THEN YOU LOOK AT ME
Chapter Six
Late June, 2000
The weeks in June passed by quickly, and
during this time Rose and Jack's relationship grew. They went out almost every
weekend, drove to and from rehearsal together, and wherever one would go, the
other would follow. They ere like two best friends who couldn't stand to be
away from each other.
One Friday afternoon, Rose was sitting down
on the stage going over her lines. Assistant directors and cast members hurried
around her, attending to different things. Today they were going to go over the
balcony scene, something Rose was looking forward to. This was her favorite
scene in the whole play. They had worked on it a bit over the weeks, but Terry
and Kathy said that something was missing. So Rose and Jack had been assigned
to memorize the lines for this scene and then they would do it without the
scripts. Just to see if that was the problem.
"Watch out, Rose!" a boy carrying a
ladder called.
Rose jumped up and tucked her script under
her arm. "What's that for?" Rose asked curiously as the boy set the
ladder in the middle of the stage.
"Terry wants you to use this for a
balcony today. The set isn't ready," the boy explained as he made sure the
ladder was steady. Then he called offstage, "Ann! Heather! I need those
trees!"
Two girls ran on-stage carrying fake trees.
"Here, Tim," one said and handed Tim the tree. The other did the same
thing and then they ran off.
"Go check those costumes we just got
in!" Tim yelled as he watched them go offstage. Rose smiled as she watched
Tim set up the trees around the ladder. "There you go, Juliet," he
said, patting her on the shoulder.
"Thanks," Rose said, rolling her
eyes.
Suddenly, Rose felt someone grab her hand.
She gasped and turned around, coming face to face with Jack. "Jack, what
the--"
"Shh, come here," Jack said,
pulling her offstage into the shadows.
"Jack, what are we doing?" Rose
asked in a whisper. Jack smiled at Rose and bent down to kiss her real fast.
"I've got to tell you something,"
he said, wrapping his arms around her waist.
Rose smiled up at Jack and wrapped her own
arms around him. "What?" she asked gently. Jack took a deep breath
and then closed his eyes for a moment. Rose's smiled dropped. "What...what
is it Jack? What happened?"
Jack opened his eyes again and looked at
Rose. "Maybe this isn't the time or place, Rose. But I have to tell you
this before I go crazy." Rose nodded, urging him to go on.
"Rose..."
"Yeah?" Rose whispered.
"I love you, Rose. I wanted you to know
that. These past few weeks have been some of the best of my life."
Rose broke out into a smile and pulled Jack
closer. "I love you, too, Jack Dawson," she whispered into his chest.
Then she brought her head up and looked into his eyes. "I love you,"
she whispered louder. Jack smiled and then urgently bent down to kiss Rose
again. Rose moaned softly and held Jack close to her heart.
As the kiss gently broke, Jack ran his
fingers through Rose's hair and kissed her forehead. "How long until
rehearsal is over?" Rose jokingly asked. Jack chuckled, and then pulled
Rose close once again.
"Hey, guys!" an assistant director
named Jenny called to Rose and Jack. They didn't appear to hear her, so she
sighed and walked over. "Yo, Romeo and Juliet!" she yelled, right by
their ears.
Rose and Jack broke apart and blushed when
they saw Jenny standing there. "What?" Jack asked sheepishly.
Jenny laughed. "You guys are needed on
stage," she said.
"Oh!" Rose gasped. "I forgot!
Come on, Jack!" She grabbed her boyfriend's hand and started on-stage.
"Well, nice of you two to join us,"
Terry called from the audience when he saw Rose and Jack walk out.
Rose's face turned as red as her hair and
Jack looked down at the floor.
Terry laughed and rolled his eyes.
"Okay, guys, do you have your lines memorized?"
Rose nodded, and Jack said, "Pretty
much. I may need some prodding here and there."
Terry nodded as he looked over some notes.
"That's all right, Jack. Now, I want Rose up on the ladder. Pretend it's a
balcony for now, Rose," he directed. Then Terry pointed to the back of the
theater. "Pretend back there is the moon, Rose. Focus there for right now.
Now, Jack, you are going to come in from stage left and hide behind the trees,
watching Rose. Got it?" Rose and Jack both nodded, and then took their
designated places.
"Can we kiss?" Jack yelled from off
stage. Rose bit her lip as she blushed and looked down at Terry and the assistant
director who was sitting there.
"Not this run through. Maybe next time.
We'll see how this goes first!" Terry called, before yelling,
"Go!"
Jack entered from stage right and hid behind
the trees. Rose climbed to the top of the balcony and pretending to be staring
off at the moon, deep in thought of Romeo. Jack launched into his line and
before long, they had finished the whole scene.
"Okay, that was good," Terry mused.
"It's missing something, though." He turned to an assistant director,
and they talked for a moment. "Why don't you try it with kissing?" he
suggested after a moment. Rose and Jack smiled, and then nodded.
"Remember, you guys, your relatives are going to be here," Terry
cautioned. Rose scrunched up her nose and Jack stuck his tongue out. "None
of that," Terry said. "Now, come on."
Rose and Jack launched into their scene
again, this time kissing whenever it was appropriate. After the last line had
been said and the last touch had happened, Rose and Jack stopped and looked at
Terry and the assistant director. Terry wasn't saying anything. His eyes were
open wide and his mouth hung open. There were even tears in his eyes. The
assistant director, too, looked shocked. A moment later, Terry shook his head,
and then called out, "Hey, Kathy!"
Kathy's head came out from a side curtain.
"Yeah?" she asked.
Terry waved her over and called out,
"Come here. Watch this."
Kathy ran out and down the stairs.
"Terry, I am kind of busy," she mumbled, sitting down next to him.
"Just watch this real quick," he
answered. Then Terry turned to Jack and Rose. "All right, guys," he
called. "I want you do to what you just did for Kathy."
Rose and Jack launched into their scene
again, adding the kissing in. When they had finished yet again, Rose smiled at
Jack, and Jack winked back at her. They knew they had something. The couple
turned back to their directors and waited. There was a dead silence in the
theater until Kathy stood up and started clapping. Terry immediately joined
her, as did the assistant director. Then from right stage came a loud cheering
and the sound of clapping. Rose and Jack turned and saw about twenty of the
cast members standing around, watching them.
"You guys!" Kathy yelled excitedly.
She ran up on stage, pushing people out of
the way. "That was wonderful!" she exclaimed, giving Rose a hug and
then smiling at Jack.
"Shakespeare himself would have been
proud," Terry added as he joined Kathy on stage. "Can you do that on
performance night?" Kathy asked, nodding along with Terry's comment.
Rose and Jack looked at each other. "I
guess so," they said in unison.
"Great!" Kathy said as she smiled.
"This is going to be wonderful."
Rose looked at Jack, her eyes shining with
excitement. This was going to be wonderful.
*****
"You guys, I am not even kidding.
Everyone was talking about you! And I do mean everyone."
Rose turned around from her place in the
passenger front seat and smiled at Tommy before turning back around. It was
Jack's turn to drive her and Tommy to and from rehearsal. So she was sitting in
the front next to Jack and Tommy was sitting in the back seat. This was the way
they always sat; it had even become a little joke.
"I hope they weren't talking trash about
me," Jack joked from the driver's seat.
"Nah, just about Rose," Tommy joked
back.
Rose gasped and turned back around.
"That's not funny," she said. "Especially with people like Mary
Anne still pissed at me for getting this part."
Tommy started laughing. "Yeah, I know
what you mean. Thank God Gwen and I are over with. But really, all good things,
guys. And Rose, you should have heard the talk in the boys' dressing
room." Tommy gave a long, slow whistle. "You have got some major fan
clubs out there, girl. They all can't wait to see you in the Juliet costume.
And the way they were talking, well, I'll just say it...it made me proud to be
best friends with 'Juliet's' man."
Rose turned to Jack. "Want me to hit him
for you?" she asked.
Jack laughed. "Go right ahead," he
said, giving Rose permission.
Rose turned back around and hit Tommy on the
knee. "You are such a loser," she added, before turning back around.
"Now you must be tortured." Rose started pushing some buttons near
the radio of the car. A few moments later, the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack came
over the car speakers.
"No!" Tommy cried as he covered his
ears. "Don't you think I have heard enough of this?"
"No!" Jack and Rose shouted in
unison, and then they broke down laughing.
Tommy stuck his tongue out at the couple, and
then shouted over the noise, "Turn it down and I'll shut up about the
talking!"
Rose turned and gave Tommy a cheeky smile.
"Okay," she said, finally turning the music down.
"Thank you," Tommy mumbled. He took
his hands off from his ears and smiled.
"Get used to it, Tom," Jack said
from the front seat. "I am driving you tomorrow, too."
Tommy smirked at Jack. "Not if I take me
own car," he said.
Rose looked at Tommy again. "That would
be nice. Then Jack and I could be by ourselves for more then two seconds,"
she joked.
"Um, excuse me," Tommy argued.
"Who is going over to whose house tonight for dinner?"
"I meant in the car." Rose started
laughing and turned back around.
"Hmm, you and I in a car, Rose?"
Jack laughed at the thought. "We could do some real damage."
"Okay," Tommy said as he noticed
the turn off for his street, "drop me off here. I can tell this
conversation is gonna get a little X-rated. And personally, I don't want to
know what you guys do when you are alone."
Jack laughed and pulled over. "You sure,
Tommy?" he asked.
"Oh, yeah," Tommy mumbled. He
reached into the back of the car and pulled out his backpack. Jumping down from
the vehicle, he said, "See you later, guys. Don't do anything I couldn't
do." Then he shut the door and was gone.
Rose and Jack started laughing so hard that
there were tears coming out of their eyes. When he finally calmed down, Jack
asked Rose if she wanted to go with him to pick up Aaron's birthday present at
the mall.
"Sure," Rose said, before she
started to giggle again. "Tommy's face, it was priceless," she said,
as they started to drive off toward the mall.
Jack started laughing again. "Yeah, it
was," he agreed.
Rose calmed down and then asked Jack if he
was going to Hoopfest, which was this weekend. Hoopfest was an annual thing in
Spokane. Every June, around the last weekend, all of the streets in downtown
Spokane would shut down and teams from all over would come to play
three-on-three basketball. Courts were set up in the streets with donated
basketball hoops, tape was used for lines, and booths were all around with food
and drinks. It was like a basketball fair.
"I don’t know," Jack said. He
turned onto a new street. "Felicity is on a team, but I don't feel like
walking around with four eight-year-olds all day. What about you?"
Rose shrugged. "Mmm, I was thinking
about going with Mollie. Nick is on a team, and she wants to be with him. But
if I go with her, then she will talk to Nick the whole time and ignore me,
so..."
Jack pulled the car over suddenly and turned
it off. He turned to Rose. "What if you came with me?" he suggested.
"We could watch Felicity play, then go do our own thing between games. And
if you wanted to watch Nick play, we could go to that, too."
Rose's face brightened as she smiled.
"That would be great," she agreed excitedly. "We could walk
around and look at all the booths. And watch all the games. And just hang out.
It would be really fun. I can pick you up at like six and we could be down
there at seven. Have the whole day to be together."
Jack smiled back at Rose. "Sounds
wonderful," he agreed. Rose reached down and unbuckled her seat belt for a
moment. She moved closer to Jack and kissed him softly. Once she pulled away,
Jack groaned. "We'd better get that present," he said softly.
Rose smiled. "Yeah," she whispered.
"We should." She sat back and buckled her seat belt up as Jack
started the car again. "I love you, Jack," Rose said.
Jack smiled at her. "I love you,
too," he said, before turning back into traffic.