JUDE's P.O.V.
"Look at her."
"Are those eggs?"
"Ew, gross!"
"Did she even know what a shower is?"
"She probably forgot to pay her water bills that's why eggs came out of her faucet."
The sound of laughter echoed through the corridors as the students passed by me in my awful state.
Earlier when I was entering the university, a group of freshmen threw eggs at me for no reason at all. Even when I tried running away, they were desperate enough to chase after me as if they were payed to do that to me.
The bullies are just getting worse and worse each day and it's frustrating! Not a nice way to start the day, eh?
All I could do was sigh, who am I to complain when I'm supposed to be used to it? Trying to live in a society where people will judge you based on what you wear or what you listen to, how can one have a peace of mind?
Standing up despite the sticky situation, I ran my way towards the girl's bathroom.
John is right, the world is messed up.
It's a good thing I brought extra clothes. I learned my lesson after Agatha and friends did a prank by throwing water balloons at me last year. Looks like someone had levelled up and decided to throw eggs instead of water.
While wiping the stench of egg whites off my skin with a wet handkerchief, I felt the door of the girl's bathroom creaking open. Sound of heels followed by a giggle.
"How was your egg bath, Grandma Judy?" I rolled my eyes upon hearing the voice. "Oh please, Agatha. You and I both know—"
My heart skept a beat at the sight of Agatha's companion.
"What's wrong, granny? Oh! You've met before!" Agatha clapped her hands in delight as if she was watching her favourite Spanish soap opera.
"Hey, beauty. Hope you still remember me." I swallowed the lump in my throat.
It was the guy at the bar who almost raped me.
"Agatha..." I muttered with gritted teeth as she came close to me, "Why are you doing this?"
The mean girl bowled over me by holding my wrist so tight that I could see my veins. Taken aback by her movement, I stayed frozen on the spot. Agatha looks at me with a deadly glare as she says, "Fine, I'll elaborate to you. Buck? Do your business while I hold her."
"W-Wait—"
"Finally going to taste you, beauty." Feeling his breath on my neck, I feel my whole body trembling. Taking heavy breathes, I struggled to move due to Agatha's grip on both my wrists and Buck's hands all over my body.
"You monster." The latter shrugs off my remark as she started talking to answer my question.
"There is someone whom I met in highschool. He wasn't just a guy. He's... kind, smart, and strangely handsome."
I bit my lip to prevent any moan escaping my mouth. Whatever Buck is doing, it's giving me the shivers.
"When my brother died, he was the one who helped me get through it. He comforted me, he always checked on me to make sure I was alright, he was the first to make me smile after the biggest tragedy in my life."
Buck's hands found itself crawling through my cleavage until I felt him caressing my breasts slowly. Couldn't take it anymore, I let out a moan which made the devil smirk in satisfaction.
"Eventually, I fell in love with that guy. Not because he was handsome or... intelligent. He made a place in my heart that I never acknowledged before." Agatha chuckled, "That nerd, he isn't even my type to begin with but, he sure did captured every inch of me."
Not satisfied with just touching me, the devil puts his hands inside my shirt as he reached for my actual breasts while his lips are on my neck. My eyes are stinging with tears but I gathered all the courage to prevent them from falling.
Not today, not now, not in front of Agatha or Buck.
"Wanna know who's the nerd I'm talking about?" I shook my head in answer. Whatever definition she has for a nerd, I wouldn't guess.
But she told me anyways. "It's James Paul Stark."
My jaw dropped.
How does all this has something to do with James?
"But obviously," she tightens the grip on my wrists which made me winced in pain, "James is in love with you. So much that he would choose another nerd with bad music taste over someone like me!"
"How can a good man like James be in love with someone who wouldn't swallow her own pride?" Finally found my voice to speak. "Aren't you hearing yourself, Agatha? Is your infatuation with James the only reason why you spent college making my life miserable? Think again, no matter how bad you think of my music taste. James would never ever be with a b*tch like you!"
"How dare you!" Her nose flared with anger as she suddenly lets go of my wrists which made me slump on the wall. "Buck, take her pants off."
But before Buck could even get close to me, I immediately kicked his balls even more forcibly than the last time. While the devil was flinching in pain, I took the opportunity and pushed Agatha out of my way.
With no second thoughs, I grabbed my coat and bag that was resting on the sink then sprinted my way out of the girl's bathroom.
Not caring if people would see me in such a panicked state, I directly headed to our Dean's office.
I don't care if my clothes looked horrid nor my hair was everywhere. I needed to report what happened to me. I couldn't let them get away with it. They're monsters... devils to be exact. Everyone should know that even if it'll cause my reputation.
* * * * *
I flinched a bit as a knock came from the Dean's door. We all turned to the secretary who just shook her head as she hands a brown envelope to our Dean. This made me close my eyes in frustration.
"Well, it looks like we'll just have to follow Mr. Parker's orders." Sir Ryne announces. This made my eyebrows creased, "W-What do you mean, my dad's orders?"
Mrs. Fisk, Buck's mother sighed impatiently, "I'm telling you, my son is a clean, young man. He may look like a drug addict but he knows his manners."
"And my daughter would never do such thing. Agatha and Judy got along well in high school. Why would she ask someone to sexualize a friend?" Agatha's father, Mr. Coulson states.
Manners? Friend? Tell that to my foot.
"Considering that there are no CCTV cameras around bathrooms, we couldn't point out for sure that your children came to the girl's bathroom." My jaw dropped, "Are you saying that my case is lacking of evidence? What about the hickeys?"
Sir Ryne shook his head, "I'm afraid that I have to dismiss that, Miss Parker. Even if it really happened, what's important is that the intercourse never happened."
"But I PREVENTED that from happening! It's the reason why I hit his precious hotdog!"
Buck's mother laughed which got me even more annoyed, "The Dean said if, young lady. If your fairy tale didn't happen, I can sue you for hitting my son!"
"But then again, it's a fairy tale. It only means that it's non-existential." Mr. Coulson supported.
"How dare you defend your dirty children like that!"
"That's enough, Miss Parker. Like I said, we'll follow your father's orders and set these children free with no charges." Sir Ryne convicted which made the two parents breathe a sigh or relief.
"No charges? You mean we can't put it on their records to drop them?" Sir Ryne shook his head in disapprovals. This is unbelievable, it's like setting the anacondas free. I looked at Buck and Agatha with their parents. Reminds me of Bungalow Bill whose mother is always there to butt in his business.
Heavens, why can't I have a parent that'll support me despite my bad deeds?
As I left the Dean's office, my phone vibrated that indicates a text message. I sighed as I read the sender and the memo itself. Makes me want to sing Elvis' 'Return To Sender.'
Before heading back to class, I decided to go to the library and hide there while waiting for my next class. But it seems like fate definitely wants to mess up with me.
"Jude? I heard what happened to you from the Dean's office, are you alright?" My fingers paused from picking up some books. I swallowed a lump in my throat to reply, "Do I have to tell you my answer to that stupid question?"
James chuckled awkwardly, "Well, it's obviously written all over your face. So—"
"Good," I interrupted, "I hope you see my problem, too." I spatted out while entering another aisle of the library. I rolled my eyes as I felt James following.
"What's the matter, Jude? I'm just being concerned here, I might even be the only one concerned for you right now yet why are you shutting me out?"
I turned to him with a deathly glare. "You mean you're being concerned to me because you feel pity that I have no friends?"
"Jude, I didn't say anything like that—"
"But it seems like it." I bit my lip to control my voice. We'll get kicked out of the library if one of us gets caught shouting. "You don't need to act like my friend, James."
"But I'm not acting, Jude. We've known each other since we were kindergarten and now you still don't consider me as a friend? I've been there for you when your mum died—"
"And you were also there for Agatha when her brother died." I cut off his statement for the second time. James look dumbfounded as he replies, "H-How did you know about that?"
I crossed my arms in frustration, "I thought you knew what happened at the bathroom? Didn't you know? You were the reason why Agatha is making my life miserable. Just by being the good man you are, you're hitting two birds to death without even realising it."
"W-What did Agatha do to you this time?" I don't answer his question and sighed as I tried walking to another aisle. But James held my arm to stop me, "What did she do to you?"
He looks at me with his hazel eyes, but they aren't in their joyful colour like the usual. They're intimidating me, as if he's scanning everything that's on my mind through his round eyeglasses.
The eyeglasses.
James had them at such a young age. I was a witness when he hit his head on a swing because he couldn't see anything clearly. While the kids were making fun of him, I was the one who assisted James when going home to tell his mother about what happened.
We were just kids at the time, now that we're in college, it's definitely proof that there are some things that only James and I can only keep.
I swallowed the lump in my throat as I gathered all the courage to tell him, scared that he might yell at me in the library.
A tear rolled down my cheek, "She asked someone to sexualize me." Wiping away my tears, James lets go of my arm and I took it as a chance to get away from him as far as possible.
* * * * *
"Here come old flat top he come, grooving up slowly he got..."
Muttering the lyrics of the Beatles' 'Come Together', I clenched my fist while I was walking towards the Forever Café.
How ironic for someone influential and magniloquent to invite me for tea time at this state of calamity.
As I entered the café, I searched the shop for the person I'm looking for until I realized something. He wouldn't want to talk to me in such a crowded place. He's a very important person, for Tchaikovsky's sake.
So I went upstairs to the V.I.P. area of the café and showed my I.D to the guard. He nods as he finds my name in the list of expected visitors.
But for some reason, he looks at me from head to toe, wondering if I am really a luxurious-worthy person with the way I was dressed. He might've also smelt the stench of eggs on me.
That's not really important at the moment.
"Dad?" I muttered with a heavy heart. The man didn't bother to glance at me and just gestured at the seat in front of him.
My father never really changed. Aside from his attitude and treatment, he's still the same old man wearing a suit, his square eyeglasses, and his chin covered with a long, black beard. At the age of fifty, he still managed to maintain his black hair in which I inherited from him.
A waiter comes near me but I politely declined. That's where my dad spoke, "It's nice to see that you're healthy. For a while I thought you'll get thin when you realize how hard it is to live by yourself."
"I can cook my meals just fine, dad. You know I'm always the one who cooks back home." I said dryly. My dad raises his eyebrows, "That seems ages ago."
Feeling impatient, I suddenly regretted the fact that I didn't go to work just to visit my oh so-loving father. Not to mention, the Beatles might also be waiting for me to cook dinner.
"Let's cut to the chase here, dad. Why didn't you came to the university?"
Dropping the newspaper, he takes a sip from his black coffee and slumped back to his seat. "Didn't I told you to behave yourself? I had already given you the freedom you want yet when a problem commits itself you expect that you can run back to me?"
My jaw dropped at his statement, "Correction, dad. You didn't give me my freedom. If I didn't elope by myself, I might still be in that hell of a house."
Similar to the scene with James back at the library, I tried my best to control my voice from getting loud. "And why are you telling me to behave myself? I'm the victim here, dad. You should be the one to stand up for me."
"I warned you before, Judy. You just didn't listen. If you just stayed and didn't alleged to your pride, you wouldn't be experiencing these scandals in the first place."
"You treat that experience a scandal? It's traumatizing me, dad! It'll haunt me forever." I tried hard to fight back the tears from falling but my dad sticks to his statement, "And I warned you about it."
"But you could've done something!"
"Nuh-uh. Not happening, Judy. I will never file cases to those who can be partners within my reach." I chuckled as I slumped to my seat. "So you didn't seize their children because they were your best friends? How ironic that you still choose to protect your business partners over your own daughter!"
The old man sips from his coffee, "You'll understand when you get older, my child. But I noticed you're learning these things the hard way and in the wrong perspective."
"Says the man who can't even handle his own daughter." I couldn't contain it anymore so I spatted my ace out which made dad furrow his eyebrows. "What makes you think I will follow whatever you say? You cheated on mum even before she died. Now that she's gone, you married the mistress and made me live with her. And you want me to learn from that perspective?
"Haven't you ever noticed the way she treated me? Had it ever crossed your mind that I'm depressed of everything that's happened?"
"You have no right to be depressed, young lady. I am doing my job as your father to sustain you with everything you need. You just don't know how to appreciate."
That's where I felt tears come out of both of my eyes. This is so frustrating, "But I'm in pain, dad. Can't you see it? You couldn't even afford to spend time with me and ask how I was doing. You never thought of considering my feelings or my thoughts."
Thinking back of the times with my stepmother, all of her words kept coming back.
"Useless." "No common sense." "Ignorant." "Lazy." "Disrespectful." "Worthless."
"You were too hooked up with your new wife that you forgot I still exist. I did my best, too, dad. But you didn't appreciate it, as well." I bit my lip and sighed before standing up from my seat, "Excuse me."
After taking three steps, my dad cleared his throat and said, "Are you still listening to that favourite band of ours, Judy?"
I froze as I thought of a decent answer to a peculiar question. How did the Beatles got in here?
"Yes, dad. They're my only source of comfort."
* * * * *
Getting touched by a man brutally isn't something you could wipe off so easily. Even after scrubbing my whole body and taking a bath, I still felt the way Buck touched my skin and held my body like a toy.
The thought itself makes me want to burst in tears. How can I sleep at night with such bad memory?
"Jude? Are you 'lright, little birdie? You're not touching your food. Is my cooking horrible?" John cuts me off from my train of thoughts. I didn't realize I was pacing out until the three Beatles looked at me with worry.
Looking at the vacant seat beside John where Paul is suppose to be, I sighed, "I'm... sorry. Just had a bad day."
"Would you like to talk about it?" George asked. "Yeah, hon, it isn't good to keep it to youself." Ringo added.
But I shook my head and thankfully, that was enough to keep them quiet. I suddenly felt sorry for them to have such a crappy keeper like me.
Out of many rich and fortunate houses in the world, why did they had to time travel to my house and in my life?
Sadly, we finished dinner without Paul. Hopefully he'll eat the food we left for him as soon as he arrives home. Where did that lad go at this very late hour? I can't help but wonder while doing the dishes.
I slightly jumped at the sound of the door opening so suddenly. Paul emerged in with his fist clenched and his face crumpled in rage. Judging the look on the three Beatles' faces, looks like no one knew what Paul is up to.
"Paul, are you alright? You seemed like you had a bad day." I asked after wiping my hands with a dry towel. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion when Paul laughed in response.
What's so funny? "Bad day? You think I had a bad day? Hell, I actually had a bad year! Or should I say, bad years!"
Oh god, is this about time travelling again? "What are you talking about?"
"Oh quit being the good innocent girl, Judy. You're not our fan. You're a traitor! Why didn't you tell us about John and George's deaths?"
It was as if the world was falling down when realization hit me. John and George's deaths?
But how did he knew?
"Paul, let me explain—" But he cuts me off immediately with a sarcastic laugh, "Explain? You have nothing to explain. I thought we're being open to each other, Jude? You said you're not hiding anything from us!"
That's when George came to his side and said, "Mate, have some senses, will you? Stop yelling at Jude, you're hurting her."
The moment Ringo and John came to my side, I felt my eyes in the verge of tears.
"Hurting her? Didn't you hear what I said, George? She's a TRAITOR. She kept a lot of things from us and which made us look like fools! We're the Beatles yet we don't know anything about us for meat's sake!"
That's where I couldn't take it anymore. How I hated these kind of situations where I wanted to defend myself but always ended up crying like a baby.
Like with Agatha, James, my dad, and now with the Beatles.
"You think it was easy for me? Having to live with you boys while keeping a lot of sacred information from you? Didn't it ever crossed your mind that I did whatever I could just to protect you?"
"There you go again with your protective reason." Paul says with poison that it actually hurts. "Two of my best mates are already dead in this very year. Yet you didn't tell me because you were too selfish to—"
"Telling you won't make a difference!" I sobbed. Ringo tried to hold me to calm me down but I wouldn't budge due to the tension Paul is creating between us. "Two of my heroes are already dead this very year. And not just this year but even before I was born!"
The sound of my blubbing was the only thing being heard as no one dared to speak for a moment. Judging the look on the fab four's faces, a lot of questions are swarming around their heads that are in need of answers.
My voice was shaking as I continued, "Given the situation, seeing John and George meant a lot to me. The thought that I was given the opportunity to meet you—"
Paul cuts me off, "Don't give me that bullsh*t, Jude. You wronged us, you betrayed us by lying about the future—"
"Paul!" John's voice roared as he interrupted his mate's accusation. "No one is lying here. Use your words carefully, you're smarter than that."
"Jude never lied, Paul. She tried everything she could just to avoid telling us anything that will ruin the future." Ringo butts in.
Paul chuckles, "That's what I'm talking about, mate! She shouldn't abuse our ignorance just to spend more time with us!"
I bit my lip to control my voice from breaking, "Y-You don't understand how much ill-fated doom I had to accept as a modern Beatles fan. The painful stories that I have to live by, the break-ups, the deaths...
Seeing the four of you alive and happy also makes me happy. So much happiness that I didn't want to spoil any tiny details that would change your perspective into something miserable."
I took a step forward towards Paul, the Beatle that first caught my eye even when I was young. Paul McCartney, the cute bassist I was madly in love with despite a lot of people calling him an old man.
Little did they know that old man was my hero, inspiration, my reason to live. But now, he's just given me another negative thought that will swim inside my head forever.
"Miserable, my foot. You already made our lives inconsolable by being closemouthed. I don't care if you're someone from the future. Be it a fan or not, you don't deserve to admire someone whom you've betrayed."
I let out a heaved sigh as a tear rolled down from my cheek. Never caring less if the four Beatles would see me in such imperilment.
"Fine. If that's what you think of me, then so be it. I won't explain nor hold any grudge against it." I sniffed as I wiped a tear, "But just so you know... that old lady you met, Madame Jane Asher, is an ex-girlfriend whom you cheated on."
The room fell silent as I muttered the last sentence. I can't believe I'll be walking out of them, tearing up again.
As I stepped foot outside my home, I quickly ran towards the grass field. Tears continued to fall from my eyes until I stopped in the middle and let myself drop to the ground.
Hugging my knees closer to my chest, I almost didn't care about the cold wind that was blowing through my skin. Running my fingers through my scalp, all I could do was weep.
"James is in love with you. So much that he would choose another nerd with bad music taste over someone like me!"
"Buck, take her pants off."
"I might even be the only one concerned for you right now yet why are you shutting me out?"
"I warned you before, Judy. You just didn't listen. If you just stayed and didn't alleged to your pride, you wouldn't be experiencing these scandals in the first place."
"You just don't know how to appreciate."
"She's a TRAITOR. She kept a lot of things from us and which made us look like fools!"
"You don't deserve to admire someone whom you've betrayed."
"Stop... Please." I muttered in between cries. It's all coming back, memories that I badly wanted to forget but kept playing in my head over and over like a broken vinyl.
It's so tiring. Having to stay up all night, overthinking about the things that one should might've been.
What's the point of doing your best when the person you expect to be proud of you, doesn't care for you at all? Where's the significance of having friends when they're just going to give up on you anyway?
In situations like these, I used to lock myself in my room and listen to the Beatles. But right now, even their mere presence is killing me and I hate it!
Paul hates me now... and probably the rest of the Beatles will do too, as well. They're right, I was a liar. A selfish fan who just wanted to keep her idols to herself that I couldn't even tell them anything they want to know!
That's presumably the reason why I have no friends. I'm just a poor, old soul trapped in a body of another skint nerd that has no class in fitting into the new society.
As a matter of fact, I am so weak that Buck's touch is enough to traumatize me for life. No one is willing to listen to my side because I was overreacting so much that even my own father wouldn't care to understand.
The world is so unfair. It might be better off without... me.
I mean, what's the point of living anyway? Not getting justice after almost getting raped, having a mean girl making my life miserable, loosing the only friend I have, being abandoned by my own father...
...and being despised by the people whom I thought are my heroes.
There's nothing left to live for an outcast like me.
Wiping away the tears from my eyes, I stood up and looked at the sky. From a distance, I could see the silhouette of Eroda's bridge. It was the only passage that led to England between the ocean.
Thanks to the bridge, trading and business became easier for both countries to succeed. People of Eroda can visit friends and relatives in England and vice versa.
It wasn't just a bridge, it gave hope.
How I wish there's also a passage that will lead to my happiness.
- - - - - - - - - -
"Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly~" The Beatles - Blackbird
Hi! So I wrote this chapter in terms of Women's Month. I just wanted to say that no woman deserves to be treated differently. I know there are a lot of you there who experienced something like what Jude experienced from Buck, and probably much worse than that.
We shouldn't let these struggles get into us. No matter who we are, no matter what race, religion, or nationality, may we spread PEACE AND LOVE to all the women who remained strong for themselves.💙