Dinner was as drab an affair as Rory had expected it to be, with Tara talking nonstop about her honeymoon and the post-wedding plans that she had made with her future husband. In Rory and Lizzy, Tara had found two people who had not heard her stories countless times before and she was not going to let the opportunity slide.

While Lizzy nodded politely and listened to Tara rave on, Rory was getting annoyed by Tara’s bragging. It was already difficult to sit on that table under the scrutinizing eye of her mother and the disappointed look on her father’s face. To have Tara throw her good life in her face was unbearable.

“Can we at least change the channel to something we all can watch?” Rory nodded at the TV, which was tuned to some financial channel that Tara had wanted to watch. Tara stopped in the middle of the story and Rory realized that she had spoken out much louder than she had intended.

“All right, Your Highness,” Tara smirked and started flipping through the channels. She knew that Rory hated being called that. Her mother let out a grunt, shook her head, and went back to her meal.

“Ah. Yeah, we can watch this. I just love this band.” Tara put the remote down and sat with an amused look on her face. Rory’s breath got stuck in her throat and her heart crumbled as she saw Arsen Ford on the screen.

The award show. The big gig. Damn you, Tara. Rory knew that Tara had purposely put it on. There was no way she was a fan of Arsen’s band. She was usually a fan of whatever music her boss liked.

“Say, Rory, isn’t that the band that you were chasing after the other day? When you passed out ?” Tara asked with pretend innocence.

Her mother stopped eating, looked at the TV, and then back at Rory.

“These degenerates? You wanted to chase after men like these?” she said. Rory remained silent. Her hunger had completely disappeared.

“Not everyone can have high standards, Ma. Not all men can be as awesome as my Paul,” Tara said out loud while chewing her food.

Lizzy looked at Rory in confusion. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she did not risk speaking out loud among strangers.

“At least they play real instruments, unlike all that computer music that is on the radio all the time,” her father remarked and then chuckled, but quickly lost his look of amusement when Rory’s mother gave him a stern look.

Tara had a huge grin on her face and was staring directly at Rory, who chose to ignore everything and simply stare at the TV.

Arsen looked as dashing as he always did, perhaps more. Rory realized that there was no sign of Mickey, and Arsen was singing himself. That’s strange, she thought, distracting herself from whatever it was her family was discussing. In another time, she would’ve loved to see him play and sing, but not anymore. She’d had enough of this band, this city, and most of all, of her family.

It took her a moment to realize that Arsen was wearing one of her designs. The space camper van T-shirt that she had gifted him in Montcove. Why is he wearing my T-shirt? Surely he has a gazillion other clothes in his wardrobe. He did say that he liked the design a lot, but still…

If there was any subtle intention behind it, she didn’t want to think about it. In her mind, all of these celebrities were delusional, selfish people and she didn’t want to have anything to do with them. She had enough problems of her own already.

“He is kind of sexy, isn’t he?” Tara said to her in a low voice. “So, which one of these guys were you running after, Rory?”

“She wasn’t...” Lizzy started but Rory stopped her.

“Don’t talk of something you don’t know anything about.” Rory tried to speak in a calm voice, doing her best to hide her rising anger.

“Oh, it’s like that, huh? Why don’t you tell us the true story then, Rory?” Tara sat back with her arms crossed.

“You wouldn’t understand,” Rory replied.

“Oh. So the Ivy League-educated, one of the best lawyers in the city, me, would not understand? Then enlighten us, you wise one. Enlighten this uneducated fool,” Tara mocked her.

“I’ll see you all in the morning,” Rory said to her mother, and without acknowledging anyone else in the room, she walked out, Lizzy following her after a moment. It wasn’t until they reached Rory’s bedroom that Lizzy spoke.

“What were they talking about, Rory?”

“Let’s forget all this.”

“No, Rory. What was all that Tara was…”

“Lizzy.” Rory put her finger on Lizzy’s mouth. “Just one more day here and all we have suffered so far will be history, okay? Let’s never talk of this ever again.”

Lizzy looked like she wanted to say something but didn’t. She saw the serious look on Rory’s face and knew instantly that she was in no mood to talk. For Rory, it was a long night. There were too many things going on in her mind.

Tara had humiliated her ever since she had come back to LA. Her parents, as usual, had not said a word against their favorite child. But Tara’s right. I did make a fool of myself. There’s no doubt that people in their social circles will be talking about it.

It was strange that Rory was feeling claustrophobic in her own, old bedroom. She would’ve given anything to be back in her grandmother’s house, but before that, she had a wedding to attend. She was thankful that she had Lizzy around to keep her company.

“Lizzy, will you help me get ready for the wedding tomorrow?” Rory whispered, not sure if Lizzy was awake still.

“Of course,” Lizzy replied, half-asleep. Rory smiled. Lizzy was all that she had left in the world in that moment. She might be silly, but at least she genuinely cares.

But why did Arsen wear my T-shirt? The thought that she had been avoiding for the last two hours crept back into her head. At the same time, she knew that she wasn’t going to get any answer to that. He did what he did and that’s not for me to think about.

What she had to focus on were her finances. She was going to ask her dad for the money tomorrow morning. There was no point delaying it anymore and she knew it. The day after, she would be off to Montcove and then it would be too late.

Let’s just get done with the damn wedding and be on our way. Focus, Rory, focus.