Everyone knows I'm in over my head
Over my head
With eight seconds left in overtime
She's on your mind
She's on your mind
Tristan, Rick, Amy, Stewart, and Mackenzie were on the lawn of the school, the girls laying down in the grass while Stewart hit on Amy blatantly; and he and Rick were throwing a football back and forth. They'd been outside for half an hour and Stewart had nearly convinced Amy to sneak off with him when one of the numerous drill sergeants who stayed over the summer made her way out onto the lawn. "Dugrey!" she called sharply, breaking Amy's attention away from the boy next to her. Stewart swore loudly, falling bak onto the grass.
Tristan laughed at him, but turned to the woman, obviously confused, "Yeah?"
Her eyebrow shot up, "Excuse me?"
He bit the inside of his cheek, "Yes ma'am?"
"You have a phone call in the office." without another word, she turned and strode away.
Rick looked over at Tristan with narrowed eyes, but the blonde just shrugged, "I'll be right back." and he followed the woman inside. Rick just shrugged and motioned for Stewart to stand in Tristan's old spot so that they could continue tossing the ball.
Tristan followed her inside, stopping once she sat at her desk in the front office. She nodded towards a small room on the right wall and Tristan walked into it, picking up the phone. "Hit line three." she called out to him.
He pressed the orange button slowly and slid the phone to his ear, "Hello?"
"Tristan." a male voice said his name curtly.
His eyes narrowed and his back straightened up as he replied in the same tone, "Father."
"You've been back at school for three weeks."
He desperately wanted to spit out the biting comeback that was resting on the tip of his tongue, but refrained, speaking slowly, "Yes."
His father inhaled deeply, "I've spoken to your grandfather and Headmaster Charleston." Tristan instantly gripped the phone tighter, but didn't respond, his father didn't give him time to anyway, "You will definitely attend Military School for the first quarter fo your Junior year, but if-" he stressed the word, "- you keep a 95 average or higher in all your subjects, attend class everyday, and keep your discipline record clean, you will be permitted to return home and to Chilton." Tristan's eyes widened, but his father wasn't through, "So long as you continue to keep your grades up and stay out of trouble once you come home." He was silent, waiting to see if his father was done. "Well, Tristan?"
"Yes, I'd like to come home."
"Very well then. Once I get your report card at the end of the first nine weeks I'll send you a ticket if your grades are up to scratch."
They sat in silence for a moment, "Thank you." Tristan said finally.
"Just keep your grades up and stay in line." and the other line went dead. Tristan looked down at the phone, still unbelieving as the ring-tone filled the room. So he really was going to go home? Not a good idea. No fighting or getting in trouble? He seemed to attract the things. He'd get in over his head fast.
Arthur Dugrey put the phone down heavily and looked up at his father, "There, are you happy now?"
Janlan folded his hands on top of lap, "Not even close." he leaned forward slightly, watching his son become more and more uncomfortable, "I have to say, not telling me that my grandson was being shipped off until he was actually on the plane was smart. It was a good way to keep me from interfering. But I'm glad you're finally coming around."
His eyes narrowed, "The only reason I'm bringing him home now is because I know that if I didn't, you would call him and tell him that he could live with you." Janlan just grinned, both of them knowing that was exactly what he'd planned. "And I won't have you poison my son against me."
His eyebrows raised, "Oh, you don't need my help on that one, son. You've got it covered."
He rolled his eyes, "I guess I do take after you."
His father ignored him, "Why did you send him off, anyway? You told me he was being disrespectful, but I know you, and if he'd been disrespectful you would have just backhanded him and ignored him for a week. You also told me it was because he was getting into trouble at school, so I talked to the Headmaster." Arthur's grip on the armrest of his chair tightened noticeably. "'No trouble' he said, 'no trouble at all, except for that girlfriend of his' of course, he wasn't mad, mind you, he was actually quite amused. His chuckling gave it away. 'The PDA is a little much, and they get detention occasionally, but you know how teenagers are, Janlan. It's harmless. Absolutely no trouble, though. Your grandson is actually quite the student. In the top five percentile of his class, one of the only two boys that made it onto the varsity soccer team when he was a Freshman. Peer mediator. Half of his courses are advanced placement classes. A very good addition, in fact. The school's not the same without him.' Those were his exact words, Arthur." Janlan leaned back in his seat as his son blanched ever so slightly. "So this just leaves me to think, Arthur lied, no surprise there, of course. You always stretched the truth to make your decisions seem better.
"So I thought about this girl and remembered that I'd met her several times and like her a great deal, so obviously you would have hated her. And it all made sense." he laced his fingers together, resting his elbows on the armrests of his chair, "I must say, son, sending your child away because he's running with the wrong crowd is one thing, but shipping him off because your wife doesn't like his girlfriend's mother is something different entirely."
"Don't tell me how to raise my son." he snapped, sitting up straighter.
"Oh no, Arthur, I'm not telling you how to raise your son. It's too late for that. He's nearly seventeen, and you weren't the one who raised him. You paid nannies to do it for you, and now when he's older and you don't know how to deal with him you're just going to send him off for someone else to deal with." he leaned forward in his seat, "Now tell me honestly, did all of this happen because of the girl?"
He didn't answer, just glared at his father coldly, "You can't understand, so don't try to and don't send me on this guilt trip. I didn't want to send him away, and if you knew me then you'd know that. I love Tristan."
"Good way of showing it."
"I do and you know it." he said quietly, "My wife made me send him away."
Janlan's eyes narrowed, "You could have said no."
Arthur leaned back in his seat, "She would have gone public with my affair."
"Your affair is no secret, son. Everyone knows about it."
"It still would've ruined me."
"Can you blame her for wanting it? If you really wanted to be with that woman then you should have filed for divorce, Arthur, like I told you two years ago. You were worried about appearances then, but you're even worse off now. And where is the secretary now, anyway? Do you even know? You didn't want to be with her, you just couldn't control yourself." he leaned forward, "Janelle is no more to blame for Tristan being sent away than you are. I know you love your son, but there is no excuse for the way you've raised him." Janlan leaned back in his seat, "I don't know what happened, Arthur. Your mother and I raised you ourselves. We never hired help to take care of you. You weren't always like this. It wasn't until you met Janelle. Your mother didn't like her, but for entirely different reasons than your wife doesn't like Rory." he leaned forward, "I don't know where I went wrong with you, but I will not allow you to force Tristan to become like you are. We sent you away when you were seventeen to keep you from her because we didn't want you to turn out like this, the way her family has always been."
"And why the hell do you think I didn't fight harder to keep Tristan here?" he hissed, pushing his chair away from his desk and standing up, "I don't want this to be the relationship I have with my son in twenty years."
Janlan didn't stand, just watched his son, "If you had stepped back and looked at the situation then you would have realized that getting you away from Janelle might have saved you, but you were so angry that you couldn't think that we might have possibly known what was best for you. Now think about Tristan, why are you sending him away? What good will getting him away from this girl do? Nothing. It will only pull the two of you farther apart. She is nothing like your wife and you know it." They sat in silence, Arthur breathing heavily as he stared at his father, thinking over his words. He may not have had a relationship with the man, but before today he'd always respected him and listened to him. Janlan nodded, standing slowly, "I'll see myself out."
THREE WEEKS LATER
Rory sat in the passenger seat of Blake's car as he sped down the interstate, constantly changing lanes and yelling at other cars to speed up. He flew by several cops, but only one stopped him, and once he told the officer what was going on, he let them go but said to slow down. The atmosphere in the car was tense and Rory felt as if the vehicle would explode with it. She looked over at her brother to see a manic grin on his face and looked into the backseat to see Shane staring out the window happily. Rory inhaled deeply, smiling to herself as she looked again at her brother while he took the turn into the hospital on two wheels. Three of the four doors flew open and slammed in unison as the siblings streaked towards the entrance. They ignored the receptionist calling after them to ask for their name and identifications, not stopping until they reached the elevator. Blake pushed the 'up' bottom quickly several times, but when the doors didn't immediately open Rory nodded towards the door next to them, "Stairs." she said quickly, and Shane reached it first, throwing it open and the twins followed him. They didn't stop running until they'd reached the door for the eleventh floor, the residence's floor. Blake reached it first and threw it open, the three of them streaking out one after another.
They spotted the door that led to the hall of patients under a coma and ran towards it. "Hey!" a receptionist called, "You can't go in there." Shane and Rory stopped suddenly, sliding several inches on the polished floor as they remembered that from this side the door had to be unlocked.
Blake ignored her and ran straight into the swinging door, but this time it didn't swing. "Ow, shit!" he grabbed his already reddening forehead, closing his eyes and swinging around to face her.
She smirked, snorting lightly, "I would assume you're the Hayden children. Your father did the same thing."
Rory turned to face her, "Lorelai, Richard, and Shane." she said quickly, using her and her brother's first names.
The woman smiled, "I know, but it's policy that I see your identifications." Rory and Blake quickly pulled out their licenses while Shane flashed his school ID. The woman glanced at the cards before typing in a code on her computer. There was a quiet buzzing and Blake once more ran towards the door. This time it swung open and the other two followed him in, Rory yelling a hurried thanks over her shoulder. They streaked down the hall until they came to their mother's room. The door was already open and they could hear their father and grandparents talking.
They bolted in, all three jumping onto the bed. Lorelai squealed, wrapping her arms around her children. At Emily's protest the three finally slid off the bed, but didn't shy far from it. Rory momentarily tore her eyes from her mother's face and looked over at her grandmother, instantly realizing that she'd only made them get off out of habit, because she was smiling happily form ear to ear.
ONE MONTH LATER
Rory sat on Paris's bed, watching her pack her bookbag for school the next day. The blonde was pushing her Trig book into the navy blue bag when she said, "At least we have most of our classes together."
"Yeah."
"And don't you have a lot of classes with Baker and Adam?"
She nodded, "Mmhmm."
Paris stopped packing and turned to face Rory, "Do you even like him?"
"What?" she looked over at Paris, having missed the question.
She sighed, rolling her eyes, "Do you even like Adam?"
Rory was silent for a moment, thinking, "Yeah."
Paris's head cocked back, surprised, "You do?"
Rory nodded, "Yes. I mean, it's not like I'm in love with him or anything, but I have liked him since he moved here, and I do still like him."
"Oh." she went back to packing, "I just didn't think you did. I mean, not like Tristan, anyway." they'd never spoken of Rory outburst a month earlier.
Rory shrugged, "It's different than Tristan. I loved Tristan. I don't love Adam, but I guess that letter two months ago was the last thing I needed to get over him."
Paris stopped, turning to face her again, "Wait, so you're completely over him?"
She laughed lightly, "Yeah. I've pretty much been the world's worst girlfriend to Adam-" Paris nodded slightly in agreement, and Rory threw a pillow at her, "But I do like him. I mean, he's been so good. Like, amazing. I was horrible and withdrawn and I just..." she looked away, "I was such a bitch to him, but he never walked away. So now I guess it's my turn to work with him and make sure this lasts." she looked over a her friend, "I've decided that I'm finally going to get the whole relationship thing right."
"What do you mean?"
"Well the relationship with Dean just sucked. Me and Tristan could never get it together even at our best, and up until now me and Adam haven't been able to get it right." she shrugged, walking over to the vanity, "I guess I'm just ready to make one work without all the drama."
Paris laughed, she herself had actually grown to like Adam in the past few months, "Finally." Rory just wrinkled her nose and grinned.
"Anyway-" she started as she sat at the vanity, looking through Paris's small supply of makeup, "-I'm sure he's over me by now."
"Mmm." was all Paris said, nodding thoughtfully.
Rory turned to look at her, "What?"
She shook her head, "Nothing. You know, Louise bitched him out."
"What? When?"
Paris leaned back on the bed, "Whenever he came home in June. We were all at Baker's and he left the room. Louise followed him and they got into it."
"You heard them?"
"No. She told me about it later."
"What did she say to him?" Rory asked, eyes wide.
"She was mad at him for just leaving like that, and she yelled at him for hurting you."
"What did he say?"
Paris shrugged, "She didn't tell me."
Rory nodded, sitting back in the chair as she glanced back down at her friend's makeup. She hadn't thought Louise had been that upset.
LATER THAT NIGHT
They all sat in Paris's backyard. There were stone steps that led down to a metal fire basin and lawn chairs on a stone platform, raised up from the dirt ground surrounding it. It was an enclave in the woods, facing away from her house. The fire was going and they all had drinks. Beer, surprisingly considering none of the girls liked it, but they all drank it anyway. School was starting the next day and they'd all decided that they hang out tonight...just let summer go out slowly. Her legs were folded under her, and the fingers of her left hand were laced with Adam's right. She was angled slightly towards him, her torso and arms swimming in a large sweatshirt she'd stolen from him a few weeks earlier.
He'd actually noticed her warming up to him in the past month, but he hated himself for trusting her. He just...couldn't let her go, no matter how much he needed to. He watched her raise the bottle to her lips and take a slow drink, staring at the fire. Everyone was silent.
They were all silent, but it was comfortable. Louise and Madeline were sitting together on a small bench, Baker and Blake were sitting next to each other on the ground, their feet planted on the ground and their arms wrapped around their shins. Jess was sitting in the same position as them, but across the fire, and Paris was behind him, her legs tucked under her and her arms wrapped around him, resting her chin on his shoulder from behind. Lane was sitting in the last chair, one of her legs tucked under her with the other off the chair, over Henry's shoulder as he sat with his back against the chair, running his fingertips lightly over her exposed shin as he stared at the fire.
And they all just...were. It was really the first time they'd all sat and everyone had been content. No one was upset with anyone else, no one was lying. It was just comfortable. Rory pushed herself closer against him and laid her head on his shoulder. He looked down at her and after a moment she tore her gaze from the fire and looked up at him, smiling warmly. He smiled back and kissed the top of her head. She closed her eyes, turning her face back towards the heat of the fire and released his hand, wrapping both of her arms tightly around his right as her fingertips traced the inside of his upper arm lightly.
God, he wanted this. He needed this to work with her. There was no way in hell he was going to walk away from it.
NEXT DAY
Rory's alarm went off and she swore under her breath, rolling over and burrowing deeper into the covers. Why was her alarm going off anyway? It was summer. Her eyes cracked open to glance at the time. 6:15? That was what time she usually got up for school. Why was...and then she remembered it was the first day of school. She swore and threw off the covers, turning off her alarm and bolting across the hall to Blake's room, who happened to still be asleep with his alarm thrown against the opposite wall. He had anger issues. She laughed, shaking her head as she crawled into bed next to him. Rory poked him lightly and he whined, inching away from her. She shook his shoulder and he burrowed deeper into the covers, "Go back to sleep." was muffled from sleep and because his face was shoved against the pillow. She shook him harder and he swore, "Damn it Maddy, you don't have to go home right now." and his arm snaked around her waist, pulling her against him. Rory burst out laughing and removed his arm from her waist. This obviously brought him out of dreamland and his eyes opened, blinking slowly. He recognized his sister and pushed her away grumpily, "You're not Madeline." And he pulled the covers tighter around himself, closing his eyes. "If you really wanted to sleep with me then all you had to do was ask. Now stay on your side of the bed and don't kick in your sleep because I hate it when you do that."
She rolled her eyes, yanking the covers off of him and throwing them off the bed before walking out of his room. His body convulsed slightly and he yelped before rolling over, "What the hell, Rory!"
"School." she called from the hall in a singsong voice, laughing at his expense. He groaned and rolled over, but got out of bed and ambled clumsily over to the bathroom adjacent to his room. It was going to be a long day.
Rory walked down to breakfast in shorts and a tank top, letting her hair air dry, but running her fingers through it every few minutes so that it dried straight. She smiled upon spotting her mother sitting on the counter next to the coffee maker while whining to her father about Michele. She still smiled every time she saw her mother. She'd had minimal memory loss, mostly the week before her accident, and didn't remember finding the birth control in Rory's room. She'd decided she'd tell her mother about the fact that she wasn't a virgin later, after they'd settled into their old routine and things were back to normal, but she was definitely telling her this time. She made her way over and sat up on the island across from the counter, grabbing a waffle from the large stack next to the stove that the cook had made.
Blake walked in, stopping momentarily and smiling at his mother, "Morning, mom."
She smiled back, now used to her family grinning every time they saw her, "Morning baby."
His nose wrinkled playfully, "Mom!" he groaned.
She laughed and threw half of the bagel she was eating at her son, "Too old to be called baby by your mommy?"
He laughed as it bounced off his chest and landed on the ground, "Just a little."
Lorelai rolled her eyes and turned to Rory, "How'd you sleep, sweetie?"
"Fine."
"You look tired."
"Very."
"I'm guessing I can attribute your one syllable answers to the fact that you haven't had any coffee this morning?" she asked as she coffee maker beeped.
Rory nodded, jumping down form the island and grabbing a mug, "Mhmm."
"Yeah, makes sense. Your mother was speaking on one syllable words before the first batch was done." Chris said, grinning at his wife as she scrunched her nose.
Rory took a long sip from her cup and glanced at the clock. 6:45. "Mmm." she pulled the mug from her lips, "I have to go get ready. I'll see you guys when you get home form work." She and her mother kissed each other on the cheek, "Bye mom."
"Bye babe."
She kissed her father's cheek, "Bye daddy."
"I'll see you at seven, sweetie."
She looked over at her brother, who was rummaging through the fridge, a mug of coffee on the counter next to him while he held a dry waffle in his hand, "Blake, you should start getting ready too. We have to leave in fifteen minutes and you spend more time on your hair than I do."
He turned around, a can of whipped cream in hand and sprayed it on his waffle, taking a bite before scoffing, "I do not. It just gives that appearance because my hair is so much more gorgeous than yours."
She rolled her eyes, tossing her now dry hair over her shoulder as her brother took another huge bite of his waffle and whipped cream, "Charming." he just stuck his tongue out at her, showing her the chewed food as she turned to walk upstairs, "Mhmm, I can see what Maddy sees in you." He just laughed before grabbing another waffle and following her upstairs.
And suddenly I become a part of your past
I'm becoming the part that don't last
I'm losing you and it's effortless
Without a sound we lose sight of the ground
In the throw around
Never thought that you wanted to bring it down
I won't let it go down till we torch it ourselves