My Diary

Kate & Jude story

The Hawaiian breeze brushed through my hair as I stood near the edge of the shore, holding my sandals in one hand. The ocean stretched endlessly in front of me, sparkling beneath the sunlight. I could smell the salt in the air, hear the waves crashing against the rocks nearby, and feel the warm water splashing lightly against my ankles.

For a moment, everything felt peaceful.

"I could seriously live here forever," I said softly, smiling to myself.

Behind me, Jude was unloading our suitcases from the Jeep his parents let us borrow. I turned around to look at him, expecting him to smile back, but instead he just shut the trunk harder than necessary.

I frowned. "Are your parents really only twenty minutes away?"

"Yeah," he answered quickly.

Something in his tone immediately made my stomach tighten.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing."

I sighed quietly. "You always say 'nothing' when something's bothering you."

Jude rubbed the back of his neck and looked away from me toward the ocean. "I just don't want to fight while we're here."

"Then don't start one," I muttered.

His eyes snapped back toward me. "See? That's exactly what I mean."

"What do you mean?"

"You always make me sound like I'm the bad guy."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Because lately you act like you don't trust me."

Jude laughed bitterly under his breath. "Can you really blame me?"

The words hit me harder than I expected.

I stared at him. "Excuse me?"

"You've been distant for months, Kate."

"I've been stressed."

"You hide your phone every time I walk by."

My eyebrows pulled together instantly. "Because every time I get a text, you stare at my screen."

"That's because you act suspicious."

I let out a short, disbelieving laugh. "Wow. So now wanting privacy makes me suspicious?"

"You stayed up texting somebody until like two in the morning last week."

"My cousin, Jude."

"How am I supposed to know that?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. After everything we had been through together, after four years, this was what he thought of me?

"You seriously think I'd cheat on you?" I asked quietly.

Jude looked down at the sand. "I don't know what to think anymore."

The silence afterward felt heavy.

I looked out at the water again, trying not to cry out of frustration. I remembered meeting him at our lockers freshman year. Back then he used to get nervous just talking to me. We'd stay up laughing over dumb jokes and talking about our future together like nothing could ever ruin us.

Now every conversation somehow turned into an argument.

"You proposed to me," I said softly, turning back toward him. "You asked me to marry you."

Jude's face softened slightly.

"And I said yes because I trusted you."

The wind moved through the palm trees above us while neither of us spoke.