Knowing Jude
Chapter 30

"You heard about Jon, right?" Nicki asks me now, casting a careful glance around as if watching for eavesdroppers.

I nod. "Yeah, about his breakup with Jane?"

That is all around, it's one of the topics keeping the rumour mill turning. I have to say, I was pretty impressed with my reaction to that piece of news. My heart didn't stutter with joy, though I was a little too glad he had decided to ditch the bitch. But that was just it. Insane possibilities of how I now had a chance with him didn't crowd my mind, which just goes to prove me right. I'm over him.

But I can't be sure until I come face to face with him and see whether my heart goes flying off into the clouds.

Nicki shakes her head. "Not about that. About the other thing."

I frown. "What other thing?"

"I guess it has not gained momentum yet, or people are afraid to talk about it openly," she muses. Her lips fold in on themselves.

"What?" I ask, more curious than ever.

Instead of answering me, her eyes widen, fixed on some point behind my shoulder, before dropping quickly. I turn my head and catch sight of Cole coming down the hallway. For a second I go breathless before I notice he's alone. And damn, does he look gorgeous.

"Did he dye his hair?" I whisper, eyes still stuck on him. I'm not usually one for staring, but damn. I can get away with this once. There's a golden streak through his front hair, but the rest is black. Somehow, his dark getup adds to his drool- worthiness. His black shirt outlines his toned body, his pants are fitting and...

"Can you try and not stare too much? I don't want him to see me," Nicki seethes.

I pull my eyes off Cole and look at her. She's being all fidgety, her head bent. I look back up. It's clear where Cole is headed, a small smile now playing on his lips. Our eyes meet and he winks.

Oh, the handsome devil...

"I think it's too late for that now," I tell her.

They'd be so beautiful together.

Cole brushes past me seconds later and heads straight to Nicki. He wraps an arm around her shoulder. Nicki looks so bewildered, with her cheeks burning up.

"Hey," he greets, face bent towards her.

I feel as if I'm intruding on a moment.

I also feel as if there's something Nicki hasn't told me yet. Concerning herself.

Nicki tugs on a strand of hair, looking so much like a lost child. "Hey," she whispers back, then clamps her lower lip under her teeth.

She's practically a nervous puddle, and that's just not something that anyone does to Nicki.

He pulls away and reaches into his pocket. Nicki grabs onto the strap of her backpack and looks into the hallway. "I-"

"You forgot this," Cole cuts her off, waving a blue knit glove in the air. "Shouldn't have left in such a hurry now, huh?"

Nicki brightens up all of a sudden, snatching the glove from him. "I thought I'd lost it!" she exclaims in relief. "Thank you!"

"Anytime," he muses.

Nicki's eyes finally shift to me, guilt written all over her face in bold capital letters.

That's right, girl. You tell me why I have no idea what's going on. Or rather, what went on.

Because something sure did.

Let's forget for a second that I'm also guilty of keeping things under wraps, concerning Jude's visits.

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Simon walking past us, pretending he can't see us.

"Simon!" I call sharply, and he has no choice but to turn towards us.

For some reason, the four of us stand there, staring at each other for a moment.

I know my reason, and it's because Simon is the only person who knows about Jude's midnight visits. Not because I told him, no. As far as I'm aware, it's a secret between me and him. However, his clear reluctance to stop and talk to us is creating doubts in my mind.

I don't know Nicki's reason for looking even more nervous, however.

What else happened?

"I'll get going," Cole breaks the silence, throwing a smile my way. He ruffles Nicki's hair on his way past, and her cheeks darken in a blush.

I tsk and shake my head. "You're hopeless."

"What?" Simon snaps all of a sudden, sounding annoyed.

He's shuffling on his feet, looking like he wants to take flight.

I take in the dark bags under his eyes which are bloodshot behind his glasses.

"Are you okay?" Nicki finally asks.

He doesn't look at her, but his eyes roll. "Don't act as if you care now."

I'm taken aback by his tone of voice. It's so snarky, and even though he has had the worst half term break among us all, I don't think Nicki deserves that.

"Just because I" Nicki starts, but Simon cuts her off.

"Never mind," he says, then stalks down the hallway.

"What on earth is going on here?" I ask Nicki, giving her a curious stare.

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! She shrugs, her fingers playing with the glove in her hands. "Can we talk about it, after assembly?"

"Yeah, sure," I agree, but follow it up with, "How come Cole had that?" Pointing at her glove.

"After assembly," she mutters weakly.

I nod then gaze towards Simon's disappearing back. "You don't suppose things at home got worse, do you?"

Nicki shrugs.

"See you later, let me see if I can get him at his locker," I tell her and walk away in haste.

He is at his locker, shoving books into it. I lean beside it. "Bad morning, huh?"

His eyes shift to me for a second. He sighs. "Not really. I apologised."

I stand a little straighter. "You did? To your Dad?"

He shrugs. "Yeah. Then he confiscated my phone and computer, so yeah I guess it's sort of a bad morning."

I fight a little smile. "He took your phone."

"Go ahead and laugh at me."

I shake my head. "Maybe you can finally learn to live without having it crammed under your nose all the time." "Jeez, not all the time."

I arch an eyebrow. "Right."

He huffs and shuts his locker. "Anyway. I feel so ashamed for how I acted."

"No need to feel like that, it was a... Major surprise?"

"But in the end, he's still my Dad, you know? I'm disappointed at the truth, but nothing has changed," he says. "I only acted that way because I needed to get him off my case with the gambling." "I figured."

He rolls his eyes and turns to walk towards the auditorium. "Don't be a smartass."

My eyes roam the hallway, then whisper, "Run into Jen yet?"

"Outside school. Sneered and turned away. I think I'll be fine if she doesn't talk to me at all."

"Jen? Give her some hours and she'll be all up in your face."

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 can handle her all fine."

"Bet you can," I mutter. "She's your sister after all."

What happened with Simon during the break is: He found out his Mum may or may not be having an affair, he found out his Dad is not really his father, his Dad busted him for a gambling addiction, he acted out in the - "You're not my father, you can't tell me shit"

Sort of way, ran out of the house in the middle of the night, and showed up at my window.

Which I only found out about when I found him at our breakfast table last Friday morning. On realising Jude was in the room with me, he had gotten Trey to let him in.

That's when he told me about how his parents had been fighting a lot, and how that night it escalated with his Dad accusing Mrs. Benson of cheating-they hadn't been so quiet about it, apparently, even with Liam in the house. And who was she supposed to be cheating with?

Mr. Burke, apparently, who had been her high school sweetheart. Mr. Burke happens to be Jennifer's Dad, and as Simon found out in the middle of his parents' argument, his father too.

The entire thing had blown to become the new scandal around, as word started trickling the neighbourhood that the Burkes were actually in the process of divorcing. Personally, I had never gotten a clue of such a thing from Jen when we still talked, but then Jen has never been the sort of person to air family business to anyone.

According to Simon, his mother insisted nothing was going on with her and Mr. Burke, accusing his Dad of being insecure.

It sounds a bit like a soap opera, but sadly, that's my friend's life.

Granted, Mr. Benson had known all along that Simon wasn't his biological son, so the only person majorly affected by that information was Simon.

"It's quieter now," Simon mutters, almost absently. Then adds, "Still going to stay out of that house as much as possible, and Liam too. He was crying the other day when they were shouting again and your Mum agreed he could stay at yours for the week. I made myself part of the package." He nudges me with his elbow.

"Oh, fun," I mutter drily.

"Not going to ruin your fun with lover boy, am I?" he teases.

He has been referring to Jude as 'lover boy' since that Friday, and no matter how hard I try to convince him nothing is going on, he just brushes me off. "No you won't, don't worry," I reply now.

I mean to ask him about that little standoff with Nicki but we get to the auditorium and he gets whisked away by some boys, so I guess I'll have to wait. And Nicki...

I think there's more to that short break that I'm yet to replace out about.