AU. I love the idea of Jess at Chilton and I had something I wanted to play with.

Story: Jess finds himself - reluctantly - intrigued by transfer student Rory. As he gets to know her, he realizes her intelligence and wit, making it difficult to ignore his intrigue any longer.

"Rory?"

"Y-yes," she stammered, nodding at the teacher after he pronounced her nickname correctly. She was obviously nervous as she stood in front of a class of sixty pairs of eyes boring into her. Jess Mariano, watching from afar, couldn't blame her; he wasn't one for that much attention himself.

Mr. Medina cleared his throat as he flitted his attention up to his students. "Alright class, this is Rory Gilmore, a new student who just transferred in from Stars Hollow High. Please be courteous to her in the days approaching while she adjusts to Chilton."

The new girl forced herself to move toward the back of the room, where the only empty seat was available. Jess noticed her and disregarded her in the same breath. As soon as he did, he glanced back in her direction, noticing a book hanging out of her bag. He could only glance a few words of the title but he was sure he had it right. It was too rare for another person to know that book if it weren't assigned to them. That intrigued him enough to give her another notice.

He forced himself to take a breath – failing to notice he had stopped after noticing her book - as she took the empty seat in front of him. He gave a hard stare at the back of her head, a mix of deep brown and auburn strands flowing neatly down her back. He huffed, hating whatever was swirling inside him at this first impression of a maybe book-smart girl who had enough charisma to grab his attention without even saying anything.

There was no need to glance to his left. Tristan DuGrey was making it more than clear he was interested in this girl. Subtly was never his strong suit, especially with women. Jess gave a noncommittal look over to see what the trust-fund snob was thinking. That second alone told him everything.

Tristan was a wolf in sheep's clothing in that brief second. The lust, the desire was apparent on his face. His eyes gleamed and his fingers twitched with longing to reach out to his new-found "Virgin Mary". He had a habit of calling all girls of similar innocent appearance that name - "Mary" - and Jess didn't doubt it would be chosen for this Rory as well.

Jess had no reason to bother himself with this. He had a scholarship to keep.

What was that book of all books doing in her bag?

There was something more here.

Tristan reached out to his right and tugged on the zipper of the girl's backpack. A plethora of books, pencils, and index cards spilled out, littering the tiled floor. They were far back enough in the crowded room that barely anything would be noticed from the front. Rory looked not once, but twice, before bending forward to collect her things. If she was annoyed or upset, her soft face didn't give it away.

Tristan grinned to himself and snaked out an arm to snatch her. He pulled the waif of a girl toward him until she landed in his lap. Mr. Medina was still very focused on the blackboard, not bending his head back once.

Tristan weaseled his arm around her waist and gave her his best smoldering charm. "Hey, there, Mary," he cooed. "Need anyone to show you around school? I know some places that are off limits."

She didn't seem impressed with him at all. Jess smirked to himself as he caught Tristan's shock at this new girl's lack of swooning over him. Definitely a first, Jess thought. Most girls would be wet by now.

"My name is Rory, not Mary," she frowned, eyes narrowing. She started to open her mouth and say more, already raising up her hands to push away from Tristan. Tristan grinned and started to open his own mouth, closing in on her.

Jess felt a growl in his throat. He leaned over and snatched Rory away from the snake. The movement wasn't planned and before he knew it she was in his own lap, inches from his face. Neither of them moved as they watched each other for a long second. Her piercing, icy eyes searched his and he felt himself tense up, realizing she was finding something in them. More than he certainly wanted her to see. His breath caught in his throat before he gave her a light shove.

"Move," was all he said.

She got up, returning to the seat in front of her. Tristan gave a small snicker, reading the situation as jealousy on Jess's part. The blonde boy went back to leaning over to talk with his friends, like he had been before "Mary" had peaked his interest.

Jess raked a hand in his dark hair, annoyed he had even given a moment's notice to this girl. It wasn't his business to interrupt Tristan's horrible attempts at seduction. So she had one obscure book in her bag. Whatever. It was a fluke.

He rolled his eyes and began taking notes on what Mr. Medina was saying. His pencil barely scraped the paper when something bounced into his line of vision. He blinked for a moment, before snatching and unfolding the paper.

"Thank you," it said, in beautiful, clean script.

Jess felt his heart fly up to his throat, immediately hating the reaction. He bit hard on the inside of his cheek. Hastily, he scribbled something back and tossed it forward to her.

Rory carefully unfolded the paper ball and felt a smile on her lips. There was a brief moment of surprise she had caught in the brooding eyes of her "rescuer" when she landed in his lap. As quickly as she had recognized it, he had his mask of indifference back up. But the second she saw of his softened features she knew was a second more than anyone else had seen.

The note now unfolded, she read the instructions: "Turn around." As she did, the tips of her hair fluttering with her, she was met with a paper football square in the face.

And from that moment, she decided there was something more to Jess, something she had seen briefly, but would try to see again.