Jennifer Hudson's Boring Little Life

Episode 1: The Ever Intuitive Detective Hudson

The smell of coffee hung in the air like a thick mist, as Tessa and Jennifer walked in and took their regular seats at the corner booth, far from view, but still close enough to spy and eavesdrop.

The Grind, the place to be. The place where all of Offset High's students waste their money on cheap coffee and spend their time on supposed study dates. The proverbial underbelly of Mecha Falls, for all intents and purposes.

Tessa takes her seat, all while still babbling about everything and nothing in particular, but Jennifer is only half listening while shrugging of her school blazer and loosening her tie. Something feels off, but Jennifer does not know why.

"...and, see, that's when he slammed the book down on the table and..." Tessa continues to rant about how unfairly her Biology teacher had drawn her attention back to the lesson earlier that day. "...the man gave me detention!" Tessa finishes, pouting for only a second before swiftly switching topics.

"Coffee?" She asks with a devious smile. Tessa and Jennifer take turns to order; ultimately, The Grind is one of those self-serve joints with one order station and another for pickup.

"Does a firefly sparkle?" Jennifer says with a role of her eyes. Tessa is already up and walking toward the counter.

"But no chips today... I want a muffin; I hear they have a new supplier." Jennifer shouts after her, a few heads turn, but she hardly notices. She's used to heads turning in her direction, she's the main character after all, or rather that is what she's convinced of.

See, there's a secret that Jennifer tries to keep to herself – sometimes.

She believes that she's the main character in a book and everyone and everything she knows is just a work of fiction, written by a second rate writer, and that's why her life's been so utterly mundane.

She sighs and flips through her geography notes, trying to look slightly productive as she waits for Tessa to return with food. In her procrastination, she scans the diner. She looks at the chatting misfits scattered about the place, among whom her little brother – Shaun – is seated. She frowns, shouldn't he be at band practice? She shrugs it off, she's not that familiar with his schedule and besides, she's not the type to tell.

Suddenly Tessa appears with the food and Jennifer is so caught off guard that she almost yelps, but manages to keep herself composed, seeing as Tessa was not alone.

Her best friend came accompanied by none other than Angus Keller.

He smiles and nods his hello, "Jenny."

"Augustus," She returns and makes a point of looking away.

"Dear reader. Yeah, I'm talking directly to you – I've got the super power of speaking in soliloquy. While all my other character's only see me staring off into the distance dramatically, I'm actually talking to you. Wink-wink. Back to the story. Augustus David Keller. The boy next door, my childhood friend... why am I so dismissive of him then? Good question, so glad you asked! Over the past few months, he's been showing up more and more and, given our history, I think my writer is trying to introduce a love interest into my story. Now there's nothing wrong with this and if it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna simply fall into his arms. I have to at least make it interesting."

Before long Angus smiles, nods his goodbyes and leaves. Tessa drenches her chips in tomato sauce and Jennifer starts picking her blueberry muffin apart, all while chatting over open geography books – the typical study session that The Grind is so used to.

Jennifer reaches over and snatches up one of Tessa's chips, quickly popping it into her mouth only to immediately spit it out again.

On the plate, underneath the chip Jennifer had stolen, lay the bodies, all bloodied up with tomato sauce, of two dead flies. Tessa's eyes grow wide and Jennifer's jaw drops.