magnolia and jude

of course they called mara

of course, thought jude, of fucking course on the last day of school the fucking cops HAD to decide to do a drug search. of fucking course they had to bring the dogs. of fucking course this would make me miss my last ap exam. of fucking course they would make me re do junior year. of fucking course they call mara. of fucking course im stuck in the principle's office when i could've already been gone and at the beach by now. 

mara says something to jude, but jude ignores her. jude never listens to magnolia's mom anymore, not since chuck, jude's dad, died. ever since the passing of her husband, mara has gotten meaner and her upper lip has gotten tighter.

"jude are you even listening to me?" whisper yells mara.

jude mumbles back a "yes ma'am" and shrinks lower in the seat outside mr.robinson's office.

"you weren't, but whatever. there is no way in hell you are repeating this year, alright? so when we go in there you better mind your manners and mara is going to make everything alright. alright?" mara adjust her blouse and re applies her lipstick that's already left a bright pink stain on her teeth. 

"a-fucking-okay" grumbled jude as the secretary ushered them into the principle's office. officer brown, one of the school's many resource officers, stood behind principle robinson, barely fitting due to the fact that he was basically a giant and robinson's room was so short you had to duck under the door frame. mara and jude settled down in the two cheaply made plastic chairs on the other side of robinson's desk. mara and the adults hashed out jude's future as she stared out the window overlooking the parking lot. exams were ending and there's was a slow trickle of kids leaving their last exams for the year. kids walk out alone, some in pairs, some in big groups. a group of girls use window markers to draw on someone's car and a group of bos across the parking lot ride on the tops of each others truck with the music loud and their color changing LEDs on. jude just wants to go home. shes pulled back into the room in front of her by mara's sharp fake nails pinching her hand.

"im sure jude can handle these responsibilities. thank you gentlemen." mara plasters on the fakest smile she possibly can and pulls jude with her all the way back to her car. mara turns and looks at her with tired eyes and says, " jude, i'm not going to do this again. next time they find something in your car, on campus or off, i cant help you. you have to go to substance abuse counseling ten times before school starts, pass a drug test, and re take that class. no more okay?" jude nodded defeatedly. "and one more thing jude. please for the love of god stop smoking weed. just wait until college and go somewhere where its legal." jude rolled her eyes and silently agreed.

mara moore may seem like a mean spirited woman with the coldest heart in the world, but she was trying. 

jude stalked away to her car and sped out of the parking lot. she screamed all the way to the beach because school was fucking finally over and she wouldn't have to deal with robinson or mara's shit until august. 

folly beach was jude's safe haven. it had everything she could ever want, drugs, her sister, and the ocean. she often dreamed of getting a folly house, spending the mornings surfing, working at the pier, and going home to her two dogs, one kid, and trusty bong. folly life was simple and peaceful. jude pulled into the hotel parking lot and made her way to the pier gift shop. it was small and full of tourist goodies and her favorite people.

"SHE SURVIVED!" jude looks up to see magnolia with her arms in the air in the shape of a "v" behind the counter. an unfamiliar boy flinches and stares with wide eyes.

"jesus nola, chill the fuck out. you're giving newbie here a heart attack." jude could barely hide her smile. the energy was just radiating off of her sister and it was hard not to smile around her. magnolia described herself as "tan as fuck, rad as fuck, and happy as fuck." she spent most of her time doing her what she's told or flirting with the boys at the surf shop across the street. magnolia shrugged and introduced the boy, "this is steven. he's visiting his aunt for the summer and she set him up with a job. shes cadence, lives block 6 east." jude nodded her head knowingly and set herself behind the counter. steven was skinny and obnoxiously tall. his eyes were blue, his hair blond, and skin dark. he looked like he could've come out of one of those cheesy teen surf movies.

"you don't think mark is gonna flip his shit cause i'm late again, do you?"

"probably not," responded magnolia," he left to get supplies from bert's market and hour ago. he probably met some tourist and is failing at getting her number."

"stop bad-mouthing me" scolded mark, the girl's boss, from the doorway. mark was short and slightly pudgy with grey hair braided neatly down his back. he looked like if the dude from the big lebowski never cut his hair and was 55. the girls loved mark. he way goofy, slow, and bad tempered just like chuck except chuck was skinny, tall, and ten years younger. 

jude never wanted things to change except they did. of fucking course they did.