After Lorelai confirmed that Rory was all set to start school the next day, she went to work, leaving Rory to her own devices until seven o'clock, when they were supposed to go over to Luke and Jess' for dinner. Rory stopped at the house first, taking the key out of the turtle, where Lorelai said it would be, and grabbing a book and her secret pack of cigarettes out of the bottom of her bag. Somehow, she had a feeling that smoking was generally frowned upon in this place. She hadn't seen a single cigarette butt on the sidewalk or crushed into anyone's lawn.

Rory walked off into the woods across from the high school, curious about what she might find there. Probably a whole lot of nothing, she thought sullenly. Everyone here was too goddamned nice. She wasn't used to so much politeness – all the smiles (at least from Luke, Jess, and Lorelai; most of the rest of the town still seemed suspicious) and the shared breakfast. The postman had asked her how she was as he walked by, and some guy who said his name was Kirk tried to sell her a subscription to People magazine, but didn't seem at all put out when she declined.

After walking for a few moments, the air started to smell earthy, and suddenly, a large lake appeared in front of Rory. "Wow," she murmured. The only lakes she knew were in Central Park, and those were all manmade. She walked to the middle of the wooden bridge and sat down, watching a swan sail peacefully across the water. She still couldn't believe her mom had sent her here. It would definitely be a lot harder to get into trouble in Stars Hollow, that was for sure. All the kids her age were probably just like Jess: a bunch of goody two-shoes. He did seem kinda different, though, she mused to herself as she lit a cigarette and pulled her book from her pocket. At least he read.

"Excuse me, young lady!" a loud voice huffed from the other side of the bridge. Rory glanced up to see a fussy-looking older man with a grayish-white beard glaring at her. She thought she remembered seeing him in the diner earlier. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Well," Rory said, glancing down at herself, "I think I'm reading and smoking."

"Don't you be smart with me!" the man said, wagging a finger at her. "Smoking is not allowed within the boundaries of Stars Hollow, per ordinance number 1992-1026, bylaw 204! It's right in the handbook!"

"I don't have a handbook, sorry," Rory shrugged, taking another drag from her cigarette, which only served to make the man angrier. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Taylor Doose, town selectman, head of multiple committees, and proprietor of Doose's Market," Taylor said, swelling with obvious pride. Rory stared at him blankly. "Who are you?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at her. "I saw you in the diner before with Lorelai Gilmore."

"I'm her niece," Rory replied, sticking out a hand. "Rory." Taylor glanced at her but didn't shake her hand, and she slowly lowered it. So much for politeness.

"You look like her," Taylor observed, frowning as his gaze moved from her messy hair to her pleather jacket and back up to her heavy eye makeup. "I noticed you were talking to Jess Danes as well. I hope he's a good influence on you. Put that out!" he scolded, before Rory could raise her cigarette to her lips again. She flicked it into the lake, just to watch the color rise in Taylor's face. "Well!" he huffed, turning and stomping away. Rory smiled and turned back to her book.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Several hours later, during which Rory had circled the town twice and poked around in every store – most of which seemed oddly focused on peddling porcelain unicorn statues – she meandered into Luke's.

"Hey, you're here!" Lorelai said with relief, turning at the sound of the door opening. She glanced at her watch. "I thought we said seven."

Rory shrugged. "Didn't have a watch." Lorelai frowned at her, but seemed to think better of starting a fight about punctuality.

"Well, Luke and Jess are upstairs," she said. "Luke wasn't sure what you would like, so he made roast, mashed potatoes, and grilled cheese, in case you didn't eat meat."

"I eat meat," Rory assured her, following her up the stairs she hadn't noticed that morning. "Remember? The sausage?"

"Oh, right," Lorelai said, holding the door to the apartment open for her. It was small, but surprisingly neat, considering that two men lived there. The air smelled delicious and Rory inhaled deeply. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had a dinner that didn't come out of a carton or a plastic container. "Thank god someone in this town can cook, right?" Lorelai said, nudging Rory gently with her elbow. "'Cause I sure can't."

"There's blueberry pie and ice cream for dessert," Jess offered, walking out from behind the refrigerator. He had changed out of his school clothes and was wearing jeans and a neatly-pressed polo shirt. Rory squinted at him. If you messed up his hair a little…substituted a motorcycle jacket for the preppy shirt…he would almost be sexy. She took the seat he offered her and started picking at her fingers underneath the table. "Soda?" Jess asked, holding up a bottle of Coke.

Rory nodded and he poured her a glass. "Thank you," she mumbled, pulling her hand away fast when she accidentally brushed his fingers. She didn't like to be touched unexpectedly and generally, she didn't like touching people, unless it annoyed them, like trying to shake Taylor Doose's hand earlier. As if reading her mind, Luke suddenly turned to her.

"So I hear you met Taylor earlier today," he said conversationally. Lorelai raised her eyebrows and Jess sat down next to Rory, listening intently. Luke set down the pan of roast beef and took a seat himself. "He told me to keep you in line." Rory didn't reply. "She was smoking on the bridge," Luke stage-whispered to Lorelai and Jess.

"Snitch," Rory muttered, stabbing her roast with her fork.

"You smoke?" Lorelai asked, looking as concerned as if Luke had just announced that Rory was shooting up on the bridge. She shrugged and gave a half-nod. "That's really bad for you," her aunt pointed out unnecessarily. Getting no response, Lorelai looked away and dug into her meal.

"I need some air," Rory mumbled suddenly, shoving her chair back from the table.

"I hope you're not going to smoke!" Lorelai called after her. Rory burst through the diner door and stomped over to the gazebo. Who was Luke to say he was going to keep her in line? And what right did Lorelai have to tell her not to smoke? She would do whatever the hell she wanted. She wasn't a little kid. Rory fumed, taking a seat on the bench inside the gazebo. She was so angry at her mom for sending her here. This town was a joke.

"Are you okay?" a voice asked quietly. Rory looked up to see Jess.

"Fine," she muttered. She flinched when he sat down next to her, but he didn't say anything. "I just hate being judged," she said after a moment of silence.

"Lorelai and my dad weren't judging you," Jess said. "Maybe Taylor was, but he judges everybody."

"Well, it felt like they were judging me," Rory said petulantly, scuffing her toe against the floorboards.

"Sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

He shrugged. "Did you think I was judging you?"

"No," Rory said softly, looking at Jess. "In fact, you're probably the most normal person I've met here so far." Jess' lips quirked up into a smile.

"I hope that's a compliment," he said.

Rory nodded. "It is." A few more minutes passed in companionable silence.

"Let's go back inside," Jess offered, making it sound more like a request than a demand. "Because if nothing else, that blueberry pie is really, really good. And I know you must be hungry."

Rory sighed. "Okay, fine." Jess smiled and pulled her off the bench, leading her back to the diner.

A/N: If you had trouble picturing Jess with neat hair and wearing a polo shirt, you're not alone. I can't even really picture it. But the photo that goes with the story is how I imagine Rory looks, only a bit younger – she is only seventeen in this story and Alexis is maybe in her mid-twenties in that photo. That girl's gonna look young for the rest of her life, though. I'm jealous. I always say that if I didn't love Alexis so much, I would hate her.