Hello (A Jacob Black Story)

Chapter Twenty Three

"Imprinting?" I ask and Jacob nods, rubbing his palms together.

"Yeah.." He trails off and looks back at the group, all of him giving him a nod of encouragement. "It's when you meet her and the whole world stops," he takes a step closer to me, grabbing my right hand, "nothing else matters anymore. All that matters is her. She's the one holding you down; not gravity. It's meeting the one." He finished and I look down at our joined hands before pulling mine away.

"What does that have to do with me?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"I, well," a sigh escapes his lips as he runs a hand through his hair, "I imprinted on you, Rose.." He shyly says and I stare at him in shock. Me? What? No. Not happening.

"No." I say, making everyone stare at me with shock in their eyes. "I don't want-" I stop, flailing my hands all over the place "-whatever this is!" I angrily finish, moving from my spot by the stairs.

"Chloee, it's not a choice." Emily soothingly says and I dryly laugh, shaking my head.

"So, what? Some dude looks at me and bam I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life with him?! What about me and my choice?!" I shout at Emily, making Sam grab my arm firmly.

"Chloee stop it." He demands and I look up at him, my tough exterior coming down and revealing my watery eyes with tears begging to escape.

"Fine. I'll stop." I say quietly, yanking my arm out of his grasp. "Just do me a favor and leave me alone." I demand, marching away from him and past Jacob. "All of you." I skim the room before landing my eyes on Jacob, marching up the stairs as the picture of a sad Jacob sticks to my mind.

But I'm too mad to apologize and fix things.

-

After what happened downstairs, I decided to take a hot, steaming show to calm my tense muscles and to let my thoughts run freely through my mind.

Many questions and thoughts of frustrations and imaginary arguments were won before I exited the now cold shower and changed into a pair of gray leggings and a pink, blue, purple, and beige colored plaid button down before emerging down the stairs with my wet hair.

My white socks make the echo of my feet padding down the stairs quieter, making my presence harder to hear. Even though I do know a bunch of werewolves who can hear probably everything and everyone. I think to myself, rolling my eyes.

"Oh, Chloee. I didn't hear you come down.." Emily's sweet voice breaks through my thoughts and I look at the russet skinned girl with the scar across her face.

I smile and nod, shrugging my shoulders. "Sorry about this morning.." I say, running a hand through my dampened curls. "I wasn't mad at you-"

"You were mad at them. I understand." She cuts me off, offering me a smile and I give her one back.

"Still, I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you.. It wasn't fair.." I quietly say, sitting across from her at the table, looking at her. "Sorry.." I smile, looking down at my hands folded together on the table.

I hear her mouth take in a deep breath of air, like she was going to say something only to be interrupted by the front door, several people walking into the dining room and someone grabbing my arm.

"You're coming with us." I hear a familiar deep voice tell me. Quil. I groan, standing up and letting him take me wherever he wants to. Knowing that if I tried to get out of his grasp, I wouldn't succeed - not even a little. I mean, I am dealing with one of many werewolves. Oh the joy.

Both him and Embry stand next to me in the backyard, the rest of the guys –and Leah– standing in a line across from us.

"She came out!" Seth exclaims with excitement, making me look down and shake my head.

"You can let go of my arm, Quil." I say, Quil quickly letting go of my arm like I asked. I cross my arms and look up, looking around me. "What?" I snap, wanting to be as far away from them as I can.

"We want to apologize. And to show you our wolf forms.." Jacob says, approaching me and I refuse to make eye contact.

I snort, shaking my head and turn around. "Don't want to see it and I don't care about it." Jacob groans, grabbing my arm and turns me around, bending down to make me look at him.

"I care." He gently says, making it harder for me to be mad at him.

Naturally, I glare at him and try to get out of his grasp. "Let me go." I say through gritted teeth and he shakes his head, holding me tighter.

"I will never let you go and I won't let you leave." He says, making my heart stutter and him smile.

"What's with that smile?" I frustratedly ask, trying to get out of his grasp again.

"I can hear your heart." Jacob says, making me freeze and stare at him. Not like that's creepy or anything. "I can hear it speed up, stutter.. I hear what I do to you and it makes me happy." He finishes and I take in a deep breath, trying to stop the want of my heart to race from his little speech.

"Sounds annoying." I bite, trying to ruin whatever mood he's in.

"It's not. It's proof to me that you're still alive, still breathing. And that's what I need to know; to be happy." Can he just shut up with being so sappy? I think to myself.

"Sorry to ruin whatever moment we're supposed to be having but I don't care. One day my heart won't be beating and I'll be buried fifty feet under or worse." I say, leaning closer to him before dropping my voice to a whisper. "If you know what I mean." I smile, seeing the disappointment and a flash of worry/anger cross his face.

"Chloee." Sam barks and I look over at him, seeing anger crossing his features. "Cut it out, now." He demands and instant fear washes over me, a memory or my dad getting mad at my mom before beating her.

I nod, biting my lower lip and look down. I need to get out of here. The thought has been running through my mind all day. I don't want this, I don't want to be apart of this. My life isn't supposed to go this way. I'm supposed to go to Juliard, just like me and my mom talked about and get a degree in Music and Arts and get my name known. Sing and help other people just like me. But now, now I'm "imprinted" on and my step-brother and his little – well big – friends are werewolves. What world do we live in?

But most importantly, what world do I want to live in?

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A/N: Hey guys! I was able to write this chapter today with ease and I wanted to upload it to make up for all the other updates I haven't been able to do..

Like always, like and comment! Let me know what you think and what you hope will happen next!!

Is Chloee going to listen and stop being stubborn or is she going to go to New York to live with her moms friend?

Until next chapter,
C