This is my first fanfic ever, so PLEASE be kind . However, do R&R! I'm anxious for feedback =) I own none of this, of course.

I watched listlessly as the room begin to fill with some of the dirtiest, poorest, most uncouth people I had ever seen in my life. We were supposedly about to have an after-dinner "shindig" which was evidently a ritual with third class passengers – a ritual I'd rather have skipped, were it not for a little less-than-gentle coaxing from my roommate.

My name is Aimee Satterfield, and after spending 23 of my 24 years among the crème de la crème of society, I "became" one of these people. The caste of society I had previously shunned, mocked, and avoided all throughout childhood and adolescence, I was now a part of. Maybe fate was trying to teach me a lesson, or maybe life was just unpredictable like this. At any rate, who I really blame is my lousy selfish father who squandered everything we had, and died leaving us nothing. Mother took us to England to see if assistance could be found in her estranged sister, but after that proved to be futile, there was nowhere else to turn. That's when Mother became ill and died as well... and in a month's time I was on my way back to America, by way of the RMS Titanic, to figure out what to do next.

I would have really be pleased to stay in my room to do my figuring, but unfortunately I found myself rooming, among others, with a certain Keely O'Donnell – a mouthy Irish girl who had taken it upon herself to introduce me to her less than savory lot of friends who seemed to take high pleasure in doing some of the most mundane things. One of them consisted of sitting in a large common area late in the evening listening to drums and fiddles while a thick knot of drunks set about dancing and arm wrestling. It's what had been done the last evening as well, which was our first aboard the Titanic. How I wanted a nice conversation over proper tea with a handful of civilized ladies concerning the latest novel in the literary realm.

"Aimee!" Keely shouted above the carrying on, not missing a beat with her clapping. "Find a lad to dance with, go on!"

"I'm fine to watch."
"What?"
I leaned forward, raising my voice a hair. "I said I'm fine to watch!"

"Ah, you are, are you?" she smiled, with a hint of sauciness in her eyes. "Okay then, at least one of us should go have fun." With that, she stood up and walked off in another direction. Heaving a sigh and shaking my head, I pushed the untouched beer away from me and began to watch the clock, taking a strand of my hair and beginning to twirl it around my finger. My mother had detested the habit, but when a girl's uncomfortable and wanting to fidget, there isn't much else to do.

I'm not sure how long I sat there musing before all of a sudden, two brawny arms seemed to appear out of nowhere and I was hoisted into them. I shrieked as I felt my chair come out from underneath my backside, and when I looked over to see who was responsible, I didn't know whether to be angry or just startled. A merry-faced, curly haired not-so-gentleman was chuckling at my dismay while carrying me against his broad chest toward the dance floor.

"Wait! What are you doing? Unhand me-!" I began, but my words didn't seem to have any affect, and I happened to catch sight of Keely's laughing face over my shoulder, along with that of a couple other of her male friends. I should have known this would be her doing.

The fellow set me down once he reached the middle of the floor, but didn't give me any time to flee as he took my hands and promptly began to lead me into a spirited mess of a dance.

Suddenly the music was louder, the laughing more raucous, and the close contact dizzying. But somehow, the strangest thing seemed to happen in my mind: I realized being smack in the center of all this riotous behavior somehow... wasn't so bad? My heart pounded and my ears rang as I was twirled around by this man I didn't know on a rough plank dancefloor, every so often catching sight of Keely who was still standing off to the side. Maybe. My head was spinning too much to be sure of where anyone was.

At one point, the ridiculous look on her grinning face overtook me and I felt myself beginning to break out into an unexpected laugh. It didn't last long, however, because by the end of the song, I was regaining my senses enough to be annoyed. I turned to stare at my captor.

He gave an exaggerated bow, and when he stood again, gave me a quirky grin. "Tommy Ryan, Lass," He held out his hand, and I could tell from his lilting brogue that I was talking to an Irishman.

I felt my cheeks grow warm with embarrassment. "... You brute! How dare you behave that way?"

Not seeming bothered, he gently took my arm and sought to lead me back to my table. "Ahh, we were only havin' a bit of fun with you. Don't yeh see yeh need to lighten up? We've nearly a week on this ship, might as well wipe that sour frown off yer face."

I pulled away from him then. "And if I'm to be in your presence for more than a week, the least you can do is keep your hands to yourself!"

With that, I turned to go back to my room. I'd had about enough for one night.
"Aimee? Aimee, wait!" I heard Keely call behind me, but didn't care. I turned a couple corners and ventured down the narrow hallways, completely lost before I knew it. "Dammit..." I grumbled, stopping to think.

I had no idea why I'd become so rattled over something so small. Feeling slightly guilty about it by then, the only explanation I had for myself was having been startled in the midst of an environment I still wasn't comfortable in.

Keely should have known better than that...

"Excuse me, Miss? Is everything okay?"

I looked up into a pair of green eyes framed by a boyish face. "... Yes, I'm fine. Thank you."

Sensing perhaps that this may not be the best time to talk to me, the young man only nodded and continued on.

"Wait," I called back. "Would you happen to know how I can get to 34B?"

He paused, turning around. "Sure. Straight down the hall, hang a left, then another left, and a right. The hall with one broken wall light already, can't miss it. By the way... Jack Dawson." He gave a friendly smile.

"Thank you," I replied, and would have simply gone on to find my room, but feeling I owed at least someone down here something after my display at the party, added, "I'm Aimee. Aimee Satterfield."

"Nice to have ya with us, Aimee," He smiled, and turned to go the opposite direction I was.

I sighed, somehow getting the feeling this was not going to turn out to be such an uneventful few days on a boat I thought it was going to be. It amazes me to see now how on target that intuition really was.