Chapter 9
The next day, Jack made his way to school. He pulled up in the parking lot and seen Tommy still sitting in his car. Jack got out and walked round to Tommy's car and knocked gently on the window, startling him.
"Hey Jack, sorry I don't know where I was there." Tommy laughed, opening the door and getting out.
The two walked towards the school building, laughing and talking about the weekend.
"So what's going on with you and Amy?" Jack enquired.
"I don't know. I haven't seen her since yesterday. We were both pretty drunk so I'm not sure. I'll just need to wait until I see her. You know I like her Jack, I'd love it if we could maybe go out for dinner or something." Tommy wished.
"Well you never know." Jack thought about Rose. He couldn't wait to see her and hoped she'd want to get together again.
The warning bell suddenly rang and they made their way to their first class. It was a class that Jack shared with Rose and he was surprised when he got there to see her desk empty.
I wonder where she is. Maybe she's just running late.
Eventually the class finished and Rose still hadn't appeared. Jack wondered where she was and he hoped that she wasn't avoiding him. It's a bit drastic not coming into school just to avoid me. Jack tried to think rationally as he walked towards his next class.
Later on that day, Jack walked towards the canteen to get something to eat. He got some food and walked outside to join his friends who were sitting at the bottom of the stands on the football field.
"Hey Jack." Amy smiled at him, giving him a wink. "How are you? Have a good weekend?" she laughed.
Jack knew exactly what she was getting at but he didn't care. He had loved spending time with Rose and wasn't bothered who knew it.
"I did actually. I know you did as well." Jack shot back, playing her at her own game. The table started laughing as Amy cheeks burnt bright red.
"Rose hasn't been here all morning." Tommy stated. "Think she's ran away so she doesn't have to face you?" he burst out laughing.
"Yeah, thanks for that Tommy." Jack playfully punched him on the arm. Jack looked around him before looking up to the top of the stands where he suddenly caught a flash of red hair.
There she is.
She was leaning against the railings staring out in front of her. Jack suddenly tensed up as an image flashed across his eyes. He was back on this ship and staring up at railings when he seen the woman who looked like Rose. She was leaning on the railings staring out to the sea, in the same way that his Rose was looking across the football field. The woman suddenly turned her head, as if she could feel Jack looking at her. She stared at him for a couple of seconds before turning her head back. Then, as if she was being drawn to him, she looked again. Jack couldn't deny that it was Rose. But she was dressed in period clothing. Jack looked down at himself and noticed his clothes had changed. He was now wearing light brown pants with suspenders and a dark shirt. Looking back up, he realised she was still staring at him. Suddenly a hand flashed in front of him, he looked across and realised that Fabrizio was sitting in front of him waving his hand in front of his eyes and laughing. He couldn't understand this, his friends were there? Looking back up, he saw a man walking up behind Rose and grabbing her arm, pulling her round. Jack looked closely and realised that it was Cal. He's here as well?
Suddenly the image vanished and Jack was back in school, surrounded by his friends. He looked back up to Rose and realised that she was talking with Cal before she stormed off leaving him there.
Jack got up.
"Hey, are you alright?" Tommy asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be back." Jack said as he started to walk up the steps. He turned to head in the direction that Rose went before he felt a hand grab his arm. Spinning round, he came face to face with Cal.
"Where do you think you're going?" He hissed.
"What's that got to do with you?" Jack said, pulling his arm from Cal's grasp.
"Don't think she wants anything else to do with you. Rose just needs to realise that she's meant to be with me. I always win Jack, one way or another." Jack stepped back as Cal said his last sentence. He'd heard him say that before. But where? Jack pushed it to the back of his mind as he walked away from Cal. He wasn't interested in arguing with him and he needed to find Rose.
The school was huge but Jack had an idea where he thought Rose would be. He headed in the direction of the auditorium. Rose had been cast as Sandy after auditioning a couple of weeks before and he knew that she was anxious about doing a good job. She spent every extra minute she had in there practising.
Jack walked in and sure enough, Rose was up on the stage looking over her script. He walked over to her and smiled as she looked up at him.
"Hey." He said timidly.
"Jack!" she jumped down off the stage and ran to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Jack put his arms around her waist and smiled until he realised she was shaking, as if she was sobbing. Jack pulled away from her and looked into her eyes, which were now red and teary.
"What's wrong?" he was concerned for her. He didn't like seeing her like this.
"It's everything really. My whole world and all the people in it." Rose sat down in a chair and put her head in her hands, gripping her hair gently with her fingers.
Jack sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. He tried to shake that feeling away again. These things were happening thick and fast now and it seemed as though he couldn't do anything to stop them. He couldn't even make sense of them. Jack decided that he couldn't think about that now, Rose was upset and he wanted to help her.
"What do you mean?" he rubbed her shoulder.
"Just Cal, my mother, everyone. They just want to control me and tell me what to do. I'm so fed up with it." She sighed.
Jack sat with her, trying to comfort her. He knew that there was nothing he would be able to say that would make everything better. He just had to be there for her.
"Come on." He said standing up and holding out his hand.
"What?" She looked up at him.
"Let's blow off the rest of the afternoon. You've not been here all morning anyway." Jack laughed.
Rose smiled and wiped her eyes. "I was at the dentist."She put her hand in Jacks and followed him out to his car. They got inside and Jack pulled away and headed for the beach.
