I'd like to thank my co-writer for her help with the story

enjoy !

"I love you, Rose." He leaned in for a quick kiss.

Ugh, here we go.

"I love you, too, Cal." Umm, how about no. Caledon Hockley is the boyfriend everyone dreams of having. Everyone except poor old me.

My mother has always had this strange thought I would end up never marrying. It's not that I won't even marry, it's that the school I go to, St. John's high school, doesn't have any men I could potentially marry. I'm seventeen years old, for God's sake. Right now, I just want to have a loving boyfriend who I actually like, not Cal. Mother goes to a country club with some friends, who happen to be Caledon's parents. When our parents met, they knew right away we'd be "perfect for each other." However, I'd rather be dirt poor than be with Cal.

Cal got up from his cafeteria lunch seat and quickly left, heading towards his fifth period class. I am so lucky we have no classes together. Cal almost made the change so he could be in all my classes, but I put on a seductive look and said we'd have time alone later on, after school. Even though that time has never happened before, I keep promising him it will.

Me, Rose Dewitt-Bukkater, just wants regular love. Not forced love, but actual love, love. I know my mother doesn't want me to end up being alone, but there has to be at least one guy in New York City that is suitable for me. Just one. I hope. I've lived here all my life, or at least from what I can remember from my life.

I put my head in my hands and just sighed. I was so tired of just trying to pretend to love Cal. I hate lying, in fact, my mother and I are very close, and so I don't know why it should be such a problem to tell her the truth about my feelings for Cal.

"Rose, you okay?" My best friend, Samantha, looked at me with worry. When I first moved here, I had to move in the middle of the school year, January to be exact. When my mother took me to pre-school, I was all alone, until I met Sam. Ever since then, we've been inseparable.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."

"About Cal?" This girl could read my mind, I swear.

Sam knows all about how I feel about Cal. Sometime I'll call her in the middle of the night, just complaining about Cal. Her parents don't live with her, Sam moved out this August, just a month ago, to her own place, just down the street from my apartment. She and her parents don't really get along, so Sam thought it would be best to leave and be on her own. So I will quite often just go over to talk with her, or I'll call.

"Yes, Sam, I can't stand it anymore. Cal's nice, I'll admit that much, but we're not meant for each other, you know?"

Sam nodded, all her attention focused on me.

"But what can I do right?" I picked up my stuff. Sam looked like she might say something, but she held it in, whatever it was.

I started to walk towards the door, with Sam right beside me. Okay, now I really wanted to know what she was going to say, she had a look on her face.

"What?" I asked.

"See that guy over there?" She nodded towards a table of guys. I nodded my head at her.

"He's been staring at you all lunch." She said, skipping off to her next class leaving me hanging.

-x-

"Thank you, Rose. You can take a seat now." I made my way back to my seat after my presentation on endangered animals. Sometimes being a senior can be too easy!

Mr. Kennedy gave us new seats. So now instead of sitting beside Sam, I sit beside a guy named Jack. He's pretty quiet, and he just came to this school for the first time this year, so I think he's kind of shy.

I sat down and turned my attention towards the front of the class while Jack got up and did his presentation. I didn't get to hear what it was about because Sam gave me a piece of paper.

"Read it-quick," she hissed, trying to be quiet.

I glanced up at the front to see the teacher looking at Jack, who was talking about photosynthesis. I unfolded the paper, trying to not make it crinkle.

Jackyour admirer

That was all it said. I turned around and gave Sam a look that meant I didn't understand.

"Remember, at lunch?" She said, smiling.

"Oh." Was all I could say.

When I turned around again, Jack was finished his presentation and was starting to head back to his seat beside me. I tried not to look at him; I really didn't want to give him the wrong idea. I mean, if he did like me, Cal would find out soon. Cal treats things he "loves" as though they are possessions. That also includes me. He even gets angry with me sometimes. That's the side of Cal you don't want to see.

The rest of the class went by slowly. I kept feeling as though this guy, Jack's eyes were on me all the time. Three o'clock came by at last, and we were free to go. I went to my locker, which is two down by whom else, Jack. I groaned inwardly as I tried not to look at him. This was hard.

Jack had amazingly blue eyes. They looked so kind, as though he was happy 24/7. He's dirty blonde hair was pushed back of his face, and his hair smelt good, even from two lockers down. I tried to sneak a peek at him once more before I left for home, but I felt a tap on my shoulder, followed by the smell of Cal. He smells nice; it's just not my kind of nice.

"Rose, dear, how was your day?" Cal's deep, soothing voice was heard after the kiss.

I turned around and forced a smile. I really didn't want to have another take on last week's argument. Last Friday I didn't give Cal a smile and he said it was disrespectful and I should be ashamed of myself. I tried to apologize, but he wouldn't accept it unless I spent the weekend with him and his friends at his parents' country club. I also had a test Monday morning which I did horribly on, and I had no time to study and prepare for it.

"It was fine Cal," I said, standing on my toes to kiss his cheek.

"Would you like a ride today?" Cal always insisted I ride with him instead of going with Sam.

"No, no, I'm okay to walk, Sam had something important she wanted to talk about anyway," I said, hoping he would allow it.

"Of course, Rose. I'll call you tonight," Cal said, before turning to go up the hall to his locker.

I let out I sigh of relief, I hated lying. Whatever I had to do, I was going to do it. I wanted to be alone this afternoon, Cal free. I wanted to not think, just relax. It was always impress Cal, and I was tired of it.

Sam and I made our way down the hall to the parking lot. She was going on about Jeff, her boyfriend of six months. I tuned her out, just for a moment, as someone was looking at me. Again. Jack. Why was he so fixed on me? Does he like me? Does he-

"Rose!" Sam said. "Are you listening?"

My head snapped in her direction. "Oh, yeah, sorry Sam. I was just…thinking."

"Well it must have been important…"

"Yeah, it was. Well, let's go." I grabbed her arm and we made our way home.

It was a quiet ride in the car, but luckily the ride is no longer than ten minutes, so the radio made the time go by. In no time I was being dropped off at my house.

"See ya Sam! I call tonight, okay?" I said.

"Yeah, okay Rose. Talk to you tonight," she said, smiling at she rolled up the window and drove up the street.

I waved good bye as she drove up the street, and then walked up the front steps. Our huge double door was unlocked, to my surprise, as my father was overseas for work, and my mother was usually at her job until six. Carefully, I walked in and hung up my light coat. I peaked around into the living room, to see nobody.

"Hello?" I asked. "Anyone home?"

I could hear someone walking upstairs. The person was coming down the long, spiral staircase. I guess you could say we were the upper class compared to some people.

I looked up to see my mother coming down the stairs. "Rose, I hope I didn't startle you."

"Oh, no Mom, it's ok."

"I was actually hoping to catch you before I left…" My mother trailed off. Behind her she had a suitcase and a couple duffle bags.

"Leaving?" I asked, surprised.

"You know your cousin, Lorraine, right?"

I paused, the name sounded familiar, but most of our family lived in Europe. "No, I don't remember if I do."

"Oh, well, she had just got divorce and is very upset about it. So I will be going to Seattle for two weeks," Mother said. All I did was nod. I don't really remember my cousin, Lorraine, as crazy as that sounds. As she began to get her bags, I walked up the stairs to help her, ignoring her comments about not helping her. Once the taxi was here, we put the bags in the back of the car seat and my mother got in, waving as the taxi car drove off.

I sighed as I ran a hand through my red hair. Just like her to leave when I wanted to talk to her. She set me up with Cal, and I wanted to tell her it wasn't going to work out. If I just break up with Cal now, she'd be extremely disappointed I didn't talk to her about it first.

I decided to have something to eat before I do my homework, which usually takes an hour so to finish. I walked into the kitchen and got an apple and a glass of water. After I finished, I threw the apple away and put the glass in the sink before walking upstairs to my room.

My room is fairly large, with a walk in closet and a private bathroom for myself. Mom said I was old enough to have a bathroom of my own, as long as I kept it clean. I walked into my bathroom, turning the shower on. I quickly decided I wanted to relax before I did my homework, so I ran a bath and put some relaxing aromatherapy bath oil in it. Mom and Dad bought me a bath set in the summer, which included a whole assortment of sops, shampoos, conditioners, and bath oils. So far, I've only used a bit, I wanted to save it for a long time.

Once the bath was finished running, I stepped out of my clothes and took out the hair clips I used to pin my hair half up, half down. The water was warm, and the aroma coming from the water was so soothing. I sat down in the bath tub, which was huge, and just closed my eyes. I wonder why mom left so quickly, usually she at least tells me before she's all packed and ready to go. Oh well, maybe I can have Sam over tomorrow night, a girls night on a Saturday sounded welcoming, something I could tell I needed badly.

I spent a good half hour in the tub, just soaking and letting my worries wash away. I drained the tub and put on my bath robe. I picked up my dirty clothes and replaced those ones with some fresh clothes. I walked back into my bathroom after I dressed and brushed my fiery red curls. They smelt nice, like vanilla, the shampoo I used had a vanilla aroma.

I left the bathroom and made my way downstairs, going to the kitchen table and getting a start on my homework. There was less than usual, I got it finished in a half hour. I got up from the table and looked at the clock; six o'clock. I went over to the stove and put a pot of water on to boil. I reached into the cupboard and got the spaghetti pasta out. I took a handful and put it into the now salted, boiling water. I let it cook until I was satisfied, and strained it. I grabbed my favorite pasta and opened the jar. I poured just enough sauce on the pasta and got the pasta out of the pot onto my plate.

After I had finished my favorite meal, I heard the phone ringing. I walked down the hall to pick it up. The caller ID said it was Sam.

"Hey, Sam. What's up?" I asked.

"Hey, Rose. Nothing much, I was just finishing dinner and thought I'd call." Sam said.

"Same here. Hey, what are you doing tonight? Want to come over and watch a movie?"

"Sure, I'll be over in ten minutes. Is that okay?" Sam asked.

"See you then," I said, putting down the phone.

I walked over to our television set and got out some movies. I smiled as I saw the movie Titanic, Sam's favorite. I put the other movies away, knowing Sam would want to watch this one.

Ten minutes passed and I heard the doorbell ring. I walked to the front and let Sam in.

"Hey, Rose, what movie are we going to watch?" She asked.

"How about you pick," I said, smiling as I already knew the answer.

Sam grinned, "Titanic?"

"Let's go," I said, leading the way.