An Honest Girl
Set after 1:9. Jude can't deal, and runs away from everything.
For M.S., because there are other ways.
Characters, song lyric, etc not mine.
Chapter 1: Break
"Everything I've held has hit the wall. What used to be yours isn't yours at all…"
- Jude Harrison- Skin
She jams whatever's closest to hand and shoves it in the scruffy black duffel bag she hasn't used since summer camp four years ago. Clothes from her floor- jeans, shirts, ripped, dirty, clean, brand new. She doesn't bother to fold them, or even stop to see what she's holding.
Her hands are shaking so hard she can barely zip the now- bulging bag up. At the door she pauses for a brief moment of lucidity as she realizes she's forgotten her toothbrush. She stuffs it into her pocket as she passes the bathroom.
Her favourite sneakers make scuffing sounds against the polished hardwood floors. She doesn't bother to pick her keys up from the kitchen table; she doesn't plan to come back. She can hear the muffled sounds of night time in her house- the humming of the air conditioner, the whisper of passing traffic, the snores of her father. She wipes the tears off her cheek with the back of her hand, and her mascara smears across her face. The door slams behind her. "Jude Harrison has left the building." She chuckles hoarsely. Her voice doesn't even sound like her own anymore. Which is a good thing, she thinks.
That can't be all she is anymore. The world thinks she has everything, but what the media and the good folks at home don't know is that everything in her life has fallen apart, and that the tough- looking young rock star that's been on countless magazine covers and sold thousands of units can't deal.
No more lies, she promises herself. She knows that lies only hurt, because she can feel it. She always has to lie; to Tommy, to her mom, to her friends, to her adoring public. To herself. But it has to stop somewhere, and it has to stop now. She quits. Everything.
Duffel bag in hand, guitar strapped over her shoulder, the sixteen- year old girl sets her jaw and starts walking. One block turns to ten, as Jude walks off into the sunrise. She has no idea where she's going, but then there's a lot to be said for figuring things out along the way.