Teen Years - Big Mouth (Updated Version)

03

After my shower, we laid down in his bed. Diane had lent me a heating pad under the impression it was period pains. I snuggled into Judd's side, humming softly. He began to hum along with me, recognizing it as our song. The first time we'd kissed, the song Mr. Brightside had been playing. It had always been one of my favorites but that memory just made it so much better.

We stared at each other for a while before he decided to roll a blunt for us. He let me split it and lick it, he even gave me the first hit. As we smoked, he gently squeezed my thigh and whispered how much he loved me. We put the blunt out when it was nothing more than a roach and placed it in our rainy day roach jar. We listened to Nick and Andrew talk and occasionally laughed at them. I ended up falling asleep, nuzzled in his side.

The sun burned through the curtains, forcing me away. I sat up in an empty bed and let out a quiet groan. I threw on one of his shirts and a pair of his boxers. I went searching for where my boyfriend had gone, waving at Nick and Andrew as I passed Nick's room. I stopped by Leah's room and poked my head in. "Hey, do you know where Judd is?" Leah grinned. "Down in the kitchen." She replied, looking back down at her phone.

I hurried down the stairs, slowing down once I reached the kitchen. There Judd stood, the kitchen table covered in a buffet. "If anyone asks, the raccoons did it." He said, pointing a finger at me. He walked over and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a tight embrace. I looked up at him with a smile. "I love you, Judd." "I love you, Dylan."

Once everyone had a plate made, we gathered in the living room. I leaned into Judd's side as I ate, listening to each of the different conversations happening throughout the room. Rochelle, my lovebug appeared next to me, her smile wide. "Isn't he the greatest? I knew he was the one." She said with sigh. I nodded along, glancing up at Judd every so often. Judd turned his attention from dragging Nick to filth to looking down at me. "Hey there." He whispered. "Hi." I whispered back, my face flushing.

I'd offered to wash dishes but Elliott refused and took over, his reasoning being that I was on my period and cramping. Then he informed me that studies have shown period cramps and a heart attack are on the same level pain-wise. I walked upstairs to Judd's room, grinning at the sight of him putting my clothes away with his. I nuzzled into his back and let out a quiet hum.

He chuckled and turned to face me, planting a kiss on the top of my head. "You're gonna be here a while, figured I should put your stuff up." He patted his dresser. "Sweet. Thank you, bug." He'd earned that nickname when we were children. He'd beaten up a kid who squished a ladybug that I'd begged him not to. I remembered that day so vividly.

We were in kindergarten or maybe second grade. The kid had been bullying me since the beginning of the school year, I'd mostly ignored him and his antics. One day, I was carefully watching a ladybug shuffle around, admiring it's spots on the playground. My dad had told me they were lucky and my nana as I called her, said I should never hurt one. That was before my mother stopped me from seeing either of them.

The kid, Jake, I believed his name was, decided he wanted to fuck with me some more. He had walked over and taunted me for a while, I couldn't really remember what he said now though. I ignored him and held my finger out. I so badly wanted the ladybug to crawl on me, I thought I would be lucky too. Maybe he got annoyed because I wasn't paying attention to him, I wasn't sure but I remembered him screaming some threat at me over the ladybug.

I began to scream and cry and plead with him to just leave it alone. I had even told him he could hit me or beat me up if he wanted, I wouldn't fight back. I had cried so hard, I gave myself a bloody nose. Then he stomped on it. Everything got blurry before Judd came running over with a giant stick - well, giant compared to us at the time. He'd beaten the snot out of Jake that day.

He'd been my protector in the shadows ever since. And my best friend.