Author's Note – Left you on a bit of a cliffy last time. Yeah, I like doing that…he he. It's just another little part of my evil genius. Anyways, on with the show.

'What's going on, Nick?' her words rang through me, shattering all feelings of peace. I needed to get out of there, and fast. I quickly gathered up my things, turned to Jen, gave her yet another apologetic look and simply said;

'Nothing's wrong, you know me, I always have my head in the clouds, I just came over to grab a bite to eat before dealing with the clones, but now, I really have to go. Sorry' I walked past her, wincing as she grabbed my arm and held me back.

"Always have your head in the clouds'? Nikki, what's up with you today? You seem off. Come on, talk to me. Are you mad at me?' she asked trying to catch my eye. I looked away.

'No, I'm not mad at you, and really, I'm fine, I just had a late night last night, I keep drifting off. I'm sorry, but I really have to go' I shook off her grip and walked away. As I left, I could feel Nebula's stare burn a hole through my back.

'Is she okay? I mean, it seems like she's trying to get away from you, do you have an idea why?' Nebula asked.

'I don't know, but I plan on finding out. I'll talk to you later, okay?' Jen said before walking away, supposedly to the Penalty Box.

I didn't trust Jen enough to actually go to work, so I played it safe, and went to the Crappy Barn. My suspicions were proven right, when less than an hour and a half later, Jen came, apparently set on getting me to talk.

'Hey Nikki, I was just on my break, and I was wondering if you wanted to get lunch or something?' she seemed a bit nervous, which was odd because this was Jen. Then another thought entered my mind, what if this was it? What if she knew? But there was no way she could, I mean no one knew. She couldn't have gotten that much from one poem. No, she was just trying to find out-

'I know, if that helps at all' she said, staring intently at me. I froze. She knew? How could she know? I decided to play dumb.

'Know what?' I asked, trying my best to look puzzled, but it came out as what I'm pretty sure was a grimace.

'I know what's wrong. I was talking to Caitlin and she agreed. You've been acting strangely ever since Jude and I got together. It's okay that you like him, by the way' she said all of this really fast, and it was hard to hear her, but once what she was trying to say hit, I burst out laughing. I couldn't help it.

'Me? Like Jude? Are you crazy? That's nowhere near it!' I was laughing so hard it was hard to get all of this out, but once I did, I checked for her reaction. I expected her to look hurt or dumbfounded. What I didn't expect was for her to crack an evil grin.

'So, there is something then? What is it Nikki? And don't it's nothing, because I heard you clearly. You said 'That's nowhere near it'. So what is?' That sobered me up.

'I have to get back to work' I said. Yeah right. Behind me I heard a few of the clones snicker. Jen looked at her watch.

'Are you still coming over tonight?' she asked, looking around.

'Maybe, I'm really not sure' I said, not looking at her.

'I'll take that as a yes. Okay well, it's quarter to ten now, so I'll be back at one twenty. Then I'm taking the rest of the day off, and so are you' at this she stared at the clones. They just nodded and went back to gossiping, probably about me.

'Wait, I can't' I said, searching for an excuse. 'I… uh.. promised Jonesy I'd go to lunch with him' I was confident this would work.

'You just cancelled' she said sounding sure. 'I'll be back, then we're going to lunch, and you're going to talk' That's it, there was no way out of this. She turned and left, but not before giving me an over enthusiastic wave.

'See ya later!' she called over her shoulder.

'What was that about?' Krissy asked, coming over to see what I was doing.

'Nothing, I'm taking a break' I said, turning to leave.

'But you're taking the afternoon off!' she called to my back. I just shrugged and kept walking.

I had no idea where to go, I just let my feet carry me as I thought. How was I going to tell Jen? What could I say? How much should I tell her?

'Nikki! Hey bra, how's it hanging?' Jude skated up to me, just coming out of the Penalty Box. The Penalty Box? Great, I was just headed towards my death.

'Hey Jude, what're you up to?' I asked, noticing for the first time Jen, who was staring at me intently.

'Not much, dudette, not much. I was just gonna grab some fries, you wanna come?' Noticing the look on Jen's face, I needed to get out of there.

'Sure' I said 'Sounds good' We headed out towards the food court.

'So bra, Jen tells me there might be something wrong. You wanna share?' he asked looking at me. I looked around, pretending to look for a good table. Why can't I look at anyone today?

'No? That's cool too bra, it's just everyone's gonna bug you 'bout it anyways' finally I looked at him. He was right, but I wasn't sure if I was ready to tell him. I decided to test the water.

'Jude, what kind of people do you hate?' I asked looking at him.

'I'm not sure I know what you mean, dudette. Like Goths or something?' he asked, looking puzzled.

'Yeah, like goths or preps or gays, you know that type of thing' I said, looking back at my feet.

'Gays? Bra, there's a big difference between being goth and being gay' he said, looking at me.

'I know' I said 'I was just wondering, are you homophobic or something?' When did I suddenly lose the ability to play it cool?

'No dudette, you know Kimmy? Yeah, well she digs chicks and she's been one of my best friends since, like forever' he said calmly as he got in line for fries. 'Why d'you ask?'

'No reason, just wondering, you know, we never talk about these things' I said, pulling out my wallet.

'True, but why'd you bring it up now?' Damn, now he was getting suspicious. What could I say? I thought about what to say as we ordered.

By the time we'd made our way down to a table, I'd made up my mind. I was going to tell him.

'Jude… you're right. There's something I'm not telling you,' Wow, way to go Captain Obvious. 'It's just…it's hard for me to say'

'It's okay, you don't have to say it yet, if you're not ready' When did Jude become sensitive?

'Wait, so you know?' I asked, that had never even been a possibility. What if they all knew? What if I wasn't as good at hiding it as I thought?

'Not a clue bra. But coming from you, this must be big. You don't have to tell me you know' I breathed a sigh of relief, so he didn't know.

'I don't think I'm ready, but I have to tell someone' I took a breath to calm myself down. 'Jude, the problem is… I.. I'm.. gay.' I said it. I couldn't look at him. After a few seconds I looked up, his jaw had dropped, but he seemed to recover. He gave me a knowing smile.

'You want me to hook you up with Kimmy?' he asked, still smiling. I chuckled. But that's when I heard it, the gasp from somewhere close by.

I turned around to see who it was, feeling a little dizzy and light headed from finally telling someone, and it going well.

That's when it registered. Looking at me with an expression of mingled shock and horror was Krissy. What was she doing here?

'Nikki…'

Author's Note – Ou, cliffy!!!