Knowing Jude
Chapter 56

"Am I interrupting something?"

At the sound of Nicki's voice, my first instinct is to jump out of Jude's lap immediately. I don't get anywhere because his hold on me proves to be tighter than I thought. My flaming face turns towards my friend, who's standing at the top of the stairs, eyebrows meeting her hairline as she takes in the sight in front of her.

"Don't let me interrupt," she says saucily, then proceeds to come forward.

I feel Jude's face against the side of my head, his laugh muffled. He presses a kiss to my ear then finally lets go of me.

"Hi, Nicki," I say, moving across the table back to my seat.

"Hello, friend who didn't bother telling me she's been snogging her hot study partner all along." She perches on the table, facing me. "Other than that one time, that is."

"What one time?" Jude pipes in, the amusement in his voice apparent.

Nicki turns toward him. "The one time you both skinny-dipped in Cole's swimming pool-"

"WHAT?" I interrupt, jumping to cover her mouth. "I never said that," I address Jude frantically.

He grins back. "That sounds like a great idea."

Nicki pulls my hand back. "Okay, I take back the skinny dipping part."

I huff and let go of her, sitting back down.

"I'll leave you girls," Jude says, getting to his feet. He shoulders his bag, our eyes meeting over Nicki's shoulders. "Talk to you later," he tells me.

Nicki gestures Jude toward me. "Go on, go ahead and give her a goodbye kiss. Don't mind me, I won't look."

"Fuck off Nick," I mutter embarrassed.

"Another great idea," Jude agrees with her and crosses the distance between us. He pulls me to my feet and covers my mouth in a short but hot and demanding kiss that has my toes curling in my sneakers. Shit.

"I'll text," he says, placing one last kiss on my forehead.

I drop back into my chair when he leaves, partly because my knees feel weak.

"Wow. You guys are so cute," Nicki shrieks.

"Oh shut up," I Mumble.

Nicki scoffs. "My friend with the boy boycott lands the hottest guy in school and I get to shut up? Fat chance."

"Boy boycott?" I echo, laughing.

"Remember when you liked Jon but you were still like, oh, it's not like I would want to date him?"

"Precisely, because do you see how many miles there are between our leagues?"

"What leagues."

I give her a blank stare.

"No, seriously, you tell me! Cause I know your league. You're real and physically? You have a mirror for heaven's sake. Personalities? Jon's not a troublesome guy. So tell me again about those leagues." "How about you tell me about last night?" I counter.

Her face falls immediately, and she drops her head in her palm. "Nothing much. I sneaked out and ran into Cole."

"You sneaked out to? Get drunk?"

She tips her head back, gnawing on her bottom lip. "Yeah."

"Nicki-"

"I'm fine!" she cuts me off. "I just needed a break."

"On a school night."

"Yeah."

"You were lucky Cole was there," I say, studying her face closely. Did she really just happen to run into Cole?

She nods.

"How are you guys anyway?"

She laughs. "There's no 'us guys'."

"You've not even kissed him?" I prod.

"What? No!"

"Where did you spend the night last night?"

"In his, his... Guest room."

"Yeah, right."

She hops off the table and takes Jude's seat. She fists her hands in her hair. "I just... I feel like I'm morphing into this completely different person." She shrugs. "I don't know, I just feel tired."

"Why would you say that?" I ask, fixing her face with a close look. She does look tired, physically. But it doesn't sound like we're talking about physical matters here. She sounds as if somebody ripped her spirit right off her body.

"It's how I feel," she says, looking down at her fingernails. Her brown eyes lift to meet mine. "Tell me about you and Jude, yours looks like a happy love story."

Later, that night at home we're having supper when the front door opens and closes with a notable bang.

Trey is the only missing person at the table, so I know it's him even before my mother leans backwards and peers into the living room, calling out to him.

"Trey? You didn't say-" she trails off, allowing us all to hear Trey's footsteps as he takes the stairs at a run.

Mum faces back toward us, and we all exchange looks.

"What's up with him?" she asks me.

I look at Maria, then Sam, and shrug. Maria uncharacteristically says nothing, keeping her attention glued to her food. Before she got into what I call her 'probation' period, she always had something nasty to say for moments like this. "Maybe his girlfriend broke up with him," Sam speaks up, biting on the tines of his fork.

"Trey has a girlfriend?" My mother asks, looking surprised.

Sam nods energetically, curls bobbing with the movement. "She's really pretty."

Mum's brow rises, and she and Dad share a look. The looks on their faces are comical at most, and I can't help feeling amused.

"You guys are not surprised, right? Trey's quite a catch." I lift my forefinger when they turn to look at me. "According to multiple female and one or two male sources at school."

"Who's she?" Mum asks excitedly.

Sam saves me from having to snitch on Trey in case he's not a fan of this revelation.

"Jade!" he pipes up. "She buys me ice cream."

Of course.

Give the boy food and he'll remember your entire family tree.

Dad's brow lifts. "Jade?"

Maria finally joins the conversation. "Jo's boyfriend's sister."

It's time for my brow to shoot up. "Boyfriend?"

"You have a boyfriend?" Mum asks, looking even more perplexed.

Maria pipes up before I can reply. "Jude Walker."

"He's not my boyfriend!" I claim, wondering where she got that idea. How did she know?

Maria leans forward across the table, arching a perfectly trimmed eyebrow. "Well then, who is he, because you two grab every chance to devour each other's faces at school?" Both my parents turn towards me sharply.

"Not done with making stuff up about me?" I ask, glaring at her. How would she even know, we're not in the same buildings.

"Am I?" she asks, a scornful smile pulling her lips up.

I roll my eyes and turn back to my food. "It's none of your business, anyway."

"So, it's true?" Mum asks.

"Nope," I reply.

I'm not lying, am I? We're not dating-yet-and we don't grab every chance to make out at school.

The moment I'm through with my supper I take the stairs and head towards Trey's room. I knock once, twice, and when I get no response the third time I jiggle the lock and push the door open. I peek my head into a dark room. I reach to the side and flip on the switch.

Trey is lying on his bed, on his stomach with his face shoved in a pillow. His laptop is opened right beside his head, but its screen is off. He stirs as I walk into the room and lifts his head when I close the door behind me. I get a glimpse of his bloodshot eyes before he hides his face again.

"Mum is asking you to go and have supper," I tell him.

He responds with a head shake.

"Are you sure? There's steak."

He doesn't respond.

I let out a huge exhale and lean against his bedside cabin. "What happened?"

"Go away," he mutters, holding his pillow tighter.

"I'm a relationship expert, remember?" I try to lighten the mood.

He snorts.

"Jade doesn't seem like the kind of girl who would cheat on someone."

That gets a reaction out of him.

"What! No! Of course not!" he blurts, lifting his head to glare at me. "She's not like that!"

I bite back my smile at how cute it is, him defending her honour so vehemently.

"Well then, why has she got you crying?" I pique.

"I'm not crying," he snaps. I say nothing.

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He groans and hugs his pillow once more. "Just go, Jo. I don't want to talk about it now."

"Just a headline, then?" I plead.

He shakes his head.

"I know she's really into you, so she couldn't have broken up with you, right?"

"Precisely," he says bitterly.

"Uh?"

He sits up and leans against the wall, then grabs his laptop and fires it up.

"I'm so in love with you, I can't bear it if we don't last like every other high school couple, so let's take a break from each other, see other people, then we can come back to each other..." he trails off, his grey eyes lifting to me. "How the fuck does that make sense?"

"Did she say that?"

He nods. "She's afraid we'll break up, so she thinks not dating at all is the only way to prevent that."

I take a seat on his bed.

"Do you think there's some other guy?" Trey asks, looking frustrated.

"No!" I disagree instantly.

"Why would she suggest that we see other people then? I don't want anybody else!"

"I'm sure she doesn't either."

"Then why would she want a year-long break? A year!"

I shrug. "Maybe she wants you to be sure."

"Sure?" he asks incredulously. "I've never been so sure of anything else before!"

"Well, she's right about high school couples, isn't she?"

"We're not a high school couple, we're us, and we love each other. Just because others don't work out doesn't mean we won't too!"

"I think I get where she's coming from," I say.

Trey looks at me like I'm crazy. "You know nothing." He presses a hand to his chest. "I can't bear to imagine being without her for a day. What does the fact that she's okay with taking a break mean? That she doesn't feel the same way." I arch an eyebrow. "Are you sure you believe that?"

He sighs and types on his laptop.

"I think she has very strong feelings for you and is afraid of a heartbreak."

"I'm not going to break her heart," he swears.

I reach over and pat his shoulder. "Well then, you know what to do. Tell her that then kiss her senseless. She won't remember why the hell she wanted a break in the first place."

"Would that work with you, relationship expert?" he asks mockingly.

I imagine Jude pouring his heart out then kissing me until I can neither breathe nor stand.

"Yes, it would."