Chapter 7: The Big One
Shira and Lorelai were sitting at Luke's one morning having breakfast and reminiscing on the years since they had originally met.
"I can't believe they're already seniors in high school!" Lorelai exclaimed.
Shira nodded. "It seems like only yesterday when we all first met.
"So where did Rory apply to college again?"
"Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. That's Rory for you. Wouldn't want to set her sights too low." Lorelai grinned.
Shira nodded. "Apparently, it rubbed off on Logan. He applied to the same three schools."
Lorelai smiled. "Hey at least my daughter isn't a bad influence on your son."
Shira shook her head. "Not even close."
Meanwhile at Chilton...
"In honor of Chilton's bicentennial, C-Span will be here. One lucky student will have the opportunity to give a speech at the closing ceremony that will be broadcast on C-Span."
Rory glanced over at her on again, off again friend Paris Gellar who immediately had started smiling. Rory shook her head. Paris was always up for a challenge.
As the bell rang, the students began crowding the sign-up sheet for the contest.
"Are you signing up, Gilmore?" Paris asked coldly.
Rory sighed. She had done nothing but try to be friends with Paris. However, Paris had decided a few months earlier that Rory had betrayed her and was "after" her. And when Paris had her mind set on something, there was simply no arguing with her.
"Someone has to give you some competition," she replied while grabbing the clipboard and adding her name to the list.
She walked out and away from Paris Gellar.
"Wow, you look like you're on a mission," Logan grinned looking at Rory.
"Paris."
"Enough said."
"So did you sign up?" Logan asked.
Rory nodded.
"Good for you. You'd do a fantastic job."
Rory worked hard on her speech for the next several days. So much so that Logan was joking that she must have fallen off of the face of the earth because he never saw her anymore.
Finally, they gave their speeches to the panel of teachers at Chilton. That night Rory was at home when the phone rang. "Rory Gilmore?" The voice on the other end asked.
"Yes," she replied.
"Please hold for Headmaster Charleston and Paris Gellar."
Before Rory could protest, she was found herself on the phone with both Headmaster Charleston and Paris Gellar.
Headmaster Charleston announced to both of them that they would be delivering a joint speech together that Friday.
Paris and Rory set up a time to meet the following day. When Rory hung up the phone, she immediately gave Logan a call.
"Hey it's me. I'm giving the speech."
"That's terrific! I'm so proud of you."
"With Paris."
"Huh?"
"Headmaster Charleston liked both of our speeches so much that he thought it would be an excellent idea to combine the two."
"Oh. And how do you feel about that?"
"Not sure yet. Depends if Paris and I can get along again."
The next night Paris showed up at Rory's house to prepare for the their speech. From the moment she walked in, Rory could tell that there was something on Paris' mind.
Finally, Paris blurted it out. "I slept with Jamie."
"Oh, ok." Rory wasn't sure what to say. They had done little more than trade insults for the past few months and now all of a sudden...
"I mean we didn't plan it. It just happened... Was it like that for you and Logan?" Paris asked hopefully.
"Logan and I haven't..."
"You haven't?" Paris asked in surprise.
Rory shook her head. "We've never found the right time."
Paris nodded. "I'm sorry about everything that happened between us. I mean...I tend to believe the worst in other people and... I want us to be friends again."
Rory smiled. "I'd like that."
The two spent the rest of the night bonding again as friends and preparing their speech for the following day.
The next afternoon Rory was pacing nervously in the hall outside of the auditorium. "Don't worry Rory. She'll show up." Logan reassured her.
Rory wished she could believe Logan. It wasn't like Paris to be so late–it wasn't like her not to show up. However, there were less than five minutes before the start of the program and Paris was nowhere to be found.
"Listen, I have to go and find a seat. Are you going to be ok?"
Rory nodded numbly. Logan reached over and gave her a peck on the cheek as he headed into the auditorium.
Finally, a few minutes later Paris came rushing through the door.
Rory could tell immediately that something was terribly wrong. However, she had no time to talk to Paris as they were ushered backstage and introduced on stage.
Rory took a deep breath and began the speech. She paused, waiting for Paris to begin her part. But there was no sound. Rory tried not to panic and decided to continue. She kept on in this manner for a while, watching Paris carefully and waiting for her to finally jump in. But Paris remained silent.
Suddenly, Paris finally spoke up. "Chilton. Great school right? Supposed to prepare us for a bright future?"
Rory looked at her friend in shock. Paris seemed to be having a meltdown of some sort in front of everyone. Before Rory finally got over her initial shock and stopped Paris' rant, Paris had managed to admit on national tv not only that she had not been accepted to Harvard but also that she had had sex with a boy. As Paris ran off stage, Rory hurried after her and took her friend into her arms. Paris sobbed for a while before finally she decided that she needed some time by herself.
Lorelai, Rory, and Logan rode silently back to Stars Hollow. Shira was waiting for them as they pulled into the driveway.
"Open your mailbox!" Shira said excitedly.
Rory looked at Logan as she opened the mailbox and found three large envelopes–one from Harvard, one from Yale, and one from Princeton.
"I got in!" She exclaimed happily.
Shira reached into her purse and pulled out three identical envelopes and handed them to Logan.
"And apparently so did I..." Logan remarked.
Logan and Rory looked at each other and began jumping up and down and gave each other a hug.
"I think a celebration is order," Lorelai nodded.
Shira nodded. "Absolutely. How about a movie night?"
As Logan and Rory went to the video store to pick out the movies for that evening's festivities, Rory suddenly looked at Logan. "You know we have to decide now."
Logan sighed and nodded. "I'm glad we got in all three but now..."
"We have to pick one," Rory finished.
Logan nodded in reply.
