Chapter 1

April 10, 1912

Large crowds of people had gathered around at the wharf to stare and be amazed at the largest man-made superstructure in the world. People cheer and yell as passengers of various classes and ethnicities make their way to board the R.M.S. Titanic, while others wave to passengers that have already boarded. Cars and even horse carriages came to bring in famous people who would be boarding what some would call the Millionaires Special, since these people have immense wealth and status. But the shipping company really was targeting the immigration trade and those in the lower class, since most of these people who would be looking for a better life in America, Land of Opportunity, and thus was often called The Ship of Dreams. Most of these immigrants stand in queues, waiting for their turn to board as they undergo an inspection for any infectious diseases, thus to prevent anyone from getting sick, especially the upper classes, while they are enjoying their trip to America and Canada.

Meanwhile, inside of a nearby hotel, a young Finnish could barely contain his excitement, as he looked towards the tall, black behemoth at the docks that stood tall and proud over the roofs of Southampton, while in the distance, smoke filled the air from ships, and cranes lined the docks. Meanwhile in the next room, a young man was buried under the thick blankets, his delicate, youthful face only peeking above the covers, as he slept peacefully. His small, delicate mouth hung open, his arm atop his forehead, and his dark hair was beautifully spread on the pillow, all the while not making a sound, even as the commotion was loud enough to wake someone from a deep-sleep.

"Jesse, Eric! Are you guys awake yet?!" Karl asks, who could barely contain his excitement, let alone get any sleep for that night, for he was too excited to go to his new home and start a brand new life.

"Shut that curtain!" came a groggy voice from another room, followed by something that was being thrown against the wall.

"But its only eight in the morning!" Karl says excitedly, while in the other room, Jesse slowly turns in the bed, and groaned, as the blankets twists with his body. Like an angel he slowly wakes up, pushes his hair back before he rubbed his eyes, and looks up at the clock over the fireplace mantle.

"Oh crap!" He quickly throws his covers off, then tugs at his vest, for he was still fully dressed from the night before. Jesse was dressed in a white shirt, tie, vest, and slacks, as if he was ready to attend an upper-class formal dinner party, rather than board a ship to go back home. He runs into another room.

"Eric, let's go. Get up!." Jesse yells, as he banged on the door frame. A groaning sound followed by rustling of sheets occurs, as if trying to avoid the sunlit room. Jesse poked his head back into the room.

"Dammit get up! There's already a lot of people boarding, and I don't want to be like my father, who almost always runs late!" he says, slightly annoyed, as he flicked his head to get his hair from his eyes.

I don't want to chase another ship again after they remove the gangplank and have to wait another week! he thought, ballooning his cheeks.

"Ay, what the hell-?" the person says, in a thick English accent.

"Wha-?" Jesse gets a puzzled look on his face. "Who the hell are you?" he asks in surprise.

"Your room was open last night, so I helped myself in, thinking no one would…uhh…you know…." He began. Jesse puts his thumb and fore finger on the bridge of his nose, and shook his head.

"Just get out." He snarls, as he points to the door. The man walks out, muttering incoherently to himself, as Jesse shakes his head again.

"Karl, you r-?" Jesse yells, then swung around. Karl had his rucksack with him, and a smile that says I'm ready. Jesse nods, and a small smile played on his face.

Yeah. He muttered to himself, then going to the bathroom to freshen up. He washed his face, then fixed his hair, before returning back to the room. He got his sack of his little belongings before heading out to the reception desk to checkout.

"Where the hell is that Eric?" Jesse asks, while adjusting the bag over his shoulder, as he felt his anger rising a little while his friend flags a cab. Soon a car putters up and stops in front of the hotel entrance, in front of the two young men. Jesse piled both his and Karl's meager possessions in the car, then got in behind the driver, adjusting his coat flaps, while Karl seemed to have trouble with opening the car door on the opposite side.

"To the R.M.S. Titanic, I see." the cab driver says, lighting a cigar.

"Yes." Jesse says, reaching over to open the door for his friend. The driver looks in the mirror, as if reading this young man's mind. He studied this peculiar man with interest, and not at his young Finnish friend. He had never seen someone as interesting as Jesse before.

"Aye. Its been a busy mornin'. Lucky you kids, its starting to slow down a bit. Might pick back up when another ship rolls in." the driver says, clashing the gears in his car, and everyone's heads jerked from the sudden motion of the car. He puffs at his cigar as he piloted his cab around the very busy and narrow Southampton roads, honking his horn along the way.

During the rough and tumble cab ride to the wharf Karl acts like a child in a candy store, being awed by the ship's immense size as they got closer to the docks, while Jesse looked out towards the docks, like he has done numerous times when he came with his father. Soon, he sees one of the tugboats going around the Titanic, as the final preparation for departure are underway. Smoke filled the air, and as they approached closer, they could smell the coals being burned as they came from various ships' funnels, and incoming ships could be heard giving out their calls to port. It was a very busy day at the docks indeed.

While they were getting closer to the docks, Jesse got out his sketchbook, something he used for drawing machinery and cars, and decided to draw the Titanic, by first drawing up the outlines as he looked at the ship, and once he got the image completely in his head, he would complete the drawing, despite the bumpy cab ride. With his head bobbing up and down, and his once perfectly fixed hair swaying with the movement of the car, he dated the drawing April 10, 1912, as Karl watched, as if mesmerized, at Jesse's flowing hair, as it bobbed and fluttered over his eyes. Jesse turned his head and looks at his Finnish friend, as his hair barely covers his left eye, and completely obscures his right. He had a small smile playing on his lips, and soon Karl looked away, feeling a little embarrassed. Jesse returned back to his drawing, and only got halfway into his drawing when the driver asks "You an artist?"

"No, just something for me to do to pass the time" Jesse says, half lying, while the driver could hint a slight British accent from the young man, but he looked completely different, as the driver tries to place where this young man had come from. Jesse places the drawing he had done earlier with the Olympic and Mauretania, then flicks his hair from his eyes. The driver looks in the mirror once more, as Jesse had leaned slightly to the left, from the driver's left shoulder, looking forward, now watching from the driver's perspective. His hair had somehow made a 'swishy' look over his eyes perfectly.

"You know," the driver says as he puffs smoke, something Jesse despises. The windows were open, and it blew the smoke rearward, right into Jesse's face, as he was leaned directly behind the driver.

"This ship not only has supremacy written on it but royalty as well. Did you hear the Astors are boarding this grand ship? I hear Mrs. Margaret Brown is boarding, as well as the Hockley family." Jesse shuddered at the thought of boarding with the Hockleys once again, but at least this time he was boarding as third class, although the name Margaret Brown did ring a bell for him. He remembered the stories his father had told when had done some odd work here and there some years back for Mr. Brown then, but Jesse wasn't sure exactly where the Browns were from.

"You and the Hockleys have a bad past, don't you?" the driver asks.

"I don't want to talk about it." Jesse says, his accent being more pronounced now. He knew he should have kept his composure, but upon hearing the Hockley name once again brought back bad memories. Jesse began to pack up his sketchbook as the cab approached the docks, while the driver carefully navigates his way through the crowds by honking his horn even more.

"You kids are the luckiest. You're going to be a big part of history by being amongst the first to board this luxurious, grand ship." the driver says, clearly wanting to change the subject now.

"We're not a part of the first-class. It certainly wasn't easy getting here. Took every last penny of our voyage getting from Finland to here, and still have enough left over just to buy a third-class ticket home." Jesse says, shaking his hair away from his eyes. He was beginning to be just like his father; running late to ships at the very last possible minute, while this time getting lucky back at Cherbourg, taking the last ship out, something he tried to avoid entirely. But today, they were early, and if he had known sooner, Titanic would've made a stop there.

The cab came to a stop near the wharf.

"Alright kids, last stop," the driver says, blowing smoke to the back, as he balanced a cigar between his teeth.

"Exact change, please." Jesse coughs as he tries to give the man the exact change, and an excited Karl got out of the car before it even came to a stop, then going into the trunk to dig out their luggage. "I say, you're still the luckiest kids because this ship is heading out on its maiden voyage. To America! Haha" The driver winks especially at Jesse.

Karl comes up behind Jesse, putting his hands on his shoulders, still in awe, while Jesse cranes his neck upward. He watches as a car is hoisted over him and the immense crowd all around, blocking out sunlight momentarily, before being loaded into the ship's hatch. He looks up, at the TITANIC name, carved in the iron plates, and filled with gold paint, against a black backdrop of the ship's immense iron hulls. With his hair hanging over one eye slyly, Jesse watches, as people were bidding each other farewells, tearful embraces, and bon voyages as people boarded the grand ship ever built. He licks his lips, and before he knew it, an overexcited Karl jumped on his friend's back. With Karl piggybacking on Jesse, they made their way through the immense crowds, while a bystander carried their meager belongings, even though he knew of Jesse's immense strength.

"This is the most amazing thing I've seen! It's so tall, yet so majestic. If man can build something like this, anything's possible." Jesse couldn't agree with his friend more. To Karl, this was indeed a brand new ship, but for Jesse, he was no stranger, as he had boarded the R.M.S. Olympic months prior. He notices the promenade decks on this new ship were enclosed, in contrast to the Olympic, which had an open deck the entire length. They both agreed this was a beautiful liner to grace the Atlantic. With Karl still piggybacking on Jesse, he plays with and runs his fingers through his hair as they make their way through the cheering crowds, as if they were some sort of old-timey celebrities, with Jesse even playing the part as he waved and smiled at the crowds. They finally make their way to a line, where a sign read, "HEALTH OFFICER. Queue here for Inspection Prior to Boarding," as an officer yells, "Third class passengers, with a forward berth, this way please. This queue, right here." Karl got off of his friend, then brushed himself. The person returned the men's belongings, then gave a farewell salute before disappearing through the crowds.

"Come on, let's get checked over here. We're third class." He says while guiding his Finnish friend over to a line to be checked over for lice in their hair by a health officer. The officer first looks over Karl's hair for any lice, then checks his papers. Next, comes Jesse, after he had put his own rucksack down, and getting prepared for his inspection. Somewhere behind he could still hear an officer yell, "All third class passengers, queue here for health inspection." The officer began to look nervous, and begins to tremble a bit as he combs and sifts through Jesse's soft but thick, dark hair, with a bit of highlights of brown in between, as they were brought out by the sun. After they were done with him, a few hair strands stood on end, as his hair was too soft. Then, with shaking hands he looks over his passport and ticket. Jesse furrows his brows a bit, then looks at the officer as if something was wrong. A lock of hair fell in front of Jesse's eye, making the officer even more uncomfortable. He gives his papers back with shaking hands, and Jesse takes them. He was trying to put them back in his bag when he heard the officer say "He's a cute lad, isn't he?"

Jesse was taken aback a little by that remark, but he shakes his head like it wasn't a huge deal. He gets a little flustered when he can't fit his papers back in his bag. Instead he shoves them in his coat pocket, then looks back at his friend, and Karl also looks up back to him, with eyes sparkling. Jesse blows his dark hair away from his brown eyes, then gave his Finnish friend a small smile, before ruffling his hair.

"Come on, let's go find our cabin." He says, then gave a small chuckle. "Say we have finally just found our cabins, but the ship has docked in New York, we can't settle in, and we have to get off again." they both laugh. While they were making their way through the mazes of this majestic ship, Jesse could faintly hear the Titanic's horn as it reverberated throughout the crowded, noisy third class corridors deep below the ship, in contrast to both the Olympic and Mauretania, where he could hear the blasts in his first-class berths. Then he starts thinking, Where the hell is that stupid guy? Don't tell me he's-