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Chapter 3

Rory was nervous. Her application to Harvard had just arrived. Harvard, the college she had been dreaming about her entire life. Her mother wasn't home from work yet so she decided to go to the diner. She put the application somewhere she knew she wouldn't lose it and headed to the diner.

She entered the diner to find Jess serving coffee to other costumers. "Jess, I need coffee, desperately!" she said.

He gave her a kiss and poured her some coffee. He could sense her nervousness. "What's wrong? You look a little nervous."

"My application to Harvard came today." She replied.

"Oh. Well good luck with it." He said.

"Thanks. I gotta go my mom's probably home and I want to get my application out of the way." She said standing up.

"Okay, are you coming back later?"

"Probably not, we might get Chinese for dinner."

"Well then, give this to your mother." He said giving her a to-go cup of coffee.

Rory could tell he was going to try to get along with her mother for her sake and she loved that about him. "What about me?" Jess rolled his eyes and gave her a cup of coffee. "Thanks, Bye."

He went around the counter and gave her a kiss. "Bye."

She exited the diner and quickly went home. When she got there, she found her mother on the couch watching TV. "Mom, this is for you." She said handing her the cup.

"Thanks, did you get me this?" She said gulping the steaming liquid.

"No, Jess did. I think he's trying to get on your good side." Rory said.

"Well, it's working; just tell him to quit acting like a smart ass around me." She said.

"Oh, guess what." Rory said excitedly.

"What, Sweets?" Lorelai responded.

"My application to Harvard came earlier."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Let's go fill it out. I'm gonna go change clothes and I'll meet you down here." Lorelai said.

"Okay." She said and Lorelai was already half way up the stairs.

She went and got out the application and sat at the kitchen table. A couple minutes later, Lorelai came down and sat at the table.

LORELAI: Okay, personal information. . . state your full name. Better not get that one wrong.

RORY: I'll try.

LORELAI: And nickname, if any.

RORY: That would be Rory.

LORELAI: Or Droopy Drawers.

RORY: That was never my nickname.

LORELAI: Wrong, I called you that as a baby.

RORY: What?

LORELAI: That's right. You had these little OshKosh cords and they were way too big and once at the mall, they fell right down to your knees and I said, "Whoa, there, Droopy Drawers!" – and I'm just afraid if we don't answer everything accurately, the Harvard police will come and hit you with an atlas and say something mean in Latin.

RORY: How would they know that you called me Droopy Drawers?

LORELAI: Well, we could be at a Harvard event and I could slip up and say, "Pass me a lobster puff, Droopy Drawers," and they could hear me, and that'll be that.

RORY: How 'bout you don't drink at any of these Harvard events?

LORELAI: Okay, parental information. Mother – breathtaking.

RORY: I think they just want your name.

LORELAI: Father – ostracized. Personal statement.

RORY: Oh, the essay – the big kahuna.

LORELAI: You can evaluate a significant experience that's had an impact on you. How 'bout that time your drawers dropped at the mall?

RORY: Enough with the drawers.

LORELAI: Or you can write about a person who has had a significant influence on you.

RORY: You?

LORELAI: Or one of your authors, Faulkner or. . .

RORY: Or Sylvia Plath.

LORELAI: Hm, might send the wrong message.

RORY: The sticking her head in the oven thing?

LORELAI: Yeah. Although she did make her kids a snack first, shows a certain maternal instinct.

LORELAI: Okay, what activities interest you?

RORY: All of them except for the sports.

LORELAI: I thought you were the lacrosse kid.

RORY: Mom, just a modicum of seriousness as we do this would be much appreciated.

LORELAI: Hm, so, circle all of them except sports. Oh, they want a picture. How about the one of us sticking our heads through the carved out holes of Johnny Bravo and SpongeBob Squarepants?

RORY: There's the seriousness I crave.

Several hours, several cups of coffee, and several cartons of Chinese food later, Lorelai and Rory were almost finished with Rory's application except for the essay. Rory picked Hillary Clinton. They decided to call it a night.

Rory's anxiety kicked in the next day after the seminar at school with the dean of admissions for Ivy League Schools.

RORY: I'm not getting into Harvard.

LORELAI: What? Who says?

RORY: Well, I'm completely unprepared, and I have no original thoughts!

LORELAI: No, no, don't blame yourself, it's not you. It's those jerks at Harvard – I hate them!

RORY: What?

LORELAI: Well, apparently, it doesn't matter how qualified you are, those lazy-ass admissions officers just take applications and stick it in the yes and no piles without even glancing at them!

RORY: Well, it won't matter because my Hillary Clinton essay will be just like every other girl's Hillary Clinton essay because apparently that's all we can think of. I'm such a hack.

LORELAI: Is it true everyone has the same GPA? How is that possible?

RORY: Because we all take the same classes and we all give the same perfunctory run-of-the-mill responses. And I'm interested in too many things, I have to limit them. I'm gonna circle travel on my application. From now on, that is what I am interested in, travel.

LORELAI: No, no, don't do that, no! Because all those people coming from China and India and God knows where else, they're all nuts for traveling – that's why they're traveling here! And…and jobs are dropping and dot-com bombing and something's acting like a yo-yo, I don't know what but it's not good! And over my dead body is Kate Hudson getting your spot, let me just say that right now!

RORY: Mom, you're freaking out!

LORELAI: Yes, I'm freaking out!

RORY: Well, you can't freak out, I'm freaking out!

While Lorelai and Rory were having anxiety attacks, Jess was busy planning. He wanted him and Rory's first real date as a couple to be special. For what he wanted to do, he would have to have Lorelai's permission. He would have to go to the inn after Rory went to school one day, or something like that.

Rory came into the diner with a much-frazzled look on her face. "Rory, what's up?" Jess asked curiously.

"I'm just worried about not getting into Harvard, that's all." She said.

He pulled her into a hug, "Everything is going to be okay, they're gonna love you. I know it." He said.

"You always know what to say." She said. "I've gotta get to school, I'll see you later." She said kissing him.

"Bye." He said back.

He figured now was the best time to talk to Lorelai about his idea. He told Luke he was going on break and left. He entered the inn and went to the front desk. He saw Lorelai standing there.

"Lorelai, I was wondering if I could ask you something…"

A/N: I had to use these quotes from the episode 'Application Anxiety' because I thought they were classic.