Between Black and Sunshine by Haven Francis Read Free Book Online Page B

you.”
    “I’ve been waiting for this for so long,” she tells me with a smile.
    I run my fingers through her soft, long hair. “What’s this?” I ask.
    “I colored it,” she tells me.
    “I see that. How come?”
    “Because I can.”
    I look at her, questioning her- her changes, her cautiousness. Wondering what she’s hiding, or trying to cover up. Her eyes turn away from mine- she doesn’t usually do that.
    Callie comes up beside her, wheeling Jude’s suitcase behind her. She takes my hand from Jude’s hair. Jude gives her an angry look. Both things confuse me. “Sorry,” Callie says to me.
    I shrug my shoulders at her.
    “How are you, Luca?” she asks.
    “I’m good. Thanks for driving Jude here.”
    “Of course. Take care of her, okay?” she says with warning in her eyes.
    “Always,” I say.
    She turns to Jude then. “I gotta go, sweetie.”
    Jude turns out of my arms and I miss her already. I’m a gonner already.
    “We just got here. You aren’t even gonna come look at my room?”
    “Send me a pic. I need to get to Berkley tonight.”  Callie looks at me again and then grabs a hold of Jude’s hand, gently pulling her away from me. I get the hint so I take Jude’s suitcase and walk back towards the dorm. I can’t help but look at them though.
    Callie is talking quietly to Jude, the look on her face is intense. I have to assume she’s talking about me. Could be warning her to stay away from me, could be telling her to give me a chance. Who knows? Jude makes her own decisions though. You can’t tell her what to do- I’ve tried.
    I watch as the two girls embrace. Callie seems apprehensive, like Jude could break if she hugs her too hard. Callie looks back at me once more with a smile and a wave, and then she walks away.
    Jude turns to me and I’m caught off guard again by how different she looks. This is what I pictured her being, when she was happy again. Light…sunshine. But her eyes haven’t changed. They are still sad.
    I go to her, grabbing her hand. “You ready?” I ask her.
    “Guess so,” she says, turning from me to the big building.
    In the elevator I press number five. As the door shuts I bend down and kiss her bare neck. She flinches and I wonder if her overzealous greeting was just that: a greeting. But then I see the black and blue marks creeping out of the collar of her dress. The door opens as her eyes meet mine. Two girls with their parents step inside, completely unaware of what the hell just happened here.  Jude raises her eyebrows at me, silently asking me to let it go. I will for now.
    What the hell happened to her? I know what happened to her, but why didn’t she tell me?
    I lead her down the hall, absently looking for 519, as I think about her bruises. She became stiff when I moved my hand up her back. I was hurting her . Callie took my hand from her hair… because I was hurting her . Fuck . Callie barely hugged Jude because she didn’t want to hurt her.
    I have a death grip on Jude’s hand by the time we reach her room. I think about turning and running Jude away from here, but the door is cracked and a high-pitched voice escapes it, “Judith!”
    I watch Jude’s face as she forces a smile and steps into the room. She tries to release my hand as she goes to the brown haired girl, but I won’t let her.
    “Hi, Stephanie,” she says, her voice an octave too high.
    Stephanie closes the gap between them and pulls Jude into a half-hug since I’m still attached to the right side of her. I watch the girl’s hand reach for Jude’s back so I drop the suitcase to remove it, but Jude anticipates what I’m doing and steps away from Stephanie. “This is my friend, Luca. He’s a junior.”
    Stephanie’s eyes look me up and down. Her face gives me the same look that I get from most girls. Interest. Interest because she doesn’t see guys that look like me very often. She pauses at my hand which is still intertwined with Jude’s.
    “I thought you didn’t have