Lines Drawn
925 Words
The evening breeze drifted through the open window of Jude’s small, tidy room. His desk lamp cast a warm circle of light over the pages of a notebook as he scribbled formulas into it. The rest of the house was quiet — except for the faint hum of a motorcycle outside.
Moments later, there was a knock.
Jude sighed, pushing his chair back. He didn’t need to guess who it was.
When he opened the door, Derek stood there — still in his school hoodie, holding a few sheets of paper.
“Yo,” Derek said with his usual grin. “I need some help with my assignment. You know I’m hopeless at this stuff.”
Jude folded his arms. “Oh, now you remember I exist.”
Derek laughed. “Come on, man. Don’t start. You know you’re the only one who gets this math thing.”
Jude took the papers, glancing at the messy handwriting. “You’re lucky I’m nice.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Derek said, dropping onto Jude’s couch. “You’re the genius. I’m the guy who gets by on charm.”
Jude set the papers down on the table. His tone was calm but edged with frustration. “Charm won’t save you when the test comes. You said you wanted to keep up this year. I’m helping you because I actually want you to do well.”
“Relax, man. I’ll be fine,” Derek said, waving it off.
Jude’s jaw tightened. He looked at his friend — the easy grin, the careless tone, the same guy he’d known for years. But something felt different now. Distant. Distracted.
“You were supposed to leave with me earlier,” Jude said quietly. “Instead, you stayed with her.”
Derek sighed. “Here we go again.”
“No, listen to me,” Jude said, leaning forward. “Tiffany’s not the kind of person you think she is. You saw what she did to that girl, right? She humiliated her — for nothing.”
“She was mad, Jude. It was just a moment—”
“A moment?” Jude cut in. “You call pouring coffee on someone’s shirt a moment? You don’t even see it, do you? She’s not just mean — she’s dangerous. For people like you.”
Derek’s easy smile faded. “People like me?”
“I mean people who care too much about how others see them,” Jude said. “You’re… better than that.”
The room went quiet for a second.
Derek looked away. “You don’t get it, man. Not everyone wants to be invisible like you.”
Jude froze.
It wasn’t said to hurt, but it still stung.
“Right,” he said finally, voice low. “Guess I don’t.”
He turned back to the desk, pretending to refocus on the assignment. “Your answers are all wrong, by the way. I’ll fix them.”
Derek sighed. “Come on, Jude, don’t be mad.”
“I’m not mad,” Jude muttered, still writing. “Just tired.”
They finished the homework in silence. When Derek left later that night, Jude sat at his desk for a long while, staring at the door.
Somewhere between their laughter and the silence, something had changed.
...
The next morning, the air at school was crisp and buzzing again. Students crowded the courtyard, gossiping about classes, teachers, and who was hanging out with who.
Jude walked alone, backpack slung lazily over one shoulder. He hadn’t seen Derek since last night — not that he expected to. Derek was probably already surrounded by his soccer crew.
He was heading toward the science block when he noticed a girl standing by the vending machine, looking lost.
It took him a second to recognize her — the same girl from yesterday’s cafeteria scene.
“Hey,” he said gently, walking over. “You’re… Alison, right?”
The girl looked up, startled, then nodded. “Yeah. I’m new here. How did you know my name?”
“I was there yesterday,” he said. “When… that happened.”
Her face fell, a flicker of embarrassment passing over her. “Oh. That.”
“I just wanted to say,” Jude continued, “I’m sorry you had to go through that. It wasn’t fair. Tiffany… she’s not exactly known for her kindness.”
Alison forced a small smile. “It’s okay. I shouldn’t have stepped on her shoe anyway.”
“It was an accident,” Jude said. “You didn’t deserve what she did. I actually told her that — though I doubt she cared.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “You talked to her?”
He shrugged. “Yeah. Someone had to say something.”
For a moment, Alison just looked at him — as if she was trying to figure him out. There weren’t many people at Ridgeview who dared to speak against Tiffany Rogers.
“Thanks,” she said softly. “Not a lot of people here would do that.”
Jude smiled faintly. “Maybe that’s the problem.”
The bell rang then, breaking the silence. As Alison turned to leave, she hesitated. “See you around?”
“Yeah,” Jude said, watching her go. “See you around.”
....
That day felt lighter somehow — maybe because Jude finally felt like he’d done something right.
But little did he know, Tiffany had noticed everything — and she didn’t take kindly to being called out.
Not even a bit.
- Writer
