Tommy felt like a jerk for annoying yet another Harrison before 7:30AM. He went up to Sadie's car as she sat in the driver's seat. "So, where are you heading to his early? Doesn't school start at 9:00?"
Sadie looked up at Tommy who was standing in the open doorway. She said with a bit of an attitude, "We start at 8:45. I'm going in early to work on a project."
"Oh," Tommy remarked as he backed off. He got the hint that Sadie didn't want to talk. "Well, good luck on the project."
Tommy closed Sadie's door for her and took the same depressing walk back to his car. He didn't understand why he was screwing up so much lately, but he knew that it was something he had brought upon himself. He just wished he could say something right to make things better for everyone.
Sadie watched Tommy's stroll to his Viper out of her side view mirror. Then she remembered why she had a crush on a guy like Tom Quincy. She knew he meant well, and had a killer ass. She couldn't leave him alone like that. He did stop by her house for a reason.
Backing out of her driveway, Sadie pulled up next to Tommy's Viper. She rolled down her window as Tommy did the same. "Sorry for a minute ago… I really should be at school already."
Tommy's spirit lightened a bit, thinking Sadie was just in a hurry. But still, Jude was on his mind, and she always knew how to throw him off. "Don't worry about me. If you're in a hurry--"
"I am. But I just realized you must have stopped by for a reason…"
He looked away from Sadie and exhaled deeply as he stared at his steering wheel. "I was just going to give Jude a ride. But I guess I missed her."
Sadie chuckled to herself. She was tricked by herself for the second time. "She left about ten minutes ago, which I should've also done. I'll see you later."
"Yeah--" Tommy started but was quickly cut off by the screeching of Sadie's tires. She bolted down the street, leaving Tommy in the dust. "Damn it," he cursed at himself for having that effect on women.
Tommy tightened his grip around the steering wheel in anger and pulled out into the street. Within a few minutes and a few more curse words, Tommy reached G Major. He excited his car to find Jude sitting in front of the main entrance of the studio. He took his time getting to the door. "Oh yeah, the meeting was cancelled," Tommy threw at her.
He sat on the step next to Jude, but she immediately stood. "Nice, Tommy. You should've told me."
"Told you?" Tommy stood a step above Jude. "Told you? You're the one that practically ran away from me this morning."
Jude crossed her arms over her chest. She knew he was right, but she needed something to throw back at him. She wouldn't let him win. "So is that really all you came over to tell me?"
She caught him. Of course Tommy wanted to talk to her about more than that. He didn't have anything specific in mind, but he knew that he wanted to talk to her. He wanted to be near her. "I'm not going to deny there are other things we should talk about, but I did mean to tell you."
Tommy gazed deeply and sincerely into Jude's eyes. She unfolded her arms as she started to melt. All Tommy had to do was give her that look. A smile broke on Tommy's face as he could see the way she was warming up to him. He took her hand and pulled her into his arms. He gently gave her a hug and whispered, "I'm truly sorry about everything. We do this so often. We-- We say too much, or we say too little--"
"I know… So much has happened lately…" Jude hugged Tommy back. She let go to look him in the eye. "Just…" A tear rolled down Jude's cheek. She exhaled, "Don't lie to me anymore. I don't think I'd be able to take it."
Her head sunk down into his chest. Tommy held her close, stroking her sort, red hair. He kissed the top of her head. Tommy was glad he had his Jude back, but it didn't change the fact that he couldn't have her.
He sniffled a little, holding back his own tears. He pulled away before he'd get too caught up in the moment. "You wanna go do something? We could get some breakfast…"
"Sure," Jude nodded and smiled.
Tommy grabbed Jude's backpack off of the steps and brought it to his car. He opened the door for Jude and placed her bag behind her seat. Tommy stood aside as Jude got into the car. Jude loved being treated like a princess, especially by her Prince Charming. She smile up to him as he started to close the door and she let out a, "Thanks."
Pulling out of G Major, Jude played a CD in Tommy's Viper. Tommy looked at Jude curiously as the CD player whirred. "What is that?" asked Tommy.
A single chord played, but Jude instantly stopped the CD. She looked straight forward and responded, "It's Shay." She nervously tilted her head to the left and saw and angry Tommy.
A few minutes passed in complete silence. Tommy never took his eyes off the road, and Jude never too her eyes off of him. He could feel her watching him, but he still couldn't hide his anger. Tommy cleared hit throat and said, "Please don't tell me you're listening to his sorry excuse for music because you're missing him."
Jude turned away from Tommy and looked into her hands. She held a blank CD case, tinted blue. She lightly ran her fingers along the edges, almost in a trance. "No. It's from Shay. He-- He sent it to me the day after the party. I just… I didn't want to listen to it alone."
Tommy and Jude glanced over at each other, almost in unison. Tommy reached over and patted Jude on the knee, resting his hand there. He softly asked, "Are you ready?"
Jude simply nodded and inhaled deeply. Tommy left go of Jude's knee and pressed the play button. The chord hummed again, and Jude cringed. Tommy felt her fear and returned his hand to her knee. That wasn't enough. Jude left go of the case and cradled Tommy's hand with both of hers.
"Hey, Jude. It's Shay… Obviously." The smug sound of Shay's voice made Tommy furious. He just wanted the CD to be over with, but Shay hadn't even started rapping yet. "I really am sorry about what went down. I'm not with Eden… But it's not like you'd want me back anyways-- I understand…" Jude gripped Tommy's hand a little tighter, and he returned her hold. "I, umm… I wrote this song for you before things… Happened. So I guess… Here it is."
Quickly, Tommy pulled up to the sidewalk and parked his car. He didn't know how he was going to react to the song, but he had an idea that it wouldn't be pretty. Even though he knew Shay made him crazy, he couldn't even imagine how the CD was affecting Jude.
Focusing in on Jude, Tommy tried to read her face. She was a little flushed with her eyes big and shiny. He didn't know if she was on the verge of tears from anger or sadness. All he could tell was Shay was really shaking her up. The music grew a little louder and Shay's voice chimed in, "She makes me feel…"