CHATROOM
LOVE
Chapter Twelve
"You have an older sister?" Dawn asked,
surprised. Jack had never revealed that particular bit of information to them.
Why was he living with his cousins instead of with her? Of course, if what he
said was true, he was better off with his cousins in Edmonton than with his
sister in New York.
Rose was surprised, too, but her concern for Jack
overshadowed that. "Your sister works in the World Trade Centre?"
Jack nodded, blinking his eyes rapidly to hold back
tears. "Yes. Or she did. If the damage is as bad as they say, no one is
going to be working there anymore. My God."
He looked away from them, trying to wipe his eyes
without them noticing. Rose reached into her purse and handed him a tissue. He
took it from her without a word.
Rose put a hand on his arm. "Maybe it’s not as
bad as they say. Or maybe she wasn’t there--maybe she was late for work, or had
to run an errand or something. Anything is possible, right?"
"Or maybe she got out okay," Dawn added.
"You said she was on the ninety-third floor, right? The news said the
plane hit above that. Maybe she was able to escape."
Jack brightened a little at this thought, then frowned
again, his shoulders slumping. "How could she have? It would have taken a
miracle--or great athletic ability--to escape that, and Trudy’s no athlete."
"Neither was Rose, the last time she saw her
ex-boyfriend, Cal, but you should have seen how fast she ran when she caught
sight of him. When someone’s scared of something, it’s amazing what they can
do."
"Yes," Rose agreed. "Don’t give up hope
yet. Anything could have happened." She looked at the television,
listening to the reporter talk. "You see? Some people have gotten out, and
they’re saying that some people were late for work this morning. And those
towers are still standing--I’ll bet there’s still hope. Don’t give up hope
until you know for sure."
She looked at him, her face showing her sympathy. He
had already lost his parents; what would happen if he lost his sister, too? Impulsively,
without stopping to think if the gesture would be appropriate or welcomed, she
reached out and hugged him.
Jack stood stiffly for a moment, surprised at her
sudden show of affection. Then, slowly, he relaxed and hugged her back, as Dawn
looked on, one eyebrow raised.
"Thank you, Rose," he whispered, unable to
think of anything else to say.
"It’ll be all right, Jack, one way or another.
Just don’t give up hope."
The bell rang, signalling to the students that it was
time to go to class. Jack and Rose stepped away from each other, a little
embarrassed by their display of affection. As the student common room emptied,
Jack looked around, not sure if he felt like going to class.
"Maybe I should just go home," he mumbled,
watching the students rushing toward their classes.
"So you can sit and worry about your sister all
day? If you stay here at school, you’ll have something to take your mind off of
her," Rose told him.
"I don’t know..."
"Besides, Dawn and I are going to need a ride
home after school, and you know how hard it is to get into the parking lot at
the end of the day."
He sighed, not really listening to her.
"And," she added, "you promised to go
with me to the country club this afternoon. I’m still holding you to
that." She stopped, afraid she had gone too far. Why would he want to go
to the country club when such a tragedy had occurred? It did seem a little
obscene to be thinking about having fun when so many people--maybe even Jack’s
sister--were dying.
"Why should I?" he asked her, ignoring the
warning bell. "Missing one day of school won’t hurt much, and how can I
even think of going to the country club at a time like this? It sounds like
fun, but I shouldn’t be off trying to have fun when my sister might be dead or
dying."
The tardy bell rang, but neither paid attention to it,
too lost in thought to pay attention to such mundane things as getting to class
on time.
Rose looked up at Jack, a thought occurring to her.
"Jack, if this was indeed caused by
terrorists--and it seems pretty likely--wouldn’t going home and brooding about
things be just what they want? They want to bring people’s lives to a
standstill, to tear things apart. Why give them the satisfaction? I’ll
understand if you don’t want to go to the country club, but you should at least
go to classes today. It’ll give you something to think about besides your
sister, and maybe give you a chance to talk more about it, since some teachers
will probably want to discuss it."
Jack nodded thoughtfully, noticing a custodian eyeing
them and gesturing in the direction of the door. "We’d better get out of
here."
As they stepped into the hall, he looked around, then
came to a decision. "I’ll stay at school today. I’ll even think about
going to the country club after school, though if we go, I don’t think I’ll
want to stay too long." He tried to smile. "Back in California, Trudy
and I once stood outside a country club and wondered what it was like inside,
to be so expensive and exclusive. If she’s alive, it’ll give me something to tell
her about. If not..." He paused, struggling. "If not...it’ll at least
satisfy my curiosity."
"That’s something," Rose told him, reaching
for his hand as they started down the hall, ignoring the principal who eyed
them suspiciously as he passed by.
As they reached her classroom, she reached for the
doorknob, turning to him. "I’ll see you at lunch, okay?" she asked,
aware that other students were watching them out the window.
"Sure," he said, trying to sound
enthusiastic. "I’ll tell you whether or not I want to go the country club
then, too. All right?"
"Okay." Rose put a hand on his shoulder.
"It’ll be all right, Jack. I know it will. Now..." She stepped back,
starting to open her classroom door. "You’d better get to class, before
you get in trouble."
"Sure." He stepped back, starting down the
hall. "See you at lunch, Rose."
She gave him an encouraging smile. "Maybe
there’ll be some news by then."
"Yeah. Maybe." He turned and walked down the
hall.
Rose watched him for a moment, before opening the door
and going into her classroom.