Knowing Jude
Chapter 40

His eyes switch between us. "Henry? What are you doing with Jude's girl? He's going to kick your ass." Isaac sighs. "Not doing anything."

"Not Jude's girl," I Mumble, shifting my eyes away from the perfect specimen in front of me. He's in fitting dark jeans and a dark shirt. I'm reminded once again how much he looks like Jude... And I'm once again wondering whether Jude's someplace around.

"Could have fooled me," he muses.

"She's my friend," Isaac offers, letting go of my hand. He runs his fingers through his curls.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Of course."

I look between them. Jared looks as if he's searching Isaac's face for something, while Isaac's eyes are fixed on some point beyond Jared's shoulder. I feel like an intruder.

"Jo? Are you part of this historic reunion?" A heavily sarcastic voice emerges from behind me. I turn to come face to face with Jude.

Who's currently glaring the life out of neighbour and brother.

My heart makes an involuntary uncharacteristic jolt. The hate-filled look on his face doesn't do much to overshadow how perfect he looks. Too perfect. His face looks more captivating in the flashing lights, making him look like an exotic sample of the human race.

"You need something, little brother?" Jared asks, taking a step towards Jude.

"Come on, Jared," Isaac tells him.

"That's right, listen to your little bitch," Jude says.

"Isaac? Jared!" Janet's voice gets to us then she's beside Jared, holding onto his arm and glaring hard at Jude. "You're not going to start trouble at Niall's party, are you?"

Jude scoffs, rolls his eyes, then reaches for my hand. "Come on, Jo. Need to get away from these losers."

I look at Isaac in uncertainty.

"It's fine," he mouths.

Jude is already dragging me with him. "I wouldn't have dreamt of replaceing you here," he says as we move along.

"Yeah, well..." I trail off.

"And in that dress, dammit. What exactly is going on in that pretty head of yours?"

"How I'd like to get out of here?"

"You're kidding me. The party has barely started."

"Huh?" I ask. "I've been here for like an hour, and it seems pretty full swing to me."

"I just got here."

"Where are we..." I trail off as he brings us to a stop in front of a sofa that's near a bank of French windows.

Put simply, it's occupied by our school's high and mighty. There are more kids from our school here than I expected.

I offer an unsure smile at Cole who has that yellow-haired girl from Ma Bea's on his lap.

"Jo! Come here," he calls, beckoning with his hand that's not wrapped around her waist.

I remain rooted on the spot because that's just weird. Has he forgotten he has a girl on his lap? The girl turns to look at me. Her eyes look me up and down, then back up with a bright smile. "Hello!" Okay, weirder.

Jude grabs my elbow and leads me towards the other end of the sofa. "I'll go get you a drink."

"Hey, let her sit here," Cole says, moving over to create space for me.

Jude shakes his head. "Keep paws to yourself."

Tiffany Marley is seated next to Cole and his girl, wrapped around some basketball player from school. Next to her is...

"You!"

The word is laced in so much sneer, but then again that's to be expected with Bethany.

I round on Jude. "I'm not sitting here."

"Hey, babe. I didn't know you already got here," the same voice, this time dripping with honey.

Without warning, I'm pushed out of the way as she launches herself at Jude. My boots are low wedged but I stumble all the same and begin my ungraceful fall. My hands flare out in an attempt to hold onto something when a pair of hands wrap around my waist and I'm suspended awkwardly in the air.

"I got her!" Cole's girl's voice, with a giggle in punctuation.

The pair is clearly high on something.

Another stronger pair joins in and I'm brought to my feet. Even frazzled, I manage to glower at Bethany, my mind going through phases of her skintight wraparound dress randomly busting down the middle.

"Okay there, princess?" Cole asks.

I nod. "Yeah, all good." Especially since Jude is unceremoniously pushing Bethany away from him, headed towards me.

I'd call it a draw.

"Sorry about that," he apologises.

"She's safe with meee," Cole sings, calling Jude out on his earlier remark. Honestly, I'd rather stick beside a high Cole than the evil queen on the other side.

"Okay, fine, I'll be back in a bit," Jude promises before disappearing through the crowd.

I stand beside the armrest on Cole's side, refusing an offer to sit between him and Tiffany.

Right now I want more than anything to leave and never come back to a place like this ever again. I could be snuggling up to a great book in my warm bed right now instead of struggling to fit in a party crowd. This is so not worth sneaking out for.

I look at the time, it's almost half-past eleven. I want to leave but I don't want to cut short anyone's night, because, although they were the ones to convince me, I made the decision to attend myself. Maybe I should call a taxi.

"Here," Jude startles me from my thoughts. He pushes a can into my hand. "Before you say no, it's barely alcoholic, and it's sweet."

I give the can a doubtful look.

"Come on, Jo. Live a little. It helps."

"You'd know, wouldn't you?" I mutter drily. I take a sip. "Not bad."

"Jo? Can I have a dance?" Cole asks.

I shake my head. "I don't think so."

He slides the other girl from his lap and comes to his feet. He blesses me with his ever-charming smile. "Come on, princess. I've always wanted to dance with you."

"What the fuck have you been smoking?" Jude asks him, reaching out to steady him as he stumbles. "It's not even midnight yet and you're already shit faced."

Cole does an emphatic roll of his slightly glazed eyes. "It was only two puffs."

"You're not mixing shit up, are you?" Jude demands.

"Jeez, fuck no bro. I'm fine."

I nudge Jude in his side. "Mixing what?"

"Stuff."

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 arch an eyebrow. "Drugs?"

"Yeah, drugs," Jude replies, then grips Cole's arm. "Take a seat."

"Come on "

"Sit down!"

Cole wrenches himself from Jude's hold, shoving him away. "Keep off bro. You're not my fucking babysitter."

"What has he been taking?" Jude asks the girl with Cole.

"The usual?" she answers with a shrug.

"I need to pee anyway," Cole grumbles and turns to walk away, but he's barely stable on his feet.

I'm brought to my own bladder's discomfort, something I had planned on bearing until I could get home. Looks like I got an escort now.

"Me too, I'll come with you," I tell him and hand Jude my drink. He begins a protest but Cole is already taking my hand and pulling me with him.

"Come on, princess."

Supporting Cole through the crowd is not fun, but at least he seems to know where it is we are headed towards.

"Where's Nicole?" he asks.

"Somewhere around." Hopefully nowhere near that awful sofa.

I expect him to continue along that thread but instead, he says, "You're really pretty, you know?"

I'm a little speechless because he's being all intense and that's just weird. I have never dealt with an other-than sober Cole, so this out-of-control version of him is something I don't know how to react to. "No wonder Jude spends all his time with you now," he carries on.

"He doesn't."

"He does. And when he is not with you, all he does is talk about you."

I shake my head in disbelief. "You're crazy, Cole. What on earth would he have to say about me?"

"A lot."

"Like?"

"He'll kick my ass if I spill."

"I won't mention it!"

"Here we are," he says and I look up to see we're in front of a white door down a long hallway lined with similar doors.

He goes in first and I wait outside, wondering what on earth Jude could possibly discuss about me with Cole. Some five minutes later I'm done too and we begin our journey back. We're a few steps down the hallway when Cole freezes in his tracks and curses viciously.

"I can't face that motherfucker right now."

Two guys are coming down the hallway towards us, unfamiliar to me. I make out Jude's blond head behind them and I'm about to alert Cole when I'm suddenly pulled through one of the doors and he shuts the door. "Who is that?" I inquire.

"Nobody."

"Jude was right behind them; he could have your back."

"Jude doesn't know about them."

"Oh."

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! "Yeah," he says in a heavy sigh, his breath hitting me in the face and bringing to my attention the fact that he's still holding onto my arm... And we're so close.

I try to make a discreet move back but he has other ideas.

"Remember what I told you the other day?" he asks, holding my gaze.

"What?" I ask, attempting a little smile.

His other hand comes up to my face, moving closer until his knuckles rest on my cheek. He trails them downwards, still staring at me. At this point, a lot of my alarms are blaring. At the same time, I'm unable to do anything. Some part of me doesn't think he's up to something. It's Cole. He has never given me a reason to question his actions towards me.

His hand turns over and now it's his palm resting against my face. He drags it lower until it's his thumb that's dragging across my bottom lip. "I'm still curious."

My breath has caught, my heart rate has doubled, and my legs have turned to jelly.

Cole Adams is definitely pulling the moves on me.

Which is wrong, on so many fronts.

I'm about to tell him just that but I'm a little too late because his lips are already on mine and he's kissing me.

I blame my lack of immediate reaction-the type where I push him back-to surprise.

That hesitance is what gives him a chance to pry my lips open and that simple action causes a reaction in me that I would have preferred to happen with someone who's not my friend's crush. An airy tickling attacks the inside of my stomach coupled with lightheadedness that's making thought processing a little too hard.

The shortness of breath that I'm experiencing right now is because of panic. Not at the fact he's kissing me, but panic because I'm not feeling the incentive to stop it.

One of his arms is wrapped around my waist, the other is cradling my face. Our bodies are flush against each other and it's a nice feeling, I don't want him to let go.

TRAITOR!

I try to ignore my subconscious, wanting to have this feeling a little longer.

But Nicki floats into my mind. No matter how this makes me feel, Cole is the wrong person. This is the worst thing I can do to Nicki right now.

I dig my nails into his arms and pull back. His body follows my movement, and I have to turn my face away. "Stop, Cole. Stop."

"But you like it," he points out, placing kisses on the side of my face.

"No, stop, it's wrong!"

He continues peppering kisses down my neck and I start panicking because he's not sober and he doesn't seem to be listening to my protests.

I'm saved or doomed-when the door is slowly pushed open and Jude speaks. "Are you guys in there... Oh."

Cole lets go of me five seconds too late and I jump back, fixing my dress and avoiding Jude's eyes.

"Holy shit," Jude mumbles.

But I realise Jude is the least of my worries when another voice emerges from behind him-"Are they in there?"-and Nicki appears behind him.

Everything is dropping from my hold at the moment. My thoughts, my tongue, and the world. The horrified look on Nicki's face is robbing me of the ability to do or say anything. I turn helplessly to Cole, hoping he can explain this. He's rolling his lips together, eyes fixed on Nicki.

I watch in confusion as a smile breaks on his face.

He looks around at the three of us. "Well, I guess that takes care of two problems."

He takes a step towards me. I stumble backwards. He blows me a kiss.

"Later, princess."