8
Two weeks had passed since the night
at the Quarry. Since then, Rose and
Jack had been inseparable. Rose barely
talked to Leanne, even though she had apologized for her behavior. Rose had no need for fair weather friends
and that’s what Leanne was.
Jack and Rose were now in a movie
theater in line to see Star Wars Episode 2.
They had brought tickets the week before and now felt the tingling
excitement that the others felt at the moment.
“Can you believe it’s finally here?”
Rose was full of anticipation. She
wasn’t actually a Star Wars fanatic, but she had loved the trilogy since she
was a kid and had read everything having to do with the prequels.
Jack laughed at her excitement. Of course he liked Star Wars, but he was not
ready to assume that episode 2 would be better then episode 1. He was holding his judgment for later.
“Calm down Rose,” He squeezed her
hand. “We haven’t even seen the movie
yet.”
“But we all know it’s going to be
good. It’s Star Wars,” a man in front
of them snorted.
Both Jack and Rose held back
laughter. Jack’s smile faded as he
glanced further down the line. Rose
followed his gaze and noticed a blond girl with a guy in jeans and a leather
jacket laughing.
“Jack?” Rose asked. “What’s wrong?”
He tore his attention away from the
couple and back to Rose. Guilt appeared
in his eyes. “I thought I saw someone I knew.
I guess I was wrong.”
Rose just shrugged and followed the
line into the theater, her mind on what was bothering Jack. But as they sat down and watched the movie,
any worries she had vanished. She was taken
into a much more exciting world for the next two hours.
~*~
After the movie ended, Jack and Rose
were heading for a pizza parlor not too far away when they bumped into the
couple from the line.
“Oh we’re…Jackie?” The blond girl’s
eyes widen in disbelief.
“Chloe?” Jack stared at the girl in
disbelief of his own. He knew it was
she, just by the way she moved her head.
“Jackie!” The girl wrapped her arms
around Jack tightly. “Oh Jackie, I
can’t believe it’s you!”
Rose frowned, wondering who the obviously older woman was to Jack. They seemed to know each other quite well. It was the girl’s date that asked the question.
“Hey Chloe, who’s the kid?” The man
gruffly asked.
“Oh Kegg, this is my little brother
Jack. I haven’t seen him in like, eight
years. Jack, this is Kegg, Carter’s
best friend. We’re up here in Chicago
on business. What are you doing
here? Is mom and dad around?”
The smile on Jack’s face faded as he
took Rose’s hand. “You’ve been gone for
a long time Chloe. You don’t even know
that we have a little brother and sister do you?”
“What? When?” Chloe looked at her brother in disbelief..
“A couple of years after you
left. We were all hoping you’d come
back to meet them, but you never did.
And then a couple of years later…you know…what do you care?” Jack sighed,
beginning to walk away. “You left and didn’t
care enough to let any of know you were alright.”
“Jack wait!” Chloe called.
“I have to get Rose home!” Jack waved
as he led Rose to his car.
“Jack! How can I get in touch with you!?” Chloe called, but it was too
late. Jack was gone.
~*~
Jack and Rose stopped at a restaurant not far from Rose’s apartment since Rose wasn’t due back for another hour.
“So…I didn’t know you had another
sister,” Rose carefully replied, knowing that it was a sensitive subject.
“Yeah. Chloe’s twenty-three. She
ran away with this guy named Carter when she was fifteen. As you may have guessed, she never
returned. Not when Lily was born and
not when our parents died.”
“Oh Jack…”
“I’m so angry at her…it was best that
I walked away.”
Rose took his hand over the table. “It seemed like she wanted to talk.”
Jack shrugged. “Grandma’s number is in the phonebook. If she really wants to talk, she can look me
up.”
“Jack…give her a chance to
explain. I mean…Lily and Paul deserve
to meet their big sister. No matter how
mad you may be.”
Jack
sighed, staring at the table. “You’re
right. They do. It’s just that…I don’t want them to love her
and then have Chloe desert them like she deserted me.”
“Oh Jack,” Rose got up and hugged him
tightly as she saw the hurt in his eyes.
“With you there, I believe Lily will be fine.”
“I hope you’re right Rose. I hope you’re right.”