Chapter 11: The Basketball Game
Rose's Point Of View
I slipped around the side of the High School quietly, knowing that Jack hadn't seen me go. It was a private moment for him, reuniting with his best friend after 5 years. I seen his car and hoped it was unlocked. It was, and I slid into the passenger seat. I pulled out a book called Romeo & Juliet written in modern times. It was for my English class and I had to read the whole thing over a space of 1 week then write a book report on it.
20 minutes later out of the corner of my eye and through the dark black tinted windows, I saw Jack coming up to the car. He opened the door and slid into the driver's seat. God, he was so hott. He closed his door and looked over at me. I could see the appreciation and gratefulness through his gaze.
"Thanks, Rose."
"I knew that I had to reunite you when he first said his best friend, Jack, disappeared when there was a fire at his house. He sounded so sad, like he missed you so much." The whole time I was talking, his face came closer. He reached out and his hand touched my shoulder, running down my arm.
"And I missed him, too. I just wouldn't let myself come back." The look in his eyes became heated as he stared at me.
I reached out and touched him, feeling like I had to. His hand moved down my shoulder and slid down my back. A chill raced up my spine, and I brought myself as close to him as theseparater between our seatslet me. He looked me in the eyes as his face descended to mine.
"I love you," he whispered between soft kisses to my face.
"I love you too." I answered.
He brushed kisses down my jaw, and came to my mouth again. His hand caressed my side, and he buried his other hand in my hair.
"We need to get to the basketball court, Jack." I commented, even though I hated to have to stop kissing him.
"Can we take up where we left off later?" He asked hopefully.
"Maybe, if you're a good boy."
He grinned. "I'll be on my best behavior."
I touched his dimples. "Good, then I'll think about it."
When we got to the basketball court, Fabri and Tommy were bent over a couple sheets of paper.
"Hey, I'm not like that!" I heard Tommy yell indignantly.
Fabri laughed at him, "Right, and you do have a sister named Mary Elizabeth."
"But her last name is Ryan."
"Yeah, but she's still Irish."
Jack and I didn't have to worry about the suspense of what they were talking about for long. Fabri had gotten an email that had a list that was titled 'Being Irish Means…"
"I don't even want to know what's on that paper." Jack laughed.
"I do," I snatched it from Tommy; smiling at the look of pretend shock he gave me.
Being Irish means...
You will never play professional basketball
You swear very well
At least one of your cousins holds political office
You think you sing very well
You have no idea how to make a long story short
You are very good at playing a lot of very bad golf
There isn't a huge difference between losing your temper and killing
someone
Much of your food was boiled
You have never hit your head on the ceiling
You're strangely poetic after a few beers
You're poetic a lot
You will be punched for no good reason...a lot
Some punches directed at you are legacies from past generations
Your sister will punch you because your brother punched her
Many of your sisters are Catherine, Elizabeth or Mary...and one is
Mary Catherine Elizabeth
Someone in your family is incredibly cheap
It is more than likely you
You don't know the words but that doesn't stop you from singing
You can't wait for the other guy to stop talking so you can start
talking
"Irish Stew" is the euphemism for "boiled leftovers from the fridge"
You're not nearly as funny as you think you are, but what you lack in
talent, you make up for in frequency
you are, or know someone, named "Murph"
If you don't know Murph, then you know "Mac"
If you don't know Murph or Mac, then you know "Sully"
You'll probably also know Sully McMurphy
You are genetically incapable of keeping a secret
Your parents were on a first name basis with everyone at the local
Emergency Room
And last but not least... Being Irish means...
Your attention span is so short that---oh, forget it.
Tommy snatched the paper back and made a depressed face.
"That's not fair."
"Aw, come on Tommy, you know you're at least half of those on the list."
"No way-"
"Yep, especially the one about being able tobe a poetwhen your drunk." Fabri cut in.
"Hey!" Tommy exclaimed then quieted, realizing he was losing. "So did anyone bring any drinks?" he asked instead.
"Ummm…no." I said, "Do you want me to go get some?"
"Yeah, if you don't care. There's a store right across the street." Fabri pointed.
I got up and started walking. I heard Jack come up behind me and turned around, walking backwards.
"Why are you following me?"
"Coz I want to."
I grinned.
"Did they tell you what they wanted?" I asked.
"No, but I know what Fabri wants anyway, and Tommy mentioned something about Mt. Dew."
"Cool. I'm gonna get a-"
"Starbucks Double shot."
"Yep."
"I might need you on my team, to play against Tommy and Fabri."
I gave him a shocked look and burst out laughing, pointing to myself. "Me? Play basketball? You're more likely to win playing by yourself."
"Are you serious? You mean you can't play basketball!"
I shook my head. "Nope."
We shared a laugh and the storeowner shot us a questioning glance. Jack waved and grinned at him.
"Jack Dawson! I haven't seen you in over 4 years boy! What's going on?" asked an older man asked as he saw us more clearly by adjusting his glasses.
"Not much, Mr. Ismay. I'm sorry to have disappeared like that, but you probably heard what happened to my parents and my house right before I did."
The man gave him an empathetic look. "Yes, I'm sorry about that. They were such good people."
"No one could have stopped it."
"True."
"Oh I'm sorry, this is my girlfriend Rose."
"Well how did he manage to snag such a beauty like you?"
"Well, he's very charming…"
"Yeah, that he is. Well, what did you kids come in here for today?"
"We need drinks. Fabri, Tommy, Rose, and I are going to play some basketball and catch up on old times."
"Well, you know where they are…"
With that, I followed Jack back to the section where he said the drinks were. We chose the drinks, and went back to up to the counter to pay. After that, we walked back to the court and played basketball. Tommy and I, Jack and Fabri got on a team. Fabri and Jack ended up winning.
"Good game." I gasped, out of breath from all the work. Tommy placed his arm around my shoulders.
"Yep, you're pretty good for not ever playing in your whole life." He was hardly out of breath. "Tell me something Rose, did you grow up in a first class home?"
I froze. What did I tell him? It was a simple question, but I didn't know if I could tell him the answer.
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to," he commented sounding like he was confused.
"Yeah, I did grow up in a first class home." I finally answered, sighing.
"Ok," he replied sounding uncertain how to say what was on his mind, "if you don't mind me asking, how did you end up here?"
"I ran away," I whispered, waiting for a response from him.
He flinched. "You ran away!" His voice was incredulous. "You look like someone who would never do something like that." He laughed.
"I had to, I was desperate to get away from my life. I couldn't stand it anymore."
"I know the feeling."
"You do?"
"Yep, I tried to run away and got away with it till my mom found out I went to my Dad's house in Canada."
"Wow, Canada."
"It's a beautiful place and I wish I could've stayed there. But my Dad got tired of me, and my mom threatened to ground me for life."
"Yeah. I just desperately hope that my mom or my ex-boyfriend never ever find me."
"We'll be there, and we could beat up anybody, anywhere for you. At least we could your ex-boyfriend. Probably not your mom, I'll never do that to a woman."
"They're rich. And my mom would do anything to get me back with my ex."
"Why?"
"Because his father owns a couple steel mills in Pennsylvania and we would inherit millions. My mother would be set for life; and I would probably be dead within the first year I was married. He beat me, and abused me."
"Anybody who would do that to an awesome, wonderful girl like you is an animal."
"He was. Is."
"Does Jack know all this?"
"Yeah, and I didn't trust anybody for a long time even them, and even though I was living with them. But they've helped me so much. And he's so gentle, and caring towards me…something Cal never was."
"Cal?"
"Caledon Hockley."
"Whoa!"
"You know of him?"
"Sure, everyone does, even out here in the middle of nowhere."
"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of."
"No one will tell anyone about where you came from. Jack won't, and I won't."
"Thanks, Tommy."
"So," he said, suddenly turning from serious to joking, "You want to go skydiving with me someday?"
"Sure, why not? I want to go surfing to, you know."
"We'll bring Fabri and Jack and make a vacation out of it."
"Like I could relax knowing very well I could kill myself jumping from a plane at more than a mile up in the air…"
"It would be thrilling!"