"Hey," Sadie replied as she turned towards the living room. She plopped herself down on the sofa and stated, "Tom Quincy was looking for you this morning."
Clearing her throat, Jude thought about their morning. "Really?" she stated as if she didn't already know.
Sadie nodded her head at Jude as Jude sat next to her older sister. "He said he wanted to give you a ride to G Major for the meeting."
Jude's mind went to the front steps of G Major where they resolved some problems. She couldn't help but smile until she met Sadie's eyes and quickly tried to hide it. "Oh yeah. The meeting."
"Must have been one hell of a meeting," Sadie threw at her in a less than happy voice.
Jude turned her entire body to position herself to face Sadie. "What do you mean?" she asked calmly.
Without looking at her, Sadie replied, "Well, you missed another entire day of school, and you seem to be in pretty good spirit for having two guys break your heart."
Biting her bottom lip, Jude nodded as she took in what Sadie was saying. "So, I'm dealing, Sadie. Is that such a bad thing?"
"No, Jude. Good for you," Sadie said as she gently patted Jude's knee. "Just be careful."
Confused, Jude commented, "Sadie, I don't understand. What are you talking about?"
Still avoiding eye contact, Sadie played with her hair. Checking her locks for split ends, she answered, "You've just had your heart handed to you on a plate by two different guys, one of them being our dad. Don't let the third do the same."
"Third?"
Sadie turned to look Jude in the eye. She sighed as she realized her sister really didn't understand. As kindly as possible, Sadie asked, "How can you be so naïve? Tom, Jude. He's your third." Sadie's eyes watered a little, but it wasn't anything she couldn't hold back. She continued, "He's in love with you, and you're obviously in love with him."
Trying to protect her relationships with both Tommy and Sadie, Jude started, "We're not--"
"You are. You both are." Sadie turned completely around, making sure her sister wouldn't see her sniffling to keep back the tears. She returned, "The guy doesn't keep on checking up on you for no reason, Jude. You guys can keep on saying that your just friends, or coworkers, or whatever. But I know better."
Jude could feel Sadie's pain. She could even see the hidden tears. The real reason she knew what Sadie was going through is because she went through it too. Jude felt the same way when she thought she lost Tommy to Sadie at the farm. She knew her connection with Tommy was stronger than anything he had with Sadie, she just had to explain it to her big sister. "We just-- We get each other."
Nodding, Sadie added in, "And love each other."
Slightly exhausted, Just started, "Sadie--"
"Deny it all you want," Sadie said ash she stood. "Just know it's not he truth."
Watching Sadie run up the stairs, Jude fell backwards to lay on the couch. She closed her eyes to try and collect her thoughts, but was quickly shocked by the slamming sound that cam from Sadie's bedroom door. Jude could only sigh, thinking about how she hurt both Sadie and Kat.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket. Quickly retrieving it, Jude flipped the phone open to see Tommy's picture flash. "Hello," she answered.
"Hey there," Tommy said joyfully. "I don't know how much longer I can handle without you."
His soft, yet masculine, voice soothed her worries dully. "I know," she replied simply. She had so much on her mind, even Tommy wasn't enough to ease her.
Feeling the distance between them, in more ways than one, his happiness turned to concern. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked to the silent end of the phone line.
"Nothing," Jude lied. She didn't mean to lie to Tommy, but she was getting so used to avoiding the subject of her troubles. She realized what she had said and quickly added, "I-I've just had an interesting day."
"I hope some of your day you'd consider good," Tommy remarked skeptically.
Jude sat up and played with a rip in her jeans. She smiled a little and said, "Some parts of my day were absolutely amazing… It's the other parts that weren't so hot."
Understanding her mood wasn't exactly about him, he asked, "So what happened?"
Sighing into the phone, Jude ripped a stray thread from the ripped denim. "I'm not good at lying," she blurted out. "And that's what we're doing. We're lying about us."
Clearing his throat, Tommy straightened his posture. He never thought of himself as a liar, and the person he cared about most was calling him one. Still worse, yet again, he was the reason for Jude's pain. "We're not lying, Jude."
"You're right," Jude instantly answered. "You're not lying. I am. Kwest happened to catch us, and you got to tell him the truth."
By the tone of Jude's voice, he could tell what she was referring to. "Did Jamie catch us, Jude?"
Holding up her heavy head with the palm of her hand, Jude answered, "No, but Kat did. And-and I tried to lie because you told me to keep us a secret."
"I didn't tell you to lie though," Tommy replied defensively. "I just didn't want the whole work knowing before we figured things out."
Jude grew angry with Tommy. "So I messed up, and none of it has to do with you, right?"
"No!" Tommy exclaimed.
"Whatever, Tommy," Jude bitterly spoke into the phone. "I have a party to get ready for."
As Jude rudely hung up the phone, Tommy looked at his phone in disbelieve. "Damn it," he muttered to himself and his mistakes.
Jude gripped the cushions of the sofa, breathing hard. She couldn't believe Tommy would first make her lie, and then deny it when it turned badly. She grew tense and her fingers itched to strum out her emotion. Exhaling deeply for the last time, Jude had a burst of inspiration for a song.