The Thrill of the Chase

six

"Rory, it's me kid, your Mom. Remember me? Anyway I haven't heard from you in a few days so I'm just checking in. Give me a call and I'll maybe see you at home this weekend?"

Rory sighed. She was shocked her mother had waited this long before the passive aggressive message arrived on the dorm answering machine. Hearing the click of a lock Rory looked up to see Paris entering the dorm, her arms full of bags. Rory rushed to help her.

"What were you buying?" Rory asked, looking at all the bags.

"I've decided I need to learn how to cook. I have been relying on nanny for too long." Paris said, beginning to move around the small kitchenette.

"And just who is going to teach you how to cook?" Rory asked, already knowing the answer, as she helped Paris put the perishables in the fridge.

"Nanny. Don't look at me like that," Paris stated. "She volunteered, and in the long run it will make me less dependent on her. Speaking of dependents, did you get your voicemail from your mom?"

"Yes, I got it," Rory sighed, pulling herself up so she was sitting on the kitchen counter surveying the dorm.

"Well, are you going to call her back?" Paris asked, her hands resting on her hips. "She has even called me looking for you. I shouldn't have to screen my calls because you are avoiding your mother."

"I'm not avoiding her," Rory said, averting her eyes from Paris as she hears Paris' snort of derision. "I'm not. She is just being a little demanding right now, and I'm realizing if I continue to cater to her I will never get to experience anything in college, because really, how can I if I'm at home every weekend."

"Finally!" Paris said exasperatedly.

"What?" Rory asked, shocked.

"Well, your Mom was always the cool Mom in high school, and that led to her being involved in a lot more things than parents usually are, like really who normally tells their Mom about all of their adventures as a teenager? But now, here at Yale, it doesn't work. Sure Lorelai still wants to be involved, and that's fine for some things. But really do you want to tell your mother about the two Emily Gilmore approved boys you have been dating. Simultaneously?" Paris asked, looking at Rory curiously. At one time she had wanted a relationship with her mother like Lorelai and Rory had but now she could see how much Lorelai was curtailing Rory's independence and using her to correct all Lorelai's wrongdoings from when she was a teenager.

"God no, Paris. Mom would freak out at the mention of Robert and Logan's last names. Well she already did, but she would more if she thought I had seen them more than once. It's like she thinks one society boy will either turn me into Grandma or that I'm only good enough to be a piece on the side." As she talked, Rory's anger moved into confusion. "Why doesn't she seem to think I would just be girlfriend material?" Rory questioned, looking at Paris as though she would have a clarifying answer.

"I don't know. I may not like Logan, and I don't know the other one, but I do believe that the situation is good for you. You need to live a little Gilmore, even I know that's what college is for."

"Don't I know it, Miss I-slept-with-the-professor." Rory answered, smirking at Paris.

"HEY!"

"Sorry, sorry," Rory said laughing. "I'm going to go call Mom while I have the courage to, and then I'm getting ready for my date with Logan."

"How's it going with Tristan 2.0?" Paris asked, sounding somewhat caring for a change.

"Okay so far, this is our first night out since I took sex off the table though, so I'm interested to see how that affects things." Rory said, looking at Paris to gauge what she was thinking.