BARRIERS OF A FIRST LOVE
Chapter Two
Maybe it will be different here, better, he optimistically thought to himself.
Just then, a group of girls with dishwater
blonde hair that had light, light streaks in it making them look like albino
zebras giggled and whispered to each other as they walked past him.
Nope. False alarm.
*****
Rose DeWitt-Bukater sat at the lab table, her
head resting on her arm and a bored expression on her face. It was the first
period of the first day of school and already she felt as if she were
suffocating. Why did school do this to her? Her friends were so needy, so
overbearing. And how they copied all her unique styles! She was always there
for them, no matter how small and petty their problems were. But why did they
never help her? Couldn’t they see how miserable she was? How she was tired of
them clinging to her every limb? How her relationship with Cal was spinning out
of control and she was powerless to stop it?
"Ms. Bukater, is there a problem?"
She looked up and found herself staring into
the gray eyes of an older man with a shiny bald head. He had been standing
there since the beginning of class, so she presumed that he was the teacher.
"No…um…Mr. um..."
"Kells," the person sitting on the
other side of the lab table whispered to her.
"Mr. Kells."
"Thank you. Now, back to the point. What
was it? Ah…yes. The reason that I chose your seats for you, even though it is
the first day, is for a major science project that will continue throughout the
entire school year."
Ah ha. So this is science, Rose thought to herself. I was wondering what class
I was in. And I guess that explains the lab tables and test tubes.
"The project," Mr. Kells continued,
"is a study of life. That’s right. You will be put into groups of either
two or three, and you will get to know the life tendencies of the other people
in your group while they do the same for you. Each month, you will be assigned
a new topic to focus on. The final project will be turned in on the first
Monday of June, but please don’t slack off and then ask them their favorite
color the last week of May. Okay, for the people at the lab tables, your
partner is the person sitting across from you. For those of you in desks, here
is how the grouping will go..."
Rose tuned out to take a look at the person
sitting across from her. Well, he seems to be male, which is never a good
sign. Ick! And he’s one of the worst types, too! Those clothes are straight
from the Gap, and I bet he has a whole month’s supply in his closet. And no
one’s hair looks that perfect. The gel alone must have cost a small fortune.
Well, at least my friends will approve.
*****
Jack took another look at his partner and
sighed.
She’s gorgeous. I hate that about her.
He had first noticed her in the parking lot
before school. He had been attracted by her long, glossy strands of blood red
hair. It was hair that could make a guy go crazy. It hung almost to her waist,
straight as a ruler. Her eyes were whirlpools of blue, green, and gray that
could reveal her every thought and feeling. She was wearing a pleated jean
skirt that flew loosely at her thighs while she walked with a simple blue shirt
that wrapped around in the front and had slit sleeves. He remembered thinking
that maybe she’d be special, a break in the predictable fabric of high school.
The hope was vanished as the streaky-haired girls he had seen earlier gathered
around her and complimented her on every little useless thing.
She was clearly their ringleader.
*****
"Rose, what the fuck is wrong with
you?" Christopher asked her at lunch time.
"What are you talking about?" There
were a million things that he could be talking about.
She had been distant with him ever since Cal
first made a pass at her after their date. Chris was Cal’s little brother and
the one who had first introduced him to Rose. Since she and Cal had started
dating last year, she had been the envy of every other girl at the school.
Dating a college guy was the ultimate epitome of cool.
"I talked to Cal over the phone last
night. He said that on your last date you were distant, and he thinks that you
were checking out another guy in the middle of dinner. If you’re not careful,
he might break up with you."
There were a million things that she wanted
to scream at Chris, but just then an unfamiliar guy walked up to her.
"Hi. I was just wondering when you
wanted to get together for the project?" he asked.
Then she remembered. He was the soulless
buffoon from science class. "Um…I’m getting together with my boyfriend
tonight." That should steer him off for a while, she thought to
herself before continuing. "So how about tomorrow after school?"
"Sure. I’ll meet you in the parking lot
at four."
Just before he was out of hearing distance,
Rose’s so-called best friend, Madeleine, quipped, "Oh Rose, he’s so cute.
It’s not fair how lucky you are."