“I’m sorry sweets, we all just missed you around here.”
“I’m pretty sure only you two beauties did, but anyways camp was great. They told me I’d be the starting pitcher this year.”
“That’s amazing!” I was so happy his hard work was paying off, but he didn’t seem as happy.
“Congratulations! How about I make you guys something to eat. This one here disappeared all summer and barely ate. We need to start fattening you up, here eat this.” She shoved one of her huge soft chocolate chip cookies in my hand. She was right, I barely ate this summer. I tried my hardest to avoid Mr. Montgomery, so as soon as I woke up I was gone for the day until I had to join them for dinner. I don’t know why I even bothered eating, most of the time I ended up throwing it up if I knew it was a night Mr. Montgomery would be angry with me.
Jude drew his eyebrows in and looked lost in thought again. I couldn’t look at him upset again, so I decided to eat my cookie and hope that makes him happy to see me eat. When I put it up to my lips though, it was snatched away from me by Mrs. Montgomery.
“Mrs. Quinn! What did I tell you about feeding these children with sweets, especially this one. All she does is lay around and read, she will get fat and I can not have that. “ Mrs. Montgomery hissed.
Mrs. Quinn put her head down and Jude turned an angrier shade of red than before. I stomped on his foot to snap him out of it and grabbed an apple from the fruit basket on the table.
“Good girl. At least someone is listening to me around here.” She headed off to the pool house to either take her drugs or have sex with Baron, the pool guy.
As soon as she was out of sight, the apple was ripped from my hands and replaced with my cookie. “You have no idea how much it kills me I can’t defend you against them.”
I nodded in agreement, but we both knew we walked a tight line with the Montgomery’s. If we went against them, we knew we would be kicked out in a heart beat. Us staying together was worth the Montgomery’s abuse. I couldn’t imagine not having Jude in my life. He was worth every bad thing that lead me to him.
I ate my cookie while he prepared our sandwiches. We ended up talking for an hour about our summer. When we finished our sandwiches, he looked around the kitchen to see if we were alone. He then grabbed both of my hands and whispered, “I’ve been thinking about you this whole summer and everything I want to tell you. Meet me outside by our tree at midnight.” He kissed me on the cheek and headed out of kitchen before hearing my answer. He knew though that I’d say yes to anything he wanted.
For the rest of the night I was pacing in my room anxiously. I kept trying to figure out what Jude had to tell me, but I couldn’t think of anything. When the clock finally showed 11:50 PM, I slowly made my way downstairs not wanting the Montgomery’s to hear me. Thankfully the coast was clear and I was able to slip out the back door. Our tree was about a five minute walk from the Montgomery’s and the first tree over the property line. The Montgomery’s were very strict where we went, so when we were little we felt like rebels not being on their property anymore. It was our spot when one of us needed to forget for a moment.
When I got there, Jude was leaning against the tree holding a folder. My heart was racing hoping there wasn’t any bad news inside it. I didn’t know what to say but, “Hi.”
“Hi.” He smiled and started laughing. “You can come closer, I don’t bite.” I didn’t even realize I was standing ten feet in front of him. I walked over and sat down against our tree. He lowered himself to the ground and placed the folder in my hand.
“What’s this?”
“I also got you a little something.” He looked nervous and I was feeling the same. I was anxious though to see what was inside, so I eagerly opened the folder. The folder was full of pages of his art and every page was a drawing of a good memory of us. I was memorized of the memories he remembered like the time I got stuck in a hoodie and he had to come cut it off. When I finally got to the last page, my heart stopped. It was a drawing of him holding me while we sit in front of our tree with our initials carved in it.
I couldn’t stop staring at it until I felt him come sit behind me and drape his arms around me. “What..what does this mean?” I couldn’t help my stutter, I was lucky that I still remembered how to breathe let alone talk. I was praying I wasn’t reading this whole situation wrong or I never be able to show my face again.
Jude reached over and tucked my hair behind my ear. “I know our situation is a little odd with us being foster kids in the same house, but I can’t hide my feelings from you any longer. I know most would say we were just kids, but the feelings I have for you run deep. Being away from you all summer was hell and it showed me what I was denying all along was true. You are my person, Madison.”
I never kissed anyone and luckily Mr. Montgomery never stole that from me. Everything Jude said I felt the same, so I went for it. I leaned in and kissed him. It was a simple kiss,
