Okay, I want to give you guys a timeline here:
+Jude left Canada on Saturday, February 16, 2008
+She was 18
+Tommy was 24
+It's now Friday, May 23rd of 2008
+It's been 3 months and 1 week since Jude left Canada
+There are 6 months and 3 weeks until Jude's 19th birthday (12/16/08)
+There are 10 days until Tommy's 25th birthday (6/2/08)
Hmm… that was pretty detailed. Okie dokie, on with the story!
---
Sometimes, you let go of someone, because you need to. Although, no one ever considers that life isn't that black and white.
There's always alternatives. You can become less connected to said person. You can even keep your normal relationship with them. Letting go doesn't always mean cutting the cord. No, letting go means letting your feelings run about freely while staying strong and independent.
And you don't need to be alone to be independent.
---
"Hey Jude? We need to talk," Sadie said, entering the kitchen.
"Okay. What's up?" Jude said, setting down her coffee.
"I got a job offer," Sadie said. "A really good one."
"That's great Sadie! You deserve it, you know." Jude gave Sadie a hug.
"Um, thanks," Sadie said awkwardly. "But there's a catch, you see. I'd kind of have to leave London. It's a sort of 'around-the-world' job." Jude stepped back, and Sadie bit her lip. "Jude?"
Sadie deserved a shot at a job that took advantage of her talents, while not making her a slave. Jude also knew that Sadie had been having trouble finding such a job, which made Sadie doubt her talents. Jude, however, suspected more sexism than fair judgment, and hated to see the usually-confident Sadie doubting herself so. So, if Sadie had found such an opportunity as she was owed, why take that away from her? Jude would be fine on her own. Her album was just one song away from being finished, and then, hopefully, Jude would have enough money to have some pleasure.
"I still think that's great Sadie. You know you're going to have to e-mail me pictures. If you visit Italy again you should try to snap a pic of the Statue of David."
Sadie grinned. "Really? I mean you're really okay with it?"
"Of course I am! It's a great opportunity for you, and I need a break from your preppy, bossy ass," Jude joked. Sadie squealed and hugged her sister tight.
--
"Did you get the advance?" Wally asked.
Kyle sighed. "No. Boss said I hadn't been working for him long enough to get an advance, especially one that big."
"So what are you going to do, dude? There's only a week left before the deadline. You know Speid would lend you the money," Wally urged.
"I told you, no way am I going to ask. They're… well, honestly? They'd do it, but out of guilt. They have too little money right now to give it with anything but reluctance. I hate feeling like I'm taking advantage of my friends."
Wally's face softened at this. "Fine. But you know it's gonna be a while before you get another shot."
"Yeah-"
"Hey guys," Karma said, unusually cheery. Wally and Kyle did a double-take when they took in her appearance.
She wore no makeup. Her hair was just in a ponytail. She work a Nirvana t-shirt, and over that, overalls.
"Why…?" Kyle began.
"Speidy and I are going to volunteer at the soup kitchen today. I figure it's a sure-fire way to get back in the spotlight, since my music career is over."
Karma would never admit it out loud, but the truth was that she woke up this morning and felt… alive. So alive, in fact, that she wanted to do something, something with meaning.
"Ready to go?" Speid asked, walking down the stairs. His clothes were normal.
"Yep," Karma said. She and Speid left, her walk a little on the bouncy side.
"Dude, I didn't know she even owned overalls," Wally said, shocked.
"I know," Kyle said, equally mystified. "Much less a Nirvana t-shirt…"
--
Jude sat down in front of the phone. Sadie had just left after three days of packing. She had no excuse now. She had to call.
Wait! It's Monday. He's working. I can't disturb him when he's working. This is the kind of thing you tell someone when they're alone… It's also the kind of thing you tell someone in person.
Jude sighed, picked up her cellphone, and dialed his number.
"Hello?" Tommy answered. He sounded a little bit weaker than normal, but Jude didn't have time for questions. She had to get this over with.
"Hey, Tommy, it's Jude. We need to talk." She gulped. "Um, you know that thing that happened in London?"
"Yeah," he said, without emotion.
"Well I kind of ended up pregnant." Silence. "And then I kind of got an abortion."
"Jude." His voice sounded slightly strangled. "Why are you telling me this?"
"I thought you deserved to know," she whispered, biting her lip.
"Thanks," Tommy said, emotionless once again. "Bye." And then he hung up.
Jude shut her phone and collapsed into tears. "Why am I crying?" she asked herself. "I broke up with you!"
But she knew the reason. She had been ready for her own adventures, but she hadn't been ready to do it without anybody. She wasn't ready to do it alone.
--
Jude stormed into the coffee house, finding Haley and Ben making out while a cup of coffee sat on the edge of their table, in danger of falling.
"You guys really have to do that somewhere else. I could've been a cop." They jumped apart and Haley looked up at me, annoyed.
"What do you want?"
"Get Rob. We've got music to record, now."
--
"…and the ending is just like the chorus, except for the last line you do E-minor 7, instead of E-minor, okay?" Jude said. She turned. "Haley, count us off?"
Haley beat her drumsticks together four times, setting the tempo. Immediately afterwards, Ben came in with the opening, Rob playing the bass riff. After the last measure of G's, Jude started singing.
"Sitting on a bus seat
Waiting for happy
Sitting in a church pew
Waiting for my epiphany
I can't even begin to cross out what I've written
I can't even begin to feel
Still I sense tears
Falling down my face
And it's poison that I'm crying
Crying all over you
And it's poison that I'm bleeding
Bleeding from my heart
Trying to make things right
Trying to make that call"
Haley glanced at Jude questioningly. Jude gave a brief nod before continuing.
"Trying to tell you the truth
So I can let it out
My friends always end up getting hurt
When I don't tell it all"
Patsy. Kat. Jamie and Speid. Tommy.
"So I'm trying to do
What's best for you"
I really am trying, Tommy, Jude thought, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before the chorus.
"And it's poison that I'm crying
Crying all over you
And it's poison that I'm bleeding
Bleeding from my heart
I don't know why I can't tell you the truth
I don't know why my heart bleeds when
That should be you
I don't know why I can't stop crying
When I'm the one who left you"
Of course, Jude had answered these questions earlier, but the answers just didn't seem valid. They just… weren't.
"And it's poison that I'm crying
Crying all over you
And it's poison that I'm bleeding
Bleeding from my heart
And it's poison that's my essence
Infecting your very soul
I'm sorry for the hurt
I'm sorry for the poison."
Ben finished the guitar part and everyone was silent for a moment. Then Haley got up and put an arm around Jude, who was staring towards the chapel door. "What are you going to call it?" she asked.
"Lying," Jude whispered.
"Lying," Ben mused. "I like it. Perfect final track for the album."
Jude snapped out of her daze and turned around. "That's not the final track." She grinned. "There's one more." She walked over to the keyboard. "Rob, mount the mike on here. I don't need you guys for this one. It's just me on the piano… just the way Megan had it." There was a brief, shocked silence after this statement. "Just to clarify, it's the basement song."
Rob quickly mounted the mike. "Three, two, one…"
"Snow falls on the city
White on white…"
--
Just one week after Jude called him, and right on his 25th birthday, Tommy Quincy sat with a copy of Jude's new CD, Karma Doesn't Apply, in his hands. He stared at the cover, which had a picture of Jude lounging on a couch, two guys and a girl all grinning mischievously and sitting on top of her. Tommy assumed this was her backup band.
He flipped it over to the track listing, simple black text on white background, and his eyes bugged out at what he saw. The very last track, track 11, was labeled "2 a.m. (the Basement Song)."
Quickly he tore out the insert, and flipped to the dedications.
"First, I have to thank Lacy Prat (Rob, Ben and Haley, you kept me alive and happy through Sir Gary and so much more) for helping me make this album after I was so sure it wasn't going to happen. Next, I have to thank my sister Sadie, who gives me the inspiration to stand tall every day. Of course I have to thank my dad, who had me singing Clash songs at age five.
But there's one person who I need to thank so much more than anyone else. Tommy Quincy, you mean the world to me, and I know I showed you in probably the most horrendous way, but you do. You know I don't put a song on an album without meaning every word of it, and I sang 2 a.m. with every ounce of soul I had. Thank you, and I'm sorry for the poison."
Tommy quickly ripped the CD onto Itunes, and put it on his iPod. Turning it on repeat, he listened to the song over and over and over again. After two hours of sitting there, relishing the music, he continued to listen, this time while buying a plane ticket and packing his suitcase.
---
Whew. Now wasn't that fun? I think this fic is close to over. We'll see. I'm guessing at least two more chapters, but who knows how long the next one will be.
Oh, and if you're mad about the time between updates, blame my teachers. Hell knows I do.