Chapter 1
Luke the Ballerina and Jess Plays the Bongo's
"Why how are you Mr. Cheese Fry? Do you like your spot on my plate? Don't get to cozy there because in a few minutes I'm gonna eat you. Right after I finish this burger" a woman says quite loudly, eliciting a few stares from her fellow diner patrons, though, it should be noted that these stares primarily came from those who did not know the woman and understand that this was normal behavior for her.
"Lorelai, would you quit talking your food. Your freaking out my customers" barked a very irritated diner owner.
Rather than pay attention to the man, Lorelai chose a different route. "Luke said freaking! Luke said freaking! Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah!" she cried as she jumped up, stole his hat, and began dancing around the diner. Once she got bored with her song and dance routine (which was very quickly because this woman actually tends to have the attention span of a small child), she sat down and protected her stolen treasure, aka, the baseball hat.
"Rory needs to finish summer school so she can control you. You've been driving me crazy for weeks now." he muttered as he returned to his regular position behind the counter.
"Well my friend, you're in luck. The insanity can all end right now if you just sign this paper. Just one quick signature and you are insanity free...at least for the summer." Lorelai said as she pranced up to the counter.
"Let's see that, what does it say?" a very confused Luke asked.
"Nothing at all, just sign it and I'll be a normal and sane customer for the rest of the summer" was Lorelai's all too innocent reply.
Stealing the paper, and his hat, Luke began to read, "I, Luke Danes, owner of the diner where the fabulous and wonderful Lorelai Victoria Gilmore eats on a daily basis, do hereby grant the aforementioned Lorelai an unlimited supply of coffee, cheese fries, and chocolate pancakes" upon which he was cut off by Lorelai interjecting with,
"Oh chocolate chip pancakes with any topping I so want, did I include that because I really should have included that".
Upon her finish, Luke continued reading, a smirk growing on his face with each word, "in return for the promise on behalf of Lorelai that she will act as normal as the rest of the townspeople act while eating at my restaurant".
"Well now that all the terms are out in the air, why don't you sign it and get me some coffee" she said with a hopeful smile.
Throwing his hands up in the air, Luke exclaimed "One, no one in this town is normal so you saying that you will act as normal as the rest of the town means absolutely nothing, two, you always manage to get as much of those items as you want anyway, and 3, why the hell did you think this would work?"
Walking back to her table, Lorelai replied, "Eh, I really didn't expect it to work. Would have been pretty great if it did though. Just trying to pass the time before Rory got back from Chilton".
Almost as if on cue, Rory Gilmore comes barreling through the diner door, out of breath with a huge smile on her face. "Hey Mom."
"Hey babe, remind me again why you go to summer school if your smart? I tell ya, this is just a crazy world." Lorelai exclaimed as she hugged her daughter.
Rory catches her breath and then begins, "Well it looks good on college applications, gets college credits, and it keeps me in Hartford away from you know who for a good portion of the day."
"Oh yeah." Lorelai replied.
It was unclear whether the "you know who" Rory was referring to was Dean Forrester, her boyfriend or Jess Mariano the boy who just happened to be her friend. Rory had been growing further and further apart from Dean, ever since Sookie's wedding. They still liked each other but the love and fun just wasn't there. Rory found herself constantly trying to spend less and less time with him. However she couldn't help but wonder if the timing of her declining relationship with Dean had anything to do with the fact that she kissed Jess at that wedding. They had resolved to be friends but there was still a lot of stress.
Lorelai cleared her throat, awakening Rory from her train of thought. "So did you have anything else to tell me?" She asked, knowing that Rory was way to excited to have just come from Chilton.
At that Rory perked right up, "Oh yeah, so do you remember at the beginning of the summer when I signed up for that student exchange thing."
Lorelai responded tentatively, "Do you mean the one that chooses two students from Chilton to stay in Italy for one year."
"That's the one." Rory answered. "Well guess what?"
"Um please tell me that your going to say there has been a shift in th universe which has caused Luke to become a professional ballerina, Jess to play the bongo's, and the student exchange program to be canceled." Lorelai said half joking.
Obviously confused Rory replied, "What, how many cups of coffee have you had and what kid of drugs did you put in them?"
"Well I mean my theory would be better than you saying that you are going to be leaving your poor old mother home by herself for an entire year while you go off to Italy." Lorelai said with a trace of worry in her voice.
"Well you always have Luke to keep you company, maybe you can convince him to play bagel hockey." Rory offered.
"Rory! I thought you said that only two people were chosen and there was no chance you would be picked." Lorelai shouted.
Rory tries to comfort her mom, "I didn't think I would get into it. But only 20 people applied and it was based on grades and number of classes taken and an essay and apparently out of that whole combo, my application was chosen. And, just think of it as trial run for when I go away to Harvard."
Lorelai sighs, "I guess I understand, its just that this is going to take a lot of getting used to."
Rory lets outs out a nervous laugh, "Well you're gonna have to get used to it quickly."
"Why?" Lorelai asks hesitantly.
"Well you see Mrs. Laar got the dates mixed up and rather than leaving in two months its two weeks." Rory said, waiting for her moms reaction.
"LUKE!! Coffee! Now!" Lorelai shouted as she slumped down in her chair.
