Dude and Dudette

Chapter 4

Wyatt looked at his discouraged friend and sighed, "I'd never thought you'd be giving up so easily, Jonesy."

"It's over man, I've tried and tried again... she doesn't want me." Jonesy downed another shot of his iced latte.

"You know, too much of those aren't good for you."

"Says the guy who drinks like five cups of coffee a day." he smirked.

Wyatt shrugged, "What can I say? It's in my blood."

"This sucks man! I need some alcohol!" Jonesy stood up and punched his fist against his palm.

Jude rolled in on his skateboard, "Dude! Did someone say alcohol?"

"Jude! Hook me up!" yelled Jonesy as he gave Jude a high five.

"Nah bro, I don't have any. I just wanted to know if I heard right."

Jonesy growled and banged his head on the table, "This is so not my day..."

"Did I miss something?" Jude asked while scratching his head.

"Jonesy's got some problems; Nikki problems to be exact." Wyatt explained.

"Oh, no biggie man, I had some Nikki problems myself just now."

"What? When? What are you talking about?" Jonesy demanded, "Where did you see Nikki?"

"Over at the Penalty Box dude, she totally laughed in my face when my legs were too numb to stand on." Jude nodded and placed a hand over his heart, "It hurt man... on the inside."

"Well, what do you know? She came out, maybe she's not mad anymore." Wyatt smiled at Jonesy.

"No way man, I pissed her off royally. She'll never talk to me again."

"Maybe Caitlin and Jen talked some sense into her."

Jonesy pointed at himself, "Then what do you want me to do? It's not like she'll want to see me or anything."

Wyatt grabbed him by the shoulders, "Come on man! You're the one who's always been telling me how much you dig her. If you want to go out with her you gotta do something about it. Nikki's not like those other girls, Jonesy, it's not going to be easy; tell her you're sorry, show her you're sincere and make her understand what she means to you. You have to work for it, because when it all comes down, that's what makes it worth while and that's what makes her special."

"Yeah! Carpe Diem, dude! Seize the fish!" Jude shouted.

Slapping his forehead Wyatt corrected, "Day, Jude. It's seize the day."

He winked, "Now you're getting it bro, you gotta seize something."

After the joking and laughter died down, all that was left was silence... an uncomfortable, hair twirling, nail picking, and lip chewing silence. Caitlin looked back and forth between Nikki and Jen who were both off in their own worlds and sighed. This was so much worse than having to mop up the Big Squeeze after hours.

"You know Caitlin, you don't have to stay here with us, I know it's boring. Try to find the guys or something." Nikki suggested

Almost tempted to take the easy way out Caitlin smiled, "It's ok, I want to stay with you girls."

"If you're sure, we're just thinking..." Nikki trailed off.

Jen nodded absentmindedly, "Yeah... just thinking..." her eyes widened as she shook her head, "Wait, no thinking. Thinking is bad, need to stop thinking."

Caitlin laughed to herself silently and propped her head up with her arm. She thought about the two scenarios. First there's Jen; Caitlin couldn't help her until she admits to herself that she has feelings for Jude. Until then, all that could be done was to keep on pushing. Second, there's Nikki; there was obviously something holding her back from hooking up with Jonesy and it wasn't because of the "friends couldn't date friends" rule. So the next step would be to figure what it was.