A CALIFORNIA ROSE
Chapter One
Windsor High School
Masline, California
June 18, 2002
The hot Southern California sun beat down
upon the group of high school graduates in their caps and gowns. Teachers
rushed about, trying to organize the milling students. The excited students
didn’t listen, and only began to line up for the procession as the time for the
graduation ceremony approached.
Rose DeWitt-Bukater and her best friend,
Trudy Bolt, fell into the center of the line. Rose’s mother, Ruth, and her
boyfriend, Caledon Hockley, had wanted her near the front of the line, but Rose
was too hot and uncomfortable to fight for a place at the front.
Trudy’s excited voice cut into her thoughts.
"We’re almost done, Rose! Isn’t this cool?"
Rose shrugged. "I guess so." She
wiped at her sweaty forehead, trying to glimpse her mother and Cal in the
bleachers beside the football field where the ceremony would take place.
"I don’t understand you," Trudy
grumbled as they filed onto the football field. "We’re about to graduate
from high school. We’re gonna be free! No more school, no more teachers, no
more homework, no more dress code...it’s gonna be great!"
"Until college," Rose reminded her.
"You have more freedom there,"
Trudy reminded her. "You won’t be living with your mom anymore, so you
won’t have to listen to her." She frowned as Rose fanned herself with the
front of her black robe. The top of a formal dress was clearly visible.
"Why are you wearing that? They have
some dumb rules about dress code at Disneyland for grad night, but you don’t
have to wear something formal."
"I’m not going to grad night. Mom and
Cal are taking me to some fancy restaurant for dinner. Cal says he has
something special planned."
Trudy clapped her hands over her mouth and
giggled. "I bet he’s gonna ask you to marry him. He keeps hinting at that,
you know."
Rose shook her head. "Oh, no, I don’t
think so. We’ve only known each other a few months."
Trudy just giggled some more. "I think
he will! You’re so lucky, Rose. You’re gonna be the first one to get
engaged...and to such a hunk!"
"Trudy!" Rose opened her mouth to
say more, but at that moment the principal called for silence, and the talking
stopped.
Rose sat quietly through the speeches, but
inside she was worried. Trudy was right. Cal had been hinting about marriage,
ever since Rose’s eighteenth birthday in April. Rose was fond of Cal, but she
wasn’t sure that she was ready for marriage. It would be hard to turn him down,
though, if he did want to marry her. Cal could be very persistent when he
wanted something, as when they first began dating.
Rose had met Cal while touring the campus of
Elias University, which she would attend in the fall. Cal had been recruiting
students for job interviews for the Titan Construction Corporation, where he
held a high-ranking position.
Rose, Trudy, and another friend, Sophie, had
been sitting at a table in the eating area when he had approached them. He had
talked about the benefits of working for Titan Construction, and coaxed the
addresses and phone numbers out of Rose and Sophie. Cal had been intrigued by
Rose, and was even more interested when he discovered that she lived only two
miles from his apartment in Masline. That night, he had called her and asked
her for a date.
Rose had been shocked at first--wasn’t this
unprofessional behavior? He had assured her that it would only be
unprofessional if she was working for him, and since she wasn’t qualified for
any positions in his department, she wouldn’t be working for him.
Rose still didn’t want to go out with him. He
was much older than her--nearly thirty--and she felt uncomfortable with him.
Her mother, however, had thought it wonderful that Cal was interested in her,
and had finally convinced Rose to go out with him.
Cal had been a gentleman, for the most part,
although he had occasionally tried to go farther than Rose was interested in
going, and he had a disconcerting need to keep an eye on her. He was very
charming, though, and Rose liked him--usually.
She hadn’t appreciated it when he tried to
dictate to her where she would go after school, or where she would look for a
summer job, or where they would go when they went out. Cal had insisted upon
escorting her to the prom, even going so far as to pay for her dress. He had
rented a limousine, and they had arrived at the prom--held in Oceanside--in
style. Rose had been embarrassed. Cal was much older than any of the other
girls’ dates--none of those guys had been older than twenty. The prom had been
held in a hotel, and Cal had been more than slightly disgruntled when Rose had
refused to go upstairs with him.
The other girls had been envious--none of
them had boyfriends that old, or that rich--but Rose had wanted to sink through
the floor with embarrassment. She had spent most of the evening walking along
the beach with some other kids. Cal had been cold and angry the next day, but
soon forgave her. Rose found out why a few days later--Cal had gone through her
pile of acceptance letters from various colleges and had chosen one for her
himself--Elias University, his alma mater.
Rose had been furious. Elias University was
one of the most expensive schools around, and even with financial aid, Rose
would be hard-pressed to afford it. Her mother had worked hard to keep them
living in middle class style, and had had little extra money since Rose’s
father had died two years earlier.
Rose had been planning upon attending a
community college first, then transferring to another school to finish her
degree. She had said as much to Cal, but he had arrogantly informed her that
Elias University was the best there was, and that a community college wasn’t
good enough for her. Her mother had agreed. Intelligent people didn’t go to
community colleges; those schools were reserved for those who couldn’t make it
elsewhere. Ruth had insisted that she would come up the money somehow, and Rose
had reluctantly agreed.
Rose was brought back to the present when
Trudy yanked on her arm, pointing toward the makeshift stage at the front of
the audience. Sophie, the valedictorian, was making her speech.
Rose listened politely, but her mind was
elsewhere. She had been second in line for salutatorian, but had been beaten
out by Peter Thio, an Asian immigrant student. Rose’s mother had been furious,
and had demanded that those in charge reconsider their decision. Rose had
gotten the impression that her mother was more upset by the fact that an
immigrant had gotten salutatorian, than by the fact that Rose had not gotten
the honor.
Secretly, Rose felt that it was for the
better. The last time she had made a speech, at a pep rally the previous
January, she had had the students screaming in support of her idea--abolition
of the dress code--but had also succeeded in infuriating the principal, the
school board, half the teachers, and a number of parents. Ruth had been
embarrassed and angry, and Rose was not called upon to make any more speeches that
year. Possibly, she realized, it was why she had not been named salutatorian.
She wasn’t sorry, though. She had always been outspoken about what she thought
was right, and no amount of anger on the part of her mother, the principal, or
anyone else was going to change that.
Sophie finished her speech--something about
all the wonderful opportunities awaiting them--and stepped down. The students
began to file up to the stage to receive the folders that would hold their
diplomas--the actual diplomas would be mailed to them later. The rest of the
ceremony passed in a blur for Rose, except for when her high-heeled shoe caught
in the grassy turf and she nearly knocked over the student in front of her. The
students laughed, and as Trudy helped her up, Rose caught sight of her mother
ducking her head in embarrassment.
All too soon, graduation was over, and the
students rushed off the field to greet their cheering relatives and friends.