HI! Sorry it took me forever to update, I've been busy. Happy fourth of July! Thank you, Blondiee Leah and feeltheday121, for giving the first reviews! Sorry I haven't recognized you for so long… anyway, here goes!
Jack and I talked for a while. He told me about himself, and how he grew up, and about his many adventures. While he was talking, I was half listening, half musing about Rose. She seemed like another presence in my head, there for reference. I could keep her back pretty easy now. She just gave advice, and only came out and forced me to do things her way when she was mad. Plus, she told me what to say.
In a lull in the conversation, I sighed. "Why can't I be more like you Jack? Just head out for the horizon whenever I feel like it. Say we go there sometime… to that pier…" (he had been describing a pier he had visited once) "…even if we only ever talk about it." I turned to Jack, smiling, imagining it. The sunset, him showing me around… it was a vision of heaven in a few moments.
"No, we'll do it!" Jack exclaimed, and twirled me around lightly, so I was laughing. "We'll drink cheap beer and go on the rollercoaster until we throw up," here I giggled. Rose was laughing too, in my head. It was odd. "…and we'll ride horses on the beach, right in the surf." He met my eyes in mock seriousness, but it was no use. His eyes were still chuckling. "But you have to ride like a cowboy. None of that side-saddle stuff."
"You mean, one leg on each side!" I grinned, tilting my head up to the waning sun. "Scandalous! Will you show me?" Jack smiled back, and I closed my eyes. The moment was… perfect. Rose was practically singing.
"Sure," he chuckled, and I opened my eyes again. "If you like."
"I think I would," I replied slowly. "I'll ride like a man!" I put on a funny accent for the last line.
"And chew tobacco like a man."
" And… and… spit like a man!" I laughed wildly. There was no chance of that happening. I was going to be gone by the end of the movie anyway. We would never get a chance.
"I can show you that now," Jack said, and grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the hull. My eyes widened. A thousand thoughts rushed through my mind. We were on the first class deck… people would tell Rose's mother… Rose's mother could see us…
"No, Jack, no!" I hissed as he came to a stop. He just ignored my protests and stuck his hands in his pockets, the sun shining brilliantly off of his gold hair.
"Now watch closely," he instructed, then threw his head back, hocked up a wad of phlegm, and spit. It arched into the shimmering water rushing past us. I screwed up my nose in disgust. "Now you try," he said, barely suppressing a laugh. I shot him a bemused look, then took a deep breath and spit. A little stem of saliva trickled from my lips.
"Pathetic!" Jack exclaimed as I wiped my chin. "Here, like this." He went through all the steps again, slower. I watched closely, then did my best. This time, the spittle stream landed in the water. Jack nodded, impressed. "Not bad. Now, you just have to get the trick." He demonstrated the preparation of the arch. Right as he was getting to the part where he gathered the spit at the back of his throat, "Really get the head into it," and making hilarious snorting sounds, I saw Rose's mother.
My eyes grew huge and I nudged Jack a few times. He turned around quickly and swallowed whatever he had gotten up. I swallowed a bit of nausea and grinned shakily at Mrs. D.B. "Mother… may I introduce Jack Dawson?"
"Charmed, I'm sure," 'Mother' replied in a condescending tone. I blanched, then did so again when I noticed Molly Brown, a portly woman who had a great wittiness and whom Mother didn't like at all, from the way Rose was groaning, motioning to her chin and looking at Jack. The boy wiped his chin, where a drop of drool had been resting a moment earlier. The other women chatted to Jack, but Mother… well, let's just say that if he weren't taller then her, she would have squashed him.
"Well, Jack, it seems you're a good man to have around in a sticky spot." Ms. Brown finished. Jack nodded his head modestly, glancing at me. I felt a blush warm my cheeks and turned to Mother to hide it.
"Shall we go dress for dinner, Mother?" I asked politely. With a final, hard look towards Jack, Mother grasped my arm and swept me towards my rooms. "See you at dinner, Jack!" I called over my shoulder. Mother was reprimanding me for something, per usual, but all I could think was, I am seeing Jack at dinner tonight. Is that a date?
