Back Where I Belong
Summary: Rory Gilmore is a sophomore in college at Yale University. Rory is still "dating" Logan Huntzberger, but it's still a no-strings-attached deal. What happens when an old friend comes back from military school?
Chapter 1: Getting Ready
Rory's POV:
It's my third month into being a sophomore at Yale. And I gotta say it's not anything like I would have expected it to be 2 years ago. You see, I was attending Chilton, and I hated the person that is now my best friend. Weird huh? Yeah, I think so too. It's odd how Paris Gellar and I went from enemies to best friends. I'm not even really sure when we made the official click over to best friends.
Now I know it happened because of her "life coach" that she had at the beginning of freshman year. Now that was funny. Paris with a life coach. It cracks me up just thinking about Terrance now.
And her stupid craft corner! Gosh, that thing was SO stupid! You couldn't leave anything out unless you wanted her to make it into something "pretty." Which usually turned out ugly, but don't dare tell her that! She bit my head off one day for saying that her macaroni box was ugly and I didn't want it sitting out in the living room. That had to be my worst choice of words all year with her.
I like college, kind of. It's still a little weird not seeing my mom everyday. She was such a huge part of my life, and now I'm lucky if I even get to talk to her over the phone! It's pitiful. Now don't get me wrong, I love college. I just think something's missing. And I think that something left me about 3 or 4 years ago.
If you want to get real technical that something left the night me and Paris were supposed to perform Shakespeare with a group for a grade. At least I think having that one person here would make it better. I really miss the banter we used to share. His names Tristan if you were wondering. Now yes, I know I acted like I hated his guts, but god do I ever miss him! It would be great if he were here right now. And at the time I was actually around him, I had to be going out with stupid Dean.
To this day Paris says how I was never just "one of his conquests." He genuinely cared about me. In Paris's eyes that is. I could never really tell. Maybe because I didn't want to know? But after he left, I missed him so much. I even wrote him letters a few times, just never sent them.
He used to call me Mary all the time. Why? He thought I was a "Mary," and all innocent. Which he wasn't far off, I was a good girl, but I could goof off. I hated that nickname at the beginning. Everyday he'd call me Mary instead of Rory, but I grew used to it. I never let him know that though. I actually looked forward to it some days. Weird again, I know.
Tonight is one of the infamous Friday night dinners my grandma throws. I haven't been to one in months on account of all of my school work. But grandma says that I must come tonight. Apparently she's having a special guest, which she later confirmed as the neighbors. I have no clue why they are so important. But anyway, she explained that she had told them all about me, and now they wanted to meet me. Oh joy. A few old people I don't know that are going to be asking me a bunch of questions. I can't wait! - said with a very effective eye roll by the way.
At least the food isn't that bad. Well, it depends. She has pulled out a couple disgusting meals in my history of Friday night dinners. One of the main perks though is my mother will be there. And she's bringing Luke. Who is supposed to bring me coffee. I haven't seen my mother in a couple weeks, and haven't seen Luke for a while either. Not to mention not having a cup of coffee from Luke's Diner for months. Now that's torture! Hence the whole Luke bringing me a cup of coffee thing.
So I'm torn. Should I be thrilled I get to see my mom and Luke, or feel like hanging myself because I have to help entertain quests? I think I'll stick with the thrilled thing; I'd hate to hang myself. It would be too painful if I did it all by myself. Not to mention my mom would probably bring me back to life somehow and kill me again for leaving her alone with my grandmother on one of the few Friday night dinners she attended.
"Rory!" I hear Paris yell in the background. I must have been really spaced out because she looks pissed!
"What?" I ask, not really enjoying being pulled out of my very important decision that has to be made. To hang or not to hang? That is the question.
"Geez, I've been yelling your name for like ten minutes! What were you thinking about?" she asks like the normal prying Paris. Did I mention that I can't keep anything from her? I mean she always knows if I'm lying! Its strange.
"I was just thinking over the past, and about Friday night dinner tonight," I replied with a shrug.
"And what? You were thinking about him again weren't you?" she asks putting her hands on her hips. She looks like she angry, but then she has this twinkle in her eye that makes her look like she is going to start laughing any second now. I don't answer so she continues. "I knew it! You're always thinking about him! I'm telling you, just call him!"
"Oh yeah, just call and say, 'Hey, this is Rory Gilmore, you remember me from Chilton? No huh? That's a shame cause I just realized I really like you.' That would be great Paris," I comment giving her a glare.
"Who said you had to say that? Plus, I know that Tristan is still hung up on you Rory Gilmore, I don't know how to make you believe me, but I know he does!" she exclaimed before leaving the bedroom.
A few minutes later I smell something that smells suspiciously like glue. This is quickly followed by a few crashing noises and a "Damnit! The macaroni are going to be all stuck together!" from Paris. I chuckle to myself and shake my head as she sighs angrily. I can just picture her standing beside her craft table, tapping her foot rapidly with her hands on her hips thinking of what she can do. The door comes open quickly and she barks "I'm going to the store to get macaroni, I'll be back later," and then slams the door on her way out.
She hardly ever uses the craft corner anymore, but she has to now. You see Valentines Day is coming up and her and her boyfriend Jamie both agreed to make each others gifts. Paris has been stressing out about this for days. Not sure what to make, or if it will look right, or if it isn't good enough to compare to what he'll make her. It's kind of sad, but it's cute that she cares so much.
I look over at the clock, suddenly gloomy that I don't have a date for the great Valentine's Day. I have a relationship, if you want to call it that, with a guy named Huntzberger. Logan Huntzberger. But you see we're doing this thing where we can date other people without getting all mad at the other. Of course, its mostly Logan that is doing the whole dating more then one girl gig. And you see, he already has a date for Valentine's Day, leaving me all alone.
I look at the clock and notice that I have exactly one hour before I have to be at my grandma's house. This means I have 45 minutes to get ready. So I better go shower and all that jazz so I can get moving. Yeah.
Half an hour later I'm standing in front of my closet in a towel, trying to figure out what to wear. My hair is done in lose curls, and now I need an outfit. I close my eyes and move my finger back and forth over the racks in my closet and stop on one. I open one and look at what I landed on. Hello Kitty pajamas. I have a feeling grandma would kill me if I wore that, but my mom would praise me for ever.
I close my eyes and try again. This time I land on something good. A dress that goes three-quarters of the way down my thigh, with a tank top-like straps and a low scoop neck. It's a simple navy blue with a very thin white trim around the neck and straps. It'll work fine with the new shoes I treated myself to last week. The navy blue strappy heels almost look like they were made for this dress. Throwing it on, I check myself in the mirror and check my time. 5 minutes before I have to go. I look at my dresser and see a picture of my mother on the nightstand laughing.
And I just have to. I quickly take the Hello Kitty PJ's off their hanger and throw them on over top of my dress, and walk out the door. My mom is going to be so proud! And the best part is you can't see any signs that I'm wearing a dress underneath.
TBC...
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