To Drown, To Freeze, or To Live

Chapter Three- Familiarity and Surprises

April 13, 1912

The rest of the morning was spent praying, hoping, trying to believe that our plan would work. No matter how much I insisted, we never could come up with a better plan, except some that were impossible. It could have been said, though, that what we were doing in itself was impossible anyway. I would've thought so a week ago.

Midday, an announcement was brought by the stewards to each separate class. The steward who came to us said this- "The captain was informed this morning by an anonymous source that a course change is required, so there will be a slight delay in our journey. This is nothing to worry about, as it is all taken care of and we should arrive an hour later than originally planned. Thank you for your cooperation."

At that, he left, taking with him our fears. Amber, Maggie, Aili and I exchanged looks of ecstasy. There would be no need for a second plan after all! We went out onto the deck, giggling madly. It was so much easier than we could have expected! We attracted several weird looks.

"What's so funny?" Jack asked, one of those same looks plastered on his face.

Together, we glanced at him, then back at one another. It only made us laugh harder. Eventually, I calmed down enough to stop and explain to the poor guy that we weren't laughing at him.

"Sorry, Jack," I said, still trying to catch my breath. "Nothing… We're not…" more laughter. "laughing at you… It's nothing personal, really!"

"What is it, then?" He asked again.

"Well," I said, inventing as I went along. "Amber here-" I turned around to look at her, but she wasn't there. I frowned, but decided to worry about it later. "Anyway, Amber tripped and landed on this old first-class man. "

"Yeah," Aili said, picking up the story. "He was walking in the opposite direction when Amber tripped and landed right in his arms! In fact, I think he was with another man and that redhead you like and her mother."

Jack looked surprised. "Really?"

"Yes, do you know him?" Maggie asked.

Jack shook his head. "No, but I've seen him."



At that point, Rose showed up, presumably to thank Jack. He waved goodbye and Maggie, Aili, and I shared a moment of laughter- each of us remembered that scene. In fact, it was one of my favorites.

l

I was looking forward to that party tonight. It would be the first time we could meet Rose. I wondered what it would be like to talk to her… It had seemed natural with Jack, because he was, for the time being, one of us… or rather, we were some of them. We were, on this journey at least, among the poorer people. Rose was of the rich. I knew that she was different from her kin, but how different could someone be? If she truly was who she was portrayed to be when she was around Jack, she'd be fine, I thought. I'm not entirely sure why I was so worried… I think I needed her acceptance. It mattered greatly to me for reasons unapparent.

l

It had not occurred to me before how early in the morning it had been when Maggie first confronted Captain Smith, so we had half the day left still until we had anything that was planned. We spent the rest of the day exploring the ship. There were so many wonderful things that weren't in the movie or couldn't truly be described. Down in the rooms there were little windows that you could see the ocean up close out of. The same dolphins Jack and Fabrizio had seen were right outside our window that afternoon- it was amazing! There were little boys running around the 3rd class decks, pretending to be soldiers. And the view… the view from almost anywhere on the boat was spectacular! It was not something that could be described unless seen personally.

Through all our exploring, Amber did not show up. I wondered about and got a little worried, but she was more than capable of protecting and taking care of herself, so I pushed it to the back of my mind. She'd probably meet us at the party, if nothing else.

Eventually, the time I'd been waiting anxiously for arrived- the party! We made our way below decks and to where Tommy had directed us. We ended up in the room we'd seen through the movie but never through life, because it was rather out of the way. When we arrived, the room was already rather crowded. Amber was not yet there. Since I did not have her watch to check, I did not know what time it was- but I knew that Jack and Rose wouldn't arrive until a little past 9:00, so I was pretty sure we had a bit of time before they got there.

Soon, the music started and everyone began dancing. We joined in, regardless of the fact that we had no partners. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I think Maggie and Aili did, too.

Then we saw something that shocked me- a pair danced past us, laughing at grinning at each other, totally unaware of their surroundings. My jaw dropped when I noticed who it was- Amber… and Fabrizio! I must admit… I never saw this coming. Amber was always the one who was determined she wouldn't have a boyfriend, determined she wouldn't fall in love, determined she wouldn't get married. She seemed to have changed the first two- I wondered if she'd end up changing the last.



Suddenly, I felt the need to laugh. I would have thought this all so absurd a week ago! Being on the Titanic, meeting Jack Dawson- a fictional character, mind you, witnessing Amber fall in love with a guy several years older than her… So absurd.

My train of thought was broken off by a hand tapping me on the shoulder and a voice. "Cindy, Maggie, Aili, I'd like you to meet Rose." He pulled her forward and we smiled at her.

"Hi!" I said a little more cheerfully and a little more forcedly than I would have liked. "I'm Cindy," I said, calming down a little.

"I'm Aili," the blonde girl to my right pointed out, offering her hand. Rose shook it.

"And I'm Maggie!" the last of us chirped.

"Pleasure," she said politely.

"Oh, and that's Amber, over there," I said, pointing my friend out.

Jack laughed. "So that's the girl he told me he'd had his eye on!" He looked a little closer. "She looks a little younger than someone I would've explected him to fall for. How old is she?"

"16," Maggie said with a smirk. It was ironic that Amber would fall for someone one and a fourth times her age.

Suddenly, Jack turned around. A little girl, who I remembered to be Cora, was tugging his sleeve. He grinned and went to dance with her, leaving us with Rose.

"Where are you three…" she saw Amber and corrected herself. "four from?"

We glanced at one another and decided to tell the truth. "A small town in Georgia," I said, wondering how to describe it. "Have you ever been to Atlanta?"

"Only once," Rose said, looking thoughtful. "I was seven, so I don't remember much."

"Well," I said. "We're from Powder Springs, which is a little West of Atlanta."

"I've never heard of it," Rose said curiously.

I grinned. "Not many people have. It's really small."

"How small?" She asked.

Problem. I had no idea how big Powder Springs had been nearly 100 years ago. I just knew it was small in 2008, but it was probably smaller now.

"Er…" I said inaudibly.

"What was that?" she asked, nearly having to yell because the orchestra had just started up again.



"About a thousand," I said after a moment's indecision.

It was apparently a suitable answer, because Rose accepted it with a nod.

"So, what's it like in first class?" Aili asked, looking genuinely curious.

Rose thought for a minute before answering. "It's… smothering. I'm surrounded by people who truly care for nothing except their money." I didn't believe that she'd say that to any random stranger on the street. I supposed that since we were friends of Jack, we were trusted by her to some extent. I think that meant we were accepted. I nearly laughed at this realization. I'd been accepted by my favorite characters from Titanic! (Call me obsessed, but it was important.)

Maggie grinned. "Third class is just about opposite. I like it a lot more than sometimes back at home, where I have to deal with everyone at once."

Rose gave her a curious look. I then realized the slip up. When Rose was sixteen, she probably would not have mixed with those of lesser classes. Granted, her mother would not have let her, but it would not have been normal anyhow, I assumed.

I inwardly cursed, but it was Aili who had the comeback. "What she meant," she said quickly. "was that out on the street and when eating at restaurants and things."

Rose nodded. She did look a little suspicious, but she let it pass.

We chatted for a while longer before Jack came and swept her off to dance. I wolf-whistled when they drew closer and both blushed. Maggie, Aili, and I laughed.

The rest of the party went basically that way. Amber stopped once to talk to us before Fabrizio whisked her off again to dance. Eventually, it ended… and we had one day of movie time left- the one day in which everything changed, the sinking became a memory of no one else's but ours, and the rest was unscripted. One day of changed history.