Autumn in Philadelphia Trilogy

New York State of Mind

AN: This is where I stopped writing the story years ago. After this there will be 4-5 new chapters and epilogue that are set in the Girl Meets World era.  Although, I found my notes on this story and the full outline for the final chapters, there is just no way I can recapture what I wanted to write back then. I don't want to mess up the story trying. So onto the new!

Please, if you read through the story, send me your thoughts if you would. 

Thanks everyone,

Mercedes

Lyrics by David Bowie

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"Some folks like to get away,

Take a holiday from the neighborhood.

Hop a flight to Miami Beach or to Hollywood.

But I'm takin' a Greyhound on the Hudson River line.

I'm in a New York state of mind..."

-Billy Joel, "New York State of Mind"

Katherine Tompkins got little sleep the night before the big day. Early Thursday morning she awoke before dawn with a serious case of butterflies. The day of the sophomore New York trip had finally arrived. Katherine was excited about the four day excursion for more than one reason. When she was in the City years ago, she had not had the opportunity to catch the vibe of the big city; tight audition schedules had not allowed for little girls from Denison, Texas to go sightseeing; she was looking forward to actually seeing the city itself this time around. However, the main reason for her giddiness was due to Jonathan Turner. Katherine was determined to make the weekend a memorable one and show him that she was the one for him. She realized how much stress Jon was under trying to juggle school, Shawn, and a student teacher; his responsibility was overwhelming and didn't leave him feeling much like pursuing a serious relationship. So Katherine had arranged that her free time in the City corresponded with his to give them chance to be together. She planned this as a surprise for him and had not checked to see if he had plans or not.

Suddenly, Katherine remembered that Jon had family in New York and began to panic when she realized that by not telling him of her plan for them, he might have made arrangements to visit his relatives.

No matter, Katherine dismissed the thought. This trip would be a good opportunity for me to meet my future in-laws. She failed to recall that his parents had moved to Connecticut some years ago and no longer kept their penthouse in the City.

Katherine showered and grabbed a quick breakfast before loading her luggage in her car and heading for school.

Shawn had his own plans for Jon and they had began by lining up Jon and Audrey's free time. The week before Shawn had come across Audrey's planner for the trip and had "borrowed" it while she and Jon had gone out to pick up lunch. Audrey had written the fixed plan in pen and tentative or unconfirmed ones in pencil. Luckily, chaperone free times were all in pencil and he was able to move some things around so that Jon and Audrey had all their free times together. At the time, he had thought it was a bit odd that Miss Tompkins' times all lined up with Jon's, but promptly forgot about it as he tried to match his handwriting as close to Audrey's neat, flowery script as possible. If either Jon or Audrey had noticed any scheduling changes, they hadn't say anything- neither he nor Cory had been yelled at.

The trip in general was a cause of excitement, but Shawn was especially looking forward to Friday when Jon and Audrey were taking him, and him alone, to Greenwich Village. The rest of the time Shawn was looking forward to hanging with Cory when Cory wasn't with Topanga. Hmmm...Shawn frowned. He may not be seeing much of his best friend after all...Oh, well.