Beautiful Storms

chapter one | jude

"Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living."

☆

beautiful storms | chapter one

High school wasn't Jude's strong suit. He hated everything about it, the students, the teachers, the facility, and the building like every other teenager. He is just lucky to be a senior. Months had passed since he first arrived in St. Clair and he already hated it but his mother grew up there, so he tries to see the good in St. Clair even if it gets hard. He hated it.

Why is this sticky? He thinks as he stares down at the bleacher and removes his hand from the hot metal and rubs it on his jeans. He leans against the fence and he pulls his legs to his chest. The Sunbeams down on him and covers his eyes as he tries to watch a few students play football, they pass the ball around and Jude watches as it flies through the air then when it lands in the dude's arms, he tears his eyes away, not really wanting to get caught.

He restlessly taps his fingers on his thighs. He scoots away trying to get away from the sticky substance and he notices he's the only one on the top roll. He stretches out his legs onto the row under him. His phone vibrates in his pocket and he pulls it out of his jean jacket pocket. Hayes's name appears on the screen and Jude rolls his eyes.

Won't be home tonight, order pizza for dinner.

He turns off his phone and he sees a girl walking across the field towards the bleachers. She speaks to her friend in a quiet voice when she notices Jude. He turns towards his book bag and pulls out his Biology textbook. He sits it on his lap and opens it to the page that was assigned to him earlier that day.

"Are you sure it's his?"

"He was sitting right in front of me."

Jude closes his eyes, blocking out the Sun from his eyes. He won't change just because he has responsibilities now. He feels around the textbook and hisses when he feels the edge of the paper cut his index finger. Paper cut. He opens his eyes, lifting his finger.

The footsteps of the girls could be heard and Jude freezes in his spot when he hears them stop in front of him. Immediately, he shuts his textbook. His blue eyes meet a pair of soft brown ones. The girl smiles down at him with kindness gleaming from her eyes. He stares up at the girl with an uninterested look and he gulps before he saying,

"Hi?"

He stares away from her towards the book in her hand, it was the same book he was reading in English then he remembers he lost his book. His lips form into an 'o' shape then turn into a thin line as he meets her brown eyes again.

"I think this is yours."

She reaches her arm out, her hand loosely gripping the book before handing it off to Jude.

"Thanks..." He trails, waiting for the girl to reply but she just stares at him. Her eyes caught the sight of a slight scar on his eyebrow. It takes a few seconds before she comes back to reality. She smiles weakly at him.

"Cara."

Jude sits the book on top of his bag before he turns back to Cara. He takes a moment to stare at her beauty, Brown curls fall shoulder length, that she presses behind her ear. She wears the school T-shirt with a pair of black jeans. Her brown skin is lighter in the Sun and it is almost golden. Freckles line the shape of her face.

"Jude."

He stares at pages of his textbook as he works on his homework that he didn't finish the day before. His legs were crossed with the textbook in his lap, He lightly taps his pen on the pages. Human anatomy.

His eyes glide through the pages not really understanding anything he was reading, he turns his head and stares out the window. He watches as a bird flies onto the tree right next to his window. The grayish-brown coat of the red robin and the warm orange undertone of its belly draws Jude into watching the bird.

His phone vibrates on the textbook, pulling him away from the bird. He sees Sadie's name appear and he taps on the message.

Pizza's here.

He closes the textbook before sighing, he crawls off of his bed and peers over his shoulder to the window and he smiles when he sees the bird still there.

He pushes his feet across the carpet. He makes his way into the kitchen and the smell of freshly cooked pizza fills his nostrils. His stomach growls and he gently pats his stomach, quieting it.

Sadie sits at the kitchen table with her phone in one hand and a slice of pizza in the other. Jude sits across from her with a slight frown on his face. She glances up from her phone.

"How was...school?"

Sadie lays her slice of pizza on her paper plate before pushing it forward. Jude taps his fingers on the table not wanting to answer her question, instead, he opens the pizza box and shoves a slice into his mouth. She rolls her eyes as her eyes fall back on her phone. Jude didn't like small talk and he could tell she was forcing it, she didn't want to talk to him. She never did only when it suited her. They didn't have the best relationship since moving to St. Clair. The atmosphere of the room shifts from relaxed to tense when the front door opens. Jude stares down at the table with a glare on his face, the pizza still hanging from his mouth.

"Hey."

His voice buzzes in Jude's ears, he pulls the pizza from his mouth and takes a bite from it. Sadie clears her throat and Jude looks up at her, the two sharing silent communication with each other.

"Hayes."

Jude stares at the man as he walks into the kitchen, sitting his keys on the counter. As soon as he steps into the kitchen, Sadie gets a whiff of alcohol on his clothes and her nose crunches up in disgust.

"How is pizza?"

He wobbles and makes his way to the table, almost tripping on his own foot in the process. He grabs on to the table before flashing them a smile. Jude gets hit with the smell of alcohol on his breath.

"How much did you drink today, Hayes?" Jude snarky says, not in the mood to deal with him.

Jude clenches his jaw before pushing himself out of his chair. He motions for Hayes to sit down and he does. Jude pulls out another plate before stacking two slices of pizza on top of each other before sliding it towards his uncle.

"Greasing food doesn't help but you should still eat something."

Jude moves to go to the cabinets and pulls out a cup before going to the sink and filling it up with water. He sits in front of Hayes with a light smile before it falls quite quickly.

"Drink up."

"Thanks."

Jude nods, leaning against the table. He glances at Sadie who was staring at her hands. "Sadie, can you go in your room, please?" She whips her head up to look up at him and quickly leaves the kitchen. His body relaxes when he hears her door slam shut.

He sits in Sadie's seat and a sigh passes through his lips. He runs his hands through his hair, pulling at the roots. He watches as Hayes finishes the last slice of pizza.

"How much did you drink?" He repeats.

Hayes doesn't answer and he gets up from the table. Jude follows and his hands clenched into fists as he trails after him, walking into Hayes's room. Clothes were scattered around the room and Hayes kicks off his shoes and starts to undress in front of Jude.

"Hayes?"

"What kid?"

Hayes walks into the conjoined bathroom of his room and Jude hears running water. Jude sighs, knowing he won't answer him, he never does but Jude still tries. He hates that he drinks and he hates that cares that he wastes his life.

His shoulders fall forward and he groans loudly before shouting,

"Coldwater!"

☆☆☆

Don't forget to Like & comment.

-Ree