(Hello Dr Nick!)
I have had a long absence from this here neglected blog. :(
But have no fear! An update!
It is a cast off scene from Means of Grace. I did want to include it in...somewhere...but the plot sort of changed as I wrote more and more and I didn't end up having a place for it...until now!
It's short. But I hope you like it.
(It should be somewhere before the trip to London. Originally they weren't meant to go to London at all and so this would have been right after the Easter Concert...but, obviously, they changed their plans. :D)
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Jude opened his mouth to tell Zeke everything. He wanted to spill his guts, come clean about everything Toto had on them and finally feel relief. But the doorbell rang before he could get a word out.
“If that’s them...” Zeke trailed off his threat, going up to answer the door and finding Odette there with a smile on her face.
“Hey Zeke!” she said happily walking in, or limping in to be more precise. “Ready for our movie night?”
“Chuckles,” Zeke said, adding a laugh when she handed him the large pile of DVDs she was carrying. “I didn’t think you were going to come after today.”
“No job too tough for an Achilles, Zeke!” she said animatedly, adrenaline still pumping through her body. “All it took was some cunning, sleight of hand and clever footwork! You should have been there man! I was trapped, surround by the Committee and their drones. Susan to the left of me, her mother to the right- hey! That’s like that song!”
“Maybe you should sit down,” Zeke suggested scrunching up his nose when he saw her swaying from side to side.
“Maybe we should trampoline!” she giggled, spinning as she walked into the Raith living room.
Jude looked at her approaching and his frown deepened.
“What happened to you?” he asked, seeing her looking buzzed. Odette smiled at him and waved excitedly, skipping to him with one foot, dragging the other behind her and landing in a heap beside him on the sofa. He looked up at Zeke in slight fear and watched as Odette blew the hair from her face, only for it to fall back directly on it.
“Whoa, getting dizzy.” She stopped blowing out and just lay there with her hair covering her face. Jude swept it back and hovered over her, seeing her pupils bigger than usual.
“Did you drink anything at the Wokings?” he asked her in alarm.
“Of course not!” she said as Zeke rushed to the other side of her and helped her sit up. “I’m not that stupid!”
“What could they have given her?” Zeke asked him.
“They didn’t give me anything! I haven’t drank or eaten anything since school! Jeez guys!” Odette mumbled, folding her legs underneath her and curling into a ball, her behaviour indicated otherwise. “It’s probably the fumes of that old dog’s cigar!”
“You were with Toto?” Jude asked, face drained of its colour. He didn’t know that. Susan had told him that they’d be working on the organisation of the ball. A frown took over his face just as Odette let out a small whining noise when Zeke stopped her from knotting her hair with the cord of her hoodie.
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Oh, and because I promised...this is the other scene that was cut out. As I said on my Cbox, it was cut out for the reason that:
a) Ipolani and Simone didn't come to Hucknell (like the chapter was written)
b) It really isn't that well written.
But its a bit of fun...so...sharing is caring!
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Helen stood in the doorway to her kitchen leaning into her husband watching the kids in there with a smile on her face. Odette was standing at the sink, washing the dishes with Athene to the left of her and the two of them were giggling at each other. Zeke sat in his chair leaning forward on the table listening to Ipolani and Simone tell him a story that Helen couldn’t make out because of how fast they were talking and how much they were laughing. Jude and Alice were standing on the side, emptying the leftover food into Tupperware while Lindsay was sitting on the counter talking to Dillon who was stood beside her and they were both watching Jude spill everything. Mr Raith squeezed her arms and left her to go sit with Lorraine and Ruben in the living room, shortly joined by Helen.
“Hey Pepsi, what was that song that Mrs Neil made us sing all the time?” Ipolani asked from across the kitchen. Odette started laughing and turned towards her. “It’s from that advert.”
“When you call out my name,” Odette sang back to her. Simone and Ipolani returned it with musical laughter and turned back to Zeke.
“That’s the one!” Simone said, nodding and smiling widely. “We used to sing that every lesson to warm up our voices.”
“It was so annoying!” Ipolani said, fisting her small hands and gritting her teeth melodramatically. “And all those times we did Row Your Boat too!”
“Yeah, we did that!” Zeke laughed, slapping his hand on his knee. “In succession?”
Ipolani rolled her eyes and nodded in reply.
“Did you guys know that Zeke plays the guitar really well?” Alice told them, turning from where she stood by Jude and facing them. She ignored the glare that Zeke sent and dodged the napkin he threw at her.
“Oh oh oh!” Odette said excitedly, looking over at them over her shoulder while she rinsed out a plate. “I sense a throwdown!”
“Who else can play?” Zeke asked, looking at the girls expectantly.
“You, Jude, Polo and Dillon,” Odette said with wide eyes. “It’ll be excellent!”
“Alright, Mr Burns,” Dillon laughed nervously. “Careful whose name you throw around.”
“What? You’re going to let me think they can beat you?” Alice said with a scoff.
“It’ll be easy,” Ipolani said with a shrug. “You guys are French toast!”
“Easy on the French,” Odette said smiling.
“The Canadian variety not included,” Ipolani corrected, a finger raised pointedly.
“You guys are a bit mouthy, aren’t you” Zeke laughed, looking at Ipolani intently though he meant the comment on all the London girls. “Don’t forget Odette got the idea with me in mind.”
“Jude’s very quiet in all this,” Athene remarked, having shared a spectator’s giggle with Lindsay.
Jude simply smiled with his back to everybody. Neither agreeing to the throwdown nor refusing. Odette leaned over towards him, looking up at his face intensely, grinning when he looked at her, sideways.
“He’s in!” she announced.
He shook his head silently, biting down on his lip when a new wave of excited chatter began, fight talk and voice preparation.
“I know who I’m backing!” Alice announced as Dillon sighed loudly and cracked his fingers.
“Get the guitar, Pez,” Zeke asked Athene and she ran out of the kitchen to get it excitedly.
“Hurry up with the dishes!” Alice cried out.
“I’m done!” Odette announced.
“Oh. One more!” Jude said standing behind Odette and putting the pot he’d just emptied on the side of the sink. He leaned into her a little and washed his hands under the running tap, with an arm either side of her.
“You’re disrupting my flow, man,” she said looking up at him and shaking her head, unimpressed.
“Apologies,” he said with a smile and held his hands out in front of them both. “Where’s the towel?”
“Athene had it,” Odette told him.
“Oh well!” Jude said with a shrug before wiping his wet hands all over Odette’s bare arms. She squealed and pushed him back with sudsy hands. Jude took a slow and deliberate look down at the handprints she’d left on his t-shirt and then let out a sigh.
“You started it,” she said, eyes widened. She looked towards the others but they were too busy chatting around the table and taking their seats and talking fight-talk.
“Yeah?” he said with a raised eyebrow. “Well, I’m going to end it!”
He grabbed her hands and crossed them in front of her and pushed her up against the sink so quickly that she didn’t have time to blink until she saw him put his hands in the soapy water.
“Don’t you dare!” she warned him, trying to free her hands from between her hips and the counter she was pressed against.
“What are you going to do, call for help?” Jude laughed, dropping his voice to a whisper. “No one will hear you scream!”
“Zeke will, he-” she started but had to quickly turn her head when she saw Jude’s hand coming towards it and squealed when she felt the water and soap on her face. “JUDE!!”
“That’s right, scream my name,” he whispered, laughing, in her ear.
She chortled in response, eyes squeezed shut to stop the soap from stinging them and wriggled in his hold.
“Hey hey! Play nice, you guys,” Zeke said with laughter in his voice that was slowly fading.
“Why does it sound like he’s walking away?” Odette asked, her ears pert. “And why is the kitchen so quiet?”
“They’ve left before it gets messy,” Jude informed her. “It’s just me and you, Red.”
“What about the guitar-”
“Showdown’s in the Sunroom now.”
“Throwdown!”
“Whatever, it looks like we’re going to miss it anyway,” he smiled at her, more for his own benefit. Despite the fact she was stuck in a rut, and soaked, she looked happy ad he liked seeing that smile on her face.
“You’re so dead!” she said to him and his hold on her tightened.
“You mean if you ever manage to get away?” he said before splashing more water on her. Her fringe got wet and clung to her face as the water dropped from her chin down her neck and top. She spluttered and coughed when he did it again. Just for good measure.
“Jude!” she screamed out, tasting the soap in her mouth and heard him chuckle.
“You should see what you look like,” he said, pushing her back against the sink.
“Jude, I’ve got soap in my eyes!” she complained, sounding like a little girl. “Let my hands go.”
“No chance!” he laughed, turning the water on and rinsing his hand. “Close your eyes tightly.”
“Why?”
“You want the soap off your face or not?” he asked playfully.
She sighed and squeezed her eyes shut, leaning forward a bit. She felt him shuffle a bit behind her and smirked at having found a way to get him back.
“I’m getting to you?” she teased. Jude laughed and held her tighter, his mouth hovering by her ears.
“Always,” he whispered and splashed cold water on her face.
“IT’S COLD!” she said jumping around. Jude laughed and loosened his grip on her and she bumped him a couple of steps back washing the soap from her face. Jude returned to his position behind her and handed her a towel, shutting off the tap as she buried her face in it.
“I honestly didn’t do that on purpose,” he said carefully as she picked her head up slowly and looked back at him. Jude saw the anger in her eyes and pinned her hands to the counter with his and pushed her up against the sink.
“I’m a woman of my word, Jude,” Odette said calmly, “and I vowed to kill you, so if you know what’s good for you, you’ll move”
“Good for me?” he said, a crack in his voice.
Odette started laughing and tilted her head back and rested against his chest.
“Alright fine!” she said “You’re stronger than me and I won’t get you back!”
“Now, that’s much more of an incentive to let go.” He smiled and lowered his head, kissing her neck softly. He smiled against her soft skin when he felt her lift up her shoulder, instinctively, and heard her giggle nervously. He looked at her and her reddened cheeks and smiled when she turned her head to face him shyly.
“I suppose I can let you go now,” he announced quietly. She looked up at him and nodded but his eyes darkened and she didn’t struggle.
“Who’s winning this time then?” Alice called out loudly as she strolled back in.
Jude quickly let Odette go and leaned back against the opposite counter with a smile on his face as if that almost kiss never happened.
“I did,” he told her.
Odette chuckled trying to push all the thoughts that had just gone through her mind as she hung the towel to dry.
“Man, you’re red!” Alice said looking at her. “And soaked!”
“We’re having this Showdown or what?” Jude asked.
“Throwdown,” Odette corrected him, shooting him a look.
Jude smiled graciously and the three of them walked out of the kitchen towards the sunroom.
The group of teens were all sitting in a rough circle, looking out at the one side of the room that was wall-to-wall glass and watching the early evening sun.
“Whose team are you on?” Ipolani asked her as soon as she’d spotted Odette coming in and frowned when she noticed her wet t-shirt and hair.
Odette scrunched up her nose and held her hands up.
“I love you, guys, I can’t pick between you,” she said pulling her long fringe back with the rest of her hair.
“I told you she’d say that,” Simone made her statement extra clear with her hands held up.
“Why do we have teams?” Jude asked them, sitting down beside Athene and giving her a playful nudge.
“It’s more fun,” Alice said enthusiastically.
“It’s your idea isn’t it?” Jude asked her knowingly.
“Me and Lindsay are backing Oli all the way,” she said ignoring him.
“I’m with both you and Zeke,” Athene told him, proudly.
“London girls stick together!” Ipolani said, looking at Odettein pity and shaking her head in disappointment.
“I’m on all your teams!” she said apologetically.
“If you’re on all our teams then you have to sing whatever song we play,” Jude said, grinning at her.
“I’m not on your team,” she corrected herself and he chuckled.
“No, that’s a good idea,” Zeke said and Odette’s face fell. “Alright it’s one verse and/or chorus each and then freestyle in immediate continuation in a similar style to the song you just played. Any breakage to the play will result in loss of points and final point scoring will be decided by Odette. Youngest starts.”
“That’s you, Polo,” Odette told her.
Ipolani nodded as she took the guitar, frowned in thought for a moment and then smiled and began to play a few cords, smiling at Odette.
“You know this,” she said playing the familiar tune and everybody whooped loudly when they recognised it. Odette giggled nervously and waited for her cue.
“Sweet dreams are made of this; who am I to disagree; travel the world and the seven seas,” Odette sang and began to giggle, blushing. “Everybody’s looking for something.” She looked at Ipolani and waited for instructions.
Ipolani looked at her and signalled a ‘one’ lifting her hand from the strings really quickly but there was no interruptions to her playing and Odette smiled and sang the verse again and then listened with the rest to her freestyle. They clapped loudly when she finished and she smiled happily.
“Who’s next?” Ipolani asked smugly as she offered up the guitar.
“Jude is,” Athene said and she leaned over the circle and took the guitar off her, handing it to Jude.
“I am really going to lose this,” Jude said, strumming the strings as he thought of a song. He looked at Odette and signalled her over with his head. She smiled and crawled over to him and he leaned over and whispered in her ear and then looked at her as she nodded “First verses and chorus.”
“Ok,” she said with a nod and watched as he began the song. She looked at Ipolani and smiled as he played the soft tune. “I know it’s going to take some time for you to feel that it’s alright and not making people choose a side but I don’t mind, you’re trying to get some people on yours, I know that it takes some time but I must try I just want you to understand.”
She took a deep breath as he played a short riff and continued. “And I know you're gonna be alright, and I hope you find your way and I hope your futures bright, but I am the way this feels inside, but all I wanna do is make it to the other side, No I don't wanna know why, You just can't let this go, but I must try, I just want you to understand. That is feels like home and it knocks me out, just to feel this way I know I broke out and it feels like home and it knocks me out, just to feel this way I know I broke out.”
Odette sighed and sat back as he began his soft freestyle, tapping the guitar in beat and ending with a final tap. He looked at Odette and smiled widely before the others started cheering and wrapped an arm around her and hugged her to him.
“That was so good, you guys” Athene said excitedly. “Newton Faulkner!”
“Look how he started it off saying he’s no good,” Ipolani chuckled shaking her head. “Who is better, Peps?”
“What between Jude and Newton?” she said with a smile, acting dumb. “Who’s next?”
“I am,” Zeke said, taking the guitar off Jude.
“Good, I don’t have to move,” she said happily and waited for him to decide. She rubbed her throat a bit and took in a deep breath, “can’t someone else sing too?”
“No!” they all said at the same time. Odette frowned and shook her head.
“Alright I’ve got it!” Zeke said, before whispering in her ear. Odette frowned and looked at him worriedly.
“I don’t think I can do it,” she whispered, even though everybody had fallen silent to listen anyway.
“You know the words alright?”
“Yeah,” Odette said biting her top lip.
“I’ll play the first bit and do it roughly around that and then I’ll tune it around you,” he whispered and gave her an encouraging nod. She sighed and sat up straighter, her eyes on the guitar as he began to play.
“It’s slow,” she whispered and he winked at her. She took another breath and began to sing to the slow rhythm of the guitar. “Maybe we could make it all right. We could make it better sometime.”
“Holy moly, Robyn?!” Simone said in amazement. Odette smiled and tried to control her voice.
“Maybe we could make it happen, baby. We could keep trying but things will never change.” Odette looked at Zeke and he nodded.
“So I don’t look back,” he sang in his deep melodious voice and the others murmured.
“Still I’m dying with every step I take,” Odette sang again, with a wide smile on her face.
“But I don’t look back,” Zeke said, strumming his guitar harder.
“Just a little, little bit better,” Odette took over again after a nod from him. “Good enough to waste some time. Tell me would it make you happy, baby. We could keep trying but things will never change.” she stopped and watched as Zeke flowed into a smooth freestyle that quickened and slowed. He smiled and played the last cord looking up at Ipolani and wiggling his eyebrows up and down. She smiled and brushed him off with a flick of her hand while the others applauded.
“I didn’t know you could change tempos, man,” Ipolani said laughing
“It’s called using your musicality,” Zeke teased her passing the guitar to Dillon.
“Wait until my turn again,” Ipolani walked him and looked at Odette. “You better prep your voice, man!” Odette smiled and moved closer to Dillon. He whispered something quickly and she scrunched up her nose and tried to hold back her laughter but couldn’t.
“What?” he asked with a smile.
“Nothing,” she said, “It’s a brilliant idea.”
“You sure you can do it?” he asked her not bothering to whisper. She nodded and smiled.
“She’s a living radio,” Alice assured him . Odette laughed and pushed her playfully. Dillon smiled and practised a couple of cords first and then looked at Odette and counted them in. Everybody cheered when they heard the distinctive riff and he repeated it twice before Odette sang the first verse with a smile on her face.
“Back in black I hit the sack It's been too long I'm glad to be back. Yes, I'm let loose from the noose That's kept me hanging around I've been looking at the sky and it's gettin' me high. Forget the hearse 'cause I never die. I got nine lives. Cats eyes. Cruisin' every woman, never wonderin' why. 'Cause I'm back. Yes, I'm back. Well, I'm back!” Odette’s voice cracked and she started to laugh.
“Yes, I'm back,” Dillon took over while Odette recovered. “Well, I'm back, back. Well I'm back in black.”
“Yes, I'm back in black!” Odette sang with him and tried to control her laughter while he did his freestyle and then applauded with everybody at the end and high-fived him.
“That was brilliant!” Alice rejoiced. Odette started laughing again and looked at Lindsay.
“Did you hear me mumbling that line in the middle?” she asked her. Lindsay bit her lips and nodded and Odette burst into laughter again.
“Pepsi, come on I’ve got the next one ready,” Ipolani called her over and Odette groaned.
“My throat, man,” she complained. Ipolani glared at her and then at Simone.
“This village is making her weak or what?”
“Hey, I’m not weak, Polo!” Odette squeaked and Ipolani nodded.
“Definitely the village,” Simone said quietly before the three of them laughed. She saw a bottle of water floating around her head and looked up at it in confusion and then saw a familiar hand and smiled up at Jude.
“Thanks,” she said, taking it and drinking it down. “Really needed that.”
He smiled at her and winked as he helped Athene pour out drinks for everybody. Ipolani, Simone and Odette put their heads together as they talked about the next song.
“Hey! Too much conferring!” Zeke complained. Ipolani stuck her head out and grinned at him while Odette took another sip of her water and rubbed her throat. She noticed Jude watching her and raised her eyebrows slightly. He smiled and she saw his Adam’s apple go up and down his neck when he swallowed.
“Ready, Pepsi?” Simone asked, with a smile on her face. Odette nodded and looked at them. Ipolani licked her bottom lip and left her tongue sticking out of one corner of her mouth as she concentrated on playing the Red Hot Chilli Peppers’s Snow adding her own flavour to the riff before Odette began to sing again, watching all the smiles on their faces as they watched Ipolani’s hands the whole time she played and cheered loudly when she finished her freestyle.
“That was….amazing,” Zeke said impressed.
“All you guys spent the whole time watching her play!” Odette told them. “You were mesmerised! I changed the words and you didn’t even realise!”
“It’ll be hard to beat,” Alice said thinking strategically of a new song for Dillon.
“You worried, Jude?” Lindsay asked him as her took the guitar. He looked at her and smiled.
“No,” he said confidently and watched Odette moved over to sit beside him.
“What have you got up your sleeve?” Dillon asked.
“Secret weapon,” he said and looked at Odette as he strummed a few chords.
“What, no conferring?” Simone wondered and Jude shook his head and looked down at the guitar and began to play. Odette looked at him in shock when her heart jumped in its place as she recognised the song instantly, everybody else was waiting until they heard the verse but her butterflies fluttered as soon as he strung out the first note. She shook her head at him and tried to control the giddiness she felt as he played her favourite song.
“I can’t,” she whispered and he smiled at her. Ipolani frowned and let out a sigh in defeat before falling quiet and enjoying his beautiful playing.
“Racking my brain at this,” he sang out in a deep, melodic voice.
Odette frowned. It was even more beautiful than the original song and she wrapped her arms around herself, watching him as he looked down when he changed keys.
“Slinging out my wits at those scenes that I always miss,” he looked up at her and smiled before starting the next verse. “I think I gotta hide now and when I’m ready to reach out again at the risk of my dismissal.”
Odette frowned and started breathing harder, not daring to look at anybody. She knew her face was giving everything away. She was safe here, they knew everything anyway but she still couldn’t keep her eyes away from him.
“‘Cause I’m a love sick fool, yeah, I’m a love sick fool yeah, I’m a love sick fool.” He frowned and turned back to his guitar and started his freestyle which made the butterflies in Odette’s stomach go hyper. He hummed along with it at times before ending with her favourite line of the song. “I’m throwing my heart against the wall, to see if it’ll bounce back and love me again.” He finished with a few more chords and then looked up at Odette smiling and then at the others who were watching him with stunned faces.
“How the hell are we supposed to compete with that?” Dillon cried out before a whole wave of praise and complaints arose. Jude laughed them all off and turned back to Odette.
“You’re a fair judge right?” he asked. She looked at him and sighed.
“Yeah, I’m fair,” she said looking at everybody else before turning to him as serious as he’d ever seen her. “You’re disqualified for cheating.”
His mouth dropped and the others whooped loudly.
“Hey Pepsi, what was that song that Mrs Neil made us sing all the time?” Ipolani asked from across the kitchen. Odette started laughing and turned towards her. “It’s from that advert.”
“When you call out my name,” Odette sang back to her. Simone and Ipolani returned it with musical laughter and turned back to Zeke.
“That’s the one!” Simone said, nodding and smiling widely. “We used to sing that every lesson to warm up our voices.”
“It was so annoying!” Ipolani said, fisting her small hands and gritting her teeth melodramatically. “And all those times we did Row Your Boat too!”
“Yeah, we did that!” Zeke laughed, slapping his hand on his knee. “In succession?”
Ipolani rolled her eyes and nodded in reply.
“Did you guys know that Zeke plays the guitar really well?” Alice told them, turning from where she stood by Jude and facing them. She ignored the glare that Zeke sent and dodged the napkin he threw at her.
“Oh oh oh!” Odette said excitedly, looking over at them over her shoulder while she rinsed out a plate. “I sense a throwdown!”
“Who else can play?” Zeke asked, looking at the girls expectantly.
“You, Jude, Polo and Dillon,” Odette said with wide eyes. “It’ll be excellent!”
“Alright, Mr Burns,” Dillon laughed nervously. “Careful whose name you throw around.”
“What? You’re going to let me think they can beat you?” Alice said with a scoff.
“It’ll be easy,” Ipolani said with a shrug. “You guys are French toast!”
“Easy on the French,” Odette said smiling.
“The Canadian variety not included,” Ipolani corrected, a finger raised pointedly.
“You guys are a bit mouthy, aren’t you” Zeke laughed, looking at Ipolani intently though he meant the comment on all the London girls. “Don’t forget Odette got the idea with me in mind.”
“Jude’s very quiet in all this,” Athene remarked, having shared a spectator’s giggle with Lindsay.
Jude simply smiled with his back to everybody. Neither agreeing to the throwdown nor refusing. Odette leaned over towards him, looking up at his face intensely, grinning when he looked at her, sideways.
“He’s in!” she announced.
He shook his head silently, biting down on his lip when a new wave of excited chatter began, fight talk and voice preparation.
“I know who I’m backing!” Alice announced as Dillon sighed loudly and cracked his fingers.
“Get the guitar, Pez,” Zeke asked Athene and she ran out of the kitchen to get it excitedly.
“Hurry up with the dishes!” Alice cried out.
“I’m done!” Odette announced.
“Oh. One more!” Jude said standing behind Odette and putting the pot he’d just emptied on the side of the sink. He leaned into her a little and washed his hands under the running tap, with an arm either side of her.
“You’re disrupting my flow, man,” she said looking up at him and shaking her head, unimpressed.
“Apologies,” he said with a smile and held his hands out in front of them both. “Where’s the towel?”
“Athene had it,” Odette told him.
“Oh well!” Jude said with a shrug before wiping his wet hands all over Odette’s bare arms. She squealed and pushed him back with sudsy hands. Jude took a slow and deliberate look down at the handprints she’d left on his t-shirt and then let out a sigh.
“You started it,” she said, eyes widened. She looked towards the others but they were too busy chatting around the table and taking their seats and talking fight-talk.
“Yeah?” he said with a raised eyebrow. “Well, I’m going to end it!”
He grabbed her hands and crossed them in front of her and pushed her up against the sink so quickly that she didn’t have time to blink until she saw him put his hands in the soapy water.
“Don’t you dare!” she warned him, trying to free her hands from between her hips and the counter she was pressed against.
“What are you going to do, call for help?” Jude laughed, dropping his voice to a whisper. “No one will hear you scream!”
“Zeke will, he-” she started but had to quickly turn her head when she saw Jude’s hand coming towards it and squealed when she felt the water and soap on her face. “JUDE!!”
“That’s right, scream my name,” he whispered, laughing, in her ear.
She chortled in response, eyes squeezed shut to stop the soap from stinging them and wriggled in his hold.
“Hey hey! Play nice, you guys,” Zeke said with laughter in his voice that was slowly fading.
“Why does it sound like he’s walking away?” Odette asked, her ears pert. “And why is the kitchen so quiet?”
“They’ve left before it gets messy,” Jude informed her. “It’s just me and you, Red.”
“What about the guitar-”
“Showdown’s in the Sunroom now.”
“Throwdown!”
“Whatever, it looks like we’re going to miss it anyway,” he smiled at her, more for his own benefit. Despite the fact she was stuck in a rut, and soaked, she looked happy ad he liked seeing that smile on her face.
“You’re so dead!” she said to him and his hold on her tightened.
“You mean if you ever manage to get away?” he said before splashing more water on her. Her fringe got wet and clung to her face as the water dropped from her chin down her neck and top. She spluttered and coughed when he did it again. Just for good measure.
“Jude!” she screamed out, tasting the soap in her mouth and heard him chuckle.
“You should see what you look like,” he said, pushing her back against the sink.
“Jude, I’ve got soap in my eyes!” she complained, sounding like a little girl. “Let my hands go.”
“No chance!” he laughed, turning the water on and rinsing his hand. “Close your eyes tightly.”
“Why?”
“You want the soap off your face or not?” he asked playfully.
She sighed and squeezed her eyes shut, leaning forward a bit. She felt him shuffle a bit behind her and smirked at having found a way to get him back.
“I’m getting to you?” she teased. Jude laughed and held her tighter, his mouth hovering by her ears.
“Always,” he whispered and splashed cold water on her face.
“IT’S COLD!” she said jumping around. Jude laughed and loosened his grip on her and she bumped him a couple of steps back washing the soap from her face. Jude returned to his position behind her and handed her a towel, shutting off the tap as she buried her face in it.
“I honestly didn’t do that on purpose,” he said carefully as she picked her head up slowly and looked back at him. Jude saw the anger in her eyes and pinned her hands to the counter with his and pushed her up against the sink.
“I’m a woman of my word, Jude,” Odette said calmly, “and I vowed to kill you, so if you know what’s good for you, you’ll move”
“Good for me?” he said, a crack in his voice.
Odette started laughing and tilted her head back and rested against his chest.
“Alright fine!” she said “You’re stronger than me and I won’t get you back!”
“Now, that’s much more of an incentive to let go.” He smiled and lowered his head, kissing her neck softly. He smiled against her soft skin when he felt her lift up her shoulder, instinctively, and heard her giggle nervously. He looked at her and her reddened cheeks and smiled when she turned her head to face him shyly.
“I suppose I can let you go now,” he announced quietly. She looked up at him and nodded but his eyes darkened and she didn’t struggle.
“Who’s winning this time then?” Alice called out loudly as she strolled back in.
Jude quickly let Odette go and leaned back against the opposite counter with a smile on his face as if that almost kiss never happened.
“I did,” he told her.
Odette chuckled trying to push all the thoughts that had just gone through her mind as she hung the towel to dry.
“Man, you’re red!” Alice said looking at her. “And soaked!”
“We’re having this Showdown or what?” Jude asked.
“Throwdown,” Odette corrected him, shooting him a look.
Jude smiled graciously and the three of them walked out of the kitchen towards the sunroom.
The group of teens were all sitting in a rough circle, looking out at the one side of the room that was wall-to-wall glass and watching the early evening sun.
“Whose team are you on?” Ipolani asked her as soon as she’d spotted Odette coming in and frowned when she noticed her wet t-shirt and hair.
Odette scrunched up her nose and held her hands up.
“I love you, guys, I can’t pick between you,” she said pulling her long fringe back with the rest of her hair.
“I told you she’d say that,” Simone made her statement extra clear with her hands held up.
“Why do we have teams?” Jude asked them, sitting down beside Athene and giving her a playful nudge.
“It’s more fun,” Alice said enthusiastically.
“It’s your idea isn’t it?” Jude asked her knowingly.
“Me and Lindsay are backing Oli all the way,” she said ignoring him.
“I’m with both you and Zeke,” Athene told him, proudly.
“London girls stick together!” Ipolani said, looking at Odettein pity and shaking her head in disappointment.
“I’m on all your teams!” she said apologetically.
“If you’re on all our teams then you have to sing whatever song we play,” Jude said, grinning at her.
“I’m not on your team,” she corrected herself and he chuckled.
“No, that’s a good idea,” Zeke said and Odette’s face fell. “Alright it’s one verse and/or chorus each and then freestyle in immediate continuation in a similar style to the song you just played. Any breakage to the play will result in loss of points and final point scoring will be decided by Odette. Youngest starts.”
“That’s you, Polo,” Odette told her.
Ipolani nodded as she took the guitar, frowned in thought for a moment and then smiled and began to play a few cords, smiling at Odette.
“You know this,” she said playing the familiar tune and everybody whooped loudly when they recognised it. Odette giggled nervously and waited for her cue.
“Sweet dreams are made of this; who am I to disagree; travel the world and the seven seas,” Odette sang and began to giggle, blushing. “Everybody’s looking for something.” She looked at Ipolani and waited for instructions.
Ipolani looked at her and signalled a ‘one’ lifting her hand from the strings really quickly but there was no interruptions to her playing and Odette smiled and sang the verse again and then listened with the rest to her freestyle. They clapped loudly when she finished and she smiled happily.
“Who’s next?” Ipolani asked smugly as she offered up the guitar.
“Jude is,” Athene said and she leaned over the circle and took the guitar off her, handing it to Jude.
“I am really going to lose this,” Jude said, strumming the strings as he thought of a song. He looked at Odette and signalled her over with his head. She smiled and crawled over to him and he leaned over and whispered in her ear and then looked at her as she nodded “First verses and chorus.”
“Ok,” she said with a nod and watched as he began the song. She looked at Ipolani and smiled as he played the soft tune. “I know it’s going to take some time for you to feel that it’s alright and not making people choose a side but I don’t mind, you’re trying to get some people on yours, I know that it takes some time but I must try I just want you to understand.”
She took a deep breath as he played a short riff and continued. “And I know you're gonna be alright, and I hope you find your way and I hope your futures bright, but I am the way this feels inside, but all I wanna do is make it to the other side, No I don't wanna know why, You just can't let this go, but I must try, I just want you to understand. That is feels like home and it knocks me out, just to feel this way I know I broke out and it feels like home and it knocks me out, just to feel this way I know I broke out.”
Odette sighed and sat back as he began his soft freestyle, tapping the guitar in beat and ending with a final tap. He looked at Odette and smiled widely before the others started cheering and wrapped an arm around her and hugged her to him.
“That was so good, you guys” Athene said excitedly. “Newton Faulkner!”
“Look how he started it off saying he’s no good,” Ipolani chuckled shaking her head. “Who is better, Peps?”
“What between Jude and Newton?” she said with a smile, acting dumb. “Who’s next?”
“I am,” Zeke said, taking the guitar off Jude.
“Good, I don’t have to move,” she said happily and waited for him to decide. She rubbed her throat a bit and took in a deep breath, “can’t someone else sing too?”
“No!” they all said at the same time. Odette frowned and shook her head.
“Alright I’ve got it!” Zeke said, before whispering in her ear. Odette frowned and looked at him worriedly.
“I don’t think I can do it,” she whispered, even though everybody had fallen silent to listen anyway.
“You know the words alright?”
“Yeah,” Odette said biting her top lip.
“I’ll play the first bit and do it roughly around that and then I’ll tune it around you,” he whispered and gave her an encouraging nod. She sighed and sat up straighter, her eyes on the guitar as he began to play.
“It’s slow,” she whispered and he winked at her. She took another breath and began to sing to the slow rhythm of the guitar. “Maybe we could make it all right. We could make it better sometime.”
“Holy moly, Robyn?!” Simone said in amazement. Odette smiled and tried to control her voice.
“Maybe we could make it happen, baby. We could keep trying but things will never change.” Odette looked at Zeke and he nodded.
“So I don’t look back,” he sang in his deep melodious voice and the others murmured.
“Still I’m dying with every step I take,” Odette sang again, with a wide smile on her face.
“But I don’t look back,” Zeke said, strumming his guitar harder.
“Just a little, little bit better,” Odette took over again after a nod from him. “Good enough to waste some time. Tell me would it make you happy, baby. We could keep trying but things will never change.” she stopped and watched as Zeke flowed into a smooth freestyle that quickened and slowed. He smiled and played the last cord looking up at Ipolani and wiggling his eyebrows up and down. She smiled and brushed him off with a flick of her hand while the others applauded.
“I didn’t know you could change tempos, man,” Ipolani said laughing
“It’s called using your musicality,” Zeke teased her passing the guitar to Dillon.
“Wait until my turn again,” Ipolani walked him and looked at Odette. “You better prep your voice, man!” Odette smiled and moved closer to Dillon. He whispered something quickly and she scrunched up her nose and tried to hold back her laughter but couldn’t.
“What?” he asked with a smile.
“Nothing,” she said, “It’s a brilliant idea.”
“You sure you can do it?” he asked her not bothering to whisper. She nodded and smiled.
“She’s a living radio,” Alice assured him . Odette laughed and pushed her playfully. Dillon smiled and practised a couple of cords first and then looked at Odette and counted them in. Everybody cheered when they heard the distinctive riff and he repeated it twice before Odette sang the first verse with a smile on her face.
“Back in black I hit the sack It's been too long I'm glad to be back. Yes, I'm let loose from the noose That's kept me hanging around I've been looking at the sky and it's gettin' me high. Forget the hearse 'cause I never die. I got nine lives. Cats eyes. Cruisin' every woman, never wonderin' why. 'Cause I'm back. Yes, I'm back. Well, I'm back!” Odette’s voice cracked and she started to laugh.
“Yes, I'm back,” Dillon took over while Odette recovered. “Well, I'm back, back. Well I'm back in black.”
“Yes, I'm back in black!” Odette sang with him and tried to control her laughter while he did his freestyle and then applauded with everybody at the end and high-fived him.
“That was brilliant!” Alice rejoiced. Odette started laughing again and looked at Lindsay.
“Did you hear me mumbling that line in the middle?” she asked her. Lindsay bit her lips and nodded and Odette burst into laughter again.
“Pepsi, come on I’ve got the next one ready,” Ipolani called her over and Odette groaned.
“My throat, man,” she complained. Ipolani glared at her and then at Simone.
“This village is making her weak or what?”
“Hey, I’m not weak, Polo!” Odette squeaked and Ipolani nodded.
“Definitely the village,” Simone said quietly before the three of them laughed. She saw a bottle of water floating around her head and looked up at it in confusion and then saw a familiar hand and smiled up at Jude.
“Thanks,” she said, taking it and drinking it down. “Really needed that.”
He smiled at her and winked as he helped Athene pour out drinks for everybody. Ipolani, Simone and Odette put their heads together as they talked about the next song.
“Hey! Too much conferring!” Zeke complained. Ipolani stuck her head out and grinned at him while Odette took another sip of her water and rubbed her throat. She noticed Jude watching her and raised her eyebrows slightly. He smiled and she saw his Adam’s apple go up and down his neck when he swallowed.
“Ready, Pepsi?” Simone asked, with a smile on her face. Odette nodded and looked at them. Ipolani licked her bottom lip and left her tongue sticking out of one corner of her mouth as she concentrated on playing the Red Hot Chilli Peppers’s Snow adding her own flavour to the riff before Odette began to sing again, watching all the smiles on their faces as they watched Ipolani’s hands the whole time she played and cheered loudly when she finished her freestyle.
“That was….amazing,” Zeke said impressed.
“All you guys spent the whole time watching her play!” Odette told them. “You were mesmerised! I changed the words and you didn’t even realise!”
“It’ll be hard to beat,” Alice said thinking strategically of a new song for Dillon.
“You worried, Jude?” Lindsay asked him as her took the guitar. He looked at her and smiled.
“No,” he said confidently and watched Odette moved over to sit beside him.
“What have you got up your sleeve?” Dillon asked.
“Secret weapon,” he said and looked at Odette as he strummed a few chords.
“What, no conferring?” Simone wondered and Jude shook his head and looked down at the guitar and began to play. Odette looked at him in shock when her heart jumped in its place as she recognised the song instantly, everybody else was waiting until they heard the verse but her butterflies fluttered as soon as he strung out the first note. She shook her head at him and tried to control the giddiness she felt as he played her favourite song.
“I can’t,” she whispered and he smiled at her. Ipolani frowned and let out a sigh in defeat before falling quiet and enjoying his beautiful playing.
“Racking my brain at this,” he sang out in a deep, melodic voice.
Odette frowned. It was even more beautiful than the original song and she wrapped her arms around herself, watching him as he looked down when he changed keys.
“Slinging out my wits at those scenes that I always miss,” he looked up at her and smiled before starting the next verse. “I think I gotta hide now and when I’m ready to reach out again at the risk of my dismissal.”
Odette frowned and started breathing harder, not daring to look at anybody. She knew her face was giving everything away. She was safe here, they knew everything anyway but she still couldn’t keep her eyes away from him.
“‘Cause I’m a love sick fool, yeah, I’m a love sick fool yeah, I’m a love sick fool.” He frowned and turned back to his guitar and started his freestyle which made the butterflies in Odette’s stomach go hyper. He hummed along with it at times before ending with her favourite line of the song. “I’m throwing my heart against the wall, to see if it’ll bounce back and love me again.” He finished with a few more chords and then looked up at Odette smiling and then at the others who were watching him with stunned faces.
“How the hell are we supposed to compete with that?” Dillon cried out before a whole wave of praise and complaints arose. Jude laughed them all off and turned back to Odette.
“You’re a fair judge right?” he asked. She looked at him and sighed.
“Yeah, I’m fair,” she said looking at everybody else before turning to him as serious as he’d ever seen her. “You’re disqualified for cheating.”
His mouth dropped and the others whooped loudly.
*-*-*
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