Chapter 10: "I lost my study tree!"
AN: I still own nothing, nothing but Riley, the season DVDs, oh and the soundtrack Our Little Corner of the World. Also, I used some direct quotes from the show in this chapter.
After arriving back at Yale Sunday afternoon, Rory spent the rest of the day in the guys dorm watching movies with Riley and Tristan. And planning the take out menu for her and Riley's birthday. She and Lorelai stayed up late Saturday night when she got home from her date with Tristan.
The moment she walked into the living room Lorelai had pounced on her for details. Rory told her everything about how beautiful the house and the rest of the property were as well as meeting a maid who had been employed by Riley's family for nearly twenty years. Lorelai was as amazed by this as Rory was. Rory also told her about the amazing treehouse Tristan had taken her to for their picnic lunch. She told her about the dancing and Tristan sweetly asking her to officially be his girlfriend.
Rory thought about telling her about her awkward encounter with Riley's grandfather, but decided to keep that to herself. Just in case there was some weird feud between the families she didn't want to risk her mother or her grandparents telling her she wasn't allowed to be friends with Riley or see Tristan anymore due to his closeness with Riley's family.
Monday and Tuesday was fall break at Yale and Rory had plans to spend both days studying so she could enjoy her birthday with Riley and Tristan on Wednesday, but so far that wasn't going her way. Her roommates were making it impossible for her to study. Between Janet's squeaky trampoline, Tanna's TV watching at a volume she was sure Lorelai would be able to hear from Stars Hollow, and the phone's incessant ringing due to Paris' refusal to answer any calls from Jamie because of some stupid fight she could not focus on any of her notes or textbooks.
The library was too quiet and if she went to the guy's dorm there would end up being more talking (or in her and Tristan's case making out) than actual studying. Her best option was the drive to Stars Hollow and study all day in her room. She soon discovered, however when she arrived that that wasn't a possibility either as her mother and Sookie and taken over the entire house with preparations for a party they were catering for grandmother to celebrate her grandfather's to business arrangement.
"My dorm room has turned into a "Three Stooges" movie. Shove Pop Tarts under the door in two hours please." Rory told her mother as she walked through the kitchen into her room.
"Uh, honey. . ." Lorelai began.
"You quiched my room." Rory stated.
"They're not quiche. They're broccoli tarts." Sookie told her.
"Well, then you tarted up my room." Rory said.
"I'm sorry, honey, I didn't know you were coming home today. Sookie's just trying some things out for Grandma's party." Lorelai said.
"How am I supposed to study when it smells like broccoli?" Rory asked.
"Well, study in the living room." Lorelai suggested.
"This is not living room study. This is serious bedroom study. I have a ton of work to do." Rory replied.
"Well, hey, here's a crazy thought - isn't there someplace at Yale you can study? Don't they have like a hundred libraries?" Lorelai asked.
"Yes, but they don't have that right vibe. They're too quiet and too big and drafty. Very, very drafty.
"At least they don't smell like quiche."
"Enough with the quiche, okay?" Sookie asked.
"I can't believe I came all the way home and there's nowhere to work." Rory said.
"Well, it's just temporary." Lorelai told her.
"'Til the sewing machine comes." Rory called out as she walked back out to her car to head back to Yale to try and find somewhere else to study.
Arriving at Yale, Rory walked out onto the quad and she saw it. It was perfect. She sat down on the grass, leaned her back against the beautiful tree she found and smiled. It was absolutely perfect. Her back fit against the trunk of the tree perfectly, the grass was soft beneath her, and it was in just the right place to have the right amount of quiet she needed to get her studying done.
Tuesday morning, however as she walked up to her tree to study some more, Rory found it was already occupied. After a lot of arguing the stupid magazine guy still refused to give up the tree. Frustrated she walked into guys dorm in full rant mode.
"I lost my study tree!" she announced to Riley and Tristan as she slammed the door behind her.
"Your what?" Tristan asked.
"My tree, my study tree - it's gone. Someone stole it." Rory explained.
"Someone stole a tree?" Riley asked.
"No, the tree's still there, but when I went there today, there was this guy sitting there reading trucking magazines and he would not give it up, so now I'm back where I started. I have no where to study. The library's too quiet, my roommates are crazy, and I can't study here." Rory said.
"Why not," Riley asked, "we study together all the time."
"Yeah, when we're quizzing each other for a test or doing research for a paper, but we always end up spending more time talking about books or movies than actually studying and now with me and Tristan…"
"What about us?" Tristan asked.
"Well, with us dating now I'm afraid if I try studying over here we'll just end up making out or something." Rory told him.
"I didn't realize you found me so irresistible, Mary." Tristan replied with a smirk on his face.
"Don't flatter yourself, Tristan, I'm serious. I need to find a place that I can study or else I'm going to end up flunking out of Yale and I'm going to have to give up all hope of being a foreign correspondent. This sucks."
"Rory, relax. You really can study here whenever you want to. Riley and I can leave or stay in our rooms so you can have the common room to yourself. Or you can use one of our rooms while we stay out here and I promise we'll keep quiet. You can even study in my room when I'm in class if you want." Tristan said.
"He's right, Ror. We can make it work so it's quiet enough for you to study here if you really need to focus on it. And when I get into one of my movie rants or something and it starts to bother you just tell me to shut up so you can study. It's not going to hurt my feelings." Riley told her.
"Okay, I guess you're both right. So, does this mean you're going to let me borrow your room now to study, Tris?" Rory asked.
"It's all yours, Mar."
"Thank you."
"She's insane." Tristan said to Riley after Rory closed the door to his room.
"What did you expect? After all, she is your girlfriend." Riley told him, "how else do you think she puts up with you."
"You're hilarious. Let's get out of here. We'll hit the gym for awhile, give her a few hours to herself and then bring her back some coffee and dinner."
"Sounds good."