The Hat Box
Disclaimer: If you think this is mine… You must be on crack.
Summary: She wrote down everything she wanted to say, and everything she wanted to do, and she put it in a hatbox.
A/N: Just a short, little, One-Shot that I came up with one night when I couldn't sleep. I've had this written forever, and just realized that I hadn't posted it, so I am right now. Oh boy.
A review would make me very, very happy.
She sat down on the floor, with her legs crossed. She put her hair into a ponytail, using the hot pink elastic that had been on her wrist. She fixed her Hello Kitty slippers and flattened the wrinkles on her shirt. She stared at the box in front of her. The Hatbox.
It wasn't a normal hatbox, though. There was no hat inside. There were hundreds of notes, inside this hatbox. Hundreds of notes scribbled onto old receipts, napkins, flyers that Taylor had handed out, and other random papers she had ripped out of a notebook or something.
She had written down everything she wanted to say, and everything she wanted to do, if they ever made-up and she put it in this hatbox.
They would make up. She was confident that they would make up. She just wasn't sure when. She wasn't sure if it would be soon, or in a few months, or maybe even longer than that.
It was killing her. She hated fighting with Rory. She hated not seeing her or talking to her. She hated that Rory was missing things in her life. She hated that she was missing things in Rory's life. In some weird way, writing them down and saving them in the hatbox, made her feel better. Maybe because it made her feel as if Rory wasn't missing things, as if she'd know about everything someday.
She fixed her hair, once more, before taking the lid off the hatbox and dumping out all the notes.
She picked them up, and read them, one by one.
A lot of them were just random stories from around town, or unimportant things, but she didn't want Rory to miss out on anything.
On a Snicker's wrapper, she had scribbled down: What was that candy that we were eating, the night that we watched 'Who Wants to Be a Millionare' and that Richard guy won it for the first time?
On a paper towel that still had some Pop-Tart crumbs stuck to it: Does she still have that red sweater I let her borrow for a date with Dean, last fall?
On a ripped piece of paper from a random catalog: The dirty knitting joke I made up
On some cardboard from a crayon box, she wrote: Paw-Paw ate almost half of Taylor's garden. - Use crayon colors to show her just how red Taylor's face was.
On a flyer from the Pet Fair, she wrote: I think I'm in a sister-in-law club with Liz. We even have a handshake type of thing going on. Tell her about Liz's amputation.
On the back of a flyer for Miss Pattie's, she wrote: Kirk's performance at Miss Pattie's. Make sure she never has to see Kirk with his shirt off.
On a few empty sugar packets that had been taped together, she wrote: Tell her to put sugar on her toes, when she meets Paul Anka, and see if she actually does it.
On a receipt from the Pharmacy, she jotted down: Tell her the story about Kirk and the grape flavored condoms.
On some bright pink Post-it notes she had written: Where's my black, suede purse and my Apple Pie lip-gloss?
On a wrapper for Paul Anka's treats she wrote: Show her the Pizza/Salad trick I taught Paul Anka.
On a flyer for 'Kirk's Tai-Bo Lessons' she had scribbled down: Kirk's new hobby
On a tootsie roll wrapper, she had written: The tootsie roll/ hiding things from Emily trick
On one of those papers that are wrapped around ice cream cone: The Great Andrew/Gypsy hangnail incident of October 2005
On a napkin from her 21st birthday party, it said: Tell her the My Little Pony thing that Luke said
On one of those Kodak packets, you get when you develop your pictures, it read: Show her the pictures from our Halloween skit… make poster size of me taking linked sausages out of Luke
On a napkin, that she had stolen from Sookie's kitchen and had tons of incredibly fruity patterns all over it, she wrote: Show her the vintage wedding topper Sookie bought. Doesn't it have Luke's butt?
Written on a Dragonfly Inn napkin: Tell her about the lunches with Paris and the Doyle/Superman costume story.
On the back of a Kirk's Pet Sitting Card, that had been scribbled over and replaced with AJ's Construction: Tell her the TJ is Jesus story… or get Luke to tell it, he tells it better.
On some toilet paper, she had very carefully written: Show her the two sinks. I can brush in one, and spit in the other. I can wash each hand in a different sink.
On a page, ripped out from an old issue of The Rolling Stone: Lane burned me the 2nd Ramones CD, I'll make her a copy.
Written on an Ace of Spades: Make sure we play black jack and drink martinis… even if it's a little late.
On some Power Puff Girls Stationary: Tell her not to put her shoes in the oven anymore, because Luke likes to cook in it.
On the back of a receipt for tarp and some rope: Show her where the big hole used to be.
On a gum wrapper, she wrote: chew the orange Orbit gum and then eat a spoonful of vanilla ice cream
On the back of a girls soccer newsletter: Tell her all about the crazy soccer girls, and show her Paul Anka's team shirt… and get one for her, too.
On a napkin that was obviously from her own kitchen because it had Hello Kitty on the top, she had written: Make her the peach milkshake that Luke taught me how to make
On a page, ripped out from a notebook, she had written: Show her the list of the things Paul Anka hates on the fridge
And then, there were the more serious notes she had written down. They were the ones that sometimes brought tears to her eyes, but they were things she wanted to know and someday would.
On a page, ripped out from some bridal magazine, she had scribbled: What color bridesmaid dress does she want? She'll be my maid of honor, right?
On a piece of crumpled computer paper, she wrote: Will we jump up and down together like they did when she was engaged to Max? Jump higher this time…
On a lime green Post-It note, in the shape of a duck, she wrote: Why did she go to Luke's that day when he told her we got engaged? Did she want to see me? And why did she yell at me when I saw her on the side of the road? When did I turn into my mother?
On an envelope, not addressed to anyone, she wrote: What would she have said if I told her? Would she have been cold, or would she have been sincere? Would she have hugged me or would she have rolled her eyes and told me to leave?
On the back of the picture she had taken of Rory in 'Susie's' dorm when they took the road trip to Harvard, she wrote: Tell her I'm not scared. Tell her I'm not taking a road trip to Harvard this time… but maybe she should… not during the wedding, though- before or after.
On a page from the packet that real estate agent have given her: Does she think we should have bought the Twickham house?
On the back of a receipt for The Subsect by Jess Mariano, which she had two copies of, a free one Jess had given her and the one she had purchased, she wrote: Ask about Jess. Tell her I read Jess's book. Did she read Jess's book?
On a piece of paper from the notebook, by the phone at the Dragonfly, where they take messages, it said: Why didn't she call me? Did she miss me? Even a little?
On a ripped piece of wrapping paper: Was her party better than our plan? Did she like my present? 21 things. What did she wish for?
Written on a Weston's napkin, from the day that Paul Anka had finally gotten better and she went and sat at 'their' table for hours, thinking about what had happened with Rory: I'm sorry for not seeing this sooner. I'm sorry for not catching any of it. I'm sorry for not stopping it. I'm sorry for not fixing it. I'm sorry for not listening. I'm sorry for going to my parents. I'm sorry for walking away after seeing you in the pool house, putting away your books. I'm sorry for not going in there and dragging you home with me.
On another Weston's napkin, from that same day: Why did she move out? Why didn't she ask me for help? Why did she ask my parents?
On yet another Weston's napkin, from that day, 30 minutes later: Show me the Pro/Con list she made, when she made all these decisions without me. I know there's a list.
On some Dragonfly Inn stationary: When did we stop telling each other everything? Why didn't she talk to me about dropping out of Yale first? Why didn't she come to me?
On the back of a receipt from a Mexican restaurant that she had gone to with Luke, she sloppily wrote: When did we stop being best friends?
Although, her handwriting was messy and the last part looked sort of like Brazelfrat.
So… Let me know. Did it suck? Was it good? I'd love to know.
I should be updating Kiss with Open Eyes tonight, and A Different Path tomorrow or on Tuesday.
Please, please review. I'll give you a lollypop.