THEN YOU LOOK AT ME
Chapter Seven

"I'll get it!" six-year-old Aaron Dawson shouted when he heard the doorbell ring. He ran down the hall and pulled open the door. "Hi, Rose!" he chirped when he saw his cousin's girlfriend standing on the front porch.

Rose smiled at Aaron. "Hey, bud," she said, coming in and closing the door behind herself. "What are you doing up so early?" Rose asked as she picked him up.

Aaron smiled brightly. "I am going with Felicity and Mom and Dad to watch Felicity’s game! So we gotta leave early. She has an early game," he explained.

"Oh," Rose said as she nodded. She kissed Aaron on the cheek and put him down. "Jack and I are going to come down and watch her play, so I guess we will see you."

"Yep, I guess so." Aaron nodded. He held out the front of his shirt. "See...it says Team Supporter...Aaron Dawson. Dad had it made especially for me!"

Rose laughed and looked down at his shirt. "It sure does. That is pretty cool, Aaron."

"Yeah," Aaron mumbled, still looking at his shirt.

Rose ruffled Aaron's brown hair, and then asked, "Is Jack ready?" Aaron shrugged as he looked up at Rose again. "Is he even up yet?"

Once again, Aaron shrugged his shoulders. He started laughing and ran off as his mother called him.

A moment later, Maddy Dawson appeared in the front hall. "Aaron, Felicity, Rob...lets go!" she called. Then she noticed Rose. "Oh, hello darling," she said, smiling.

Rose smiled back. "Hello, Mrs. Dawson."

"Looking for Jack, I assume?" Rose nodded. "Hmm, I yelled at him to get up. I am not sure he did," Maddy said, looking thoughtful. "I don't know. I am sorry dear, but we have to run," she went on as Robert, Felicity, and Aaron appeared.

"Oh, that’s all right," Rose answered. She felt odd, standing in the middle of the hall doing nothing, while everyone else was busy, getting last minute things together.

As they were leaving, Maddy called, "Don't forget to have Jack lock the front door!" and then they were gone.

Rose stood in the empty hallway, thinking about what to do. Jack didn't seem to be around. So finally Rose started up the staircase and down the hall to Jack's room. She quietly pushed open the door and peeked inside. The room was dark so she could barely see anything. Although Rose could hear that a fan was on. She went inside and saw the form of Jack lying down in bed, still asleep. Rose smiled evilly as an idea formed in her head.

As fast as she could, she ran and flopped down next to Jack, calling, "Hey!"

Jack's head shot up as he felt Rose land on the bed. "What the--" he groggily asked.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Rose said, starting to laugh giddily.

"W-what time is it?" Jack asked as he lay back down next to Rose.

"About six," Rose answered, smiling. "We are leaving at six-fifteen whether you are ready or not."

Jack sat up again suddenly. He pulled over his alarm clock and hit it angrily. "Damn. My alarm was suppose to go off at five-thirty."

Rose smiled. "Well, it didn't." She got up and pulled the covers off Jack. "Now get your ass in there and shower," she said pointing to the bathroom door.

Jack groaned but quickly got up. "I am gonna kill that alarm," he mumbled, stumbling toward the bathroom.

A moment later he disappeared into the bathroom that he shared with Aaron, and then Rose heard the water from the shower start running. She took the time to turn on the light in Jack's room and looked around. It looked a lot like Rose's own room; clothes were all over the floor, posters covered the walls, drawers were open and more clothes were falling out of them, books of all sorts were covering a desk, and college booklets and registration information were next to his bed.

"Hey, Rose?"

Rose turned and saw Jack's head poking out of the door. His hair was all wet and water was dripping on the floor. "That was fast," she remarked.

"Yeah, um, can you hand me that towel right there?" Jack asked, pointing to a dark blue towel draped over a chair.

Rose turned and looked at where Jack was pointing. She quickly walked over and snatched the towel off the back of the desk chair before giving it to Jack. He mumbled thank you and then went back into bathroom. Rose waited patiently until he came back out, wearing the towel around his middle. His hair was still a bit damp, but it looked drier and was combed. She smiled at him for a moment before Jack got what she meant.

"Oh...ah...can you turn around for a moment, Rose. Please?" he asked, somewhat embarrassed. Rose pretended to be upset, but she turned around anyway. She could hear Jack fussing around, looking for clothes.

"I want to stop and get a coffee. So maybe at the coffee shop you could just get a muffin or something for breakfast," she said. Rose heard Jack zip up his shorts.

"Yeah, sounds good," he answered. "You can turn around now."

Rose smiled as she turned back to face him. "You look good," she complimented. He had on khaki shorts, a nice blue tee shirt that matched his eyes, and tennis shoes. "Hmm, you smell clean, too--for once," she joked as she came over.

Jack rolled his eyes and looked Rose over. With her jean shorts, soft blue tank top, and comfortable sandals, she looked gorgeous. And he told her that, too.

"Ah, you are too kind, Jack Dawson," Rose whispered before kissing him gently. "Now come on, I need coffee. I have been up since four-thirty."

They walked downstairs and Rose waited while Jack made sure all the doors were locked and then he grabbed his keys.

"Let’s go," he said, as he took Rose's hand.

They walked out the front door, Jack making sure he locked it, of course, and then down the driveway to where Rose's car was parked on the curb. After unlocking the doors, Rose climbed in the driver's seat and Jack climbed in the passenger seat. Then they took off for downtown Spokane, stopping only to get Rose's coffee with French vanilla flavoring and Jack's poppy seed muffin. Since it was early, Rose managed to get a parking spot as close as she could to the deal. While they were still in the car, Rose asked Jack if he had a map. Jack did and pulled it out of his pocket. He handed it to Rose. She unfolded it and stared at it.

"Okay, what hoop is she at?" Rose asked after a moment.

"Ah, McDonald's," Jack answered. He peered over the map with Rose while she found the McDonald's hoop.

"Okay, hoop one or two?" she asked.

"I am not sure," Jack confessed. "Maddy just said McDonald's."

"That’s okay," Rose said. "They are right next to each other. I am sure we can find it. She plays at seven, right?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah, seven sharp."

"Okay, I talked to Moll and she said that Nick plays at two, so we got a while till that. If you even want to go to that," Rose informed Jack as she checked her makeup one last time and grabbed her purse. She unbuckled, as did Jack, and climbed out of the car.

"Ready?" Jack asked, coming up next to her.

Rose smiled and slipped her hand into Jack's. "Yeah. Come on. Let's go."

*****

"Come on, Felicity!" Rose cheered as she watched Jack's cousin steal the basketball away from the opposite team and dribble toward the basket. The whole area yelled when Felicity scored a point, putting her team ahead.

Suddenly, the referee blew his whistle. "Game!" he shouted.

Rose screamed cheers for Felicity’s team as they ran off the court. They had won!

"Okay, next game is at one, right here!" Robert Dawson yelled to the other team members. Everyone left the area in a hurry, making room for the next two teams. Maddy, Robert, Felicity, and Aaron left even quicker, yelling something about the bathroom.

Rose turned to Jack and smiled. "She's a good player," she whispered, wrapping her arms around Jack.

Jack nodded and kissed Rose on the forehead. "Yes, she is. Kind of like her old cousin."

"Ha ha, very funny," Rose said, rolling her eyes. "You said you didn't play basketball."

"Anymore," Jack finished. "I did a lot when I younger."

"Younger? Jack, you are not that old," Rose smiled. He shrugged as Rose started laughing. "Come on, Old Mr. Dawson. I wanna find something to do. We have hours."

Five minutes later Rose had dragged Jack into one of the malls that were around and started looking for a bookstore.

"Why do you want to find a bookstore?" Jack asked as he followed her.

Rose stopped moving and shrugged her shoulders. "It's something to kill time. You know me, the bookworm. I can spend an hour in one of those stores, sometimes two."

"You are crazy," Jack said, but Rose was already pulling him along again.

Three hours, two bookstores, three clothes stores, a Sam Goody, and one hundred dollars later, Rose and Jack finally decided to have lunch. They went into The Onion, since Jack swore he couldn't go another hour without a salad from the restaurant. Rose ordered the same as Jack and they were out of the place in less then an hour. Then the rest of the day passed quickly. Felicity's team won their next game, automatically taking her to the next day. Nick's team won their first game, but then lost the next two, making them out of the competition. Liza, Mollie, Nick and his team, and a few others had gone out to celebrate the loss and Jack's aunt, uncle, and cousins went out to celebrate her team winning. The Dawson's also said they were going to catch a movie, so they wouldn't be home for a while. Rose and Jack were left alone and after they were finally on their way home, Rose asked Jack if he wanted to pick up a movie and come over to her house to watch it.

"Sounds good," he said.

They found a movie store, picked up a good video, and then started back for Rose's house. On the way there, Rose and Jack talked about the day and how well it had gone. The past few weeks had been busy, what with rehearsals and such. They were both worn out and looking forward to performance night, even though it was still a month away. The directors had been cracking down on accuracy the past few days, and a few scenes were starting to become dreaded ones. Neither Jack nor Rose was getting the exact lines down in one scene, at it seemed to be driving Kathy crazy. All of them were frustrated and the weekend was a welcomed time.

*****

After getting to Rose's house, Jack made popcorn and Rose started getting the living room ready for movie night. But when she tired to put the videotape in the VCR, it didn't work. It just shot the tape back out and made an awful noise.

"What the hell?" Rose asked herself.

Jack came over with the popcorn and saw what was the matter. He too tried to put the tape in the VCR, but it didn't work for him, either.

"It must be broken or has dust in it or something," Rose decided.

Jack nodded and held the tape in his hands. "So now what are we gonna do?" he asked, looking around.

"Well, my Mom will kill me if I try to fix that thing, because I will probably end up breaking it more," Rose explained. She took a handful of popcorn and sighed. "I guess we could watch the movie up in my bedroom," she offered.

Jack broke into a smile. "Your mom is not going to like that," he said.

Rose shrugged. "I know," she answered back. "But she's at a meeting and won't be back until late. You'll probably be gone when she gets back anyway." Rose picked up the popcorn and motioned for Jack to pick up the two cans of soda. "Come on," she said, starting for the stairs.

Jack followed her up to her bedroom, still worried about what Ruth may do if she found them. Rose must have known that he was worried because she suggested they leave the door open and the lights on. Jack nodded in agreement as he put the tape in her VCR and then set the sodas down on her dresser. Rose made herself comfortable on her bed, the popcorn in her lap, and motioned that Jack join her. He did so, smiling shyly at her. Rose picked up the remote and turned on the TV, pushing PLAY for the video after that. They sat and watched the movie, their hands joined. After about a half-hour, Rose noticed that Jack was being awfully quiet. She looked over and saw that he had fallen fast asleep. Sighing softly, Rose studied him. He was so peaceful looking, so sweet. She leaned down and kissed him quietly on the cheek. Snuggling down next to him, she then rested her head on his shoulder. Rose continued to watch the movie for a few minutes, but before long she too was fast asleep. The rush of the week had finally caught up with both of them.

*****

And this is how Ruth found them. She came home that night at around 10:30. The meeting had gone extremely well, and Ruth was happy about that. But she was tired and wanted to crawl into bed. She came inside the house, turned off all the lights, locked the doors, and then made her way upstairs. As she was passing by Rose's room, Ruth noticed a loud static noise. She peeked in and noticed that the static of the end of a movie was making the sound. She walked over and turned off the television and VCR. It was then that Ruth noticed Jack. She studied her daughter and her boyfriend. There was a bowl of popcorn wedged between then and their hands were clasped together. Rose's head was softly resting on Jack's shoulder and his arm was around Rose. Ruth then realized what had happened and softly smiled. She had done the same thing when she was Rose's age, although it had been in her parent’s room. Ruth and her boyfriend had been watching a movie on TV when they fell asleep. Ruth's parents had come home and were a little angry at first, but once they realized what was going on, they softened up. Not wanting to wake them, Ruth gently took the popcorn bowl away and left the room, turning off the light as she went.

*****

Dear Diary--

I woke up this morning next to Jack! Can you believe it? I thought I was dreaming, but I wasn't. He was there! We both fell asleep last night watching a movie and didn't even notice when Mom came home. She found us and to my surprise, she didn't really mind. She said she turned off the TV and lights and decided to let us sleep. Mom did keep the door open, hehehe. But when I woke up and I figured out that Jack was there, I thought we would for sure be in trouble. But we weren't. In fact, Mom had pancakes ready for us. Jack seemed to be embarrassed, but Mom joked with him about it and that made him feel better. After breakfast we called Jack's aunt and uncle and explained what had happened. They laughed at us, although they had been worried about their nephew. Anyway, Jack went home soon after that and here I am. Rehearsals start again tomorrow, sigh. I love the play, but I am so sick of some scenes. I got myself into this though, right? And it’s a good thing I did, or else I may have never met Jack. Oh, that is horrible to think about. I'll keep ya posted diary! Bye!

Chapter Eight
Stories