Miss Incomplete | ✓

81 | He Loves Me

"I know," I choke, trying to smile but feeling a wave of sadness. "I just–never mind, it's stupid."

I pull back when Julian shakes his head, "no. No bullshit, remember?"

I nod, remembering the requirement at the beginning of the talk. I pull down the letterman jacket around me, and exhale. "I just–does this mean that every time we were together, you were thinking of Tasha?"

That's when Julian shakes his head immediately, almost frantically. "No, Francena, I never..." He saw the look in my eyes and calms. "No. Every time we were together, hanging out or just being there for one another, I've never thought of Tasha. I mean, a couple times in the beginning if I'm being truly honest, but after the date..."

"What date?"

"Our first date," he answers simply, sending a glance to the waters. "Here."

I stay silent, I didn't know if he took it as a date. I took it as a day to calm each other. To help him get his mind off of her. Julian smiles.

"This was also where I started to like you, did you know that?"

"What?" My eyes snapped towards his direction.

"Yup," he leans back as he watches the fishes. "Here. It wasn't anything special; we were just in the pond, you were staring at that fish—Larry?—and I don't know, I just saw you in a different light. Sudden more beautiful, more amazing. It took me a while to admit it, but this was where I knew I was crushing on you."

Correction: is where everything began.

We stayed quiet as I process through his words. This was the place where it all began—actually, no—

"Miss Incomplete," I scoff lowly, chuckling at the thought.

"What?"

"Miss Incomplete," I repeat again, a bit louder. I turn to Julian who gives a confused expression and I smile, "Miss Incomplete. That's how everything started. I thought how this place was where it all begin when it wasn't—it was Miss Incomplete."

He smiles, and it meets his eyes. The small dimple of his appears, and I knew it brought back memories. It did for me; with everything, Miss Incomplete started it all.

"Why did you want to find Miss Incomplete?" I question, realising for almost ten months of spending with him—I've never asked the why. He never even given me a reason why he wanted to find Miss Incomplete so badly.

He sighs, "I was going to tell you; that day. When I confronted you, I was going to actually thank you—"

"Thank me?"

"For Miss Incomplete. For being her. I wanted to find Miss Incomplete for so long, and when it turns out you were the original, the one who was sending the notes to me during middle school, I was happy. I wanted to thank you because during my hard times with Tasha—where she would ignore me, criticise me, or something—I would always refer back to your notes. Because back then, it reminded me, in some small way that if I wasn't loved by Tasha, I was at least loved by someone else. Someone I didn't even know. It just helps me."

Oh.

"And when the copycat came—wait," Julian pauses, turning to look at me. I raise a brow, "she gave me a final note. It's in my pocket!" He points towards his letterman jacket and my eyes widen at his sudden demand. I pick his pocket, finding the outline of a single paper underneath my fingertips.

I pull out the note, finding it wasn't a note—it was a letter. Tri-folded, and neatly written on top as the final. The last letter.

I gapped, finishing to the end as the familiar words string my heart. I jumped up to my feet. I know who it is.

"What? What happened?" Julian exclaims, getting up as well. I grab a hold of his hand, and begin to pull him out of the garden; where we had our first date.

When we left, I hadn't even noticed but Larry was swimming in the mist, and a solid black koi fish paired with him.

—

"Francena, tell me where we're going, you're scaring me," Julian declares as I shrug off the letterman jacket and hand it back to him. My hands on the steering wheel as I made swerves, knowing almost the direction by heart.

Soon enough, we fall in front of the house and Julian looks at me a gapped. "Why are we at—" He was cut off once I exited out of my car, marching up to the house as I begin to blindly knock on the door.

Julian catches up with me, his footsteps falling behind. I waited, not turning around as adrenaline pumped through me.

"Francena, why are—"

The door swings open, and the figure I was looking for appear.

"Jaycee."