Part 2: New Town, Old Faces

Paris and Rory arrived at the Grand Hyatt Washington. They got their keys for their room from the receptionist and immediately went upstairs to go to it. After entering their room, they both sat down on their beds.

"It was nice of the folks at Chilton to hook us up with these rooms." Rory said as she got the remote to see what was on TV.

"Well you know how they are about wanting nothing but the best." Paris said as she lied down in her bed.

"So do you want to do anything right now like take a tour of the city?"

"Maybe later. Right now i just want to take a nap."

"Alright."

Rory flipped around the channels before settling on HBO. She turned her attention to a napping Paris. As she stared at Paris, who looked very peaceful in her sleep, Rory thought about how good it was to get away from all her problems at Stars Hollow with Dean and Jesse and to spend time with Paris. She briefly stroked Paris' brown before she was interrupted by someone knocking on the door.

"Who it is?" Rory asked as she looked out the peephole.

"Hi there Ms. Gilmore or Gellar." The woman said.

Rory immediately opened the door to find a blonde woman standing outside.

"Hi there." The woman said. "Are you Paris Gellar or Rory Gilmore?"

"I'm Rory Gilmore." Rory replied.

"Hi my name is Wanda and i'm your guide and supervisor."

"Nice to meet you Wanda."

"I came by to give you and Paris each a syllabus. It has the activities we have scheduled and the rules of conduct"

"Thanks." Rory said as she got her and Paris' copies.

"I also wanted to remind you that we're having a formal dinner at 7:30." Wanda said.

"Okay we'll be there."

"Great. Now if you two have any questions, just give me a buzz at room 240."

"We will. Thanks for the info."

Rory immediately put the Do Not Disturb sign on the knob outside before she closed it. She put Paris' copy of the syllabus on her bed and sat back down on her bed to watch some movies to kill time before the social.

* * * * *

Paris and Rory got on the bus, which took them from the hotel to around the tourist spots in Washington D.C. such as the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, Union Square and the Jefferson Memorial. After visiting those places, Paris and Rory went to the record store that had the Strokes' live CD that Lane wanted. Rory got the CD, while Paris looked around the store.

"Hey we're going to have some bootlegs of the Hives coming here soon if you're interested." The clerk, a guy not much older than Rory, said.

"I'll probably give it a look." Rory said. "Paris where are you?"

"Oh sorry." Paris said, carrying a CD. "I happen to come across this CD."

"Oh my god it's a rare Lilith Fair bootleg. Which year is this from?"

"It's from the first year."

"Bootlegs from the first year are the hardest to find."

"I take it that you're an expect in bootlegs." the clerk said.

"Sort of." Rory said. "My friend and i are big music lovers. In fact we're thinking about starting a store like this back home."

"Well good luck on that." the clerk said as he ranged up the CDs. "We need more indies stores around, instead of these damn corporate stores that overchange for a bunch crappy top 40s CDs. However i have to warn you that it's not like it is in the movies."

"I'll keep that in mind." Rory said as she got the CDs. "Thanks a lot."

Paris and Rory exit the record store and waited outside for a cab.

"I never told you this, but my first concert was at Lilith Fair in Hartford during the first year." Paris said.

"Really i didn't know that." Rory said. "I thought the Bangles concert was your first one."

"That was first one that went to without my mom. She got me out of summer camp to see it. We even got backstage."

"Did you meet Sarah McLachlan?" Rory asked.

"Yes we did." Paris replied as a cab approached. "She was pretty cool and even autographed my copy of Surfacing."

"That was pretty cool of her to do that."

"Yeah, but she wouldn't leave me along with the Indigo Girls for obvious reasons."

Rory laughed at Paris' comment as she and Paris got in the cab, which carried them back to the hotel. The two didn't say a word to each other during the trip, but instead shared a mutual smile at each other as a sign of them being glad to be together in each other's company.

* * * * *

Paris applied some makeup on her face as she got ready for the formal dinner. She slipped into a modest black dress, which her mom picked for her.

"Rory are you ready yet?' Paris asked.

"Just a minute." Rory replied from the bathroom.

Paris sat down on her bed and watched some TV, while Rory was getting ready. After a couple of minutes Rory stepped out of the bathroom.

"How do i look?" Rory asked.

Paris was left speechless as she stared at Rory, who was wearing a nice black dress. Paris was mesmerized at how beautiful Rory looked.

"You look great." Paris replied.

"Thank you. You look pretty good yourself."

"Thanks."

"Shall we head downstairs." Rory said.

"Of course." Paris said as she and Rory exit their room.

* * * * *

Paris and Rory entered the Via Pacifica where the formal dinner was being held. They immediately went to get their dinners. Rory got a plate of Italian and Asian food, while Paris only got some Asian food. The duo sat down at their table and beginning eating their dinner. After finishing the first helping, Paris and Rory threw down their forks, satisfied with their meal.

"Well that was a great dinner." Paris said as she got up and gathered her and Rory's plates.

"It was alright," Rory replied. "But it wasn't as good as Luke's."

"Yeah nothing beats that good old small town flavor. By the way do you want anything else?"

"Yeah get me some of that chocolate cake and a slice of apple pie."

"Well do." Paris said as she left to get some dessert.

Paris got a couple of fresh plates and put Rory's request on them. As she finished cutting a slice of apple pie, Paris suddenly heard a familar voice.

"Paris Gellar?"

Paris quickly turned around and saw a dark hair girl standing by her.

"Jenny Stevens." Paris said, quickly recognizing Jenny after getting a good look at her. "What would bring you here?"

"I got elected President at my school, which caused my parents to send me here."

"I guess that ruined your planned summer of mindlessly getting drunk every other day."

"It's not a total loss though."

"There you are Jenny." A guy said as he came over to Paris and Jenny. "I thought you left me here for a moment. Holy shit is this-"

"Yes it's me, Paris Gellar Jason." Paris said.

"It's been a while since i last saw you." Jason said. "When was it?"

"It was at Jenny's 13th birthday party."

"Oh yeah. Do you still get all neurotic and freaky?"

"Jason." Jenny said as she punched him in the arm.

Paris started to feel very uncomfortable in Jason and Jenny's presence.

"Paris i'm very surprised that you were elected president." Jenny said. "Given the fact that no body likes you, i think that you either rigged the election at Chilton or more likely, intimated people to vote for you."

"Actually she won it legitimately with my help." Rory said as she joined in on the conversation.

"Jason, Jenny this is Rory Gilmore." Paris said. "She's my classmate at Chilton and Vice President. Rory this is Jason and Jenny. They're a couple of old friends of mine."

"Nice to meet you two." Rory said as she shook hands with Jason and Jenny. "By the way Jason are you a football player?"

"Yes i am." Jason replied. "How did you know that?"

"I could tell by how hard your grip is on your handshake. My grandfather played some football and he has a very hard grip on his handshake."

"Well that's interesting to know."

"So how do you two know Paris?"

"We used to go to summer camp with her when we were kids." Jason said. "We've got plenty of dirt on her from back in the day if you're interested."

"Okay lets save it for another time." Paris said as Wanda came over with an older man with her.

"Hello there." Wanda said. "I like you all to meet Congressman John B. Larson from your homestate of Connecticut."

"Hi there." Congressman Larson said as he shook hands with everyone.

"Hi Congressman Larson." Paris said.

"Are you any relation to Jillian Gellar?

"Yes i am. I'm her daughter."

"Oh i didn't know that. Tell her that i said hi and i'll see her at the next fundraiser."

"I will." Paris said.

"Well i like to stay and chat, but i've got meet everyone else here." Congressman Larson said as he departed. "It was nice meeting you all."

"Nice meeting you too sir."

"I didn't know your mom knows someone from the House." Jenny said.

"She probably just casually know him." Paris said. "She helps organize the fundraisers for him."

"Listen Paris, we're having a party at Jason's uncle's place outside the city this weekend and i was wondering if you and Rory would like to come."

"I don't know about that."

"Come on Paris it'll be fun."

"Yeah besides you need to get your head out of the books or whatever thing you're obsessively working on and have some fun for a change."

Paris thought about it for a moment and immediately turned to Rory.

"Well what do you think?" Paris said.

"We might as well go." Rory replied. "It'll be a nice change of pace from our usual activities."

"Alright what the hell."

"Great." Jenny said. "We'll meet you two in the lobby at 8 on Saturday night."

"We're looking forward to it." Paris said sarcastically.

"Anyway we've got to go now." Jenny said as she and Jason departed. "It was nice meeting you Rory."

"Same here." Rory said.

"We'll be seeing you around Paris."

Paris and Rory immediately went back to their table after Jason and Jenny left.

"That was pretty interesting meeting your old summer camp buddies." Rory said as she took a bite of apple pie.

"They're probably going to try to pull some kind of prank on me." Paris said. "They always seem to get me when i least expect it."

"Paris you're just being paranoid. Don't you think that they would've outgrown that stuff?"

"Probably, but i'm still keeping my eyes on them."

Rory ate her desert, while Paris mostly sat at the table, reading a pamplet. After Rory finished her desert, she and Paris decided to leave the formal dinner and head back to their room.

* * * * * *

Paris and Rory entered their room, a little tired after going through the dinner. Rory immediately went to the bathroom with the phone in tow, while Paris got out of her dress and changed into her pajamas. Paris resumed reading the pamplet, but couldn't help but think about seeing Jason and Jenny again. She didn't expect to see those two again and was still paranoid that they would try some sort of prank on her at the party. After a few minutes, Rory emerged from the bathroom, changed into her pajamas with the phone still in tow.

"Alright love you too Dean." Rory said as she finished her conversation with Dean.

Rory immediately dialed another number.

"Hi Luke is Jess there?" Rory asked.

"No he's out right now." Luke replied.

"When do you expect him back?"

"I don't know. He needed to go somewhere and think."

"Okay tell him i called.

Rory hung up the phone and let out a slight sigh. She was frustrated that she hadn't been able to get in touch with Jess. Rory still had the kiss with him at Sookie's wedding fresh on her mind.

"Why did you call Jess?" Paris asked. "Not that it's any of my business."

"Oh nothing." Rory replied. "I wanted to see how he holding up back home."

Rory set the alarm on the clock to wake her and Paris at 6:30 and got under the covers in her bed. Paris immediately begin to stare at Rory. She noticed that Rory had a rather sad look on her face.

"You look pretty sad." Paris said. "Is there something wrong?"

"Oh nothing much." Rory said, covering her real answer. "I just miss seeing my mom, Lane, everyone else back home and Dean."

Rory obviously couldn't stop thinking about Jess, but didn't want to tell Paris about it. After a few minutes, Rory fell asleep. Meanwhile Paris stared at Rory some more. She couldn't help but notice how beautiful Rory looked when she was asleep. However she sensed that there was something else bothering Rory and it wasn't the usual homesickness. Whatever it was, it would have to wait another time. Paris immediately got up and stood over Rory briefly. She rubbed Rory's brown hair softly and then gave her a light kiss on her forehead as a way to say goodnight. Paris got back in her bed and fell asleep for the rest of the night.

To be continued...