Hey! Been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that. I've been working on this for a while, but it's been coming very slowly. I tried to do all of the Chilton dance in one chapter, but it's proved impossible. The Chilton Dance will be done in two parts. This chapter deals with Rory finding a date and Lorelai and Jackie having tea with other Chilton moms, resulting in a surprise for Lorelai. Next chapter, the girls will go off to the dance, and a spectacular fight between the Gilmores and Lorelai will explode. Enjoy! Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or That '70s Show. I do own a computer though.
Kim's Antiques- Stars Hallow, Connecticut- December 9, 1997
Lane, Rory, and Betsy walk up down the street to Kim's Antiques, Betsy practically buzzing. Anyone walking down the street would've thought she was on drugs or mainlining caffeine, that one being more likely since Rory didn't think you could even buy cigarettes in Stars Hallow. Jess had to go out of town to buy his at least. Rory knew better. She had listened to Betsy talk about the upcoming Chilton dance the whole bus ride home and most of the walk to Lane's. Tristan had asked her this morning, and while Rory was thrilled for her cousin, she was also tired of the conversation.
"Bets, chill out," Rory laughed. "It's just a dance."
Betsy stopped both Rory and Lane at the gate in front of the Kim's, her arms blocking them from moving. She turned and gave Rory a look. "Just a dance?" she repeated. "Was Pablo Picasso just a painter? Coco Chanel just a designer? Jane Austen just a writer? John Bonham just a drummer?" Betsy would've gone on, but Lane interrupted her.
"I think we get it," the Asian girl laughed. "And points for the Bonham reference by the way. I think Hyde will react better to you going to the dance if you start with that."
Betsy stuck her tongue out at Lane but moved her arms, allowing her friends to keep walking. "Rory, you have to go," she begged, pouting in the way that Aunt Jackie seemed to have mastered since birth.
Rory shook her head. "No way."
"Please?"
"Nope."
"Pretty please?"
"No way?"
"Double please?"
"No!"
"Please with chocolate syrup on top?"
"NO!"
Betsy seemed to have run out of way to say please, and Rory's voice was getting progressively louder as she said no so Lane saw it as the importune moment to speak up. "If you don't go to this dance, that Paris chick will never let you forget it."
Betsy smiled triumphantly at Rory, pointing at Lane. "See?" she said. "I'm right."
Rory sighed, conceding that Betsy had a point. She and Betsy were slowly starting to fit into Chilton, but even with Tristan's influence, their place there was still very tentative. Paris was just waiting for something to rip them apart with, and Rory didn't want to give her the satisfaction. Still… "I don't have a date," she argued, her last desperate attempt.
Betsy and Lane shared a look. "Rory, that is the easiest part," Betsy pointed out. "Finding a cute dress is much harder than finding a cute boy. We'll find you a date in no time."
Rory smiled. "Fine," she said. "But homework first." The three girls went into Kim's Antiques, Betsy still buzzing over the dance. Four hours, two of finished homework, and two slices of pizza later, Rory was laying on her bed reading Girl with the Pearl Earring. Betsy had stopped talking about the dance while they were doing their homework but had continued to talk her ear off during dinner. Rory had been all too eager to escape to her bedroom with a paperback. She loved her cousin, she really did, but Betsy had inherited Aunt Jackie's relentless enthusiasm, and Rory was getting a headache.
Luckily, Will had been put to bed already, and her parents were cleaning up the kitchen. Rory was absorbed in her book, only looking up when she heard a knock. She looked up to see Jess leaning in her doorway. She placed a silver bookmark in the book, looking up at Jess.
"Hey," she said quietly.
Jess raised an eyebrow. "Good book?" he asked.
Rory shrugged. "Yeah, why?"
"You seemed awfully eager to get back to it."
Rory groaned. "Betsy is driving me crazy. I sweat you would think she was going to the Oscars or something instead of a dance. I think she's been spending too much time with Aunt Jackie."
"Don't let Aunt Jackie hear you say that unless you have chocolate on hand," Jess teased. At five months pregnant, Jackie was starting to swell up like a balloon. She had stopped being sick every few hours, allowing her to work more, but Betsy said that she kept hearing Hyde start the car in the middle of the night to go get whatever Jackie was craving that night.
Rory stuck her tongue at Jess. He laughed. "It sounds like fun, but I don't want to be Tristan and Betsy's third wheel, and I don't really know any of the guys at Chilton that well yet.," she sighed.
"I could be your date," Jess suggested casually. Rory stared at him. "As a friend, I mean. I could drive, and that way we can leave whenever you want."
"You'd do that for me?" Rory asked, her eyes bright.
"Of course," Jess answered. "I look good in a tie."
Rory smacked Jess's arm but hugged him anyway. Jess smiled. Lane had told him to be patient, to trust the fact that he knew Rory, and it looked like it was paying off.
The Geller Mansion- Hartford, Connecticut, December 11, 1997
Lorelai sipped her tea, listening with interest to the conversations going on around her. Tiffany and Anna were discussing the latest winter trends, Anna passionately defending some style by her favorite French designer that Tiffany despised. Melissa, Candice, and Jackie were talking about approaching the Chilton board with several suggestions for improvement in the school's art program. Lorelai smiled as she saw her best friend moving her hands and bobbing her head excitedly. Jackie had been feeling so shitty the last few months that it was good to see her look so relaxed. Between running the Inn and taking care of Micky, Jackie had started to look increasingly haggard. Lorelai and Hyde had seriously started discussing Jackie taking her maternity leave early and Lorelai running the Inn fulltime.
"Lorelai." The blue-eyed beauty snapped out of her thoughts to see her mother addressing her.
"Yes, Mom?" Lorelai asked, trying to keep her voice as polite as possible. She was a guest in the Geller's house, and she would not start a fight with her mother here.
"How are my grandchildren?" Emily asked, her voice uncharacteristically soft.
Lorelai smiled brightly. She could spend hours talking about her kids. She proceeded to tell Emily all the mischief Will got into with Micky and what Rory and Lane have being doing around town and how Will had been pestering them for a younger sibling "like Micky's gonna have". At one point, Emily was even laughing much to Lorelai's shock.
After calming down, Emily said, "It sounds like you have your hands full."
Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, but I wouldn't have it any other way." Hesitating, she added, "I'm happy with my life, Mom."
Emily gave her a look, one Lorelai couldn't even begin to interpret, and said nothing in reply. It wasn't hard to guess what she was thinking. The Gilmores had had high hopes for Lorelai: Vassar, graduate school, perfect society husband, perfect children… Instead, she had gotten pregnant at sixteen, ran away, worked as a maid at an inn, and married a man who owned a diner. Lorelai was 100% percent happy with her life, but she knew her parents would never be.
Jackie, noticing the silence between Lorelai and her mother, changed the conversation topic. "Isn't the Chilton formal next weekend?" she asked slyly to Candice. Lorelai rolled her eyes. Jackie knew when the dance was.
Candice brightened. "Yes," she answered excitedly. "I'm on the committee, and it's going to be wonderful. Paris doesn't want to go, but I told her, 'These are the things you remember about high school'." She sighed. "That girl… she's too much like her father for her own good. Is Betsy going?
Jackie and Melissa shared a smile. "Tristan asked Betsy Monday," Jackie said excitedly. "I'm taking her to get a dress this weekend."
Lorelai raised an eyebrow. "Brooke won't like that," she said. "She thinks you spoil Betsy enough already."
Jackie rolled her eyes. "She's my only goddaughter. What else should I do? Besides, they send enough in rent for Betsy that they shouldn't be worrying about what I spend."
"Of course, you haven't touched any of that money, have you?" Lorelai pointed out.
Jackie smiled. "Safe in the bank in a college fund." She took a sip of her tea and shifted in her seat, trying to get comfortable. Now it was clear she was pregnant, her belly protruding out of everything she owned. Though Hyde claimed he loved her this way (and proved it many different ways when they were alone), Jackie felt most insecure about herself when pregnant. Today she was wearing a red dress, her favorite of her maternity clothes, that hit her knee. The sleeves tied at her shoulders, and all in all it wasn't a bad outfit. Her hair was curled and in a loose bun, and she was wearing slim black boots (with a tiny heel, much to her husband's dismay). "Besides, I'm taking Rory too."
Lorelai stared at her. "Jackie…"
"Already decided," Jackie said sweetly. "Want to come along?"
Emily perked up. "Rory's going to the dance?" she asked eagerly.
Lorelai nodded. "She's going with Jess."
"Jess?" Tiffany repeated, not recognizing the name among any of the Chilton boys in her daughter's grade.
"Luke's nephew," Lorelai explained, sharing a grin with Jackie. Jess had mimicked his uncle constantly as a little boy, but the way he did it the most was the one he never meant to copy. Jess had been in love with Rory since they were little, and of course she never realized it.
Emily frowned, clearly displeased, but Jackie laughed. "Jess in a coat and tie," she cackled. "I'm so glad I have a camera. They won't take the Indian, will they?"
"With Rory in a dress? I don't think so," Lorelai replied. "I'm worried enough when he goes off to school on it every day." Seeing the confused looks of the other mothers, she explained, "Luke and I let Jess get an Indian motorcycle for his birthday this year."
Chat about the dance took over. Melissa agreed to come and do pictures at Jackie's house, and Anna and Tiffany debated the acceptable boys their daughters could take. Seeing Emily looked left out, Jackie turned to her.
"Emily, would you like to come over and see the girls off to the dance?" she asked kindly, causing Lorelai to snap up and stare at Jackie.
Emily smiled. "I would love to," the blue-blooded woman responded, sealing Lorelai's fate. Mentally, Lorelai brainstormed ways to torture Jackie. Maybe she could tell him Jackie's disco music was making her hormones go out of whack. He would buy that…