"Life is too short to not express how you feel"
The Arts program was assigned to take some photographs experimenting with different perspectives and Jack thought the 6th Deck was the perfect place to do so. He had intended to stay with his classmates at first, but they preferred to stay inside with the air conditioning due to the hot air that blew their way as they got close to Miami. As fate would have it, Rose had planned to go surfing that day on the flow rider; the switch of weather had put her in a good mood.
Our young artist started taking pictures from far away so people wouldn't feel uncomfortable, until his lense found a certain redhead girl about to go on the surf simulator. Perfect timing to try the hidden perspective, he thought. He took a couple (or a bunch) of pictures and proceeded to check them out. A moment after he had scrolled through his camera, he lifted his gaze to meet Rose.
The girl saw him out of the corner of her eye and he waved at her, what else could he do? he was busted. The distraction caused Rose to fall hard on the water and cut her knee with the edge of the board. She cringed at the embarrassment as she limped towards the pool chair where she left her stuff. Wanting desperately to know if she was hurt, Jack rushed to her and found her wrapping a towel around herself.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine" She answered, still cringing.
"Why is it that every time we meet, you're trying to injure yourself?"
Rose laughed "I don't know..." His plan to break the awkwardness had worked, as always. Did he have to be that charming?
"Woah, that doesn't look very good" He took a look at her knee, which was covered in blood, and it was spreading all over her leg due to the water "stay here, I'll take care of it, don't go anywhere"
Luckily, on the same deck was the Starbucks Fabrizio was currently working on. Jack found his friend about to take an order and decided to step in before he could. It was an emergency, surely the girls in the line would understand.
"Excuse me, sorry... Fabrizio! Do you have a first aid kit I can borrow real quick?"
"Yes, is everything okay?"
"Yeah yeah, Rose just had a little accident"
"Rosa? I thought you were doing homework" His best friend scolded as he reached down for the kit.
"I was"
"Here you go"
"Thanks buddy, i'll give it back as soon as i'm finished" he said and ran back outside, meanwhile Fabrizio got back to work.
Outside on deck, Jack spotted Rose looking through his camera...
Oh shit. This can't be happening. Shit shit shit shit put that down!
"Hey, sorry I was just... sorry it was just there and... you're very good, I liked them a lot"
He was screwed. "How much did you see?" He said as he took the camera from her and turned it off
Rose laughed "looks like you have a stalking problem, should I be worried?" Jack's face turned completely red.
"How 'bout we clean this mess, alright?" Changing the subject was the best way to go. "How did you find New York? Did you enjoy your last couple of days?"
"It was amazing, it went better than I expected actually... Cal and I made up"
"Really?"
"Yeah"
He wasn't gonna lie, he was disappointed. You could easily see it in his eyes. The worst part is that he knew how transparent he was, but he tried his best to not show it in his voice so Rose wouldn't suspect if something was off. He cleared his throat.
"Well... that's good, I'm glad. Mind if i ask where is he now?"
"He must be at... the casino or something"
"Is the casino open at 3pm?"
"I don't know!" they laughed as Jack opened his water bottle and reached for Rose's knee
"Wait, wait! Are you putting that on my knee?" She said as she sat away from Jack on the pool chair
"It's just water Rose" he crouched down to be at her level
"It's going to hurt"
"It's not, you'll be fine..." He poured a little amount of water on her knee and cleaned her leg. When he finished, he gave a reassuring smile to Rose and then proceeded to grab a ball of cotton wool and put some hydrogen peroxide on it. "See? It wasn't that bad. Now, this might sting a tiny, tiny bit, alright?"
"No wait!" Rose covered her knee with both hands
"I'll be doing just the edges alright?"
"No wait, Jack no"
"We can't have you catching an infection Rose... i'll be gentle, i promise"
"No! I don't want it!"
"Shh just lay on your back" she did as she was told. "That's it. Look at the sky, focus on your breathing... there you go. Here, hold my hand, squeeze it if it hurts" Rose squeezed his hand and shut her eyes "Shh, almost done... and that's it. All done. Alright, i'm gonna take this back, you just... lay here okay?"
Rose nodded and Jack went back to the cafeteria, where he found Tommy and Fabrizio talking on the young one's lunch break.
"Now try this one"
"It's awful! How many shots of expresso did you put in it?"
"Just like five or six"
"Italian what the-"
"Hey! Here you go Fabri, thanks very much. What's up Tommy?" He greeted his friend with a handshake
"So. You guys dating?"
"What? No... she just made up with her boyfriend..."
"So?"
"I'm not going to interfere in their relationship Tommy"
"Why not?" Jack rolled his eyes "okay I'm kidding. But still, from what I've heard the guy is a bad person so... she's going to leave him anyway"
"That's her choice. In the meantime, I'm not going to try to do anything"
"But think about it. If you make her fall in love with you, when she's tired of him you'll be there for her, and she'll choose you. Technically you're not breaking them up"
"Tommy, no"
"Tell him something Italian!"
"What would you say to yourself?"
"What?"
"Yes Jack, if it was me, what would you advise me?"
"I... i'd say do what makes you happy, as long as you're not crossing any boundaries. Life is too short to not express how you feel"
His friends smiled.
"There you go"
"I hate you two, thank you guys. I guess I'll see you later"
"Go get her Jackie! and you, fix this"
"What is there to fix?"
"I'm not drinking this; I'll have a Frappuccino with caramel on the vase"
"Alright, it would be five dollars"
"What? Oh c'mon! What's the point of you working here if we don't get free coffee?"
"I'll pay for your Frappuccino if you drink that one"
"Deal"
Back on deck, Rose sat up again, moving a little so Jack could fit on the chair too. When both of them were comfortable on the wooden chair, he pulled a lollipop from his pocket.
"Here"
"What is this?"
"For being so brave" Rose laughed
"Thank you" she kissed him on the cheek
"What's that for?"
"For being the best nurse", he laughed
"About that, I want you to wash that cut with water and soap when you get to your cabin, understood?" Rose rolled her eyes "Aries, right?"
"Wha- how?" Jack laughed "Quite the bohemian, are you?"
"It's really obvious actually"
"I guess, if you're into that spiritual sort of stuff"
"Aren't you?"
"I like it but I'm not really into it"
"And what are you into?"
"I like photography"
"Really?"
Rose glanced at Jack's camera "Oh no, not like that. I couldn't take a picture even if my life depended on it, I just like to see them"
"Wanna try it?"
"For real?"
"Yeah, i'll show you. Look, you hold it like this... you focus like this... see these lines? Try to shoot when your object is where they meet, or at the center. You shoot with this button. Just don't press any buttons other than this one and you'll be fine"
Rose snapped a few blurred pictures but eventually got the hang of it. She took some of Jack and even a few selfies.
"You have a really good camera for being p- uh... i mean, a person of limited... means"
Jack laughed "Go on, I'm a poor guy, you can say it. Molly gave it to me"
"Really? That's so cool. I apologize for being rude, I didn't mean..."
"Hey it's okay. I like that when you're with me you can be yourself, no judgement, remember?"
"Still, i'm sorry"
"No worries, it's what i am"
"You're amazing, you knew that?"
Jack wasn't the one to take those kinds of complements, usually people complimented his art, not him.
"What? You are. You're talented, and caring, and fun, and kind, and cute, and..."
"Cute?"
"What?"
"You think i'm cute?" What could she do? She was busted.
"Well, yes? Yeah"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah"
"Alright, thank you for the compliments"
"Anytime friend"
Right. Friends.