CHAPTER TWO ~ RORY MAKES HER DECISION
Rory and Lorelai didn't speak to each other for the rest of the day. Lorelai watched TV by herself and Rory locked herself in her room to unpack. Lorelai wasn't sure whether to be happy or not that Rory was unpacking. Though, she thought, I did make it pretty clear that she can't stay here if she drops out of school. So it's a good thing, right
The next morning, Lorelai dressed and went downstairs around 8. She made herself coffee and two Pop-Tarts. Noticing Rory's door was ajar, she peeked inside, and she found her daughter curled up on her bed, fast asleep. Lorelai tiptoed out of the house and drove to Sookie's.
"Hi hon, sorry to bother you, I know you must be tired but I just-" she began.
"Nonsense! I always want to see you!" Sookie replied, ushering Lorelai into the kitchen. "Martha's asleep so you came at a good time."
"Oh, good. So how's it going with two kids?"
"Ah, fine, Jackson's mom is here and she's been looking after Davey a lot, which is great."
"That's good." Lorelai lapsed into silence. Sookie brought her a cup of coffee, and took advantage of the silence to figure out why her friend was so glum.
"So Rory's home, huh?" she asked.
"Yup, she is," Lorelai replied impassively.
"What's up, honey? I thought you'd be thrilled," Sookie said gently.
"She's considering dropping out of Yale," Lorelai explained.
"Dropping out, why?"
"Have I mentioned her boyfriend to you? Logan Huntzberger? His dad is this big newspaper magnate and he offered Rory an internship. At the end, he told her that he doesn't think she has what it takes to become a journalist. She was crushed. She stole a yacht and now she's reconsidering her entire future. Or she was, anyway. We had a talk, and we made a deal. She's putting off making a definite decision for a few days, so she has time to cool off, you know?"
"Where is she now?"
"Her room. She's unpacking. I told her she couldn't stay if she dropped out, so if she's unpacking, don't you think it means she's not dropping out?" Lorelai asked anxiously.
"I'd say so," Sookie encouraged. "Don't worry, Lorelai. It's Rory. Rory loves school. She won't drop out." Lorelai smiled weakly and poured more coffee.
Lorelai got home around six. Rory was sitting at the kitchen table. She had ordered pizza.
"Hi Mom," she said.
"Hello Rory," Lorelai said cautiously. "How was your day?"
"It was fine. I did some thinking. Called Logan and Paris. Visited Lane," Rory said shortly. "And I know you're going to ask if I've made a decision about school yet. The answer's no. Do you want pizza?"
"Sure," Lorelai said awkwardly. She sat down and the two of them ate dinner in silence.
The next day was business as usual. Lorelai went to the inn, leaving Rory at the house. Thankfully, various crises at work kept Lorelai from thinking about Rory all day. There was a wedding at the inn that weekend, and Lorelai had spent ten days fielding the bridezilla's insane ideas, imperious orders and lightning-fast changes of mind.
"Lorelai," Michel whined. "The bride 'as now decided she would like real candles in all of the trees on ze lawn. Could you please talk to her? I 'ave absolutely reached the end of my patience wiz zis woman."
"All right, Michel. I'll go if you stay here at the desk and actually work, not go on MySpace." Michel glowered. Lorelai hurried over to deal with the bride, who was glowering also.
"Ms Gilmore, I have just been speaking to your concierge and I am afraid I must tell you that he was very unhelpful!" she complained.
"Oh yes? How so?"
"I have a brilliant idea, and Mr Gerard has told me point-blank that it cannot be done."
"What is your idea?"
"I've been reading old issues of People magazine, about celebrity weddings, and one couple put candles in the trees on the lawn where they were getting married. Wouldn't that be delightful?"
"Theoretically. But how would we fix the candles to the trees?"
"Oh, I don't know, with wax?"
"That would take a very long time," Lorelai pointed out. "Hours. And my staff simply does not have time for that. I'm sorry, Miss O'Hara."
"I could pay you extra."
"That would be very generous of you, but there is also the possibility that candles in the trees would start a fire. Then the guests would remember your wedding for the burns they received. I don't suppose you want that."
"I suppose not," Miss O'Hara conceded.
"Is there anything else?"
"Not at this moment."
"Well, if you come up with a feasible idea, or just any idea, you know where I am," Lorelai said. Once the bride had turned back to her magazines, Lorelai rolled her eyes.
At around seven, Lorelai finally went home. On the way, she stopped and got dinner and dessert from Luke's, as well as a stack of movies from the video rental. At the last minute, she stopped by the soda shoppe and bought a large amount of candy. If Rory had changed her mind, Lorelai planned they would have a massive movie marathon. If Rory hadn't, well, Lorelai didn't want to consider that.
"Rory! Are you home?" Lorelai called as she walked into the foyer. She put down her purchases in the living room and started towards Rory's room. However, she found that was unnecessary – Rory was sitting at the kitchen table, a calendar next to her and two piles of papers in front of her. She was beaming.
"Mom, I would like for you to sit down. I have made my decision," she announced. Lorelai held her breath.
"I am going back to Yale in September," Rory said. "I have thought long and hard about this, and made an extensive pro/con list, and talked to Lane, Paris and Logan. All of these things, combined with your lecture, have made me realize how utterly stupid it would be to leave Yale."
"Oh Rory!" Lorelai exclaimed, delighted and relieved. "And you're sure this is what you want?"
"Yes!"
"Absolutely, positively sure?"
"Yes!"
"Thank God," Lorelai murmured. She went round the table and gave her daughter a huge hug, which Rory returned happily.
"But this isn't totally over," Rory said after a moment, more serious now.
"No?"
"No. I don't believe Mitchum would say that completely malevolently—"
Lorelai interrupted, "Aw, honey, I know you always try to see the best in people but sometimes there just isn't anything there."
"But he's not the only person who has said something like that to me. There is probably something in it," Rory insisted. "I do still want to be a journalist. And I want to be a good one. And it'll probably take a lot of work! So I decided I want to do another internship and get some more real-world journalism experience. What do you think?"
"I'm glad to hear that," Lorelai said. "It's good to self-evaluate sometimes and acknowledge that maybe some things should change."
Rory smiled.
"So what are all these papers?"
"These are my re-enrollment forms and the course-descriptions book. I drove to school today to pick them up," Rory said. "And here's a job application for the Stars Hollow Gazette—I got it from Taylor today. And then on the calendar, I've marked my court date and job interviews I've already set up at other papers."
"My little circus freak," Lorelai said affectionately. "Though wait—do you really have to apply for a job at the Gazette? I'd have thought they'd take you in a heartbeat."
"Well, you know Taylor."
Lorelai nodded, and then said, "So, how does a movie marathon sound?"
"Great!" Rory said enthusiastically. "But I need to talk to you about one more thing first."
"Oh no," Lorelai mumbled.
"It's Logan. I know you're mad at him, but I need you to understand that he is in no way to blame for this situation. It was entirely me."
"Okay, yeah, I know he was at his sister's engagement party," Lorelai admitted. "But I'm just not used to you doing stuff like that! I mean, you've never even shoplifted!"
"Actually, in the interest of full disclosure, I have. Once," Rory said sheepishly. "The cornstarch. And if it makes you feel any better, that night in Bridgeport was terrible. Awful. Miserable. And I will never do anything like that ever again. I promise." Rory made her puppy-dog face.
"All right," Lorelai relented. Then she made a difficult decision. "Why don't you invite Logan to Stars Hollow for a few days? If you really like him, I think I should meet him again. Away from Emily and Richard, you see."
"That'd be fun," Rory said gratefully. "And also, please reconsider Logan's offer of a lawyer. I'm sure he can help."
"I'll think about it," Lorelai said. "Now how about those movies? I got the works from Luke, and I stopped by the soda shoppe."
"Excellent!" Rory exclaimed.
