A/N: This is the first chapter for Telling Jen - a story that is dedicated to Popping Pear. c:
It's just a few short chapters, maybe five at the max? But it's something that I thought you would enjoy all the same.
"Hey, bra?" asked Jude, leaning against the front counter of the Khaki Barn.
Nikki looked up from her magazine, raising a brow at the blond boy. "Yeah, Jude?"
"Can I talk to you about something?" questioned Jude, and he sounded much more serious then he normally did. All hunched over and lips pursed and eyes narrowed, like he had been thinking very carefully about what was about to be said.
It made Nikki uneasy, but she nodded anyways. "Uh, yeah. Sure. What's up?"
Jude seemed to relax when she didn't chase him away, shoulders unbunching just slightly. "Well, I wanna talk to you about Jen."
"What about her? Is everything okay?" asked Nikki, closing her magazine completely.
Jude blinked, as though he hadn't been expecting that question. "Huh? Oh yeah, totally. I just want some advice, Nikki."
"Okay. On?" Nikki blinked, because this was taking a turn for the weird.
"Well, see, here's the deal." said Jude, waving one hand through the air."I haven't really liked anyone since Star went all weird on me, but I kind of really like her."
There was silence, as Nikki tried to work that out in her mind. Then she pursed her lips together and leaned forward. "Wait...you mean...you like Jen?"
"Yep," said Jude, nodding.
Nikki paused for a moment, tried to roll that around in her head. "And you want my advice on what, exactly?"
"I dunno, Nikki. Jonesy keeps saying that you can't date in the group. I don't want to mess things up for everyone else." explained Jude, witrh a slight shrug.
As far as Jude's friend was concerned, Rule Number One was that you didn't date friends, no matter how much you liked them. It would mess things up and one false move would shatter the entire friendship.
Which had Jude worried, because Jonsey was usually right on things like that and his list of rules usually offered good advice. The problem was that he really liked Jen.
Across from him, Nikki just stared for a long moment. Then she gave a heavy sigh and shook her head, because she always seemed to be cleaning Jonsey's messes up for him. "...Jude, you need to do what you want too, for once. If you like Jen, then you need to tell her."
Jude blinked, as though it wasn't the answer that he had been expecting. "You think?"
"Trust me," answered Nikki. "Besides, this is Jen. If she doesn't like you, then she'll tell you and things will go right back to being normal."
There was another lapse of silence, as Jude thought things over and weighed them out. Then he nodded and grinned, all teeth and squinted eyes, and looked just how he should. "Awesome advice, bra. I'll tell her today."
Before Nikki could say anything else, he had turned on his heel and scampered out of the Khaki Barn.