Knowing Jude

"Can you turn around and walk like a normal person?" I ask my good but spontaneous friend Nicki. I don't know what makes her think walking backwards in a crowded hallway is a wise idea. It's not.

She ignores my suggestion and swirls the brush in her hand on the pallet she's carrying. "Were there any hot guys there?"

"I was busy crapping myself over Math, does it seem like my eyes had the chance to slut around?" I deadpan.

She points at me with the brush, and I watch in horror as blue paint splatters over my white shirt. "You, my dear friend, are no fun," she declares.

"What the fuck, Nicole?" I wail, looking down at my shirt.

No.

Please no.

It has blue dots all over it, and a particularly large misshapen one right on my chest.

Her eyes widen in realisation of what she just did. "I'm so-"

I lunge, and she turns around fast and runs away, with me hot on her heels. I think she needs to be taught a lesson about how wrong it is to go around splashing paint over everybody's fabulous clothes. "I'M SORRY, JO! PLEASE!" she screams as she manoeuvres through the crowd of students, already panting.

I laugh in my mind evilly. Even I am not that unfit.

She cuts a corner, and I speed up in case she disappears into some room. I cut it but stop in my tracks when she runs right into someone and jumps into their arms, hiding away. "Help, help!" she screeches. I don't know whether to laugh or pounce as I look at Cole's perplexed expression at the sudden attack.

Only Nicki would attack a random person like that and not care how weird it is. Her hands are wrapped around his neck, her legs around his waist.

I slow down to a walk and stop right in front of them.

"Uh-" Cole starts uncomfortably.

I reach forward and grab Nicki's ear and pull on it. "He can't protect you, weird creature."

"Please, keep her away!" she whines, her hold on Cole tightening.

Cole suddenly turns, saving her. He chuckles. "Back off, Jo."

"See what she did to my shirt?" I ask, then reach for her again, but he turns again.

"Just let it go,” he tells me.

"Yes," Nicki calls out, her face still hidden in his shoulder.

I cross my arms over my chest and glare. "Okay." I can always get her back when there's no Prince Charming around to save her sorry ass.

Cole gives me an assessing look as if he doesn't trust me, but still lets go of her. She drops to her feet but quickly clings to his arm. She watches me warily. "Thank you, Cole."

I snicker and roll my eyes.

"OH MY GOD I DROPPED MY-" she trails off and her eyes fall to the ground, then she gasps.

"What?" Cole asks, and we look at the ground too.

Holy cow.

I grimace as I take in Cole's white sneakers, now doused in blue paint, Nicki's brush and now empty pallet lying a couple paces across the hallway.

"What the fuck?" Cole exclaims in horror, his eyes wide in disbelief as he looks at his shoes.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry, Cole. Sorry, I... Shit, I'm so sorry," Nicki apologises, looking thoroughly repentant and guilty. "I didn't mean to do that, I'm so—"

"It's fine," Cole cuts her off, but he doesn't look like he's fine with it. His perfect sneakers are ruined.

"I'll get you new ones, I—"

"It's fine," he cuts her off again. "You don't need to do that; it was an accident."

Nicki nods, but she's biting onto her lower lip and looks as if she's about to cry. I feel all the anger I had towards her melt.

"It's okay, Nicki. It was an accident, you didn't mean it," I assure her.

She nods again, but gulps. I share a look with Cole, and he looks at a loss. I'm not new to this, however. There are two sides to Nicki's hyper activeness. The good and the bad, or should I say the happy and the sad. You've all seen the happy side, let me introduce you to the sad one.

It hits her like a freight train, out of nowhere. Its intensity also depends on how intense her prior happiness was. If she had been really happy, she'll get really sad, like hit the bottom and dig a hole sad. She looks really sad right now, and I hate seeing her like that. She's my own personal ball of sunshine, and if she's dull, it's hard for me to be lively.

"I ruined your shirt and now his shoes," she points out miserably.

"Pfft, who cares about this old thing?" I say dismissively, holding onto the collar of my not-old-at-all shirt. "I've had it since when, sophomore year?"

Her brown eyes narrow at me. "I'm pretty sure you got it when school closed last year if I'm not wrong," she says.

"This is a different one," I lie.

"It doesn't look old," she says.

"Some of us know how to take care of our clothes," I say and she smiles, catching the jab. I was trying to distract her and I think it's working. I don't think she owns an article of clothing that does not sport a paint stain of some sort, others deliberately 'decorated' with colourful handprints.

"I think I actually like them even better this way," Cole says, moving his feet and turning his shoes. "They look as if they were meant to have those blue decorations, right Jo?" He gives me a look that makes me aware he has caught the drift of what I'm trying to do.

I nod and look at them. Actually...he's almost right. "I like them," I say. The blue splatters make them look like coloured sneakers, blue on white, but some of the splatters are huge and uneven. I go with the flow, however. "It's like a canvas." Nicki studies them too, then gives a sigh. "Are you sure you don't mind?"

"They're cool," he says with a nod.

She takes a deep breath. "Okay."

The bell rings and I jump, startled. Nicki chortles but quickly covers her mouth with one hand, the other still wrapped around Cole's. I give a fake glare, but I'm too relieved that she's back to the brighter side of her hyperactive scale to harbour any negative feelings.

"We should probably get to Math quick," Cole tells her.

"Yeah," she says. "What do you have?"

"English," I say. I realise with horror that in my haste to chase after her, I went too far from my class, while hers is just...

As you reach the final pages, remember that 000005s.com is your destination for the complete story. Share the joy of reading with others and spread the word. The next chapter is just a visit away!

I look around the hallway.

...two doors down.

And the bell just rang.

"See you later," I yell, then turn around and run, not wanting to risk another detention so soon.

When I walk into my English class, people are still huddled together in groups and pairs, as if the bell hasn't just rung. Mrs. Rutherford isn't here yet and I walk towards my usual seat. Simon is in his behind mine. The moment he sees me, he places his phone on his desk and leans forward.

"Finally, the girl I was waiting for," he says.

"Missed me?" I ask, turning slightly in my seat while I rummage through my bag.

He snorts. "You wish."

"I missed you," I say, placing my English books on my desk then turning around to face him.

He rolls his eyes, but I know he hadn't expected that. Maybe a smart comeback, but not that.

"Is this the part where you confess your hidden feelings for me?" he teases.

"You wish," I throw his words back at him.

His hand shoots out to ruffle my hair, but I swat it away before he can touch my head. He chuckles and pushes his hair back instead. "Seriously though, what were you doing with Jude at that café?" My eyebrows shoot upwards. "Uh?"

"When he got into that fight? You saw the video, didn't you?"

"What video?" I sputter, my eyes now going wide. Then I recall that day and the girls from school taping the fight. "Oh wait, it got sent around?"

He nods. "So?" he prompts his earlier question.

"Just having a drink," I answer. "Is it like, all over the place?"

"What do you expect? It's the twenty-first century," he replies. "But since both you and Jude weren't present yesterday, the gossip didn't get all that hot."

"Jude wasn't at school yesterday?" I ask.

"And today," he adds. "Probably nursing a couple of black eyes."

Most probably.

There's a sudden commotion in the classroom, of students rushing to settle in their seats. I turn round to the front to find Mr. Daniels standing at the teacher's table, glaring down at us.

"I'll be taking you through the class today," he says, then opens up his briefcase. It looks like Mrs. Rutherford is absent for today.

I feel a presence next to me and I turn to face Jen, who was gossiping at some other corner of the class. She smiles and waves, and I wave back. I face the front again as Mr. Daniels starts writing something on the board. Simon kicks the back leg of my chair just because he can. I can hardly wait for the class to be over so I can get the full scope of gossip from him.

Gossip about me, apparently.

"That right there is ridiculous," I protest, getting the urge to laugh at the absurdity of it. "Jude didn't even know my name before we started studying together," I inform them.

As you reach the final pages, remember that 000005s.com is your destination for the complete story. Share the joy of reading with others and spread the word. The next chapter is just a visit away! Simon shrugs. "It did happen once," he claims.

"What? When?" Nicki prompts around a piece of fry. "Here at school?"

Jen rolls her eyes. "Sophomore year. There was this girl, Hailey. She was just like Jo."

I instantly narrow my eyes at her. "Meaning?"

"Unpopular, nerdy, and had absolutely no interest in boys," she expounds.

I huff. "I'm not nerdy."

She waves a hand in dismissal. "He made a bet, but with some guys outside school, that he could get past her uptightness and get with her."

I snort with displeasure at her choice of words, but let her continue.

"He won."

"And therefore some idiots think that's the same fate awaiting me," I add, once again not believing the absurdity of the idea. This is my life, not some teen novel out there. "Can't people in this school get a little creative with their gossip?" "Do you prefer the one where you are apparently sleeping with him?" Nicki asks, swirling another fry in ketchup.

"Even dumber," I say.

"Just make sure to check the video on social media and see what the comments say," Jen suggests.

"Is anyone saying anything about those three assholes? Does anybody know who they are?" I ask, looking around our lunch table. Not our usual table inside the dining hall, but out in the yard, at a table suitably under the shade of a large tree. It's a blessing on this unbelievably hot afternoon.

"I know Salve, he's a mindless troublemaker," Jen supplies. "The other two, that's Kent and Luiz. They're no better."

"How do you know them?" I ask.

"They are bad boys, I have plenty of friends who know them," she replies.

Simon snorts. "I bet."

Nicki waves at someone and I turn to find Cole waving back through a window from inside the dining hall. She has a goofy grin on her face, and I kick her shin beneath the table. She drops her hand and turns to glare at me. "What?" I shake my head, "Nothing."

She kicks me back. I fold my legs under the bench.

"I don't blame people for trying to explain you being there with him. Jude doesn't hang out with anyone if not Cole," Jen says.

I frown a little, not really believing that information, only for Simon to pipe in, "True."

I roll my eyes. "It was nothing, just two friends having a snack together after "I decide to leave the fact that all we did that evening was kick a ball around. "A tedious battle with numbers," I try for a little wit.

Nicki's eyes are so wide now, I almost fear she is choking on a fry. "Friends."

I roll my eyes, already tired of trying to prove why me having a simple innocent cup of chocolate with Jude at Ma Bea's meant nothing.

Let them run their wild ideas through their wild minds, I'm sure they'll have found something new to gossip about in a few days. After all, this is high school.