| W H E N  C A N D A C E  M E T  J U D E |
• • •
| Jude |

     Moving was tough. But it was something Jude had been doing since she could even remember. This time, their destination was in the middle of complete nowhere. The town was okay looking. There was lots of green, lots of trees, and her new house wasn't too far from a nearby creek.

     And there were some decent looking girls.

     But she tried not to think too much about that as she and her aunt unloaded the last of her things into Jude's bedroom. The small space was filled up to its brim with box after box. Jude had even started to break a sweat from all of the heavy lifting. Which was something that didn't happen often.

     Right after her aunt, Wendy, had pushed in her nightstand out from the moving truck, and placed it beside Jude's bed, Jude had placed a picture frame on top of it. Inside of the frame was a photograph of she and her father.

     Jude was around seven in it, and was sitting on her fathers lap while they fished outside of a lake that used to a few miles away from the first home she ever lived in. Her father, Steven, wore a genuine smile as he held his only daughter in his lap. Her tiny hands were holding on tightly to a hot pink fishing pole.

     She hadn't seen her father much after that picture was taken. It was around the time her mother had left for good—and Steven was stationed hundreds of miles away from home. So, she was left alone with her aunt who took her in no questions asked.

     Those few years of her life were sad. Sad and confusing. Children don't usually ever understand why a parent leaves. But Jude always knew. She knew it was because of her.

     Allison, her mother, had always been a complete mess. At least that's what Wendy, her mothers older sister, always said. She and Steven had Jude when they were still in high school. So it was safe to say that the young brunette was not a planned pregnancy.

     And Allison leaving was only the billionth clue.

     Before Jude was born, her grandparents had given Allison and Steven an ultimatum. Either they had Jude out of wedlock and gave her up for adoption. Or, they kept her—with the exception of getting married. They of course, chose marriage. Steven not wanting strangers to raise his only child.

     So, only a month after she was conceived, the young couple was married in a church by a priest.

     Their marriage, much to absolutely nobody's surprise, was a disaster. Allison didn't understand how to take care of a child. Which terrified Steven due to him always being overseas and usually unable to make his way home.

     There were many times where the young blonde would forget Jude in the car, or it would slip her mind to feed her breakfast. Steven's last straw was Allison leaving Jude in the bath while she napped for the third time that day.

     Jude thankfully hadn't drowned. She merely spent those two hours playing with her favorite bath toys and pretending none of it was happening. Maybe that was where it started—her habit to act as though everything was fine and ignoring her underlying issues.

     She learned it from the best.

     The only reason anyone found the two of them, was because Wendy hadn't heard from Allison all day. So, the young redhead decided to do a welfare check. Her heart had stopped when she found Jude almost falling asleep in the bathtub, surrounded by browning water, and her younger sister sleeping soundly in the next room.

     She'd called Steven seconds later, and hours after that, he was boarding a plane back to Boston with a heavy heart.

     Allison and Steven fought for hours once he returned home. Wendy sat on a rocking chair that was placed on the back porch of their home. She rocked Jude back and forth as she whispered into the shell of her ear that everything would be alright.

     That no matter what, Jude would always have her. And she was nothing but truthful about that fact.

     Allison left for the first time that night. She packed all of her belongings into a few grocery bags. Steven begged her not to leave—pleading that Jude wouldn't have anyone if she did. He was so, so wrong.

     Wendy had stormed in from the back porch, balancing Jude on her hip. She shouted and shouted, saying that Allison should go because all she's ever done is hurt Jude over and over again. Because she was too stubborn to admit that she had no idea how to take care of a baby.

     All Jude could remember were Wendy's shouting and Steven's pleads. Then, she remembers placing her palms over her ears, and crying herself. That was the last straw for Allison—she fled.

     And Jude didn't see her until years later.

     Jude spent those years with Wendy in that same house, as Steven continued to be stationed anywhere but home.

     Her childhood consisted of that happening over and over again. Just in new places.

     And now, there she stood, in she and Wendy's seventh home in only ten years. But this time would be different, Jude told herself. Because she was so close to being done with high school—she was a senior. After this year, she was gone for good. And would never have to worry about moving again.

     Or Allison showing up every two years begging for everyone's forgiveness. Which was something Jude stopped giving her a long ago. Because it hurt too much to love her again for only a few weeks, and then watch her trudge off again toward god knows what.

     Wendy wandered her way into Jude's empty bedroom, tapping the tall brunette on her bony shoulder. "You okay?" She asked, following her niece's eyesight. Her features softened when she sees the photograph.

     Jude took a deep breath, shoving the trauma down. "I'm fine." She murmured, leaning down and retrieving one of her many boxes. She waited for Wendy to leave the room so that she could return to mentally reminiscing.

     But when her aunt doesn't, and simply takes a seat in Jude's desk chair, the tall girl resists the urge to groan.

     "You don't have to lie to me, J," Wendy says seriously, crossing both arms. "I know you're upset about us moving again. And I wish we didn't have to, I really do—"

     Jude interrupted, "I'm not upset. I'm just exhausted from that long ass drive." She said truthfully, standing back up and returning to her original height.

     She leaned her back into the pale wall behind her, her head connecting with it with a sharp thud. "Okay," Wendy says, standing from the chair. "Whenever you're done lying, I'll be in the living room unpacking."

     Jude doesn't say anything else, jaw clenching at Wendy implying that she's upset about the move. She wasn't upset about the move. It was impossible to be upset about the move. It was something they've done a thousand times—there was no use in crying about it.

     But something Jude was feeling a little unpleasant about was having to start at another school the next day. She'd gone to two different high schools already, this one being the third and last one.

     Jude knew how it would go. She'd walk in. Everyone would stare, a few brave ones would ask questions, others she'd never have the pleasure of getting to know. Teachers wouldn't make the effort to even learn her last name, and boys would barking up her tree—the wrong tree.

     And to make matters worse, this high school wasn't going to be like the last ones. This time, Wendy had enrolled her into a private school. A place Jude never thought she'd being stepping foot into, let alone going to school there.

     Wendy had claimed wanting nothing but the absolute best for Jude, hence her being enrolled there in the first place. Jude wanted the best education possible to get into a good school. And her aunt had said what better way to do than going to school with a bunch of rich kids?

     It wasn't very hard getting her into the school—not with Jude's brilliant transcript of straight A's and B plus's. Jude was smart. And she knew it.

     Although, the brunette would be going there on a scholarship because of her brilliant grades. And Wendy had told her to make sure that didn't tell anyone that. Rich kids were mean. The meanest of them all. And if everyone suddenly found out about Jude's funding, she'd never hear the end of it.

     Jude's paused unpacking, taking a moment to process herself in the tall mirror nailed into the wall closest to her closet. She'd worn something sensible for a moving-day. She picked at the hem of her cropped t-shirt, and dusted off the legs of her slimming sweatpants, paired with a pair of plain white sneakers.

     This morning, her long brown hair had been tossed up into a high ponytail, her removing every ring from her fingers in fear that they'd slip off while she was moving everything into the house.

     Jude unpacked the first set of boxes, which were books, books, and more books. Then the second set that even more books. She'd started to wonder if the majority of the boxes were books, and where the hell all of her clothes went.

     She ignored the rest of the boxes filled with books, and went for the boxes filled with clothes.

     Once she figured that was enough unpacking for the first day, she pushed the rest of them into the corner in a neat pile, and stalked out of her bedroom. She found Wendy sitting at the dining table, a bag of pretzels sitting before her.

     Jude took the seat beside her, dipping her hand into the bag for a mini pretzel stick. She tossed it into her mouth, chewing while scrolling through her cellphone.

     Wendy watched silently. Awkward silence looming over the two of them. Jude shook lightly in surprise when she caught Wendy staring. "What?" She asked curtly, still managing to be respectful.

     Wendy pursed her thin lips, leaning her chin into the palm of her hand. "Are you nervous for tomorrow? I know how you get the day before your first day."

     It shouldn't be such a normalized thing, Jude wanted to say but she bit her tongue. "No, I'm not nervous. And you know nothing about 'how I get.'" She said, a knowing look on her features.

     "Oh, please," Wendy teased. "The quietness, the backtalk, the locking yourself in your room, the reminiscing. It's your way of shutting yourself off when you're upset about something." Jude knew that what her aunt was saying was completely true. But she'd never admit it.

     "And what about you?" Jude changed the focal of the subject onto Wendy, who inhaled deeply at the question. "You nervous for your first day at the new office?"

     Wendy had a history of working in sales for different companies wherever they moved. It never made her too much money due to most of her salary being commission. And if Wendy Baker was anything—it was a hothead. And being a hothead doesn't get you very far while being a saleswoman.

     This resulted in Jude picking up a part-time job wherever she could get it. Whether that was waiting tables, a concession stand at a theatre, or doing weekend shifts a local skating rink.

     "Um, not so much nervous about the whole being new part of it all, but mostly nervous about the fact that if this job doesn't work out—I have no idea what I'm going to do." The redhead brought a hand to her neck, and rubbed it anxiously.

     Jude bit onto her bottom lip, hand reaching out for her aunts. "We," she said lightly, squeezing Wendy's hand. "What we're going to do."

     Wendy smiled, a grateful smile at the edge of her lips, worry lines disappearing. She let go of Jude's hand, her bringing it around her nieces shoulder and holding her in closely. She held her there tightly, chuckling as Jude protested her hug.

     Jude felt her lean down and land a kiss at the top of her head. "I love you, kid."