The Explorer's Apprentice

28:A Slight Quiver of Hope

Those rights of mine from my best friend Mr. James still have not arrived in the mail yet.;) Lol. I don't own these characters. x)

I'm dedicating this chapter to desertdragon, because if I remember correctly--she appreciates boy bands (see the song on the side) as much as I do. x)

 Rose Dewitt Bukater

She sees him there at the bottom of the grand staircase, imitating the motions of wealthy men nearby as he gestures towards an imaginary companion. Rose smiles. Her heart shudders. She can’t recall the last time she’s ever been so excited to see another person.

                When he notices her, it takes all her self-control not to keep from tripping down the stairs to him. His face captivates her like no other. His features, strikingly handsome to any eye, mold into the lovliest loook of childlike excitement that nearly makes her laugh.

But it’s his smile that seems to fascinate Rose the most. So warm and inviting, its the sort of genuine smile that makes a person feel warm. One doesn't stumble upon a smile like that very often, and it reminds Rose of a rare treasure. It's beautiful, magical--it's enough to light up the whole room. It’s contagious. Jack has a way of making her forget to breathe, causing a warm sensation to glide across Rose's skin whenever she sees him. She feels at home with him, and God, how she loves this feeling.

                When she reaches him, he takes hold of her gloved hand and bows low, bringing it to his lips like a proper gentleman. She imagines that she’s grinning like a buffoon but she can’t help herself. That wonderful, free feeling that comes over her whenever she’s with Jack has returned. She’s never felt like this before, not around anybody else. Not Kate or her uncle, or Ben, who lived next door to her grandmother--not anyone. It’s strange and new, but it doesn’t frighten her. It’s more compelling, like a drug, and she finds herself longing for it more and more. It’s addictive.  Irresistible.        

                “I saw that in a Nickelodeon once, and I’ve always wanted to do it,” Jack says, and they both chuckle warmly.

                He’s dressed to fit the part. His golden corn-silk hair has been slicked back and he’s wearing an elegant suit. But it’s wonderful to see that he’s himself on the inside. He’s not a rich boy from high society, and he probably never will be. But she really likes him for it, for everything he is and everything he’s not. She likes him for not completely fitting in.

                He offers his arm and she loops hers through it. He thrusts his nose into the air, mocking almost everyone around them. She laughs because it’s amazing how many people here actually resemble this impersonation. Their noses are higher, even.

An odd little thought strikes her, then.

                I think maybe they're like shells, Rose thinks. Rolling through the ocean with no particular goal--none of any importance, anyway. And maybe, just maybe, under all the sparkles and diamonds, they're empty inside. Maybe they beg for something to make them feel superior. Something to satisfy the hungry emptiness. Each and every one of them. They’re all the same.       

                Rose turns to Jack and he smiles. He doesn't look empty. Even as he lowers his head, even as they approach Rose's little family--their stony backs turned to them like tall blocks of ice--Jack radiates life. It seems to glimmer off of his very finger tips  in long, radient beams. 

No, she thinks. She is certain. He doesn't fit in with them at all.

              Rose jabs her finger into Cal’s back ferociously, but keeps her voice light. “Darling,” she breathes, and he turns to face them. His cold, humorless eyes survey them with a type of hungry curiosity. “Surely you remember  Mr. Dawson,” she says.

                Cal’s brows rise and he stares at Jack with the look of someone pretending to be impressed, like the look one other than the child’s parents might give to a toddler when they’ve proudly announced they’ve used the grown-up toilet for the first time. “Well, it’s amazing!” Cal’s blindingly white teeth are displayed for the whole world to see. “Why, he could almost pass for a gentleman!”

                Jack gives a slight shrug and a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Rose has spent enough time with him by now to be able to tell a genuine smile from a forced one. “Almost,” he says.

                “Extraordinary.” And with that, Cal takes Mrs. Dewitt Bukater’s frail arm and the pair stalk away, leaving a trail of poisonous hatred behind them.

                Rose looks up at Jack, concerned, fearing that her family’s rudeness has finally gotten to him. But when he looks down at her and smiles a real smile, not only does she take comfort in the fact that she is, for once, not the tallest person in the room, but he also gives her a sliver of hope.

                Perhaps, with Jack--confident, comfortable, kind, caring, radient Jack--I’ll be able to get through this empty dinner after all.