Sugar and Spice
By Misha

Disclaimer and Notes in Part One.

Part Twenty-Eight: Saturday Morning Happenings

Rory walked into the classroom, the next day, carrying a tray full of coffee and a box of donuts. It was eight o'clock and the morning and Rory suspected that only she and Paris would be truly functional this early on a Saturday, so coffee would definitely be a good thing.

"Hey." She greeted, seeing Louise lying across several desks and Madeline with her head buried in a magazine. Paris was sorting through her notes and Christa was slumped in a chair, with her eyes closed.

"Wow, did you bring coffee?" Madeline asked her eagerly.

"And doughnuts in the shape of clowns." Rory confirmed with a smile.

"Hey they've got hats!" Madeline exclaimed, opening the box.

"Well, a clown just isn't a clown with a hat." Rory told her, then turned to her sister. "Hey sleepyhead, here's your caramel machiatto with an extra shot."

"You're my favorite sister." Christa said, taking the coffee without opening her eyes.

"I'm your only sister." Rory said, rolling her eyes before she turned to Paris. "Here is your decaf with soy milk."

"Thanks." Paris told her, taking the coffee.

"You're welcome." Rory said genuinely. "So, I read your doctrine and I thing our imaginary kingdom is off to a pretty good start."

"Yeah?" Paris asked eagerly.

"Yeah." Rory confirmed. "I mean the taxes are a little high and the landowner's power should be regulated a little more."

"It was a different time back then." Paris pointed out.

"Yeah, but the fundamental human needs were the same." Rory argued.

"We're supposed to set it up within-" Paris began, but Louise cut her off.

"Ding, ding, ding." She interrupted. "No debating until I've had coffee."

"And a clown." Madeline said perkily, handing Louise a doughnut.

"Ladies." Tristan greeted, as he and the other two guys in their group entered the room.

"Hi Tristan!" Madeline exclaimed perkily.

"Hey." Rory greeted.

Christa stayed completely silent, not even looking at Tristan.

"Paris, can I talk to you for a sec?" He asked, focusing on Paris.

"Oh, sure ok." She said, looking confused. She stood up and followed Tristan out of the classroom.

"And that is about what pray tell?" Louise asked as soon as they were gone.

"I don't know." Madeline said with a shrug. "The project maybe."

Rory had a pretty good idea, she thought that Tristan might be following her advice and because of that she purposely avoided looking at her sister.

"They could've talked project here." Louise pointed out. "It's something else. Something private. Something he doesn't want discussed in front of his ex, maybe."

This was said with a look at Christa. Rory didn't follow her gaze, since she was sure her sister was still mad at her.

"Scandal." Madeline said in an excited tone.

"Maybe." Louise agreed. "Though it is Paris."

"Scandal-lite." Madeline said after a moment.

"All the taste, but much fewer calories." Louise quipped.

"We could spy." Madeline suggested.

"Or we could wait for her to come back and see if she wants us to know." Rory told them.

Louise gave her a disdainful look. "Those who simply wait for information to find them, spend a lot of time sitting by the phone." She informed her. "Those who go out and find it themselves, have something to say when it rings."

"Neitzsche?" Rory guessed sarcastically.

"Dawson." Louise told her.

"My next guess." Rory muttered.

Paris came back in.

"So, what was with the confab in the hallway?" Louise demanded.

"We're dying here." Madeline added.

"Well, Tristan, he... asked me out." Paris said shyly.

Rory was glad that Tristan had taken her advice. She cast a look at her sister and saw that Christa's face was expressionless.

"No!" Madeline exclaimed in disbelief.

"My, my, my." Louise, casting a good look over Paris. "Who would have thought?"

"Wow, this is so amazing." Madeline announced. "God, I'm jealous."

"Details please." Louise demanded. "Don't leave anything out. We want every comma, apostrophe and ampersand."

"Well, he just asked me out." Paris told her, obviously not good with the details thing.

Truthfully, neither was Rory, that was more Christa's kind of thing. She could remember every single date detail and recite it at will, Lorelai could too. Rory figured it was a gift.

"When?" Madeline demanded.

"Tonight." Paris told her.

"Hmm." Louise said dismissively.

"What?" Paris asked anxiously.

"Nothing." Louise told her unconvincingly.

Rory frowned at her, was she trying to ruin this for Paris?

"No, you 'hmm'ed." Paris insisted. "Why did you 'hmm'?"

"Forget it." Louise told her with a shrug.

"Louise, tell me why you 'hmm'ed." Paris demanded.

"He asked you out for tonight." Louise pointed out.

"Less than 24 hours notice." Madeline added.

"So?" Paris asked. "What does that mean?"

"Usually that someone else cancelled." Louise told her.

"Tristan's terrible about giving proper notice." Christa said, speaking for the first time. "He's always very spur of the moment, expecting you to be automatically free because he is."

Louise looked like the wind had been taken out of her sails. "Oh, well then."

Rory smiled at her sister, proud of her for coming to Paris' defense, though honestly surprised that she had since it wasn't really a Christa thing to do.

"This is so amazing." Louise stated, obviously dropping the timing angle. "I mean, you are so far from Tristan's type."

"So, so far." Madeline agreed.

"Tristan usually likes his girls bad." Louise continued, then shot Christa a fake smile. "No offence, Christa."

"None taken." Christa told her flatly. "But don't we have a project to be doing?"

"Yes, we do." Paris said, seeming eager for the out. "Come on, everyone, let's get to work."