A/N: So I've been working on this since the last post because your reviews totally made me want to update sooner. And because school's started so I wanted to get a heads up on things so it wouldn't take so long for updates to come. But now I realize…I'm getting to the really juicy part. This should be interesting. :D

Oh yeah…I've been working on the next three chapters as well. More specifically THE CHAPTER. The one many have been waiting for. It's coming along.

Oh yeah, I had the band wrong for "Closer." The band is Burn SEASON, not Station. LOL.

THANKS:

mullets: You gotta read the chapter to find out. Thanks for loving this. I'm posting now.

madisonko: Thank you! Me too. I know! But it had to happen. LOL. :D

alexzrules: Thank you! Maybe…LOL. Really? I guess it is hypocritical for him to be mad especially when he has things he isn't talking about. I understand what you're talking about. LOL. I'm posting now.

scrubslover: I think he would be that way, but I don't know if the way I did it is the way he would have been. In my head, it was a little different…it was more dramatic…but that was in my head a couple months ago so maybe that's why. LOL. I'm updating now.

hales03: I'm glad you loved it! Thank you. I'm updating now…

Jessie's girl15: LOL. It should be a little obvious…but maybe that's just me. I'm posting now.

zanessafangrl: LOL. I'm coming…Um, I can neither confirm nor deny Tommy leaving Jude. I love them together. Jommy? Maybe… Thank you for loving this! I hope you like this chapter.

brandnewx3: Thank you. But there are still secrets…at least from Tommy's end. You know who it is. Thank you! I'm glad this is one of your favorite stories. I hope you like this chapter!
Sixte3n Candl3s: I knew I had it wrong. Ooops. Thank you. LOL. That sounds good. Here's the next chapter.

mandy1485: Me too. I know. LOL. You may be right. I hope you like this chapter!

LittleZurawski: Thank you! I'm glad you love it. Here is the next one. It's not that long. Sorry. But I hope you like it.

Carlz02: I feel loads better. I know! Caffiene is going to be my best friend soon. LOL. I hate computers too! I crashed my hard drive last year. LOL. Those were some of my favorite lines too. You may be right. LOL. Here's the next chapter! I hope you like it.

Raylo94: Thank you! Now you'll know. I hope you like this chapter!

Disclaimer: Don't own NYU or Berklee. Or G-Major. Or Vipers.

A/N: at the bottom. (It's another preview!) :D

R&R or R&L please.

THANKS MUCHO!!

Don't Stand So Close To Me

Chapter 17

"Three Strikes"

Her hands immediately froze on his body. She couldn't breathe, but she knew what she had to do.

He tried to pull her off of him in order to make the scene look as innocent as possible, but once he saw him, he knew it didn't matter.

They were in for it.

Jude pulled away a little, her eyes already wet with tears. Tom looked from him to her, completely confused. When had she started crying? Was it something he said or was she scared of getting in trouble? He didn't know.

But he knew he was going to find out.

"I'm going to ask one more time, what exactly are the two of you doing?"

"It's not what it looks like," Tom announced.

He was standing in front of his principal who looked like he was going to rip both of their heads off at any given minute.

Darius scoffed as if the story Tom was about to get into was something he had heard time and time again. As if what he had walked into was an ordinary scene.

"It's all my fault," Jude blubbered, letting go of Tom and turning around to face her principal. Her eyes were bloodshot and she had black running down her cheeks.

She looked as if she had been crying for hours, not mere seconds.

Tom was stunned. He had noticed the tears, but didn't realize they were that bad. It was as if someone had turned on Niagara Falls all over Jude's face.

"What is?" Darius asked, standing in front of the pair.

Jude sat on one of the desks behind her and started to pick at her fingers, her tears dripping onto her jeans.

"I don't know what to do, Mr. Mills. I'm so scared," she said, tears flowing quickly. "I didn't realize what a big deal this was, you know?" she said, looking up at Darius through her tears.

She hiccupped loudly as she waited for a response.

Tom sat next to Jude, dumbfounded. His brain was slow to process anything. Words couldn't – wouldn't – form and he had nothing to say. So he listened.

"What is?"

"College. Moving away. I've lived in Canada my entire life, but now I'm leaving and I don't know what to do. Should I just stay here instead of leaving or should I go and follow my dreams?"

"That is something only you can decide, Jude," Darius responded.

He eyed her curiously, knowing he hadn't heard any sign of tears when he first walked in. But he knew that girls, especially teenage girls, were extremely hormonal and it could have instantly hit her when he walked in.

"I know which is why I came to Mr. Quincy because I know that he loves music and I figured he could help me. But the more I talked about it, the more I realized what a big decision this is. And he basically told me the same thing. So now I'm even more confused," she rambled in a single breath.

"I'm sorry Mr. Quincy and I couldn't be of more service, Jude. But because of what I saw, you will understand that I have to suspend you."

She looked up at him, her eyes still full of tears, but they were no longer falling. She nodded wordlessly. "I understand. I'm sorry I caused this, Mr. Mills. It's all my fault."

"Thank you for taking responsibility of this, Jude. But I need to discuss something with Mr. Quincy, which is why I was here in the first place. You can pick up your suspension notice from the front office now. Three days should suffice. I'll see you on Thursday, Jude."

"Okay," she said, hiccupping again. "I'm sorry."

Tom squirmed uncomfortable under Darius' watchful eyes. He didn't say anything. He couldn't. Jude had done it all. Even if she hadn't meant to. He knew he was going to have to talk to her about her future.

One that he didn't know was as big of a deal as she had led on.

She got off the desk, her head clouded with things, but she couldn't think. She just had to get out. She had done what she thought was best and she had gotten a scratch on her semi-clean record. No biggie.

She was a rebel after all.

As long as there was a Tom and Jude at the end of the day, she was a happy woman.

Tom walked in front of Darius, leaving Jude to herself. Darius faced Tom, a sheet of paper in his hand, his back to the classroom door.

She silently picked up her books from the desk that had been behind Tom.

She leaned against the blue door, pushing it open with her weight. Just as her body passed through the threshold, she caught his eye and winked. He involuntarily shivered. She really needed to stop doing that. It was making him think bad things. Well, bad things that always ended good in his mind, but that wasn't the point.

"Tom," Darius said, bringing Tom back to the man standing in front of him.

Tom stared at Darius, but he wasn't paying attention. He was thinking of Jude. She lied. She wasn't heartbroken. She faked all of the crying, just to get them off the hook.

Darius raised three fingers and showed them to Tom. He looked at them, confused. "Three strikes."

Tom was instantly brought back to his conversation with Darius from his first day at school. Any more screw ups and you will be put on probation. That's what Darius had said. Now he knew his punishment.

"Your girl is either really torn up or a really great actress. At this point I can't tell, but I will be watching you two."

"Watch all you want. There's nothing there," Tom rebutted. He knew he had to stand up to Darius somehow. If he just agreed with him, Darius would know something had changed from their very first conversation. He couldn't let anything happen to the relationship he had formed with Jude. It meant too much to him.

"Probation. Three days. But there's something else. The reason I came here in the first place."

"What?" Tom asked, wishing Darius would leave. Then maybe he'd call Jude and discuss her little dramatic performance. She sure had him fooled.

"I want you to perform for the Senior Talent show. I've heard from a very reliable source that you are in fact talented. And I'd like the kids to have something good to look at."

Tom's eyes widened a little. He didn't know if he should be insulted or encouraged by Darius' comment. Something good to look at? That was not the kind of comment Tom had been expecting.

"Who told you?"

"Angie, the history teacher. She told me you two know each other. She's thinking of performing as well, but she said I had to get you on the bill. So that's what I'm doing."

"Oh yeah, well she's amazing too," Tom commented, rather reluctantly. He was glad Darius didn't push the 'knowing each other.' He didn't know how he would respond and he figured his story would only make things even more complicated. "And if it means I get back into your good graces somehow, I'll do it," Tom responded, smirking a little.

"Kissing my ass isn't going to help you right now. Just make sure you do what Torres wants and then we'll talk," Darius rebutted as he turned to walk out the door.

"Got it."

"I'll be watching," Darius replied as he opened the door.

"And I'll be waiting," Tom said, cheekily.

Darius glared and then the door slammed back into its threshold and Tom was alone with his thoughts.

He was on probation for three days. It couldn't come at a better time. He had so much to think about as it was.

- - - - - -

Her books were clutched to her chest as she rounded the last corner to the front office. She had just come from the bathroom. She didn't want people to know she had been crying.

Then they'd ask questions.

And she didn't want to deal with that.

She just wanted to go home.

The door in front of her opened suddenly and she stopped, not wanting to be hit by it.

A startled Mr. Torres walked through the threshold and smiled.

"Hey Jude."

Jude smiled widely, seeing one of her favorite teachers on campus. But she wasn't going to tell him her situation. She didn't want to see the disappointment in his eyes and she didn't want to explain what she and Tom were doing.

She'd just add it to the list of things not to talk about with people other than Tom.

"Hi."

"I was actually going to look for you."

Her eyes widened. Was that a good thing or bad thing? She didn't know. "Really? For what?"

"Well, two things actually."

"Oh okay," she responded, waiting. She really wanted to go home. Or work on some music. Anything to get her mind off her suspension and almost getting caught.

He opened his folder a little and pulled out a small envelope.

"Jude, here. I have something to give you."

She took the envelope graciously and peeked at its contents. "Oh my – wow! What did I do to deserve this?"

"By just being you," he said, shrugging nonchalantly.

Under other circumstances, Jude would have read into Mr. Torres comment more, but she knew he didn't think of her as anything other than a student. Unlike Tom.

Why was she comparing the two?

She loved Tom.

It was that simple. It had to be.

"Well, thank you Mr. Torres." She was holding in her hand two tickets to a very exclusive G-Major party. She knew for a fact the tickets were hard to come by as G-Major was Canada's premier recording label and everyone who was someone was on their label.

She knew exactly who she was going to ask.

It would be their first date.

Or something like it.

"No problem. A friend of mine works with one of the engineers so he usually gets me tickets for these of kind of things."

"Really? That's awesome!"

"Yeah, but I can't go. So I didn't want them to go to waste so I figured you might enjoy them."

"Well, thanks again, Mr. Torres."

"You're welcome, Jude."

"And the other thing?" she asked.

"Oh yeah. Talent show."

Her eyes brightened tremendously. It was the one thing she had been looking forward to that year. Now that also included being with Tom. "Uh huh."

"I want you to close the show."

Her breath caught in her throat as Mr. Torres smiled upon her. She coughed slightly, regaining her voice. "Shut up! No way! I can't."

Mr. Torres' smile widened and he rolled his eyes. "Cut the crap. We both know you've been eying that spot since you were a freshman."

"Nah uh," she denied, slightly smirking.

"Yeah huh," he rebutted.

"Okay, I have. But-" she conceded.

"No buts. You're perfect for it," he stated. And it was true. She was the school's reigning star.

"Well, that may be, but I have two songs I was looking at performing. Now I don't know what to do," she said, shrugging. It was just another item added to the list of things she was unsure about. It would probably be the first time she'd perform in front of Tom and she wanted it to be perfect.

"So do them both. We have plenty of time this year. Don't worry."

His comment was exactly what she wanted to hear. "Really? I can do both?"

"Of course," he said.

"Thanks so much!"she exclaimed, reaching out to hug him. She stopped in midair, her mind remembering the reason why she was suspended in the first place. She couldn't. So she didn't.

"You're welcome!" Mr. Torres responded. He glanced at his watch quickly. "Listen, I gotta run to my next class, but we can go over more talent show stuff later, okay?"

"Oh yeah. Sorry, I forgot time flies," she said, laughing. She had almost forgot about the urge to go home. Mr. Torres nodded.

"It's cool. See ya!" he exclaimed, already walking away from Jude.

"Bye Mr. Torres!"

He continued to walk away, waving from behind his head.

Jude watched him as he rounded the corner and then turned around, a slight skip in her step. The day had been the complete opposite of everything she would have imagined. But she didn't care.

Everything was fine.

She was fine.

- - - - - -

He pulled his cell phone out of his jacket pocket, just as it began to ring. Looking at the caller id., he debated whether or not he should answer it. Especially after last time.

He pushed the green button on his phone and brought it up to his ear.

"Hey T."

"Calling to apologize?" Tom asked, throwing his jacket over his arm and grabbing his messenger bag from his chair. He was going home early.

"Uh, no. But I will if you want me to," he said truthfully. Kwest knew he wasn't sorry for what he had said weeks prior. He just knew Tom was in denial and that until he finally admitted to himself what happened with Angie was not just her fault, but also his, then his relationship with Jude would always be in disarray.

He was being the best friend.

That's the all there was to it.

"Whatever. Look, I'm leaving school early and I'd like to relax, so if you don't mind-" he started, walking to his door.

"Alright. But I need to ask a favor. And I know this is pushing it, but I figured-"

"What is it, man?" He closed the door behind him and began walking to the parking lot. A few students were still straggling as the last period of the day was finishing up. If he hadn't been on the phone, he might have been a dutiful teacher and asked what the kids were doing in the hallways. But he wasn't.

"G-Major. Annual showcase. With Angie."

Tom immediately laughed. Kwest thought he was quick. But Tom had had his coffee that morning.

"Oh, that's hilarious."

"Tom-" Kwest started.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised after your tirade a couple weeks ago," Tom commented.

"I'm sorry," Kwest offered.

"Right. And I'm the Pope."

Kwest rolled his eyes. "Look Tom, I'm just asking. I already told Angie-"

Tom passed the front office, his eyes widening. "You already told her I'd go?!" he yelled. A few students turned their heads and started at Tom, but he wasn't paying attention.

It took Kwest a second to decide whether or not to disseminate the truth or follow through with the rest of his plan.

The plan won out. "Uh, yeah," Kwest lied quickly.

"Fuck!" Tom breathed as he stepped down the last stair to the parking lot.

"T-" Kwest started, immediately regretting what he had started.

He did have a conscience.

Tom reached his Viper quickly, his strides long and fast. "Well, then I guess you should have just started off by telling me where I needed to be. Cause you already know how I am. And so does Angie," Tom announced.

He was a man of his word.

Even if this time it wasn't his word.

He was going to follow through.

He took his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the car rapidly. He opened the driver's door and threw his stuff to the passenger side.

"I didn't mean-" Kwest began.

"I don't care what you meant. I guess I'm going. But I'm not gonna have fun. And this is NOT a date," Tom remarked. He got in the car and slammed the door.

"I know," Kwest conceded.

The car horn honked once as Tom smacked his head against the steering wheel. "Jude's gonna kill me."

"She'll understand."

"Yeah," Tom responded skeptically. "You do remember her, right?"

"Of course."

"Then you might wanna rethink that theory," Tom said into the leather of the steering wheel.

"Oh ye of little faith," Kwest responded, rolling his eyes.

Tom scoffed. He didn't need to hear this from Kwest. Especially not after everything his best friend had already said. He knew his friend's thoughts about his relationship already. "Are we done?"

"Yep. Your names are on the guest list. See ya on Thursday."

"Bye."

Tom snapped his phone shut and threw it to his side. He banged his head one more time causing the horn to beep.

If Jude didn't kill him, he was going to shoot himself.

Because he was an idiot.

A/N:Preview:

Chapter 18

"Keeping Up Appearances (Part 1)"

"What are you doing tomorrow?"

"I'm busy. So whatever you were thinking, I can't."

"Oh. Well then, I'll let you go. So you can rest up for whatever you're doing tomorrow."

"Jude, don't do this."

"I'm not. You did."

- - - - - -

"You have company? Why did you agree if you had people over?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Just some friends, but they understand."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

- - - - - -

"Hi. It's Jude. I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Stuart's daughter?"

"How could I forget you, Jude? You're the one with the beautiful blue eyes and music obsession."

"You don't have to butter me up, Jonathan. I'm the one asking a favor."