Coffee at Luke's: An Unauthorized Gilmore Girls Gabfest (Smart Pop Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

satisfy.
     

Friendship
     
    Their differences actually turn out to be much less crucial to the course of their relationship than their similarities do. If they weren’t so much alike, Paris and Rory wouldn’t spend so much time at each other’s throats—but they also wouldn’t be such good friends.
     
    No character exists in a bubble, and Paris and Rory each had friends before the other came along. They might have been as different as night and day, but Louise and Madeline stuck by Paris during their time at Chilton. Despite being boy-crazy and more than a little flighty, Louise and Madeline were loyal friends. They never made a move on Paris’s crush, Tristan, even though he’s just the type of guy they would normally have gone after. And even though Rory and Madeline seemed to be forming a tentative friendship, Madeline was quick to ignore Rory when Paris and Rory were fighting. Yet Paris’s friendship with the two clearly didn’t run very deep, and after Chilton Louise and Madeline virtually disappeared. At Yale, Paris was never seen with any friends other than Rory, and her only other consistent companion was her on-again, off-again boyfriend Doyle.
     
    Rory’s support system has consisted largely of Lorelai and Lane. Lorelai is both mother and best friend, something that works out surprisingly well, on the whole. Lorelai clearly doesn’t understand the complicated friendship between Paris and Rory, but makes every effort to be supportive, whether by hating Paris on Rory’s behalf, or inviting her to stay at the Independence Inn or go to a Bangles concert when they are getting along. Rory also has Lane, the only person her own age that, in high school at least, Rory seemed to be friends with (not counting Dean or Jess, both of whom were newcomers to Stars Hollow). Lane and Rory started out as close friends, but their friendship started to deteriorate after Rory transferred to Chilton. Lane may be Rory’s best friend, but Rory is almost completely unaware of what is going on in her life. Even that first year at Chilton, Rory knew more about Paris—her supposed enemy—than she did her best friend.
     
    Like it or not, Paris and Rory have much more in common with each other than they do with any of their other friends. Louise, Madeline, Lane, and even Lorelai don’t really understand the intensity and drive that both Rory and Paris possess. Lane and Rory bond over music, but it’s hard to imagine Lane discussing Kafka or Tolstoy with Rory. Louise and Madeline have even less in common with Paris. Given the circumstances, it seems like Paris and Rory should have been instant friends. Neither had anyone else in their life who shared so many interests and qualities. But life is never that easy. Paris is too competitive to let anyone stand in her way, and she’s not going to waste time getting to know her competition first. Between Paris’s competitive streak and Rory’s disastrous first day at Chilton, they were off to a rocky start. But thanks to what occasionally felt like a Chilton-wide conspiracy to force them into the same group for one class project or another (even Headmaster Charleston went out of his way to force the two of them to cooperate), Paris and Rory couldn’t escape the fact that they were going to have to work together. And eventually, they began to thaw.
     
    The Bangles concert is the first time that we saw real overtures of friendship, but given Paris’s mercurial temper, the friendly periods between the two never lasted for long. Without meaning to, Rory continually made the relationship worse. She set Paris up with Tristan without telling her—a nice thought, but one that blew up in her face. Rory outshone Paris without even trying to, and all of Paris’s hard work only left her alone and frustrated. Rory had a boyfriend and supportive family. Rory got into the Puffs without even knowing who they were and Paris, who had been trying to do the same for years, was forced to ask for