Title: If You Want Me To
Author: Ruby Garnet
Disclaimer: As much as I wish I did, I don't own anything Gilmore Girls related.
Summary: Adults just don't understand teenagers these days. Unfortunately, as Rory demonstrates, teenagers don't really understand adults either.
A/N: I'm not too keen on writing script-style fiction anymore, but I was in the mood to work on this. Please note that I'm not one for Yale research; I didn't claim to be an expert and I still don't. Thanks for all of the reviews – it's overwhelming. (It's also been almost exactly a year since I first posted this. Interesting.)
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[RORY is in a courtyard-type area talking with
3 girls: JENN, BRIDGET, and LENA on Friday afternoon, Parent's Day]
BRIDGET: The roast beef sandwiches are to die for! You have to try one as soon
as you can.
JENN: Ugh. The food's not that great.
BRIDGET: Not all of it, but the roast beef sandwiches…
JENN: What she means is that some of the dining hall food isn't bad, but you'll have more fun eating off-campus. There are a few local restaurants in New Haven that have fast, great food and aren't invaded by the weekend tourists. If you're not into the local food, you've got to pay Royal Palace a visit. It's the best Chinese food I've had since I left San Francisco.
RORY: Roast beef sandwich on-campus. Royal Palace off-campus. Got it.
BRIDGET: That is, assuming you like Chinese food. Jenn's a little bit in over her head when it comes to exotic food recommendations. (JENN playfully pushes BRIDGET and the two of them laugh)
RORY: (smiling) It's not a problem – it's a staple food in my house.
[LENA walks in from the side and gently interrupts JENN]
LENA: (turning to face the group) Hey, sorry to interrupt. Jenn, are you done with my Eagles CD?
BRIDGET: Is that the CD I spilled punch on?
JENN: Bridget!
BRIDGET: (claps hand over mouth) Sorry.
JENN: (sighing apologetically) Lena, Bridget spilled punch on it the other night. It was my fault for leaving it on the common room table. I'll get you a new copy as soon as I can. Maybe I can even get Mike to buy one and bring it up here.
BRIDGET: I'll pay for it.
LENA: (smiling) Don't worry about it, guys. Derek burned that copy for me; I'm sure he can get me another.
JENN: (breathing a sigh of relief) All right, if you're sure.
LENA: Yeah, I'm sure. (turning to RORY) I'm afraid we haven't met before. Name?
RORY: (holding out her hand) Rory Gilmore. I'll be a freshman this year.
LENA: (shaking hands with RORY) Lena Sanderson. I'm a junior. Transferred in from UC: Berkeley. I see you've met my friends Jenn and Bridget. We went to the same high school.
RORY: (laughing) Yeah, they've been giving me the Yale ultimate review.
BRIDGET: (nodding) You bet.
JENN: So Rory, are your parents coming today?
RORY: Well, just my mom.
LENA: Pardon me for asking, but are your parents divorced?
BRIDGET: (softly) Lena, you don't just ask people that.
RORY: It's okay. No, they're not divorced. My mom and dad never married. My mom was sixteen when I was born and wasn't ready to get married.
JENN: Oh, I see. I bet you're really close to your mom though.
RORY: (smiling at the thought) Definitely. We're best friends.
LENA: That must be nice. My parents and I really don't get along. They were practically jumping for joy when I transferred out. I was out of California, out of their lives.
RORY: I'm sorry.
LENA: Don't be. It's not your fault. (pauses) Well, I've got to go help set up the radio booth. I'll catch you chicks later. It was nice to meet you, Rory.
BRIDGET & JENN: Bye Lena!
RORY: Nice to meet you too. Hopefully, I'll see you around.
[LENA walks away]
JENN: We better get going too. I've got to pass out brochures and Bridget needs to go find out where the maps are. It was a pleasure talking to you, though. You should come to the freshman mixer later tonight. It's at 10 on the main lawn.
BRIDGET: Yeah, it'll be fun. Jenn and I will be there if you need people to tag along with. Are you interested in any of the extracurriculars? I know they always have booths set up.
RORY: I'll think about coming. I'd like to see the newspaper booth.
JENN: (grinning) A writer. Awesome. See you then.
RORY: Talk to you later.
[BRIDGET and JENN walk away]
[CUT to LORELAI walking up to the main campus area. She's on the phone with RORY. The campus is teeming with students donning their Yale t-shirts, sweatpants, and backpacks.]
RORY: I'm standing in the courtyard area on the right.
LORELAI: Which right? Behind the big mob of students or behind the smaller building with a plaque on the side?
RORY: (straining to see over the mobs of people and their families) I guess it would have to be the right behind the big mob of people.
LORELAI: Okay, I'm walking over there now. I have to say, this campus is – (she's pushed accidentally by a family walking through and spills orange juice on her shoes) Oh shoot.
RORY: What happened?
LORELAI: I just got orange juice on my shoes. I just cleaned these! Blah. I'll clean this up and then find you, okay? I have an inkling as to where you are.
RORY: Sure thing. Hurry, I have so much to show you!
LORELAI: (laughing) All right, all right. (She hangs up the phone and cleans off her shoes.)
(RORY appears and excitedly runs up to LORELAI)
RORY: Hey!
LORELAI: (turning to hug RORY) Hey! You were close by!
RORY: (hugging) I saw your head when the crowd parted for a moment.
LORELAI: It's a good thing my head never changes, then?
RORY: Yep.
LORELAI: So, let's get started on this tour that you're going to give me. (links arms with RORY)
[CUT to (roughly) 2 hours later, when LORELAI and RORY are sitting on a bench, sharing a bag of chips.]
RORY: I still don't see what the point of taking the number was.
LORELAI: It was on the pole for the taking! I mean, putting your number on the communal pole implies that you don't care who writes it down, tears it off, or calls you.
RORY: The guy was selling his microwave!
LORELAI: I might need a microwave.
RORY: Is there something wrong with the one we have?
LORELAI: (with chips in her mouth) No?
RORY: (smiling) Therefore, we don't need the guy's number. (beat) And I'm pretty sure you're too old to be prank-calling twenty-year old college students. Especially ones from Yale.
LORELAI: (defeated) Fine. I'll get rid of the number. (tossing the number into a nearby garbage can) Mark could have been the one.
RORY: I doubt it. (beat) Speaking of "the one"…
LORELAI: Where are you going with this?
RORY: What happened with the Luke situation?
LORELAI: (tersely) We're speaking.
RORY: Speaking as in one to two syllable words exchanged between one another or speaking as in actually carrying on a lengthy conversation?
LORELAI: Speaking version 1.5?
RORY: So a little bit of both?
LORELAI: Yeah, I guess. I mean, we bumped into each other at Doose's… that's really the last time anything was said.
RORY: Oh. (softly) You never did tell me what happened originally.
LORELAI: (putting her head in her hands) The concrete here is so beautiful. (lifting her head) Basically, I went to Luke and complained about how nobody ever loves me –
RORY: I love you.
LORELAI: (smiling) I know. (resuming the 'exhausted look' ) Let me finish. So, I was saying how nobody loves me and I'm never good enough for my mother and how the bills keep piling up at the inn and (takes a deep breath and exhales loudly) yeah. Then…
RORY: (prying gently) Then?
LORELAI: Then, he put his hand on my shoulder and I felt something that I knew I shouldn't be feeling, so I pulled his arm down and said something like "Don't love me because I don't know how to love you" or something equally as moronic. (puts hand to forehead) I'm an idiot.
RORY: (shocked) Wow. Well, you're not an idiot. You were just scared. Scared of…
LORELAI: I don't know. I honestly don't know. (pause) I DON'T KNOW!
RORY: Shh, it's okay. It's okay. You've got time to mull over it. Luke's not going anywhere.
LORELAI: (mumbling) That's part of the problem. He's always there.
RORY: (sympathetically) Yeah, I guess that is part of the problem.
LORELAI: (brightening) Anyway, enough about me. The campus is awesome, but you've got to spend time outside of it too. Did you make any friends yet?
RORY: Actually, I did. Um, there's Jenn and Bridget. They introduced me to their friend Lena as well.
LORELAI: (smiling) That's great, hon. 3 new friends in less than a week is quite impressive, you know?
RORY: (smiling) I guess it is. Jenn's really cool; she reminds me of Lane in certain ways. She never stops talking, that's for sure. She's practical though. Bridget… (laughs) Well, Bridget's a laugh. She's scatterbrained, but she can't be too far off if she's been at Yale for two years. Lena's a transfer student from Berkeley. She's punkish.
LORELAI: Punkish?
RORY: Yeah. Not 100% punk. She dresses like a punk, but listens to the Eagles.
LORELAI: (raising eyebrows) That's an interesting combination.
RORY: Yep.
LORELAI: (checking watch) Wow, it's already 4:00?
RORY: Time flies when you're having fun.
LORELAI: Or if you're a frog, time's fun when you're having flies.
RORY: Gross!
LORELAI: It's the truth!
[JENN and LENA approach the bench from across the lawn]
JENN: Rory!
(both LORELAI and RORY look towards JENN)
RORY: Hi Jenn! And Lena!
LENA: Hi again.
RORY: What are you two doing walking around? I thought you guys had places to be!
JENN: (looking at LENA) Well, let's just say that we found people to "cover".
LENA: (grinning) Yeah, themselves under the tables.
JENN: (hitting LENA and laughing) Stop it. (turning to RORY and then to LORELAI) This your mom, Rory?
RORY: Yeah, sorry. Jenn and Lena, this is my mom, Lorelai Gilmore.
JENN & LENA: (simultaneously) Nice to meet you, Ms. Gilmore.
LORELAI: (shaking their hands) Nice to meet you as well! Just call me Lorelai if you want.
JENN: So, is Rory coming to the mixer tonight?
LORELAI: I'm afraid not; we were going out to dinner in Hartford tonight. She'll be back later though!
LENA: Oh, that's too bad. It would've been a blast.
(In the meantime, RORY is wearing an obviously upset expression.)
JENN: (brightly) Don't worry about it. We'll give her the rundown on anything she missed. (turning to LENA) We better go. David and Charlotte alone at the radio booth might not be good.
LENA: Yeah, that's true. (turning back to LORELAI and RORY) Well, we just saw you two and wanted to make sure we met the famous mom that Rory's always talking about. (winking at RORY)
RORY: Yeah. See you later.
JENN: Bye!
[JENN and LENA run back across the lawn]
LORELAI: (smiling) I think those are great people for you to be hanging out with.
RORY: (sourly) Because you have such a big say in that.
LORELAI: (frowning) Where did that come from?
RORY: The same place your dominating persona came from.
(RORY gets up from the bench and begins to walk back towards her dorm. LORELAI gets up and follows cautiously behind her)
LORELAI: Whoa, what did I do wrong?
RORY: (throwing hands up in air) Great! You're oblivious too.
LORELAI: (now just as bitter) Well, it's kind of hard to be oblivious when you don't know what you're being oblivious to! (realizing that she sounded really stupid, whispering to herself) That made no sense.
RORY: (whirling around) What makes you think that I want to go to dinner with you tonight?
LORELAI: Oh, so this is about the dinner.
RORY: Yes, this is about the dinner! I didn't agree to going to dinner tonight at any point today. I'm sorry, but I must have missed the sign on the tour that said "Rory, would you like to go to dinner with me tonight? Love, Mom"!
LORELAI: (hurt) Well, I didn't know you had anything else planned. I assumed you had an empty schedule.
RORY: Of course you did. It doesn't occur to you that I might actually have a social life, now that I'm in college. I wanted to go to that freshman mixer! I wanted to see the newspaper booth! I wanted to see if I actually had a chance to be part of a prominent part of Yale's legacy!
LORELAI: I just wanted to spend some time with you before you left for real! Is that too much to ask?
RORY: (yelling) I've spent the last eighteen years of my life with you, isn't that enough?
LORELAI: (waving her hand) You know what? Just go. Go back to your dorm and your friends. Go to the mixer. Have a great time.
RORY: (without turning around) I will!
(RORY disappears into a hallway)
LORELAI: (sighing) It's never enough.
[CUT to Stars Hollow – Nighttime – Luke's, after-hours]
LORELAI: (slamming the door behind her) I never want to have kids!
LUKE: (drops his rag in startled state) You already have a kid.
LORELAI: (sitting at the counter) Well, then I don't want any more.
LUKE: Something happen at Parent's Day?
LORELAI: If something can be considered doing nothing, then sure, something.
LUKE: What did you (pausing, slightly confused) not do?
LORELAI: (confused) Now I'm confused. Anyway. I wanted Rory to come to dinner with me and she yelled at me about how I assumed she would want to go and how I didn't stop to think about what she wanted.
LUKE: Did you?
LORELAI: Did I what?
LUKE: Did you assume?
LORELAI: Yes! (disappointed) I thought she'd want to spend time with me.
LUKE: I'm sure she does. Maybe just not tonight.
LORELAI: Tonight's the freshman mixer there… that's what she wanted to go to.
LUKE: That's natural. She's a freshman. She probably wants to go … mix… with everyone else.
LORELAI: Over going to dinner with her mother?
LUKE: Don't take this the wrong way, but she did that for every single night for the past eighteen years.
LORELAI: (playing with the coffee mug that LUKE set in front of her) Yeah, she did. Willingly, too.
LUKE: She just wants her space, Lorelai. Just like you do. The two of you are more alike than you'll ever know.
LORELAI: (nodding slowly) I want to give her that space too. I don't want to suffocate her.
LUKE: Well, good. I'm sure she'll call you when she cools off.
LORELAI: I hope so.
(A comfortable silence falls over the diner. LUKE begins to put chairs back onto tables)
LORELAI: How do we work?
LUKE: Now that's a broad question.
LORELAI: Like…as friends?
LUKE: Depends which way you look at it.
LORELAI: I complain. You comfort. I bitch and moan. You listen. I need stuff done. You help. Is that how it is all the time?
LUKE: (trying to find a nice way around this) Um…
LORELAI: Do I take advantage of our friendship? I do, don't I?
LUKE: You…
LORELAI: I don't stop to think about what you want either.
LUKE: It…
LORELAI: I can't believe I'm so self-centered! I just sit here, oblivious, 24/7/365, wondering what it would be like to live in a world where people wait on me hand and foot…and the entire time, that's essentially what I'm living in! Wow. I'm blind.
LUKE: Do you have an 'off' button?
LORELAI: Sorry. (shutting up and drinking coffee)
LUKE: I don't know how we work, Lorelai. We just do. At least, I think we do.
LORELAI: (indignant) We do! But… (softly) I don't ever do anything for you.
LUKE: Sure you do. You make me ha-… Um, you make me laugh.
LORELAI: (sighing) I'm glad I do. It just doesn't seem like enough.
LUKE: Is anything ever enough?
LORELAI: (looking at him) You know, I'm going to have to pass on the answer to that question.
LUKE: (laughing) That's a first.
LORELAI: (smiling a little) Stop. (beat) You're such a good friend. The best, actually.
LUKE: (sincerely) I try.
LORELAI: (quietly) I know you do.
LUKE: (pulling out a donut from underneath the counter, knowing that LORELAI needs to get her mind off RORY) Sprinkles, chocolate, or crème-filled?
LORELAI: Sprinkles. (takes donut off of plate and grins)
LUKE: For the forty-seventh time this year.
LORELAI: (with her mouth full) I absolutely love how you're keeping a running tab.
LUKE: Like I said, we work.
LORELAI: Undoubtedly. (thinking to herself in reference to the 'incident': Maybe it's not so hard, not so hard at all.)
[CUT to RORY at the freshman mixer. Music is blaring out of giant speakers and club booths are set up in a large circle on the main lawn.]
RORY: Could you tell me where the newspaper booth is, please?
RANDOM GUY: Oh, sorry. The newspaper team is in Washington D.C. on a political story. They didn't set up a booth this year. They should be back next week though. Call back then. (gives RORY a sheet of paper with phone numbers for various clubs/organizations) The number's on here somewhere.
RORY: (dully) Thanks.
(The scene fades as RORY stands in the middle of the circle of booths, looking quite sad and alone. Lights and music and everything in between seem to whirl around her…)