CHANGES
Chapter Three
Rose awoke feeling strangely happy. Not only
was the war between herself and Jack Dawson over, they were together! Although
had hadn't admitted it to anyone, ever since her boyfriend of three years moved
to St. Louis two months earlier, she had noticed Jack in a whole new light. And
now he was hers. Sighing, she got out of bed and went downstairs.
*****
"What was Jack doing in your room last
night? I thought you hated each other," was what she was greeted with when
she entered the kitchen.
Rose smiled at her fourteen-year-old sister,
Morgan. "Hate each other? That's sure going to make our relationship
interesting."
Morgan dropped her spoon into her cereal with
a loud clank. "Relationship?"
Rose bit her lip so she wouldn't laugh. She
knew Morgan had had a crush on Jack since she was at least five, and recently
had announced he was on the verge of asking her out. With that in mind, she
couldn't help teasing her. "Yes, relationship. You know, when two people
get together..."
"I know what a relationship is!"
Morgan snapped.
Rose grinned. "Okay! Okay!"
"What's that have to do with Jack,
though?"
"We're going out."
Morgan's face went red. "WHAT?"
Rose calmly poured herself some juice.
"We're going out. He asked me out last night and I accepted."
Morgan stood up and stomped towards the door.
"You're only doing this to ruin my life! I hate you!" she yelled
before leaving the kitchen.
Rose broke down and started laughing
hysterically when Rebecca came in. "What's so funny?"
"Morgan's reaction to me and Jack's
going out."
Rebecca turned around. "So he asked you
out, huh?"
Rose nodded. "Yes."
"And she's not taking it too well?"
"Nope."
"You just had to tease her, didn't
you?"
Rose smiled sheepishly. "Her expression
was priceless."
Rebecca burst out laughing. "It's about
time she realized Jack had no feelings for her."
*****
"You and Rose DeWitt-Bukater?"
Jack's oldest sibling, Jessica, exclaimed.
"Yes, me and Rose. I like the sound of
that."
"You know Mom and Dad are going to have
heart attacks over this one, right?" Jessica said, folding her arms across
her chest.
Jack grinned. "Yeah, well. I guess you
better remember September second from now on, sis. They're going to make it a
holiday, you know."
Jessica laughed. "Probably. Or at least
try their hardest to...wow, you and Rose. Who would've guessed?"
"Certainly not me OR Rose. That much is
for sure."
Jessica shook her head. "Crazy. Where
are you going?" she asked as Jack put on his coat.
Giving his sister a charming smile, he said,
"Rose's."
*****
"I'm serious, Ash. This is like...the
happiest I've been in forever," Rose told her friend over the phone.
"I don't know, Rose...how can you two
just forget all the hate you had towards each other all this time? It doesn't
sound right."
Rose sighed. "It's not like we forgot.
We're just not dwelling on it. We talked about all that last night."
"If you say so. Just be careful, okay?
We both know he's a heartbreaker, and I don't wanna see you be another name on
his list."
"He won't. He knows I'll kick his ass if
he does."
Ashley giggled. "That I'd have to
see."
Just then there was a knock on the door. Rose
glanced out her window to see Jack standing there. "Listen, Ash, Jack's
here. Do me a favor?"
"Sure."
"Don't tell anyone yet. We're going to
tell them in our own way."
"Okay. Bye."
"Ciao."
Rose hung up the phone and ran down the
stairs. When she opened the door, Jack gave her a weird look. "What took
you so long?"
"I was on the phone with Ashley.
Sorry."
Jack gave her a kiss. "Don't worry about
it."
"My room or the living room?"
"Um...the living room, I guess."
Rose looked at him curiously. "Are you
afraid to be in my room?" she asked, leading him into the living room.
Jack sat on the couch and Rose sat down
beside him. "No, I'm not afraid. I'm just...er...nervous
about...well...what might happen."
"Nah. I've never...uh, you know."
Jack looked up at her in surprise.
"You're kidding. Weren't you and Cal together for a few centuries or
something?"
"Three years," Rose said dryly.
"But no, we never did. It just didn't feel right."
Jack shook his head. "I figured the two
of you had. If it makes you feel any better, I haven't either."
Rose's jaw dropped. "Liar."
"No, I'm serious. I never have."
"You went out with all them sluts...er,
girls and you never...?"
Jack laughed. "Sluts, come on, you can
say it. But no...I guess my mom always telling me to wait until the right
person came along got to me."
"Wow. I thought you must've been doing
it since you were like twelve or something."
"Twelve? Come on, give me some
credit."
Rose smiled flirtatiously. "You always
were popular with all the ladies."
Jack blushed. "Except you."
"Well, I wasn't too popular with you,
either."
"True...can we talk about something
else?"
"Yes. I was wondering, how are we going
to tell people about us? After that fight we had in homeroom last week, they
aren't exactly going to believe us."
Jack grinned. "That was quite a doozy,
wasn't it?" He frowned. "I'm sorry about that."
Rose shook her head. "It's okay."
"Why don't we just show up at school and
make out in front of everyone?" Jack said, winking.
Rose grinned. "I like that."
"All right. Then it's settled. Tomorrow
I will pick you up and when we get to school, we'll make out in the parking
lot."
"That should give Mr. Franks something
to analyze," Rose said, referring to the school counselor who had tried on
numerous occasions to get the two of them to talk.
Jack coughed. "Confuse the shit out of
him, more likely."
Rose sighed and leaned back. "This is
weird. Us, I mean."
Jack glanced at Rose, whose dark hair was
spread out around her. "Yeah...but more then that, in a weird, twisted
way, it makes sense."
Rose nodded. "Yeah, it does."
Jack leaned back and kissed her gently.
"And kissing you is just way too much fun."
Rose eyed him. "Is that the only reason
you asked me out?"
Jack kissed her again. "No. But you have
to admit, it is quite entertaining."
"Mmm..." was Rose's response, and
as she pulled him towards her, bringing their mouths together.