Waking up to someone knocking on her door at ten in the morning the next day Rory managed to get out a mumbled, "Come in." Dean entered her room slowly and approached the bed while Rory made a desperate attempt to sit up.
"Hey, what's going? You should be awake by now," the oblivious Dean stated as he sat on the foot of the bed.
"Dean. It is ten in the morning. I am hung over. And I'm pretty sure the pressure of my thesis is making me hallucinate. I do not want to be up."
"Oh, come on it can't be that," replied the ever hopeful Dean. "I mean get up. We can go protest in front of the old dorm buildings. You didn't go with me last time."
Rory just glared at him. "Dean, they are going to tear down those god damn buildings whether you like it or not. So you can stop protesting because nobody cares."
"Okay, you are obviously upset. And you're not thinking clearly. I'll come by later when you...can...think clearly again," Dean said as he left the room clearly saddened by her blatant refusal.
To tired to care if she had hurt his feelings Rory merely sunk back onto her bed, covering her head with blankets. Once she entered the dream world again Tristan became very much real again as her memories sent her back to a time long suppressed.
Surprisingly she had agreed to meet with Tristan after rehearsal and found herself seated in the small office in the far back of Grant Hall.
"Now tell me why you really tried out. Cause I know that you have never acted before," Tristan stated confidently, as the opening to their conversation.
"Sure I've acted before. Impersonating people, in my imagination, with my mom." The last one brought a smile to her face.
"Exactly. You've never acted before. So why are you here?" he questioned persistently after hearing her answer.
"This is a great thing to put on your transcript." At his unbelieving scowl she continued honestly, "It was...interesting to hear that you were the director so I...wanted to see what you were all about."
"Then let's find out what Rory Gilmore is all about." Tristan came closer from his perch on the old wooden desk to sit next to her on the couch, that creaked with the added weight. Spilling open her backpack he grabbed at the contents, much to her protests.
"Hey," she called out weakly in resistance. He merely shook his head and pulled the book farther away from her grasp.
"Psychology. Now what an interesting subject for an aspiring actress,"he mocked lightly, remembering her previous words.
She blushed slightly from his accusations and watched as he randomly went through her books tossing out remarks as the pile by the couch grew less and the one outside the door grew.
"Hmm," he mumbled almost too quietly to be heard when Tristan stumbled onto her planner. Rory turned towards him and seeing what he now possessed, immediately jumped for the little book. "No, no. Let's see what you have in here," Tristan intently stared at the pages as he carelessly flipped through them.
She awoke then with loud and harsh blaring of rock music from the dorm next to her. Banging on the wall at an angry rate the enraged music subdued a bit but only so that she was able to hear herself think. Rory remembered the lengthy conversation her and Tristan had after he had scrutinized her organizer and declared her the oddest person he knew. She thanked him for the claim, then a kiss, and finally a relationship ensued.
Her eyes opened up to reality once more and she sat up with a dismayed groan before finally pulling herself out of bed. Forcing herself not to think about the "what ifs" Rory dressed casually and grabbed a pair of sunglasses, heading out for some lunch or at the very least a cup of coffee. Halfway through sipping her third coffee and reading the latest on world events Rory suddenly remembered her appointment with Professor Jargin in his lecture hall and raced across campus from the small coffeehouse.
After two hours of extensive discussion on her thesis Rory was finally able to escape the boring yet well-intentioned clutches of her professor. Barely paying attention as she walked slowly and deliberately Rory was forced out of her own little world when someone jostled her shoulder harshly. She looked up with intentions of reprimanding the guy but lost that train of thought as her gaze was drawn to the upcoming stairs.
Seeing again that familiar flash of blonde hair and blue eyes Rory met his gaze uncertainly before he inexplicably turned around and bolted to destinations unknown. Fighting against the crowd of people who all seemed to be going the opposite direction she reached the top of the stairs only to see a black flash of a Mercedes and the license plate "TDUGREY".
