Disclaimer: I own nothing. As always, thanks to my beta, luvtheheaven.

Chapter Three: The First Day

When the alarm went off, Rory reluctantly got out of her warm and very comfortable bed. She padded over to her closet and pulled out her uniform. According to the furry clock on her nightstand, another thing Lorelai had insisted on buying, she had a little over an hour before the dining hall started serving breakfast, and a little over two hours before her first class. She was about to head to the shower when she wondered if Steph was awake yet, but ultimately decided to wait to check on her until after her shower. Halfway through her shower, the door to the bathroom opened.

"Could you hurry up? I take a lot longer than you to get ready!" she heard Steph yell from the doorway, or at least what she hoped was the doorway.

"Get out! I'll be out soon!" she yelled back at her friend of six years. She hadn't thought about what living together would be like; she had no idea how long Steph took in the morning to get ready. As she finished her shower, she put on her bathrobe and slowly made her way to her room, passing Steph. "We'll make a schedule later; that way you won't have to yell at me before I've had my coffee." As Rory made her way into her room, she saw Steph nod and then hurry to the bathroom.

Normally, Rory'd put her hair up, not wanting it to get in the way. However, it was the first day of a new era. And the new and improved Rory decided to curl her hair. Rory usually only wore make-up on special occasions like fancy parties, but today she applied a touch of mascara and some lip gloss. Looking at herself in the mirror, she smiled, pleased with what she saw. As she exited her room, she saw Steph, looking as beautiful as ever in their school uniform, with her long blond hair also down. It was flowing around her face.

Rory was wearing a short, pleated skirt that ended an inch or so lower than what was required, and a pair of thin black tights. A fitted shirt hung on her curves, but not too tightly, and a boy's tie was hung loosely around her neck. Her blazer was hanging loosely on her shoulders and was not tucked in. Rory had even put on couple of broaches as jewelry above the school logo. She had on new Jimmy Choos, as Steph had reminded her that this type of shoe would actually be allowed. Some bracelets and a watch decorated her wrists, as well as a ring that her mother had given her before she'd left.

Before leaving, Rory poured the coffee she had made in her pink, stylish, stainless steel travel mug, another thing Lorelai had bought. Lorelai had said that anything that people expect to be ugly should be pink. As promised, Rosemary stood outside their door.

"Hey, Rosemary. Sleep well?" Rory asked, taking a sip of the delicious coffee. Her mother had gotten her not only the mug, but also quality beans.

"Hey, girls! Yes, I did, even though it's a bit strange to not be at home anymore. And you?" Rosemary inquired as they began to make their way to the dining hall. It was only a short walk from their own building.

"I slept great," Steph replied.

"I didn't sleep that well; probably just nerves, you know? And this morning wasn't that great either, with Steph barging in on my shower," Rory declared, pointedly looking at Steph.

"I already apologized for that Rory!" Stephanie whined. "You know I didn't mean to barge in like that; I'm not used to other people sharing my bathroom."

"Well love, let me tell ya: I'd have loved to barge in," an unknown boy with an Australian accent commented. Both girls looked behind them to see a dark haired, tall boy standing there with an amused smile on his lips.

"Excuse me; who are you? And who invited you to this conversation?" Rory asked with a venomous tone.

"G'day, my loves. My name is Finnegan Morgan, the third. And who might you be?" the Australian boy asked with a lazy smile on his lips. He was obviously flirting with them, but neither Steph nor Rory had the patience to deal with him now.

"No one that should concern you," Steph replied before she turned away to head inside the dining hall. Rory and Rosemary quickly followed her, eager to get in line for breakfast.

Unfortunately, Finn followed them inside. They then heard a familiar voice scream, "Yo, Finn! Wait up, man!" Both turned to see Logan and Colin rushing towards both them and the Australian boy "Good morning, girls," Colin said, kissing them each on the cheek, not noticing the glares both girls were sending Finn. "Have you met our roommate?" Both girls were flabbergasted at this revelation.

"They've met me mate, but I haven't gotten their names yet," the Australian replied.

"And it will stay that way," Steph snidely replied as she got oatmeal, orange juice and an apple from the counter. "Let's go, Rory, Rosemary," she added as she saw that both girls had already gotten their breakfast on their trays. The group of girls quickly walked to an empty table and seated themselves.

"Let's just forget about him," Rosemary said, trying to change the subject. She hadn't realized that Colin, Finn and Logan had already seated themselves their table.

"She really barged in on you, Ror?" Logan asked, cocking one of his eyebrows. Finn had told him about the conversation he had overheard.

"Yeah, told me to hurry up, was no big deal," Rory mumbled, embarrassed that now all her friends knew what had happened that morning. She quickly gulped her coffee, hoping someone would change the subject.

After seeing Rory's cheeks redden a bit, Rosemary stated, "So, I see you've met your roommate for the next four years." "Yeah. Everybody, this is Finnegan Morgan. Finn, these are Rosemary, Rory and Steph." Colin introduced them, pointing at each girl as he said their names.

"We know; we've met," Steph said with disdain.

"That's not right, my love. You'd met me, but I hadn't met you yet!" Finn exclaimed.

"Whatever."

"You wound me, love. How will I ever survive without you?" Finn said dramatically to the blond.

"I don't care," she replied snidely, standing up. "Ror? Rose? You ready to go?" Rory just nodded and got up, even though she hadn't had finished her breakfast. She knew that Steph had to get away - otherwise a fight would break out. She was happy to see Rosemary also standing up.

"Come on, Ace! Stay a little longer; we haven't even talked yet," Logan said, hurt that his friends were leaving.

"We've got to go meet the Headmistress for our timetables and then we've got mass. We'll see you guys there; promise!" Rory said as the girls left.

Mass had been just as boring as Rory had thought it would be. Sure, the church where they had the mass was nice, but she wasn't spiritual, and had to bite back a laugh when she saw Logan sleeping during the service. Her friends had the same views as she; if someone wanted to believe in God, then that was their prerogative, but they didn't. After that, the day had gone smoothly, even though everyone had been a bit disappointed with their timetables. The girls had all their classes together, and were only joined by the boys for Math, English and Chinese. In Algebra II, Rory would sit with Colin, and in English she'd be with Logan, while Stephanie would do the reverse and sit with Logan in Math and Colin in English. That way, everybody got help were they needed it. Logan and Rory's strength was English, whereas Colin and Steph's strength was Math. It had pleased Rory that the classes were much smaller; only nineteen pupils per class, which meant more attention from their teachers and a better chance to learn. While that pleased her and her similarly minded new friend, Rosemary, the rest of the gang wasn't too excited about it because it meant they actually had to pay attention to classes.

The day had flown by and now the gang, plus Finn, was once again sitting in the courtyard, chatting. During lunch, Finn had approached their table and immediately apologized to the girls. He told them he hadn't meant to come across as a creep, but innuendos were part of his charming persona. The girls had been reluctant to accept his apology, but after he promised to never exaggerate in his flirting again, they allowed him to join them. The only problem with that was that they now couldn't get him to shut up for even one second. He wanted to make it clear to the girls that he really meant what he said and would do anything to make that clear to them.

"Finn, would you please stop? We've accepted your apology; you don't have to do anything more to make us believe you!" Steph exclaimed. She was getting fed up with his apologies. She understood that he was really sorry, but he had to stop overdoing it.

"Sorry Steph," he answered sheepishly.

"Is anybody joining any clubs?" Rory asked excitedly, trying to change the subject.

"Ace, calm down. It's only the first day of school."

"Huntz, not everybody is like you; some of us like to plan ahead," Rory stated firmly.

"Still doesn't mean you have to sign up to anything on the first day of school. Just enjoy it, alright? I promise you, soon enough you'll have plenty homework to do, and then you'll be happy to take a break."

"I joined the Mathletes today. Our teacher saw my records, and told me I had to join." Colin grimaced. He was a studious boy, but that didn't mean he didn't like to just relax, and joining the Mathletes certainly didn't count as relaxing in his book. "Can you guys believe that they meet three times a week?" He sighed.

"Oh Colin, we all know you'll love it. You love hanging out with people who are like you," Steph began. "You know? The ones with sticks up their asses," she added with a laugh. Rory and Logan also had to laugh; Steph always said that to Colin.

"Then why do I hang out with you guys?" He snorted.

"Because you love us, and can't live without us?" Rory pouted, while giving him her best puppy dog eyes.

"Guess you're right." He laughed.

"Beautiful Rosemary, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?" Finn flirted.

"There isn't much to tell." She shrugged. "Born and raised in Boston, grew up in society, love to read and go horseback riding. That's about it."

"Come on love, there's got to be more!" Finn exclaimed. "Nobody is that boring." By now Rosemary was flustered and looking everywhere, except toward the gang.

"Finn, just leave her alone. Can't you see she doesn't want to talk about it?" Rory hissed. She didn't know Rosemary that well, but everybody knew that she would go to hell and back for her friends, and it was obvious that Rosemary now was one of her friends. She saw Rosemary smiling at her in gratitude, and that was all she needed. "So why don't you tell us about yourself?" Rory asked. "How does an Australian end up in boarding school in England?"

"Love, wouldn't you just love to hear that?" Finn laughed. "Actually it's not that complicated. No school in Australia wanted me, Dad wanted to move, and now here we are. Well I am, and he's in Tokyo."

"How did he end up in Tokyo?" Rory, always the curious one, asked.

"We are setting up some new hotels there. We've already got them all over the world, except Asia and South America. So as the boss, he had to go oversee everything." Finn shrugged. For him it was no big deal that his parents' took them all over the world and he knew his friend's parents sort of had the same lifestyle.

The first week had gone smoothly for the Hartford gang, plus their new friends. It taken the girls a few days to get used to Finn's outgoing personality, but other than that, they hadn't had any major problems. Lorelai had called Rory a few times, to make sure she was getting comfortable in her home away from home, and although she had already gotten homesick, Rory was still sure she'd made the best decision. On the first Friday of the new school year, the gang had gathered in Rory's and Steph's common room to do a traditional Gilmore-Hayden movie night with junk food and take out, which they had gotten earlier in the evening instead of dinner. The girls couldn't believe it when they'd heard that the guys had signed on for the rugby team, knowing it was just as hard as American football. The girls surprised them with a visit to their first training, mostly to see them get smashed, but also to show their support. Steph had joined the Digital Photography Club, because she had always loved to take pictures of her friends, but also because Rosemary was a hobby photographer. What hadn't surprised anyone was Rory joining the college newspaper; they all knew how much she loved to write.

"I'm glad the first week is over!" Steph cried out as she plunged herself on the loveseat. Everybody laughed and nodded their heads, agreeing with her. It had been fun, but also very tiring. Not knowing where their next lessons were only ensured that Colin, Logan and Finn had to run to most of their classes in order to be on time, which amused the girls, because they walked at a slow pace to class and still made it there before the boys. The gang usually only met up at class, or when they didn't have morning classes together, for lunch, because the boys were almost always late for breakfast. They always blamed Finn, saying he just took forever to wake up and it seemed cruel to let him walk alone to classes, when they had them together.

Rory was just about to say something when her cellphone went off. She quickly got up and went to her room.

"Fruit of my loins!"

Rory smiled as she heard her mother's voice on the phone. "Hey mom! How's it going?"

"My mother decided to throw a party." She heard her mother mumble. Even though Emily and Lorelai saw each other regularly for dinners or teas, they still didn't have the best relationship with each other, because Emily disapproved of Lorelai's choice to work rather than be a society wife.

"So, is this party Grandma's having gonna be a big deal?"

"Not really. The government will close that day. Flags will fly at half-mast. Barbara Streisand

will give her final concert…again. Now, the Pope has previous plans, but he's trying to get out of them. However, Elvis and Jim Morrison are coming and they're bringing chips."

"You ask a simple question." Rory mumbled amused into the phone. She knew, almost better than even her father, her mothers' quirks and had gotten used to them over the years.

"But enough about me! Tell your momma how the first week went." And just as requested, Rory recounted the story of her first week in Brighton College, not leaving any details out. After almost half an hour, she heard someone knocking on her bedroom door; she had completely forgotten that all her friends were there.

"Mom, I'll call you tomorrow or Sunday, alright? The whole gang is here for our movie night!"

"Sure thing, babe."

Author's note: Please review, 'cause they keep me happy and writing :D