That Same Old Lost Kid
Rory sat next to her mother, playing with her coffee in Luke's. She wanted to tell Lorelai everything that had been happening the past few weeks, absolutely everything. But she couldn't bring herself to say it. After school, she had agreed to attend another training session with Faith. Just about everybody except for Faith and Andrew had left to go collect more girls. She had watched as Faith and Robin parted - it had been bittersweet and sad. It just made Rory think of Jess.
"How could he have left again?" Rory mused aloud. She was sick of waiting for him to come around. He had simply disappeared - nobody had seen him since that night of the first slayage, as Faith called it. Lorelai smiled weakly and rubbed Rory's back.
"Maybe something came up and nobody knew about it," Lorelai murmured quietly. She went silent next to her daughter, stroking her back lovingly. The bell behind them tinkled, and usually Rory would've spun around in a cloud of optimism - maybe it was temporary. She hadn't stopped hoping, but she was becoming more and more pessimistic about it. Instead of Jess, a young woman entered. She had a tight black vinyl messengerboy hat pulled over her head, hiding her eyes. She plopped down at the counter next to Rory. "Coffee please. Black," she said lowly, as though her choice of coffee was an immense secret. She pulled the hat off her head and ran her hands through her hair. A sudden rush of cherry scent poured into the air, and then woman turned to flash her white smile at Rory. "Hey, Ror? What's kickin?" she asked, then she saw Lorelai. "Hi, you must be Lorelai," Faith said, smiling her best for Rory's mother.
"I am. And I take it you know my daughter?" Lorelai said, sticking out her hand to shake Faith's.
"Like pie. I love pie. I love Rory. Rory is like pie," Faith babbled. "Sorry, haven't had my coffee yet," she said, just as Luke plopped a cup of coffee down in front of her. He had been sucked into a trance of indifference and total silence. As far as Rory knew, Luke hadn't said a word in a week - not even to Taylor. Which was a mircale of sorts. "Oh, I bet you want to know how I know Ror-bear, here?" Faith asked before taking a sip of her coffee. "Ow, hot. But, yeah, I met Rory on the bus from Hartford a few weeks back and noticed the book she was reading. Totally struck up conversation. I told her that I was on my way here with my boyfriend and my brother. I dunno why they brought me here of all places, but here I am." Rory couldn't help but smile at Faith's creativity, and the book comment. Rory knew that Faith wouldn't touch a book, even if her life depended on it.
"And your name..."
"She's Faith," Rory said, smiling slightly to her mother.
"How long are you here for, Faith?"
"I'm not sure. I'd have to ask my brother. His name's Andrew. Total geek, but supercool. He's not pie, but I still love him." Lorelai looked over the strange woman that had befriended her daughter. She was wearing a black jean jacket matching black jeans, and a white tanktop. Her hair was in light curls draping over her shoulder, and she had a scar visible on her chest. Faith noticed Lorelai looking her over and winked at Rory. She pushed her coffee away, leaving two whole dollars for it before waving good-bye to Rory and Lorelai and walking out of the diner. Kirk was sitting in his seat, completely mesmerized by Faith.
"So... wow," Lorelai said blankly, clearly about to make some sarcastic remark about Faith. "Strange woman."
"If only you knew her," Rory said. "But she's pretty interesting. She knows a great deal about music." Rory took a sip from her coffee, avoiding her mother's gaze. Lorelai had noticed small bruises all over her daughter's arms and legs the past few weeks, and glowered slightly into her coffee, wondering if this Faith woman had anything to do with it. Uncharacteristically, she mentioned nothing, as she knew Rory was going through a bit of a tough time with Jess gone and everything. She knew she couldn't keep her mouth shut much longer, but she was trying. "I have school," Rory said, before standing up and kissing her mother on the head. "I have paper stuff after school, but I'll be home for dinner. I promise." She swung out of the diner and off to the bus.
When she got to the bus stop, she saw Faith waiting for her on the bench. "That wasn't awkward at all," Rory said sarcastically. Faith smirked and pulled her hat tighter over her head.
"I'm sorry. I don't do well with parent-types. I mean, I tried to kill B's mom like, three times. Or something. But, she was very nice in the beginning. Fed me and invited me over for Christmas and everything. Then I was evil."
"And when she was bad..."
"She was awful." Rory sat down next to Faith and sighed. School would be out in about a week and a half, thanks to winter break. Snow had already fallen on Stars Hollow and it looked brilliant. Rory only wished that Jess could've been there to share in the winter splendor with her. She sighed heavily, and Faith glanced at her. "I'm sure your boy will show up sometime. He probably just skipped down for a few weeks and got caught up in it. I know it happens, believe me."
"But why now? There was nothing going on between us, and everything seemed to be going so well for him. I just don't understand."
"Sometimes the best you can do is try not to understand," Faith said, shrugging. The two women sat in silence in the December cold. As the bus pulled up, Faith and Rory gave each other quick good-bye hugs. "I'm picking you up after school, just so you know. I'm not all that great a driver, but I got me a rental, so we're five-by-five." Faith grinned at Rory as she ascended onto the bus. From behind the gazebo, Lorelai watched the goings-on between the two girls. She was so utterly confused by the sudden appearance of this woman. She wanted deeply to know what was happening to Rory, and she had no idea how to figure it out.
"So, you remember everything I taught you?" Rory nodded. "Alright. Try and get out of the house around 11.30 or so, so you can get your first patrol overwith. See you then," muttered. Rory began her walk to Luke's from the busstop. She and her mother had agreed to meet there for dinner. As she entered the warmth of the diner, with the light dimming in the sky, Lorelai gave her a look.
"You're spending a lot of time with that Faith girl."
"Yeah. She teaching me how to spar, actually."
"Oh," was all Lorelai had to say. "Have you met her... brother?"
"Yeah. He's kind of spectating. Its strange. He doesn't do much of anything. I'm hungry."
"Oh. I ordered you a cheeseburger, and here's some coffee for you." There was a lull while Rory sipped at her coffee. "I thought you said you had a paper thing?"
"Oh. I did."
"You did... say it... or you did have a paper thing?"
"Both. But it didn't go as long as I told you it would. Sorry. I wasn't sure how you'd take the whole... sparring thing," Rory said, and true guilt was entering her voice. She wanted to spill everything to her mother, but she couldn't. Not yet.
"I don't mind. I was just... worried." Another lull. Luke placed the cheeseburger in front of Rory, and the mother and the daughter ate in strange silence. This awkward silence hadn't been much present since the first time Rory met Dean and was thinking of not going to Chilton.
"You sure that you don't mind?" Lorelai shook her head, and Rory smiled, eating her burger more happily. Lorelai feigned a smile, and looked down at her fries. They didn't look as appetizing as she had hoped.
Back at home, Lorelai went immediately to her room. Rory knew after about an hour that her mother had fallen asleep, and Rory waited patiently for 11.30 to arrive. When it did, she pulled jeans on over her pajama pants, and covered her entire upper half in a down jacket. She put a cross necklace around her neck, which felt weird, because she wasn't really a religious person. She opened the window almost reluctantly, as though she were going to run up the stairs and tell her mother everything. However, she hopped out, being careful to make as little noise as possible and shut the window behind her.
She ran to meet up with Andrew, who was shuddering, huddled over in the cold next to Faith. "I miss California weather," he muttered to himself. Faith rolled her eyes.
"It's just like back home in Boston, only with less terrible traffic," she said to him, trying to cheer him up. "Ready to go, Ror-bear?"
"Ready," Rory said, muffled througha scarf and tightened jacket hood.
"Can you even see through that thing?" Faith asked, laughing slightly. Rory shrugged, and Andrew just pulled his jacket hood tighter around his head. Faith took Rory's arm and led her off into the night, explaining patrol, even though Andrew had explained it to her about a thousand times in two thousand more words.
After a while, Rory was falling behind, slightly tuckered out from the night's events. As far as she knew, it was one in the morning. Her eyes began drifting closed, and she knew that Andrew would disapprove because she wasn't staying on guard. He, however, was practically plastered to Faith's arm. Suddenly, something dashed out from behind Rory and tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to jump.
"Hey, Rory," said a husky voice, and Rory was wrapped in the tightest embrace possible.
Okay, I've gone through the entire thing and realized how many mistakes there are. Such as Rory knowing that she's going to Yale in November, and a bunch of other things. There are also a few inconsistancies. However, I have decided to ignore them for the time being and when I finish a few other projects, I will go back and edit some stories. Plus, the writing in chapter 3 is kinda off (as in awful... ha ha, rhymage). Innyhoo, expect better, less inconsistent content in the coming months.