Chapter 1 -January 21st 2009
Rory
Rory Gilmore sat upright in the armchair of her hotel room, tapping her feet. It was 9pm but she couldn't sit still. It was freezing cold outside, yet there she was, a ball of energy, wearing only a tank top and shorts whilst somehow, miraculously, maintaining a level of warmth. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins. It had been one hell of a year. After months of work and months of travelling, yesterday, she had seen with her own eyes that everything that she and her team had put into the campaign trail had all been worth it. She had witnessed the inauguration of Barack Obama.
As far as Rory was concerned, there was only one way to describe that experience; pure magic.
However, now, it was all over and Rory couldn't sleep. She hadn't slept properly for months in fact. Her lifestyle over the past year or so had not really allowed for a regular sleep pattern. She was out of a routine and still on a high. Her inability to sleep wouldn't have mattered too much this particular evening, if it wasn't for the fact that tomorrow, she was heading back to Stars Hollow. Stars Hollow!
Quite frankly, no amount of caffeine (and Rory sure enjoyed copious amounts of caffeine), would be enough to get her through tomorrow on zero sleep.
It wasn't that she didn't love Stars Hollow. She did. She was also incredibly excited to see her mom. However, alongside her excitement, Rory also felt a sense of dread. She was pretty sure that the town would, right at this moment, be planning an event so large to mark her return that when she arrived tomorrow afternoon, she would feel that she herself was being inaugurated! She also knew that returning meant returning to reality. The 'on the road' lifestyle of the past year would be long gone and she would be forced to confront her future. That was scary.
Rory needed sleep. That was the only thing about her future that she was sure of right now . . . and there was only one thing that she knew for certain meant that she would get it . . .