live a little - j.birch

n i n e t e e n

to say the flight to the ski resort was awkward was an understatement. leah was sat next to grace, diane with elliott, nick had a spare seat next to him but as there was judd and me to get a seat, so one of us would be sat alone. i managed to nab the seat next to nick before judd could, though i doubt he minded as he always went on about how he was training something to kill him off.

"i realise we are never left to talk by ourselves." nick leant on his arm of the seat as he wiggled his eyebrows at me. i stifled a chuckle at his attempt to flirt.

"nick, no offence, but don't you think i'm a little too old for you?" i nudged him slightly, flicking through the flight movies. he slouched back in his chair.

"you never know, i'm a cool guy." he stropped, though was flung forward by a sharp kick to the back of his chair. he grunted as he fell back into the chair.

"leah, could you tell judd to fuck off please?" i sarcastically smiled to the blonde sat in the middle isle. she giggled but nodded.

"judd, bella says fuck off." grace bit her lip to stifle a laugh. she had always been a little scared of judd, which i understood. he was a very cold person, though not a scary one to me. judd grunted in response, though i couldn't see what he was doing as he was in the row behind me.

"ignore him nick, he's a self absorbed bastard who thinks the world revolves around him." i smiled at nick, nudging his arm with my elbow. he gave a wobbly smile back, clearly not wanting to speak to me in fear of judd kicking his seat again.

"this is it guys, when we get to the lodge, we are sitting you two down and getting to the root of all this." diane said, her eyes flickering towards judd and i. i shook my head.

"diane, no offence, but i don't want to." i gave her a kind look and returned to flicking through movies. i decided on love actually as it was one of my favourites and i needed a bit of a good feeling right now. i didn't want judd's childish behaviour to ruin my first trip abroad.

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"right guys, we have a little issue with the bedrooms. there's 4 rooms all with one double bed. obviously we have a room, then there's usually one for each child. grace and bella, one of you can share with leah and one of you will have to have the couch or share with judd. though by the look on grace's face, she'd rather sleep outside and we all know what bellas thoughts on judd are." diane awkwardly explained. i huffed, folding my arms.

"share with leah, i'll take the couch." i smiled at grace, letting her hug me with delight. she was an awkward girl so i knew being in such an open living space alone would probably be a lot for her.

"great. now, whilst everyone else unpacks, you two are coming with us." elliott placed his hands on mine and judds shoulders, steering us into the kitchen and sitting at the island with us. i was opposite him with diane next to me and elliott next to him.

"can we not?" judd grunted, refusing to look at me. diane gave my hand a squeeze before starting to talk.

"what is going on with you two? one minute you're getting along like a house on fire, the next you're at each other's throats." judd finally gave me some eye contact. his stare was cold and distant. all of his features were harsh again, and i found myself missing when he was brightly smiling that horrible night.

"judd's a self absorbed asshat." i spat at him, tearing my eyes away from his and to his parents. they were such kind people, it was crazy how they birthed something so mean.

"bella is completely in love with me and refuses to admit it. she needs to back off." judd ran a hand through his hair, now looking back down at the counter. elliott gasped at his words.

"well, bella, do you have feelings for judd?" he asked, looking deep into my eyes as if searching my soul for an answer.

"all i said was i've never felt so comfortable around someone. you can feel like that as friends. but no, you had to assume i was 'in love with you' and then even had the audacity to look at me like i stabbed something you loved when you said it! like me liking you would be disgusting." i turned away from his parents and looked at him, now glaring. the whole situation annoyed me so much, i just wanted him to stop acting like he's this evil guy when i know how nice he can be.

"judd, do you think that maybe you feel uncomfortable about bella liking to be around you because you like her and you don't know how to process your feelings?" diane smiled sweetly at her son, trying to make him think more then anything. he flicked his big eyes at me, staring into my own for a moment.

"would you all just fuck off?" with that, he got up and stormed away from the table, slamming the door. i shrugged at elliott and dianes shocked faces.

"i told you guys, it's not worth it." i smiled at them before taking my bags to leahs room, wanting to just end this whole judd business. i planned on just ignoring him and having fun.