SWEET INNOCENCE
Chapter Fourteen
Jack and Rose sat back in class,
waiting to do the scene they had written. Fabrizio was very nervous. He had
never acted before. Cara looked over at Rose. It was going to be easy for her
to punish Rose. She had always played around with her and made her laugh. Now
was the time to be serious, and Cara knew she was going to have a lot of fun
doing this.
They looked over at all the
students playing their scenes, and some of them were pretty good. On the other
hand, there were some that were just plain bad. When they called out Rose
DeWitt-Bukater, Rose stood up and went to the teacher as she approached her.
"Rose, are you gonna be able
to do this?" Ms. Summers asked her.
"Yes, Ms. Summers. I have
Jack, Cara, and Fabrizio in the script, so we will be doing this together."
Jack, Cara, and Fabrizio stood by Rose.
"All right. When you’re
ready," she said.
"Yes, ma'am," Jack
said, grabbing two chairs for Rose and Cara.
Jack put the chairs out and stood
there while Rose sat down. The stage lights were on them both. Cara and
Fabrizio were backstage, looking at Rose and Jack performing.
Jack stood up and announced what
topic they were going to do, and everyone stayed quiet.
Rose looked at Jack, who was
sitting beside her. "Jack, I have something to tell you."
Jack looked right at her.
"What is it?" He looked concerned.
"I'm pregnant." She
looked at his expression, almost ready to laugh.
"You’re what?" He stood
up to pace the room.
Rose got up and stood in front of
him. "That's right. You heard me. I am having your baby."
"But, Rose, surely it can't
be. We used protection." He stood before her, staring into the crowd.
"Well, Jack, it didn't
work." She stood opposite him and touched her stomach.
"Are you positively
sure?" Jack asked, hearing everyone laugh because Rose was holding her
stomach and looking at him with laughter on her face.
"Absolutely," she said,
trying to keep a straight face.
Jack paced the room even more. He
started screaming and fell to his knees "No!" Everyone was now
laughing, including Rose.
The next scene started, and Rose
was sitting there with her mom, Cara. Jack was far away, looking on as Fabrizio
gave him a dirty look.
Rose started. "Mom, Dad, I
have something to tell you."
Fabrizio went next to Rose.
"All right. What is it?"
"I'm pregnant," Rose said,
looking at Cara.
"You’re what?" Cara
asked, standing over Rose and calling her names.
Fabrizio stood around Rose and
paced. "Rose, this is the dumbest thing you have ever done in your entire
life. Mi van culo, I should rip off your head." He looked over at Jack.
"Rose, you are not to see
this boy anymore!" Cara yelled at her.
"Hey, don't yell at her. We
did this together." Jack stood to defend himself, but Fabrizio hit him
over the head with a newspaper.
"Oh, don't worry, son.
You’re gonna get a beating for this, I can assure you." Fabrizio kept his
cool and gave him an even meaner look, cursing him.
"Surely we can arrange
something without violence, sir." Jack ran around, trying to avoid
Fabrizio, who was now chasing Jack with his shoe.
Fabrizio stopped, as Jack was too
fast for him. "Maybe he is the right one for our daughter. He's
smart."
"Maybe." Cara held
Rose, and the scene ended.
Everyone clapped, and Rose, Jack,
Cara, and Fabrizio stood to take a bow.
"A-plus," Ms. Summers
yelled.
They headed off the stage, and
the bell rang.
Rose, Jack, Fabrizio, and Cara
grabbed their things before they headed out of the classroom. Fabrizio and Cara
went with Jack and Rose, since Jack was the only one with a car. Being good
friends as they were, he gave them a ride home before heading over to the
hospital to pick up Cal.
"Thank you, Jack, for the
ride," Fabrizio said, getting out of the back seat.
"Thanks, Jack," Cara
said on her way out.
"No problem, you guys. You
did great out there on the stage." He smiled at them.
"Anytime, buddy."
Fabrizio waved good-bye and took Cara to her home.
Jack pulled out of the driveway
and headed to Mercy Hospital.