cupcakemania22 – Yep, this is the last chapter. (:

minion – This one right here is the last chapter. And we'll finally have the answer to whether or not they imprint!

Guest – (1) Thank you! (2) Here's the update! (:

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

12: Hello and Goodbye

Katie

"Allons-nous dîner ce soir?" I asked, looking up from my French homework. I was leagues ahead of the rest of the class, but the familiar words and the pointless busywork calmed my mind. However, it also blurred the lines between languages if I worked on it for a long time, or after I'd talked to my mother over the phone. The others were starting to get annoyed, but I felt like I'd been floating in a daydream so long that I just blurted out whatever was on my mind, in whichever language I could think of first.

"Dude, seriously," Demi complained. "No more of this random French. It's totally killing me." She and Marcie were sharing her bed, completely immersed in their English homework. They had been reading Death of a Salesman, which was a play that I'd gone over in high school, and couldn't remember the finer details of.

The door swung open as Julia stepped in and dumped her stuff onto my bed. I was supposed to be helping her study for biology, but she was supposed to be here thirty minutes ago. When she didn't show up, I'd found something else to work on. "I don't know, Demi," she said, "I think it makes her sound sexy. It is a romance language after all. Oui?"

"Oui," I answered, closing my French book. "Is that all the French you know?"

"Yeah. Oh, wait, does L'Oreal count?"

"No." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Well then yeah, that's all I know." She sat down on my bed and kicked off her shoes. "I seriously need to crack down on my bio stuff. I have that massive test tomorrow and I don't know a thing."

"Wow, I've never seen you worried about your grades before," Demi teased. If I was being honest, I was sort of shocked myself. Julia was the type of person that didn't care what the letter grade was, as long as she was passing. But suddenly she'd been begging me to help her, though I never asked why and she never gave any explanation.

"I'm not usually." She admitted, and she didn't seem embarrassed by it in the least. "But I talked to my dad, and he told me that if I don't make at least a B in all of my classes, he won't pay for me to go to Marc's over the summer. Marc lives on the other side of the nation." She complained. That was a fact we were all familiar with; the two of them were constantly arguing over where they'd move if they stayed together. Would they stay in Illinois, or would they pack up and move to the distant state of California?

"What took you so long?" Demi asked. Usually she just accepted Julia's late tendencies like I did, but apparently this time, she was bothered.

"I ran into someone on the way, and had to stop to talk." Julia answered vaguely.

"Who?" Marcie asked, tossing her textbook aside. Clearly, she was tired of studying, and was hoping that Julia's gossip would be enough to distract her.

Julia looked up, but she didn't look at Marcie. Instead her eyes met mine, and she said, "Jack Stanton."

His name felt like a punch to the chest. I didn't really know why. I didn't know him that well. But he had stuck out. It felt like I could pick him out of a crowded room, like he was a beacon. And I had no idea why. I thought it was wildly frustrating, but it was so new and unique that it thrilled me. I daydreamed about Jack Stanton; he starred in a few since our disastrous coffee date. I found myself looking for him as I walked from one class to the other, or whenever we went out to Degrees, or if we went to dinner. I kept telling myself that it was just so I could avoid him if I saw him, but there was a part of me, hidden deep down inside that wondered if it was just because I wanted to see him that badly.

It would certainly explain why all of a sudden I felt suffocated in the dorm, and why the past few nights I'd been craving a girls' night out. I didn't even care what we did. Demi had actually told me to just wait until the weekend, and then we'd go do something. For once, our roles were reversed.

"What did he say?" The words were out of my mouth before I realized that they were mine.

"I did most of the talking," Julia said. She looked like she couldn't decide if she should stop there or add something else. But she didn't, and instead pulled out her biology book. "Okay, can you help me now?"

Demi rolled her eyes, but she and Marcie went back to their English work without saying a word. Julia grabbed Demi's desk chair and joined me at my seat. "So, our test is over chapters seven through nine," she said, flipping through the pages.

I watched her silently. Helping others academically was what I had always been good at. Gossip, not so much. But this time, I would willingly throw out the textbooks just to hear what Jack had to say. Did they talk about me? If they had, why hadn't Julia said anything? Was he really so unbothered by the fact that he had hurt my feelings? I had thought he liked me, but apparently not.

It was almost as if she could sense my inner turmoil. Julia took out her notebook and wrote something down, then passed the note to me. I didn't want to say anything in front of the others. But I talked to Jack about you. He told me a few things, but I told him that he needed to talk to you himself. My heart hammered in my chest. Was he going to call me? How? I'd never given him my cell phone number. But I did have his.

Right then, my phone buzzed with a text message. On any other day, I might've taken my time to get there. But for some reason, I felt like it was Jack. I hadn't given him my number, but maybe one of the others had without telling me. Maybe Julia had, since she was the only one who hadn't condemned him to a life of not-exactly-dating shame.

I stood up so quickly that I hit Julia in the shoulder with my elbow. There was a message icon at the top, but it didn't tell me who it was from. After pressing a few buttons, it told me that the message was from an unsaved number. Something like excitement and worry and fear coiled in my stomach, and I opened the text.

IT'S JACK. I WANTED TO TELL YOU I'M SORRY, BUT IT COULDN'T HAVE WORKED OUT ANY OTHER WAY. I felt like the letters had weight to them, and they were pulling me down with each syllable. I'd never felt this way before, not even when Garrett and I had decided to go our separate ways. I hadn't thought that Jack would be someone I could fall for, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe he wasn't the kind of person I was destined to be with.

Our philosophical discussion over destiny and fate came to mind. At the time, I'd enjoyed the debate. I liked to see that he wasn't just a jokester, or just a nice guy. He was smart, though he kept it hidden from outsiders for some odd reason. I remembered him saying that he thought fate led him to his destiny, that there was only one way. I remembered disagreeing with it then, only listening for parts that I could dispute. But this time, I recalled the look on his face. He'd truly believed in destiny, wholeheartedly. I'd been playing the devil's advocate, going against him on every turn, but maybe there was a piece of me that wanted to believe in fate.

And suddenly, I wanted nothing more than to see him. I needed to tell him that I thought I might believe in fate and destiny. I needed to ask him what he meant, that we wouldn't have worked out any other way. If that had been true, why had he even bothered to talk to me?

I didn't want to text him, or even call him. Not only would it make me extremely embarrassed, but it was a conversation that was better face to face. I had a lot of stuff that I needed to say to him, and hopefully he had a lot of stuff he needed to say to me. There were only a few places I could think to go. Stuffing my phone into my pocket, I grabbed my purse. "I'm sorry, but something's come up. Can we study later?" I asked Julia.

It was like she knew exactly what was going through my mind. She grinned up at me and said, "Not at all. Actually, do you need a car?" She reached into her purse and tossed me the keys to her little Dodge. "Take as long as you need; Marc will pick me up for our date tonight." Marcie and Demi looked shocked, but Julia just winked at me as I slipped out of my dorm.

The first place I headed was the Starbucks where we'd met up. I glanced through the windows. The place was packed with students, but none of them were Jack. I doubted that he'd be at the frat house where we'd first met, and I didn't have enough guts to look for him there. But I did remember him telling me that in his spare time, he went to the Victorious Cars dealership, where he worked as a mechanic.

I touched the outside of my pocket, where Julia's keys rested. She always parked in the same place, right next to our dorm. I turned back and rushed across campus. Sure enough, her car was right where I expected it to be.

I had a driver's license, but the parking passes here were crazy expensive and my dad said that I probably wouldn't need a car anyway, since I had the cafeteria and several libraries here on campus for my perusal. I felt a little out of place as I opened the Dodge's car door and slid into the driver's seat. Julia was taller than I was, so I had to adjust the seat a little bit.

I didn't know much about the town surrounding the university. If it went more than a few blocks, I needed a map. But luckily, I had navigation on my phone. It directed me through what felt like a dozen stoplights, until finally I could see the dealership in the distance.

I pulled in and parked the Dodge in one of the visitor's parking spaces. Before I could think about what I was doing, I was out of the car and up the few steps that led into the lobby. Once I got inside the doors, though, my brain seemed to catch up with my actions, and I froze. I didn't know what I was thinking coming out here, on his turf. I should've just texted him, or called. But instead I had to go be dramatic. And now I'd look crazy if I turned around and ran out like I wanted to. I was seriously debating it, though. My fingers were gripping my purse and Julia's keys, and I was just about to turn on my heel and make for a disappearing act when the receptionist looked up.

"Hi, welcome to Virtuous Cars. How can I help you?" The words were rehearsed and came out perfectly polite. But I could see in her eyes that she knew I wasn't there for a luxury sedan.

"Um," I hesitated. "I uh," words escaped me, and I finally blurted, "Does Jack Stanton work here?" Her eyes widened a bit at the sound of his name. Clearly, she'd heard of him. I wondered if they'd dated, or if she had a crush on him. She looked like a nice lady, but she was probably in her mid-twenties. I knew for a fact that Jack was just a few years older than me, but even this woman would probably be too old for him. Still, that didn't stop me from feeling a wave of something negative, like she should step down where Jack was concerned. Was that jealousy?

The woman looked like she was about to deny Jack's presence, but then someone stepped up behind me. I turned to look over my shoulder and saw a good-looking guy. He wore a mechanic's shirt, and his nametag said Raul. Oil and grime stained his clothes and his hands, but he was still the kind of guy that us girls would talk about.

"Hey, you're looking for Jack? I just saw him back there working on Rosie." He said brightly, smiling a perfectly white smile at me. He looked at the receptionist and said, "I'll take her back there, Carissa. I'd be perfectly happy to escort her." The way he said it made it obvious he was a flirt, and the flutter inside my chest told me that I was flattered by it.

Raul motioned for me to follow him, but he started off slow, giving me time to catch up with him. "I'm Raul," he said, rolling his R's in an accent that wasn't present earlier. Still, it was hot in that foreign man type of way. Even still, I was thinking more of Jack than I was of Raul.

"Katie," I replied, giving him a smile. "Thanks for um, taking me back here."

"Of course," Raul said, as he pushed open the doors leading from the lobby to the back garage. The room was huge, and it looked like it was built of concrete and steel. Chrome shined under the lights hanging from above. Here, the sound of tools rose above everything else. The guys, and the one girl that I saw with half of her body under the hood of the car, had to yell to be heard. Raul led me past the different stations, all the way to the back of the garage.

In the farthest corner was the husk of a car. I didn't know much about cars, but even I could tell that the one sitting in front of me was from decades ago. It didn't have any tires, and the inside seats looked torn up. The hood was propped open, where I could see a brand new gleaming engine.

"Jack!" Raul shouted. That's when I saw a pair of legs sticking out from underneath the car, on one of those rolling boards.

"Dude, I thought we came to an agreement about when to talk when I'm working on Rosie!" Jack's disembodied voice floated out from underneath the car.

"Fine then," Raul shouted back. "I'll take this pretty señorita with me." My cheeks flushed as Jack rolled out from underneath the car. I could tell the exact moment when he saw me, because his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open a little. His face was splotched with grime, but I didn't care. He was just as handsome as ever.

"No, no," Jack managed. "Thanks for bringing her by," he added. Raul smirked at him, and then winked at me before leaving. Jack stood up and brushed off his old band shirt. There was a hole in the hem, showing part of his abs. He ran a hand absentmindedly through his hair. "Um, hello," he said when we were all alone.

"Hi," I murmured. Clearing my throat I added, "I um, I know you didn't expect to see me here. I mean, I wouldn't even expect me to be here."

"Yeah, you got me on that one," Jack answered. He stepped away from me, making my heart pound even harder until I saw that he was just reaching for a rag. He wiped his hands on it, then grabbed a bottle of water and chugged half of it.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you. And I thought we needed to talk face-to-face, but I think I could've just texted and it would've been fine." I blurted.

"No, it's okay. I mean, that text was pretty cryptic, wasn't it? I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it like that. I shouldn't have even asked you out, Katie." Jack said sadly. "I knew it wasn't going to work out."

It felt like my throat was closing up. I didn't realize it before, but my entire body was trembling with anxiety and nerves and probably a good dose of adrenaline. "Why not? How did you know something like that?" Even my voice shook. "You can't just decide something like that." Hot tears stung my eyes, but I didn't cry. I wouldn't cry in front of Jack. I could at least wait until I was back in my dorm room.

"I didn't decide!" Jack's outburst was loud, and I flinched a little bit. I wasn't scared of him, but his sudden voice change had shocked me. Still, all I wanted to do was reach out and touch him, to run my fingers against the stubble that ran along his jaw, like I had in some of my more embarrassing daydreams. I'd actually dreamed of kissing him, and I sort of ached to do it, too, but I wouldn't.

"What do you mean?"

"It's like I told Julia, there are some complications." So he did talk to Julia about me. Well, that was sort of comforting. "I told her to tell you I was sorry, and she told me to tell you myself. So I did. I really am sorry, Katie, but there are lines that I can't cross." He looked like the words pained him.

I didn't think it was possible, but it sort of felt like my heart was breaking. I'd known Jack for a month at the longest, but I already felt like I'd fallen for him. But what did I know? The only person I'd ever dated before was Garrett, and that was almost out of convenience. I'd never been in love before. I didn't know what it felt like.

But whatever this feeling was, it sucked. I tried to wipe at my eyes without making it obvious, but I wasn't sure I succeeded. "Okay," I whispered. "I can't tell you I understand, but I'll respect your decision."

"Katie," Jack said softly. His hand drifted out to touch me, but then he hesitated. I wanted him to touch me. I wanted to feel that warm weight of his hand. "If I had my way, I wouldn't have left you on that coffee date. And I definitely wouldn't be doing this now. But it's something that I have to do. I hope that you can forgive me for that."

"I already have," I told him. I wasn't so sure that was true, but it was probably what he needed to hear. Jack looked torn apart, as saddened as I felt. Clearly, he would be making this decision for us. Or, at least, someone was. I wanted to fight it, because I'd never really fought for anything in my life besides my grades. But I could see in his eyes that it was hopeless. He was walking some sort of foreign path, and I just had to let him take it.

I took a deep breath, forced myself to give him a watery smile, and turned to walk away. I remembered the way out, and as long as I could make it to Julia's car without bursting into tears I would be okay. "Wait," Jack said.

I turned, and he was right there. "I think there was a chance I might've loved you, if I didn't already." He murmured as his hand wrapped around my arm. I could practically feel his warmth through the fabric of my jacket. "Goodbye, Katie," he said softly. Then he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine.

It wasn't my first kiss, but it felt like it was. Warmth shot into my veins, punctured by the occasional freeze that went through my limbs like lightning. My brain felt a little foggy, but then I saw pictures. At first I thought they were memories, but they couldn't be, because what I was seeing had never happened to me before.

I caught the image of me and Jack folded together, wrapped under a warm blanket, his lips covering mine. In my hands I held a book, but I couldn't tell what it was. I just knew that we were reading it together. It faded into an image of me in a red dress and no shoes, my feet cold on tile. I knew I was happy, that I was meant to be there. The dress itself was a little blurry, but the deep color was obvious, a beacon of some sort.

And finally, I saw Jack and me in an empty house, with cardboard boxes surrounding us. We were lying on an air mattress in an empty room, and Jack's fingers were running through my hair. "Forever," he whispered in my ear. "We'll be together forever."

The scenes faded just as quickly as they came. The images were gone, and I was still standing enclosed in Jack's arms. Any person would naturally move away, but I stayed exactly where I was. In fact, I wanted to snuggle closer. Jack's face was hovering just over mine, but he'd barely moved an inch. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated, as he stared down at me. "Did you see what I saw?"

"The images?" I asked. Something was different. The images were new, but those could've been daydreams that had been hidden deep in my subconscious. At least, that's what I told myself. But I couldn't explain away the waves of content that were scattering across my skin, like electric pulses that I could feel from my hair to my toes. "And the feelings…?"

Jack nodded, a smile brightening up his face. His dark eyes were bright and a little watery looking, but he looked happy. In fact, he was happier than I'd ever seen him. One hand tightened over mine, his long fingers completely engulfing my smaller hand. "Forget everything I've said about complications. I've got so much to tell you."

So this is the end. What did you think? My experiment in this story was that Katie and Jack were always meant to be imprinted, but they didn't before because they weren't ready. The idea came from the fact that the Aces didn't completely avoid each other at their Reunification. Kids that had grown up together might eventually imprint. And from that this story was born.

I wanted to thank all of you so much for continuing with this story, for encouraging me to finish and continue with my updates. Thank you, truly.

As you well know by now, I love reviews, and I'd love to hear what you have to say. Leave me a note below, and if it's one that you want me to PM an answer for, say so in the review. Or I might just PM you anyway. You guys are awesome! Peace (: