Chapter 3: Such a Sucker For A Sweet Talker

Jude sat on the couch and cried. How could she even begin to pack when her mother had gone AWOL?

"Dude, don't stress it. She's probably at the grocery store or something," Kyle said.

I would think that, but her car is sitting out front," Jude said.

"Call her," Speed suggested. Jude hadn't been thinking straight so it never even occurred to her to call.

"Hello?" Victoria answered.

"Mom, hey' it's me," Jude said.

"Jude, sweetheart, I haven't heard from you in a few days," Victoria said.

"Where are you?" Jude asked.

"I'm uh, at home, watching TV in the den," Victoria said.

"No you're not, mom. I'm home. What's going on?" Jude asked

"Oh, you came home early. Honey, look, I didn't think you would get home before me. I just went on a little vacation," Victoria said, hesitantly.

"So you lied to me?" Jude asked.

"I just didn't want to upset you," Victoria said.

"Good job at not upsetting me, then," Jude said, hanging up on the woman that gave her life.

"Jude," Speed started.

"I'm fine," she snapped. Speed sighed. He didn't want Jude to leave for tour with her angry at her mother.

"Let's leave her for a while," Kyle said.

"I'm gonna go talk to her," Speed said.

"Let her think things through first," Kyle said.

"Yeah," Wally agreed, "she'll probably bite your head off right now."

"I'm just gonna see how she is and if she needs anything," speed said. He ran to Jude's room and found the object of his affection crying on her bed.

"Jude, are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks. Could I just, be alone for a while?" she asked through tears.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Just call me if you need anything, alright?" Speed asked.

"Do you think you could stay over here tonight? So I'm not alone?" she asked.

"Of course. I'll come back later, Jude," he said.

"Thanks, Vin. That means a lot to me," she said. He hugged his girlfriend before leaving.

Jude couldn't believe her mother, just taking off like that, and then lying about it. As hard as she tried, she couldn't get out of her bed without crying some more, so she just laid there until she drifted off to sleep.

"Mom, I'm gonna go spend the night over at Jude's," Speed said. She was a bit wary of letting her hormonal son stay in a house with his girlfriend, unsupervised. She didn't know that that's what happened every night in Cabo.

"Make sure you stop by in the morning before you leave. I'm making breakfast. And make sure Kyle and Wally are there. I'm sure you two will have the decency to not do anything while your friends are present," she said.

"Mom, we're not like that. We're taking things slow. If anything happens, trust me, you'll be the third person I'll tell," Speed said.

"I come before Kyle and Wally, I don't care," his mom said.

"Of course you do. I gotta go. Love you, mom," he said, and walked over to Jude's house.

"Dude, I'm here," Speed said when he pushed open the door. She left it unlocked for him. He heard a faint voice coming from upstairs so he went to go check it out.

Am I a rock or a rose of a fist?

Or the breath at the end of a kiss?

It was the first song Speed had ever heard her sing. And here he was, hearing it again.

"How deep do you wanna go? Cause I'll go there if I can," Speed sang. Jude stopped strumming and faced her boyfriend.

"I'm fine, Speed," she said, before he could even ask his question. He smiled and walked over to the bed.

"Let me see this," he said, grabbing the guitar.

"And all I need is a day inside, inside your mind to see what its like," he sang.

"I love when you sing to me," Jude mumbled.

"My mom made me invite Kyle and Wally. I think she thinks we're a bunch of sex-crazed freaks," Speed said.

"But we are a bunch of sex-crazed freaks," Jude said, as serious as she could before laughing hysterically.

"We're mature and responsible sex-crazed freaks," Speed said. The two of them conversed about this topic a few times before, and agreed that it was just something that they would let happen when the time was right.

"Thanks for coming, Vin. I'm happier when you're around," Jude said.

"Seriously, dude, stop getting all cheesy on me," Speed said. Spending the night hanging out with her best friends made Jude feel a lot better.

"Okay, so apparently on the bus, we're supposed to come up with like a forty minute set list," Jude told her band, the next morning after she came from her meeting with Darius.

"Did you meet the new girl?" Wally asked.

"Is she hott?" Kyle asked.

"Her name is Carson Spencer, she's seventeen, and she actually lives around here. She's been home schooled her whole life but Darius has been trying to convince her mother to let her start this fall with the rest of us," Jude said. Darius gave her the rundown on Carson during the meeting.

"So she's like some home schooled freak?" Wally asked.

"I prefer home schooled loser, but freak works just the same," Carson said. The boys turned to look at her. She was beautiful, in a best friend kind of way. Nothing really stood out about her, but Kyle and Wally were instantly attracted to her.

"Hey you must be Jude. I'm Carson," she said, shaking Jude's hands.

"Hey, yeah it's nice to meet you," Jude said.

"And you're Spiderman, right?" Carson asked.

"Spiederman. But you can just call me Speed," he said.

"I'm Kyle and this is Wally," Kyle said in one breath. Wally hugged Carson, and Kyle followed in suit.

"Excuse these two, they don't get out much," Jude whispered.

"I'll keep that in mind," Carson said, laughing.

"So, are you riding with us, or do you have your own bus?" Jude asked.

"I've got my own bus, but I wanted to get to know you guys, so I'm just gonna ride with you guys and sleep on my bus," Carson said.

"Tight, I'm not the only girl anymore," Jude said.

"I wouldn't mind. They're cute, especially Spiederman," Carson said.

"Yeah well Speed's already spoken for," Jude said, hoping that she'd take the hint.

"His girlfriend must be very trusting, leaving her boyfriend alone for a whole summer," Carson said. Jude didn't want to be rude, so she tried to subtly let her know that she was Speed's girlfriend.

It wasn't working.

"So Spiederman, what do you do in the band?" Carson asked, obviously flirting.

"Lead guitars slash backup vocals slash keeper of sanity," Speed said. He wrapped his arms around Jude, protectively, and kissed her on her forehead.

"She goes a bit crazy sometimes," he finished. Carson finally got it.

"Oh, wow, I'm so sorry; I didn't realize that the two of you were dating. I thought you and Shay were still together," Carson said.

"It's okay. No worries, I understand completely," Jude said.

"You sure? I don't wanna start off this tour with my only female companion hating me," Carson said.

"No, it's cool. You're fine, trust me," Jude said.

"Yeah, we'll just forget this ever happened," Speed said.

"Okay," Carson said. She really didn't want to make any enemies.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road. But before we leave, let me make some things clear: no number two on the bus, if you're gonna pull pranks, nothing messy unless it's in a place that can easily be cleaned, Jude and Speed sleeps in separate bunks, and most importantly, no number two on the bus!" Tommy said.

"You said that twice," Kyle said.

"I know, that's how important it is. I'll see you guys when you come back," Tommy said.

"Wait, you're not chaperoning us?" Jude asked.

"Carson's got a bunch of people with her, more than enough needed to keep track of you four. I'm gonna get back to work on Mason's album," Tommy said. Jude held back her tears and hugged her producer and friend.

"I'll call you everyday," she said.

"Don't get all teary-eyed on me. I'll see you guys as soon as you come back. And get to writing, I want to hear something new when you guys get back," Tommy said.

"Let's play a getting to know Carson game," Kyle suggested once they were on their way to the first stop.

"Let's play truth or dare!" Wally shouted.

"Let's not, and say we did," Carson said, laughing. Jude liked her; she could put up with Kyle and Wally.

"You guys can play later; we need to come up with a set list. Our first stop is tonight, you do realize that, right?" Jude asked.

"Oh, well how much time do we have to perform?" Kyle asked.

"Forty," Speed said.

Kyle and Wally sighed as they sat down at the table to help Jude and Speed come up with a set list. The guys continued to fool around, so they barely managed to agree on the list before they made it to their stop.

"Are you excited?" Speed asked after sound check was over.

"I'm terrified, Speed," Jude said.

"What?" Speed asked. He thought she was over her whole stage fright thing.

"I haven't performed anything, ever since, then. And there's gonna be a lot of people here tonight, what if I mess up, or forget my song?" Jude asked. She was panicking.

"Jude, you're gonna do awesome, just like you did that one time. I know you will. And this time will be even better," Speed said.

"Why is that?" Jude asked.

"Because I'll be onstage singing with you," Speed said. Jude hugged her boyfriend. She didn't know what she would do without him.

"Are you alright Jude?" Carson asked, peaking in.

"I'll be alright," Jude said.

"If you've got stage fright, don't sweat it. I get it every night, before I go on, and believe me, it never gets better. But once I sing the first line of a song, any feelings of dread I felt before just disappears," Carson said.

"Does it get easier?" Jude asked.

"It gets easier to deal with, but, like I said, it never goes away. Now I'll leave you two to get your last minute jitters out, and I'll see you by the side of the stage," Carson said.

"Thanks," Jude said, giving her a hug.

"You can do this Jude, I have faith in you," Speed said.

"You better have faith in me," Jude said.

"There's one thing I'm gonna need you to do first," Speed said.

"Yeah? What's that?" Jude asked.

"Call your mother," Speed said.

Finally on with a new chapter. No, I do not have my laptop back, : but, I went to my father's house and typed it up on his computer. I couldn't keep you guys waiting.

Expect something new as soon as it's back.

Oh, and I hate Karma. The end. Lol.