DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, or any other
actor associated with Lord of the Rings (or any movie, for that matter!)
that will eventually show up in this story. All original characters are my
own. Regent's College is a real international university in London, but I
do not study there and hold no claim to it. ( Please R/R!!!
Chapter 1: Being Reilly Scott
"Ok, ow…ow…OW! MUM! OW!" Reilly Scott shrieked from her cross-legged position in her kitchen chair and glared up at her mother, who sighed exasperatedly and gripped Reilly's forehead more tightly with her palm.
"Ri, hon, we can't send you to London with these beastly eyebrows, now sit still! You know, Laurie says that when she used to wax you you never made a peep!" No kidding, Reilly thought to herself as she gripped the bottom of her chair and held her breath. That's because Laurie never felt the need to apply the wax by crushing my brow bones beneath her entire body weight! It wasn't the waxing that got Reilly, it was the way her mother seemed to think that if she didn't practically hammer the strips onto Reilly's face, the whole process wouldn't work. But then, that was Gracie Scott…everything always had to be over-the-top and the best or she wasn't happy.
Some would say that 20-year-old Reilly Scott was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Certainly she had never wanted for anything material, and had led the life of a yacht-clubbing, cocktail-party-going princess. Cape Cod was home, and a beautiful one at that. Reilly had spent summers sailing and playing tennis while her twin brother Eric and younger (by one year) brother Andrew, or Drew, went to hockey camp. Her little sister Kalle (pronounced kay-lee) who, along with Eric and Drew, had been blessed with height, (while Reilly settled at a diminutive five foot two) played volleyball. Mr. (Jace) Scott was a lawyer and Gracie a realtor, and between the two of them they more than earned the salary to pay for anything their 4 children needed or desired.
And yet Reilly remained surprisingly down-to-earth. A bit aloof and reserved she was by nature, simply because she didn't exactly grow up in a jump-up-and-hug-everyone sort of family, but she was a sweet girl, extremely accepting and open-minded and always determined to prove that she was more than just the eldest Scott daughter. She rarely slept during her four years of high school, taking as many advanced placement courses as was allowed, playing varsity soccer as well as sailing and taking dance on the side, and serving as a member of the student council, national honor society, and the school newspaper. When she was accepted early decision to her top-choice university, Boston College, she was thrilled to be able to recognize that she had truly made it there herself, and that being Reilly Scott had nothing to do with it.
Unfortunately, Massachusetts is a small state, and while Boston may be a big city, it's still not too far from the Cape. Reilly found that trying to be more than just Reilly Scott was harder than she anticipated. So many of her high school friends and acquaintances were at schools in and around Boston, not to mention the fact that after her Freshman year Drew joined her at BC on a full hockey scholarship. Not that Reilly didn't enjoy having her friends or her brother around…but something was missing from her life, and she knew that to find it she needed to go out on her own…to go somewhere where she wouldn't constantly be bumping into friends of her father or her mum's nosy acquaintances who were always trying to set her up with their sons.
So…inset London here! Reilly loved to travel, and the ski condo at Waterville Valley and the beach house on Sanibel Island and family trips to Barbados and the South of France didn't totally cut it for her. First of all, she could never get past the fact that they lived on Cape Cod and yet her parents insisted on owning a beach house somewhere else…hm, speaking of redundant…yeah. Reilly wanted to really experience other places…to take a train and boat for 30 hours or something ridiculous to get from London to Paris and wake up feeling dirty and wondering if someone didn't steal her camera while she was sleeping. To stay in cute little B&B's, or even a youth hostel, anything but a five-star hotel. To really travel…and on her own. To look for whatever it was that was missing from her life…on her own. When she learned about BC's affiliation with Regent's College in Regents Park in the heart of London and that it offered a year-long, fully credit transferable program of study, she was amongst the first in line to sign up.
And I'm really going Reilly thought to herself, a dreamy smile playing on her chapstick-glossy lips. Tomorrow night at 7:15 I will be on a plane to London, for a year! Just me…a year for me, and whatever I want it to be…
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIP! "Ok, hun, there you are! Lovely. Now you'd better get ready, everyone will be arriving soon," Gracie smiled briskly as she washed her hands and began rearranging cut vegetables and dip on a plate. Oh yes, Reilly's going away party…a chance for Reilly to see everyone once more before she left for the year…well…that and a chance for Gracie Scott to show off her hostess skills at yet another elitist Scott family party. Reilly sighed lightly and ran upstairs to her bedroom.
Chapter 1: Being Reilly Scott
"Ok, ow…ow…OW! MUM! OW!" Reilly Scott shrieked from her cross-legged position in her kitchen chair and glared up at her mother, who sighed exasperatedly and gripped Reilly's forehead more tightly with her palm.
"Ri, hon, we can't send you to London with these beastly eyebrows, now sit still! You know, Laurie says that when she used to wax you you never made a peep!" No kidding, Reilly thought to herself as she gripped the bottom of her chair and held her breath. That's because Laurie never felt the need to apply the wax by crushing my brow bones beneath her entire body weight! It wasn't the waxing that got Reilly, it was the way her mother seemed to think that if she didn't practically hammer the strips onto Reilly's face, the whole process wouldn't work. But then, that was Gracie Scott…everything always had to be over-the-top and the best or she wasn't happy.
Some would say that 20-year-old Reilly Scott was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Certainly she had never wanted for anything material, and had led the life of a yacht-clubbing, cocktail-party-going princess. Cape Cod was home, and a beautiful one at that. Reilly had spent summers sailing and playing tennis while her twin brother Eric and younger (by one year) brother Andrew, or Drew, went to hockey camp. Her little sister Kalle (pronounced kay-lee) who, along with Eric and Drew, had been blessed with height, (while Reilly settled at a diminutive five foot two) played volleyball. Mr. (Jace) Scott was a lawyer and Gracie a realtor, and between the two of them they more than earned the salary to pay for anything their 4 children needed or desired.
And yet Reilly remained surprisingly down-to-earth. A bit aloof and reserved she was by nature, simply because she didn't exactly grow up in a jump-up-and-hug-everyone sort of family, but she was a sweet girl, extremely accepting and open-minded and always determined to prove that she was more than just the eldest Scott daughter. She rarely slept during her four years of high school, taking as many advanced placement courses as was allowed, playing varsity soccer as well as sailing and taking dance on the side, and serving as a member of the student council, national honor society, and the school newspaper. When she was accepted early decision to her top-choice university, Boston College, she was thrilled to be able to recognize that she had truly made it there herself, and that being Reilly Scott had nothing to do with it.
Unfortunately, Massachusetts is a small state, and while Boston may be a big city, it's still not too far from the Cape. Reilly found that trying to be more than just Reilly Scott was harder than she anticipated. So many of her high school friends and acquaintances were at schools in and around Boston, not to mention the fact that after her Freshman year Drew joined her at BC on a full hockey scholarship. Not that Reilly didn't enjoy having her friends or her brother around…but something was missing from her life, and she knew that to find it she needed to go out on her own…to go somewhere where she wouldn't constantly be bumping into friends of her father or her mum's nosy acquaintances who were always trying to set her up with their sons.
So…inset London here! Reilly loved to travel, and the ski condo at Waterville Valley and the beach house on Sanibel Island and family trips to Barbados and the South of France didn't totally cut it for her. First of all, she could never get past the fact that they lived on Cape Cod and yet her parents insisted on owning a beach house somewhere else…hm, speaking of redundant…yeah. Reilly wanted to really experience other places…to take a train and boat for 30 hours or something ridiculous to get from London to Paris and wake up feeling dirty and wondering if someone didn't steal her camera while she was sleeping. To stay in cute little B&B's, or even a youth hostel, anything but a five-star hotel. To really travel…and on her own. To look for whatever it was that was missing from her life…on her own. When she learned about BC's affiliation with Regent's College in Regents Park in the heart of London and that it offered a year-long, fully credit transferable program of study, she was amongst the first in line to sign up.
And I'm really going Reilly thought to herself, a dreamy smile playing on her chapstick-glossy lips. Tomorrow night at 7:15 I will be on a plane to London, for a year! Just me…a year for me, and whatever I want it to be…
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIP! "Ok, hun, there you are! Lovely. Now you'd better get ready, everyone will be arriving soon," Gracie smiled briskly as she washed her hands and began rearranging cut vegetables and dip on a plate. Oh yes, Reilly's going away party…a chance for Reilly to see everyone once more before she left for the year…well…that and a chance for Gracie Scott to show off her hostess skills at yet another elitist Scott family party. Reilly sighed lightly and ran upstairs to her bedroom.