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Chapter 26: Portia
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Family Ties Chapter 27: Portia
"Bart's going home for Christmas. It will just be me this weekend. Sorry to disappoint you.""I assure you, I'm not disappointed that your boytoy isn't joining us for the holiday." Jude huffed on the other end of the phone. "I assumed that's what couples did-spent time off together. It suits me just fine to have you home by yourself. Do you want me to pick you up from school?"I hadn't been home since Thanksgiving, and I'd only stayed Thursday and Friday before racing back to campus. "Yeah. I hate that you'll have to drive all that way just to turn around and drive home, but everyone is leaving, and no one is going that direction.""I don't mind. I'll just crank up the radio and sing at the top of my lungs for an hour. That way I won't feel cheated when you get in the car and put on your angry-girl crap.""I don't listen to crap."Jude laughed on the other end of the phone. "But you admit they're angry girls?""Maybe.""I gotta go. Hensley's hollering for me to come to di
Family Ties Chapter 28: Jude
"Where are you off to?" Portia acted like my going out on a Friday night was peculiar. A year ago, it would have been; this year, not so much. "To Jamison Hart's house for a party." I stared in the bathroom mirror while Portia watched me from the doorway inside my bedroom."You should go with him, sweetheart. You don't want to sit here all night with your dad and me." I hadn't realized Hensley had joined us. I poked my head past Portia to see what my foster mother was doing, only to find her putting away laundry and smoothing out the wrinkles on my bed."It's okay. I don't want to intrude.""Nonsense. I'm sure Jude would love to have you go with him. Isn't that right, Jude?" Hensley hadn't bothered to pick up her head to look our direction. She just talked as she worked her way around my room.I shrugged when I faced Portia. "Yeah, why not? You can go if you want.""Wow, with that welcome invitation, how could I resist?" She folded her arms over her chest. Playfully,
Family Ties Chapter 29: Jude
I followed behind Ethan as he trailed Carson. There were a handful of people here I didn't recognize, which was always the case at Jamison's. Even though there was only one high school in the county, he had friends that lived a town over. I'd never bothered to learn any of their names since they'd never shown the slightest bit of interest in us. I was pretty good about keeping to myself. Even though Carson and Ethan had found their footing in the social world, I still preferred to keep my head down.I'd never figured out how Jamison got away with having these gatherings. I'd asked him several times if his parents smoked, and he'd always told me no. They were social drinkers, but that was the extent of their deviance. Yet when I asked how they didn't know people spent the weekend smoking pot in their living room, he'd just shrug and flip his hair out of his face. Jamison was perpetually high. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen him when his eyes weren't glassy and bloodshot-may
Family Ties Chapter 30: Jude
I smacked him hard against the chest, and he flinched at the blow. "What happened to her not knowing, dumbass? How the hell am I going to get this past her? She's going to blow a gasket."About that time, Melanie Pratt dropped down onto the couch between Jamison and me. I'd known her most of my life. She was nice enough, kind of a drifter. Melanie had friends in every social circle, which meant she didn't belong to one and was accepted in them all. It was no secret she had an affinity for Jamison, although over the last few weeks I'd started to believe her interest was more in his stash of recreational substances than the man himself. Tonight seemed to be no different. But one look at her, and I knew there was no chance of my hiding from Portia. If I looked half as blitzed as Melanie did, I might as well have a sign with a flashing arrow pointing at me. Just as I was about to comment, Melanie dropped one hand on my wrist and one on Jamison's. Each one of her nails lightly stroked
Family Ties Chapter 31: Jude
"Are you fucking kidding me with this shit, Portia? What the hell is your problem?" I'd woken up filled with regret and the intention of making things right with Portia. The problem was, by the time I got out of bed, took a shower, and felt human enough to form sentences, I was dehydrated. I'd screwed up. It didn't matter if I'd thought it was all in good fun or believed she wouldn't find out, much less be hurt by my actions. I loved Portia, and that should have trumped anything else I thought was going on last night. I didn't have a reason for why it didn't, only that it wouldn't happen again. I'd been ready to make that commitment and that apology until I had strolled into the kitchen-feeling like death-to find Ernie, Hensley, and Portia waiting to pounce."I did what I thought was in your best interest, Jude. And that was telling Mom and Dad." Portia tried to maintain her resolve, but she was seconds from breaking down."And you thought telling them I went to a party last
Family Ties Chapter 32: Portia
"Is Jude picking you up?" Jet stood across from me, packing her things for spring break. "No, Ernie and Hensley are. He's still doing his best to avoid me.""Have you two not talked since Christmas?" She spun around so quickly, her blond hair whipped around her body. Once her locks stopped, she plopped down on the bed, clearly stunned I hadn't talked to him in three months.I shrugged, embarrassed. "I've sent him text messages, which I get one-word answers to if he bothers to respond. And I've tried to call a few times, but he doesn't answer." I took a seat next to my bag on my mattress and let out a heavy sigh. "I shouldn't have told my parents-or at the very least, I should have talked to him when he was sober before I did. I overreacted."She reached across the small space between our bunks to touch my knee and bring my focus to her face. "You did what you thought was right."My brow rose in hope that she'd confirm I hadn't screwed up. "So, you would have done the same th
Family Ties Chapter 33: Portia
Jude had avoided me last night, and this morning, he'd done exactly what I predicted the moment we got into the car to make the three-and-a-half-hour drive from Carondale to Cape Cod-he put on his headphones and opened a book. Ernie and Hensley talked amongst themselves, so I got out my iPad and played word scramble until my eyes crossed.The four of us checked in to the quaint bed and breakfast Hensley had arranged, and even though I knew it was coming, I was still shocked when Ernie handed me a key to the room Jude and I would share for the next week-alone. I'd hoped I would be paired off with Hensley and Ernie and Jude could do the boy thing. I knew better. They'd been clear that they intended for us to find a way through the issue at Christmas, and while I was willing to do what it took, Jude held fast to resistance. The guy was stubborn as a mule and always had been. God almighty couldn't make Jude Thomas do something he wasn't inclined to do. I groaned as I walked down the h
Family Ties Chapter 34: Portia
We hadn't seen much of Hensley and Ernie since we got to Cape Cod. They stopped by or sent one of us a text message to let us know where they were or what they were doing, but either they were having their own romantic holiday, or they believed shoving Jude and me together was the solution to our problems. I never would have thought it would work, yet it had-maybe too well. In the two days we'd been here, we'd eaten dinner with them and that was about it. And even then, there were stolen touches and secretive glances. My mom was clearly proud of herself and her plan for forced isolation, although she didn't realize what those secretive glances between Jude and me actually meant. She had no idea the two of us were playing tonsil hockey in the room, or holding hands on the beach, or kissing when no one was watching. Jude and I hadn't talked about what was going on between us. We just let it happen on its own accord, and it was better than anything I'd ever experienced. He was safe-
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