I'm not Rose. That's the first thing you need to know. There was no man named Jack Dawson in my life. I didn't break the barrier between classes with my burning love and fiery passion. So if you're reading this hoping for a romance between the two of them… you're not reading the right thing. In fact, you should stop reading right now. Because this has got nothing to do with the heart wrenching romantic tail you've seen in the movies. Nevertheless, I do have my own story to tell. It's not as tragically beautiful as theirs, which is probably the reason that it didn't make it to the big screen. But it's a tale all the same. And it's time that it's heard.

I boarded the Titanic with my mother. We had great tickets, not quite first class... but who could really afford that? We had to scrape every last penny from our savings account to get on board, but to mother it didn't matter. We were going on the maiden voyage of the unsinkable ship, and that was payment in itself. It was something most people I knew could only dream of. But I wasn't excited. Oh sure, I was looking forward to being on the boat. To traveling to a new place. But as I followed my mother onto the ship, my small hand tightly grasping hers I felt an emptiness in the pit of my stomach. Scanning the crowd, my eyes found hers. They were jade green, like my own, and as round as nickels. They were also filled to the brim with a sadness that I knew shone just as brightly in my own. "I love you," she mouthed. I nodded, and swallowed the lump that was building up in my throat. I felt tears prickling behind my eyes. I blinked them back. Ten years old was far too old to cry. "Thea come on!" My mother tugged on my hand and I followed her blindly onto the ship, not looking back. That was the last time I ever saw my twin.

Thea and I were fraternal twins. But you'd never know that unless you already had prior knowledge of the fact. To say we looked alike was an understatement. We were exact replicas of one another. Same piercing green eyes. Same wildly curly auburn hair. Even the freckles that sprinkled our faces in the summer matched. We were two of the same.

I was born first. Seven minutes earlier to be exact. Thea came bounding out behind me… anxious to see the world. She was always eager to see new things. To go places she'd never gone. Me? I was always more reserved. The shyer one of us. On the first day of school I had clung tight to mother's hand while Thea had bounded to the front door, her tin lunch pail sparkling as the sun's light caught it. "Go on Tierney," Mother had said. "Go join your sister." But I had stayed with her, my small body pressed into her billowy skirt. I was too afraid to leave what I knew behind. Too afraid of change.

It had always been like that, Thea afraid of nothing, and me everything. Thea could run headfirst into adventure and trust that when she looked backwards again nothing would have changed. But me? I had never been so trusting. With every step I took forward I had to glance over my shoulder as to be sure that my past was still there. I was positive that if I missed a glance, in the next one I would not be able to recognize even my own reflection anymore.

Mother could only afford two tickets on board the ship. And naturally, Thea would go.