THESE ARE THE TIMES
Chapter Four
Friday had arrived. Rose stood
outside her locker, searching for her English book, when her friends surrounded
her.
"Rose, you are going to the
Hockley party tonight, aren’t you? Word has it that Caledon Hockley, the most
popular guy in the senior class, wants you to attend." Katrina giggled.
"Sorry, guys, but I have
other plans." Rose shrugged, closing her locker.
"With Jack Dawson, I
suppose. I thought you broke off this friendship of yours." Samantha
sighed, wanting to avoid any trouble with Heather.
"Why would I do that? Just
because Heather tried to throw her weight around? You guys, can’t you see? She
bullies you all because you let her. Stand up to her, and she’ll stop."
"So, what’s on the menu for
you two tonight?" Samantha asked curiously. "Maybe if you get time,
you two can stop by the party."
"I don’t think so, Sam.
Cal’s parties are always long, stuffy, and boring. Jack is a more laidback, go
with the flow kind of guy."
"So, where are you two
going?" Katrina asked.
"To a movie, and then he’s
taking me bowling." Rose smiled dreamily at the thought of spending some
more time with Jack.
"A movie and bowling? How third
class." Samantha turned up her nose, trying to hide the fact that she was
impressed with Rose’s choice of men. That she didn’t let social stature stand
in her way.
"It’s perfect." Rose
sighed. "Just me and Jack. In a dark movie theater. Just the two of
us…"
"For someone who claims to
be just friends with a guy, you sure do sound rather hopeful that things will
advance." Katrina laughed.
"All right! I’ll admit it! I
really, really, really like Jack. If things do develop further, I won’t do
anything to stop it. I don’t know what it is. It’s like we’re connected,
somehow. Like we knew each other before…in another life."
Katrina and Samantha just looked
at each other and burst into fits of laughter.
"Another life? Oh, Rose,
come on!" Katrina laughed. "Who would you two have been? Cleopatra
and Marc Anthony?"
"No! They were Pocahontas
and John Smith!" Samantha giggled.
"Or how about star-crossed
lovers aboard the Titanic!" Both girls burst into loud laughter, drawing
attention from their fellow students.
"Shut up." Rose glared
at her friends. "I wasn’t serious. Sheesh!"
"Well, while you’re slumming
it, we’re going to Cal’s party. We’ll send him your love." Katrina smiled.
"Please don’t. I still can’t
believe I had a crush on him in ninth grade. What was I thinking?"
"Of course. We all know you
prefer blonds now." Samantha giggled.
"Shut up," Rose
growled, storming off to her class.
Titan High School Cafeteria
"So, Jack. Tonight’s the big
night, huh?" Tommy sat across from him. Fabrizio took the seat next to
Tommy.
"What are you talking
about?" Jack furrowed his brow in confusion.
Fabrizio rolled his eyes.
"The date with Rose. That’s tonight, right?"
"Oh. That. Yes. It is. But
it’s not exactly a date. It’s just two friends going out together."
"It’s a date." Tommy
looked at Fabrizio and laughed.
Jack shook his head and smiled.
"You two need to get a life."
"So, what movie are you
going to take her to?" Tommy asked.
Jack shrugged. "Whichever
one she wants to see. Listen, Fabri, do me a favor. Keep Heather busy at the
bowling alley tonight. I don’t want her being rude to Rose."
"I take it you had a talk
with her by the way she was glaring at me all this week."
Jack nodded. "She now knows
to stay away from Rose."
"I hope things go okay for
you tonight, Jack. Rose is a real dish." Tommy smiled.
Jack only rolled his eyes and
went back to examining the mystery meat they had for lunch that day.
*****
Jack pulled up in front of the
DeWitt-Bukater house precisely at seven o’clock. Rose soon appeared, wearing
her best jeans and a pink and red sweater.
"You look great," Jack
greeted her.
"Thanks. So do you."
Rose smiled, noticing how his light blue shirt brought out the deeper blue of
his eyes.
"So, what movie do you want
to see? It doesn’t matter. Any movie you want."
"How about Save the Last
Dance? I heard it’s really good," Rose suggested.
Jack shrugged. "If that’s
what you want."
The movie was great, but Rose
could hardly pay attention to it, since she was sitting so close to Jack,
sharing a bucket of popcorn, marveling at how good he smelled. She wondered
what kind of cologne he used. Quite by accident, they reached into the bag at
the same time and their hands touched. Not even thinking about it, they joined
hands and remained like that for the rest of the movie.
"That was a good
movie." Jack nodded as they left the theater. "I’m glad you suggested
it."
Rose smiled. "So, where to
next, Mr. Dawson?"
"Bowling, of course. Do you
know how to bowl, Rose?"
Rose shook her head. "I
never had a chance to learn. My dad went with his buddies, but never bothered
to show me the basics, and my mother just doesn’t do that sort of thing."
"Well, then, I’ll teach you.
It’s really easy."
Rose uncomfortably cleared her
throat. "Jack…is Heather going to be there?"
"Yeah, but don’t worry about
her. She won’t be a problem."
Rose wanted to ask him how he
knew that, but let it drop. Besides, she wasn’t scared of Heather. If the girl
tried to start something, Rose would handle her.
The bowling alley was packed with
teenagers celebrating the coming weekend. Jack led Rose through the crowd
towards the table where Tommy and Fabrizio and another girl were sitting.
"Hi, guys," Jack
greeted his friends.
"So, you made it. We were
beginning to wonder." Tommy laughed. "Hi, Rose. It’s nice to see you
again."
"Same here." Rose
smiled.
"Don’t just stand there,
Jack. Introduce me to your new friend here." The girl looked at Rose
curiously.
"Jen, this is Rose DeWitt-Bukater.
Jack’s new girlfriend," Fabrizio introduced her.
"We’re just friends,
Fabri." Jack glared at his friends. "Rose, this is Jennifer Heart.
She’s a cheerleader at Titan."
"And which school do you go
to, Rose, or are you new to Titan?"
"I go to Preston," Rose
answered.
"Oh, I see. Jack sure knows
how to pick them." Jennifer smiled. "Wow…Preston. I want to go there
so bad, but my parents are too stubborn to let me accept a scholarship or
anything. So I’m stuck at dumb Titan."
"Titan’s not that bad."
Fabrizio shrugged.
"Oh, please, Fabri. They
still serve us chocolate milk for lunch. How lame." Jen rolled her eyes.
"Better be careful how you
talk about Titan, Jen. If Heather hears you, she’ll think Rose is a bad
influence." Tommy laughed.
"What’s going on over
here?" Heather approached the group. "What’s all this laughing about,
and did I hear my name mentioned?"
"Jen was telling us a joke
about school." Fabrizio pulled Heather down next to him. It wasn’t a known
fact yet, but Heather and Fabrizio had been dating for a couple of weeks. Both
had neglected to tell Jack, unsure of his reaction.
"I see my cousin has decided
to join us." Heather looked at Jack.
"I promised Rose I’d teach
her how to bowl." Jack smiled, taking Rose’s hand.
"What? You’ve never bowled
before?" Heather looked at Rose for the first time that evening. "Why
am I not surprised?"
"Not everyone knows how to
bowl, Heather. Lay off, okay?" Tommy stood up for Rose. "Rose
obviously wants to learn, and that’s why Jack’s teaching her."
"Come on, Rose." Jack
took her hand and led her to the alley. He handed the bowling ball to her.
"Just place your fingers through the holes. Now, take a stance like
this."
Rose tried to ignore the tinge of
electricity that ran through her when Jack placed his hand on her waist and
positioned her in the proper stance. He placed a hand over the hand holding the
ball.
"Okay. You just swing out,
then in, putting all your weight behind the ball, and let go."
It was a perfect strike.
"That’s not hard at all."
Rose turned to Jack and smiled proudly.
"Just remember to aim for
the pins." Jack nodded.
"I say we break up into
teams," Heather announced. "Jack, Rose, and Tommy on one team, Jen,
Fabri, and I on another. What do you say?"
"Uh…I don’t know, Heather.
Rose is just a beginner." Jen shook her head.
"What better way for her to
learn than to really play? Come on, Rose. What do you say, or are you
chicken?" Heather crossed her arms, throwing a challenging glare at Rose.
Rose narrowed her eyes. No one
called her a chicken. "Okay. Fine. If you want to play rough, fine."
"Rose, you don’t have to do
this if you don’t want to. You have nothing to prove to her." Jack stared
at his date.
"She called me a chicken,
Jack. No one calls me that." Rose smiled. "Besides, I have complete
confidence in your teaching skills."
Jack sighed in defeat. He knew
Rose had a fire to her, and she was proving him right. "Okay. If you
really want to do this."
"I do." Rose nodded and
followed Jack to the table they’d be using.
They played for one hour. Being a
beginner, Rose was a little wobbly with the ball, but soon she caught on and
really flourished with the game. Her team won, ten to nine. Heather just stood
there and glared at her.
"Does that satisfy you, Miss
Dawson?" Rose crossed her arms.
"Beginner’s luck."
Heather shrugged.
"Don’t you have something to
say to Rose, Heather?" Jack crossed his arms, glaring at his cousin. Even
though Rose had handled Heather perfectly, he was still displeased with his
cousin.
Heather rolled her eyes.
"Okay. Fine. I’m sorry. Not only for tonight, but the other day, too. Jack
had made it perfectly clear that I was to stay out of his private life."
"Apology accepted."
Rose shrugged.
"Well, Rose, I’d better be
getting you back. It’s eleven already. I’m sure your mother wants you back
before 11:30." Jack grabbed their coats. "I’ll see you guys
later."
"Okay, Jack. It was great
meeting you, Rose, and great game. We’ll all have to do this again
sometime." Jen smiled.
"I’d like that. This has
been the most fun I’ve had in a long time."
"See you guys." Jack
waved, leading Rose out into the parking lot. One hour later, they pulled up in
front of Rose’s house. Jack got out of the car and escorted her to the door.
"Well, here you are. Home at
last." Jack stuffed his hands into his pockets, not really ready to say
good night.
"I really did have fun
tonight, Jack. Even Heather wasn’t that bad. You didn’t have to make her
apologize."
"She needed to, Rose. She
has to learn she can’t push everyone around. A little humility was good for
her."
Rose giggled. "I guess you
would know, wouldn’t you, Mr. Dawson?"
"Absolutely." Jack
nodded, stepping closer to Rose.
"Jack…how about we get
together tomorrow? They’re having a festival in the park. It’d be fun."
Jack laughed. "Are you
asking me on a date, Rose?"
Rose had no choice but to blush.
"Well…okay. Yes. I am. So, what do you say? Pick me up at noon?"
Jack nodded. "Okay. It’ll be
fun. Besides, I was wondering how I was going to ask you out again anyway. You
just solved that for me."
Rose smiled. "Well, I’m glad
I could help you out there."
"Rose, is that you?"
Ruth’s voice floated through the door. "It’s 11:45, young lady!"
Rose rolled her eyes. "I
guess I’d better go in. My mother can get pretty grumpy if I break curfew. I’ll
see you tomorrow, Jack."
"Okay. Night, Rose." He
stepped up closer and quickly planted a small kiss on her lips. She barely had
time to respond before he pulled away. "Good night, Rose." Jack took
off back to his car.
"Night, Jack." Rose
watched him disappear into his car and drive down the street. She touched her
lips, still remembering the gentle touch of his lips.
"Rose DeWitt-Bukater, get in
here right now!" her mother yelled impatiently.
"Coming!" Rose called,
entering the house, her mind still on her date with Jack. She had a feeling
this was the start of a wonderful relationship.