Under Your Skin | Jude Bellingham

002

Letting out a heavy sigh, I fell backwards onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling as I appreciated the sudden tranquil silence that engulfed me. After the party, my social battery was completely zapped and I was ready to just dive under the soft duvets and drift off to sleep. My exhaustion hadn't been helped by the long drive to London and my desperate attempts to stay clear of Jude all night, along with the persistent questioning from my mum as she tried to gather some understanding of where I was at in life. Truth be told, I didn't have an answer to that. Being a social media influencer wasn't exactly the ideal career that my mother had wanted for me, but it paid my bills and I enjoyed what I did, so there were no complaints from my end.

Just as my eyes were starting to close, my phone chimed with an incoming message. I groaned and rolled over to check my phone which was lying on the nightstand.

Trent:
You up?

Hannah:
why does that sound like an invitation
for a booty call

Trent:
Bet you wish it was 😉

Hannah:
don't flatter yourself, alexander-arnold.
did you want something?

Trent:
Yeah. I need to talk to you

All of a sudden, I was wide awake. I sat up straight, thumbs hovering over the keyboard on my phone as I waited for Trent to finish typing. He hardly ever 'needed to talk', and when he did, I knew it was serious.

Hannah:
what's up?

Trent:
Can we talk in person?

Hannah:
of course. i'll be right over

My heart started beating in anticipation, a mixture of dread and hope taking the form of butterflies in my stomach. Although I was never one to admit that Jude was right, there had unfortunately been some truth to what he'd said earlier: I did like Trent. It wasn't something that I was happy to admit, especially when we were such good friends and there was always the possibility that my complicated feelings could make things awkward.

I usually didn't allow myself to get carried away like this — getting my hopes up just made it so much harder when things didn't turn out the way I wanted them to. However, on this occasion, my delusion suddenly made it seem possible that I'd finally get to hear him say that he liked me back.

I quickly changed into some more comfortable clothes before making my way to Trent's room. I knocked on his door, feeling slightly jittery all of a sudden. Whilst I was waiting, I had the misfortune of bumping into Jude. He brushed past me, his refusal to acknowledge me causing the anger to bubble up inside of me once again. As he slotted his key into the door of his hotel room, he sent me a glare.

"You didn't say 'thank you'," I snapped at him.

He frowned. "What?"

"I didn't have to drive you to London, you know. In fact it was a huge inconvenience to me."

Jude rolled his eyes. "That's what this is about? You are so petty, Hannah."

I opened my mouth to respond, but at that moment Trent opened up his door, looking extremely sheepish. When I looked over in Jude's direction, he'd already disappeared back into his hotel room. Immediately, I fixed the scowl on my face, intending to brush all thoughts of Jude aside and give my friend all of my attention. Trent was the only thing that mattered right then, especially when he looked so troubled. It was a look I'd hardly ever seen on him before — he usually seemed so smiley and carefree.