A/N: So here's an idea I had...Addison mentioned in Grey's Anatomy that she grew up in Connecticut, and so why not Hartford? And why not at the same school as Lorelai, who is her age. I posted it in the Gilmore Girls section because it's got more people from Gilmore Girls (Lorelai, Emily, Richard, Christopher) than Grey's Anatomy. (only Addison)
Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls or Grey's Anatomy. They belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino and Shonda Rhimes, respectively. Also, the title of this story comes from the song "We Won't Need Legs to Stand" by Sufjan Stevens
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"Lorelai Victoria Gilmore."
Lorelai sat up straight. She peered forward at her teacher. She had been focused on the note Christopher had given her. There were benefits in their last names. It was the first day of school. It was hot. The fan in their room had broken. She was sweltering and she was supposed to pay attention to her English class?
"Could you please pay attention and welcome our new student? Addison Forbes Montgomery. She's just moved here from New Haven."
Lorelai gave a glance to the student up front. Red hair. Glasses. Braces. Appropriately wearing her uniform skirt with the correct hemming and the right number of buttons on her shirt. Lorelai smiled, possibly out of charity, and went back to reading the note under her copy of The Grapes of Wrath. Lorelai's own skirt was several inches too high. This was the one she hid from her mother, as the rest of her skirts were outrageously long. Her shirt was missing a front button, and had a pink stain on the sleeve from the one time the maid messed up the laundry.
Christopher tapped her sleeve and passed her a new note.
She's kind of hot.
Lorelai was surprised. Quickly, she found a pen and scribbled back.
The new girl? Really?
Imagine her without the glasses and braces and in ten years.
Lorelai squinted as she took a seat a row over and a few seats up.
Sorry, I can't see it. Maybe because I'm not a testosterone-driven male.
Don't worry. She won't be hot anytime soon.
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Lunch would still be the worst. Addison hated lunch. It was fine when she had been in New Haven, because she had had Marcia and Caroline there. But here, she knew no one. She was the freak. Glasses and braces. Stupid red hair. She had already made a fool of herself in Chemistry, when she had mixed up endothermic and exothermic reactions. She stood there with her plate of spaghetti and a roll. All of the tables held at least six people, and the room was crowded as it was. There was nowhere to sit.
"Oh, God."
Addison turned around only to slip. Her plate flew up and fell back down, not breaking thankfully. Her lunch was ruined though. She started to pick up the plate and stray noodles when another hand fell in the mix. It was that one girl from her English class this morning. Laura…Lorelai.
"Thanks." Addison barely got that out. She was so nervous.
"No problem. Sorry about your lunch. Here. Take mine. I'll go through the line again."
"No. I'm fine. I'm not hungry."
"Nonsense. Besides, it gives me an excuse to get a cup of coffee from the side."
"I'm fine. Really. I was just leaving."
"With food?"
"I was going to take it up to the counter."
Lorelai picked up her plate of food and started weaving through the crowd. Addison turned around and walked out the cafeteria doors. Lorelai grabbed her arm right as Addison was pushing the door open.
"I'm serious. Here, come sit."
Addison found herself at a table with several other people. Her head started to spin. She felt like throwing-up.
"This is Addison, everyone. She's new. She's eating with us today." Lorelai turned around and tracked back towards the line.
The boy Addison remembered sitting behind Lorelai in English nodded. "I'm Christopher. Hayden. Christopher Hayden."
"Maeve White."
"Karen McGregor."
"Andrew Swenson."
"Sarah Reid."
Addison nodded slowly. She didn't want to eat. Luckily, no one was making her talk.
"Can you believe that Gina and Peter are together?" Maeve twirled spaghetti as she spoke, placing it neatly in her mouth.
Sarah shook her head furiously. "They hated each other for all of sophomore year, and suddenly they're dating. What a summer I am sure they had."
Andrew turned towards Addison. "You're in my Chemistry class, right?"
Addison nodded. Her face turned a deep red.
Karen spoke up. "You guys have Mr. Pellam, right?"
Andrew nodded. Karen turned to Addison.
"He's going to seem like a total ass the first few weeks of school. Don't let that fool you. He gets much better once you hit October."
"Okay." Addison said slowly.
"And he says he gives a quiz every day. But he forgets by mid-semester and no one bothers to remind him. And the quizzes aren't hard. Like, one of them asked us to name a few elements. It didn't matter which ones. Just a few. Stuff like that. I never did homework last year and I managed an A- in his class."
Addison knew that regardless of what Karen was saying; she'd do all of her homework. It was all she had to do anyway. Besides band rehearsals, she'd never been one for social events.
Lorelai got back with more spaghetti and a steaming Styrofoam cup. Christopher laughed and took it from her.
"No coffee for you, Miss Gilmore." He raised it to his lips and Lorelai yelped.
"Christopher! Oh my God. Stop that."
"Only if you give me a kiss first."
Lorelai sighed and leaned over her chair. She pecked him on the cheek and snatched the coffee from him.
"Cheater."
"Brilliant."
Andrew groaned. "God, get a room you two."
Lorelai shrugged. "We aren't doing anything."
"Yet."
Maeve, eager to change the subject, turned to Lorelai. "Are Emily and Richard having their annual 'back to school' bash this year?"
"That's why it's annual. It's in like two weeks. She's already planning it."
"I vote we have a side-party," Andrew supplied. "I can get my hands on a bit of wine."
"I can get some champagne." Christopher volunteered.
"We can't get more than buzzed. My parents would notice."
"Please, they'll be drunk themselves. The only one who seems to have an unbelievable tolerance for alcohol is-"
"Emily," Lorelai cut in. "And don't worry. If we're in the pool house she won't notice."
Addison couldn't believe they were talking about drinking. Alcohol. Addison had never had more than a sip of wine. Last year, she had had a glass of champagne for New Years.
"God, Addison probably thinks we're a bunch of drunks."
"We aren't really, I swear. It's only at this party. And the start-of-summer one. The rest are usually okay."
"So what do your parents do for a living?"
"They're both lawyers."
Karen laughed. "Ah, so your father is the William Montgomery my dad's been hyped up over. He's a lawyer too. My mother stays at home."
"Insurance business," Christopher stated.
"Doctor."
"Politician."
"Male stripper," Lorelai said without skipping a beat. The table erupted in laughter. Addison wasn't completely sure if Lorelai was kidding or not.
"Her father works with mine at the insurance company. Don't believe a word she says," Christopher clarified.
The bell rang. Maeve cursed. Hundreds of chairs scraped on tile as lunch ended. Addison took her plate over to the counter and trudged to her locker. She picked up her Pre-Calculus book and checked the handwritten schedule to see where her class was. Room M34. M...M...she checked the room numbers nearby. All were just numbers. Where would an M be? M for...Math? The math building. Math wing? Addison should've taken the map she was offered, who cared if it made her look like a freak. She thought back to the lunch conversation. She would never be friends with these people. They were nice and funny and smart, but they weren't the kind of people Addison could talk to. Besides, she had simply been Lorelai's charity case today. Tomorrow she would have to find another place to sit.
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A/N: So that's a bit of it. What do we think? It's going to take place completely in Lorelai and Addison's past. No present-day stuff.
