Plus One

“Okay, so what’s the plan again?” I asked, folding a shirt and placing it neatly in my suitcase.

“We’ve gone over this already,” Jude complained. “About fifty times.”

“Yes, well, I like to make sure you understand it,” I said. “And get off my bed please.” He was lying on his back, sprawled out on my bed. It was the night before our flight to Mexico, so to make things easier, Oliver and Jude were sleeping at mine and Leanne’s so we could all leave together in the morning.

Jude let out a loud, obnoxious sigh before rolling off of my bed and landing on the floor with a thud. “Fine,” he said. “We show up to the wedding. I’m a friend of your brother’s who offered to go with you. We’re not dating, just dates. I look cute and stay silent, you don’t look like a moron in front of Michael. Then we come home and part ways forever. Good?”

“It’s Marcus,” I said testily. “You know that. But other than that . . . good.”

Jude sat up and eyed my suitcase. “Everything is so neat,” he said, sounding disgusted. “And why do you have so much stuff? We’re going for five days, not five months.”

“I like to be prepared,” I said coolly. “I wish I could say the same for you.” He’d shown up to the house with his things already packed. When I’d picked it up to move it, I’d found that it was almost light as a feather. I’d opened it to discover that there was barely anything in it: five shirts, five pairs of pants, some socks, and some toiletries. His suit for the wedding was currently lying on my floor.

Jude merely shrugged, unbothered. Before we could argue any further, Leanne and Oliver both barged into my room, sticking their heads around the corner, one on top of the other, like they were on some sort of Disney Channel comedy.

“How’s it going in here?” Leanne asked brightly.

“Are you guys bonding yet?” Oliver added. They both gave us the same cheesy grins. Honestly, sometimes it was hard to tell them apart. They were truly a match made in heaven. I wished I could say the same for Jude and I.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like him. It was just that I . . . didn’t like him. We were very different people, to say the least. In my opinion, Jude was careless, arrogant, selfish, egotistic, impolite, and crude. And I knew that in his, I was bossy, uptight, high-strung, serious, irritable, and meticulous.

We saw eye-to-eye on next to nothing. We didn’t take our coffee the same (he liked his with milk, no sugar, while I preferred mine black), we didn’t like the same shows (I was interested in medical and crime shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Chicago Fire, and Chicago PD while he enjoyed violent dramas like Breaking Bad and Homeland), and we didn’t even like the same music (I was a fan of soft, indie folk, while he was into loud classic rock). It was like Fate decided to put me in a bad situation with a person who was even worse.

“Oh, we’re bonding all right,” Jude answered cheerfully, whatever that meant. “In fact, I’m thinking about binding my hands and jumping out the window.”

“That didn’t make any sense,” I pointed out, annoyed.

“See? Best friends already.”

“Riiiiiiight,” Leanne said. “Well, we’re going to order pizza. What do you guys like on yours?”

“Eggplant and olives,” I answered, while Jude simultaneously said, “Pepperoni and meatballs.” We both glared at each other.

“We’ll just get half and half,” Leanne said. She and Oliver shared a glance, obviously trying not to laugh. It was easy for them, though; they both liked their pizza with broccoli and mushrooms.

Later, the four of us were sitting in the kitchen when Oliver said, “So Jude, have you ever traveled before?”

Jude looked up from where we was picking an olive off of his pizza. “Uh, I have a passport, yeah. I’ve got family in Canada, so I used to go and visit them when I was a kid.”

“That’s cool,” Leanne said enthusiastically. “Mick and I went to the Bahamas for spring break last year, didn’t we?”

“Yes indeed,” I said dully, carefully cutting up my pizza. Jude watched me somewhat scornfully, but said nothing.

“Am I the only one who actually had to get a passport for this?” Oliver complained.

Leanne reached up and scratched the nape of his neck soothingly. “Yes, but it’s okay, babe. You’re just not as cultured as we are.”

“If we’re talking ‘culture’ then technically I’ve never been out of the country either,” Jude said. “Canada is one of the blandest places I’ve ever been to.”

“I like Canada,” I said off-handedly. This was a lie; I’d never really been particularly interested in Canada, but for some reason I wanted to argue with Jude. Leanne kicked me under the table, but Jude merely looked at me and didn’t say anything, raising his eyebrows.

After dinner, the four of us decided to watch a movie, but it took forever and a day to decide on what to watch because Jude requested an action thriller while I wanted a nice indie rom-com. Leanne and Oliver smartly remained out of it, letting us hash it out. In the end, though, Leanne finally suggested, “How about Gone Girl? Kinda the best of both worlds.” It didn’t totally satisfy either of us, but it was the best we were going to get.

Later that night, while Jude and Oliver were setting up the couch for Jude to sleep on, Leanne came into my room. “What is your problem?” she demanded as soon as she walked through the door.

“Ever heard of knocking?” I asked, sitting up.

“No.” Leanne looked at my desk chair, which had a stack of books and papers piled neatly on top of it, before swiftly pushing them all to the floor so she could sit down.

I nearly strangled her. “What the fuck is your problem? They’re gonna get wrinkled!” I didn’t want to get out of my cozy bed, but seeing all those papers on the floor made my chest feel tight and anxious, so I got up and began to organize them. I was a control freak, sue me.

She ignored me. “Why are you being such a bitch to Jude? If I recall correctly, he is very generously offering to be your date to this wedding.”

“It’s a destination wedding in Mexico. It’s not like I’m doing him a big disservice. And anyway, just because we’re going together doesn’t mean I have to like him.”

“You’d be pathetic and alone if it wasn’t for him,” Leanne pointed out. “He’s a nice guy. Give him a chance.”

“Not you too,” I groaned.

She rolled her eyes. “Can you at least try to get along with him? It won’t seem very believable if you guys are fighting the whole time we’re in Mexico.”

“He’s my date, not my boyfriend,” I corrected her snottily. “And maybe I’d be a little nicer if he wasn’t such an asshole.”

She gave me a look of disappointment. “Have you been listening to anything I’ve been saying?”

“No.”

“Jude is a good guy, Michaela. He’s only being a dick because you were being one first.”

“Whatever,” I said. “I’m going to bed. Goodnight.” I reached over and clicked my light off. Leanne sighed, but eventually she left, shutting the door behind her. I could vaguely hear her and Oliver saying goodnight to Jude before they went into Leanne’s room and the entire apartment went quiet.

Now that I was finally alone, I had time to think. Was Leanne right? Had I really been a dick to Jude since the start? I tried to think back to when we first met. Sure, I was bitter. But who wouldn’t be? I literally had to take a total stranger as my date to my ex’s wedding, which I was now going to be a bridesmaid at. Even if I was being a bitch, it was understandable.

For a second, though, a small part of me wondered if maybe I was unfairly taking my anger out on Jude. But it was only for a second, and only a small part, because then I decided against it and fell asleep.