Touch of Hellfire (Original Version)

☕️50☕️

"You little punk," Mom laughed. "Love you, enjoy your date," I smirked and hung up.

"Maybe you should get back out there," Andrea suggested. "Not now," I said, holding the warm mug in my hands. "I think when it comes to college...I should stay single."

"Hmm..okay," Andrea murmured. I could tell by the tone of her voice that she didn't agree with me a hundred percent.

She looked at me. "I get it though, he's the first guy you were truly in love with, it's gonna take a while to truly get over him."

"I'm choosing not to date because the long distance was hard," I told her. "When I went to California..it was temporary...Jess knew I was coming back but when he moved..I didn't know if he was coming back at all..and he didn't tell me he was leaving, I can't wait forever, especially not here."

"He could have told you...instead of you having to hear it from someone else," she murmured. "Yeah," I sighed sipping my cocoa. "I made it with Hershey's syrup," Andrea told me.

***

"So you have officially converted to a sports fan?" Sophia asked me as the two of us sat in her apartment. "I like watching it on TV," I told her. "Let me guess..roommate is having sex and kicked you out?"

"Good thing you live in twenty six or else I'd be eating a donut in a subway station," I laughed.

"So this is officially your hideout for when Andrea is banging her boyfriend?"

"Basically," I laughed as she put on a Mets game. "This one was in 1999," she told me.

We got tacos for our lunch and sat on the couch. "So the Rainbow Room was good wasn't it?" Sophia asked me while the other team were batting.

"Definitely, I knew Claire loved the place, I didn't know she worked there," I laughed.

"She still will be after graduation so I hear," Sophia got the hot sauce to put in her taco. "That's a very hot sauce," I pointed out. "I lived in Peru for two years," she told me. "I'm used to it, would you like me to bless your taco?"

"Let's see how hot it is," I accepted the challenge and bit into it. "Are you okay?" Sophia saw me struggling a little. "I'm fine," I squeaked. "There's cookies and cream ice cream in the bottom drawer of my freezer," she told me. "Thank you!" I ran to the freezer.

That Friday, Grandma was using the house for the Historical Society walkthrough, Grandpa wasn't pleased.

I was a little late as I got stuck on a shift, even though Risa knew Fridays are not my nights. I rang the doorbell and a cheerful woman answered. "Ticket please?"

"Ticket? What ticket?" I asked her. "Oh Heather!" Grandma rushed to the door and pulled me away. "Where were you?!" Mom exclaimed. "Risa stuck me on a shift, they were under staffed and New York during rush hour is hell, I nearly got pulled over by the cops...twice!" I ranted. "You were speeding?" Rory asked me, shocked. "I was trying to get here on time," I sighed.

"Remember Black Friday?" Mom looked at me. "What happened on Black Friday?" Grandma asked me. "People go crazy, especially in Times Square where my job is, sales are on and employees get trampled," I explained.

"That's why you weren't here," Rory sussed out. "And also why your arm was bruised," Mom added.

"It was the worst day ever, I didn't get back home until late," I told her sitting down.

"That's what you wear at work?" Grandpa asked me. "Yes, they don't care what I wear from the waist down," I told him. "What about a mini skirt and no underwear?" Mom joked.

"Lorelai!" Grandma scolded her. "I think bottoms where one can't distinguish whether they have underwear or not are preferable," Rory said.

***

"Alright class," Duff-man addressed us. "All of you did very good on this assignment, but what surprised me was that our freshmen were the best at picking the mistakes out, editorial or otherwise," he motioned to me and Sophia.

The class broke into applause. "Now, this week we'll be focusing on the works of animation, CGI especially, have a good day."

We all got up. "Heather, may I speak to you for a moment?" Duff-man asked me.

I nodded and once everybody left the room he came over to me. "I read your script," he told me. "Although there were a few problems with it."

I bit my lip. "What's wrong with it?"

"First things first, the development of this character, Benny, wasn't very clear nor Hallie, thought they are good and admirable characters, the development wasn't clear enough and the plot of the film is choppy, doesn't run smoothly," he told me.

He saw how down I looked. "Now Heather, I know you can do better than this, I know you've got this but I think you're putting too much stress on yourself."

"Too much?" I wondered. "Yes, your classwork and assignments are superb, don't get me wrong but the pressure that you're under is stunting your creativity," he said. "You're a great student and well capable of making it to Sundance in junior year but you gotta show for it. And take the load off, I know this is Ivy League and it is going to be hard but the stress isn't doing you any favours."

I nodded. "Because the script is fascinating, but rushed, I suggest if you're working on a script, make sure you're doing it because you want to, not obligated to do so."

"Okay, thank you sir," I mumbled. "And remember, take it easy," he advised me.

"I will sir, thank you."