Rory walked down the hall of her apartment building. Her New York apartment was small and crowded with two other girls sharing it with her. Rory had graduated from Yale three years earlier and immediately moved to New York afterwards to work at the New York Times. Her job was tedious and she really missed Stars Hollow and her family, but she loved New York and the life that she was living.

As she walked onto the sidewalk she noticed a familiar face, but she did nothing about it. When she saw the face it was quick, but it left a mark as he walked down to the subway. Today was a normal day off for Rory. It was her first Wednesday off in a long time, usually she had the weekends off. Every Saturday, she would go to the record store to buy a new record or CD that she didn't have yet. The man behind the counter would always greet her in a friendly way.

Since Rory was working this Saturday, she decided that today was a good day to go to the record store. She usually took the subway, but since it was such a nice day out she decided to walk the eleven blocks to get to the record store. Rory had her car with her in New York, but only drove when it was completely necessary. Her room mate, Sarah, caught up with her. "Hey Ror," she said. "Is it cool if I come with you? Paris is driving me crazy."

"Yeah, sure. I'm walking though, is that OK?" Rory asked as she and Sarah turned the corner.

"Fine by me." It was funny how Paris was living with Rory. They lived together all through Yale and now they worked together and lived together in a small two bedroom apartment with Sarah. Rory and Sarah became friends fast while Paris still didn't like her after two years, but Paris rarely liked anybody.

As Rory and Sarah turned another corner, four blocks away from their apartment, Rory spotted Washington Square Park. A faint memory from years ago brought Rory to a smile, and Sarah noticed it. "What's up with the smile?" Sarah asked.

"It's just the park. It brings back memories from when I was seventeen," Rory explained.

"What happened at the park when you were seventeen?" Sarah asked, now curious.

"Well, I skipped school one day and got on a bus for New York, the day of my mothers graduation. When I got here, I had no idea how to get to Washington Square Park, but I had to get there. See, I was surprising this kid who had made a huge impression on me before he left Stars Hollow to move here. I showed up at the park and there he was, just reading," Rory explained while keeping her eyes on the park.

"What was his name?" Sarah asked as they turned onto another street.

Rory now looked at Sarah and said, "Jess Mariano." That was all that Rory had to say for Sarah to understand. She had heard a lot about all of the antics that Jess had pulled for and with Rory.

Turning onto the street where the record store is, Rory spotted the same face she had seen when she left her apartment building. The man was leaving the record store, which should have told Rory who it was, but she didn't get it. He walked out too quickly for her to actually see who it was and by the time that they had reached the store he was already around the corner.