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3 Significance – Thank you! Yes, Jack and Emily and Derek all starred in another one of my fanfics (Words of the Heart, for those of you that don't know) and I couldn't leave these characters alone. Thank you so much for your support! (:

The Significance Series belongs to Shelly Crane. All translations are by Google Translate.

10: You've Done Been Ditched

Katie

"And then he just left," I finished, fishing out the paper that I'd wedged between the pages of my chemistry book. I'd started taking notes while I was sitting at Starbucks, waiting for him, and when I'd decided to pack up and leave I'd just put them there as a bookmark. They were probably going to be useless, anyway, since I'd been so focused on the fact that Jack was ridiculously late. And then he'd showed up, and I'd forgotten all about chemistry until he scribbled his number on my notes. And left.

"He just left?" Demi echoed, her eyes wide. Usually she was good at spotting the players and the cheaters and the compulsive liars. She wouldn't have let me go out with Jack if she thought that was the type of person he was. "Jesus, my BS meter didn't get anything from him." She added.

I swept my gaze across the groups of girls gathered in front of me. When I came back to the dorm with glassy eyes and a quivering frown, Demi had called in the cavalry. Marcie had stopped working on her English paper due in a couple hours' time, and Julia had actually hung up on Marc. These girls were so incredibly different from me, from each other, and they'd all come as supporters to my romance downfall.

Not that I could really call it a romance, but I was still touched by their loyalty. I couldn't think of a single person from home that I could call. I'd been friends with these girls for less than a year, and they already had my back, probably more than my own family.

Marcie gently pulled the notes with Jack's number from my fingers. I'd told them the entire story, and they knew what the numbers were. A part of me wanted to keep them hidden, like they were a museum piece for my eyes only. But I didn't say anything as she held them up, facing me. "Honey, we really should throw these away. Out with the old and in with the new." She patted her hair with her free hand.

"I can't throw those away," I blurted. "They're my notes." I didn't tell them how the notes were crap, and how I'd probably have to reread the chapter and retake notes anyway. But the thought of throwing those digits away was a little heartbreaking. I knew that I should move on; it wasn't like Jack and I had much anyway. But I'd spent what felt like forever obsessing about him when I was so analytical on every other aspect of my life. I'd been so certain that he was different, and exactly what I needed. It sounded crazy, but he felt like… hope, and future, and something that I'd never felt before.

Marcie gave me a look like she didn't believe me, and she'd be right not to. But she didn't say anything, and instead just set the notes down on my desk, precariously close to the trash can just on the other side. She was giving me an option, I realized. Later on, I could just swipe the page into the trash if I really wanted to, with little effort.

"You can do whatever you want," Demi spoke up. She was sitting cross-legged on her own bed, facing me. "But personally, I think you should show him what he missed out on. Who does he think he is, showing up late and leaving early?"

"You should just forget about him," Marcie added. "Find someone else. This campus is filled with cute guys."

Julia, who had sat at Demi's desk, sipping a soda from the gas station around the corner, had been oddly silent. I'd imagined her suggesting a party or a club as a way to forget my bad luck, but she hadn't said a thing. Now, though, she decided to speak. "You've done been ditched," she said loudly. Even I couldn't anticipate my flinch at her words. I hadn't expected them to hurt.

"Not helping, Julia," Demi snapped.

"I'm just saying. Ditched doesn't necessarily mean breaking up. It just means that he suddenly had something more important to do at the time. I mean, it's screwed up, yeah. You should be the number one thing in his mind. But sometimes things happen and our guys lose sight of that."

"You're not taking his side, are you?" Marcie asked, frowning.

"Not really." Julia replied, setting down her drink. I wanted to tell her to put something under that, so it didn't live rings on the desk, but I kept my mouth shut. "I'm just saying that guys aren't perfect. Why do you think they need us so much? And he did leave his number behind. He wants you to remember him, to call him."

"He's keeping me a secret," I said. "He jumped up so quickly because it was his sister-in-law that walked in. I haven't really met her, but I recognized her. She was at the bar the other night, too. He even mentioned her."

"See? He's talking about his family. When guys talk about their family, they're not looking for a fling." Julia pointed out. "That's serious."

I swallowed. I hadn't thought it was so serious. Of course we talked about our families – I hadn't met Jack's friends, but I had met his sister. But that hadn't been planned. And he had never even introduced me to his sister-in-law. So the seriousness didn't feel so serious at all. Plus he'd left me at the bar to go save his little sister and her car. I'd thought that showed a bit of promise. But today had been an eye-opener. "He didn'tintroduce me to her," I said. I decided to leave out the fact that I'd met his sister, on account of the fact that our meeting had only come about because of my drink-dumping habit. "I just saw her at Degrees, and at Starbucks, too. And at Starbucks, he was trying to get out with her before she saw me. I'm sure of it. He even said that he'd just managed to get away from her to come see me."

"That doesn't mean you're his secret," Julia argued. "It could mean a lot of things."

"You didn't see his face, Julia," I said, and she went quiet. "I know I don't know him well, but I could see the panic in his eyes when she walked in. And he jumped up so quickly…."

Marcie sighed. "At least she's just his sister-in-law, and not his other girlfriend."

I rested my chin on my knees. I was tired of talking about this. And even though I was thankful of their support, I didn't want to hear their opinions on it, anymore. "I need to work on my chemistry homework," I said. The sudden subject change was enough of a hint. Marcie gave me a sweet smile before heading towards the door.

Julia, however, was slower. She stood up and picked up her drink. And as she slid past, she said softly, "Boys are a minefield, Katie. They make mistakes and we make mistakes, and if you're not careful, they'll blow up. Just… think about it before you do anything drastic, okay?"

It was the most insightful thing I'd ever heard Julia say. She wasn't usually so honest and open; usually she was catty and sarcastic, and we just dealt with it. I didn't know how to handle this softer, hidden side to Julia. So all I did was nod. She followed Marcie out into the hallway, leaving me and Demi alone.

We stared at each other for a moment, each of us perplexed by Julia's unexpected opinions. Demi looked like she was about to say something, but I slid off my bed before she could say a word and pulled my iPod from the top drawer of my dresser. She got the message and pulled her laptop out from underneath her bed, presumably to stream a movie. I popped the buds in my ears and went to sit at my desk.

I pulled out my chemistry text and my notebook and dug around for a pen. I would definitely have to start over. I might as well do it now. It would be easier to put my mind to something more logical. I opened the book and flipped through some of the pages, but it all looked like gibberish to me. My brain was too focused on the notes sitting right on the edge of my desk.

One push and they'd be sitting in the bottom of my trashcan, a physical reminder that I was throwing Jack out of my mind. It would be so easy. And it wasn't like we had much of a connection, anyway. Not really. But there was something inside me that didn't want to let go. He was funny, and didn't seem to think that I was a loser or a nerd. He didn't take things too seriously, which was such a turnaround from what I was used to that it was thrilling and new. And our conversation at Starbucks had seemed so deep, so honest. If he hadn't just up and left like that, I'd be sitting here, counting down the minutes until our next date, I was sure of it.

I made a split second decision and picked up the notes, gently folding them into a tiny square. I knew without looking that Demi was watching me as I opened the top drawer of my desk and slid the notes, and Jack's number, safely inside. I wasn't ready to throw them away.

# # #

My chest felt unbelievably tight. My inner thoughts were screaming. This didn't happen to me. This wasn't allowed to happen. I griped the paper tightly in my fist, not even bothered by the fact that I was creating unnecessary creases. A C, even a C+, was unmarked territory for me. Granted, it was just a pop quiz, and was hardly worth anything in the grand scheme of things, but it was that close to a D. That was failing.

Katie Carlton did not fail.

But Katie Carlton almost did fail.

I clenched my jaw so tightly that I thought I might break a tooth. Thank God college had that rule against parents calling about grades, or else my dad would be on a first name basis with the majority if not all of my teachers. I was the only one allowed to see my grades unless I gave permission otherwise, and if I played my cards right, my dad would never find out about the C+ on the chemistry pop quiz.

I stuffed the quiz into my bag, planning to shred it. I thought I had a handle on it, I really did. I'd spent hours taking notes for the upcoming chapters and studying current ones that I dreamed about chemistry equations in my sleep. How was I going to get into med school if I couldn't pass freshman chemistry? How had I let this happen?

I couldn't even remember taking the quiz. The last few days had been nothing but a blur. School had mixed with thoughts about Jack, to the point where I forbade myself to even think his name. But even so, I hadn't been able to get him out of my mind. Banning him from my head had just made him all the more interesting.

And I totally hated it.

I made my way up to my dorm room. Demi was in class, but she would be out in the next thirty minutes, and she always came back to our room. It was lunch hour, and if I was here, she usually tried to persuade me to go down to the cafeteria or to a restaurant with her. There were times when I just went to the library so I didn't have to see her puppy-dog eyes. But in the last couple of days, all I'd done was study, and that wasn't doing so well for me. Maybe spending time with my friends would help clear my mind.

I collapsed onto my bed and stared up at the ceiling. Right now would be a great time to read up for some of my other classes, but I doubted I would retain any of the information. It would be a useless waste of my time. So instead I just lay there, and permitted myself to think of Jack, as if I hadn't been doing that anyway.

"Ce n'est pas grave. Il suffit de respirer. Ne vous inquiétez pas." I told myself in a whisper. It's okay. Just breathe. Don't worry. "Tout ira bien." I added. Everything will be okay.

"I love it when you talk dirty to me," Demi said as she stepped into the room. I jumped. I had my eyes closed and hadn't heard her come in. She dropped her bag on the floor and flopped out onto her bed.

"Did you get out early?" I asked, sitting up and brushing my hair out of my eyes.

"Yeah," she answered. "Why? Did you have some sort of rendezvous?" She waggled her eyebrows at me. I smiled, I couldn't help it. I felt like I was dealing with some sort of inner turmoil, and I knew the others saw it. But they made it seem not so bad by using carefully placed jokes, and this time I couldn't help but laugh.

"Do you want to go to lunch?" I asked, unable to keep the hopeful tone of my voice. If anyone could get my mind off of one unnamed guy, it was Demi.

"Now you're speaking my language." She replied. "Let's go before I get the urge to change clothes."

I laughed again and grabbed my purse. Usually, we stopped across the hall to see if Marcie and Julia wanted to join us, but this time we didn't. Demi said it was because we needed roomie time, which we didn't get enough of. I guessed that was sort of true. Sometimes we made popcorn and watched movies on one of our laptops, but usually we were amidst a group of friends.

We both had plenty of dining points for the cafeteria, but neither of us was feeling like that particular brand of fast food. Instead, we chose to go to the new burger joint a few blocks away, within walking distance. For the life of me, I couldn't remember what it used to be, but I was definitely craving a plate of grease.

We were halfway there, and all we'd talked about was Demi's guy prospects. I didn't mind. In fact, I was completely relieved to talk about something that was so mundane. I could handle Demi's love life, not mine. "But alas, it turns out he bats for the other team." Demi concluded with a heavy sigh. "And yet," she added, "I still wouldn't mind dating him, even knowing that he likes guys instead of sexy girls such as myself."

"What about that guy from your Spanish class?" I asked. She used to talk about him nonstop, and he was actually in her Thursday study group. I'd been sure the two of them might have a chance, since they already talked to each other. She wasn't admiring him from afar, and by the sound of it, he'd been a pretty serious flirter while they were studying.

"James? He's as hot as ever, but it feels like a dead end. All we do is flirt. But he's never asked me to do anything outside of study."

"Why don't you ask him?" I asked. It was the twenty-first century, after all. Demi was all for independence, but she had this thing about being the asker. She wanted to be asked. Once, when we talked about it before, she said that it just seemed right that the guy asked the girl, and she left it at that. But now I wondered the real reason behind it; maybe she just needed that boost of confidence, to have someone else ask her out. Or maybe she wasn't as comfortable as I'd believed, and she feared rejection.

Demi snorted. "Guys should always ask the girls," she said, but even I could tell that it was a quick reaction. She gave a heavy sigh and looked at me. "I don't want him to say no to me. How awful would that be?" I opened my mouth to answer, but by then we reached the restaurant. Demi reached for the door and said, "Oh, look, we're here. Come on, I'm starving."

Fine, if she wanted to change the subject, I wouldn't pressure her. Even though I was dying to know, I wouldn't ask. Not after everything she'd done for me. I slipped in after her and took in the restaurant. It was cool and modern, with shiny tables and metallic silver chairs. I could tell already that the place was going to be a hit with the college crowd, and probably the high school kids, too.

Demi and I were seated in record time, even though the place was buzzing, and we placed our orders within the first ten minutes. We spent our time waiting talking about classes and movies and parties, any topic except for guys. I was thankful for that; I'd been thinking about Jack way too much, and Demi was clearly uncomfortable talking about James.

Our food came, and we were nearly done when I saw someone that I vaguely recognized. My heart stopped, and I dropped the rest of my burger onto my plate. I'd been so worried about Jack that I'd forgotten that he had such a big family. And his family didn't have to stay away and avoid me, like I'd been doing to Jack, and he'd probably been doing to me.

"What is it?" Demi asked, her eyebrows drawing together in confusion. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"Not a ghost," I muttered. I dropped my gaze, but it was too late. She'd seen me, and by the smile that had started to cross her face, she recognized me. "It's his sister."

"Whose sister?"

"Jack's," I whispered hurriedly. I grabbed my soda and clamped down on the straw. I focused my gaze on my plate, hoping that Madison would find it far too awkward to talk to me. We hadn't exchanged more than a few words, but if Julia and the others were right, meeting Jack's sister had been a huge stepping stone in our nonexistent relationship.

"Jack's sister? You met Jack's sister?" Demi hissed, raising her shoulders like she was trying to hide, too. It was something that I'd never seen her do before, and it looked funny on her.

"It was an accident!"

"How do you accidentally meet his sister?"

"I spilled my drink on him while we were at the mall, and she was there!"

"Oh, my God, why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't think it was that important." I replied. I picked at my burger just as our server came around with the bill. He set it down on the table, and Demi snatched it. She dropped a twenty dollar bill on it and snapped the black book closed just as I made myself take another bite of my burger.

"Come on, you can pay me back later. It's time to make our grand exit," she said. I wiped my mouth on a napkin, took one last sip of my soda, and stood up. My back was facing the bathrooms, and I hadn't even checked to see if someone was coming before I stepped out in front of them. Right as I got my feet underneath me, someone collided into my back, pitching me forward.

"Sorry!" A voice said. "I didn't see you standing there. My brothers always say I'm a klutz." Demi turned around to look at the owner of the voice at the same time I did.

Madison stood behind me. Being face to face with her only reminded me of her brother, and a tiny little ache grew inside my chest. There was a family resemblance, though it was mostly in the shape of their eyes, and in their easy smile. She, like her brother, oozed self-confidence. "Oh hi," Madison said, "I thought I recognized you. You're Jack's friend, right?"

"Um, yeah, sort of," I said. If Jack had been hiding me from his sister-in-law, what were the chances that he had been keeping me secret from the rest of his family, including the one sister that I'd actually met?

"Well," Madison said, and I could see the hesitation in her eyes. I knew I was acting weird, and she'd noticed. "It was nice to see you. Oh, and I should thank you for taking my side. Jack thought that buying mom a blender was stupid, but she liked it."

"Oh, um, you're welcome?" I said. I even posed it like a question. "I guess I'll um, see you around?" That time the question had been intentional, and it was sort of just a formality. Madison Stanton reminded me far too much of Jack, and he was sort of a painful memory right now.

Before she could say anything, I turned on my back and rushed after Demi. We left the restaurant as quickly as we could while trying to appear normal, though I felt like Madison would definitely know that we were running away from her.

Once we were safely on the sidewalk several blocks away, on our way back to the campus, Demi said, "What was that about a blender?"

"I told them that it was a good idea to buy their mom a kitchen appliance for her birthday."

"He asked you what he should buy for his mom's birthday?" Demi exclaimed. "Seriously, how can I believe any story you ever tell me again? You skip way too many important details!"

"I didn't think it was important!" I said back.

We just looked at each other, and then she burst out laughing. I couldn't help but join.

So, this was kind of fluff. I hope you guys don't mind. Because fluff is fluffy, and who doesn't like fluffy!? Seriously, though, we're nearing the end. Leave your thoughts behind for moi, and check back for the next chapter soon! Thanks! Peace (: