Dissclaimer: characters are owned by Amy Sherman Palladion

quote from 'thlema and louise'


Dear Tristan, Tuesday the 8th

I was shocked to get your letter. I needed to make a few things clear.

1. I would never spill your secrets to anybody. You were right it's not me. Plus I would never give those horrible people you call friends the satisfaction of have something over on you. Not that you have terrible taste in friends, it's just that, that place makes good people act in terrible way.

2. I don't hate you. Now, you were never my favorite person at Chilton. Can you blame though, you called me Mary even though you knew my name. Did you know that Mrs. Huber, our French teacher still calls me Mary because she honestly thinks that is my name? I found you irritating, but I never hated you.

I know you overheard me talking with my boyfriend that night of the play. Dean gets so jealous and I just wanted to stop fighting with him. I said that I hated you because it was the easiest way to get him to calm down. Ever since the dance you are a sore spot for him. I don't understand why boys need to become cave men when they perceive a threat. He didn't understand that you just liked to torment me.

I hate that you did something so stupid like break into the safe. 'You're a real outlaw aren't ya?' You are so much more than that. Those last few days you were at Chilton I could see it too. We could have been friends there.

I hope you are adjusting to military school. It can't be easy. I know what its like being out of your comfort zone. I can imagine you king of the hill by now Ralph. Just please don't nickname somebody piggy, Mary was bad enough.

Your therapist told me it would be okay to write you back. He sent his own message. He said that cadets are not allowed unsupervised Internet access, but your letters are considered private. So I felt like it was safe to write you back.

Take care of yourself Tristan. We never made it to the friend's stage with secret handshakes and inside jokes but I wouldn't turn down any letters you sent. I'm not saying you want to write me, just that if you wanted to write me I would write you back. Not that you would want letters from me. Okay I am officially rambling. If this is goodbye Tristan… Good Luck

Rory Gilmore


Tristan read the letter twice before folding it neatly in eights and stuffing into the front breast pocket. He never in million years would have expected her to write back. Hell, she invited him to write her back. He closed his eyes and could picture the last time he saw her.

She was standing in the hallway with that giant ape telling how much she loathed Tristan. It was worse than anything his father had ever yelled at him. The girl he had a crush on hated him. He knew he had lost all hope of ever being with her. She preferred the freakishly tallboy next-door type. He could never be that guy, not even for her.

The question now was could he be man enough to write her back. Write her without having it be mandatory, with his therapist reviewing everything he wrote. She could have just said she would write back as a courtesy, not expecting him to actually write.

Tristan didn't have to think to hard about it. Besides the weekly call from his father and the care packages from his grandparents, he had no contact with any of his old friends. Out of sight out mind for them. They didn't need him to bank roll their misadventures. They didn't have a need for him.

"I don't hate you" it wasn't an 'I like you', but it was a start. Tristan got up off his cot and finished making his bed for inspection. He would allow himself the rest of the day to decide to write.