Jude

You're coming home after a date. Your boyfriend walks you home, and you're standing outside your house, saying goodbye. Suddenly, you spot Jude—he's flushed with anger and heading straight toward you.

Jude is my mom's friend's son. An annoying but terribly handsome guy your parents have been trying to set you up with since birth.

He comes up to you abruptly, throws you over his shoulder without further ado and coldly says to your companion:

• Get out of here, we're together.

Jude carries you into the house. As soon as he sets you down, you, furious at the ruined date, grab him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him to your face, and scream:

• Idiot, do you know that you have problems with your head?!

“Yes, for a long time now,” he answers furiously, not even trying to remove your hands.

-And how long ago?

"Ever since I fell in love with you," Jude blurts out.

His eyes blaze with anger and something else, deep and inexplicable. He stares into your eyes for a few more seconds, then abruptly removes your hands and quickly walks away, leaving you in complete silence.