So Damn Clever Chapter 24: So Damn Clever, an instant star fanfic

A/N: This is it! THE CHAPTER! The one that basically made me write all of this. The song. The performance. The confrontation. Everything.

I'm a little iffy about this chapter actually, but I don't want to wait any longer, so here it is.

Thanks to:

PickyFan:: YAY for Confrontations!!!!!! I don't know how this one is gonna do, but I think I got what I wanted to say across. I hope.

Monkeyluver42: PMRN? (I'm not down on the lingo! Can't you tell?!) I love Mason too. If only. :D

Um, I can't think of anything else. Oh well.

ONE MORE CHAPTER!!!!

It will be up tomorrow. Then it's all over. :(

A/N at the bottom too.

THANKS MUCHO!!!!

A stagehand walked up to Jude's dressing room and knocked twice. "Jude Harrison. You're on in 5!"

Jude pulled out a tube of lip gloss from the big black box and opened it. She slid the wand over her top lip, then her bottom; closing it when she was done. Jude pushed her lips together to smear the lip gloss evenly over her mouth and then pulled them both apart, making the traditional 'popping' sound that came with the usual habit. She took the top off of her bottle of Ralph Lauren perfume and sprayed a few spots on her body. She placed the bottle back on the table and smiled at her reflection.

Jude shut the light off in her dressing room, enveloping her in darkness, and then opened her door. The lights were dim backstage and surprisingly no one noticed her leave her room. The noise from the audience was barely tolerable without her earpiece; it was loud to say the least. Jude took her earpiece from the box on the table next to the stage and put it her ears. She walked up the set of stairs that led to the stage and stood on the edge waiting for Patsy to introduce her. SME filed past her and never said a word; it was if she wasn't even there or better yet that they didn't recognize her. Jude went for the latter. The boys settled into their appropriate spots when Jude heard yells from the floor. It was time to rock.

Patsy stood on stage with her trusty microphone and her index cards. "It's the moment you've all been waiting for. She wowed you with her song, 24 hours, three years ago. Now she is here to wow you once again. She is just a. Wow. Ing. Kind. Of. Girl," Patsy scratched her head, she was almost certain that this "thing" they had her read was a practical joke. "Wow, who the hell wrote this?" Patsy asked the crowd who laughed at her disgust.

"Honestly. Guys. You need to brush up on this," Patsy shook her head and continued, "Anyway; here is the ORIGINAL INSTANT STAR, JUDE HARRISON!!!!"

Vinyl Palace went black. That didn't do anything to silence the crowd, it only made them yell louder. All of the lights had been taken out by the stage managers and the only things that lit up were the bar and the makeshift producer's station. Black light tape had been placed on the stage at various points and was Jude's only form of direction. She walked out on stage hesitantly. Jude stood in front of her microphone stand and shook all the butterflies that were currently floating through her body out. The back row of lights above the stage lit up, cascading the stage and part of the front row in red; a deep red. Smoke started to pour out of the two fog machines on the sides of the stage. Jude looked out into the crowd, only able to clearly see the first row. The stage shook as the crowd, who hadn't heard Jude speak, screamed. It was time.

Jude pulled the stand in front of her closer, almost as if she were hugging it. She opened her mouth and sang all by herself; a slow husky whisper.

Thought that I was in control
And in my mind you were mine, what did I know?
I didn't listen when they said
That you were fake, manipulating girls to bed

The crowd went wild. It was a side of Jude they had never seen before. Sadie watched her sister from the staircase and looked below her as a guy whistled at Jude. Sadie laughed and shook her head. 'Boys,' she thought.

SME started playing as Jude stopped whispering and sang with her full voice; a very powerful combination.

I thought they had you wrong
The morning you were gone

The hard powerful riffs from Spied and Wally created an old-school rock feel; very classic rock, which fit perfectly with Jude's attitude and look.

Every time I see your face
I can see the games you play
Nobody can break hearts better
Why do you have to be so damn clever?
Turns you on
Always getting what you want
Made me believe that we'd be together
Why do you have to be so damn clever?

The first row of lights lit up as Jude started her second verse; a soft white, yet not enough to reveal Jude. Jude pulled the microphone stand next to Spied and sang partly to him and partly to crowd in front of him. Spied's eyes widen, but he never gave away anything else.

We were over from the start
Intertwined just in time to fall apart (fall apart)
I can't believe I missed the signs
You were cold and they all told me not to try

Quincy leaned back in his chair, arms behind his head as he squinted to see what Jude looked liked on stage from his position next to Kwest. "Do you know when they are bringing the lights up on her?" Quincy asked, turning to his best friend, who was setting volume levels for the mixing they were doing on Jude's performance.

"Slow your roll, Cowboy," Kwest said, raising his eyebrows at Quincy.

Quincy rolled his eyes. "I'm not even gonna get into your mixed slang usage."

"Sorry!" Kwest shouted as he jokingly shook his head. "I can barely hear over that hotness on stage," Kwest continued as he pointed to the lit up stage.

Tommy raised one eyebrow. "Now you sound like D."

Kwest's eyes narrowed. "I'm gonna try and take that as a compliment."

"You're going to have to try very hard," Tommy said, laughing.

But I thought they had you wrong
The morning you were gone
Just vanished from my life
Didn't even say goodbye

Jude made her way back to the center of the stage and straddled the microphone stand. It was as if she was channeling Steven Tyler and David Bowie; the girls screamed and the boys catcalled. Slowly the front and back row of lights started to disperse and shine on other parts of the stage and room; a couple of A, C, F, and H lights slowly lit up the four teenagers on stage.

The C lights that were placed on Jude were at full and the crowd had their breath in their throat. The Jude standing on stage was not the Jude they were used to; her blond hair, part in a in a pompadour, the rest in waves resting on her shoulder blades and her make-up, smoky and cat-like with full, glossy lips. Jude still straddled the microphone stand in her black stiletto boots and pulled the microphone off of it roughly. She slowly crawled through the fog on her hands and knees with the stand still between her legs to the front of the stage. The leather halter she was wearing had a plunging neckline, so much so that she was giving everyone a sneak peek; Karma said a push-up bra never hurt anyone and Jude now believed she was right. She licked her lips has she stared at the young man in front of her that had caught her eye when she first started singing. She pulled his shirt towards her, standing on her knees, and sang to him, never letting go. The crowd embraced the new Jude, yelling and banging their heads to the music.

You pulled all the right strings
Saying all the right things
Now that you've gotten what you wanted you don't want it anymore

Jude's voice pumped through the amps as she poured her heart and soul into her singing. She pulled the man she had been holding on to closer and kissed him; rough and hard, the way rock-n-roll usually sounded. She pushed him away, back into the crowd of faceless, nameless fans and stood up. Her jeans looked painted on, but in a good way, accentuating all the right parts of Jude's body. So consumed by Jude's voice, Tommy looked up from the mixing board, finally. His right hand was on the volume dial that was connected to the amps and as he stared at Jude, his hand slowly turned the dial to off. Kwest noticed the change in volume and quickly placed the dial at its original sound level; no one in the crowd noticed, it was as if it were a technical malfunction that usually occurred. Jude walked to the right side of the stage, like Karma had done in her performance. She stood at the top of the stairs as a Vinyl security guard scooted closer to her. She put her hand on the man's shoulder and leaned down to his ear, whispering a secret. The man nodded and a few seconds later, Jude Harrison was riding on his shoulders as she sang the chorus.

Karma and Portia stood next to Sadie on the staircase. Both women turned to each other and gave the other woman a high five. They giggled like school girls and jumped up and down at the sight in front of them. Jude had out done herself and they couldn't have been happier. She had made them proud. Jude rode on the shoulders of the Vinyl security guard through the crowd as various people tugged on her boots and legs. She swayed back and forth with the music and the crowd did the same, screaming for Jude. Jude made her way to Tommy and Kwest in their mixing booth.

Oh
Why do you have to be so damn clever?
Oh
Why do you have to be so damn clever?
Oh

Kwest high-fived Jude in approval of the attitude she had acquired earlier in the day. Jude held on to the railing in front of her and pulled herself off the security guard. Tommy's eyes widened in shock, but Jude was okay. She held onto the railing in front of Tommy and sang to him and only him. Jude swayed against the railing as if it was a pole and she was a stripper. Kwest chuckled and continued mixing, but Tommy couldn't do anything but listen and stare.

Made me believe that we would be together
Why do you have to be so damn clever?

The crowd stared at Jude as she finished her song, facing her producer. Ex-producer. Sort of. It was complicated. The Vinyl Palace crowd screamed loudly and brought Tommy and Jude out of their staring contest. Tommy tilted his head towards the crowd, smiling and signaling to Jude that there were other people in the room besides him. Jude winked at him and turned around slowly as she was still hanging on the railing. Tommy unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirt and waved his hand in front of his face; Kwest shook his head, laughing. She waved, smiled, and then blew kisses to her fans. A couple of guys in front of her tried to catch them, but they were a little slow and Jude laughed at their response. Jude jumped down off the railing and walked over to the stage, giving various people high-fives as she walked backstage.

Backstage was a mess. Various people were running around after Jude's performance. Some threw a thumbs-up sign in Jude's direction or winked at her. She tried her best to respond, but was still coming off of the high she had had from being on stage minutes before. SME gave Jude a group hug and she smiled gigantically. Although she wanted to celebrate her brilliant performance, she had bigger fish to fry. Tommy and Kwest were standing in a group with Sadie, Portia, Mason, and Karma. Jude left SME as they joined the other group and walked past Tommy, a little more than preoccupied.

"Where is D?" Jude asked the air.

"I don't-" Tommy started as he watched Jude walk away. "JUDE!"

Jude abruptly turned around and narrowed her eyes. "Don't. Just don't," Jude said through clenched teeth.

Tommy threw up his hands in surrender. "Okay." Tommy was a little more than confused as Jude's mood abruptly changed in front of his eyes.

Jude turned around and walked a little farther before spotting the man of the hour. Darius was standing next to Shay and some other record execs near the food service. "D!" Jude shouted from more than a foot away. The group of G-Major employees followed Jude and stood on both sides of her, wondering what was going on.

Darius turned and smiled widely. Jude had outdone herself and he felt like she should be praised. He started to walk over to her with his arms spread out wide, waiting for a hug. The record execs that D was talking to walked away. "Great Job, Jude! I-"

"STOP!" Jude yelled, putting her hand out, palm forward so Darius understood she was not playing around.

Darius eyebrows shot up in disbelief. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Jude said slowly. "I said Stop!"

"Okay," Darius said, mimicking Tommy's move from moments before.

With all eyes on her, Jude felt the performance high run through her veins like caffeine. She put one hand on her hip and continued talking. "What happened to 'Keeping the Family together'? You asked me to do this. For you. And I did. I was able to do that and you still didn't believe in me?"

"I don't-" Darius started, confused.

Jude pulled her hand off of her hip and spread both arms out wide. "When were you going to bother to tell me he was here?"

"Who?" Darius asked.

"Don't play stupid," Jude said and pointed behind D, "your nephew?"

Darius didn't look behind him. He kept his cool and continued his "conversation" with Jude. "I was going to tell you when it was all over."

"Why not before?"

"Because I didn't want drama. I didn't want you to act like this," Darius pointed out.

Jude scoffed. "Well, maybe if you had given me any consideration then I wouldn't be acting like this. I would have dealt with it the right way."

"I-"

"But you didn't think about that, did you?" Jude asked, putting her hand back on her hip.

Darius did not like the way the conversation was going. He also didn't like being belittled in front of his employees; especially Tommy who D could tell already had a slight smirk on his face. "No."

"You thought, well, she freaked when Tommy left. She's 17; just a kid. She's bound to do the same damn thing once she finds out that I invited her ex-boyfriend to perform with her ex-nemesis," Jude said, stressing the words ex.

Darius shot Karma a look. "Wait. Ex?"

Jude smirked. "Yeah, Karma and I have gotten close. We have something in common. Attitude."

"I can see that."

"Good," Jude rebutted.

Jude took a deep breath. "Now here is something else you need to see."

Darius just stared at her. "I am not a child anymore," Jude said, matter-of-factly.

"I-" Darius started.

"Don't," Jude said through clenched teeth. The air between the G-Major group was tight and unbreakable; no one wanted to breathe for fear they might miss some of the action.

"I know my age says otherwise, but you think that after everything I've been through that I would have turned out the way I have?" Jude asked.

Darius nodded. "It's a freakin' miracle if you ask me," Jude stated.

"Yeah," Darius muttered, looking away for a second.

"So here's the thing," Jude said as Darius looked up, "My life has been insane since I gave my career over to you."

"But-"

"No buts," Jude said, cutting Darius off, "I did it because I love someone." Jude paused and looked Darius in the eyes. "I love Tommy so much that I gave my career, my life to you."

Audible gasps came from the circle surrounding Darius and Jude; some fake and some astonished as they couldn't believe that Jude had voiced her feelings. Finally. "Oh please," Jude said, looking around her, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "Don't even," Jude raised her eyebrows. "You all act like you never knew I loved Tommy. You knew it."

The group collectively smiled; Tommy's the biggest as Kwest nudged him. Jude turned her attention back to Darius who was a little shell shocked. "I did that for Tommy and now it seems to be biting me in the ass."

Darius looked at Jude. "But I love something more than Tommy. More than my family. More than Sadie. More than myself."

No one said a word. "I love music. I always have. It's been the one thing I could do right. And it's never let me down," Jude confessed.

Jude's eyes started to water, but she didn't shed any tears. Her voice cracked a bit, but she cleared her throat to get rid of the problem. "But you ruined it, D. You ruined it," Jude said, looking sad. Tommy looked on, wanting to reach out and hold her, but he knew her sumo wrestler moves would come out soon enough.

Jude took a deep breath and blinked back the tears. "I need you to understand this."

"I'm-"

"I'm done," Jude said, shrugging her shoulders with finality in her voice that gave the group chills. "I can't-No, I WON'T do this anymore," Jude finished with the same confidence she had used to close her performance.

Darius' eyes widened, but only Jude noticed. Darius swallowed hard, all eyes now on his response. "What are you saying, Jude?"

Jude bit her bottom lip and continued. "I am saying that unless you realize I am not a kid anymore. That I am an artist. That you have to trust me, that I'll do the right thing. That music is my life. Then I don't want to be a part of G-Major anymore. I need control over my music and me. I need you to have faith in me. It's the only way it works. You need to do this for me," Jude responded, her voice clear and steady.

Hearing Jude speak, Tommy understood what the past three days had meant. This was everything for Jude. Darius had done this to her, but for once, he wasn't going to let him get away with it and she wasn't going to do it alone. "She did this for you," Tommy stated, pointing to Jude. The entire group looked at Tommy, a little shocked that he had come to his girl's rescue.

Darius looked away from Jude and at Tommy. He pointed to himself. "For me?"

Tommy nodded. "Yeah. She turned into freakin' Britney Spears minus the boa up there."

Jude was wide-eyed, but responded. "But I knew it was the right thing. I felt it. I felt good."

"Well-" Darius started.

"But that doesn't mean that I should have," Jude said, shaking her head, "But I did because I wanted to."

Tommy spoke up again. "She kept the family together, D. You tore it apart."

Darius understood what Jude and Tommy were saying. It was a choice only he could make; everyone else had already made their mind up. "I-"

"Think about what I said, D. Some of us have a 'last' curtain call to do. Maybe."

Patsy, Mason, Karma, Shay, and SME followed Jude out onto the stage as Patsy announced the Instant Stars once more to the audience that hadn't left yet.

A/N: One more chapter, like I said. In this chapter, I used the song "So Damn Clever" by The Plain White T's. I remembering listening to it and it made me think of when Tommy left during Season Two and then I decided to write this, so that was my inspiration. I changed one word in the song, instead of "manipulating boys", I used "girls" because then I think I'd have to delve into Tommy's sexuality and that'd be an entire fan fic on its own. :D

Um, yeah. Nothing else.

Last chapter: some hookage, some humor, and Jommyness. What else do we need?