Disclaimer: I do not own Titanic, or anything associated with it. Although Annabelle Essington is my character.
Summary: I am brutal at summaries, but here goes: My retelling of the Titanic story, starting out the second day of the trip, and Jack has already met Rose, and they've fallen for each other. But they're still at the point where no one can know that they're in love.
An Ocean of Memories
Chapter 1: The Party
Jack Dawson sighed and pursed his lips. He had been on the R.M.S. Titanic for two days, and had yet to find anything interesting out of it. To him, it was nothing but a long venture, on a big expensive ship, meant to be spent getting shoved around and muttered at by the first class passengers. He had also wanted to get in some valuable drawing time, but had yet to find an inspiration. Currently, he was caught up trying to sketch a young woman, who was braiding her daughters hair. They were two seats away from him, and evidently third class passengers, but Jack was yet to find the courage to approach them. He groaned, and stood up, before glancing around the deck.
"Nothing to do. Never anything to do." He muttered to himself before beginning his walk. He decided to journey aimlessly around the ships deck, just to see what was here. To see if there was really some excitement that he had just overlooked or missed with his quick displeased glances. He came upon a clearing and saw a young woman with fiery red hair, and smiled softly to himself. This was Rose. Rose De Witt Bukater, the one woman he had come to love since the voyage had come to set sail. He walked over to her slowly, "Rose."
The young girl turned abruptly, "Jack! What are you doing here? I thought you were going to spend the day by yourself. Haven't you found anything to draw yet?" Jack shook his head solemnly, "Well… I'm sure we can find you an inspiration somewhere, alright?" As she finished talking, she was dragged away by a snooty looking woman, "Rose! What were you doing, talking to this scum. He's a poor boy, and I will not tolerate my daughter talking to such people. Let's go." Rose shot her lover a forlorn look as she walked away with her mother.
Jack chuckled to himself as he strolled on. Rose's mother was an absolute snob, but he had to admit, her shows of snootiness did give him a laugh pretty much all the time. He just hoped Rose would agree to leave her and come and stay with him when they got to America. He knew he didn't make much, but he had hopes of them moving into a cozy home, starting a new life, and maybe even creating a family. These thoughts gave him hope. He also realized that he felt a lot better, now that he had spoken with Rose, no matter how brief the moment. He brushed his sandy hair back with his hand, and sat down on a nearby chair. If he didn't draw anything soon, his head was going to explode into a tiny million pieces. 'Hey, now there's something I can draw!' Jack thought, smiling to himself. He looked around, and finally stopped on a young couple sitting down the deck from him, cuddling and kissing, a little too much for Jack's pleasure. He shrugged and pulled out his sketchbook and coal pencil, and started to sketch them paying close attention to the man's suit details, and the lace on the woman's dress. Halfway through the photo, he stopped, growled and tore the picture out of his booklet. "Horrible!" he moaned to himself. Just then, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He turned to find a young girl, about 16 in age, with bright brown eyes, as seemingly impossible as it seems, and brown curly hair.
"Can I help you little missy?" Jack asked, trying to be as polite as possible.
The little girl giggled, "My friends and I wanted to let you know that the real party is about to start. Are you gonna join us?" It was then that Jack noticed her dress was a lot more ragged then the other women on board and grinned, standing up quickly.
"I'm Jack Dawson! Have I ever been known to miss a party?" He grabbed the girls hand, and they ran down to the lowest floor, "What's your name?"
The girl called back, "Annabelle. Annabelle Essington. Although, I've known you for a long time Jack. A long time indeed."
As they entered the large room, Jack paused, "How do you know me?"
"You're Jack Dawson. You never miss a party! You've danced with me since I was a wee one." Annabelle said with a goofy grin, "But call me Annie, or else you'll find yourself brutally beaten by a girl. Alright?"
Jack laughed heartily and nodded. They entered the dance floor, and started dancing along to an upbeat tune played by their small band, which consisted of a fiddle, and random banging on tambourines, and tables. Jack loved coming to these underground parties, as they're called. The third class passengers were so much more friendly, and no one ridiculed him, or pushed him if he got in their way. It was pure heaven in the form of the poorest ones.
Jack grabbed Annie's hand and pulled her over to a table, "Oh God… I haven't had that much fun in a while!" He grinned and sat down, breathing heavily.
"Well, we thought we were going to miss you today Jack. It would have been awfully boring without you." Annie grinned. Jack stood up, "Ready for another dance, Miss. Essington?" Annie grinned again and took Jack's hand, "My pleasure."
They entered the dance floor once more, and spent the rest of the night, dancing and hollering, to their hearts content.
Jack grinned as he watched Annie on the floor as she danced and twirled, her dark hair flying, and her skirts jumping with every move. 'I've finally got my inspiration.' He thought as he pulled out his sketchbook once more.