"Rory" a voice yelled from the lounge room, waking Rory from the dream she was having which involved the cast of Saturday Night Live moving to Stars Hollow and Will Ferrall challenging Taylor for his position as head of the town planners association.
"What" she replied still groggy.
Paris entered the bedroom slamming the door behind her and stood over Rory's bed.
"What do you mean, what. Tristan Dugray is on our couch" Paris yelled.
"So" Rory replied waking up.
"What's he doing here, hell what's he doing in this tri-state area" she continued.
Rory sat up slowly, yawning. "You're going to wake the whole building".
Paris just stared at her.
"He goes here and we sort of, ran into each other last night" Rory informed her.
"Ran into each other, is that code for have your way with him and then throw him out of the room when you're done?" Paris asked forcefully.
"No, God no, who do you think you're talking to, it's me Rory, not Louise" Rory shot back indignantly.
"I know it's just a shock, I mean I hadn't heard he was coming here" Paris contemplated sitting down on her bed.
"Me neither" Rory added.
"So what now" Paris asked.
"Well I think we better get him out of here before Tanna wakes up because she might have a…" Rory began before being interrupted by a shriek, followed by the slamming of a door.
Paris and Rory ran into the lounge to see a half awake Tristan with a bemused smirk on his face, sitting up on the couch, covering him self with a blanket.
"This girl came in and she just freaked out" Tristan re-laid.
"Oh that was just our roommate Tanna" Rory answered.
"She's not really used to seeing half naked men on the couch" Paris continued.
"Paris, do you live here too? How did that happen, Rory didn't mention it last night" Tristan asked clearly surprised, turning his attention to his old friend.
"Yes I live here, unlike you, so why don't you go back from whence you came" Paris answered back and then turned around and re-entered her room.
"Good old Paris, I see she hasn't changed" Tristan surmised.
"You'd be surprised, she has a boyfriend now and it's pretty serious" Rory replied.
"Must be some guy to put up with Paris" Tristan joked.
"Hey she's not that bad, she's just different"
"I'm just kidding, but I am surprised you and her are friends"
"Yeah well people change, and without you there to cause trouble, we worked through our differences" Rory replied.
"Sure, it was all my fault, and now you two are braiding each others hair and swapping wardrobes" Tristan answered sceptically.
"Well I wouldn't go making matching bracelets just yet but we're defiantly on the way"
"Good"
"Yeah, Good"
"So I better get going before too many people catch me in my cornflower blue mini robe" Tristan informed her getting up from the couch.
'Hey, I bet if you wear it you'll start a new trend for fall" Rory shot back.
"I might not be Kate Moss, but I can shake my thing" Tristan joked as he headed for the door. "I'll get this back to you soon, ok" he added.
"Sure" Rory replied "Bye" closing the door behind him.
This was too surreal she thought. Tristan was at Yale. She had to admit it was nice to see him, he had changed, mellowed out a little maybe they were finally on the way to being friends.
***
Rory entered her anthropology class and looked around for her friend Kate. She had met Kate on her first night, when Loralai had thrown the impromptu food tasting party. And was pleased when she turned up in her intro to cultural anthropology class. Rory was making the effort to reach out and meet people besides the ones randomly, or forcibly in Paris case, assigned through housing. Kate was about Rory's height with light brown hair, brown eyes and dimples. She had gone to high school in Boston and lived down the hall in Durfee.
Rory spotted Kate waving from her seat in the crowded lecture theatre. Rory weaved her way through the seats until she found the empty spot reserved for her.
"Hey" Kate greeted her cheerfully.
"Hi" Rory replied back settling into her chair and putting up the table.
"How's your week been, did you have fun at the party the other night" she asked.
"I don't know if fun's the word, I ran into this person I knew from high school" Rory answered thoughtfully.
"Old flame"
"No just, I don't know how to explain it… so how about you" Rory asked changing the subject.
"Its weird because that's kind of what happened to me" Kate explained excitedly, "It seems half of my prep school is here, I caught up with some guys I knew from school Jake and Phil, who are living on the second floor, they lucked out because they got roomed together and we hung out with their new roommate who came late"
"Hold on a minute, his names not um Tristan is it" Rory asked apprehensively.
"Hey, do you know him" Kate asked surprised.
"Oh yeah, I know him" Rory replied. At that moment the professor arrived interrupting there conversation.
Rory attempted to pay attention but was thrown. It was some kind of coincidence that once again Tristan was entering into her life. But it was just that, a coincidence right, it didn't mean anything.
***
Rory and Kate went to get coffee after class. They cut across campus and managed to snag a converted outdoor table.
'It was really weird, because Jake and I weren't close in high school but the other night we talked for like four hours" Kate said out of the blue.
"I guess a different environment brings people together" Rory replied as a brown haired, brown eyed guy wearing a White Stripes T-shirt sat down at their table.
"Kate, fancy seeing you here" the guy said making himself comfortable.
"Jake, why don't you have a seat" Kate replied back sarcastically.
Jake ignored her, "So what are you guys up to" he asked.
"Just getting our coffee fix for the afternoon, this is Rory by the way" Kate informed the new member of their gathering.
"Rory, sounds familiar" Jake replied "I know I've heard that name somewhere recently" he continued.
"She knows Tristan" Kate supplied.
"Oh" Jake said slowly giving her an indescribable look.
Rory suddenly realised that her next class started in five minutes and said goodbye.
"Hey Rory" Jake shouted after her "Our floors having a party on Thursday, make sure you stop by our room".
"I'll try" she returned heading to class.
***
On Thursday night, Rory realised that the reading for the week was on closed reserve in the library, and this would be her best chance to get to it before she went home for the weekend. She decided to forgo the floor party even though Paris, Kate and even Janet had tried to convince her otherwise.
She finally finished around 11, and made her way along the lighted paths back to the dorm. As she approached Durfee she could hear music coming from the second floor. It sounded like something by Good Charlotte, and she was momentarily glad that she hadn't gone to the party. Four hours of that, and she might have had to throw herself out of the window.
When she got to the stairs, she saw in the corner of her eye, a figure sitting silently on the park bench across from the dorm entrance, his back to her.
"Tristan" she asked tentatively, wandering across to get a closer look.
Tristan was slouched back on the bench, staring up at the stars, with headphones on and oblivious to the fact someone was there.
Rory tapped him on the shoulder which caused him to jump slightly and her to jump back in return.
"Hey" he said quietly as he turned his head to see who it was.
"Mind if I sit down" she asked, he shook his head in reply.
Rory put her books on the bench and took a seat next to him.
"What are you doing, I thought you would be up at the party, I hear you rooms prime real estate" Rory asked somewhat confused at Tristan's choice of location.
"Yeah well it kind of sucked, did you hear the music, I just needed some peace" he replied.
"Oh" Rory supplied, "Do you want me to go" she asked making to leave.
"No, stay" he returned.
Rory settled back into the same position Tristan was in, and looked upwards.
"Do you know Mars, is the closest it's been to earth for 80 years" he said softly pointing it out over the horizon. "See it's the brightest one over there".
Rory looked to where he was pointing; amazed at how much it stood out, and the fact she had never really noticed it before.
"You should have seen the stars in North Carolina" he continued wistfully. "We were in the middle of nowhere so there was no smog or pollution, it was so different to here".
"Do you miss it" Rory asked.
"Yes and no, the place was beautiful and it was good to get away from Hartford but the rules… it was too much, your life was planned every second of the day"
Rory looked at him and the realisation came over her that maybe he had changed, or maybe she had just never really known him to begin with.
"Plus there was a serious lack of girls" he continued slipping into his trademark smirk.
Rory sighed smiling, maybe not that much she thought.
"What were you listening too" she asked changing the subject.
"Longwave, have you heard of them"
"Oh yeah, kind of The Stokes meets Pete Yorn"
"Well, you could put it that way" he replied.
"That's the way my friend Lane puts it" Rory replied staring back up at the sky.
"I'll lend you the album, and then we'll see"
"Deal"
Rory suddenly remembered Jake's look from the other day. "I met your roommate Jake".
"He mentioned that, I didn't know you knew Kate, she's nice, huh" Tristan replied.
"Yeah I know, anyway he… kind of acted a little strange"
"Oh" Tristan replied back, somewhat apprehensively.
"Yep, so I was wondering what exactly did you say happened the other night?" Rory questioned crossing her arms over her chest.
"Nothing, they just um… well when I didn't come home they assumed"
"Assumed what"
"Well that the girl whose robe I was wearing was the girl I …"
"And you didn't say anything" Rory answered back standing up and raising her voice.
"It's not like that; I just have a reputation…"
"What reputation, you've been here like two minutes, no one knows you here, why do you have to live up to the reputation you had at Chilton"
"I don't, I just…"
"Look I don't care" Rory shot back picking up her books and running inside.
Tristan just sat where he was and watched her go.
To be continued…