Title: American Beauty

Chapter: One
Authors: Bent137 and ChristineCS

Disclaimer: Neither of us claims ownership on any of the Gilmore Girls' characters mentioned.

Summary: AU. Paris deals with the type of competition that comes tall, dark and handsome.

Author's Note: Yes, this is loosely based on the movie American Beauty.

*

Paris Gellar shifted positions in her chair for what had to have been the hundredth time. She looked up at her companion and pointed the tip of her pencil to the paper in front of them. "You call this an article, Louise?" Paris rolled her eyes and allowed herself to scoff a little as she reached for her red correcting pen.

Louise Grant rolled her eyes, flipping her frosty blonde hair behind her shoulder. "Well, does it not contain words?"

Paris shot her a glance before uncapping her pen. "Words, Yes. Sense, well that would be a resounding no." Paris moved her pen over the paper, changing words here and there, separating run on sentences, and capitalizing what needed to be capitalized.

"I wasn't aware I had to be grammarly correct," Louise replied absently, checking out the new arrivals coming in the door. "That's your job as editor."

Paris chose not to answer that question and turned her head towards the door to see what Louise was looking at. Her mother and father stood there. Her mother looking overbearing and cold as always, and her father looking uncomfortable.

"Hello? Are you done yet, Paris?" Louise asked. "Because I would like to continue my social life within the next lifetime."

Paris frowned and turned her attention back to Louise. "Fine, yeah you can leave. I'll see you tomorrow."

Louise almost commented on Paris' odd behavior but then decided not to test her good fortune of being released from the day's lecture. "Fine. See ya, Paris." She stood up and made a beeline for where Tristan DuGrey and Michael Stevens were, she wasn't one to test her luck.

Paris waited until the other girl had left before addressing her parents. "What do you want?" she asked looking at her mom.

Evelyn Gellar smoothed back her dirty blonde hair before replying to her daughter. "We're here to make an appearance, honey. The most influential families are here tonight and we want to make sure you don't screw up!" She turned to her husband, who looked uncomfortable and meek. "Sheldon, stand up straight, the DuGrey's are watching."

Paris rolled her eyes as she folded up Louise's article and slipped it into her tiny handbag. "Fine, I'll mingle. That's what you want isn't it?"

Evelyn reached out and fixed her daughter's hair. "Yes, and smile. You'll repel people with that scowl of yours."

That only made Paris scowl more, "Fine." She walked past them and scanned the room for someone she knew.

The event was probably the most boring thing she'd had to attend in her life. Yet she mingled, and she tried to smile. She even found a few people she could hold an intelligent conversation with. Paris contemplated the evening as she walked into her room, slipping off the restricting heels on her feet and tossing them lightly into her closet. She grabbed her pajamas off of their hook and walked into her bathroom. She emerged moments later, teeth brushed, face washed, and clothes changed. She hung the dress she'd been wearing earlier in a garment bag to be dry cleaned before stepping out onto her balcony.

The cold cement numbed her bare feet and the wind whipped her hair in her eyes. She sighed looking out over the west side of the Gellar estate. She could make out Tristan's house from here, barely thanks to the manor next door, but the lights in its signature tower gave it away. She had thought maybe that was where his room was. It seemed like him to want to be on top of the world looking down on everyone. She smiled a little at that thought then turned around and walked back inside her room, shutting and locking her balcony doors behind her. She then pulled the curtains closed and climbed into bed.

Jess Mariano sighed, the dark night coming up empty through his telescope. It was too bad, because tonight he longed for escape tonight. Tonight. The first night back into his parent's cold house and presence. It had been nice, though he'd never admit it to anyone ever, to live in the warm and loving town of Stars Hollow. But, like everything else in life, nothing lasted forever.

He swiveled his telescope to the right, spying the neighbor's house. A flash of moment caught his eye and narrowed in on it. That's when he saw her. She wasn't beautiful by any conventional means but she had presence. And loneliness, a kind that seemed to mirror his own. When she went inside, he felt this inexplicable sense of loss.

*

Louise leaned against the wall as she took a sip of her water, and looked sideways at Paris. "What's wrong with you? Did you hear about the scandal-heavy?"

Paris cast a glance at Louise out of the corner of her eye and adjusted her books, digging into her locker for another pen. Her other one had just started to run out of ink. "Nothing's wrong, and did I hear about what?" She looked at Louise confused.

Louise sighed, for Paris was one always out of the loop. "Your neighbor."

"Mr Murphy?" she asked as she shut her locker. "What about him? He lives practically alone except for his maids and is about eighty-nine."

"The Marianos," Louise said, agitated. "God, don't you even know who your own neighbors are?"

"I've never really cared. Neither side has given us the time of day." Paris contemplated it more as she walked a bit away from her locker waiting for Louise to follow her. "Wait. I think I met the Mariano's once. I was only ten if I remember right. They were two very strange people."

She followed Paris, "Yes, well their son is back."

"They have a son?" Paris paused outside the doorway to Mr. Medina's class.

"Yeah. He's our age, apparently they booted him out a few years ago," Louise paused thoughtfully. "No one knows where. My bet's a mental institute."

Paris opened the door to the classroom and walked in, "Frankly Louise, I don't really care." She stopped suddenly and Louise ran into her back. Paris couldn't take her eyes off of the dark haired boy sitting in her seat. She quickly regained composure and stalked over to him. She glared down at him tapping her foot impatiently on the tiled floor. "Excuse me, you're in my seat."

Jess studied her under hooded eyes. "Mr. Medina told me that there was no assigned seating." She was getting angry, he could tell. The girl was kind of cute when she was angry. "And, frankly, I don't see any mark of propriety on the seat. Thus making it, not your seat."

Paris fumed, and though she tried to hide it it showed. He eyes widened, then narrowed with an intense look and her nostrils flared a bit, "I have been sitting in that seat since the first day of class. It is in prime position to utilize the acoustics of the room providing in optimum hearing of lectures with an unobscured view of the blackboard for taking notes." She huffed a little and stamped her foot on the tiled floor as though to make a point.

He was in hot water, but this could be fun. "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, other people would like the prime position. Especially people who just arrived and need the position to catch up on all the work they have missed. It might just make it easier on those people."

Paris frowned, it was clear the imbecile was not about to move. She'd just have to be sure she got to class extra early the next day. "I will relinquish it for today, but you should be plenty caught up tomorrow. Consider this your one favor." She slid into the seat behind him, glancing at Louise who was sitting next to her.

Louise leaned over and lowered her voice to a whisper. "I told you. Mental institute."

Paris leaned towards her and whispered back, "That is him? That is the Mariano kid?"

Louise rolled her eyes, "Did I tell you about any other new kids?"

Paris went quiet and sat back straight as class began. She kept staring at the back of his head wondering how she could have missed that before.

*

The hall was fairly quiet; everyone else had left almost 10 minutes ago. Paris approached her locker and opened it. She pulled two books and a notebook out of her locker and stuck them in her bag. She counted her books and notebooks and came up with one missing. She sifted through them again wondering what she had missed. It was her English notebook. She dug into her locker looking for it, but her locker was nearly empty anyways and it wasn't there. Mentally cursing herself she zipped up her backpack and slammed her locker door shut. She looked up and down the hall, no sign of Louise, which meant most likely she'd be a little late meeting her. Probably making out with some jock by the locker rooms. Paris slung her backpack over her shoulder and hurried to Mr. Medina's room. She was disappointed when she got there however, the door was shut and the lights off, he'd already left for the day. Paris turned and went back to her locker to wait for Louise. She set her bag at her feet and leaned against the wall to wait. She watched the few people that were left head for the doors. She was surprised when she saw Tristan DuGrey come from down the other hall and open his locker; he pulled something out and shut it quickly, as he headed for the door. Paris cast her glance the other way down the hall and was relieved to see Louise's familiar blonde head bowed down examining her nails as she walked towards Paris.

Louise looked past Paris' shoulder to watch Tristan's retreating figure. "That boy looks just as good going as he does coming." She shifted her attention reluctantly to her friend. "So anyway, I learned some more stuff about your new boyfriend."

Paris cast Louise a scathing glance, "He's not my boyfriend." She pushed off from the locker and began to walk towards the doors.

Louise rolled her eyes, as she followed Paris out the door. "Crush. Whatever. Same difference, Paris."

Paris turned to look at Louise, "I do not have a crush on him!" She pulled out her keys and walked towards her car. "My place again?"

Louise groaned. "Again? We just studied yesterday." She waved off the comment before Paris could break into a tirade. "Fine. But if we have to do this can't we make it, like, a group effort?"

Paris gestured towards Louise's bag, which she knew contained her cell phone. "Fine, call Madeline see if she wants to come," Paris said stopping to wait for an answer.

Louise shrugged. "Sounds fine to me."

"Alright call her see if she needs a ride," Paris walked over and leaned against her car to wait for Louise to finish.

Louise pulled out her navy blue cell phone, chosen so that it'd match her uniform, and pressed the button that'd automatically hook her up with Madeline's number. "Mads?"

"Louise?" Madeline Lynn replied, snapping her gum. "Why are you calling? I'm only on the other side of the parking lot."

She held her breath and counted to five before continuing. "We're doing a study session at Paris'. Don't forget my Yummy Berry lip gloss and my Mental Black nail polish."

"But Louise you all read...Oh!" Madeline remembered the code. Yummy Berry was Tristan's name and the second one was harder. But rumor was that the new kid was in a mental institute and he had black hair! Ah, yes. "Got it. Consider it passed along."

"Thanks," Louise replied before shutting off her cell phone. It'd be so much easier if Paris would allow co-ed studying instead of doing all this sneaking around.

Paris looked at Louise and snapped at her, "So is she coming? Does she need a ride?"

Louise shook her head. "Yes, she's coming. No, she doesn't need a ride."

"Great," Paris said opening her door and climbing into her car, "Get in." She put the keys in the ignition and turned it on.

To Be Continued…