Author's Note: This chapter, to my surprise, came easier than the other. I decided to change the chapter title, because Jude is breaking away in the chapter. Little by little, even if she doesn't notice it. Well, I don't own anything. Read and Review?

Offside Note: I feel I have the need to say this, and keep it going with each chapter because I've gotten so much judgment after I've come out of the closet (so to say) about my cutting. It's not something to take lightly or to think that it's done for attention. It's more like a cry for help. If you know anyone who is doing it themselves, please notify someone you trust and that the both of you know so that person can get help before something bad happens.

Anyway, enjoy?

Chapter Four: Breaking Away

SME showed up fifteen minutes later, hooting and hollering as they entered the sound booth. Tommy who was watching as Jude sang, trying to decipher the song, whipped around sending them a murderous look. Spied halted, causing Wally and Kyle to run into his back. "Whoa, dude. We're sorry." He countered, holding up his hands as to ward him off.

Tommy signaled Jude to stop, pressing a button as he spoke into the mike. "Your beloved band is here now." He said, nodding his head at their direction as they made their way to the adjoining door to the recording booth. Spied, who hadn't seen Jude since the red and black party, ran to her and picked her up. She squealed in delight, and giggled as he began tickling her. He was probably the only male she could trust, along with the rest of SME and Kwest – though she didn't know him quite that well.

It wasn't to long before his hands were tickling her stomach, he hit the spot and she cried out, but kept on laughing. Pain sprouted, and it began to burn, but she still laughed. Tommy broke the moment, knocking on the glass and tapping his finger to his wrist. "What a way to ruin the good moment, Quincy." She murmured, rolling her eyes with her back to him.

"Yeah, Lord Squinty Frown!" Spied yelled over her shoulder, raising and shaking her fist.

Jude exploded in laughter, bending over and slapping her knee. "Lord Squinty Frown?" she said between laughs, and reached up to high five Spied. "Good one."

Tommy frowned behind the glass then quickly straightened his face. "C'mon, kindergarteners. We have to lay down this track." He emphasized, gesturing to the instruments.

Jude rolled her eyes again, and put on her headphones. "C'mon kindergarteners." She mocked over her shoulder at Spied who was putting on his guitar. He snorted, and covered his laugh by tuning his guitar.

Twenty takes, three hours, and four coffees later, Tommy was pressing the eject button and sliding one copy of "Conspiracy" into a jeweled case. "Here you are, Miss Harrison." He said, holding out the CD to her. She took it into her hands, looking at it with an accomplished smile like she always did when finishing a song. "Thanks, Quincy." She said, and turned around sliding the CD into her guitar case. "Well, I gotta go." She lied. "Homework calls." She quickly scurried out of the studio before SME were even done packing up.

"Jude, do you - !" he called after her, only to realize she was gone. "…need a ride?" he finished quietly, letting his arm drop by his side.

--

Jude walked outside in delight with the rain that would be falling on her as she walked home, this way she could cry and no one would know, only to walk outside and be greeted by an overcast sky. She shrugged her shoulders, zipped up her jacket, and continued on her walk. By the time she got to the cross streets, where one way took her downtown and the other took her home, she suddenly didn't want to go home. Dealing with her mother was the least of her problems because her thoughts were suddenly not her friend.

She turned, going towards downtown and let her eyes wander around at all the stores that lined the street. She crinkled her nose at some of the stores, but stopped as she seen an old record store. Her passion for music got the better of her, and she pulled the door open walking inside. She closed her eyes, inhaling the smell of vinyl and wandered to the back where the 'Classic Rock' section was.

She started flipping through them, deciding she was to get some since her father took all his when he left. She picked out a few Nirvana, The Ramones, and The Rolling Stones albums tucking them under her arm as she made it through the genre section. Grabbing an old Bon Jovi album, she flipped it over to read the tracks. She murmured the titles, trying to remember if she heard them before. She felt a pair of eyes on her, but decided to ignore it. People were always staring at her, she was famous after all. Though, this was the first person to talk to her.

"Jude Harrison, right?" a feminine girl asked, her voice soft like an afternoon summer breeze. Jude looked up to see a short girl with long black hair, hot pink extensions throughout her 'do. She was shorter than Jude, and her eyes were a pure green, a great contrast to her hair and porcelain skin. Jude nodded her head, keeping her mouth shut, and the girl stood on her tip toes to extend her hand across the shelves of records. "I'm Mackenzie Meriweather."

"Nice…to meet you Mackenzie." She said, smiling and shaking her hand.

"You can call me Mack…or Max, most people do." She said her eyes bright. "I don't mean to sound…crazy," she shook her head and continued. "But I saw almost all of your club concerts this summer. You sounded awesome!" she nodded excitedly, her cheeks turning pink with embarrassment.

Jude wished she could be happy about meeting a loyal fan, but she was having trouble. It must've showed on her face because Mack voiced her opinion. "Are you…okay?" she asked wearily, walking around the shelves to stand in front of Jude. She looked up at her, hand on her hip. "You look…sad." She said her waxed eyebrows knitting together. "I know you don't know me all that well, but…wanna talk about it?"

Jude hesitated for a moment, but what did she have to lose? She'd already lost her love to her sluttish sexy sister, her pride was gone after she cut herself, and she surely didn't have anyone waiting for her at home. "Hell, why not." She said, lifting up one corner of her mouth into a half smile.

Mack clapped her hands together, and they walked to the front so Jude could pay for her albums. Twenty minutes, and ten blocks later they reached Mackenzie's apartment in Chinatown.

As she stood unlocking her door, she stuttered over her words. "I-I'm sorry it's not clean or anything, my mom is just too busy with work…and I've got Chad on my back all the time." She explained, pushing open the door.

She whispered to herself. "That bastard."

Jude just nodded wordlessly, looking around the apartment as they stepped in. "You want something to drink?" she asked, stepping over a pile of clothes and walking to the kitchen.

"Uh…pop would be fine." She said, moving around the clothes.

Mackenzie reemerged from her kitchen, two cans of coke in her hand. She extended her arm to Jude, and gestured for her to follow. She disappeared down the hallway, with Jude timidly following, and opened the last door at the end of the hall. "It's no palace, but it makes do." She said, pulling a key from between her breasts and reaching up to unlock the lock at the top of the door.

When she pushed open the door, Jude noticed the room was spotless unlike the rest of the apartment with old '80s rock band posters taped up all over her cream colored walls. "Welcome." She said, bowing before throwing herself on her bed. It kind of reminded Jude of her own room, and she glanced around before taking a seat at her vanity which was covered different types of make up. "So you wanna tell me what's wrong?" she said, sitting up and opening her nightstand drawer, pulling out what Jude thought was a cigarette and lighter. "Eh, boy troubles." She murmured, watching as she lit the cigarette and took a deep drag. "Mom troubles, Dad troubles, hell! Even slutty sister problems." She threw her arms in the air before letting her head fall on her knees.

Mackenzie snorted as she coughed into her fist, and lifted her head. "Excuse me." She said before coughing again.

As the smoke filled the room, Jude took notice that it didn't smell like a normal cigarette. It smelt musky, and warm. Even if she only admitted it to herself, she was attracted to the smell. "What…what is that?" she asked, raising her head from her knees.

Mackenzie fell back against her pillow, holding her hand up to not burn her sheets. "It's a joint, duh." She said as if it was obvious. "Why? Do you want some?" she asked, holding out the joint towards her in midair.

Jude sat there for a moment, contemplating whether she should or not. In the back of her head, her little voice that told her to do the right things was just shot to hell. She rose from the seat and walked over to the bed. Sitting down, she took the burning joint in her hands.

She'd watched Tommy smoke before, how hard could it of been? Placing it between her lips, she took an inhale. As the smoke entered her lungs, she choked and coughed, her throat burning. "My god." She said, coughing again. As soon as her coughing fit ended, she took another drag this time not coughing as she did before. To her surprise, she liked the taste and she was getting a hazy, relaxed feeling. She exhaled softly, the smoke emitting from her mouth as she leaned back on her elbow. "This is good…this is…very good." She giggled, holding out the joint to Mack.

She shook her head, nodding in her direction. "Go ahead, keep that one. There's more where that came from." She said, grabbing her phone from her night table and dialing seven digits quickly. Jude puffed on the joint, as Mack waited patiently on the line for someone to pick up. As soon as someone picked up, Mackenzie perked up. "J.J., sweetie? Are you busy?"