Chapter Three Sad Goodbyes

One Week Later

It was a cold, windy day and everyone at G Major was outside. Today was the day when Jude would be launched into a three month tour, alone. Jude had woke up that morning at the crack of dawn so she could pack and right about now she was regretting waiting until the last minute to do that activity. For the past week, Jude had been avoiding Tommy at all costs and that was hard to do when she worked with the man. As the guys of SME finished loading up the bus it was then she realized that it was time to say good-bye. She looked around at all the smiling faces and noticed that one particular face was missing, none other than Mr. Tom Quincy himself. "It's a good thing he's not here, I guess. I mean, he has his other artists to see to." She thought angrily.

She made her way up to Darius and gave him a hug and then just went on down the line. The final two people were her mother and sister. Her mother had tears streaming down her face and Sadie was just standing there bundled up in her expensive coat.

"Mom, don't cry. I'm only going to be gone for three months and Darius said that he would fly you out whenever you wanted." Jude said, trying her best to comfort her broken down mother. Sadie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. Jude gave her mother a hug and stood in front of Sadie.

"Well I guess this is it, huh?" Jude asked, putting her hands in the pockets of her jacket. She didn't know whether it was the situation or the weather making her shiver.

"Yeah, guess so. Don't worry about Mom. You know how she can be sometimes." Sadie said. She noticed that Tom wasn't there to say good-bye so she figured he must be going with her on tour. After they had broken up, Sadie started paying more attention to Tommy and Jude. It dawned on her that Tommy had deep feelings for her sister and vice versa.

Jude chuckled and nodded at Sadie said. When the tour manager announced that it was time to load up, Jude hugged Sadie and her mom once more before walking to the bus slowly. She secretly hoped that Tommy would show up at the last moment and drag her into the biggest hug ever or better yet, beg Darius to let him go with her. Once she made aboard the bus she gave up hope that he was going to show. When she walked in the back, she missed the lone figure leaning against a car.

About an hour into the bus ride Jude was already missing home. Her mom had already called her cell phone three times and left voicemails of her crying into the phone. She just didn't understand why her mom was acting the way she was. She was hardly ever at the house anymore and it wasn't like they were close or anything. She ended up turning off her cell phone and decided to take a nap. As soon as her head hit the pillow, someone opened up the curtain to her bunk and pulled her out. Before she knew it she was lying on the floor of the bus and three guys were standing around her.

"Guys, there better be a good reason I'm down here instead of in my bunk." She stated. Speed, Wally and Kyle all helped her into a standing position and nodded simultaneously.

"Oh there is a really good reason, Harrison. We found someone who can help us pull pranks on the tour peoples." Speed explained as he dragged her in the back of the bus to the living area. When they walked in, Jude was shocked at what she saw. The room was a complete mess!

"It sure didn't take you long to make yourselves at home." Jude said as she made her way through the mess. Speed took hold of her hand and pulled her to the couch where he pushed some papers into the floor so they could sit.

"Look here Jude. These are all the tour peoples' resumes and pictures. As we were looking through them, we found him." Speed explained as he handed Jude a piece of paper with a photo attached.

"Tristan Hill, eh? What makes you think he'll help us prank people?" she asked as she gave the guy in the picture a once over. He was pretty attractive with his brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Because dude, just look at him. He has the prankster gleam in his eyes." Speed said, very seriously. Jude looked at Speed in amusement before looking back at the picture.

"Sad as it is Speed, I see what you mean. So what's the plan?"

Wally stepped forward then and handed her the tour schedule.

"When we make a pit stop in about thirty minutes, we'll search Tristan out and introduce ourselves and get him in on the game." Wally explained. Jude nodded.

"Sounds like a plan to me."

--

Back at G Major

"Tommy!" Kwest called as he walked into the studio. Tommy turned around and looked at Kwest expectantly.

"Yeah?"

"Where were you earlier? Did you forget that Jude was going on tour today?" Kwest asked as he sat down next to his long time best friend. Tommy shook his head slowly.

"No, I didn't forget. I just didn't want to go." He replied shortly, not wanting to explain any further. He actually went but when he saw Jude saying good bye to everyone he just couldn't bring himself to walk over. Kwest gave him a 'yeah, right' look before sighing.

"Tom, what's the deal with you lately? This past week you've been acting not like yourself. You probably hurt Jude real bad this morning by not showing up."

"You just wouldn't understand, man. Jude and I have gotten close this past year, too close if you ask me and I just figured it was time to give her space." Tom explained, not looking at Kwest as he did so.

"You've got to be kidding me! Space? You want to give her space? You're full of it Tommy. You're just running scared because you know she could mean more to you than anyone has ever meant before and you don't know how to handle it." Tommy looked up at Kwest and stood up to pace in the room.

"You don't know what you're talking about man, no idea." Tommy said before he walked out. Truth was Kwest was pretty dead on about how he was feeling. Jude did mean a lot to him but he already hurt her once and he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he hurt her again.

"She deserves better." He whispered to himself.