FROM NOW UNTIL ETERNITY
Chapter Four
Rose and Leanne sat in homeroom,
going over some notes for some new cheerleading moves, when Jack entered with
two of his friends. Rose looked up, and their eyes met.
"Hey, Rose." Jack
smiled as he passed.
"Hi, Jack," Rose
greeted, not taking her eyes away from him as he took a seat on the opposite
side of the room.
"Did Jack Dawson just say
hello to you?" Leanne looked at her friend in shock. She hadn’t actually
been expecting Rose to talk to Jack. She had just been teasing Rose when she
had suggested that she ask Jack to the dance. Leanne would rather see her go
with Caledon Hockley.
"Yes, he did." Rose
grinned happily. "And look at this." Rose pulled out the picture he
had drawn of her.
"Oh, wow! This is you! Who
did this?"
"Jack. Isn’t he talented?
It’s like he captured my soul and put it on paper."
"How did you get this?"
"It’s a long story."
Rose sighed.
"So? Tell me. You somehow
talked to the guy you’ve been crushing on forever, and now you’ve actually
gotten a drawing out of him somehow. Tell me."
Rose laughed and told Leanne
about helping Jack’s grandmother home and the time they had spent together.
"Wow." Leanne sighed.
"So…are you going to ask him?"
"What?"
"To the dance. After seeing
this, you have a good chance of him saying yes."
"I don’t know…what if he
thinks I’m pushy? What if he was just being nice last night? You know, grateful
that I helped his grandmother get home?"
"But the picture,
Rose…"
"He’s an artist, Leanne. He
draws people. I just happened to be his topic that day. It doesn’t mean
anything."
"Rose?" Jack stood
behind Leanne, a smile on his face.
"Hi, Jack." Rose
swallowed.
"I was wondering something.
Are you doing anything besides cheerleading Friday night?"
"Uh…no. Not really.
Why?"
"I was wondering…would you
like to go to the dance with me? Maybe we can grab a bite to eat
afterwards?"
"You mean…like a date?"
Rose’s heart began beating at a rapid pace. She tried her best not to stutter.
This was like a dream come true. Jack Dawson actually wanted to go out with
her.
"That’s the idea." Jack
smiled, hiding his nervousness well.
"S-sure…I mean, yes. I’d
love to."
"I’ll meet you there."
Jack grinned before going back to his desk.
Rose could have stood up and done
one of her cheers right then and there. Jack Dawson was actually going to be
her date Friday night! Things couldn’t get better than this.
"Well, it looks like I won
that bet." Rose leaned back in her seat. Leanne just shook her head.
"I don’t think so. You were
supposed to ask him. It’s a default."
Rose just rolled her eyes
good-naturedly and continued to stare at her drawing, knowing that her life was
about to change for the better.
*****
"I can’t believe you’re
taking her to the dance…heck, that you’re going at all!" Moira Donnelly
griped as she took a seat at the table where she and her friends sat at lunch.
She glared over at her best friend, Jack. Sometimes the boy confused her. He
was always optimistic and thought everyone was basically good. Plus, he had a
crush on a cheerleader. How cliché could one get? There was nothing that Moira
hated more than cheerleaders and jocks. To her, they were all airheads.
"Rose is different, Moira.
You shouldn’t judge someone without knowing them." Jack sighed.
"I don’t need to know her. I
just know she’s as stuck-up as the rest of the numbskulls on that squad, and
I’ll be glad when you come to the same conclusion at the dance Friday. In fact,
I’m surprised that she agreed to go with you. Her type usually goes with those
rich boys on the basketball team. Like Caledon Hockley."
"Like I said, Rose is
different." Jack smiled.
"Get off Jack’s case. Moira.
If he wants to take Rose DeWitt-Bukater to the dance, that’s his
business." Tommy Ryan took a bite of his hamburger.
*****
Rose sat at her table with the
rest of the cheerleaders. She rolled her eyes as Caledon Hockley stood at the
head of the table, his gang standing behind him.
"Sweetpea!" he greeted
Rose.
Rose sighed, regretting the one
date she had gone on with Cal. At first, she had thought he was handsome and
charming. But the more he talked, the more annoyed she became. The boy did not
have a brain in his head or a sensitive bone in his body. That was their first
and last date. But ever since, Cal had been trying to get Rose to go back out
with him. Even giving her these stupid pet names.
"What do you want,
Cal?" Rose rolled her eyes.
"The dance this Friday…I
think we’d make a great couple if we went together." Cal winked, leaning
down to meet her face-to-face. "What do you say? We’d be the biggest thing
there."
"Have you ever heard of
Freud, Cal? You might be interested in his theory on the male preoccupation
with size." Rose stood up and left, not wanting to spend anymore time in
Cal’s presence than she had to.
"Was that a yes or a
no?" Cal asked, staring after Rose.
"Definitely a no."
Leanne laughed at Rose’s barb. Being the smartest of the cheerleaders, Rose was
always able to come up with jokes that stumped the others.
"Who is Freud anyway? A new
band?" Cal took a seat.
This made Leanne double over with
laughter, getting up out of her seat. "Talk to you later, Cal." She
followed Rose out of the cafeteria.
"What’s their problem?"
Cal frowned.
"Ignore Rose, Cal."
Suzette Winters, the co-captain of the squad, patted the seat next to her. She
had always been jealous of Rose. The girl had everything. The top spot on the
squad, the perfect house, and she even had the perfect man interested in her,
even though she spurned his advances. "Sit by me. I would love to go to
the dance with you."
Cal looked at Suzette in resignation.
Since he couldn’t have Rose, he would take the next best thing.
*****
"Caledon Hockley wants you
bad, Rose. Why don’t you go with Cal instead?" Leanne followed her friend
out on the steps.
"Because I like Jack better,
that’s why." Rose glared at Leanne, who just shrugged and sat down next to
her. "Besides, Cal is a talentless, brainless slimeball."
"But Jack’s poor, Rose.
Cute, but poor. We cheerleaders usually stick to boys like Cal. Boys with
social standing."
"Social standing’s not
everything, Leanne. In fact, it’s something that can easily be lost." Rose
sighed, wondering if she should tell her friend her secret. That soon she
wouldn’t be rich anymore. In fact, she had to move out of her house and into a
small apartment come Saturday. The fact that her mother had declared bankruptcy
was a fact she had kept well-hidden. But soon the secret would come out, and
then she would really see who her friends were. "Leanne…would you still be
my friend if I wasn’t rich? If someday I became poor?"
"But you are rich,
Rose."
"But what if I wasn’t? What
if I wasn’t rich anymore?"
"Rose, this is ridiculous.
You are rich. You will probably remain rich, so you really have nothing to
worry about."
"But…"
"Drop it, Rose. Okay? You
are rich, so let’s forget all this what if crap. Your social standing will
never be in question. Now, I have to get to class. I’ll see you later."
Leanne rushed off , leaving Rose alone and depressed. Little did Leanne know
that Rose’s social standing was going to be questioned very soon and their
friendship was going to be put to the test.