Chapter 1: Professor?
Rory did a double take while looking at her Yale schedule. Did her Linear Algebra professors name say 'Dugrey?' she thought. Dugrey was a common name right…I mean, there is not way Tristan Dugrey would be able to teach at Yale…while she was still in school…she shook her head and grabbed her things before making her way back to her dorm.
Rory took a deep breath…this was it. For some reason she was nervous about going to her math class…what if it was Tristan. What would she say? She shook those thoughts and opened the door before stepping in and taking a seat in the middle of the room. She took out her notebook and pen and prepared herself for her first math class. About 10 minutes later, when the class was almost full, the door at the bottom of the lecture hall opened. Rory held her breath and tried getting a peek of who was coming through. They had their back turned towards them and was wheeling something in.
A tall young blonde boyish looking male walked in and set his things down before rolling in his briefcase that he had stuck in the door. He had made no move to address the class yet. Rory closed her eyes and almost audibly gasped as she realized who it was. She could recognize him from a mile away. Those piercing blue eyes, the bleach blonde hair. There was no way this was happening, Tristan Dugrey was not her professor.
"Alright Class, how are all of you today?" he asked while looking over at the large room filled with students.
A few murmers of 'heys' and 'goods' were heard. Rory heard a few girls talking about how cute he was…she rolled her eyes, at least that didn't change.
"Good. Lets get started shall we" he said and laughed when he heard groans "I swear, you guys are just like me when I was in school." He commented
Rory smiled, remembering how he was at Chilton. She was slightly thankful he hadn't noticed her yet…she wondered how he would react when he figured out she was in his class.
The lesson went by fast and before she knew it, students were shuffling around getting their belongings together and vacating the lecture hall. She looked down and saw Tristan sitting at his desk, making some notes or writing something down. She took a deep breath and sat at her desk, waiting until everyone was gone before slowly making her way to the aisle and walking down the stairs to where he was sitting.
Tristan was lost in his thoughts. He was writing up lesson plans for the next class and didn't hear the female approaching.
"Tristan" Rory softly called out when she stood in front of his desk
Tristan was confused, a student wouldn't call him by his name? And that voice…it was so familiar. He looked up and his eyes widened when he saw none other than Rory Gilmore standing in front of him with a shy look upon her face.
"Rory?" he croaked out as he dropped his pen
Rory offered him a small smile and nodded "Hey Tristan" she said quietly
"Oh my god." Was all he could say. "Have you been in here all this time?" he asked once he composed himself
Rory nodded "Yeah…I'm taking your class" she said
"What happened to Harvard?" he asked unbelievingly
Rory shrugged "Decided on Yale instead" she simply said
"Wow. This is weird" he remarked
Rory laughed "yeah it is" she nodded "Do you maybe want to get some coffee or lunch?" she asked shyly
Tristan smirked "Mary…asking me out? Is it the teacher student fantasy…I should have known…if you had told me back at Chilton I could have made…" he was interrupted by Rory
"TRISTAN!" she interrupted, blushing furiously making his smirk grow
"Sure, coffee sounds good" he said slightly amused
"When?" she asked
Tristan raised an eyebrow "Eager are we?" he commented
Rory rolled her eyes "Are you going to answer my question bible boy?" she asked
Tristan looked up at her with a smirk while leaning back in his chair "Mary…do you talk to all your professors this way?" he scolded playfully
"Tristan…" Rory whined, irritated now
Tristan laughed "Give me 5 minutes to finish up some paper work. You can do whatever you want…" he said as he looked back at the papers he was filling out earlier.
Rory sighed, she sat down on the chair in front of his desk and pulled out a book, waiting for him to finish. She found that she couldn't concentrate on her book though. She looked over the pages at him…he looked so different. His features were more sculpted, yet he still looked like a greek god as usual.
She broke out of her trance when she heard an amused chuckle coming from him "Did you forget how to read? Because I think you'll need to learn again…at least for my class" he teased
"What?" she asked dumbly
"You've been staring at the same page for over 5 minutes now…" he pointed out as he put his things in his briefcase.
Rory blushed "Lets go" she said, not knowing how to answer that.
"So, how did you become a professor at Yale?! While I'm still in school!" she asked incredulously once they had ordered food.
Tristan laughed "I went to the naval academy after my dad sent me away. As you probably already know, their stuff is pretty intense. They had an accelerated program…I decided to take the plunge. Here I am" he said
Rory looked at him awe. Tristan Dugrey was her teacher. The same Tristan that tortured her at Chilton, the same one that broke into a safe…he was her professor.
"Close your mouth Mary. Its impolite" he teased
"This is just unbelievable. I cant believe you of all people became my professor at Yale" she said
Tristans smile faltered a little "Look Rory…I know I was an ass at Chilton and I'm sorry…but I did care about you, whether you believe it or not" he said sincerely
Rory felt guilty "No Tristan…I didn't mean it like that. Its just, we're the same age…and its just weird you know?" she clarified
"Okay" Tristan nodded "So, what are you majoring in?" he asked
"Journalism" she said happily
Tristan laughed "That definitely has always been your forte." He commented
"I'm not so sure I can take your class anymore…" she confessed
"Why?" he asked confused
"I mean…it would be weird right? You being my professor…and friend…or at least I would like to think of you as my friend. I completely understand if you don't think so considering everything-" she was cut off by Tristan
"Mary…" he interrupted her rant "I'd like to think we're friends too. But I think we could make it work." He said honestly
"Really…" Rory said doubtfully
Tristan nodded "yeah, why not? We can act professional. Not to mention, you cant switch out even if you wanted to. My class is the only one in that time slot." He said
Rory laughed "I guess we'll have to make it work."
"So…you married?" she asked trying to be suble.
Tristan looked up after taking a sip of his coffee and raised an eyebrow "Subtlty was never your strong point" he stated making her blushed "And no, I'm not" he said
"well I just figured…you're a professor at Yale…and you know, people in the military usually…" she stammered making him smile
"relax. But no, I'm not…I guess I havnt found that one yet" he said
Rory nodded understandingly. The next few hours were spent talking about everything they had missed in eachother's lives.
"Well. Its getting late…I better get back" Tristan said glancing at his watch
Rory nodded and stood up from the bench they were sitting on. "Okay. Bye Tristan." She said awkwardly
Tristan chuckled and gave her a peck on the cheek before walking away "I'll see you in class" he said while waving at her.
Rory smiled and shook her head while she walked back to her room.
A/N: Okay, so I'm not so sure about it but I decided to post it anyway. I'm sorry if it sucks…please review and tell me what you think…or if I should continue.