3. Let the Games Begin

Finally we reached New York in the evening. We were both very exhausted so as soon as we got to our hotel, we ate some food and I went to take a nap. When I woke up, I saw Paris wearing a mini skirt with a beautiful, bell-sleeved lace top.

"What're you all dressed up for?" I asked.

"Meeting Jamie tonight."

"Already? Did you call Doyle and tell him?"

"I'll do that tomorrow," Paris said as she put on her lipstick.

"Okay," I yawned.

"And by the way," Paris began as she walked to the door, "tomorrow, you're coming with us to this bookstore in some mall. Apparently there's some amazing writer who's signing books. Jamie told me he's about our age. Can you imagine? So much publicity for a twenty-one year old."

"What's his name?"

"I dunno. We'll find out tomorrow. I'll see you later, oh yeah, if you decide to go out, make sure you lock the door properly. Everyone isn't Rory around here."

And with that, Paris walked out the door. Finally! Peace and quiet! I randomly picked a book from the suitcase. "Howls". That gave me quite a shiver. This was the first book Jess had ever taken from me.

I opened the book and found all these margin notes in it. And as I read from page to page I laughed at the small jokes Jess wrote on the sides of the page. The rest of the night was spent reading, eating, watching some old movies the hotel had kept in our suite and more eating. Finally at about 3 in the morning, I heard a knock on the door. It was Paris.

"Tonight was sooo good. Jamie took me to this perfect restaurant, with perfect candles, perfect napkins, perfect food and perfect him." Paris said happily as she flung herself onto the bed.

"Say perfect one more time…" I muttered.

"Anyways, tomorrow morning, Jamie said we have to see this new writer. Apparently he's got some great talent. So tomorrow get up at 8:00a.m, okay?"

"Hit the lights Paris." I said as I dozed off to sleep. Little did I know, I'd need every bit of it.

"Are you crazy Paris? It's 7 in the morning. Only had four hours of sleep." I said grumpily.

"Come on Rory, I don't want to have to get Snow White in here to wake you up."

This was weird, Paris never got up early in the morning. And I mean never. When we lived together in our dorm, she was always the one who wore PJ's and got late for classes. Paris was certainly excited today.

"Someone's very giddy these days." I grinned.

"Well, you know what they say, when you're with good people you tend to be great!"

"What're you talking about? People don't say that."

"Oh shut up and get ready."

Finally! We reached Newport Centre Mall at 9:30pm. Paris said the writer would come at ten o'clock. In the meantime, I decided to check out some of the books in the bookstore. Shelf by shelf, I went through the books that were kept in alphabetical order by the author's first name. From Henry Adams to Charles Dickens to William Wordsworth, I flipped through most of the books that I had read continuously throughout my high-school days.

Then, something caught my utmost attention. To the left of me, there was a big round table with a banner that said "Our Talented Future" in big purple letters. On top of the table were hundreds of hard-cover books. Naturally, I walked right up to the table. I picked up one of the books to look at and a chill went down my spine. My legs felt weak and my heart began pounding. It was like a heart attack I never had. How could this be? Suddenly, my hands gave up on me and the book fell on the ground. I took one more look at the cover. In capital, silver letters read "Eternity lasts Forever..". Below it was a name that stuck out like the golden arches – Jess Mariano.