A/N: It's been a looooooooong time, I know, and I'm sorry. This chapter isn't really done but I'm just going to make the second part Chapter 9, so it should be out a lot sooner than this one was. And I've realized that realism is going to fly out the windowin a little bit because, well, real is boring. It won't be completely off the wall but I doubt it will all ever happen. So, here is the chapter that took forever and I'm really sorry because I think it's going to disappoint., but hopefully the next one will be better.
Chapter 8: Confessions
(Monday)
The difference amazed her. A weekend at Kat's filled with movies, sleeping bags, popcorn, and Haagen Dazs, of course, and Jude felt somewhat normal again. At the beginning of the weekend she felt slightly guilty for abandoning her mom, but Sadie came home over the weekend for a surprise visit and Jude's conscience was appeased. Taking a deep breath, Jude steeled herself and opened the doors to G Major. Bring it on! Jude paused when the door was halfway open and shook her head. Where the hell did that come from? Then she laughed as she remembered all of the movies she and Kat had watched together that weekend, mainly chick flicks. One of them was Bring It On, and Kat had shouted along with practically every cheer there was. Recovering from her relapse, Jude fully entered G Major and headed for Studio A, where she knew Tommy and Kwest would be waiting for her.
(Wednesday)
"You've been doing great these last few days, girl."
"Thanks, Tommy. I guess I really needed that rest. You're like my big brother, always taking care of me," Jude responded then sighed, tension etched clearly in her face.
You're like my big brother. The words rang in Tommy's head, but he pushed them aside as he noticed Jude's sigh and strained face. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. Let's just get back to work. I think we should try switching-"
Tommy cut Jude off. "Don't try that on me, Jude, I know you and I know when something's wrong. Spill."
"Sometimes it scares me just how well. Anyway, it's Jamie."
Tommy simply raised his eyebrows and she continued.
"Well, it's my fault that things are the way they are between us right now: tense. You know how stressed I've been lately and there's just been no time for anything else in my schedule. I've been completely neglecting Jamie and Kat and my grades at school suck, but that's nothing new. Kat was great this weekend and so understanding about, just, everything. But I hardly see Jamie at all anymore and we're both becoming really frustrated. We're finally going out tonight since forever and I'm just worried about how we're going to act around each other. He's been so good to me and I just end up treating him like crap. I hate it, because I swore I'd never do that."
"I definitely know how you're feeling right now."
Jude just gave him a puzzled look.
Tommy continued, "Things between me and Sadie are just like you said: tense. Since she lives farther away it's hard for us to see each other as often, especially since I work so much. I'm always working and she's always at class or doing homework. We just never see one another, and now I'm working even more to keep Darius happy which means that Sadie is basically feeling ignored because I have no time for her."
"Ah, the glamorous life of a rock star. Sorry, I meant the glamorous lives of a rock star and an ex-boybander. My bad," Jude teased.
Tommy just rolled his eyes and moved back over to the sound board. "Well whatever a rock star's life is like, this particular rock star needs to get back to word because she is still way behind on her album and has an evil manger who's going to blow at any minute."
He noticed that Jude didn't move so Tommy turned back around so he was facing her.
"What else besides Jamie is bothering you?" Tommy asked gently.
"I can't hide anything from you, can I?" Jude sighed. "My mom and dad have been arguing over my career lately. A lot. They're supposed to meet up tomorrow night again to discuss it and some other things. They're still fighting even though they're divorced. Even though it happened while I was on tour a while ago it's still hard for me to accept the fact that my parents are divorced and my dad is living in a separate house. And then with the baby on the way, everything is so messed up!"
Tommy remained silent, digesting the information. He watched Jude as she held a chunk of her hair in front of her face then flung it away in disgust.
Puzzled, he questioned, "I thought you liked your hair blonde?"
Jude emitted a sharp, bitter laugh. "And I thought you knew me, Quincy. I hate it, I never wanted it in the first place. Ever since I dyed it I've been pretending and every single person has bought it. If this ever doesn't work out for some reason who knows, maybe I could make it as an actress. I never should have doubted when people said that what Darius wants, Darius gets."
With that Jude hopped up and headed for the door. "I'm gonna go get something to drink. You want something, Tommy?" Before he could answer she was already out the door and on her way to the kitchenette, where all problems could be avoided for a few minutes with a bottle of water or a pop.
When Jude came back, she got straight to work and Tommy decided to drop their previous conversation.
The next couple of hours flew by, and before they knew it the clock read seven. Completely engrossed in their work, both Tommy and Jude jumped when Kwest poked his head through the door.
"Hey guys, Jamie and Sadie are in the lobby waiting for you. So I guess you both have dates tonight?"
"That would be correct, Kwest. Thanks for telling us." Tommy stood up, stretched, and grabbed his jacket off of the back of the chair he had been sitting in. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Jude grabbed her bag and jacket as well. "See you guys both."
All three of them exited the studio. Jude joined Jamie in the lobby as Tommy met up with Sadie. Saying goodbye to Georgia and EJ, the four left at the same time, the sisters giving each other a secret wink of encouragement as they walked in the parking lot. The boys opened the doors for the girls like perfect gentlemen before they drove off in separate directions.
Jude sighed as she watched the blue Viper disappear with Tommy in the passenger side mirror...
Tommy sighed as he watched the old station-wagon disappear with Jude in his rearview mirror...
(Friday)
"Jude we really need to nail this song. The deadline for this album is a lot closer than you think."
Jude clenched her teeth and flung her notebook across the room. Unfortunately it went in the direction of the wall with the framed photographs hanging up and struck gold. She just watched as it crashed into a picture of her and shattered the glass, and then as everything, the notebook, the glass, the picture, and the frame, all cascaded down onto the carpet, making a pretty little mess.
"You think I don't know that Tommy? That's all I've been hearing about, the stupid album and when I'm going to get it done! I wish everyone would just stop hounding me about it! I still have two and a half months to finish it!" Jude stood up and began pace around the small space, now even smaller because of the debris littered across it. She ran her hands through her hair and just pulled, wishing she could pull everything out of her mind so she could relax for a single minute. That's all she wanted, a simple minute of peace and quiet with no stress and no worries about anything.
Tommy was still sitting there, staring at floor covered in little shards of glass. What he was really concerned about was the fact that she destroyed her own picture and didn't care, that she almost seemed to enjoy it. Snapping back to what was happening in the studio, Tommy tried his best to calm Jude down. It'd been a while since he'd seen her this overwhelmed, so something serious must have happened.
"Whoa, Jude, calm down. I didn't mean to nag you, this is just a lot harder than I thought it would be. But the album's not why you're so upset. What happened? You can tell me."
Jude finally stopped pacing. Her shoulders sagged and she leaned against the wall for support then slowly slid down. She rested her head on her knees and place her hands on top of her head.
"I don't know."
"Are you sure? Hasn't there been something, anything, that's happened the past few days to make you like this?"
The blonde was silent for a moment. "Well, the meeting last night between my mom and dad was horrible. I don't want to go into details and I wasn't even there, but it was bad, real bad. My mom came home and..."
And there Jude stopped. She stood up and made a beeline for the recording studio. Tommy was still trying to figure out what was so horrible and was confused as to why she was going into the recording studio. They didn't have a song that was even close to being able to be recorded and he couldn't think of which one she'd want to sing right now anyway.
Once inside, Jude began tearing at the bandage around her hand. After some fervent tugging and ripping, she finally managed to free her hand and tossed the material aside.
"Jude, what the hell are you doing? You're supposed to keep your hand wrapped for at least another week or two! Jude!"
She just ignored him and grabbed the nearest guitar off the rack. It didn't matter which one, any would do. She then proceeded to jam a headset on and positioned herself in front of the microphone.
"Hit record," she demanded, her voice denying any argument.
Extremely worried but clueless as to what he could do, Tommy did as Jude ordered. Kwest walked in and threw his keys on the counter and slung his jacket over a chair.
"Hey Tommy, what's up? How's our girl doing? You guys finish any of those songs?"
Tommy just waved his hand at Kwest to be quiet. It wasn't until then that he noticed Jude sitting in the recording studio without the bandages on her hand but with a guitar in them. Kwest was about to ask Tommy what as going on but realized that Tommy was focused on Jude and he wouldn't receive an answer. Utterly perplexed, Kwest took a seat and watched Jude as she began playing.
I wait for the postman to bring me a letter
I wait for the good Lord to make me feel better
And I carry the weight of the world on my shoulders
A family in crisis that only grows older
Why'd you have to go
Why'd you have to go
Why'd you have to go
Daughter to father, daughter to father
I am broken but I am hoping
Daughter to father, daughter to father
I am crying, a part of me is dying and
These are, these are
The confessions of a broken heart
And I wear all your old clothes, your polo sweater
I dream of another you
The one who would never (never)
Leave me alone to pick up the pieces
A daddy to hold me, that's what I needed
So why'd you have to go
Why'd you have to go
Why'd you have to go!
Daughter to father, daughter to father
I don't know you, but I still want to
Daughter to father, daughter to father
Tell me the truth, did you ever love me
Cause these are, these are
The confessions of a broken heart
I love you,
I love you
I love you
I...!
I love you!
Daughter to father, daughter to father
I don't know you, but I still want to
Daughter to father, daughter to father
Tell me the truth...
Did you ever love me?
Did you ever love me?
These are...
The confessions...of a broken heart
Ohhh...yeah
I wait for the postman to bring me a letter..
Jude didn't know and didn't care when the tears had begun to stream down her face. With a sob she dropped the guitar and rushed out. Tommy and Kwest remained immobile, too shocked to do anything just yet. Jude rushed past them and made it to the door. She paused, and quickly turned around and grabbed Kwest's keys from the counter then bolted out the door.
Kwest finally recovered from his daze and shouted, "Tommy!"
Tommy didn't moved so Kwest tried again, louder this time.
"Tommy!"
Tommy gave a little jolt and finally responded. "Huh? Wha...where's Jude?"
"I don't know, man! She finished the song and rushed out of here before I could even blink. She took my car keys, Tommy!"
"Car keys?" Realization finally hit Tommy. "Oh shit! Come on, man, we gotta find her before she hurts somebody. I told you she can't drive and especially not now when she's so emotional!"
Tommy and Kwest grabbed their jackets and raced out to the parking lot. They got outside in time to see Jude shoot out of the parking lot in Kwest's yellow Mustang.
"This is so not good!" Kwest said as they sprinted for the Viper.
"Tommy, man, why the hell do you park so far out here?"
"Because no one else does. I'm not going to take the chance of some idiot scratching my car."
"So a scratch on your car is worth more than mine being totaled with Jude in it?"
Tommy made no reply as they reached the infamous car of Little Tommy Q. They quickly jumped in and sped off, not sure of where exactly they were going.
Kwest was the first to verbalize their dilemma. "Where do you think she's going?"
It didn't take Tommy long to come up with the most plausible place. "My best guess is her dad's."
"Well where is that?"
"It's--oh." Tommy realized that he didn't know where Jude's dad was living now since the divorce. Tommy whipped out his cell phone and hit number one on his speed dial to call Sadie. Jude used to be number one but he knew Sadie had a habit of going through other people's cell phones and he knew she wouldn't be too happy to find out that she was number two on speed dial and Jude was number one, so he changed it.
It rang a few times that seemed like hours to Tommy before Sadie picked up.
"Hey, baby," she answered.
"Sadie, where does your dad live now?" Tommy asked, trying not to sound too forceful.
"What? Why do you want to know?"
"I'll explain it to you later, I promise, but right now I just really need to know the address of where your dad lives now." Tommy prayed that Sadie would just accept it and give him the information he wanted.
"Um, ok. It's 312 Lansing Avenue. Why?"
"Thanks, Sadie. I'll call you later." With that Tommy snapped his phone shut and made a hard left. Kwest was slammed into the door and glared at Tommy, who didn't even notice. His only goal at the moment was to find Jude at her dad's place and hopefully not somewhere along the way, smashed into a telephone pole or tree.
A couple of minutes later and they reached Stuart's place. They recognized Kwest's yellow mustang sitting in the driveway with the driver's door wide open. Tommy looked at the house and let out the breath he had unconsciously been holding when he saw a familiar blonde.
For anyone who doesn't know, the song is "Confessions of a Broken Heart" by Lindsay Lohan. Sorry if you don't like her but it's there to stay.