Christmas was less then a week away and Rory Gilmore could have sworn she could smell sugarplums dancing through the air as she walked back to her dorm after her final class of the day. Of course she had never smelled a sugar plum before but she ignored that fact as she was in what she considered a whimsical sort of mood. The air was crisp; there was a fresh layer of snow covering the ground, making a satisfying crunching sound under her feet and she had only two days of classes left before she headed home to Stars Hollow. Life was good.
She laughed out loud when strains of "Here comes Santa Clause" came from her pocket. Ignoring the looks she got from less festive people passing by she reached into her pocket for her phone. She fumbled with it for a second due to the fact that her hands were incased in wooly mittens before she managed to flip it open after seeing that it was her mother calling.
"North Poll, Naughty or Nice Department. Which are you?"
"Hmmm, tough call." Her mother paused and Rory knew she was actually considering which category she fell into. "Let's just leave it to Santa's discretion. I'm not above a little bribery after all. There's none of this hot chocolate crap at the Gilmore House; it's tequila all the way. I figure after a couple of shots Santa will be willing to forgive and forget the rather colourful year the Ladies of the house have had and unload the booty."
"You've spent a lot of time considering this, haven't you?" Her daughter asked.
"Hey, when it comes to gifts from a fat, hairy Elf..." all of a sudden her mother was cut off and she could hear arguing in the background.
Rory listened amused as her mother refereed an argument between Michel and Sookie over whether an Angel should adorn the top of the Dragonfly's Christmas tree or a star. Things were getting pretty heated and Rory had to shout several times to drag her mother back to her conversation.
"Sorry, kiddo," Lorelei apologized distractedly. "I was actually calling to tell you that I am planning a Christmas Eve Bash at the house. We're all going to be working like crazy at the Inn on Christmas itself so I figured we would do our own crazy Christmas Eve. Sookie and I have already found replacements for the night so we are free as a bird. Er, Birds I mean."
"Sounds great." Rory said then winced as she heard something crash in the background.
"It will be, Oh God, Sookie just threw the Star against the wall and...OH NO! Michel, NO! He's just bitten the head off the angel and spit it at Sookie! I have to go! Invite whoever you want!"
"How about an Angel holding a star? Rory shouted just as her mother was about to hang up on her.
She caught Lorelei's attention as she could hear the jingle of her mother's earrings against the phone again. "You just might have saved the day Miss. Gilmore!" She said. "I will suggest it to the cannibals here and then whip one up tonight. I think I have your old Barbie Dolls in a box somewhere and I have lot's of glue and sparkles."
"Glad to have averted a possible crisis. I will call you to let you know what time I will be home on Thursday."
Letting herself into the Dorm Suite she shared with Paris Gellar, her roommate from the year before and former Chilton classmate Rory tossed her mittens and bag on the couch on the way to her room.
She almost made it when Paris who was waving a parcel in her face intercepted her. "I heard a knock about half an hour ago. So being the sane person that I am I just assumed it was someone at the door. I mean, that is where people traditionally knock when they wish entrance into a building, is it not?"
She didn't bother to wait for Rory to answer who was busy as it was dodging the bulky parcel Paris was still swinging around. "So, I opened the door, but no one was there but the knocking continued so I opened the door again. Still there was no one there. There was still knocking though so I started looking all over. I thought that maybe we have a faulty water pipe or something. This is a very old building after all. But as I got closer and closer to your room the knocking got louder. So I went in to see what it was. I mean, it was really loud." She said defensively as if Rory might accuse her of snooping.
"Someone was knocking at your window, I could see a hand rapping away on it so I opened it to tell them to use the door if they needed to speak to you so badly. Instead, I got this!" she held up the offending package, "thrown in my face."
Taking the package carefully Rory turned it over and knew immediately who was responsible. Scrawled across the front in red marker was 'Ace'.
Ignoring Paris she ripped it open and cautiously reached inside. She pulled out a very heavy, dark fruitcake. Glancing up at Paris with a puzzled expression she noticed the green script written in icing over the white marzipan top.
Paris noticed at the same time and grabbed it from Rory, reading it out loud. "Ace, party tomorrow night. Eight o-clock. I'll pick you up."
Raising an eyebrow Paris held the cake in the flat of her hand and stared at Rory. "That has got to be the most creative invitation I have ever seen, care to explain?"
Grabbing the cake Rory turned to go into her room but Paris already had her foot in the door before she could close it.
"Huntzberger, right? Logan Huntzberger." Paris asked plopping down on Rory's bed and pinching a piece of marzipan off the edge of the cake. "What's the deal with that?"
"There is no deal." Rory said snatching the fruitcake away and setting it on her desk. "We're friends...well kind of. He was nice to me after Dean broke up with me and his parents are friends of my grandparents. That's all there is to it."
"He's a fox." Paris said surprising Rory. "And loaded. You could do a lot worse."
"Thanks but it's not like that. I mean, it's just gonna be a bunch of his rich, snooty friends drinking over priced drinks with strange names talking about even stranger things." She went over and looked at the fruitcake again. "Besides, I think he's a little young for you Paris. I mean, he can't be older then 24. Not what I would consider a geriatric. I'll check if his grandfather's available.
Sighing deeply Paris flopped down against Rory's pillows and rolled her head over towards her friend. "Leave the snippy comment's to me, Gilmore, it's not your style. Anyway, what happened to Peace on Earth and Good Will to man kind and whatever else it is you people celebrate this time of year?"
Laughing finally, Rory belly flopped onto the bed beside Paris. "You people? That's a rather broad discrimination. Are you feeling left out of the holiday's because Hanukah's been and gone?"
"I'm just saying it would be nice to have gone to the mall and hear a Hanukah Carol." Paris said in her most self-righteous tone.
"Oh, come off it!" Rory smacked her with a stuffed animal. "We're having a Christmas Eve. Party at my house Christmas Eve and you are invited."
"Thank God!" Paris shouted! "My parents are taking a Cruise and it would have been me alone in the house with micro wave dinner!"
Paris stayed to chat for awhile longer but Rory's attention kept slipping away to the fruitcake in the corner and the person who had sent it.