you can't help who you fall for

21

I couldn't believe it. Rory, the person who is ill maybe once in a century, has gotten sick right before her bicentennial speech. Even worse, Paris was nowhere to be found.

Headmaster Charleston walked over. "Miss Gilmore, have you seen Miss Geller?"

I shook my head. "I can't say that I have Headmaster. I don't know what we're going to do without Rory and Paris."

"You'll have to do it."

"What?"

"You'll have to do the speech. You know every word. You're our only hope, Miss Gilmore."

"Yes Sir."

I walked up to the podium and looked out at all the people say down, then Paris appeared looking like she had just got out of bed after a drunk night out.

"Paris, are you ok? Can you do the speech?" She just stared blankly into the crowd.

I started doing the speech and looked over to Paris for her part. "Where's Rory?" She kept whispering to me.

"Sick." I hissed back. "Talk, it's your turn."

Then, instead of speaking the rehearsed speech, Paris just went in about how she didn't get into Harvard because she wasn't a virgin.

"I bet Sierra over here didn't get into her dream school. Lord knows she isn't a virgin!"

"Paris!"

"I'm sure her sister, the sick one who's supposed to be here, Rory got into Harvard! She's a bigger virgin than Mary!"

Paris got dragged off the stage and I continued the speech. "Sorry for the... Uh technical difficulties."

I continued the speech until I got to the end. "Thank you." I walked off the stage and called Logan.

"Well if it isn't my favourite TV star."

"You saw it then?"

"Imagine my surprise when I was scanning through the channels, and suddenly on C-Span I see my beautiful non-virgin girlfriend being screamed at by a madwoman."

"That would be Paris."

"Ah, the infamous Paris Geller. When you said she's crazy I didnt expect it to be as serious as this."

"That wasn't Paris. That was some insane alter ego of hers. She lost her virginity to her boyfriend last night and this morning she got a rejection letter from Harvard. She thinks they're connected."

"Well I feel for her but she didn't need to go parading your wicked ways around."

"Who are you calling wicked, Huntzberger?"

"Genghis Khan. Very wicked."

"You're so weird. I have to get home and talk to my mom and Rory now."

"Well I wish you luck."

"Thanks, I'll need it."

I hung up, sighing. I walked over to Headmaster Charleston, who was talking to the people from C-span.

"Headmaster Charleston, I am so so sorry for what happened during the speech. Paris most definitely wasn't in her right mind, she was devastated - you must understand."

"Of course, Miss Gilmore. Don't worry, no one blames you for this."

"Thank you Headmaster, once again I'm so sorry about Paris. If there's any way I can make it up to you, please just let me know."

"There is one thing."

"Of course, anything, Headmaster."

"I have heard from your music teacher that you are quite the nightingale Miss Gilmore."

"Oh no, Headmaster. I couldn't possibly."

"No, I insist."

5 minutes later I was stood on the stage behind a microphone ready to sing. "Hi, I'm Sierra Gilmore and I'm going to be singing the Chilton School Song to celebrate this fine establishment."

I sang the song, and after I sang another song. 20 minutes later, people seemed like they had forgotten Paris' total breakdown and I went home.

"Mom? I'm home."

She was sat in the livng room with Rory. "Earth to Mom? Rory?"

"You lost your virginity?"

"Seriously? That's what you're choosing to focus on? Not the fact that I gave a great speech, and sang on live television? All you care is about is that I'm not a virgin? You need to sort out your priorities, woman." I shook my head and walked into my room.

5 minutes later, she walked in. "So do you wanna talk about it?"

"The speech? I think I did a great job, I had the perfect ratio of eye contact with audience and checking my speech a couple of times. I got a lot of compliments."

"No, not the speech."

"Oh, the singing. That went well too, I was pretty nervous at first but I guess when the words came out everything just followed so easily after that. Has any mail come for me?"

"You know what I mean, Sierra."

"I do know what you mean, and no I don't want to talk about it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to check the mailbox."

I walked out of my room and out of the house to the mailbox. I picked up all of the letters with my name on.

"Let's see, Car insurance, Harvard, Julliard, health insurance, gas bill, Harvard for Rory, Dartmouth, NYU, Princeton for Rory, Brown, UPenn, Columbia, Yale for Rory and Yale for me."

I brought all of the letters inside and opened them, starting with Harvard.

"I didn't get in. Oh well." Then I opened Columbia, Brown and UPenn. I got accepted to Brown and Columbia, rejected by UPenn though.

Then I opened NYU and Dartmouth, getting into NYU but not Dartmouth. I took a deep breath before grabbing my penultimate letter.

Julliard.

My main back up school.

I carefully opened the envelope and skimmed the page, to see I had been accepted. "Whoo!"

Then, I looked at the final letter. Yale. My dream since I was a little girl.

I closed my eyes and opened it. I read the first line and my stomach fluttered. "Yes!" I screamed and did a victory dance. Mom and Rory came running.

"What?"

"I got into Yale!" I grinned widely.

"Really? Sierra, that's amazing congratulations!" Rory ran over and hugged me.

"Thanks little sis. Your letters are on the couch by the way."

She ran over to open them with Mom, and she had gotten into all of her choices, so they were now going to do pro con lists in true Rory fashion. "Hey, Sierra, do you want me to do a pro con list for you?"

"Thanks for the offer Ror, but I'm perfectly happy with Yale. Anyway, I need to go call my boyfriend."

"Ah, the mysterious boyfriend, when do we get to meet him?"

"Next year, maybe. Gotta fly, cherry pie."

"Catch you later, sweet potato." I smiled at our old childhood nicknames and walked out of my room to call Logan.