Poesy

told you so

The silent treatment; when a person tortures you by refusing to acknowledge your presence with words. What Jude lacks to understand is that 'the silent treatment' doesn't work on me. I have my own way of counter torture. What's that, you ask? I will annoy the crap out of him until he breaks. I am an expert at this.

I don't know why he's acting all booty anyway, I did the guy a favor.

"Hey Juuude, don't be afraid. You were made tooo... go out and get herrr," I sing at the top of my lungs while we drive away from the theater. "The minute you let her under your skin, then you begin, to make it betterrrr..."

His long arm reaches over and turns the radio on full blast to drown me out. Trap Queen once again fills his car. Either this is one heck of a coincidence or he has this song on repeat.

"I'm starting to think this is our song, Judey," I say, leaning my elbow on the center counsel and my cheek on my hand. I bat my eyelashes at him, adoringly. "And I can ride wit my baby. I be in the kitchen cooking pies wit my baby, yeaaahhh."

He quickly switches the radio off and runs his hand along his sharp jawline. He could cut a woman in half and put her back together like a magic show, with that jaw. When I realize I am still staring at him, I sit up, clear my throat... and my thoughts.

"Just so you know, I'm not exiting this vehicle until you speak to me." I flip the visor down to inspect my appearance, feeling uncharacteristically self-aware. I swipe the skin below my grey eyes, removing the smudges of black eyeliner, and run my fingers through the front of my hair. Checking my teeth, I start sucking air through them, making long aggravating hissing noises.

In a swift movement, Jude flips the visor up in front of my face. "I'm not doing this anymore," he snaps.

"You spoke. I win," I squeal.

"Is everything a game to you?" He glares at me with narrowed eyes for a split second, before returning them back to the road ahead.

"No, but I honestly have no idea why you're so angry with me," I confess.

He suddenly parks along the side of a busy street and cuts the engine. His knuckles turn white from the tightening grip he has on the steering wheel. Glancing at our surroundings, I notice we've stopped in front of a diner a few blocks from my house.

"You made me look stupid," he says.

I open my mouth to reply to him but he cuts me off and continues. "I don't even know why I agreed to do this in the first place."

He stares straight ahead through the windshield, eyebrows pulled together. Realizing that he could actually be reconsidering, a sort of panic rises from my toes to my fingertips. I'm positive I couldn't find another guy like him. Through the window, two girls sit at a table inside the diner. They're laughing and it makes me feel like I'm choking because it reminds me of what I'm losing... again.

"Come on," I say, softly, opening the passenger side door.

"What?"

"We're at a diner. I'll buy you some dinner," I offer.

"Are you going to spill it all over me," he asks with a smirk.

"You'd be so lucky, Clarence."

...

Our lovely waitress, Geraldine, serves Jude his coffee and me my Coke. My eyes don't leave his hands as they rip five little packets of sugar and dump them into the dark liquid. Traces of paint are left along the edges of his fingernails.

He brings the cup up to his lips, snapping me out of my daze. Suddenly, I feel the need to explain my actions at the theater.

"True Romance is mine and Annika's favorite movie," I explain.

"I've never seen it."

"Oh my glob, Jude. We have to watch it sometime. Anyway, in the opening scene, Alabama dumps a bucket of popcorn on Clarence's lap to get his attention, and guess what happened?"

"They fall in love," he guesses.

"Exactly. Good boy. Here, have another sugar." I hand him one of the little white packets.

"But this isn't a movie, Poesy."

The ring from my cell phone that lies on the table, interrupts our conversation. Annika's name appears across the screen. I answer it with one hand and motion for Jude to stay quiet with my other.

"Hey, Annibanani."

"Hey babe, you home yet," she asks.

She wants to know if Jude is still with me. I glance up at Jude and then around the restaurant. Then I lie. "Yep."

"So, what do you think?"

"I think you should stay in Lincoln."

"Not about that... about Jude. Do you think he likes me?"

I raise my eyebrows at Jude, excited that the plan may actually be working. Damn, I am good.

"What," he whispers.

"Hang on a sec," I tell Annika.

I exchange sides for the booth next to Jude. He scoots farther in, allowing me to join him. I motion for him to be quiet again, while I place the phone on the table and press the speaker button.

"Poesy, what are doing," Annika asks.

"Sorry, I was just..." I rack my brain for something convincing. "...assassinating a spider."

"Don't kill it," she whines.

I cut her off before she lectures me on how to safely catch and release arachnids. "Anyway, what were you saying?"

"I asked if you thought Jude likes me."

Jude looks at me with a shocked expression. I bite my lower lip and bounce up and down excitedly.

"Yes, I think so," I tell her.

Geraldine returns to the table with our food. I run my fingers across my lips, telling her to zip it and then point to my phone. She places our dishes down and backs away slowly. I smile and wink at her. She's getting an extra good tip.

"Really," Annika beams.

"Why is that surprising? Every guy likes you," I remind her.

"Not every guy."

I know instantly that I hit a nerve. Her boyfriend from junior year, Jake, cheated on her and she never fully recovered from the rejection. It irritates me so much that Jake the Snake had that effect on her self confidence. He never deserved her.

"Well, I'm pretty sure he does," I reassured her. "And how cute was the popcorn thing?"

"So, cute. Just like True Romance," she swoons.

"Exactly," I shoot a glance at Jude, smirking. "He's nice, Annika. You should give him a chance."

"Yeah, I think I will. I gotta go, mom is calling me."

"K, talk to you later," I say.

As soon as I press the end call button, I hop up onto the seat and start dancing like a wild person.

"Boo-yah," I point down at Jude who's watching me with an incredulous smile. Jumping down, I take a seat across from Jude.

"Told you so," I say, stealing one of his fries.

"You have your own fries, you know."

"Fries taste better when they're stolen."

He grabs a fry from my plate and eats it. "You're right," he says.

"Always am." I agree, with a wink. "By the end of the school year, you're going to have the coolest girl in the world wrapped around your pinky."