasty look right there.

"I was just leaving," Isaac says and pushes off the railing.

I give him a quizzical look but say nothing. I know he is aware of Jude's hostility towards him, and it's like he's trying to be the civil one.

"I'll see you around," he tells me, then walks off, keeping a lot of distance between him and Jude.

Jude watches him go down the stairs until he disappears from sight.

I sigh and walk forward. "So I was thinking we could take a break from this until after the break?"

Jude looks back at me. "What were you doing with him?"

I give him an exasperated look. Did he even hear my question? "Just talking, why?"

He shrugs. "Nothing."

"You can't pry and when you get your answer you give me 'nothing' crap," I object.

"I can," he says. "And yes, I have plans, I didn't want to study."

I let the prying issue go. "Oh, okay. So we don't meet again until next week but one."

"Yeah."

"Good, I'm already on half-break mode, I can't concentrate on books anymore." "So, what do you want?"

"Uh?"

"I said I have plans, Jo. I want us to do something that's not studying Math."

I frown. "Plans? With me?"

"I want to treat you, for being my very awesome tutor. Understand now?"

My eyebrows shoot up. "Oh. Treat me?"

He lurches forward, hand outstretched, but I skip back. "Okay, yes I get you," I reply hurriedly, laughing.

"You're so fucking annoying."

"Uh, have you met Nicki? That's the definition of annoying."

"Which she's spreading to Cole. He has gotten her into my candy stash not once, but twice. They apparently make her hyper. Do we really need to make her any hyper than she already is?" He complains. "No, we don't."

"Can we go now?"

"Actually, I don't think I have the time. My mother sent me a long ass shopping list and money during lunch and asked me to go shop for her, she might run late tonight. So yeah I have to get to town and back home. I have to prepare dinner too, apparently."

Jude lifts an eyebrow. "Do you cook as good as your mother?"

"You're invited to come and find out," I tell him.

He shakes his head. "No, thanks."

Since the Wednesday he ran into my father, whenever he has to come over he takes extra caution to leave before my father gets back.

"I can give you a ride then," he offers. "I need to buy some drinks anyway."

And that's how I accompany Jude into town yet again, knowing very well the sort of history I have with such incidences.

I think I know what sort of drinks he's talking about until he leads us to the wines and spirits section.

"Are you out of your mind?" I ask as he Reaches for a green bottle and studies it.

His blue eyes shift to me. "What? Why?"

"You can't buy that, you're underage."

He places the bottle back. "Who? Me? I turned eighteen last December."

I give him a dubious look. He reaches into his back pocket and retrieves his wallet. Then takes an identification card from it. He waves it in my face. "Wanna see?"

I snatch it and take a look. It looks real enough. I hand it back. "Okay."

While he continues his alcohol selection, my eyes wander around the supermarket, watching out for any familiar faces. If anyone sees me standing at the alcohol section... Word gets around, gets twisted, then gets to the parents...

"Hurry up," I whisper at Jude.

He places a bottle in my trolley, then goes back to check on others.

"That shit is expensive," I mutter, looking at the price tag.

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"All good things are," he says, selecting another bottle and putting it in the trolley. "That's all."

He tags along and helps me in picking out things on my mother's list.

"What the fuck happened between you and Isaac?" I ask, remembering how hostile he is towards the other boy.

"He's your friend, why don't you ask him?"

"You're my friend too and I'm asking you."

He scoffs. "He's your more comfy friend. Holding hands and all," he comments, arching an eyebrow and giving me an enquiring look.

"Holding hands? When?" I ask immediately, defensively, then remember back at the Gala. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh."

"He was just leading us through the crowd," I explain.

Jude had seen that?

And he calls me the stalker?

"Yeah right."

I roll my eyes at his suggestive tone. "It's none of your business, anyway."

"Yeah, correct."

"So you're not going to tell me what happened."

"Exactly."

I decide to downplay my curiosity. "Whatever."

We finally head over to the snacks aisle, through with everything else. So far we haven't run into anyone from school, thank heavens. I don't want to imagine the sort of rumour that can be constructed from us being seen shopping together. "Jude?" A female voice calls the moment I finish that thought.

Don't count your chicks...

Jude stiffens beside me..

Great, another one of the many people he doesn't get along with. Only this time it's a girl?

Sounds like a woman.

Jude turns, and I follow suit.

She's not alone. It's a woman, alright. In her thirties probably, and there's a man standing beside her.

I know him. He's Mr. Walker, Jude's Dad. I've seen him once or twice at school during parents' meetings, and 'that's Jude Walker's Dad' was whispered all around. The woman looks young, way too young to be his mother. Besides, she's not blonde, and one among Jude's parents must have been blonde for him to get his gorgeous hair from.

His father is dark-haired, tall, and okay looking, if not for the scowl he is sending his son's way. Seeing him up close, I now know where Jude got those killer angles on his face from. Maybe his mother is the one with the blonde and blue assets, but everything else must have come from his father.

What do I say, hello, Mr. Walker?

Jude is the one pushing the trolley, and he jerks it to a turn, then pushes it down the aisle, away from the woman and his father. I'm torn for a second.

That's excessively rude!

The woman looks after him, speechless, while his father continues sending a cold look after him.

"Let's go," he tells the woman, pocketing his hands in his slacks and moving further up the aisle. She goes after him, and I finally run down the aisle to get to Jude.

"Jude! That's your father, right?" I ask when I catch up to him.

"I'm done with your questions for today, Jo. What else do we need?" He brushes my question off, looking into the stuff in the trolley.

I stand my ground. "That was excessively rude of you, Jude."

He glares at me. "Hell will freeze over the day I have to be nice to that asshole."

My eyes widen. "That's your father!"

"I know that, thanks for the reminder. Can we move along, now?"

"No!"

"We keep out of each other's way. Did you hear him say a word to me? No."

"Who was that woman?"

"Okay, you can now shove your questions wherever. It's none of your business. Are we shopping now or what?"

"You're such a jerk."

"You don't know shit about me, so how about you tone down the judgement?"

"Whatever."

He works his jaw in anger. "Whatever? I'm a jerk just because I can't feed your curiosity? It's my life, I don't have to tell you shit about it," he tells me, his voice rising.

I take a step back instinctively. "Okay, fine, lower your voice."

"Fuck you," he snaps. Then he grabs his bottles from the trolley and stalks off towards check off, leaving me standing there.

Well, that escalated quickly.