Titanic- "Come What May"

Chapter 1

On the morning of April 10th, 1912, the dock in Southampton was full of life. Many people were there just to watch the sailing of the White Star Line's newest leviathan, the supposedly 'unsinkable' RMS Titanic.

Kelly and Rebecca Hoffman made their way through the crowd of bustling well-wishers and passengers. Kelly stopped walking suddenly, from walking at the same steady pace as her older sister, and stared in awe at the ship's size and magnificence. Rebecca stopped walking as well and stood next to Kelly.
"This is truly a sign of God's handy work," Rebecca stated.

"Aye. Indeed it really is. It's magnificent. It's breathtaking. It's as though it were almost as powerful as God, himself." Kelly stated, not taking her eyes off the ship.

Rebecca neither removed her eyes. "Where are mother and father?" She asked finally.

"I haven't a clue. Perhaps they got lost amongst the crowd. There sure are a lot of people here. It's nearly overwhelming."

"That it is. Now, let's go. They've already brought our luggage on the ship," Rebecca said.

"But, shouldn't we find mother and father first?" Kelly asked.

As Kelly spoke those words, their parents appeared. "You girls ought to know better than to walk off like that." Their mother scolded. Father just stood there, with a weary expression on his face.

"Yes mother, but it is not like anything would have happened to us," Rebecca replied.

"Of course, Rebecca, dear. Your father and I are sure nothing would happen to you. Although we cannot say the same for your sister." Mother's cold gaze was directed at Kelly. "Surely, it was Kelly's idea for you to wander away from your father and I."

"No, Mother, it wasn't Kelly's fault. We were both just amazed by the ship's size and elegance." Rebecca stated, in order to defend her younger sister.

Mother's expression didn't soften a bit as she stared at Kelly's hands. There was a popping noise that just irritated their mother to no end. "Kelly Ann Hoffman! What have I told you about cracking your knuckles?! That is very unladylike!"

Kelly stood there as her mother went on and on about her poor manners. There is no use in arguing, Kelly thought, I'll only lose anyway. She rolled her eyes and sighed deeply.

"Kelly Ann! Are you even listening to me, young lady?" Her mother screeched.

Father put a hand on their mother's arm. "Now, Ellen, we'd best get moving or we'll miss the ship."

"Yes, father is right. If we do not board now, we might miss the ship," Rebecca said finally. In a attempt to save her sister, she took Kelly tightly by the arm and began to lead her to the gang plank which would take them to the ship that would change their lives forever.

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Kelly watched her and her sister's maid, Annie, unpacking the luggage. "Please, Annie, let me help you with that?" Kelly said while reaching for a brown leather bag that was sitting, still packed, on one of the neatly made beds.

"I am sorry, Miss Kelly, but I cannot allow you to help me. your mother would throw a fit. And I am quite capable of taking care of this myself. But, thank you for offering your assistance."

Kelly and Rebecca looked at each other as Annie went on with the unpacking.

"Well then I suppose we should watch the ship leave," Rebecca commented since her sister would not be allowed to help.

"If we stay we might get in Annie's way," Rebecca added.

In all honesty Rebecca wished to get away for another reason, being the golden child she was supposed to be she very well knew that if she went up on deck her parents would not mind.

Kelly jumped up with excitement. She, too, wished to watch the ship leave. She began to run as fast as her corset would let her down the hall. She bumped into an elderly couple. The old woman looked shocked and was about to say something, but Kelly just muttered "Sorry," and ran off.

"Well, I never-" The older woman said to her husband while she watched Kelly leave.

Rebecca laughed at her sister's enthusiasm.

"I am so sorry ma'am," Rebecca said to the elderly woman.

"Kelly wait up!" Rebecca called as she ran off after her sister as she ran she did the same thing her sister did. She bumped into a person, only this time it was a man.

"Pardon me miss," the man said in a deep welsh accent.

"Sorry, my fault," she replied as she continued to run after her sister.

Kelly reached the deck, completely out of breath. Rebecca followed, not too far behind her. They found an open space by the railing and stood there. Rebecca stared in awe at all the people, who were just there for the heck of it.

Kelly started waving to the people, although she didn't know any of them. Rebecca stared at her sister incredulously, but then started to wave as well (but, perhaps not so wildly, nor as enthusiastically). Kel always has been a bit more outgoing than I, Rebecca thought, it's hard to believe we are even sisters...

Rebecca continued to wave at the people, smiling broadly. The truth about Rebecca was, she hated being the golden child. But waving was just being polite she supposed, as her mother had raised her to be. Out of the two Hoffman girls, Rebecca was the favorite, the one who received the best things. When they both were younger, Kelly would sometimes receive Rebecca's old clothing when she out grew it, and Kelly only sometimes received anything new. The only reason why she was on this ship right now was because they were going to America to meet Rebecca's fiancee.

The man, Michael, whom she was betrothed to, not to her liking, had written her few letters, but always only talked about himself.

The ship was moving and the people, whom she had been waving to, seemed to get smaller as the Titanic began to sail away. Kelly turned around and saw Rebecca still waving.

Kelly walked off. Being the adventurous and curious 17 year-old girl she was, she decided to explore a bit. She ran down a strip of deck where nobody seemed to be. She stopped in front of the entrance to the bridge.

Kelly began wheezing a bit and having trouble breathing. Damn these corsets. I can't even breathe in these normally, let alone run in one.

She walked over toward a deck chair and leaned on it for a moment. Dizziness took over her, and she suddenly fell to the hard wooden deck. Perhaps I shall just lay here for now. Until some curious bystander walks by and alerts somebody. She still had trouble catching her breath.

A tall man in a dark blue uniform approached her. She couldn't see him, but she could hear his footsteps. "Blimey, are you all right, miss? What happened?"

"I'll be fine. I just got a bit dizzy for a second. That is what I get for running around in this damned corset." She said. The young man laughed. He stretched out his hand to help her up.

Once she was standing up, she brushed herself off. "Thank you."

"Any time, Miss." He replied with a smile.

"You may stop calling me 'miss'. I hate that. Please call me Kelly, or Kel. Anything but 'miss'. It's just so... formal."

"Of course, Kel." She smiled as he said her name. "Well, I am Sixth Officer James Paul Moody of the RMS Titanic. But, without the formality, you may just refer to me as Jim, if you'd like."

"Certainly." She replied. She looked into his deep brown eyes. He stared into her greenish-hazel eyes.

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Rebecca finished waving, looked and found her sister no where.

Well, she probably just wandered off, she thought silently. She walked over to another part of the deck and looked around. Some people, who had been waving, had remained where they were, still waving, some looked about, and some returned to their rooms to unpack. Rebecca decided to be one of the people who walked around the deck.

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They both finally broke eye contact. Kelly looked around and saw no one around. "Well, I had best be on my way right now. My mother will be frantic if she can't find me." Yeah, right. Like she'd give a shit about me.

Jim pretended to look disappointed. "Oh, must you leave?"

"Yes, I am afraid so." She returned the coy expression he had. "Thank you, Officer Jim."

"Hey, What's with this 'officer' stuff? I thought we agreed on no formalities."

"Well, I think it has a bit of a ring to it. 'Officer Jim'. It's kind of cute."

"All right, you may call me that," He stated with a laugh, "But, just do not call me that in front of the other officers, or I'll never live it down."

"Sure thing, Officer Jim." She said with a sarcastic smile. She then walked back down the deck.

"Kel?" She heard him call toward her.

She turned around. "Yes?"

"Will you promise me something?" He asked.

"It depends, what?"

"Will I see you again?" He yelled to her.

"You can bet on that." Kelly replied and turned around again. She walked away with an uncontrollable smile on her face.

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As Rebecca walked, she saw the man she ran into before. He seemed to be an officer, now that she got a better look at him. She shrugged and turned her attention to something else, out of the corner of her eye she could see the man look at her with an expression that was between a smile and a look of annoyance.

Well, I would not blame him one bit if he were annoyed with me, she thought.

Then she turned around and walked past the man who shot a look at her as she walked by him. She headed to the bow of the ship.

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Kelly walked down the A-deck promenade. The afternoon sun cast an orange glow on her face.

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Once she reached the bow of the ship Rebecca bent over slightly and looked down at the choppy waters.

"This truly is a day to go down in history," she thought out loud.

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Kelly continued down the large grand ship's deck. She was keeping her eyes on the water, the endless sea that seemed to stretch out for miles and miles.

"Kelly?" She heard a male voice say from behind her. She spun around quickly, hoping perhaps it might be the kind officer she met earlier, but it was not. "Kelly Hoffman? Is that you?"

Kelly was surprised. "George Morley? From River Hill Academy?" She asked.

He nodded. "I haven't seen you since you transferred to that all-girl school last year. What are you doing here?"

"I'm traveling to the United States with my family for my sister's engagement."

"She got engaged? That's lovely." He replied.

"Not exactly. I have the feeling she doesn't like this man at all. She's never even met him." Kelly answered.

"Well, I still wish her luck with her upcoming marriage."

Kelly smiled politely. "I will pass that message onto her." She looked down at the floor for a moment. "What are you doing here?"

"I am heading to New York with my father on a business trip. I always liked to travel, so I suppose he decided out of the kindness in him to let me come with."

"That's lovely. Well, I really had better be going. It was great to see a familiar face around here. We'll have to get together sometime to talk. To catch up on what has been going on in our lives lately."

George smiled. "I will look forward to it."

She shook his hand gently and went on her way.

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Rebecca then straightened her appearance but kept her eyes out on the sea. As she stood in silence, she contemplated the reasons as to why she was even on this ship. Her family had betrothed her to some American from the state of Virginia. He was quite a pompous and she hated the arrangement from the moment she had been informed of it.

This was not the life she wanted, Rebecca had dreamed of being something more than some man's little wife. She had observed how men had treated their wives, and it was not something that she enjoyed. Men would treat women as objects, possessions, nothing more. Her thoughts on marriage were simply that women were put onto this earth to reproduce, nothing more.

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Kelly saw a familiar person standing by the railing at the bow of the ship. It was Rebecca. She strode over to her and leaned against the deck with her.

Rebecca turned abruptly to face her. "Where have you been!?" She asked.

"Walking." That was one of Kelly's famous 'one word answers'.

"I know that!" Rebecca stated. Sometimes Kelly really annoys me.

Kelly had a sarcastic looking smile on her face. "I was walking around on the deck. That's all. You sometimes remind me of Mother when you start demanding where I've been."

Rebecca was speechless.

"Do not even begin to compare me to mother. I am nothing like her," Rebecca stated.

Wonderful, not even a day into the voyage and we are arguing. This shall be fun, Rebecca thought silently.

"Besides I was only demanding where you were because anything could happen to you. Too many foreigners who do not know right from wrong. Also you do not want your head torn off by mother," Rebecca continued.

"You are every bit like Mother. Always demanding to know where I've been, and what I am doing. No wonder she favors you more, you are following right in her footsteps. When you and your new fiancee have children, I will have to come rescue them from you."

Rebecca was stunned. "I am tired of having to look out for you, all the time! If you would stop being such a little brat all the time, maybe I wouldn't have to demand to know where you've been."

"Oh, sod off. You don't have to watch out for me. I am 17 years old and I can very well take care of myself." Kelly shot back at her sister.

"Very well, but just wait when mother bites your head off. I was trying to help you earlier. But since I am so much like mother I will treat you like she treats you. Nothing," Rebecca said.

Then she walked around her sister and walked off, she continued to walk until she knocked into someone which caused her to fall to the ground.

"Oh, miss I'm so sorry," said the body she had bumped into.

When Rebecca opened her eyes, she opened them to see the officer she had ran into earlier.

"Excuse me, are you alright?" the officer asked.

"Oh, yes. I am quite alright. I do apologize for bumping into you... again."

"Well, it does seem to me as though you are following me around." The officer commented.

"I am not following you!" Rebecca cried.

"Yes, my apologies, miss, not that I would care if you were following me," he said with a slight laugh.

Rebecca studied this officer with interest.

Was that a compliment? She thought.

"Miss?" The officer asked her, leaning forward a bit to look at her.

Rebecca came back to reality. She stopped looking at his body and looked at his eyes. "Oh, yes. Sorry. You were saying..."

"I was saying, miss, that I would not mind if you were following me," the man said. "Excuse me sir, how could you possibly say such a thing? You do not even know me," Rebecca replied.

"Then please tell me who you are. What is your first name?" the man asked.

"I am Rebecca Hoffman, and who might you be?" she asked.

"I am Harold Lowe, fifth officer. But please call me Harold or Harry. All of my friends do," the man now known as Harold replied.

"Well, Harold, it is lovely to meet you, perhaps I will see you around the ship. But I should probably return to my suite. My parents might be worried," she said.

"Very well I look forward to seeing you again," Harold said.

"Harold you say that as if I will see you again," Rebecca said, as she gave the man a look.

"Well the guess is that we will be on this ship until perhaps the 17th, chances are we will run into each other again," he replied. Rebecca gave him a look that if he knew her well enough then he would know that she was thinking he was insane, then after a nod of her head she walked around the man and went to her suite.

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Hey, this is Kelly. I am not the only one writing this. This is written by two girls, but my co-writer does not wish for her name to be released. Please review! Thanks.

TITANIC IS NOT OWNED BY ME (although I wish it was...). IF ANYONE IS STUPID ENOUGH TO THINK I ACTUALLY OWN TITANIC, THEY HAVE ISSUES!

Thanks:)