Hi everybody - here's our next update, thanks for your reviews on the last post! One thing I forgot to say before the last chapter is that even though there weren't any references to them using "protection," they did. There won't be any pregnancies in my stories--I'm all about them having safe sex. :)
Anyway, one other thing - I'm going away for a week (yay!) on Wednesday, so I'm going to try to post before I leave. I actually haven't really written anything beyond this chapter, which is unusual for me, I'm sort of stuck. So let me know if you have any thoughts and I'll try to get something out before Wednesday. Thanks again for all of your feedback, I love you guys. And here it is...ENJOY :)
The sun shone brightly as Jude leaned back in the leather seat, watching her hair flap around against the wind. She smiled as the scenery went by—the children in the playground, the drivers attempting to park their cars—it all suddenly appeared to be more lively, more vivid than before.
Feeling herself being watched, she instinctively turned her head to meet Tommy's gaze. He was smiling softly at her, stopped at a light on the road.
"What?" she asked, grinning back at him.
"Nothing," he replied quietly, still smiling but refocusing his attention on the road and the green light. She kept her gaze on him with a questioning smile, which he quickly turned back to see.
"You just look so…content and so…cute," he attempted to explain, making her blush a little.
"Well, I am content. And apparently, cute too," she replied with a wide smile.
He laughed lightly and reached for her hand, weaving his fingers between hers.
"Do you think…" Jude started. "Do you think…people will…notice?"
"Notice?" he asked.
"Yeah," she replied timidly. "That's what I've heard. That people can tell."
"How would they do that?" he asked in confusion.
"Well," she said slowly, turning towards him. "Do I look different to you?"
He smiled and let out a small chuckle. "Yes, but that's probably because I'm picturing you naked."
"That's not what I meant," she replied with a laugh, hitting his arm. "Ugh, forget it. This is probably one of those things you have to be a girl to understand."
"Okay," he replied skeptically. They drove in silence the rest of the way, occasionally glancing at each other with smiles.
Ten minutes later, they walked into G-Major, still smiling but hands back in their own territory. They quickly breezed through the main lobby, passing by Georgia's office who was conveniently on the phone, and entered Studio B, where Kwest was waiting.
"Morning," Tommy said as they walked in, hanging their jackets up on the hooks behind the door.
"Morning," Kwest returned, turning towards them. "No school today, Jude?"
"Nope," she said with a grin. "Spring break."
"Ahhh, I remember spring break…" Kwest said, leaning back in his chair. "The beaches, the pina coladas, the girls…ahh, the girls…"
"Umm, I'm still here, you know," Jude reminded him.
"And besides, Kwest, we never went on spring break. Remember? The Boyz Attack world tour?" Tommy asked with a grin, sitting down next to him.
"Oh, right," Kwest replied regretfully. "I guess that's how I imagined it in my mind. Sad though, that you're stuck here with us."
"It's not so bad," Jude said softly with a smile. Tommy looked up at her and smiled too, meeting her gaze.
Kwest caught the moment between the two of them and cleared his throat.
"What's got you two all warm and fuzzy?"
"Huh?" Tommy asked, half-hearing him.
"I asked what's going on. With the two of you. You're all…weird…" Kwest said, looking back and forth between them. "And you," he continued, looking at Jude, "there's something…different about you."
"See?" Jude said with a grin, hitting Tommy's shoulder. They both snickered as the door opened and EJ came rushing in, yelling on her cell phone.
"…it has to be at 3:00 or no deal…fine, 3:30…and if you're late again…good," she spat, quickly shutting her phone in annoyance. She scanned the room until her eyes fell on her next victim.
"Jude," she said quickly, "we have an appointment at 3:30 today with Mark Lopez."
"Who's Mark Lopez?" Jude asked as EJ smirked.
"Only the greatest party planner in the world."
"And why exactly are we meeting with him?" Jude asked slowly, trying to comprehend what EJ was getting at.
"For your party, of course," EJ said, heading back towards the door.
"What?" Jude asked, her eyes wide. "But EJ, I don't want a party."
"Right," EJ scoffed, texting someone on her cell phone. "Be there—on time. You have no idea what I went through to get this meeting."
"Maybe you didn't hear me, EJ," Jude said, slightly panicky, approaching her in the doorway. "I don't want a party. No decorations, no band, no hoopla—nothing."
EJ halted her text and glared at Jude. "Have you gone totally insane? It's your 18th. Why wouldn't you want a party?"
"I just don't," Jude answered in annoyance. Why did everyone assume she wanted a big celebration?
"Well, that's not good enough for me," EJ replied, shutting her cell phone again.
"I'm sorry, EJ, but it has to be," Jude responded, crossing her arms.
At that moment, another figure appeared in the doorway that made Jude unknowingly gasp.
"Georgia…hi…."
"What's all the commotion in here?" Georgia asked sternly. Jude immediately stiffened up at her presence, avoiding Tommy's eyes who seemed equally as anxious.
"It seems that Jude doesn't want a party for her birthday this year," EJ complained. "After all the trouble I went through to get Mark Lopez to plan it, and now she doesn't want it."
"EJ, if you had just asked me what I wanted, I would've told you," Jude countered.
"Fine, Jude, what do you want then if there's no party?" EJ asked snippily.
"Dinner. I just want dinner with my closest friends and family," Jude replied.
"Dinner? But that's so…boring," EJ said, looking confused.
"If dinner's what she wants, then we'll have to arrange that," Georgia said firmly, looking at EJ. EJ groaned and turned back towards Jude. "Fine. Dinner. And who shall we be inviting to this dinner? Your parents and their significant others, I'm assuming. Jamie, Kat, Josh—"
At the sound of Josh's name, Georgia shot Jude a questioning glance, to which Jude blushed. Since Georgia knew the truth about her and Tommy, she couldn't keep lying about Josh.
"Umm, EJ," Jude started uncomfortably. "Josh doesn't need to come."
"What? Why not?" EJ asked in confusion.
"We sort of…ummm…we broke up," Jude said quietly, knowing the reaction EJ was going to have. Her face turned red and she threw her hands up in the air.
"Jude! First you tell me there's no party. Now you're telling me you broke up with your famous boyfriend? How do you expect me to get you any positive publicity now?"
"I'm sorry!" Jude exclaimed.
EJ sighed, clearly angry. "I think we seriously need to reconsider this whole party idea then. You can show up with someone new!"
"No!" Jude exclaimed, getting more annoyed. "There will not be a party, EJ. At least not one that I'm willingly attending."
Tommy, who was seated in front of the sound board listening to the rising feud in the doorway, suddenly raised his brow and abruptly stood up.
"EJ," he said calmly, approaching the two of them, "let's go. Jude says she doesn't want a party so we should respect her wishes."
"Thank you," Jude said appreciatively.
"Now, let's go discuss this dinner of hers," he said, quickly ushering a confused EJ out the door and down the hall. Georgia watched them leave and turned back to Jude.
She leaned in closely to her and said softly, "We need to talk."
Jude looked up at her nervously. "I know."
"My office. Five minutes," Georgia said, before turning around and heading back down the hallway. She closed the door behind her, leaving Jude and Kwest in the studio.
Kwest looked over at her. "No party?"
Jude rolled her eyes. "No! No party! Why is that such a shock to everybody?"
"Whoa, chill," Kwest said in his defense.
"Sorry," Jude mumbled with a sigh. "Kwest, I have to go talk to Georgia. Will you do me a favor?"
"Sure, anything."
"If I don't come back alive, will you make sure my CD still gets released?" Jude asked fearfully.
"Sure," Kwest agreed with a smirk. "I'll even put a note on it that those were you final words."
"Gee, thanks," Jude said, taking a deep breath to relax before heading down the hall.