14
“It’s okay,” Jude mumbled to himself as he stared at his reflection in the dirty mirror before stepping out of the bathroom.
It was lunchtime, which only meant one thing: he was going to sit with Jasper for lunch today for the very first time in five years.
Keeping his head lowered, Jude entered the cafeteria and only lifted his gaze to find Jasper in his usual spot.
Though this time, he was not alone. A girl was with him.
A flicker of jealousy stirred inside him, but it quickly faded when he remembered Jasper’s gender orientation.
Somehow, it made him feel like he had fewer rivals when it came to winning Jasper over now.
As he passed by the usual crowd of jocks, bullies, and the bitches, Jude held his breath, hoping they would not notice him.
But, as always, his luck failed him. Insults and mocking remarks were thrown his way from every direction.
Normally, he ignored them. He had grown used to it.
This time, the negative insults escalated more because of what happened at the party.
Still, there were moments when he could not help but wonder how long it would take for these people to finally grow up, knowing most of the bullies were from college, especially the freshmen.
“Hey!”
Jasper noticed him from a distance and waved his hand for Jude to come over.
People’s gazes started to trail more toward his direction.
He doubled his pace, practically running.
Jude was only seven meters away when someone suddenly stuck a foot out, causing him to trip and crash onto the floor.
Laughter instantly erupted around him. Embarrassed, he hurriedly pushed himself up and made his way toward Jasper’s table, ignoring the people around him.
He was also trying to ignore the pain shooting from his knees from the sudden fall.
“Hey, are you okay?” Jasper asked, standing up and looking at him with concern clearly written across his face when he finally arrived at the table.
“Yeah, I just lost my balance and fell,” Jude lied as he fixed his glasses in place.
Jude was acting as though he had not noticed someone had deliberately tripped him.
Meanwhile, the girl beside Jasper remained glued to her phone, completely uninterested in the scene unfolding around her. She was too engrossed in typing something into it.
“…Come, sit down,” Jasper offered the seat across from him, and his heart began to beat erratically at the gesture.
A shiver of giddiness ran through his stomach, raising the hairs on his skin as if a cold breeze had brushed against him.
“Thanks, Jasper,” Jude muttered softly.
Jude glanced around the cafeteria and found that the stares had not faded, making him second-guess himself before taking a seat.
When he sat down, the girl across from him finally lifted her gaze from her phone to him.
She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and placed her phone on the table as she offered him a small smile.
“Ah, this is Czyra, by the way.” Jasper introduced her, breaking the brief silence. “She’s our classmate in Practical Research, remember?”
“Oh, hi,” Jude greeted with a faint smile.
“Hi,” she replied warmly.
“Sorry, I didn’t know your name before, but I’ve seen you in class,” Jude admitted honestly.
“It’s okay,” Czyra said with a sincere smile, waving her hand dismissively.
“But to formally introduce myself, I am Czyra Labuc, for your additional information. I am nineteen, and of course, I know you,” she added, her eyebrows slightly moving behind those thick-rimmed eyeglasses.
“No other than the famous and brainiac, Jude Finn,” she continued, gesturing with her hands dramatically in front of her, slightly tilting her head as if presenting a legendary figure.
Jasper laughed softly, while Jude only gave a sheepish smile, already feeling warmth creep onto his cheeks. He was not used to praise or compliments.
“Oh, wait…I think I’ve read your name somewhere before.
” Jude placed a finger under his chin, trying to remember where the familiarity came from.
“Ah, I remember now! You are the third honors of the batch, right?” he guessed, recalling the day he saw the honors lists from last semester had been released.
“Yeah, right…” she replied with a smug sneer.
“Sorry to not recognize you,” Jude apologized.
“Nah, that’s fine. I’m your secret fan, by the way,” she said.
“Really?!” Jude yelled softly.
Jude was surprised and a little unconvinced, not certain that someone would idolize someone like him.
“Yeah, both you and Jasper.”
Jude looked at her with sparkling eyes.
“But why me? I mean, I’m not handsome like Jasper. I don’t even have skills and talents either,” Jude said.
“Did you just say I was handsome?” Jasper inserted.
Jude looked at him, flustered.
“Y-eah. You are handsome, Jasper,” Jude admitted nervously.
Jude could not look straight at Jasper’s eyes.
“Don’t belittle yourself, Jude,” Jasper said, not letting the awkwardness creep in further. “You have qualities that people admire about you, and you don’t even know that because you’re too humble,” Jasper continued.
The words sent warmth and joy into his heart.
“Yeah, I definitely agree. I idolize you because you’re too smart, idiot!” Czyra said, which made Jude chuckle a bit.
Jasper, on the other hand, laughed the loudest.
“Let’s be honest, these subjects barely challenge you.
You could snooze through the lecture and still ace it.
” She made a check mark in the air with her hand before flipping the thick curls resting on her shoulders.
“The next day, the results came out. Perfect score! A hundred out of a hundred for Jude Finn!”
Jasper burst into a fit of laughter. It was the way she delivered everything, paired with her exaggerated gestures and expressions, which made it even funnier. Jude tried not to laugh very much because of the people around them, and whenever he did, he quickly covered his mouth.
Jude was so focused on their conversation that he did not hear the growing murmurs around him.
“Why are they sitting together?”
“Omg! Why is Jasper Granger sitting with the faggot?”
“Are they already friends?”
“Aren’t they rivals?”
“The nerds are having their quarterly meeting.”
Halfway through laughing, Jude realized something.
Despite all the unpleasant things happening in his life lately, he had been smiling more often.
Maybe it was because of Jasper. Being around him made Jude feel at ease, comfortable enough to be himself.
He even found himself talking more than usual, something he rarely did with other people.
“And of course, you’re too kind, and you’re cute,” Jude’s cheeks flushed even more. “Especially when you blush, just like that,” she pointed at him.
“T-hanks for your words, Czyra,” Jude said and smiled sheepishly, wanting to divert the subject.
Thankfully, a waiter arrived to deliver Jasper and Czyra’s lunch orders. After the server finished and walked away, both of them turned their attention to Jude.
“I’ll order something for you, too, Jude. What do you want?” Jasper asked.
“No need, Jasper. I brought my own lunch. Thanks,” Jude replied with a timid smile.
Jude reached into his shoulder bag and pulled out his lunchbox.
Jasper and Czyra quietly watched as he placed it on the table.
He gently set his transparent water bottle aside before opening the container that held his spoon and fork.
Then he removed the lid of a silver Tupperware, revealing a simple meal of white rice, an omelet, and sliced apples on the side.
The sight of it brought a soft smile to Jude’s face.
“Let’s eat,” he said innocently.
“Y-yeah, let’s eat,” Czyra responded awkwardly.
It was the first time she had seen a fellow student bring a homemade packed lunch to school. Just as Czyra was about to take a spoonful of food, Jude suddenly spoke.
“Can we have a quick prayer first, guys?”
Czyra paused midway and slowly lowered her spoon and fork back onto her plate.
“Y-yeah, of course,” she replied with an awkward smile.
Jude closed his eyes to say grace while Jasper and Czyra exchanged glances before quietly watching him pray.
Jude opened his eyes and watched both of them.
“Okay, let’s eat,” Jude said afterward.
They started eating quietly.
“By the way, Czyra is also my partner in Research,” said Jasper.
“Oh, that’s great!”
“Yeah, that’s why you can often see her with me now and then.”
“And I’m grateful for that,” Czyra commented sarcastically.
“Didn’t our classmates complain about the two of you being paired together?” Jude asked, his voice a little strained. “I mean…the top two and top three of the batch ending up in one group?”
“That’s exactly what I said. Even during our major subjects, you barely pay attention,” Czyra replied bluntly.
Jude was slightly caught off guard by how direct she was.
“The honor students in our section were paired together so the less intelligent groups would be forced to work harder on their own and actually learn. At least, that’s what Miss Leizel said.
And honestly, I agree with her for the most part,” she explained.
“And I know you’re being miserable and bitter on your part because you are the only honor student who got paired up with Sky Granger,” she added.
Czyra really had no breaks, knowing Jasper was beside her. Jude reluctantly looked at Jasper.
“I am so sorry, Jude,” Jasper said helplessly.
“There’s nothing to apologize for, Jasper. And I already told you that. Whatever’s going on between your brother and me should stay between us,” Jude said with conviction.
Jasper gave him an uncertain smile.
“I like your spirit, Bun.” Czyra praised.
Jude shifted his gaze from Jasper to Czyra and gave her a faint, shy smile. It was so subtle that it was almost unnoticeable.
Jude had never imagined he could feel this comfortable around more than one person in his lifetime.
He only knew Czyra as one of the school’s high-profile students.
She was rich, intimidating, and known for her badass, straightforward attitude.
She did not really have a friend group of her own, which Jude thought was something they oddly had in common.
But unlike Jude, Czyra was not the typical nerd.
She was more of the eccentric type. People rarely bullied her.
If anything, she simply was not fond of most of the students at school.
She believed that many of the students were in school only to flaunt their luxurious lifestyles: their designer bags, expensive clothes, and deluxe jewelry.
For her, they were not truly in school to learn, but to show off.
She especially hated fake people, particularly the girls who only wanted to be close to her because of her social status.
Above all, she hated dumb people. This was why she strongly favored pairing the research partners with those she considered less intelligent so that they would not depend on the smarter ones.
For her, it was finally their turn to strive harder, find their own way through, and pass on their own effort.
She was cool in her own strange way, and surprisingly enough, Jude did not feel intimidated by her at all.
The lunch, which Jude expected to be short, plain, and boring, was filled with meaningful conversations, laughter, and playful side jokes.
But as time passed, Jude became more aware of the countless stares directed at him.
People seemed baffled that a nerdy nobody like him was sitting with the school’s heartthrob and someone from a high social class.
Some students threw insults his way, while others occasionally tossed crumpled papers and bits of leftovers at him.
Still, Jasper and Czyra remained by his side, quick to defend him whenever things started getting out of hand.
“H-Hey, it’s okay, guys. I swear, I’m used to it,” Jude told them. “I would be mad or won’t talk to you again if you stand up for me,” Jude warned them when Czyra was about to stand up after someone threw an empty chicken bone, anus part.
Jude truly did not want anyone getting involved because of him. The last thing he wanted was for the people he genuinely cared about to get dragged into trouble or fights on his behalf.
“If you need something or anything, we are here, Bun. Right, Jasper?” Czyra assured him.
The nickname was still new to Jude. When Czyra found out that bunnies were his favorite animals, and hers too, she started calling him “bun,” short for bunny.
She had even told him that he looked like one and was ridiculously cute.
Jude thought that maybe Czyra had gaslit herself.
She resembled a rabbit in many ways. She was chubby, but not obese.
She had extra fat and lipids and was slightly plump with a bit of shape to her figure.
She had thick eyeglasses resting on her round, tomato-like nose, while her black curly hair fell just above her shoulders.
But more than anything, it was her two front teeth that reminded him of a rabbit the most. Because of that, Jude figured he might as well start calling her “bun” too, even if the callsign was a little cringe.
There was a short pause before Jasper responded.
“Yeah, of course.”
“It’s okay, guys. As I have said, I don’t need any help,” Jude repeated.
Jude did not want them to feel slight sympathy towards him. He did not like it.
“We should have been friends long before,” said Czyra, and Jude smiled.
Jude was overwhelmed with emotions. It was almost impossible for him to wrap his head around the fact that he had people he could genuinely call friends in this lifetime.
They finished the rest of their lunch with them, knowing each other. They avoided talking about academics as much as possible. They did not want to think or stress about it for now. Jude was also relieved that Jasper never brought up the photos he had seen in his locker earlier this morning.
Not long after, the bell rang for their next subject. Sky did not show up at the cafeteria, and Jude was very grateful for that.