He opened the door to see Jude sitting at his desk, teary eyes fixed on the television. Tommy looked at the screen to see her performance of "Skin" being played. Her pained voice filled the room. Tommy could only help but remember the night of the performance. He could feel the bitterness in her words and see the hurt in her eyes. And all the while, he thought he caused it.
"Hey there," Tommy said softly.
Jude looked up at Tommy, not bothering to fix her appearance. At that moment, all she wanted was for him to hold her. She wanted to go back and stay in the sweet sixteen kiss they shared. Then she'd never know the heartache of Tommy's regret and her father's lies.
Jude worried Tommy as she sat in silence. He wanted to hold her tight in his arms and wipe away any and all of her tears and pain. His heart melted in every way for her. Tommy spoke to her as gently as possible, "I'm sorry about what's happening."
She turned off the television and closed her eyes. She wished Tommy had nothing to be sorry about. But still, he wasn't the only or main reason for her breakdown. "You don't have to be sorry, Tommy. This isn't about you."
Tommy walked closer to Jude and leaned against his desk. "I--I know." He hesitated to continue as Jude gazed deeply into his eyes. "It's about your dad."
"How do you know that?" Jude kept her eyes deep in Tommy's. She stood, waiting for an answer.
"Sadie told me." Tommy thought about it and realized she only told him because he was checking up on Jude. He quickly added, "I ran into her at the mall."
Jude looked at him skeptically and responded with a simple, yet faint, "Oh."
"Jude, you can talk to me," Tommy explained as he brushed some stray hair out of her eyes. He moved his hand to her shoulder and her skin chilled him. He then took off his jacket and placed it around her.
Shivers shot through Jude's body as she remembered the last time she wore Tommy's jacket. Her tears fell hard, but she tried to squeeze her eyes closed, keeping them away. Jude sniffled as she calmly moved both shoulders backwards, letting the jacket fall to the floor.
Tommy bent down to retrieve the jacket. He thought she was just trying to keep to herself, but had no idea about the truth. "You're freezing, girl." Tommy put the jacket around her again.
Instead of trying to reject his offer again, Jude let of a bitter, "Who cares?"
Her words hit him hard. Tommy hated knowing that Jude felt alone. He cared more about her than he ever thought he could. Gently directing her face to his with his hand, Tommy gave her a concerned look. "You know I care about you."
"Really?" Jude forced Tommy's hand away, as she couldn't stand to look at him anymore. "Then why can you hurt me over and over again without giving a damn?"
Tommy turned away from Jude, not letting her see the sting in his eyes. They both stood silent, Jude staring at his back, and Tommy trying to organize his thoughts.
Tommy suddenly turned around and pounded his fists hard against the desk. He was leaning forward over the desk, using his arms to hold himself up. Tommy turned his chin to look over his shoulder at a frightened Jude. "You're not the only one hurting here, Jude."
"Then say it, Quincy." Jude showed no concern for Tommy as she spoke to him. She thought she finally had him figured out and Tommy did everything for show. Deep down, Jude wanted Tommy to care for her, but she didn't know if he could ever care for her in the right way. "Actually tell me how you feel."
Tommy moved his chin forward to look straight down on his desk. He didn't understand how Jude could be so cold. He couldn't even look at her anymore. "Jude, you know how I feel."
"Then why can't you admit it?" Jude swung Tommy around by his shoulder, ripping him away from his desk. "You tell me I know how you feel. And you tell me you don't want to lie anymore-- Then you tell me to lie! Why can't you just tell me the truth!" Tears ran down Jude's cheeks, but she paid no attention to them.
"Because it'll destroy everything, Jude! We can't be anything more than producer and artist, and I can hardly handle that!" Tommy calmed down and now whispered, "I'm falling for you… Falling fast and falling hard…"
Jude sat back down, shocked. She thought her relationship with Tommy would be a never ending cycle of lies and hurt. She asked for the truth, but never expected to get it. Once again, she received a truth on her part as she muttered out, "But I'm sixteen…"
"Exactly," Tommy said softly to Jude. He glanced over at Jude. She looked even more destroyed than when he first saw her in his office. His thoughts spilled out as he said quietly, "Everything's so messed up."
Only moving her eyes, Jude directed her attention to Tommy. He had the tendency to say either the perfect thing, or make the situation worse than before. Jude felt another crack in her heart form. "I'm so sorry, Tommy," Jude remarked coldly. "I should've stayed far away from you so I wouldn't have screwed up your life."
"Jude, no. I didn't mean--"
"Save it, Quincy." Jude stood and slid his jacket off her shoulders. She signaled towards him and back to herself as she said, "Producer. Artist. You got what you wanted."
Jude slammed his jacket against his chest and stormed out of the room. She slammed the door behind and her and leaned back onto it, drawing attention to herself. Jude looked up to see everyone at G Major staring up at her, then they quickly looked away.
"Hey." Jude heard a familiar voice coming towards her. "Are you alright, kiddo?"
Jude turned to her right and saw a worried Georgia at her side. She gave Georgia a quick glance, but then realized another pep talk was coming her way. Jude returned to looking straight forward, then replied, "Depends on what your definition of 'alright' is… At least you got the 'kiddo' part right."
Georgia put her hand on Jude's head in comfort. "Jude, I'm so--"
"Sorry?" Jude interjected. "Everyone's been so sorry lately. And you know what? None of it matters."
She started for the door as Georgia called out, "Jude!"
Jude turned around to face Georgia, and continued walking, but backwards. "I'm fine. Everything's fine. I'm going home." Jude turned back around to walk forward. She raised her arm above her head and waved behind her to everyone at G Major.
Once again, everyone watched Jude. When Georgia noticed the audience staring, she loudly cleared her throat. Everyone went back to work as Georgia watched Jude walk down the sidewalk until she was completely out of sight. She then gave off two loud knocks on Tommy's door. She opened the door and entered before he responded.