Hey! it's me again, and this fic's better than the first...Rory finally cracks, and throws caution to the wind, employing the first person in her path to help her. Of course it would be Tristan.....but how will it turn out? Between the plane rides, accidents, midnight swims, and more accidents....of the unaccidental kind....some of that good old sexual tension, quirky dialogues and fresh ideas.....enjoy....

luce

All I own's the story bit

so if ya sue me you'll get shit.

That's the lil' disclaimer for ya'll........

Escaping the Inescapable

"an accident is often only a planned mistake."

unknown

It's cool fall outside, a fiery, sparkling, brilliant fall; the kind that chills you with all it's hard jeweled glory, ruby and topaz leaves, sapphire skies, .....

longingly, I stare out the window as the teacher drones on and on about why king henry the eights cut off all his wife's heads.

"Madeleine?" smiles the teacher, a rusty, polite smile.

"Well see, my theory is, that it's like, easier than divorcing, right? I mean, my mom sued my dad like, flat broke; now, suppose you have 4 cars, two beach houses-"

"Thank you Madeleine, that's enough." replied the teacher dourly, cutting her off. Madeleine shrugged and went back to filing her nails.

"Wasn't one of his wives named Mary?" asks Tristan pointedly, looking at me.

I want to bang my head against a desk.

The teacher points to Paris and she pulls out a notebook full of an essay answer which she promptly starts to rattle off.

Outside, the fall trembles and chills without me, and sadly I stare as one golden leaf falls to the ground slowly.

Everything's going as well as can go considering everything's so messed up.

Thing's haven't been the same since Dean. I mean......I couldn't say it. I don't know why. Feeling as lost as lost could be, I wandered down the hallways of disillusionment and sadness, feeling my tentative attempt at life had not been good enough. Kissing the jerk sitting a couple of seats from me made it even more complicated........and as hard as my mother tries, there's things I can't tell...can't explain. A feeling that I want to escape, escape the predictable routine, the plaid skirt...the mindless coffee absorption. This sudden feeling shocks me. I'm a good person...I'd never do anything as insensitive as run. Then why do I have this feeling, this desire to just stand up and walk out?

I'm not a romantic, I'm a realist...anyone could tell you that. But the way today is feeling, a sense of autumn sweeps invisibly through the closed window and takes me over. Blood stirs in my veins, fiery and rusty, full of an age old instinct to disappear into the unknown. But where will I go?

And most importantly, who will I go with?

Stop it Rory, I scream at myself silently. Are you out of your mind? This is not you!

But the mahogany and chalk dust that imprisons me only draws closer, and I can't breathe. I don't want to hurt my mother....I don't want to.....I can't go with Lane. She'd be punished forever. I can't take....anyone else....

With a start, I feel a pang of pain when I think of Dean, sitting beside me in the car; we could've drove off, come back in one day. I'd go anywhere with him.

Not anymore.....

A desperation settles over me, then, a quiet determination. I can do this. And I'll have to.

I think my brain's stopped working, because I don't care anymore; I'm living in a strange, new world, a world that's frighteningly free and scary, but I don't want to leave. Funny how far you can get when you don't care anymore.

The bell rings, and I know I should be leaving promptly; but, I don't want to do what I know I should be.

I sit and stare out the window a few minutes more, and before I'm just about to snap back to it, I feel a presence next to me.

I wish the floor would open up and swallow me, when he speaks,

"Hey Mary, waiting for me?"

"Yeah, waiting for you to disappear." I mutter, and he grins.

"Adoring as usual. I can't take all the love. What's wrong with you? You usually dash out of here like you're late for some fatal appointment."

"None of your business," I slip under my breath, but he just leans closer and leers.

"Waiting till everyone clears out so we can do it on top of the teacher's desk?"

Frustrated and annoyingly blushed, I turn around and eyeball him. Giving him a seductive smile, I lean closer.

"Yes. You read my mind. How did you do it? Or did you instinctively know I wanted you like that?"

For once, he has nothing to say, and I'm amazed at how quickly the power switched.

" I think we should go ahead. I might even stop calling you Mary afterwards." he managed after a moment.

"Yes," I whispered, grabbing the remainder of my books. "Unfortunately, you forget your flavor of the day is waiting for you by the lockers. Hurry, the special today is strawberry chapstick and whatever she ate for lunch."

Hoisting up my backpack, I marched out the clasroom, leaving him staring.

When I step up to the bus stop, I suddenly and forcefully realize how much I don't want to get on.

Suppose you went somewhere else, just for a day. It's the weekend, you won't miss anything.....don't worry, don't worry, was playing over and over in my mind. Chilled, I shook it out of my head.

The car is full of broad, deep curves that intrigue me. The moment that it rolls up and I see his face, a madness I can't explain fills me, and all of a sudden I'm walking towards it.

Surprised, he looks at me but says nothing.

He opens the door, as if reading my mind; I'm confused but I'm sure, and blocking out the pain of everything, I forget it all.

"Want a ride?" he grins, and I don't say yes or no. I just climb in. Slinging my bag into the backseat, I take off my blazer and then my shirt, leaving me in a white wifebeater; the faint dry, swallowing sound he makes threatens to bring a tiny smile to my face.

"Where to?" he asks, and stares with unguarded curiosity, examining me with no vestige of shyness.

It's a game, and if I'm going to win I have to stay one step ahead all the time.

"Anywhere the hell you want." I answer carelessly, and turn up the radio.

It's a Chrysler convertible, newest model, huge and roomy; the wind blows through my hair, sifting it's wild fingers through it and flinging it everywhere as we race down the interstate. The leather of the seat sticks to my bare thighs underneath my skirt; suddenly, I want to tilt my head back and laugh. I watch the traffic backup on the opposite direction lanes, and feel free. It's just me, and a beautiful boy on a jeweled fall afternoon; wind in our hair and misery left behind with every mile we drive, far away from those poor, pathetic people returning from their daily grind. The late afternoon sunshine sets his hair on fire, melting it into pure gold, and we say nothing at all, drinking in freedom and possibility.

We're still driving and I still don't know where we're going; but soon we'll know. Twilight's slowly stealing over the sky, and in the gathering dusk his eyes glow deep blues and purples.

And I don't care anymore.

Part 1

So, what didja think? Lots more bout to happen, I'm playing out this idea cause it's probly never been done, expect it to get sweeter and more frustrating.....it might turn to R, we'll see how far my imagination wanders. Can't repress that artistic license.....Review or flame if you please.