March 28th, 1932

"Tom!"

I snatched up the hem of my dress, scampering across the crowded street after my brother.

"Oh Will, this is fancy!"

He waved a leatherbound notebook in the air as he raced into the park. There wasn't much privacy I got in a household of two younger twin brothers, a father put out of work and a paranoid mother, and I didn't ask for much either. However, this was a completely different story.

"March 24th, as I lay in my bed again, I can't help but think about that man in the-"

I screamed at the top of my lungs to drown his words and tackled him with all my force. I knew I would be given Hell about this later, but that little book could easily ruin any teenage girls' life. It was worth loosing the status of "lady-like" for the evening.

"Don't you dare!" I wrestled him for the diary between my frantic words.

Tom struggled for a minute, eventually giving in with a gusty, dramatic sigh.

"I suppose it's only fair I let the lady of the house win." He chuckled bouyantly and dusted his trousers.

I huffed and rearranged my dress, stalking back through the crowded street alongside Tom. As we reached the other side of the street, William rejoined us with a wide grin.

"Tommy, you know Ma's gonna be beefing you all night over this."

I smirked triumphantly, "And knowing how Mister "Big Shot" King is coming over for dinner, she'll give you real grief!"

I tossed my hair over my shoulder when they fell silent at my words. I enjoyed the couple of heads that turned as I did so. I don't blame them. I was easily the most beautiful woman under the sunlight, and I was easily the most perfect. The way my blonde hair cascaded like silk down my back, compared to the other women who cut their hair for style, set me in a class of my own. My eyes could pierce any man's heart, those that even dared look at them, and that lead me to be provocative, mysterious. I was Rosalie Hale, one of the only families besides the King family who was still in the Upper-Middle class- even if we were classified so by the skin of our teeth.

As we returned home, my mother was standing in the kitchen bustling about with dinner, father sat at the table with the daily paper and coffee. To avoid any discussion, I tip-toed upstairs to swap on a new, dirt free dress and prepare for dinner.

"Thomas Earl Hale, I cannot believe you!" She shouted while setting the table. "You can't run off your sister like that! Rosalie! Rose!"

I reappeared in a light pink dress, with pleats at the waist, looking completely unscathed from the episode that happened not long ago.

"Yes Ma." I kissed her cheek and took the silverware from her and began setting them on the table.

My father nodded his head and smiled in recognition as I took his empty lunch plate to the sink. I had missed my father. Not in the sense of his presence, but who he once was. Ever since the Depression took a hit on us, he lost his job in the bank and it seems his feelings of self-preservation fell to the wayside while watching his boys search for jobs in his place. He was a good man, who laughed and joked, and I missed that.

"Mister King Senoir has a meeting about the bank opening up, so he won't make it, he's sending his boy Royce over for dinner, so look spiffy."

She took a minute to twist a curl of my hair and spoke again more gently, "Royce is a swell boy, and I want you and him to get close, you hear? Mister Senoir has been saying he's got a little thing for you."

She gave a little smirk and continued back to the stove to carry on her cooking.

Royce King II, heir to the King's banking empire, has a thing for me? I leaned against the door frame of the kitchen in thought. It was only natural, seeing as I was the most beautiful girl around, and he was fairly handsome himself. He was handsome and rich - what my mother wanted to get out of the Depression.

I had become the one way ticket for my family to reach social ranking of stardom, to be the ritzy-ist family around. My father could get his job in the bank again, my brothers could go to college instead of work, my mother would be happy, I would be happy... All this rested on my shoulders. I wouldn't mind, I would love to be the one to make my family proud, but I hardly knew Royce. I saw his face around town, staring at me like most men, his face showed up in my father's paper every now and then, but was he any man at that? Who was I to know?

I loved my family dearly, almost more than anything else in the world, but I would have to eventually move on and start one of my own. I wanted to be the mother in a big home, with a boy and a girl, neighborhood children playing on the front lawn, waving to my neighbors, wearing expensive pearls, working the bake sale... I wanted all that, but I questioned it each day. Maybe the most invaluable thing in the world was happiness, maybe that's all I wanted.

I snapped my head up, out of my reverie, and treaded to the door where the bell had just rung. I held my breath- why was I, Rosalie Hale, nervous?- and set my eyes firmly on Royce King II, the man of my future. He was crisp and clean, with a silk fedora cupped in his hand against his chest. I smiled and felt my cheeks go scarlet.

"The young Miss Hale, I believe?" He gave a nod with a broad smile, and pressed his lips to my hand.

Now, I believed Royce was perfect. He was gorgeous, a true gentleman, and he was rich.

He was everything my mother had dreamed of, I thought.

I lead him inside, and he sat alongside my father, starting a bit of small talk. My mother dragged me into the kitchen and gave a quick giggle- she reminded me of a school girl.

She squeaked with joy, "Rose, oh! Isn't he swell?"

I nodded and let my gaze drift over her shoulder.

My gut instinct was subtle, I confused it for butterflies.

"Now Rosalie, I want you to serve his dinner and return to your room, if you're unavailable to him tonight, he'll come back like a stray for seconds!"

I nodded and flashed a smile, taking two plates for my father and Royce.

Royce.

"Here father, Mister King." He interrupted and told me to call him Royce.

I smiled and felt my cheeks on fire again. "Royce, you'll excuse me, I'm feeling quite tired."

I saw his lips flicker a frown, and return to a smitten grin, "I'll come again tomorrow, when you're well rested for a walk in the park!"

I nodded and walked upstairs, unbelieving of how accurate my mother was in foretelling Royce's actions.

When I reached my room, I slipped off my dress quickly, eager to shed some form of heat off of my body, and crawled under the sheets of my bed. I laid there thinking for quite some time, if Royce and I could ever be what I wanted- the picturesque family with children and happiness. He would leave every morning, and I would kiss his cheek. I'd stay and watch the children, nurture them, love them, and have a fabulous meal ready when he came home. He would thank me, and lavish me with flowers and gifts. We would be happy, and in love.

I hoped.