1989: "Mom, Dad, I'm telling you, the teachers need to talk to the parents before school, we have to be there by 6:30," Rory pleaded. "No, school doesn't start until 7:15. It only takes half an hour to get to Chilton. I went there, I think I would know if you had to get there early," Christopher told Rory. Lorelai and Christopher had agreed with their parents that the best education for their daughter would be at a private school, so they let Rory follow in Christopher's footsteps and go to Chilton for Kindergarten through Eighth grade, and then reevaluate. "Fine, but if we were supposed to get there early, don't blame me," Rory said before going upstairs to triple check that what she was wearing aligned with the dress code. -- Christopher and Lorelai drove Rory to school. Rory was obviously the most excited of them, barely containing her joy at going to a school where she could learn many different things. Christopher was also excited, he hadn't been at Chilton since he was in Eighth grade. Lorelai however was holding back tears until Rory left the car. Her little girl was growing up. To help her she spun her wedding ring on her finger, a habit Christopher recognized. He gave her a look to make sure she was okay. Lorelai nodded slightly. -- First Period: Rory went up to her Homeroom and etiquette class, still the first student to arrive. She introduced herself to the teacher, Ms. Grant. As students began to arrive, two students recognized the teacher and went to the corner furthest from the teacher's desk. "You didn't know your aunt was going to be teaching at Chilton?" one girl asked. "No, I didn't," another girl said, irritated. "Is she at least one of those cool aunts?" the first girl asked more quietly. "Nope, pretty strict actually."
Rory looked at the clock, and knew that the bell starting school would ring in less than a minute. The teacher stood up to address the class, and walked to the front of the class. "Hello, my name is Ms. Grant, I will be taking attendance shortly. After that I will be assigning seats and going over the class rules." After a few names, Rory awaited her own. "Louise Grant" "Here" "Paris Geller" "Present" "Lorelai Gilmore-Hayden" "Here" "Logan Huntzberger" "Here" "Madeline Lynn"... "Oh, here" "Colin McCrae" "Present" "Finnegan Rothschild" "Love, I'm always here for you" The teacher gave a look, but said nothing. "At table 1, I will have William, Mary, George, and Robert. At table 2, Louise, Paris, Lorelai, and Logan. At table 3, Madeline, Colin, Finn, and Carter. At table 4, Bryan, Emma, and Angelica." "Please introduce yourselves to your table, you have 15 minutes." Rory looked at the three around her waiting for someone else to start the conversation. "I'm Louise, and you are?" She smirked at Logan. "Logan Huntzberger," he smirked back. "Your name is Paris, right?" "Yep. Your Lorelai?" "Technically, but you can call me Rory." "Rory Gilmore-Hayden, two powerful last names for one girl, be prepared," Louise said half taunting and half warning.
"You might think because of the parties you go to every month, you're ready, but that won't prepare you for Chilton Society," Paris stated. Logan was busy talking to Colin at table 3. "You get to sit with three girls, and I get a Finn," Colin complained to Logan. "Ay, what's wrong with sitting next to a Finn, all the loves sitting with Logan will be distracted by me, so you two can talk all you want," Finn joked. "I think I'll do a good enough job at distracting them myself," Logan joked. ' I'll switch seats with you Colin,' Rory thought. She could handle anyone if it meant she didn't have to sit with these two, they were mean. -- "That should be enough time to get to know each other." Ms. Grant then went over the classroom rules, which only Rory, Paris, and Colin were paying attention to. Rory even took notes. Louise laughed at Rory, giving Madeline a look. -- 2nd Period… Rory went across the hall to her math class. The teacher's name she knew was Mr. Huntington. The math and English classes were smaller, given by ability. She had taken the test a few months earlier. She was put into the best English class and the third best math class. Colin, Robert, Victoria, and Rory were the only four in the class. "It is assumed that the four of you know single-digit addition and subtraction. In the next week I will teach you how to do double-digit addition and subtraction. Next week, triple-digit. Then multiplication, division. By the end of the quarter you will learn these functions with triple-digits. Next semester, you will be tested again." The four were given a 20 question addition worksheet using single-digit numbers. Then, Rory flipped the page and noticed 20 subtraction problems using similar numbers.
-- 3rd period… English, Rory had been waiting for this class all day. Paris, Logan, Colin, and she were in the class. The teacher, Ms. Holly, passed out the syllabus. She gave a summary of each book they would be reading. And the rest of the class gave a worksheet with 'Getting to know you' questions that were to be answered in complete sentences. The class remained quiet while everyone worked . -- 4th period… The only class she had a choice in. It was a foreign language class, and she picked French. In the class were Madeline, Louise, Finn, Colin, Victoria, a student she didn't recognize, and herself. The teacher introduced himself. "Bonjour classes, je m'applle professeur Gerard. Je suis de Paris. En anglais Hello class, I am called professor Gerard. I am of Paris." -- The school day was over, Rory's Mom picked her up. "How was your day, Rory?" "It was awful, these two girls were really mean to me. They said I wasn't ready for Chilton Society." "Oh, do you want me to go beat them up, I'll teach them not to be mean to you," Lorelai joked. "No, you don't have to resort to physical violence Mom." The two stopped at Luke's for coffee. Before heading home.
"So, how was your day kiddo?" "Awful." "Do I need to take care of somebody?" "Why do both of you want to resort to hurting people?" Rory asked. "Because anyone who hurts you is as good as dead to me." Christopher hugged Rory, and Lorelai joined in on the hug. -- The next day… As the students sat at their assigned seats, Rory was glad that Louise was not at school today. "Hey, sorry for what Louise said yesterday, she was just scared you would want to own the school because of your name. So she decides if she acted like a bitch first, you would back down," Logan explained. "She's nice after she gets to know you." "And Paris?" "She's a mystery to me too." Rory laughed. -- Everyone settled in the class, and Mr. Huntington taught the class how to add a second digit to addition problems. Colin and Rory understood the concept, but Victoria was very verbally confused. "I'm confused." Rory heard Victoria say for the third time. Robert kind of knew what he was doing, but only with certain numbers. He kept adding the numbers up to an odd number, never an even one. -- In English, the teacher read the first chapter of a book to the class, and then had a discussion. Paris was trying to dominate the conversation, but Rory made some very good points too.
-- "The first semester of this class is going to address introductions and pleasantries of the French language. The second semester will address France, and other Francophone countries." The class learned how to say Hello, my name is… -- Rory got into her mother's car, told her all about her day. Mentioning that it was much better than yesterday. They went home, and Christopher was still at work, so they watched Rory's favorite movie, Charlie and the chocolate factory.