Just like that, my mind spun back to the first time I saw Jude.
“So, this will be your homeroom,” the assistant principal said as she stopped at a door in the hallway of my new school.
She walked me in, introduced me to the teacher, and the teacher gave me a seat, explaining that we were usually seated alphabetically.But since it was halfway through the school year, she was going to put me in an empty seat on the other side of the classroom.
Rather than individual desks, there were tables with two seats at each.I followed her over and sat down.
“Your tablemate is Jude Silver.”The teacher turned to the boy sitting beside me.“Jude, this is Kendall Castile.I expect you to be nice to her.This is her first day at school in Willow Brook.Her family just moved here from Fairbanks.”
When Jude met my gaze, there wasn’t much I noticed about him in that moment.But I loved his eyes.They were blue with flickers of silver in them.
“Hey, Kendall,” Jude said.
“Hey, Jude,” I began.
Jude cracked a grin and waggled his brows.“You know my song.”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing.The teacher had already started walking back to the front of the classroom.We were at a table in the far back corner.
“Mrs.Landis is pretty nice,” he offered.“The bell hasn’t rung yet, so we’re allowed to talk.”
I set my notebook on the table and glanced around.Some students were reading, or doodling in notebooks.A few were talking at their tables, or between them.
“So, you’re going to find it warm here,” he said after a moment.
“Yeah?”
“Fairbanks is freaking cold in the winter,” he pointed out, drawing a giggle out of me.
I looked up at him again.Even in middle school, Jude was handsome with his slightly mussed dark hair, his sharp features, and those eyes.When he stood to round the table to help unstick my desk drawer, I noticed how tall he was.Even then, he had broad shoulders.He moved with an easy grace.
He sat back down and flashed me another crooked grin.“Do you have a song?”
I blinked.“What?”
He nodded.“Like, ‘Hey, Jude’.Do you have a Kendall song?”
“I don’t know.That’s a pretty famous song,” I pointed out.
When he chuckled, the sound made my belly feel a little funny.“I don’t think there’s a Kendall song,” I admitted.“Or if there is, I’ve never heard it.”
He nodded sagely.“Well, Jude is a special name.”
I snorted a laugh just as the bell rang.
That was the start of my friendship with Jude Silver.He was always kind.He introduced me to his friends in school, and he was the kind of guy who was liked by just about everyone.He was popular, but not in an obnoxious way.Jude was the guy who was cool with the football players and the cheerleaders and the science nerds and the math geeks and the drama kids.
He was also one of seven siblings, and I quickly learned that the Silver family took care of their own.Not that Jude ever needed any of his brothers or his older sister to protect him.He was genuinely friendly with everyone.
I felt lucky that he became my friend.We stayed friends all through high school.I was there the day after his dad died, and he came over and cried.I remember not being sure what I was supposed to do, so I put my arm around his shoulders and just sat beside him, thinking maybe I could impart some kind of comfort.
He had been there for me when my brother was busy being a jerk.Even if I understood Blake being a jerk, Jude didn’t stand for it.
When everything blew up for their family after the fire and Bree died, he came to my place night after night.He never spent the night because that wasn’t the kind of thing we did.He said it was difficult to eat when he was with his family because he lost his appetite, because it was like the sadness permeated everything.He said if he was with me and could talk, and if we watched silly TV shows, he could eat.So, I did exactly that.I talked to him, I listened, and we watched silly TV shows.
Over those years, I would occasionally think he was cute.I would shove that thought away and remind myself that Jude was my friend, and I didn’t ever want to mess that up.After the other night in the hallway—when Jude kissed me, and I told him my secret—that became a dividing line in our friendship.At least, in my mind.
For a week solid, I did everything I could to avoid him.To avoid seeing him, avoid talking to him, to not see him at all.I had plenty going on between dealing with my parents and my brother calling me more often for rides.
