Title: The Greatest thing You'll ever Learn
Author: Krysteena
Pairing: although there are some R/D undercurrents in some of this, I assure you that this is going to be an R/T!
Summary: I'm not going to give you one because I'm evil and suck at summaries :) But if you like the movie Moulin Rouge I think you'll like this fic.
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: Not. Mine. End. Of. Story.
**Note: this is in Rory's junior year, and in my universe, Tristan never left, and they did the Romeo and Juliet play....and it takes place a few months after that.
**Another Note: To all of you who were/are reading my fic, "All you need is Love", I'm very sorry that I have not updated...I have been busy writing this, and have also had a really bad case of writers block for the third chapter. So if you've read that fic and have any ideas, e-mail me at stellarstar2001@aol.com .Thanks!
**One Last Note: Any and all song lyrics are from the Moulin Rouge Soundtrack (also not mine ::grits teeth::) Lyrics start and end in little *s except if they're singing them. This might be confusing, because it's sort of a song fic, but there's also music lyrics that are part of it, but whatever, you'll figure it out. Okay, I'll shut up and let you read the actual fic! Please drop me a line, tell me what you think!
Chapter 1: Spectacular, Spectacular
*There was a boy
A very strange enchanted boy
They says he wandered very far
Very far
Over land and sea*
Rory gazes longingly out the window of her English class. It is the last day of the Shakespearean division, and the teacher is blabbing about something or other. It is hard to concentrate. It is also Thursday, which is next to Friday, which is the start of a three day weekend. She sighs and gives one last fleeting glance out the window before dutifully turning back to the teacher.
"Moving on.....does anyone remember the last big project we did? Come on guys, your parents aren't paying for you to come and forget everything...did they?" she says, smiling, while the class thinks about it. One girl in the front row raises her hand. " Yes, Lisa?"
"Was it the 'Romeo and Juliet interpretations'"? Lisa asks uncertainly. The teacher smiles and nods.
"Someone with brain cells! Yes, that was our last project. And now, to conclude what I like to call the "Red Curtain" trilogy, we're going to do something slightly similar. Has anyone seen the movie, "Moulin Rouge'?" There are muffled groans, as the class realizes what is coming.
"Stop your moaning...you haven't even heard the project... the assignment, which is 200 points, is to reenact the movie, 'Moulin Rouge'. My other class is doing the other part of the trilogy, "Strictly Ballroom' But unlike Romeo and Juliet, the class will perform as a whole, instead of in groups. And only about 80 to 85 % of you will actually get to be onstage." she pauses, "Are there any questions?"
Paris' hand shoots up. The teacher sighs. " Yes Paris?"
"How long does the play have to be? You know, the movie is 2 hours and 18 minutes, I doubt people will sit through something that long. Do we have to have a director? What about choosing parts for the actors? And what about—?" The teacher cuts her off.
"Paris, one question at a time, not twenty. Okay, to answer your first question, you should put the movie into play form. Remember, in the movie, there were some special effects that you would not be able to incorporate into the play. And I think we could do without some of the parts... I think most of you know what I'm talking about. So when you take out all that, it will probably be about an hour an a half or more. Not likely to be less than that, though, unless you chop out some of the major storyline. Okay?" Paris nods curtly.
"Alright, this project is due on June tenth. That gives you about three and a half months to do this, which is a long time, considering this is Chilton. Starting tomorrow, we will be meeting in the theater. Oh, and to answer your other question Paris, yes there will be a director, and she/or he will decide who gets which part and make most of the decisions, but I will also be in there most of the time to supervise the director."
"Okay, get out your assignment books..." her voice is cut off by the bell. Everyone shuffles to get their stuff together. Rory is going out the door when Paris walks briskly up beside her.
"What does 'Moulin Rouge' have to do with Shakespeare? This is a terrible project." She says in her usual blunt tone, "I'm going to be director for this monstrosity of an assignment, since I'm the only person in our class who is capable of directing. What do you think?"
"I think it sounds sort of fun... I just don't want to be the lead!" Rory groans, remembering the last play, " Especially to Tristan!"
"Oh, come on Rory, you guys look good onstage together." Paris scrutinizes Rory, " And you might make a good Satine. Can you sing?"
"No! Well, yes, I can sing, but I sing in the shower where nobody can hear me, I refuse to sing onstage, in front of lots of people!" Rory protests firmly, " Paris stop making all these plans, we don't have to start until tomorrow."
"Yeah, well, okay I have to go tutor the sixth graders . See you tomorrow and think about what I said." Paris calls out as she walks down the hallway.
"Yeah whatever." Rory mutters. She gets to her locker, and unloads her books. She slams the locker shut, and surprise, there is Tristan, leaning against the locker.
"What do YOU want?" Rory asks warily. She is already tired and not in the mood to spar with him.
"I just wanted to know if you had the Moulin Rouge soundtrack. I wanted to borrow it, I'm going to practice my singing so I can be Christian. Are you going to be my whore, oops, I meant courtesan?" he asks smoothly.
"Not a chance in hell if I have anything to do with it, but most likely I will, knowing my horrible luck." Rory sighs and starts walking outside. The parking area is mostly empty, only a few people are loitering around.
"We could practice our, um, singing, with each other . I bet we would make beautiful music together." He smirks.
"Ooh, how long did that one take you? Three, four hours? Get out of the third grade Tristan, and start acting your age. Or at the very least, half your age." Rory says bitingly as she stands waiting for the bus. She sees it coming down the street, and sighs in relief.
"You don't have to take the bus you know. I could give you a lift." Tristan offers, dropping the act. Rory doesn't even notice.
"I would rather get into a car with the antichrist then you, Tristan." She says as she bounds onto the bus. It roars off as Tristan just stands there.
"So that's a no?" he says to no one, disappointed.
***
A Couple Days Later...
"No! No, no and no! I refuse to do it!" Rory yells, frustrated.
"Why not?" Paris says, oblivious to Rory's frustration. "You're the only person who is any good at acting AND singing, and it'll look good on your college applications..." Paris coaxes.
"Not with him!", Rory points at Tristan, " He'll screw everything up and he's impossible to work with!"
"Now Mary, that wasn't very nice of you to say, was it?" Tristan says, mock hurt. " You make me sad, I think I'll go over there and cry." Tristan starts to go over to a corner, but Paris grabs his arm.
"No! You guys are both going to be leads, and that's the end of story." Rory starts to protest, but Paris glares at her, " Rory, think about this, the project is worth 200 points. Do you know how much that is?"
"Why couldn't Louise play the lead? She's practically a courtesan anyway." Louise starts to defend herself, but then thinks about it and shrugs, agreeing.
"Because Louise is a terrible actress, and an even more terrible singer. Rory, you're going to play Satine, or I will stick you in Harry Zidler's part-- and that includes the fat suit, okay?" Rory nods mutely, dejected. "Well, good. And now, I've already started cutting and pasting the scripts into play form, they won't be ready until Wednesday.... meanwhile we can figure all the details out, like costumes and schedules for practicing ." Paris says briskly.
Paris turns to go sit in the special chair she has brought in. Rory glares at her retreating back and sticks her tongue out. Then she sighs and turns to face Tristan, who is struggling not to laugh.
"Oh yeah, this is hilarious, isn't it?" She turns back towards Paris and scowls.
"Rory, can your mom do costumes again?" Paris asks.
"I don't know, how many costumes will she have to make?" Rory replies, still scowling.
"About fifty." Paris says airily while writing down something on her pad of paper.
"That many? There's not even that many people in the play or in our class!" Rory asks incredulously.
"Think about it. There's all your costume changes, and then there's all of the others costumes changes for each scene, although I think we can get away with only one or two costumes for Tristan's character and maybe some of the minor characters, so this number is liable to change." Paris reasons.
"Wait....I get ONE or TWO costumes while Little Miss Clotheshorse over there gets like twenty?" Tristan asks incredulously, "I don't think that's very fair!"
"Tristan, your character wears pretty much the same thing throughout the whole movie! Why should it be any different in the play?" Paris says impatiently, " Don't argue, we don't have time for it. Hmmm...I wonder if I can get the scripts done any sooner so we'll be ahead of time." Paris thinks aloud to herself.
"Paris, calm down, I think you're taking this whole thing way too seriously: at this rate you'll have a heart attack." Rory says calmly.
"I can't calm down! We need to have the scripts so we can memorize so we can practice so we can perfect!" Paris says harriedly.
Rory just shrugs and gives everyone else a look that says, 'whatever, I tried to stop her'.
"So back to the costumes....Rory maybe your mom can do just the courtesans costumes....and we'll hire a costume maker to do the rest. Although we can pretty much just buy the guys costumes at a tux shop and then there's the regular people and the...."
***
"Ahhhh! School sucks Mom!" Rory groans as she walks into Luke's.
"Now there's a song and dance I haven't heard before. Get it? Song and dance? Come on whore, sing for me!" Lorelei says giddily. Rory sits down.
"Very funny. How much coffee have you had? Seriously, this stupid production is driving me crazy! With Paris as director, you'd think we were actually filming a movie, instead of a pointless high school production. And don't even get me started on Tristan! Argh!" Rory gestures angrily, and almost whacks Luke, who is coming over to the table.
"Hey watch it!" Luke growls with a hint of a smile on his face. "So what do you want today? The usual?"
"You know it! And make it an extra large cup of coffee, I've had a really BAD day." Rory starts moaning again, and Luke sighs and shakes his head and leaves to go make her order.
"It's okay hon. It'll get better.....after it's over you'll be able to laugh about it!", Lorelei notices the grimace on Rory's face, " Or not. But your grimace might be a little prettier."
"Can we go on another road trip, to some place far, far away?" Rory pleads hopefully.
Lorelei laughs and says, "Sorry, babe, the only way to get through this is to endure it. It'll all pay off when you get into Harvard!
"Yeah, maybe. But I swear, I'm counting the days till June 11!" Rory says desperately.
***
Rory walks into the auditorium. It has been a week since the rehearsals started, and yesterday the teacher informed the class that she would not be able to supervise them most of the time because she had to take a special Chilton English teaching class. Rory doesn't like the sound of that because this means that Paris now has full rein of the show which is a scary thought indeed. She is shaken from her reverie when Tristan saunters into the auditorium.
"Hey Rory." He says casually.
"What, no Mary? This is truly a shocking day!" Rory says sarcastically, "Glad to see that you've FINALLY learned my name. Now the next step is a little more tricky: remembering it."
Tristan laughs, an odd sort of laugh. "Why do you hate me?" he asks, his voice not filled with sadness, but regret.
Rory looks up at him in surprise. "I don't hate you." She says carefully. "But you've never given me a reason to like you either."
"How about we try that friends thing again?" Tristan asks.
"Ha! I remember what happened last time. How about you prove to me that you can actually be a friend and THEN we try that friends thing again...okay?" Rory says firmly.
"I guess I don't really have much of a choice, do I?" Tristan says disappointed. Still being considered for a friend was better than nothing.
"Nope, not really. But it would be nice to have a friend here at Chilton." Rory smiles, a somewhat cautious smile, at him, and he feels a rush of warmth towards her. Hey, hope, even just a sliver, is what keep people alive, isn't it?
Just then, Paris walks into the room.
"Where the hell is everyone else?" she asks, angry. " This is class time. If they think they can just ditch because the teacher isn't here anymore than they better think otherwise."
Rory looks over at her and laughs. "Chill Paris, the bell hasn't even rung yet. I'm sure they'll be here. They want that 'A' as much as you do. Probably not as much but..."
Paris sighs. "Well, we're on a very tight schedule Rory! We can't waste very valuable time, because we have so little of it."
"Um, Paris? We still have about three months left. I wouldn't exactly call that a little." Tristan says offhandedly.
Paris glares at him, and he shuts up meekly. Rory snickers. And he turns and mock glares at her. She mimics his meek look back at him.
Finally, little by little, the rest of the class trickles in. Paris gets everything organized, and everybody is soon busy rehearsing.
Tristan comes over to where Rory is sitting on the edge of the stage practicing her lines.
"Hey, can we practice the scene with the Elephant Love Medley song in it? I'm still a little bit shaky on that one, and I want to see how it sounds with the singing."
"Sure, let me just finish reading this line." Rory gets up and brushes herself off. "Okay, I don't want to practice in front of everyone, so can we find a quiet spot to rehearse?"
"We should practice in front of everyone so we can get used to being in front of people." Tristan suggests.
"Ugh! I don't wanna sing in front of people!" Rory whines. "Do I have to?"
"It would help." Tristan says helpfully. Rory groans, but reluctantly goes over to the center of the stage.
"Hey Paris, we're going to rehearse one of the scenes. Tell us what you think afterwards, alright?" Rory asks nervously. Paris nods.
"Okay, here we go." Rory takes a deep breath and Tristan begins the scene.
"Love is a many splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love!" Tristan(Christian) says energetically.
"Please don't start that again." Rory(Satine) says in her cultured(and fake) French/British sounding accent.
"All you need is Love!" Christian sing-songs.
"A girl has got to eat." Satine interjects.
"All you need is love!" Christian repeats, still half singing/half speaking.
"She'll end up on the street!" Satine objects.
"All you need is love!"
"Love is just a game!" Satine finally sings back.
"I was made for loving you baby, and you were made for loving me!" Christian sings in an exaggerated deep voice.
"The only way of loving me baby is to pay a lovely fee!" Satine sings back.
"Just one night, give me just one night!" Christian pleads.
"There's no way, 'cause you can't pay!" Satine fires back.
"In the name of love, one night in the name of love!" Christian sings irrationally.
"You crazy fool! I won't give into you!" Satine sings, almost laughingly. She turns to leave.
"Don't! Leave me this way, I can't survive without your sweet love, oh baby, don't leave me this way." Christian starts out desperate, but gradually goes into a quiet submission.
Satine turns back to him. "You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs!"
"I look around me and I see it isn't so, oh no!"
"Some people wanna fill the world with silly love songs." Satine croons almost sadly.
"Well what's wrong with that, I'd like to know, cause here I go again..." Christian sings, "Love lifts us up where we belong, where the eagles fly on a mountain high!"
"Love makes us act like we are fools, throw our lives away, for one happy day..."
"We can be heroes, just for one day!" Christian bellows.
"You, you will be mean" Satine says, frantically, trying to make excuses to stay away from him.
"No, I won't" Christian laughs.
"And I, I'll drink all the time." Satine says, trying to hold onto her excuses.
"We should be lovers!" Christian sings at her, trying to make her see.
" We can't do that." Satine sings, her eyes begging him to understand.
"We should be lovers, and that's a fact!" Christian continues.
"No nothing would keep us together...." Satine trills realistically.
"We could steal time, just for one day!" Christian sings determinedly.
" We can be heroes, forever and ever, we can be heroes, forever and ever, We can be heroes!" Satine and Christian sing together, Satine at last succumbing to her desires.
"Just because I, and I will always love you!" Christian belts out his promises at her.
"I only can't help..." Satine starts.
"Loving you..." Christian finishes softly with Satine. He holds her close. And Satine smiles up at him.
"How wonderful life is, now you're in the world!" Satine sings lightly. They stop singing, and Christian leans in real close.
"I can tell, you're going to be bad for business." Satine teases. Then they're supposed to kiss. The Satine mask comes off, and Rory freezes, scared. Then she shakes that feeling away, and leans in to kiss him.
At the touch of her lips, Tristan is shocked. Shocked that her lips can still affect him like that. He had thought that once you've kissed a girl, all the sparks and hype go away. But not with Rory. Every time he's kissed her, which is not many times, he feels a wave of helplessness come over him. It feels like he's sky-diving, which he has done many times just for the thrill of it. It feels like he's being run over by a Mack truck, but it also feels like he's being kissed for the very first time.
At the touch of his lips, Rory is weak in the knees. She now possesses a greater understanding of the power of a kiss. Her heart and her head are racing towards a full on collision. Her heart is swooning, while her mind is shaking it's head and reminding her that this is a person that she has greatly disliked until not even twenty minutes ago. But for the time being, while in this powerful, mighty kiss, her heart won out.
Too short it seemed, the kiss comes to an end. Rory and Tristan just stare into each other's eyes breathlessly. Then Rory shakes herself out of it and turns abruptly towards Paris.
"Well?" Rory says, still a little dazed, her hands on her hips.
Paris grunts. Inside she had been floored at the scene. They look so good together. She couldn't help feeling smug that she was right. They were going to get an 'A' on this easy. She was also fighting away pangs of jealousy as she watches them interact, but she brushes those away. She doesn't want to resent Rory for some stupid guy who doesn't even like her. That would be immature. But resenting her for being smart and pretty, well, that was acceptable. To them she says,
"Not bad."
Rory looks at her in disbelief. " I put all the effort I had into that scene, and all I get is a 'not bad'?!"
"Next time, sing a little louder in the beginning, I could barely hear you." Paris says brusquely. Rory throws her hands up in the air and makes a strange groaning noise. Tristan laughs at Rory quietly. So she was putting all she had into it, huh?
As Tristan and Rory walk down from the stage, neither is feeling quite the same than they had at the beginning of the day.
***
*A little shy and sad of eye
But very wise was he*
Authors Note: Well, that was it! Part one! Sorry if it was a little boring, but this was the chapter that explained everything. Expect some tension in the next chapter as Dean makes his appearance in my fic! Don't forget to review...
Author: Krysteena
Pairing: although there are some R/D undercurrents in some of this, I assure you that this is going to be an R/T!
Summary: I'm not going to give you one because I'm evil and suck at summaries :) But if you like the movie Moulin Rouge I think you'll like this fic.
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: Not. Mine. End. Of. Story.
**Note: this is in Rory's junior year, and in my universe, Tristan never left, and they did the Romeo and Juliet play....and it takes place a few months after that.
**Another Note: To all of you who were/are reading my fic, "All you need is Love", I'm very sorry that I have not updated...I have been busy writing this, and have also had a really bad case of writers block for the third chapter. So if you've read that fic and have any ideas, e-mail me at stellarstar2001@aol.com .Thanks!
**One Last Note: Any and all song lyrics are from the Moulin Rouge Soundtrack (also not mine ::grits teeth::) Lyrics start and end in little *s except if they're singing them. This might be confusing, because it's sort of a song fic, but there's also music lyrics that are part of it, but whatever, you'll figure it out. Okay, I'll shut up and let you read the actual fic! Please drop me a line, tell me what you think!
Chapter 1: Spectacular, Spectacular
*There was a boy
A very strange enchanted boy
They says he wandered very far
Very far
Over land and sea*
Rory gazes longingly out the window of her English class. It is the last day of the Shakespearean division, and the teacher is blabbing about something or other. It is hard to concentrate. It is also Thursday, which is next to Friday, which is the start of a three day weekend. She sighs and gives one last fleeting glance out the window before dutifully turning back to the teacher.
"Moving on.....does anyone remember the last big project we did? Come on guys, your parents aren't paying for you to come and forget everything...did they?" she says, smiling, while the class thinks about it. One girl in the front row raises her hand. " Yes, Lisa?"
"Was it the 'Romeo and Juliet interpretations'"? Lisa asks uncertainly. The teacher smiles and nods.
"Someone with brain cells! Yes, that was our last project. And now, to conclude what I like to call the "Red Curtain" trilogy, we're going to do something slightly similar. Has anyone seen the movie, "Moulin Rouge'?" There are muffled groans, as the class realizes what is coming.
"Stop your moaning...you haven't even heard the project... the assignment, which is 200 points, is to reenact the movie, 'Moulin Rouge'. My other class is doing the other part of the trilogy, "Strictly Ballroom' But unlike Romeo and Juliet, the class will perform as a whole, instead of in groups. And only about 80 to 85 % of you will actually get to be onstage." she pauses, "Are there any questions?"
Paris' hand shoots up. The teacher sighs. " Yes Paris?"
"How long does the play have to be? You know, the movie is 2 hours and 18 minutes, I doubt people will sit through something that long. Do we have to have a director? What about choosing parts for the actors? And what about—?" The teacher cuts her off.
"Paris, one question at a time, not twenty. Okay, to answer your first question, you should put the movie into play form. Remember, in the movie, there were some special effects that you would not be able to incorporate into the play. And I think we could do without some of the parts... I think most of you know what I'm talking about. So when you take out all that, it will probably be about an hour an a half or more. Not likely to be less than that, though, unless you chop out some of the major storyline. Okay?" Paris nods curtly.
"Alright, this project is due on June tenth. That gives you about three and a half months to do this, which is a long time, considering this is Chilton. Starting tomorrow, we will be meeting in the theater. Oh, and to answer your other question Paris, yes there will be a director, and she/or he will decide who gets which part and make most of the decisions, but I will also be in there most of the time to supervise the director."
"Okay, get out your assignment books..." her voice is cut off by the bell. Everyone shuffles to get their stuff together. Rory is going out the door when Paris walks briskly up beside her.
"What does 'Moulin Rouge' have to do with Shakespeare? This is a terrible project." She says in her usual blunt tone, "I'm going to be director for this monstrosity of an assignment, since I'm the only person in our class who is capable of directing. What do you think?"
"I think it sounds sort of fun... I just don't want to be the lead!" Rory groans, remembering the last play, " Especially to Tristan!"
"Oh, come on Rory, you guys look good onstage together." Paris scrutinizes Rory, " And you might make a good Satine. Can you sing?"
"No! Well, yes, I can sing, but I sing in the shower where nobody can hear me, I refuse to sing onstage, in front of lots of people!" Rory protests firmly, " Paris stop making all these plans, we don't have to start until tomorrow."
"Yeah, well, okay I have to go tutor the sixth graders . See you tomorrow and think about what I said." Paris calls out as she walks down the hallway.
"Yeah whatever." Rory mutters. She gets to her locker, and unloads her books. She slams the locker shut, and surprise, there is Tristan, leaning against the locker.
"What do YOU want?" Rory asks warily. She is already tired and not in the mood to spar with him.
"I just wanted to know if you had the Moulin Rouge soundtrack. I wanted to borrow it, I'm going to practice my singing so I can be Christian. Are you going to be my whore, oops, I meant courtesan?" he asks smoothly.
"Not a chance in hell if I have anything to do with it, but most likely I will, knowing my horrible luck." Rory sighs and starts walking outside. The parking area is mostly empty, only a few people are loitering around.
"We could practice our, um, singing, with each other . I bet we would make beautiful music together." He smirks.
"Ooh, how long did that one take you? Three, four hours? Get out of the third grade Tristan, and start acting your age. Or at the very least, half your age." Rory says bitingly as she stands waiting for the bus. She sees it coming down the street, and sighs in relief.
"You don't have to take the bus you know. I could give you a lift." Tristan offers, dropping the act. Rory doesn't even notice.
"I would rather get into a car with the antichrist then you, Tristan." She says as she bounds onto the bus. It roars off as Tristan just stands there.
"So that's a no?" he says to no one, disappointed.
***
A Couple Days Later...
"No! No, no and no! I refuse to do it!" Rory yells, frustrated.
"Why not?" Paris says, oblivious to Rory's frustration. "You're the only person who is any good at acting AND singing, and it'll look good on your college applications..." Paris coaxes.
"Not with him!", Rory points at Tristan, " He'll screw everything up and he's impossible to work with!"
"Now Mary, that wasn't very nice of you to say, was it?" Tristan says, mock hurt. " You make me sad, I think I'll go over there and cry." Tristan starts to go over to a corner, but Paris grabs his arm.
"No! You guys are both going to be leads, and that's the end of story." Rory starts to protest, but Paris glares at her, " Rory, think about this, the project is worth 200 points. Do you know how much that is?"
"Why couldn't Louise play the lead? She's practically a courtesan anyway." Louise starts to defend herself, but then thinks about it and shrugs, agreeing.
"Because Louise is a terrible actress, and an even more terrible singer. Rory, you're going to play Satine, or I will stick you in Harry Zidler's part-- and that includes the fat suit, okay?" Rory nods mutely, dejected. "Well, good. And now, I've already started cutting and pasting the scripts into play form, they won't be ready until Wednesday.... meanwhile we can figure all the details out, like costumes and schedules for practicing ." Paris says briskly.
Paris turns to go sit in the special chair she has brought in. Rory glares at her retreating back and sticks her tongue out. Then she sighs and turns to face Tristan, who is struggling not to laugh.
"Oh yeah, this is hilarious, isn't it?" She turns back towards Paris and scowls.
"Rory, can your mom do costumes again?" Paris asks.
"I don't know, how many costumes will she have to make?" Rory replies, still scowling.
"About fifty." Paris says airily while writing down something on her pad of paper.
"That many? There's not even that many people in the play or in our class!" Rory asks incredulously.
"Think about it. There's all your costume changes, and then there's all of the others costumes changes for each scene, although I think we can get away with only one or two costumes for Tristan's character and maybe some of the minor characters, so this number is liable to change." Paris reasons.
"Wait....I get ONE or TWO costumes while Little Miss Clotheshorse over there gets like twenty?" Tristan asks incredulously, "I don't think that's very fair!"
"Tristan, your character wears pretty much the same thing throughout the whole movie! Why should it be any different in the play?" Paris says impatiently, " Don't argue, we don't have time for it. Hmmm...I wonder if I can get the scripts done any sooner so we'll be ahead of time." Paris thinks aloud to herself.
"Paris, calm down, I think you're taking this whole thing way too seriously: at this rate you'll have a heart attack." Rory says calmly.
"I can't calm down! We need to have the scripts so we can memorize so we can practice so we can perfect!" Paris says harriedly.
Rory just shrugs and gives everyone else a look that says, 'whatever, I tried to stop her'.
"So back to the costumes....Rory maybe your mom can do just the courtesans costumes....and we'll hire a costume maker to do the rest. Although we can pretty much just buy the guys costumes at a tux shop and then there's the regular people and the...."
***
"Ahhhh! School sucks Mom!" Rory groans as she walks into Luke's.
"Now there's a song and dance I haven't heard before. Get it? Song and dance? Come on whore, sing for me!" Lorelei says giddily. Rory sits down.
"Very funny. How much coffee have you had? Seriously, this stupid production is driving me crazy! With Paris as director, you'd think we were actually filming a movie, instead of a pointless high school production. And don't even get me started on Tristan! Argh!" Rory gestures angrily, and almost whacks Luke, who is coming over to the table.
"Hey watch it!" Luke growls with a hint of a smile on his face. "So what do you want today? The usual?"
"You know it! And make it an extra large cup of coffee, I've had a really BAD day." Rory starts moaning again, and Luke sighs and shakes his head and leaves to go make her order.
"It's okay hon. It'll get better.....after it's over you'll be able to laugh about it!", Lorelei notices the grimace on Rory's face, " Or not. But your grimace might be a little prettier."
"Can we go on another road trip, to some place far, far away?" Rory pleads hopefully.
Lorelei laughs and says, "Sorry, babe, the only way to get through this is to endure it. It'll all pay off when you get into Harvard!
"Yeah, maybe. But I swear, I'm counting the days till June 11!" Rory says desperately.
***
Rory walks into the auditorium. It has been a week since the rehearsals started, and yesterday the teacher informed the class that she would not be able to supervise them most of the time because she had to take a special Chilton English teaching class. Rory doesn't like the sound of that because this means that Paris now has full rein of the show which is a scary thought indeed. She is shaken from her reverie when Tristan saunters into the auditorium.
"Hey Rory." He says casually.
"What, no Mary? This is truly a shocking day!" Rory says sarcastically, "Glad to see that you've FINALLY learned my name. Now the next step is a little more tricky: remembering it."
Tristan laughs, an odd sort of laugh. "Why do you hate me?" he asks, his voice not filled with sadness, but regret.
Rory looks up at him in surprise. "I don't hate you." She says carefully. "But you've never given me a reason to like you either."
"How about we try that friends thing again?" Tristan asks.
"Ha! I remember what happened last time. How about you prove to me that you can actually be a friend and THEN we try that friends thing again...okay?" Rory says firmly.
"I guess I don't really have much of a choice, do I?" Tristan says disappointed. Still being considered for a friend was better than nothing.
"Nope, not really. But it would be nice to have a friend here at Chilton." Rory smiles, a somewhat cautious smile, at him, and he feels a rush of warmth towards her. Hey, hope, even just a sliver, is what keep people alive, isn't it?
Just then, Paris walks into the room.
"Where the hell is everyone else?" she asks, angry. " This is class time. If they think they can just ditch because the teacher isn't here anymore than they better think otherwise."
Rory looks over at her and laughs. "Chill Paris, the bell hasn't even rung yet. I'm sure they'll be here. They want that 'A' as much as you do. Probably not as much but..."
Paris sighs. "Well, we're on a very tight schedule Rory! We can't waste very valuable time, because we have so little of it."
"Um, Paris? We still have about three months left. I wouldn't exactly call that a little." Tristan says offhandedly.
Paris glares at him, and he shuts up meekly. Rory snickers. And he turns and mock glares at her. She mimics his meek look back at him.
Finally, little by little, the rest of the class trickles in. Paris gets everything organized, and everybody is soon busy rehearsing.
Tristan comes over to where Rory is sitting on the edge of the stage practicing her lines.
"Hey, can we practice the scene with the Elephant Love Medley song in it? I'm still a little bit shaky on that one, and I want to see how it sounds with the singing."
"Sure, let me just finish reading this line." Rory gets up and brushes herself off. "Okay, I don't want to practice in front of everyone, so can we find a quiet spot to rehearse?"
"We should practice in front of everyone so we can get used to being in front of people." Tristan suggests.
"Ugh! I don't wanna sing in front of people!" Rory whines. "Do I have to?"
"It would help." Tristan says helpfully. Rory groans, but reluctantly goes over to the center of the stage.
"Hey Paris, we're going to rehearse one of the scenes. Tell us what you think afterwards, alright?" Rory asks nervously. Paris nods.
"Okay, here we go." Rory takes a deep breath and Tristan begins the scene.
"Love is a many splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love!" Tristan(Christian) says energetically.
"Please don't start that again." Rory(Satine) says in her cultured(and fake) French/British sounding accent.
"All you need is Love!" Christian sing-songs.
"A girl has got to eat." Satine interjects.
"All you need is love!" Christian repeats, still half singing/half speaking.
"She'll end up on the street!" Satine objects.
"All you need is love!"
"Love is just a game!" Satine finally sings back.
"I was made for loving you baby, and you were made for loving me!" Christian sings in an exaggerated deep voice.
"The only way of loving me baby is to pay a lovely fee!" Satine sings back.
"Just one night, give me just one night!" Christian pleads.
"There's no way, 'cause you can't pay!" Satine fires back.
"In the name of love, one night in the name of love!" Christian sings irrationally.
"You crazy fool! I won't give into you!" Satine sings, almost laughingly. She turns to leave.
"Don't! Leave me this way, I can't survive without your sweet love, oh baby, don't leave me this way." Christian starts out desperate, but gradually goes into a quiet submission.
Satine turns back to him. "You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs!"
"I look around me and I see it isn't so, oh no!"
"Some people wanna fill the world with silly love songs." Satine croons almost sadly.
"Well what's wrong with that, I'd like to know, cause here I go again..." Christian sings, "Love lifts us up where we belong, where the eagles fly on a mountain high!"
"Love makes us act like we are fools, throw our lives away, for one happy day..."
"We can be heroes, just for one day!" Christian bellows.
"You, you will be mean" Satine says, frantically, trying to make excuses to stay away from him.
"No, I won't" Christian laughs.
"And I, I'll drink all the time." Satine says, trying to hold onto her excuses.
"We should be lovers!" Christian sings at her, trying to make her see.
" We can't do that." Satine sings, her eyes begging him to understand.
"We should be lovers, and that's a fact!" Christian continues.
"No nothing would keep us together...." Satine trills realistically.
"We could steal time, just for one day!" Christian sings determinedly.
" We can be heroes, forever and ever, we can be heroes, forever and ever, We can be heroes!" Satine and Christian sing together, Satine at last succumbing to her desires.
"Just because I, and I will always love you!" Christian belts out his promises at her.
"I only can't help..." Satine starts.
"Loving you..." Christian finishes softly with Satine. He holds her close. And Satine smiles up at him.
"How wonderful life is, now you're in the world!" Satine sings lightly. They stop singing, and Christian leans in real close.
"I can tell, you're going to be bad for business." Satine teases. Then they're supposed to kiss. The Satine mask comes off, and Rory freezes, scared. Then she shakes that feeling away, and leans in to kiss him.
At the touch of her lips, Tristan is shocked. Shocked that her lips can still affect him like that. He had thought that once you've kissed a girl, all the sparks and hype go away. But not with Rory. Every time he's kissed her, which is not many times, he feels a wave of helplessness come over him. It feels like he's sky-diving, which he has done many times just for the thrill of it. It feels like he's being run over by a Mack truck, but it also feels like he's being kissed for the very first time.
At the touch of his lips, Rory is weak in the knees. She now possesses a greater understanding of the power of a kiss. Her heart and her head are racing towards a full on collision. Her heart is swooning, while her mind is shaking it's head and reminding her that this is a person that she has greatly disliked until not even twenty minutes ago. But for the time being, while in this powerful, mighty kiss, her heart won out.
Too short it seemed, the kiss comes to an end. Rory and Tristan just stare into each other's eyes breathlessly. Then Rory shakes herself out of it and turns abruptly towards Paris.
"Well?" Rory says, still a little dazed, her hands on her hips.
Paris grunts. Inside she had been floored at the scene. They look so good together. She couldn't help feeling smug that she was right. They were going to get an 'A' on this easy. She was also fighting away pangs of jealousy as she watches them interact, but she brushes those away. She doesn't want to resent Rory for some stupid guy who doesn't even like her. That would be immature. But resenting her for being smart and pretty, well, that was acceptable. To them she says,
"Not bad."
Rory looks at her in disbelief. " I put all the effort I had into that scene, and all I get is a 'not bad'?!"
"Next time, sing a little louder in the beginning, I could barely hear you." Paris says brusquely. Rory throws her hands up in the air and makes a strange groaning noise. Tristan laughs at Rory quietly. So she was putting all she had into it, huh?
As Tristan and Rory walk down from the stage, neither is feeling quite the same than they had at the beginning of the day.
***
*A little shy and sad of eye
But very wise was he*
Authors Note: Well, that was it! Part one! Sorry if it was a little boring, but this was the chapter that explained everything. Expect some tension in the next chapter as Dean makes his appearance in my fic! Don't forget to review...