XX. #ThinkBrink. (Part Three)

"I am this close to ending it all."

Jordan bitterly laughs yet holds a note of approval, "You and me both."

"I don't even know why I try," Jude says, taking a long drag of her blunt tapping to ends slightly as she watched the ash fall onto the ground, "All she cares about is this damn school and not her child."

The sound of dread and bitterness fills the air, accompanied by the occasionally flickering lighters as the two lovers occupy an empty metal bench near the back side of the building, their covered feet dragging against the cool surface. The occasional cool breeze brushed against their skin but neither felt the option to move possible as they simply wanted to bask in the feelings that were being felt at the moment. And it wasn't good.

Music vibrated from the concrete walls as those inside were most likely enjoying it. However, at the moment it took only those who were aware of the falsities that it held to pull away. And that's what Jude and Jordan did.

"This entire thing is fucking bullshit and fuck everybody." Smoke escapes Jude's lips as she leans back slightly, resting her free hand on the bench table. There's the slight smudging of mascara that ran down her face previously from her crying episode.

"Heavy on the fuck everybody. I'm just so tired of my parents not accepting all sides of me. I'm still that kid they always knew."

Jude looks at Jordan with a frown, "I accept you."

They had fallen into the silence that seemed to take over them when they didn't know what to say. Just smoking and dwelling on the feelings seemed like the way to go. Less talking involved whatsoever.

Jude hands Jordan the blunt to which they so greatly accepted, "Maybe Luke did have a point. Maybe we're all pieces in this one fucked up game of chess."

"Maybe he wasn't so crazy after all." Jude adds while looking at the fair distance, "I know he wasn't because Sam's fucking alive."

"Sam." Jordan's voice grew quiet by the moment. They looked at Jude for a brief moment before eventually turning their head, "Fucking Sam. Shit."

"Does anybody else..."

"No—not that I know of." Jude shakes her head, "Which is why I need to talk to Andre. He's the missing link in all this. I texted him but he didn't respond, not surprising. And I know that he's been avoiding me at this damn event."

"This whole thing is something I can't wrap my head around." Jordan scoffed.

"You and me both."

Taking another long pull from the blunt, Jordan finally looks at Jude fully, "Who was that guy?" Finally, they've said the questions that's been bothering them for the past twenty minutes. From the moment their eyes landed on Dominic they couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy and weren't afraid to admit it.

"Dominic Wright," She answers with a shrug, "Stockbroker in some company. Interviewed A-Train which was a fucking disaster. Hilarious but a disaster. Why?"

"No reason."

"Don't tell me that you're jealous. Because if you try to lie Jordan remember that I know you."

"I was jealous," Jordan clarifies, "But I'm not now that I know who it is."

"Jealousy looks cute on you Jordan," Jude then stands abruptly, crushing the end of her lit blunt on the bench. Putting it back in her purse she straightens herself out while shoving a mint down her throat, "Looks like we're a little late to the main show."

The main show is in the heartfelt speech that had to be said leaving those feeling a little bit crushed about what happened.

"Shit, right." Clearing their throat, Jordan gets up as Jude throws them a mint which they place in their mouth.

Wiping away her mascara, Jude attempted to look like she didn't want the ground the crush her right then and there. And appear as though she didn't get into an argument with her mother. So did Jordan with their father.

And so hand in hand, the two entered the venue once more and were met with a couple of stares. Jude did her best to ignore it all while, Jordan rolled their eyes.

Turning to face Jordan, Jude crosses her arms, "I'll see you in a bit." She whispers causing them to nod.

Eventually the two parts way with Jordan taking a left and Jude taking a right. Crossing her arms, the girl swiftly moves down the hallway until she reaches where the stage is placed.

"Looks like I missed the fucking show." Jude chuckles to herself as she leans against the wall as Marie stands on stage. The crowd from below laughed at what seemed to be the joke she said but Jude couldn't laugh. Wouldn't dare to. It wasn't because of Marie, it was the entire event itself.

Jude was about to leave when Marie suddenly arrived by her side. Jumping slightly in surprise, she eyes the girl for a moment before a smile appears on her lips, "Hey."

"Hey."

Noticing that there was a sudden shift in the atmosphere, Jude decides to speak up once and for all, "Look I'm sorry about the whole credit thing. If I were in your shoes there's no telling what I would've done so I get it."

Marie shook her head, "I mean I did fuck someone over in a sense to get what I wanted and that wasn't exactly the best thing to do and now I'm caught in this bullshit of being the showgirl for events and shit."

Jude could only nod at her situation and it then grew silent.

"How's Jordan, by the way? Are they still mad about what I did?" Marie asked and just as she did that she was slowly regretting the fact that she said it bit by bit.

Jude chuckled, "Jordan...well Jordan loves to hold grudges. And that's when they're the most pettiest person on the planet."

"Oh."

"Look, you guys will just have to talk to each other alone, like the mature adults you guys can be." Jude adds, "There's only so much convincing I can do on both sides. And it's hard because the both of you are stubborn."

Marie chuckled, "Yeah, I get that. So, what about you?"

"What about me?"

"You seemed a bit bothered earlier which made you go ghost." Marie points out. Had she noticed that Jude was gone for the majority of the speech? Was she that observant?

"Something with my mom but I'm fine now."

"That's good. Anyways I gotta go the Dean needs me." Marie almost sounded as if she didn't want to go but had to. Saying her goodbyes, she eventually walks away.

Sighing, Jude turns around and grabs yet another glass of champagne from a passing waiter's tray, she takes a small sip. By the time she was done drinking champagne for the night, she might as well put herself into rehab.

So far she's hadn't seen her mom and hopes that it would stay that way. The last thing she needed was to deal with her mother more than she already had.

It was when she saw where Jordan and Cate sat she approached them with a lazy grin. Noting how Cate was pouring herself a glass of vodka. Shaking her head in amusement Jude looks down at the girl, "Please don't tell me you used your powers on the bartender." Placing her clutch down, she sits beside Jordan.

Cate shrugs playfully as she takes a sip, "You know me too well."

Jordan who notices Marie decides to speak up, "Hey, Moreau."

Marie picks up the lower half of her dress and lets out a tiring sigh, "I'm not in the mood, okay? You can attack me in the morning."

She then begins to walk past their table, which only made Jordan scoff, "I'm surprised you can walk straight with everyone's tongue lodged up your ass."

Jude could only shake her head at the childish antics displayed at Jordan's wake while Marie scoffed as she kept on walking, "Leave me alone. You don't know shit about me."

Jordan tilts their head at Marie becoming more and more unfazed by the entire thing, "Brownnoser, one-upper. Mommy and Daddy's perfect little hero."

"Jordan enough." Jude narrows her eyes at them but they only look away.

Marie stops at Jordan's last comment as she is completely fed up with the entire situation, "Yeah, well, that's definitely not me, because my parents are dead."

Jordan looked at Marie as if they didn't believe a word she'd just said.

"Because I killed them. You happy?" Marie declared in defeat.

Jordan lets out a humorless laugh, "Bullshit."

"I didn't know I had powers until my first period," Marie began, her voice heavy with emotion as she had no choice but to say the one memory that haunted her for so many years, "I couldn't control the blood, and it sliced through my mom's body. Dad came in. Same deal."

It falls silent but Cate decides to verbally say her large degree of shock, "Fuck."

"Yeah," Marie's voice became raw with emotion, "I'm the last person who thinks they're a hero. I fucking hate myself half the time. And I just spent the entire night being dragged around like a show pony, so I'm not in the mood for your shit."

"You and me fucking both Marie." Jude holds her glass up in acknowledgment.

Cate who didn't want the girl to leave just like that, pulls an empty chair beside her and pays it, "Hey."

Marie looks at Cate with reluctance before sitting herself down.

As soon as Marie sits down, Cate begins to share her story of guilt, "We were camping. I was nine."

"My parents were setting up the tent. My little brother kept kicking at my shins, so I grabbed him by the arm and I told him to go away and never come back. So he did." Her eyes grew blank as she said this, masking away the feelings she truly held because no matter what that feeling could never go away.

Cate inhales sharply, "He just walked right into the woods. That was the first time my powers showed up. I didn't know. There was a...search party. Dogs. You know? It went on for weeks. But...nothing. My mom never touched me again...and neither did my dad."

After a moment of silence, Jude glanced around the table. Downing the rest of the champagne she sits back before eventually deciding to speak up, "Most people don't know this but I guess it's time to let the cat out of the bag right?"

Jordan looks at Jude already knowing what she is going to say.

With a sigh Jude proceeds to explain what's been keeping her awake most nights, "I was nine when I got injected with Compound V and shit didn't kick in until I was eleven,"

Jude could feel her hands shake but calmed herself down slightly, "I didn't know and the only reason why I found out was because of puberty. Ironic isn't it? The day that it happened my parents got into an argument about me."

"My mom wanted to tell me the truth right away so things like that don't happen, but my dad wanted to keep a hold of the secret just a little longer. The argument kept on getting louder, things were being broken and I just wanted it to stop." Her voice grows heavy but Jude only looks into the far distance as she speaks, "And so I placed my hands over my ears, and I hadn't realized that my hands were glowing red. So I shouted "Make it stop!" and that's when it finally stopped."

"I didn't know what I did until I saw my father's body pressed against the cabinet with various pieces of glass sticking out of his body." Jude inhales sharply while blinking back the tears that threaten to fall, "The last thing I remember was my mom screaming "What did you do!" before it all grew dark."

Jude looks at Marie, whose face shares a look of understanding, sorrow, and sadness, "I had no idea," Marie's eyes bounce from her to Cate, "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be."

Cate looks at Jude for a brief moment before looking at Marie, "It is not your fault. Your parents shot you up with a dangerous drug when you were a baby to make a buck off you."

Marie shook her head no, "No, my parents weren't like that."

"Then why did they give you Compound V if they were such good people? No sane parent would ever do that to their child." Jude points out before grabbing the bottle of vodka and pouring herself a glass to which she finishes with a grimace, "God this is strong."

"No."

Cate tilts her head almost growing sorry for her, "Yes, they were. They did this. You didn't. Don't spend a fucking minute crying over them."

"I killed my grandpa with my powers," Jordan began, causing Jude to let out a loud snort.

Cate looks at Jordan, "No you didn't."

Shaking her head at them Jude continues, "You called him last week."

Jordan sighs awkwardly before a smile grows on their lips, "Yeah, I know. I was just feeling left out."

The table once held silence burst into laughter. Jude who continues laughing poor herself yet another glass.

Jordan looks at her with worry before grabbing the bottle, "I think that's enough for the night."

Jude frowns, "I'm perfectly capable of holding down alcohol."

"Not when you've pretty much had an endless supply of champagne and vodka Jude. Now you're gonna have to drink a shit ton of water so you don't end up puking your guts out in the morning."

"I'll be fine." That was a complete lie.