MORE THAN THAT
Chapter Twenty-Seven
February 12, 2004
It was the day before the junior
prom. Ever since Tommy and Cal’s fight in school Monday, Rose had contemplated
whether or not she should be going to the prom. Sure, it’d be wrong to back out
at the last minute, but Jack still had Christina to go with. Yeah, she had
already bought her dress, but her parents were able to afford it.
It was just those amazingly
horrible and weird dreams she’d been having. Something just didn’t feel right
to her about Friday night. It was just weird that the nightmares came back to
her this week. What did they even have to do with Friday night?
Rose lazily walked herself to her
locker at the end of the school day. She could barely concentrate in class with
all these emotions bouncing around in her head. She felt especially bad when it
came to Jack. He seemed so excited about prom, and there she was, deciding if
she would even be going.
"I can’t wait until
tomorrow! I’m going to be getting my hair done and going to MAC for my makeup!
I know it’s not going to be as fun as senior prom, but we’ll still have a good
time! You, Jack, Hannah, Fabri, and me!" Christina smiled at Rose as she stood
by her locker. Rose gave Christina a weak smile, shoving all her books in her
bag. "Is something wrong, Rose?"
"I’m just tired," she
lied. Christina could sense it was more than that, but didn’t want to push it.
"We have to get out of here
soon, girls!" Hannah said, running to them. She was still getting used to
the fact that Rose was hanging out with them. Never in her three years at St.
Edmund’s had she ever imagined hanging out with her. However, Christina was
convinced that the old Rose was back.
"Hannah, the flower shop is
not going to close down on us. It’s only ten to two!" Christina told her
friend.
"I just don’t wanna sit
around this school until 2:30 when we can leave now!" Hannah said.
"Good point!"
Rose smiled at the two girls, who
were always bickering about something but always agreed with each other in the
end. Just then, the three girls heard laughter coming from across Rose’s
locker. Jennifer and Molly Baxter giggled while looking at the girls, obviously
making fun of them.
Rose turned to look at Christina,
who was obviously getting mad. The Spanish beauty clenched her fists as her
face turned red. This scene was bound to get ugly. Hannah and Rose watched as
Christina stormed up to the two girls.
"I can’t believe she would
stoop that low, hanging out with losers like them," Jennifer said.
"Yo, you two bitches, if you
got something to say, tell it to our faces," Christina said, hands on her
hips.
"Ew. Get out of our faces,
you dirty spic," Molly insulted her, only pumping up Christina’s energy
more.
"I am very tempted to hit
you two, but I have class and am looking forward to the prom tomorrow. You are
so lucky we’re in school right now," Christina told them.
"You make it sound like we’d
be scared of you. You’re nothing. You’re vapor. It’s unfortunate that Rose had
to join the lower ranking like you and her idiotic new boyfriend. So, go run
along and mow someone’s lawn!" Jennifer cruelly said.
It really pulled the last string
for Christina. There was no way she was going to allow stuck-up snobs like
Jennifer Green and Molly Baxter to insult her like that.
"Oh, that’s it! You hookers
asked for this!" Christina said, pulling her hair up into a ponytail and
throwing off her coat.
"Wait a minute,
Christina!" Christina recognized the voice coming towards her. It was
Tommy, coming to her side. "Let them run off to their asshole boyfriends.
Don’t risk the prom because of these two morons. You’re above them. All three
of you girls."
"Ew. Let’s go, Molly. We
don’t need to see this horrid love scene!" Jennifer said, storming off
with Molly.
"Thanks, Tommy,"
Christina said, barely able to look at him.
"It was no problem. I didn’t
want you to be restricted from going to prom tomorrow because of those
two," Tommy said. He, however, was unable to keep his eyes off of her.
"Well, then, it’s good thing
you came to my rescue. I also wanted to thank you for Monday, when you beat Cal
off of me, even though you got suspended for it."
"It was no biggie. I
wouldn’t let anyone hurt you, Christina. I just want you to be happy."
Tommy smiled at her, causing Christina to blush. Rose and Hannah pouted their
lips, hoping this was the first step to their reconciliation.
"I know you wouldn’t. Well,
the girls and I better be going. Bye," Christina said, putting her coat
back on and picking up her school bag, walking away. Rose and Hannah went after
her. Hannah touched Tommy’s shoulder as she walked by, knowing how much he
wanted her back.
When the three girls stepped
outside of school, they said nothing. It was hard for Christina to talk to
Tommy without wanting to kiss him badly.
"You wanna go eat something
first?" Hannah asked the girls, wanting to break the silence.
"Yeah. I haven’t eaten all
day!" Rose said.
"I call McDonald’s. I need
some chicken selects!" Christina yelled.
"Christina, you live off
McDonald’s! How do you not gain any weight? I work out after eating a French
fry!" Hannah complained.
"You don’t need to work out,
Hannah! You have a nice body! I have to work on my thunder thighs, on the other
hand!" Rose said.
"Oh, shut up! Rose, I was
always envious of your body! You are not skinny as a toothpick, which is gross!
Nor are you fat!" Christina told her friend.
Rose smiled, but it soon faded
when she saw Cal standing by his car with Lovejoy. His dark eyes gave her the most
devious stare, feeling as though he was trying to kill her with his look.
"Just ignore him,
Rose," Christina whispered to her.
"Yeah. He isn’t worth
it," added Hannah.
"I know. Let’s just get out
of here!" Rose said, and the girls started to walk away.
"You’re not going to be able
to get away from me, sweetpea! You’ll see!" Cal yelled after her. Rose
turned to look at him. His was so cold, with an evil smirk on his face. It
scared Rose to death. There was no way she wanted to go to prom now.
*****
"Jack, you’ve been smiling
all week! Who would’ve thought you had a chance with Rose DeWitt-Bukater?"
Fabrizio asked his blushing friend, who gave a small laugh.
"What are you trying to say,
Fabri? I’m not sexy enough?" Jack joked around.
"Dude, I don’t go that
way!" Fabri said.
"That hurts, man." The
two boys laughed. "I guess new kids have their way. Look at Ryan and
Marissa in the O.C."
"Don’t tell me you watch
that show?"
"No! Christina just talks
about it all the time. Though she starts bitching whenever she mentions Ryan
because it’s Tommy’s last name."
"Either those two need to
get back together or just get over each other already!" Fabrizio said,
being highly annoyed at how those just wouldn’t stop talking about each other
for the past three months.
"I hear you on that one. It
seems as if things cooled off between them, though. He did save Chris from Cal.
I think they’ll be together soon, but for now I have corsages to buy for two
girls."
"Jack Dawson’s a pimp!"
Fabrizio teased his friend.
Jack smiled. He felt like the
luckiest guy in school to have Rose DeWitt-Bukater as his girlfriend. Tomorrow
night would be all about him and Rose. No one would be able to touch them, not
even Cal Hockley.
*****
Liquor had been his best
companion of late. It was there when he needed it the most. Of course, Lovejoy
remained loyal to him as well. He was the only one who knew Cal’s plans.
As he sipped his glass of vodka,
Cal stared at the picture of Rose he had on his desk that was in his own study.
She was the only one in his life that made him feel like a good man. His father
was never around and his mother was always drunk or something, lunching with
friends.
If only Rose knew the bad choice
she had made. The choice to pick someone like Jack Dawson over him was absurd.
Rose, you fool, what have you
done? Don’t you know how much I love you? I would have given you the world. You
only brought this upon yourself. It’s come down to this, sweetpea. It just had
to come down to this, Cal
thought to himself. He stared at the picture one last time and threw it at the
wall.
"Cal, are you all
right?" Lovejoy asked.
"Yes. I’ll be fine," he
replied, pouring himself another glass of vodka. "Did you get what I asked
you for?"
"Yeah. We’re all set for
tomorrow."
"Good. Very good," Cal
said, drinking his vodka. "It’ll be a night to remember."
*****
After getting the boutonnieres
for their dates, the girls all went to Hannah’s house. Rose wasn’t so sure that
she should tell them that now she wasn’t going. She was more nervous about
telling Jack, hoping he would understand.
They all sat in Hannah’s living
room, having changed into regular clothes. Christina and Hannah kept speaking
of how excited they were, which made Rose feel uneasy about how she was going
to break the news.
"Rose, you seem quiet.
You’re never quiet!" Christina said to her.
"I was just thinking,"
was all she could say.
"That’s it?" Hannah
asked.
"Yeah. I’ve been thinking
about the prom, and…" Rose was cut off by the doorbell ringing. Hannah got
up and ran to the door so she could answer it.
"Fabri, put me down!"
Christina and Rose heard her yell. In came Fabri, carrying Hannah over his
shoulder, with Jack following them.
"Hey, Chris," Jack said
to his friend, then went on to place a kiss on Rose’s lips.
"So, Rose, what were you
saying about the prom?" Hannah asked after Fabrizio put her down on the
couch.
"Actually, I should go talk
to Jack about this alone. So, if you’ll excuse us…" Rose said. She grabbed
Jack’s hand and led him to the kitchen.
"So, what’s up?" Jack
asked.
"I’ve been thinking, Jack.
Ever since we got together, Cal has caused nothing but trouble. He says he is
going to do something, and I don’t want to take any chances. I’ve decided on
not going to the prom."
"Because of Cal, you’re
breaking our date for prom? Rose, this is horseshit! Who cares what Cal
says?"
"Look, it’ll be easier this
way. You still have Christina as a date! Please, Jack! I’m sorry, but don’t be
mad at me."
"Okay, but I wish it didn’t
have to be this way. I want you there with me," Jack said, embracing her.
"Trust me, I’d like to be
there, too," Rose said. Even though she wasn’t going to prom, it still
didn’t wipe away the worry of prom night, and the nightmares still were
bothering her.