Disclaimer: None of this is mine.
Chapter One: The Rat Pack or Pack Rat?
"Ew, what is this?" Rory asked, picking up some indistinguishable object from the floor. It was covered in dust an inch thick and it smelled mildly of baby puke. Lorelei took it from her daughter's hands and examined it closely.
"Your first baby blanket," Rory looked at it, her nose scrunching up with disgust.
"Mom, have you ever washed this thing?" Lorelei looked up from the blanket, an innocent look plastered on her usually mischievous face.
"Of course I did," She said, smiling at her daughter, but then quickly added, "Just not too much," Lorelei set it back on the shelf, surveying her current location. Her and Rory were cleaning out their basement and currently had several boxes full of nothing. Rory had found tons of things that could have been put in those boxes, but Rory was growing up, and Lorelei just couldn't face giving away things from her daughter's childhood.
"Mom, you need to give away at least one box of things. We're trying to clean the basement! Why are you such a pack rat?"
"Because there were no spots left in the Rat Pack. Frankie just couldn't accept me,"
"Mom!" Lorelei sighed, grabbing the nearest object to her. It was a toy of Rory's, a small doll wearing a dainty blue dress.
"Here, just take my heart too," Rory took the doll from her mother's hand and threw it into a box. She turned to her mother, a huge smile on her face.
"See, now doesn't that feel good?" Lorelei put her hand to her chest, a look of mock terror on her face.
"Rory, what is this stabbing sensation in my chest?"
"Mom,"
"My heart is breaking this very moment," Rory grabbed two toys next to the now vacant spot of the doll and threw them into the box.
"Ha ha, very funny. You're going to thank me one day for this Mom. Just think of all the things you'll be able to do down here once it's clean,"
"Like what?" Rory thought for a moment, chewing her bottom lip mindlessly.
"Well, you could make an exercise room,"
"Huh, and that would be for who?" Rory smiled.
"Okay, point taken, no work out room. I'm sure you could think of something though,"
"I could make it into a secret hide out," Lorelei said slowly, looking around, "Like a bunker, except without the bombs,"
"Yes, bombs are not good," Lorelei turned to her daughter, grinning from ear to ear.
"So what do you think? A secret room?" Rory picked up the famous fuzzy clock from her first day at Chilton and held it over the box.
"Just do this and it's a deal," Lorelei sucked in her breath, contemplating the pros and cons of losing the no longer functioning clock with a faulty alarm. She finally nodded, taking the clock from Rory and dropping it into the box.
"I'm getting a secret room!"
"You got kicked out? This is Groton dude, no one gets kicked out," Logan looked at his friend Collin and shrugged. This was his fourth boarding school, and he had somehow managed to get himself expelled. He was surprised himself, Groton was tough on its students, expecting nothing but the best. They wouldn't let any student give up, but apparently Logan was considered a lost cause.
"What did you do?" Logan sat down on his couch, beginning to explain the reason for his expulsion.
"Well, they caught me and Allison," Collin's eyes widened, his mouth agape.
"They caught you?"
"Yeah,"
"I told you that they'd find out. Seriously, having a rendezvous in the cafeteria after hours, you're just asking for trouble," Logan shook his head, still reeling from the news.
"I don't know what the big deal is. We were only eating some cereal. That stuff costs like, 20 cents. Who cares?"
"Uh, well, you broke in after hours,"
"So what," Collin couldn't help but smile at his friend's nonchalantness. He was the epitome of cool, nothing fazed Logan Huntzberger.
"So, what school is going to expel you next?" Logan smiled.
"Chilton," Collin nodded, surprised by the school.
"A prep school?"
"Yeah, the parents have decided that me and boarding school don't mix. They want me in a more regulated environment," Collin laughed, shaking his head.
"They really think a prep school will be more regulated? Don't they realize that you make the most disciplined and regulated places become lax and loose?"
"Apparently not, but they are about to find out,"
"Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee!" Lorelei exclaimed, sitting at the counter in Luke's Diner. Luke walked past her, an agitated look on his face.
"You do realize that saying the word twenty million times won't make it come any faster?"
"Yeah, but it sure is fun,"
"What's fun?" Rory said, sitting next to her mother.
"Oh! Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee!" Luke spun around, an exasperated look on his face.
"You already said that!"
"Yeah, I know, but I just did it for Rory," Luke sighed, pouring them each a cup of steaming hot coffee. Lorelei smelled the aroma and smiled, warming up her hands with the cup. She looked up at Luke, a dreamy look in her eyes.
"You're pretty,"
"You're creepy, now what do you want for breakfast?"
"A blueberry muffin," Lorelei said quickly.
"Me too!" Luke walked away, the order already being taken care of. Rory turned to her mother, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.
"So mom, how's your secret room going?"
"Quite well, so far I've put up one poster,"
"A poster? That's all you've done?"
"Well, it is a Liza Minelli poster,"
"Liza Minelli, didn't she beat her husband?" Luke asked, placing a muffin in front of each Gilmore.
"Yeah, but she sure sings a mean New York, New York,"
"Now where is this infamous poster?"
"In her secret room aka the basement," Rory replied, garnering a glare from her mother.
"Rory, why did you tell him? It's supposed to be a secret, hence the name. Now Luke knows!"
"Why do you have a secret room?" Lorelei thought for a moment, realizing that there really was no use for it.
"Uh, in case...in case I get robbed,"
"If you get robbed they're going to go in the basement," Lorelei pouted, picking up her muffin.
"I'm not talking to you anymore," Rory smiled, enjoying the early morning banter, something that she had grown quite accustomed too. She looked down at her watch, disappointed to see that she already had to go.
"Ugh, I have to go," Lorelei quickly put down her muffin, standing up.
"Okay, kiss," Rory kissed her mother on the cheek and then headed out to the bus stop.
When Rory arrived at Chilton the news of the new kid was already front page. Everywhere people were whispering, the magic of a new student entrancing the entire school. Rory remembered when she was the new kid and was quite happy that it wasn't her. It had been hard when she had first come and she was more than happy to let someone else take on the new kid persona. Rory saw Paris immediately, her long blonde hair pulled severely off her face.
"Have you heard?" Paris asked, her voice harsh and sharp.
"Heard what?"
"About the new kid?"
"Oh, uh, no I haven't,"
"Well, apparently this is his fifth school?"
"His fifth school?" Paris looked at Rory, an exasperated look on her face.
"Yes, fifth school, he was expelled from the rest, keep up Gilmore!"
"Oh,"
"Great, this is just what we need, a trouble maker. And of course he has to be on The Franklin," Rory looked at Paris, confused.
"Wait, why does he have to be on The Franklin?"
"Rory, the new kid is Logan Huntzberger," Rory stopped walking, stunned from Paris's words.
"As in the son of Mitchum Huntzberger?" Paris nodded, a sense of bitterness apparent in the movement.
"And of course that means that he has to be on the paper. He's not going to get editor though, I'll quit before I see that stuck up play boy get my position," Rory began to walk again, curious about Logan.
"I'm sure they won't just give him the editor position," Paris looked at a crowd of girls, an unknown blonde in the midst of them all. Paris stopped walking, shaking her head.
"I wouldn't be so sure Gilmore. This entire school operates with politics, and in the politics of journalism, Logan is up there," Rory looked at the boy who they had just decided was Logan. He looked well groomed and like the perfect society boy, just the type that turned her off.
"Maybe he won't be that bad," Rory said hopefully, but Paris just scoffed at her, shaking her head.
"Don't hold your breath," Paris began to walk and Rory followed her. The arrival of Logan had sure shaken up things at Chilton. Rory figured she'd probably never talk to the kid, but little did she now he'd have a bigger impact on her than she could have ever imagined.
A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope that you enjoyed it. Please review, I love to hear what you think. Feel free to leave me any suggestions, you never know, I might incorporate them in the story!