Chapter Four:
That day Sarah did not see much of John anyway, because her aunt suddenly surprised her. Sarah never dreamed something like this would ever happen between them, but it made her feel good- and suspicious. The events made Sarah wonder if John had told her aunt anything of what they discussed the other night.
"Dear? May I come in?" Michelle said that morning, when Sarah was brushing her teeth.
"Yes!" the niece said, making a disgusted face at herself in the mirror, but had interest in her voice.
The door creaked open, and that's where it all began.
"Hi!" her aunt said in her usually high, sweet voice. "You look beautiful today!"
"No I don't." Sarah said, putting her brush down on the counter and looking at her curly brown hair and her white face and pale eyes with a disappointed face. "All those First Class ladies in their expensive gowns and pretty jewelry are beautiful."
"Oh, don't say such words! You're just as pretty as they are. You're finely dressed in my opinion, too."
"You're just saying that!" Sarah complained.
"Have I ever lied to you?" she had no answer to that. Aunt Michelle was the most honest person in the world.
"Well, I'm not beautiful enough, apparently!" she pushed out of the bathroom door and fell onto her bed, flat on her back, sighing.
Her aunt came out of the bathroom, grinning mischievously, but not quite as John did.
"What?" Sarah sat up again, glaring at her aunt. "Don't look at me like that!" she pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged her arms around them.
Instead of demanding to know what was going on with her, as Sarah expected, Aunt Michelle sat down next to her niece and started to separate the soft and fine hair of her nieces into three sections as she talked.
"Well, I was thinking you and me should spend some time together, while we're on this journey." Sarah felt herself make a confused face, but she didn't say anything. "The truth is, I just don't know that much about you."
"Well, there is not much of me to know about." Sarah said, dismayed. The only thing anyone would ever need to know about her was disappointed haunted all her dreams.
"Don't talk that way! I'm sure that you're just hiding yourself from me under there." Her aunt talked with such pride and beauty in her voice, that it made Sarah even more upset. She whirled around to face the older woman on her bed, her eyes full of sorrow just as her aunt finished braiding her long hair. "I'm nothing, aunt Michelle! Nothing about me is worth hearing! When I get old and die, no one is going to remember me! I will go through life without touching anyone's hearts, or doing something heroic! I won't even know who I am when I die!" the longing feeling she had woken up with shelled in her chest as she left out all the detailed she was still hiding from her aunt. Her aunt looked at her distraught little girl, and new she needed time.
"Don't worry about that, honey! You've got your whole life ahead of you! It's full of adventures! Come on! We have a whole day ahead of us, where we're just going to relax and forget everything that's worrying us. We ARE on vacation, after all."
"I don't know." Sarah wailed, but her aunt wouldn't take it. Before she could say, "Let me go!" they were already out the door.
"So, where's Sarah? I haven't seen her all day." Said John as he flopped onto the couch in their First Class room. Cory was sitting at his desk, his glasses on, deeply into writing something in a book, and did not hear the question at first.
"I believe she was with her aunt since after breakfast." He said.
"Really? But I thought she- Well, nevermind." John sat in silence, wondering what to do. He hadn't been looking for Sarah that whole day, but he was interested in at least talking to her for a little while. He didn't like Sarah enough yet to do any of that. Though he loved to tease her, but as well listen to her tell him about herself, he didn't quite realize these feelings he had for her just yet. What he HAD been doing that day was talking and laughing with the other First Class girls down near where the dances were held. That room, which he had been in after he talked to Sarah, was where he danced the night away like he used to do back home. When he talked about these girls, Sarah noticed a great joy in talking about them, and it now made her more distressed than she usually was. Even though she hadn't quite realized her feelings for him yet either, she seemed to notice them much more than John did.
It was only three days they had known each other on the Titanic, but they both tried not to admit it felt like they had known each other for much longer. Each day they started to bicker even more, but they seemed to get a long just as much.
The sun started to set, and night overcame them as Sarah took a loud sip of her drink.
"I'll have to admit, today was pretty fun!" Sarah said, smiling at her aunt.
"See, I told you an aunt and a niece could have fun! Getting lost had to be my favorite part of the day." Sarah laughed at her aunt's joke. It was true, that just after lunch they continued searching around in parts of the ship they still haven't seen, and they ended up getting lost. It wasn't frightful at all, in the two women's opinion. They finally found their way back when they bumped into Cory, who was with his father.
"Just go down the stairs to your right down that hallway and you'll find a familiar path." Cory was saying as his father was still asking Emergency questions to several workers on board.
"This boat is very beautiful, isn't it?" Michelle said, lost in thought as she stared at the ocean. Sarah nodded her head in agreement.
"Do you think it really is unsinkable?" she wondered aloud. "It seems that a few people are afraid it will sink."
"I'm sure we'll all still be safe if it did sink, dear." Michelle answered her. Sarah was rather startled, because she hadn't realized she was thinking aloud.
The seventeen year old still hadn't been able to open up to her aunt as she had been able to do with John, but she did feel happier towards her. She had always disliked her aunt, because it always seemed like she overlooked her.
Loud footsteps, shouts, and laughter rose behind them as First Class passengers went back to their rooms instead of to the fine dining and dancing, which was not occurring that evening. Sarah sighed, then turned to leave. "I guess I'll go back to my room now. I'm quite tired after today."
They both said good night to one another, but the young one was the only one to follow the crowd to her own room.
That day Sarah did not see much of John anyway, because her aunt suddenly surprised her. Sarah never dreamed something like this would ever happen between them, but it made her feel good- and suspicious. The events made Sarah wonder if John had told her aunt anything of what they discussed the other night.
"Dear? May I come in?" Michelle said that morning, when Sarah was brushing her teeth.
"Yes!" the niece said, making a disgusted face at herself in the mirror, but had interest in her voice.
The door creaked open, and that's where it all began.
"Hi!" her aunt said in her usually high, sweet voice. "You look beautiful today!"
"No I don't." Sarah said, putting her brush down on the counter and looking at her curly brown hair and her white face and pale eyes with a disappointed face. "All those First Class ladies in their expensive gowns and pretty jewelry are beautiful."
"Oh, don't say such words! You're just as pretty as they are. You're finely dressed in my opinion, too."
"You're just saying that!" Sarah complained.
"Have I ever lied to you?" she had no answer to that. Aunt Michelle was the most honest person in the world.
"Well, I'm not beautiful enough, apparently!" she pushed out of the bathroom door and fell onto her bed, flat on her back, sighing.
Her aunt came out of the bathroom, grinning mischievously, but not quite as John did.
"What?" Sarah sat up again, glaring at her aunt. "Don't look at me like that!" she pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged her arms around them.
Instead of demanding to know what was going on with her, as Sarah expected, Aunt Michelle sat down next to her niece and started to separate the soft and fine hair of her nieces into three sections as she talked.
"Well, I was thinking you and me should spend some time together, while we're on this journey." Sarah felt herself make a confused face, but she didn't say anything. "The truth is, I just don't know that much about you."
"Well, there is not much of me to know about." Sarah said, dismayed. The only thing anyone would ever need to know about her was disappointed haunted all her dreams.
"Don't talk that way! I'm sure that you're just hiding yourself from me under there." Her aunt talked with such pride and beauty in her voice, that it made Sarah even more upset. She whirled around to face the older woman on her bed, her eyes full of sorrow just as her aunt finished braiding her long hair. "I'm nothing, aunt Michelle! Nothing about me is worth hearing! When I get old and die, no one is going to remember me! I will go through life without touching anyone's hearts, or doing something heroic! I won't even know who I am when I die!" the longing feeling she had woken up with shelled in her chest as she left out all the detailed she was still hiding from her aunt. Her aunt looked at her distraught little girl, and new she needed time.
"Don't worry about that, honey! You've got your whole life ahead of you! It's full of adventures! Come on! We have a whole day ahead of us, where we're just going to relax and forget everything that's worrying us. We ARE on vacation, after all."
"I don't know." Sarah wailed, but her aunt wouldn't take it. Before she could say, "Let me go!" they were already out the door.
"So, where's Sarah? I haven't seen her all day." Said John as he flopped onto the couch in their First Class room. Cory was sitting at his desk, his glasses on, deeply into writing something in a book, and did not hear the question at first.
"I believe she was with her aunt since after breakfast." He said.
"Really? But I thought she- Well, nevermind." John sat in silence, wondering what to do. He hadn't been looking for Sarah that whole day, but he was interested in at least talking to her for a little while. He didn't like Sarah enough yet to do any of that. Though he loved to tease her, but as well listen to her tell him about herself, he didn't quite realize these feelings he had for her just yet. What he HAD been doing that day was talking and laughing with the other First Class girls down near where the dances were held. That room, which he had been in after he talked to Sarah, was where he danced the night away like he used to do back home. When he talked about these girls, Sarah noticed a great joy in talking about them, and it now made her more distressed than she usually was. Even though she hadn't quite realized her feelings for him yet either, she seemed to notice them much more than John did.
It was only three days they had known each other on the Titanic, but they both tried not to admit it felt like they had known each other for much longer. Each day they started to bicker even more, but they seemed to get a long just as much.
The sun started to set, and night overcame them as Sarah took a loud sip of her drink.
"I'll have to admit, today was pretty fun!" Sarah said, smiling at her aunt.
"See, I told you an aunt and a niece could have fun! Getting lost had to be my favorite part of the day." Sarah laughed at her aunt's joke. It was true, that just after lunch they continued searching around in parts of the ship they still haven't seen, and they ended up getting lost. It wasn't frightful at all, in the two women's opinion. They finally found their way back when they bumped into Cory, who was with his father.
"Just go down the stairs to your right down that hallway and you'll find a familiar path." Cory was saying as his father was still asking Emergency questions to several workers on board.
"This boat is very beautiful, isn't it?" Michelle said, lost in thought as she stared at the ocean. Sarah nodded her head in agreement.
"Do you think it really is unsinkable?" she wondered aloud. "It seems that a few people are afraid it will sink."
"I'm sure we'll all still be safe if it did sink, dear." Michelle answered her. Sarah was rather startled, because she hadn't realized she was thinking aloud.
The seventeen year old still hadn't been able to open up to her aunt as she had been able to do with John, but she did feel happier towards her. She had always disliked her aunt, because it always seemed like she overlooked her.
Loud footsteps, shouts, and laughter rose behind them as First Class passengers went back to their rooms instead of to the fine dining and dancing, which was not occurring that evening. Sarah sighed, then turned to leave. "I guess I'll go back to my room now. I'm quite tired after today."
They both said good night to one another, but the young one was the only one to follow the crowd to her own room.