Even though Rory went to preschool, she had always told Lorelai and Luke that it 'wasn't real school'.

"Kindergarten is real school," she would tell them. "Preschool is just practice."

Real school was something that Rory absolutely could not wait for. All that summer, it was the only thing she talked about.

"I hope Lane is in my class," she said at least once a week from the time preschool let out. When Liz and Jess came for their summer visit—it had quickly become tradition—Rory about talked Jess' ear off with her excitement about kindergarten.

"Aren't you excited?" She asked Jess. Rory had grown since the last time the two had seen each other, and she and Jess were just about the same height that summer.

Jess had shrugged, bit the bottom of his ice cream cone, and drank what was left of his ice cream from the hole he created. "I dunno why I have to go. I can read already."

"So can I! But you go to school to learn more than just to read."

"But if you know how to read, then you can learn anything you want. You don't gotta have someone else tell it to you. You can just read it."

Rory had rolled her eyes, a habit she had developed from her mother, but immediately followed it with a hug. When Jess had seen Rory roll her eyes, his mouth had dropped into a frown.

"You'll be the smartest one there," Rory told him before promptly changing the subject. "Show me your loose tooth again."

Even Jess' lack of enthusiasm didn't put a damper on Rory's excitement. When the day drew nearer, she became obsessed with things like school supplies, which backpack she wanted, and what she would wear that first day.

It was two weeks before school was even set to start, and Rory had already arranged her scissors, crayons, glue sticks, pencils, and erasers in the little plastic box she would be keeping in her cubby.

"She does know kindergarten is only half a day long, doesn't she?" Luke whispered to Lorelai as the two stood in the doorway of Rory's bedroom, watching her carefully write her own name on her school supplies in Sharpie marker.

She had a scrap piece of paper she kept lifting to her face, because she hadn't yet mastered how to spell 'Gilmore'. Lorelai had written their surname out for the little girl to copy.

"She doesn't believe me. She thinks I made it up, because I told her it made me sad that she's already big enough to go to kindergarten."

Rory—and Lane, thank God—were in the morning class for kindergarten. Stars Hollow was so small that there were only two kindergarten classes, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. After the morning class let out at lunch, Babette had agreed to watch Rory until Lorelai got off of work.

As for her first day of school outfit, Rory decided on a denim skirt, polka-dot tights, and a Hello Kitty t-shirt. Whereas Rory thought the last bit of summer was dragging, and that she would never actually get to kindergarten, Lorelai thought it was going too fast.

"Are you going to be sad tomorrow?" Luke asked Lorelai, watching Rory draw at one of the diner tables. Lorelai was sitting at the counter, talking to Luke while he worked. Tomorrow was going to be Rory's first day of school.

"I'll probably be crying buckets. You still want me to bring her here before I drop her off?"

"I didn't spend fifteen minutes arguing with Taylor to give me fresh blueberries for her first day of school French toast tomorrow for nothing."

Lorelai nodded, turning to watch Rory as she colored. She was drawing a picture for Jess; she had already asked Luke to mail it for her once she was done.

In the morning, Rory was up before Lorelai. She had already dressed herself, and she had her backpack waiting on the couch downstairs. Rory jumped on top of Lorelai to wake her up, her messy brown hair flying all over.

"I think you forgot a step when you were getting ready," Lorelai told her, taking in Rory's Perfect First Day Outfit.

"I don't know how to do French braids," Rory told Lorelai seriously.

"Well, let's make you some braids, then." Rory smiled and ran from the room, returning not long after with a comb, hairspray, hair ties, and ribbons in her hands. While Rory prattled on about her excitement, Lorelai parted and braided her hair, finishing each braid off with big pink bows that matched the one Hello Kitty wore on Rory's shirt.

"You're not even a little bit sad to be so big?"

"Noooo! I wanna keep getting bigger!"

"Well, tough luck, because tonight I'm gonna start tying bricks to your head."

Rory giggled wildly before skipping out of the room to go inspect herself in the upstairs bathroom. When she returned again, it was with her backpack and her Polaroid camera.

"I don't think they let you take that to school," Lorelai told her. Rory was still obsessed with taking photos of everything.

"It's for before school. So we can take pictures together."

When the girls got to Luke's, one of the tables had a pink tablecloth on it and balloons tied to one of the chairs. Rory's French toast and a big glass of chocolate milk were already waiting for her.

"Luuuuuuuke!" Rory called for him, the same way she had since she was a baby. Luke poked his head around the doorway that led to the kitchen and smiled at her. He was busy with orders, so he couldn't leave the kitchen yet.

But once he was able to, he was greeted with a very excited Rory who only had one question on her mind. "Will you walk to school with us?"

Luke looked around the diner, already full with costumers. He was torn. On the one hand, he couldn't really leave the diner with all of these people in there. But on the other, Luke wasn't sure he could say no to Rory's pleading blue eyes and big smile.

"Luke, honey, walk with the girl to school. I can keep the rebel rousers at bay while you're gone," Miss Patty said from the next table over, winking at the trio over her newspaper.

"Okay…But don't go in my kitchen."

"I don't have a death wish, love."

So on her first day of school, Rory walked with Lorelai holding her hand on one side and Luke holding her hand on the other. In a similar fashion, this was how Rory met her teacher.

"This is my Mama and this is my Luke," Rory told her teacher with a big smile. And then she asked her teacher if she would take a picture of the three of them with her Polaroid camera.

That Polaroid photo, with Rory in the middle, her face sandwiched by Lorelai's and Luke's on either side, was immediately hung up on the corkboard in Rory's room as soon as she got home from school.