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"I hate to say it," Jude said slowly. "But Strike has a point. I've seen the way you look at her." He pointed a finger at me. "You think no one noticed, but I did."
"I did too," Jett said. "I just figured they would get it together when they were ready."
I gave him a half bow. "Thank you for being enlightened and not a judgy prick. It's refreshing around here." I gave Jude a meaningful, yet teasing look. I was starting to think I let him get away with too much. Although, vice versa was true.
"Stop enabling Axel to keep procrastinating," Jude said to Jett. "If we let him sit on his hands, he'll do it forever."
He narrowed his eyes at me. "Remember Heather Jenkins?"
I frowned. Slowly shook my head. "Nope, should I?"
"She was the girl you wanted to ask to prom. She had bright red hair and freckles for days. No one ever saw her without a book." He sipped his beer and looked at me speculatively.
"Oh, was that her name?" I asked. "Did I know that or have I forgotten?" I scrunched up my brow in thought. It was more than a few years ago now. I knew I didn't take her. At least I hadn't forgotten that important detail. Yeah, okay, her name was a pretty important detail, but I just couldn't remember.
"You must have forgotten because I remember you knowing it when most of the school didn't. Most people didn't even know she existed. Or so we thought." He shrugged one shoulder.
The memory dawned on me. "I remember now." I snapped my fingers. "I kept putting off asking, because, I don't know."
"Because you're a wuss?" Jude suggested.
"I guess so," I said. "By the time I got up the nerve to ask her, the captain of the science club asked her first." After a moment I added, "She turned him down."
"Because she wanted to go with you?" Jett asked.
Jude snorted. "It was nothing that romantic."
"No, she preferred girls," I said. "But I gave her a ride to the prom and she left with the head cheerleader."
Jett grinned. "That might be the best story ever. How much of it is true?"
I gave him a look like I was offended. "All of it. Would we make up stories like that?"
He gave me a look in return, this one saying we absolutely would.
"It's a hundred percent true," Jude said. "I was there."
"I went to the prom with my head cheerleader," Nate remarked. "And no, she wasn't into girls. Turns out, she had a thing for really big guys." He flexed.
"Guys that remind her of teddy bears?" Jude suggested. "Or Santa Claus if he lost a hundred pounds."
Nate nodded. "Exactly. She said guys like me make her feel safe. How about that?"
Jude gave him a sideways bro hug. "You make me feel safe, bro."
Nate patted his back so hard Jude's eyes popped a little. "Thanks, bro."
"Has anyone told you that you don't know your own strength?" Jude asked. He winced and rolled his shoulders.
"It might have been mentioned once or twice," Nate said. "Sorry about that, little guy."
Jude looked at him in disbelief. "Little guy? Who are you calling little?"
We all laughed, including Jude after a moment. Although, he also flipped Nate off.
Nate just chuckled.
"What happened to the head cheerleader?" I asked.
