Hey mom, It's Rory. Your daughter who you hate right now. I know what your thinking 'She is throwing her life away.' But I'm not Mom, I just need some time.
I may not go back to Yale next year. For now
I don't know where the hell I'm going, but I know that I'll be there by the end of the summer. Please don't hate me and deny that I'm your daughter.
I'll check in. Love you.
RORY
P.S.- Thanks for the pool house Grandma and Grandpa, but I
don't think I'll need it after all.
Rory couldn't help noticing that the well-intentioned runaway note vaguely resembled a suicide note. Incredibly nervous, she shivered, it was pitch black outside and very windy. The chimes around the poolhouse jingled, filling the air with their falsetto-song. This is the setting seen in a horror film one-hundred times, just before someone got stabbed. What a comforting thought.
The truth was, Rory felt bad about leaving her mom, but she needed this. Or the runaway note may just turn into a suicide note.
Minute after minute passed and exactly 10 minutes later (Rory knows this because she has a stop watch that she stared at intently) Logan pulled into the stone-covered driveway and honked. By then Rory had been nodding off, but this woke her instantly. She shot him a look, they were running away, who in their right mind honks their horn when their running away? Rory dragged her bags along with her as she approached the car, strangely amused by the scraping noise they made against the gravel walkway.
Concentrating so hard on getting her two heavy bags across the walkway, she barely heard the car door open and slam.
Surprised by his sudden breath on her cheek, she spun to face him. "What?" She snapped, in a whisper-yell, still aggravated at his horn-honking stupidity.
"Give me the bags Ace." With that he whisked the two of them out of her delicate hand, flung them effortlessly over his shoulder and walked back to his Jaguar. Rory scurried after him like a well trained puppy.
He opened the trunk and set each bag carefully inside. Then walked over to the drivers seat leaving Rory to shut the trunk, which she did, which resulted in a porch light going on, her grandparents door beginning to open and Rory running full speed toward the car. Laughing, she flung herself into the passenger's seat. "Go Logan!" She screeched excitedly.
"Calm down, they're just going to think your coming out with me, and they'd love that, since they love me." He replied, calmly.
Rory pouted, he'd ruined her fun! "Or they'd think that I'm being kidnapped." She encouraged.
"But not against your will, considering you just ran into the passanger's seat laughing like a maniac."
Adding to his theory, she added, "And I'm not a kid, so it is not technically kidnapping."
"Sometimes I wonder Ace..."
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Rory tried desperately to turn in a position that didn't twist her body into unnatural shapes, but was still comfortable. Nope, it was by far impossible. Giving up she let her eyelids flutter open letting any hope of more sleep slip away. They were definitely not in Hartford anymore.
"Logan how far have we gone?" Muttered Rory, rubbing here sleepy eyes and assessing her surroundings. City lights shown brightly through her tinted-window.
"Far." Lights and bustling traffic surrounded them. "New York, far."
"New York?" Rory exclaimed.
"Yeah." Logan seemed sleepy, probably sick of driving.
"We need to find a hotel." Rory stated matter-of-factly.
"Found one." At that moment they pulled into a dirt parking lot. Rory eyes began to adjust to the bright lights of the city, just as it got darker. Off of the road, and into that parking lot was like entering a different universe. Dust flew up around Logan's expensive car as he drove. Looking up towards the hotel itself, Rory read the sign: The Penny Bed-and-Breakfast. Below it stated, "Always Vacant" and "Cable, Food and Beds; the necessities!"
"Logan, this is pretty 'low-class', wasn't expecting that from you." Rory stated.
He turned to her, "You only let me bring a thousand dollars, I can't exactly rent us a suite complete with Jacuzzi with that amount. What exactly are we doing, anyway?"
"Quick version; I need to do something crazy besides quitting Yale-"
"You quit Yale?" Slamming on the brakes, Logan turned toward her in alarm.
Rory cowered back in her seat, "Look, I've had more than enough lectures."
"I'm just surprised. It's unpredictable. You're turning into a regular devil.
Unpredictability is a bad habit, but I've got to say it's sexy. " He replied smirking.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"I just wanted to do something that wasn't so planned out. We're not going anywhere particular, we're just seeing if we can survive without money and a place to live. I need time to think, without the anti-Rory fan club breathing down my neck. Everyone in Stars Hollow knows I quite Yale, they all want to chuck me into a mental-institution."
"You are crazy."
"I prefer spontaneous."
Logan pulled into a parking space. They both hopped out of the car and dragged a few bags out of the trunk.
They walked into the hotel and Rory realized just how 'low-class' it was. Dust sat everywhere, like it itself was ground into the floor permanently. There was the occasional sticky spot on the floor, that suctioned Rory and Logan's shoes to the ground. Everything was all around disorganized and scattered. Though in way, it was better than the pool house. In a way, it was exactly what Rory had wished for.
"Do you think they have a dust bunny petting zoo?" Asked Rory with mock Gilmore excitement.
"Your becoming more like your mom everyday Ace." Logan said
They walked up to the check in desk only to be greeted by an index card reading, 'IF I AINT HERE- WHICH I'M PROBOBLY NOT -RING THE BELL TO YOUR LEFT. IF I DON'T COME, RING IT AGAIN!' Rory rang the bell, which she unearthed after moving some wrappers to the side. When she removed her fingers she realized they were now covered with a dusty gray film. The bell's ring was familiar, like Luke's. For the first time Rory missed home. She didn't have time to celebrate her personal-pity-party though. Unlike the sign would suggest a woman arrived to help them immediately.
She had blonde hair, which really couldn't be considered blonde since it was so bleached, it was more on the off white side. Bright red lipstick was smeared over thin lips. She had an overly shiny complexion and a (lot of) junk in the trunk. A tight black shirt, hugged her curves, exposing a bellybutton with a gawky bellybutton ring. She wore a simple jean skirt with cheetah print leggings.
In other words; she was not a pretty site.
"Hey dawlings." She said with a fake-sounding southern drawl. The woman not so secretly checked out Logan.
Rory could hear some cheesy soap opera playing in the other room.
"Hi." Rory said, coldly. Protecting her boyfriend like any girl would.
"Eleven-fifty per room." The woman said. " 'Cept this boy can stay for free." She giggled.
"No, we'll share a room." Rory said quickly, then Logan laid the money on the table. The woman grabbed it, and Rory saw she had fake fingernails on, two of which were missing.
"Follow the yellow brick road." The woman said gesturing toward the ground. Rory looked down, and saw underneath all the dust, there was actually a yellow brick road. However, it was chipping away, no doubt done in cheap paint.
"We're not in Kansas anymore." Muttered Rory.
"Sure aren't, Ace." Logan mumbled back.
Rory noticed there was no French man to help you with your bags, no Lorelai ready to attend to your every need. No genius chef as far as Rory could tell. This place certainly didn't measure up to The Inn back home.
They made their way up a small flight of stairs. Finding themselves in a small hallway, they saw that there were three doors. One led to a master bedroom, another to a bathroom and one more labeled 'GUEST' in annoying capital letters that screamed at you from across the room.
"Home sweet home." Rory said as she walked to the door, Logan close on her heels.
"How can you have a hotel with only one room to stay in?" Logan asked as they stepped into the grimy room, they placed their stuff in a dusty corner that had cobwebs galore.
"I guess this is her palace."
"She's not very queenly."
"True."
Rory walked over to the bed and let herself crash onto it. It caved in taking Rory with it. The mattress hit the floor with a thud. A cloud of dust erupted from it, like a volcano. Rory coughed. "Ouch!" She screeched as she rolled off of it and hit the dusty ground herself.
Logan rushed to her side and helped her up, "Now I know why it was only eleven-fifty." He muttered. "You can sue you know Ace."
"I'll claim I got whiplash." Rory said, rubbing her side which got the worst of the injuries. Logan dragged the mattress out in the middle of the room, then brushed his hands together, dust clouded around them.
Rory eyed her side, it was now covered in dust, she belonged here now, becoming gray herself. "Let's just try to make it through the night without the floor caving in…"
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A/N: Edited version…