Ready for the next chapter? I know I am! :) Anyways, guess what's on Saturday night… The Wizard of Oz… okay, if you seriously just bought that… you don't deserve to be reading this TITANIC Fanfic :) (If you haven't got it yet… it's Titanic…) Lol, anyways, on with the show!

Love,

Lauren :)

"Okay class, here is an extra copy of the parent teacher forms just in case any of you misplaced them," Mr. Dawson said as he passed out neatly typed slips of papers. He slide one over to me from across the table and winked devilishly.

"I'm especially excited for our conference, Emma," he said with a smile. "Maybe we're… long lost cousins or something!" I chuckled fakely at his obvious sarcasm, and he laughed as well.

"Maybe you are," James whispered, just as sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and playfully nudged him in the stomach. He smiled and twisted his head in such a way that it made his hair do a strange flip-thing.

I liked it.

"Hey Laurel," Kara said. "You've got some drool on your chin there." My eyes went wide and I quickly wiped my chin, finding that there actually wasn't anything there.

"Very funny," I said. She smiled and watched as Mr. Dawson now began to pass out the water colors to everyone, though he skipped me.

"Um-"

"I actually have to talk to you, Laurel," he interrupted. I furrowed my brows and slouched down on my stool, now nervous that I might be in some sort of trouble.

"Don't be worried, you're not in trouble or anything," he said, almost speaking my thoughts. He smiled, and now so did I, and I slowly got up from my stool and walked into the back room with him.

"What?" I asked, impatient and ready to paint.

"Well, I made a few telephone calls, got a few telephone calls and actually got the Dean of Submissions at the art museum to hang up a few of your pieces." He explained. I stood, more like stood cockeyed with my still, what we found out, sprained foot, speechless. A large smile then washed across my face and I wrapped my arms around Mr. Dawson.

"That's great!" I cried. He smiled and rubbed my back, and I suddenly got this strange feeling.

It was a feeling I'd never experienced before.

It kind of felt like love…

But it was a love towards someone I thought I never could love…

A father…

I pulled away from Jack slowly; my stomach now tied in two, and stared up at his blue eyes. He stared back into mine, and it felt as if something inside of me went, "Click!"

I furrowed my brows and took a step back.

"Well, th-thank you again, Mr. Dawson, it means a lot." I said. He smiled weakly, just as confused as I now was, and ran his fingers through his hair. I stood there for another awkward moment before suddenly opening the door and quickly walking out of the dim lit room, back to my seat.

"GRANDMA!" I yelled as I came running through the door, not caring that there were about twenty some odd people in the restaurant. "Grandma!"

"Yes dear?" she wondered as she came scurrying through the kitchen, balancing plates on whatever part of her body she could. I smiled and grabbed two plates she had on her forearms, and set them down where she pointed.

"Has mom ever told you anything about dad? I was wondering about him today." She smiled and wiped her hands on her apron.

"A few things… what do you want to know?" she asked. I smiled and sat down at the counter as she stood across from it.

"Well, I want to know about him… where he grew up. How he met mom. How he died. And I guess his name would be nice, too." Grandma laughed and poured Mr. Jefferson, our neighbor, a cup of coffee.

"Here you go, George." She said. He smiled and topped off his hat to her.

"You're the best, Irene." She smiled and turned to look at me again.

"Well," she began. "She never told me his name, but she did say he grew up here." I smiled.

"So that's why it's special." I said, more to myself than to grandma.

"Mhm." I sighed and rested my head on my hands.

"Did she tell you anything else?" I asked. She furrowed her brows and quickly thought of something else.

"Ah, your mother and your father always wanted to travel, well, more your mother than your father, your father already traveled quite a lot, but your mother never really got the chance to. Anyways, they had always planned on going to Santa Monica together, and that's why your mother and you lived there for a while. Huh, I remember missing you two so much… but that's beside the point. Now, your mother always wanted to go to Paris, and ironically, your father had lived there only months before they met, so they talked about going there a lot, too." She explained. I smiled and leaned forward then kissed her on the forehead.

"I missed you too… and thanks." She smiled as well and kissed me on the forehead back.

Later, James, Kara, and I sat around the fireplace all doing our homework, when we heard mother and Will come walking up the stairs, large smiles on their faces.

"Alright, what's going on?" James asked with a smile as well. Mom and Will both shared devilish smiles and looked directly at me.

"What would you say… if we said… we were getting married?" Mother asked as she now smiled ear to ear and stuck out her hand, accessorized with a small stone.

My heart sank.

Kara and James, however, yelped with joy and ran over to mother to inspect her ring.

I sat next to the fire, my notepad and pen now lying on the floor, my mouth opened wide enough that you could stick a finger in it, and my eyes beginning to water.

"So?" Will wondered. I looked up at him, at mom, a single tear streaming down my face.

"Laurel," mother began. "What's wrong?" I smiled, fakely, and stood up.

"H-happy tears," I lied, terribly. "I'm, I'm, I'm so happy for you." I gave my mother a small squeeze and Will one as well.

"Oh I'm so glad you're happy!" Mother cried. I chuckled as another tear ran down my cheek.

But it wasn't a happy tear.

God, it wasn't even a sad tear…

It was a I'm-Dying-Inside-Tear…

"Um, excuse me," I said, wiping my wet face. "I'm just, I'm just so happy I need a little air." Mom and Will smiled while James and Kara laughed, as I quickly ran down the stairs. I pushed open the door, almost tearing it off its hinges, and continued to run into the street. I didn't know where I was running, but I just ran. I kept running and running until my legs felt sore. Almost weightless. I realized that they had fallen asleep, eventually, but I didn't care, I just kept running, when suddenly, I ran into a brick wall.

Or what I thought was a brick wall…

"Hmph!" I yelled.

"Ow!" I heard. I fell to the sidewalk with a thud, whacking my head in the process, and the last thing I saw before everything went black was a blurred image…

Of a man…

Ooh-hoo-whoo! CLIFFHANGER! :) Tell me what you guys thought! Please! Going through a rough patch right now… LONG story, just ask Baylee… so it's making it really hard for me to write these stories SPECIFICALLY… again, long story. Anyways, I'll try my best, especially with CREC Tests (BIG tests in my school) and volleyball (Going to see the doctor tomorrow during school 'cause I jammed my knee on the ground while diving for a ball… yeah, sure kneepads work) Anyways, I'll try to update soon! I promise! :)