Breakaway
"Have you signed up for any clubs yet?" Kayla asked Rory and Sarah as they strolled through campus together. "Or decided if you're going to pledge anything in the spring?"
Sarah nodded enthusiastically. "I'm joining Sigma Alpha Iota. It's an international music fraternity for women."
Rory and Kayla looked at her quizzically. "Fraternity? Don't you mean sorority?"
Sarah shook her head. "No, it's fraternity. But it's a long explanation, so just take my word for it."
Her friends shrugged. "Okay."
"What about you, Rory?" Sarah inquired.
"I don't know if Greek Life is my thing," she replied uncertainly. "But there is a creative writing club in the English department that I'm really looking forward to joining.
"Me, too!" Kayla replied. "I've heard the upperclassmen can be ruthless, but that it's a great experience if you want to improve your writing and make good future connections."
"I don't want to be the only one going Greek," Sarah whined. "SAI isn't your typical Greek organization, but it still has a pledging period and all that. I'm sure there's a group whose focus is something you guys would be interested in."
"I'm not opposed to it. I'm willing to keep an open mind," Rory told her. "Ask me again in the spring. Pledging doesn't start until then anyway. Why don't you join us for creative writing club?"
Sarah laughed. "Yeah, right. I'm the least creative writer on the planet. Besides, I need to use my spare time practicing, unless you want me to start playing in the room."
"I mean, not that you aren't a great musician but…no, thanks," Rory said.
"But if you don't join, that means you'll have to read all our writing and give us feedback," Kayla informed Sarah. "Think you can handle it?"
"Psht. All musicians do is give each other feedback. I've been doing it so long that I've figured out how to craft a response that is concise, honest, and helpful without anyone knowing I've even criticized them."
"We'll see about that. We have to bring in some writing for the first meeting, so you'll be put to the test very soon," said Rory.
The three girls continued to chat as they made their way to the student union for a mid-morning coffee before their next class.
"So how do you know Mr. Medina?" Kayla asked after her first sip of coffee. "I meant to ask you ages ago but kept forgetting."
Sarah gave them a puzzled look. "Who is Mr. Medina?"
"He's our Intro to English 1 teacher," Rory explained. "We're in section 1 and you're in section 3 with Dr. Schmidt."
Sarah nodded her understanding. "So you knew him before you got here?"
Rory nodded back. "Yeah. He was my English teacher for a little while in high school. Then he came out here to be a guest lecturer for one semester, and I guess he decided to get his Ph.D. and become a teaching fellow so he could stay. I remember he really loved it here."
"Is that why you applied?" asked Kayla.
Rory shook her head. "I actually forgot he even taught here. And I had no idea he was still around until the first day of class. Didn't you notice my jaw on the floor when he was about to address the class?"
Kayla chuckled. "Very true. It was like something out of a cartoon. You should've seen it, Sarah."
Sarah swallowed the banana bread she had been chewing. "So what was it like to see him again?"
"It was…" Rory thought about how to answer. She knew Sarah and Kayla were her friends, but she was unsure how much information about her history with Max she should share with them. It wasn't really her story to tell, but it was still part of her story. "It was weird."
"Weird?" her friends questioned in unison.
Rory took a deep breath. "He was engaged to my mom for a little while. I thought he was going to be my stepdad. But it ended up not working out. That's part of the reason he came to Stanford in the first place."
"What?!" the two girls exclaimed.
Rory sighed. "Yeah, it's complicated."
"I'll say," Sarah commented.
Kayla agreed. "So are things awkward between you?"
"No. I mean, a little, but we both know it was for the best. Plus he and I had a relationship first, before him and my mom. We have always gotten along, and he has always been supportive of me."
"I'm going to watch you guys like a hawk in class today," Kayla said.
Rory groaned. "Ugh, please don't make a thing of it. I want as few people as possible to be aware of the fact that I already know Mr. Medina."
"Did you say you know Mr. Medina?" a voice behind her asked.
Great, Rory thought. Just what I need; more inquiring minds.
She turned to see who had spoken. A boy wearing a knit hat was sitting a few feet away from them.
He had a few blonde curls sticking out from under his beanie. When they made eye contact, Rory could see that his eyes were a stunning hazel, even at a distance. He had several novels open in front of him, with papers and pens scattered elsewhere on the table.
Kayla narrowed her eyes at him. "Eavesdrop much?"
"Hard not to when you're all sitting five feet away and conversing so loudly I can't focus."
"Oh please," Sarah said with annoyance. "Conversation is part of the coffee shop milieu. If you really wanted to focus you would be in the library, not the union coffee shop, asshole."
The boy ignored Kayla's comment and redirected his attention to Rory. "So? Do you know Mr. Medina?"
Rory blushed slightly. "Yeah. He was my English teacher for a little while in high school," she repeated.
"Maybe if you had eavesdropped a little closer you would have heard that already," Kayla remarked sarcastically.
He ignored her again. "So you're teacher's pet already?"
Rory's cheeks flushed deeper red, but this time it was from anger. "No, I'm not. In fact, I have only had one interaction with Max outside of class since the semester started."
The boy smirked at her. "Max, huh? You really do know him."
"Fuck off, dude. We don't even know you," Sarah spat at him.
He held up his hands defensively. "Whoa, dude. Chill. I was just trying to figure out your girl's dynamic with Stanford's most eligible professor."
Rory was furious. "It's nothing like that. How dare you make that kind of statement! You don't know anything about me or Mr. Medina for that matter. Who are you to disrespect a professor like that?"
The boy gave her what she could only assume was supposed to be a "charming" smile. "Levi Hollis. Pleased to meet you."
Rory gave him a cold glare. "I can assure you that that feeling is not mutual."
"Your loss," he replied confidently.
"Come on, guys. We need to get to class anyway," Kayla said, standing to leave.
Levi watched Rory as she gathered her things. "See you around…I don't think I caught your name."
She glared at him again. "That's because I didn't give it to you. Have a nice day," and with that, she and her friends exited the coffee shop.
"Can you believe that guy?" Kayla asked her after class.
Rory was glad her friend was still thinking about their interaction with Levi because she was still seething over it as well. Who was this guy?
She shook her head. "He was awful. But thankfully, we go to a big school so odds are we will never run into him again."
"Thank god," Kayla grumbled. "I don't think I could stop myself from smacking him in his smug face if I saw him again."
Rory snickered at the image. "Please make sure I'm there if that ever happens."
"Deal," Kayla said, shaking Rory's hand.
"So what did you deduce from class today, Dr. Watson?" Rory teased.
Kayla adopted a fake British accent. "Well, my dear Sherlock, it appears that you and Mr. Medina do indeed have a stronger rapport than the other students, but nothing out of the ordinary. If I didn't know you I don't think I would even notice. Right-o, old chap. Pip-pip! Cheerio!"
Kayla's impression made Rory laugh. "Too right, Dr. Watson. Thank you for your analysis."
Kayla took a bow. "Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week."
"Moving on to another English-related topic…what time is the first creative writing club meeting?" Rory asked.
"Thursday at 5:00 in the English 1 lecture hall."
"Great, so I've got two days to write and edit something decent."
"Just take something you've already written and let Sarah and I tweak it. Don't lose your mind trying to have something perfect for the first meeting. The whole point of the club is to help us hone our skills."
"I know…I just don't want to look like a stupid freshman," Rory told her friend as they entered her dorm room.
"Don't we all," Kayla replied. "But there's nothing wrong with needing a little polishing. Everyone was a beginner once."
"Except Mozart," Sarah chimed in from her place at her desk.
Kayla rolled her eyes. "Nobody gets your nerdy musical references, Sarah," she teased.
Sarah stuck her nose up in the air with mock superiority. "Only the most sophisticated of people will truly understand. When I win a Grammy someday, see if you are in my 'thank-you' speech."
All three girls laughed before launching into a discussion about their evening plans.
On Thursday evening, Rory and Kayla made their way to the creative writing club meeting.
"What did decide to write about?" Kayla asked her. "I know you were choosing between doing a short story or some creative non-fiction."
"I chose the creative non-fiction. The one about me and my mom."
"That's great! I loved that one. I mean, the short story was good, too, but the authenticity of the narrative in non-fiction piece was really moving."
Rory blushed slightly. "Thanks. What did you decide to go with?"
Kayla grimaced. "Ugh, just a few excerpts from my poetry collection. It's so pretentious and silly, but I wasn't in the mood to write anything else, and my old stories are just so…blah."
"They were not!" Rory assured her friend.
Kayla smiled. "You're too kind, Rory Gilmore."
The meeting room already had several students in it by the time they arrived, and a few more people trickled in before the meeting started. At three minutes past five, one of the students stood up and walked to the front of the room.
"Hello everyone," the girl addressed the crowd, "I'm Katie Daniels, vice-president of the creative writing club. Sorry for the short delay, but our president seems to be running late, which is something you'll get used to if you stick around the club long enough. Anyway, until he gets here, I'll answer whatever questions you guys have."
Half the hands in the room shot into the air. It took about 15 minutes for everyone's questions to get answered. Katie was in the middle of wrapping up the last question when the door at the back of the classroom opened."
"Better late than never. Everyone, this is our president."
Someone walked to the front of the room, and Rory had to muster up all the strength she had to stop herself from audibly gasping.
The boy gave everyone in the room a vainglorious smile. "What's up, guys? My name is Levi Hollis. I'm a junior creative writing major, and, like Katie said, the president of the creative writing club. It sounds like she's answered most of your questions, so let's get down to business."
He explained the purpose of the club and the kinds of activities they got involved in on campus and in the community. People asked more questions. The members gave more answers. Levi and Katie talked some more. More questions. More answers.
But Rory barely heard any of it. Kayla had to give her a nudge when everyone started passing their writing forward.
"I'm looking forward to reading all of these. Typically, the club officers will pass the pieces around to one another and make the first set of edits, and cross out any personal information after we make a note of who wrote what. Then we randomly distribute the pieces to the members of the club for another round of edits. Once those are done, we return the work to the original owner. But since this is the first meeting, only the officers will be making edits this time. Alright? Great. See everyone next week. Same bat time, same bat channel."
Rory wanted to laugh at his pop culture reference, but didn't want to give him the satisfaction.
She returned to her dorm in a daze. Levi Hollis was the president of the creative writing club.
Levi. Hollis.
She couldn't imagine a worse scenario. Maybe if he had turned out to be a professor instead of a student…Rory shuddered at the thought.
Yeah, it could definitely be worse.
She sat down at her desk and checked her email. She smiled when she saw a message from pgeller85 at a Yale email address.
Hello Rory,
I hope Stanford has been treating you well. As you can see, I am attending Yale. When I arrived, one of my roommate's doors was labeled with the initials "R.G." which, for a moment, made me think you had changed your mind about your college choice. Obviously, this was not the case; R.G. is a girl named Rianne (pronounced like "Ryan") Gellar. What kind of a name is that? I mean, "Rianne"? What were her parents thinking? I suppose I should pity her and take the name issue up with them. Then there's the last name: GellAr. Can you believe that? One vowel difference between our names. Realistically, knowing my father, we could be half-sisters and he just changed the spelling of her name to throw everyone off the scent.
Anyway, how has your semester been? Is Stanford as excellent as you thought it would be? How is your roommate? Mine are a nightmare, not including Rianne's terrible name. One is a child (only 16) and the other is a sports and workout fanatic. It will be a miracle if I make it through the year without strangling someone. Luckily, I have Terrence here with me — he's my life coach. He helps me find my center and inner peace. Hopefully, he can assist me in reaching nirvana so I have enough positive energy to get me through the rest of the semester.
Get back to me when you can.
— Paris
Reading Paris's email improved Rory's mood immensely. The mental image of Paris interacting with her unique roommates made her laugh out loud. She hit reply and began to write.
Hi Paris,
Wow, Yale? That's great! I'm really happy for you. What are the odds that your roommate and I would have the same initials? Actually, don't answer that; I'm sure you know the exact statistics.
Stanford is great! But you'll never guess who teaches here: Mr. Medina! Did you remember that he was a guest lecturer here for a little while during high school? I totally forgot. Needless to say, when I saw him on the first day of class, I was completely shocked. Do you know what the odds are for that? :)
My roommate is great. Her name is Sarah Bennet and she is a music major. I know you are rolling your eyes, but she is actually very talented — seriously! She definitely has a real future as a performing artist. Maybe someday you can come visit and we can go to one of her performances. She is a lot of fun and swears like a sailor, which provides us all with some colorful conversation. I also met a girl named Kayla Schultz in my Into to English 1 class, and I think you would really like her. She's an English major, too, but, if you can believe it, she's even more nerdy about literature than me. She might give you a run for your money.
It sounds like things are going well for you. I hope Terrence can be of services to you the rest of the semester.
It was good to hear from you, Paris. Don't be a stranger — write me anytime.
— Rory
She had just hit send when there was a knock at her door.
"Who could that be?" she wondered aloud. Sarah was at an ensemble rehearsal and Kayla told her she was going to the library after the creative writing club meeting.
She opened the door and could not have been more surprised to see who was on the other side.
"Mom?"
