"... sank on her maiden voyage. She is of great historical importance, the great memories embedded deep within."
The history teacher blathered on about the material everyone had heard before. There wasn't a person in class who didn't know what the Titanic was, everyone had watched James Cameron's movie. To Lillian Anderson in particular, it was utterly boring. After watching many documentaries, reading wikipedia and watching Cameron's movie 4 times, she could practically recite Titanic's history asleep. With her elbows on the table and half heartedly taking notes just for her best friends sake, Lily couldn't help but stare at the clock. The last class of the school day was always the most boring one where time didn't seem to pass.
Joanne, her best friend, was one of the laziest girls in school. She did as minimum work as she could and seemed in no hurry to study for exams or do any homework. History was one of her worst subjects, so she was tutored by Lily every week at the request of the teacher. Looking at the clock again, Lily nearly groaned aloud. There was still 10 minutes left. At the time, 10 minutes seemed like pure, utter torture. Smacking her forehead in frustration, Lily grunted as her pencil case fell to the ground. She bent down and picked it up, blinking her eyes a few times to wipe the sleep out of it. If a class was boring, kids naturally felt sleepy. Lily was one of those kids.
Scribbling on her notebook and fervently praying for the bell to ring already, Lily quickly became immersed in her own fantasies, like what would've happened if the Titanic didn't sink. Having watched James Cameron's movie detail to detail(lets not forget Celine Dion's memorable song track !), Lily had become immersed of the life Rose DeWitt Bukater led. Obviously, being rich was a fantasy that one could achieve only by hard work, yet Rose had had it since birth. At the start of the movie, she was portrayed at snobbish social elite, comparing Titanic's size to the Mauritania, when it was obviously bigger.
Accompanying Rose, were her mother Ruth and her annoying yet handsome fiancee, Cal Hockley. Rose obviously held no fondness for Cal and her life, as she tried to commit suicide by throwing herself off of the ship. That was when she met Jack. Plain, third class passenger Jack. It was like a love story never meant to be. But surprisingly, Lily had never adored the Rose/Jack pairing like some of her friends did. They gossiped about, giggled and mused about how great it would be if Jack hadn't died. Lily leaned more over to Cal's side. It wasn't as though she liked snobbish and elitist men, but she liked the ragged, handsome and wicked men more than innocent and kind.
It just had a specific charm, one that Lily couldn't seem to put aside. Her journal was full of fantasies about Rose and Cal, how their wedding and honeymoon could've been, how their children could've looked like ... yeah, that sort of thing.
Just as Lily was about to fall asleep, the shrill ring of the bell emanated the relief everyone felt. Lily jumped out of her seat eagerly, throwing her notebook, history book and pencil case in her backpack, gathering her coat and running out of the classroom. She was always one of the first to be out of the stifling classroom atmosphere. Lily wasn't a slacker student, but she was never particularly fond of school. She liked to be smart and intelligent, but not in a school and bookish way. Lily liked to help people reach their endeavors, to be able to make and change and difference. More than once, she'd debated becoming a scuba diver to go see the Titanic for herself.
Of course, it was never meant to be. Lily was destined to become a lawyer, someone who sorted out politic problems for unfamiliar clients. Not exactly the way she'd like to be helping, but helping nevertheless. Sometimes, when she was caught in a daydream of sorts, she could just imagine herself in Rose's place. In the movie, Rose was a selfless, yet sometimes rebellious girl, who portrayed a change in the never ending cycle of life for women. In those times, women were led to believe that they were of no social standing, were only baby making machines and politics was no business of theirs.
While Duchesses and Countesses sat gossiping, Rose DeWitt Bukater sat down and did things ladies didn't do. Horseback riding wasn't common, but not unseen. It was generally disapproved by mothers, thought to be a manly activity. Rose, unlike many other girls, went to school and was educated and perfectly well versed in Spanish, French and Latin. She read novels unbecoming for ladies and although she did her fair share of gossiping, she was never spotted clinging to one man or other. She was perfect role model, but she was fake and unfortunately didn't exist.
In Lily's mind, she'd rather be soft spoken as a docile lamb. She just wanted to see how being rich and married to someone 2 times older than you would be like. Of course, it was completely barbaric ! But sometimes, curiosity could get the better of her as she sat wistfully on her bed, thinking what it would be like. Lily'd found some Elizabethan corsets some time ago from an online Tudor site and had ordered them right away. She put it on as soon as she received it, looking at how she looked in it. It was definitely difficult to breath in those torture devices and often, Lily's face would get red. After some time, she forwent wearing corsets.
But one matter was true. Lillian Marina Mae Anderson was completely smitten with the history of RMS Titanic.
It was late afternoon as Lily, Gracie and Joanne sat in Swanky's Milkshakes, drinking strawberry, vanilla and chocolate milkshakes respectively, while nibbling on chocolate chip cookies. Grace Anna-Marie Teston was another one of Lily's friends. They'd known each other since kindergarten and tended to stick up for each other when one of them was being teased. Grace was as obsessed with Titanic as Lily was, while Joanne didn't understand all the fuss. She'd rather sit on a comfortable couch, her laptop on her lap as she played video games like the Sims and Assassins Creed.
One of the differences between Gracie and Lily was that Gracie adored Jack with a passion and fully supported him and Rose, while Lily much preferred Rose and Cal. It sometimes invoked fights between the girls, but it turned out to be alright every time. One point of agreement between Lily, Gracie and Joanne was that they all adored Kate Winslet. The difference of that little fact was that Joanne preferred Kate's role as Madame de Barra in A Little Chaos that she played with famous actor Alan Rickman. Despite personalities colliding between the girls, they were the best of friends and enjoyed every possible benefit of their relationship.
Trips to the mall and cinema were frequent, as Gracie and Joanne shopped from Banana Republic and Nike, whilst Lily just opted for some Converse and GAP. McDonalds and KFC were favorite restaurants of the girls and their favorite hangout was at the Grove, a hangout made just for teenagers. There, the girls all sang wild karaoke, studied and laughed with other friends. It was all in good fun and just the environment 15 year old teenagers needed to be in. Lily and Gracie took part in ballet and piano lessons, but Joanne and Lily also took hip hop and zumba classes together. Joanne was all about being wild and enjoying life as much as possible, but the more calm and cool Gracie tended to prefer ballet and piano to everything else.
The girls had varying personalities and violent mood swings. Lily was prone to them most of all. One moment she was laughing, the other she was giving a deadly glare to everyone in sight. Crying and sobbing was common occurrence with her and even at times she both laughed and cried, not knowing what to do. Angry fits of screaming, yelling and shouting between Lily and her brother, Matthew weren't uncommon. Matthew who was 17, defied every rule known to mankind. He'd been drinking alcohol since he was fourteen, had illegally driven a car with his friends while smashed and had even seduced girls before !
To earn pocket money in the summer, Lily and Joanne did odd jobs around town, like walking dogs or mowing lawns. Gracie tended to participate less in the odd jobs, as her parents readily gave her money and she was more of a prim and proper girl, rather than a tomboy. But what Gracie did do, she did with Lily. She liked babysitting and babysitted little 2 year old Catherine Astor with a unknown passion. Lily helped her, so she wouldn't be alone. The money earned from it was good too ! But jobs aside, one of Lily's favorite things to do was holidaying across various continents across the world.
She'd been to Africa, the Middle East, North America and the most part of Europe. One of her favorite travel destinations was little Minnesota in the USA, especially in the winter. She had a blast making snowmen, snow angels and being treated to Butterscotch Latte's in Starbucks. Dunkin' Donuts was another favorite destination for Lily, Gracie and Joanne. They loved the glazed and sugary donuts, ravishing them in milliseconds. They were so good, not a crumb was left when they ate donuts. Lily loved the glazed donuts most of all. It was so sweet and nice flavored, that she adored it !
Favorites and biographies aside, it was Lily's life that intrigued many people. When asked about her life, she always mysteriously responded by saying: "The future is bright". Fanfiction was another part of Lily's life that she could never seem to put aside. The fansite where people wrote their own stories about their favorite fandoms was visited regularly by Lily and Gracie, especially in the Titanic forums. Harry Potter was another mutual favorite between, Lily, Gracie and Joanne. It portrayed the excitement of teenage life, hardships and hard decisions so well, that Lily, Gracie and Joanne hung on to every word they heard about Harry Potter.
With a flourish of her hand, Gracie described the ballet recital she'd performed at last night. Lily hadn't been able to make it, due to a sprained ankle. Despite that, she wasn't particularly sorry or apologetic about it. Ballet wasn't one of her strong suits, despite having 3 years of class experiences with the ballet Princess herself, Gracie. Joanne listened attentively, while fingering her milkshake straw. Lily knew deep down that Joanne wasn't interested in girly things all that much, and that included ballet. She mostly liked to talk about baseball and football matches she'd attended with her brother and sister, Peter and Portia.
Peter and Portia were twins and athletic to the core. Smart and intelligent, Joanne's elder siblings never did anything without each other. Being 18 years old and of legal age, they regularly took their little sister out for sports games and fun fairs. Unlike Matthew, Peter and Portia completely understood Joanne, they were cool, but they never broke the rules. Everyone loved being associated with the twins. They were kind and caring, sporty and athletic, not too girly but classics that had run in their family had passed on into their genes. Peter and Portia loved classical music. Peter played the violin and Portia the piano.
But the temper that had passed Joanne, had decided to stick itself on Peter and Portia. When they got angry, horrible shouting matches ensued. They never had any patience for bullies and stuck by the motto 'vengeance is sweet'. They furiously defended Joanne against any outdoor threats and despite being only a few years older than her, were good influence and parental figures towards her. That was especially one of their pros, as their mother was always out of the house for her job as a journalist and their father was always on duty in the hospital as a doctor. Joanne was never alone when her siblings were around.
"And it was so magical ! You won't believe it, but I actually managed to do a grand jete without dropping on my face !" Gracie squealed.
"That's great Gracie !" Lily nodded maturely.
She always believed in congratulating her friends after their victories and consoling them after their losses.
Gracie beamed happily, then frowned at Joanne.
"So, how was your soccer practice, Jo ?"
"Oh, just fine." Joanne said, sounding unusually gloomy for such a cheerful girl as herself.
"Is there something wrong, Jo ?" Lily looked at her worriedly.
"No, ... it's just ... Peter fell to the ground and knocked his head on an iron metal seat. Nearly bled out, he did. It was good luck that the on hand nurse was around. They took him to Edward VIII's Hospital Sister Agnes." Joanne finished reluctantly.
"Oh my God Jo ! Why didn't you tell us sooner ?!" Lily exclaimed.
"Yeah, that's completely barbaric, keeping something traumatizing as this to yourself." Gracie nodded.
"I just didn't want to worry you." Joanne muttered.
"Utter bullshit. Now, how is he ? When'll we be able to see him ?" Lily asked demandingly.
"Well, he's in a coma. Portia is with him, as is dad. Mum'll return from Bhutan in a day. Apparently, she caught an inside scoop on Prince William and Duchess Kate. It's more important than her son laying in a coma on a hospital bed, on the brink of his death. Her only son and she doesn't even care !" Joanne grumbled.
"Oh I'm sure its not like that Annie." Gracie used the pet name for when Joanne was upset, "She was probably just caught up in work." Lily consoled with Gracie.
"Still, nothing's as important as one's family. She should've never become a journalist anyway. We have enough money and we just need some parental support. Portia is in a positive wreck right now, and it's all my fault. It was my soccer practice. I should've never let him kick the ball without a warm up first. I'm such lazy tardy captain." Joanne broke down.
"Annalise Cassandra Joanne Marcie Kirkland ! Do not say such things about yourself !" Lily yelled in horror, hugging her best friend tightly.
As they spent the rest of the evening comforting Joanne, Lily thought about ways to cheer up her friend. How could she achieve that, when Joanne was so utterly devastated ?