The Forever of My Dreams

El,

I'm writing this letter so that you can finally learn who I was.. even after I've faded out of memory. You probably have a ton of questions floating around in that head of yours and I'd hope to answer all of them for you.

Starting off, let's get some back story into how you once came to be. Don't worry, El. I promise I won't go into too much detail.

It all started when I was sixteen years old. My family and I were boarding the ship of dreams; I remember feeling so excited. I've never been to America before and I couldn't wait till we touched ground in New York City. Gosh. My mother was so nervous; she had never been on a boat before and already had a deathly fear of the ocean. Luckily, my father always knew how to calm her down so that we could be able to board the ship before she left the port. You should've seen this ship, El. God, it was massive. Everyone was piled around to watch it leave.. even those not even boarding.

"You sure it'll be okay." My mother whispered to my father.

"Of course!" He answered her enthusiastically, "It's the ship of dreams; she's unsinkable."

Unsinkable. That had been the talk of the town. The unsinkable ship. Everyone came from anywhere just to witness the majestic goddess that is the RMS Titanic. The Wonder Ship supposedly had doors so watertight it could prevent a sinking if water ever leaked on board. Of course, El, I was doubtful. I mean.. how the hell could a ship be unsinkable? It's a boat. It's on water. I'd never tell my family of my doubts though. My father already had a hard time convincing my mother to come.. and seeing America would be pretty cool.

We boarded first class; along with all the other families who had wealth to their name. Everyone boarding with us looked so luxurious; big brim hats, the most gorgeous of dresses for the woman, while the men typically worn real fancy suits with the occasional tie combo. Although I shouldn't talk much. My mother and I were both wearing elegant dresses; despite me begging for her to allow for me to wear a smaller, more simple dress.. and to take off this stupid corset. My father had worn one of those fancy suits; matching all the other gentlemen boarding. My younger brother, at just the ripe age of thirteen, was so proud to wear his own little suit. He even had on a tie to make himself look a bit more mature; a little add-on touch that even our parents told him he didn't have to do. He was so excited to be able to wear his own suit; being able to act and look as if he was much older was his strong point. At least my parents were able to have him as a child.. because I hated the idea of our lifestyle. The luxuries. The clothing attire. The way we were expected to act. Even if we were supposed to be eating or lounging around, we had to do it in a very specific way; otherwise we'd be rude and disrespecting all those who were watching. As if they actually gave a shit about what we did.

That was one of the reasons I felt drawn to him, El. I saw him that day as well. He wasn't boarding with all the wealthy folks like we had; instead, he was boarding with those in the third class. Unlike my family, who had someone carrying our bags for us, he had one small duffel slung over his shoulder. He was wearing just a regular pair of pants with a small tear at the knee, and a plain, somewhat stained old shirt that looked to be half tucked into his pants and half untucked. His hair was ruffled all over the place, as if he had just woken up from a slumber. He was holding the hand of a little girl who was standing next to him. Possibly a daughter? A little sister? I couldn't help but not take my eyes off of him.

"Cecilia?" My mother called out to me.

"Huh?"

"Come onboard." She held out her gloved hand for me to take, "You don't want to be left at the port."

Reluctantly, I grabbed ahold of her hand and followed her up the ramp. Once we got up to the ship I peered over the edge at all those watching for us to pull away. Families of all sizes had come to watch us go; some just to say they witnessed the ship of dreams leave, others waving goodbye to the family members who had boarded. My eyes scanned down the ship at all those surrounding us. I hoped to see that mystery boy appear in my sights but they must have kept his class separate from ours.

"Cecilia," My younger brother, Carson, tapped my arm, "Soon enough, we'd be in America."

I turned my eye towards my parents. My mother was leaning back into my father's embrace, who had rested his chin on her shoulder while his arms wrapped around her gut.

"Not that soon, Carson." My father let off a chuckle.

The boat slowly began to move towards the sea as everyone on land waved to all of us onboard. Some onboard were waving and shouting towards those on land, while others stood and waved back at those waving at us.

Soon enough, those waving people started to grow smaller and smaller the further back we went and people on the ship went off to start doing their own, separate things.

**

Dinner came by in the flash of an eye and my mother was already working with the cabin servants to make sure my dress looked perfect enough to dine in.

"Mother, do I seriously have to wear this?" I pleaded for her.

"Yes, Cecilia." She tightened the corset before tying up the laces on the back of my dress as the servant had tied up hers.

"I don't see why people would care if I arrived to eat without looking all doled up." I mostly said to myself as I looked into the mirror at the girl staring back at me. She didn't even look like me. My mother had my hair styled up in a curlish updo with some kind of butterfly clip slipped into the side. My hands ran down my sides as my mother gave the last bits of tightness to my dress before letting me free.

"You'll thank me when you enter the dining hall." My mother said to me, brushing my shoulders and giving my hair a couple finishing touches before letting me head out.

I probably should've just gone straight to the dining hall but something inside me had told me to go somewhere else. Where? Even I didn't know. But anywhere would've been better than there. Although my parents would kill me once they both realized I wasn't coming to dinner, I honestly didn't care. I've already been on this ship for a day and haven't had a chance to explore it. El, I know what you're thinking. What would I need to go exploring for when I had everything already? But taking this mischievous little late night stroll was the start of the best I've ever experienced.

As I walked down one of empty halls, I heard laughter. The sounds of music had been blasting. I couldn't help but follow it towards the two open doors of a room full of people. Regular dressed people. My type of people.

"I think you have the wrong place, little lady." A gentleman in an old red suit said to me.

"Wha-?" It was just now I realized I had been walking through the ship in a very elegant dress with my hair done up just perfect.

"Oh, just let her join us, Luc." Another man came up to him.

"But Elliott-"

"Luc." He turned to greet me, "Hello ma'am."

"Hello-" It was then that I've realized. I had a name to the mystery man from earlier. Elliott. God, he was even more handsome up close.

"Ma'am?" He asked me once more.

"Sorry." I found my cheeks blushing red, "I'm Cecilia. I was just walking and heard the music."

Elliott held out his arm and let off a bow, "Then we must introduce you to the place where that music came from."

I knew he was probably just mocking the way first class acted, seeing how I had been dressed, but there was still a part of me who secretly loved it. He walked me through the crowds of those who had been eating or dancing towards his own table. The gentleman from earlier, Luc, had sat himself back down with a bottle in his hand. Next to him sat the little girl I remember seeing holding Elliott's hand earlier.

"That's Ella." Elliott said, bringing my gaze back to him, "My pesky little sister."

"Hello Ella." I smiled at her, "That's a real pretty name."

"Thank you." She said to me before taking a sip of her water.

"Ella and Elliott?" I asked him with a smile curving across my face.

"I know." He chuckled, "It's dumb."

"No." I told him, "It's pretty cute. I guess your parents liked names that began with El?"

"My mother's name is Ellen. My father's is Elijah. I guess you can say, our family is more of an El-family."

"Hey, I'm not judging." I held my hands up, "My parents named me Cecilia and named my brother Carson. Although their names are Harold and Donna, so we don't have the proudness of having an alliteration type of family."

"I guess we should be proud of our family namesake then." He laughed before taking a sip of his water.

Everyone around the room started getting up to push chairs and tables out of the way. Men began holding their hands out to woman, whether they were who they were with or just randomly selected amongst the crowd. The volume of the music got cranked up a bit louder than it had been before. Everyone looked as if they were having fun; something you wouldn't dare see that in the crowd I originate. God forbid someone stood up from the table before our meals had finished.

"Where are your parents?" I asked him, covering my mouth immediately after, "Oh my god. I'm so sorry. I don't know why I just asked you that sort of question. That's private. I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He responded, "They're in New York already. We stayed back home until they were settled down.. sent out for us by sending each of us a ticket to ride the magical, unsinkable ship of dreams. We've never been on a boat before, so Ella was a bit nervous about it but-"

A young boy came up to Ella and held out his hand, "Shall I have this dance?"

She turned to Elliott who just threw his hands up in the air before nodding and following the young boy out onto the makeshift dance floor.

"-she seems to be adjusting well." He finished his sentence, "What about you?"

"What about me?" I asked him.

"Is there any reason in particular to why you'd be joining on this voyage?"

"Not any specific reason." I took a small sip of water from the cup Elliott had gotten me just before, "My family and I were wanting a fresh start somewhere; seeing how America worked out for us. Honestly.. I wouldn't know much about it. My parents just purchased our tickets and broke the news to my brother and I; I'm still surprised my mother agreed to let my father go on this voyage in the first place."

"She wanted to stay in England?"

"No." I answered, "She didn't mind the leaving. It was the idea of being on the boat that surprised me."

"She has a fear of boats, doesn't she?"

"More like a fear of anything having to do with the deep sea; thalassophobia is what I think it's called." I nodded, "If it wasn't for my father, I'm pretty sure she would have never left the dock."

We sat in silence, watching the couples dance along the dance floor, before Elliott stood up and held out his hand. "Would you care to dance, Cecilia?"

"I'd love too." I grabbed ahold of his hand and followed him onto the floor. He grabbed me around the waist and began swaying along to the music, before the music made a swift upbeat change and he pulled me over towards the side as a couple men breezed through the crowds to start making use of the entire floor. Soon enough, everyone began jumping in. Elliott grabbed ahold of my hands and pulled me into the crowd.

The rest of the night was almost a blur. I've never had that much fun since.. well ever! Sadly the night had to eventually come to an end and everyone started piling back into their rooms; including Elliott and Ella.

"You didn't have to walk me back." I said to him.

"And let you off alone?" He said back, "What kind of gentleman would I be then?"

"You could've taken Ella to bed. I would have been fine. We're on a boat out in the middle of the ocean." Truth is, I just didn't want to introduce Elliott to my parents; or let them find out that I was with the third class passengers for the night. God. They'd have a field day with that one.

"I trust Luc." He replied.

"Did you know him before?" I asked him.

"No." He said to me, "We just share a room together. If I'm being honest.. I'm pretty sure he's caring as much as he does for us because we remind him of the children he's going to go visit in America. You should've seen how he boasted about them the second we left the dock; it was all he could talk about."

Share a room amongst strangers? I couldn't even imagine sharing a room with other complete strangers; the not knowing how the possible roommate would behave while I was in the room terrified me. "How is it?" I found myself asking him, "Sharing a room with someone else, I mean."

"Not bad." He held the door open for me, "At least we have a bed.. ya know."

I nodded.

"Cecilia Marie Jones," My mother's voice echoed through the halls as we made it to my room, "you had us scared out of our minds!"

"Mother," I attempted to calm her down, "I was fine."

"Where have you been?"

"She's been with-"

"Who- Cecilia, who is this boy?" My father stepped into the doorway.

"Elliott." I just realized he never gave me a last name, "He was kind enough to walk me back."

"Well, thank you.. aren't you a kind soul." My mother placed her hand against her chest, "Tip the nice boy, Harold."

My father went to grab his wallet from his suit jacket when Elliott put his hand up.

"I don't need your money."

"He's a passenger, mother." I told them.

"Oh." My mother gasped slightly. I rolled my eyes.

"Still." My father took out a couple bills, "Take it. You seriously didn't have to take my daughter back here and you did.. I must give you something."

"No." He rejected the money, "I must insist that you keep it. My parents taught me to just do for respect, not for money."

"I'm so sorry." I whispered over to him before entering back into my room.

"Maybe we could see each other again.. sometime?" He asked.

I nodded quickly, giving a small wave with my hand before closing the door. I couldn't help but not blush at the thought of seeing him again. I brushed past my parents towards my room and fell onto the bed, my hands pressed against my chest. God, do I wish to see him again.