Tommy pulled up to the curb and put his car in park. "Have a good day, sunshine," he said in an obviously fake, motherly tone.
Smiling, Jude opened her door and got out. She leaned back in and stated, "Thanks for the ride."
"Anytime," Tommy quickly replied. He waited for Jude to close the door before pulling back out onto the street. He smiled sweetly at Sadie to his side as they sped off to get breakfast.
Jude walked up the large front steps of her school. It had been two months since she set foot on school grounds, and it wasn't exactly fun to be back. She could only imagine what horrible schedule she'd get stuck with, having classes without friends, getting a locker in a bad location, or all of the above. Jude took a deep breath before she opened the front door and stepped inside.
"Jude!" Kat screamed from down the hall.
Both of them rushed to each other for a big hug. They squeezed each other tightly, realizing it had been way too long since they last saw each other. "I've missed you so much, Kat!" Jude squealed.
They rocked each other back and forth before pulling away to look at each other. "I've missed you too!" Kat confessed. "How was the tour?"
Jude smiled as they started down the hall towards the main office. "It was great! Performing night after night was amazing, even though I missed everyone way too much." She stuck her hands in her back pockets before looking back over at Kat. "How was your internship?"
Kat took a few quick steps in front of Jude and spun around to show Jude her outfit. "As you can tell, it was amazing." She laughed slightly and smiled at her best friend. "All the clothes and the people… I loved it."
Reaching the office, both of them stood in the line to get their schedules and locker assignments. They smiled at each other for a long while, Kat straightening out her layered shirts, and Jude placing her fingers in the loops of her backpack. Jude hesitated before asking, "Have you seen Jamie yet?"
Pressing her lips together, Kat nodded. "He told me about what happened…" She glanced upwards at Jude, trying to read the look on her face. "He's not angry or anything. It's just kinda weird for him."
"I never meant to hurt him," Jude quickly commented. "Things just… Changed."
Kat smiled, understanding completely. "He just needs some time, Jude."
With a sigh, Jude looked at Kat sadly. "It's been a whole summer, Kat."
Shrugging, Kat gave Jude sympathetic eyes. She couldn't say anything to make the situation better between Jude and Jamie. It's hard when best friends cross that line, because they can never really go back. They just have to move forward. They stepped up and grabbed their schedules. Lucky for them, standing in line together helped them get neighboring lockers as well. Both girls started towards their lockers.
Jude opened her locker first, and looked over at Kat. "So is he like, avoiding me?" Jude finally questioned.
Opening her locker, Kat shook her head. She replied, "He's not avoiding you per se. He's just not going to run up to you in halls or pop up out of nowhere--"
"Hey!" Jamie greeted as Kat closed her locker. He held his hand up like he was frozen in a wave.
Kat laughed lightly and welcomed back, "Hey Jamie."
Jude quickly closed her locker and peeked over to Jamie. "Hey Jamie!"
Putting his hand back down, Jamie's smile became faint. He nodded towards Jude and said, "Hey…" He turned his attention back to Kat. "Please say you have honors algebra first period."
Pulling her schedule out of her pocket, she glanced at her first period class. "I have honors algebra first period!" She smiled up at him and added, "Looks like we have at least one class together."
Jude stepped closer to them, looking down at her schedule. She looked up at them with a scared expression on her face. "I'm in regular algebra."
"Honey, that's a good thing for you," Kat responded with a hand on her shoulder. They all knew Jude has her problems with math classes.
Shaking her head, Jude responded, "No. That just means that's one less class with my friends…" Jude looked at Kat with sad eyes, and then up at Jamie. She wanted to let him know that she still cared, even if he didn't. She still wanted to be his best friend, always and forever.
Knowing the sincerity in her eyes, Jamie gave her an equally sympathetic look. "It's alright, Jude. We've gotta have something togeth—"
"Algebra equals time with my favorite girl!" Spiederman announced as he approached the group. He put his hand on the small of Jude's back and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "Much needed time together. I think I'm going into Jude withdrawls!"
"Hey Spied," Kat greeted warmly with a smile.
Spiederman gave Kat a nod and remarked, "You're looking great, as usual." He hesitated, due to the look on Jamie's face, but knew they would have to talk sooner or later. They were friends before Spiederman and Jude started dating, and he wasn't going to lose him now. "Hey Jamie."
Avoiding his eyes, Jamie stayed focused on Jude. "Spied," he stated coldly. Jamie couldn't stand the tension and glanced back towards Kat. "We should get to class. Don't want to be late on the first day."
"Alright… Bye, guys," Kat said as they started to break away from each other.
Knowing that Jude was hurting, Spiederman gave her a hug. He held her close to him and stroked the back of her head. "I'm sorry about that."
Jude hugged him back, embracing his touch. She pulled back to look at his kind eyes and smiled. She knew he meant the best for her, and that was just one of his loving traits. "Thanks, but it's not your fault. Jamie just needs some time to deal."
He brushed her bangs out of her eyes and looked at her curiously. "So you're okay?"
With a smile and a nod, Jude replied, "Yeah. I'm good."
Spiederman hugged her again and kissed her forehead. "Let's get to class." They started down the hall, hand in hand. He wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked, and couldn't help but tickle her sides a few times.
