Chapter 11
Lorelai returned later that evening around six-thirty like she promised. Having already picked up the movie from the rental store and seen how long the movie actually was, Lorelai suggested Shelby pack an overnight bag and said she could bring her home in the morning. That is, if it was alright with her dad since he seemed appalled by the idea of borrowing his kid. She had to tease him some more about it.
Luke just gave her one of his annoyed looks reserved whenever the woman picked on him. Turning to Shelby, he told her, "Up to you, kiddo."
"Of course," she replied, perking up at the idea.
"Just make sure Gexie is all taken care of for the night before you go."
"I will." After stating she would be back shortly, Shelby hurried upstairs to pack a bag and to make sure Gexie was taken care of.
Once the kid was gone, Lorelai turned back to Luke. "So, how'd it go, today?"
Luke looked away at nothing in particular, letting out a breath of air. "Could have gone better," he shrugged.
"Did something happen?"
He thought back to earlier during the session, unsure if Luke should say anything considering Lorelai's name was mentioned. All he could muster up was, "Rachel sort of made a harsh comment about Shelby not trying hard enough because of all the nick picks she tells her."
"What does that mean?" she asked.
"Well, Rachel's always been..." He briefly paused to ponder on his wording. "Rachel likes things in a neat, simple way. Clean, pretty much. All the time. In fact, I used to like that about her because I like things a certain way, myself," he explained. "I guess I never realized how bad it was until having a kid. Even though I like for the apartment to stay as clean as possible, I never really got strict with it. Or, Shelby just made more of an impact of mellowing me out about it than Rachel."
"Well, I don't know about that," Lorelai said, tilting her head a little. "You seem the same boring, monosyllable guy to me. If anything, you're having more of an impact on Shelby instead of the other way around." She laughed at him in a harmless, teasing matter.
"Regardless, Rachel's making Shelby feel like she has to be perfect whenever she stays over with her and pretty much broke her heart when Shelby tried to say she was trying. And I know she is. That kid is one of the hardest-working kids I know. It breaks my heart just thinking about it."
The expression on Lorelai's face turned serious. "Oh, Luke, I'm so sorry," she said, giving some sympathy for the kid.
Luke scratched at his back with one hand. "I just hope Lauren can come up with a way to mend this relationship before it's too late, and the kid decides to quit, herself, and decides she wants nothing to do with her mom."
"Take it from someone who's had a rocky relationship with their mother since childhood. I really hope so, too." Lorelai looked away, shaking her head. "Gosh, I never took to heart just what Rachel meant back then."
His head straightened at that. "What do you mean?"
"A while ago, back when Rachel first returned, she had commented about Rory not being an annoying kid. Then she went on to say, she had thought about doing the whole mom thing if she could be guaranteed to have one just like her."
Luke couldn't believe what Lorelai had just told him as he stared at her. "Rachel said that?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean... I just thought she meant it in a lighthearted kind of way. I didn't think she would actually think that about her kid."
There was a brief pause as the confession Lorelai gave sunk in. "Neither did I."
"I don't want to compare anything, but I fear Shelby's relationship with Rachel is gonna mirror my own relationship with my mother," she added.
He muttered a "Yeah," as Luke stared at the counter.
"Let's hope this lady can help with that," she said in hopeful support.
Luke forced himself to glance up at her. "Me too." He was starting to have doubts whether or not Rachel really did want Shelby to be perfect. Of course, she probably did mean it, but wanting to be guaranteed for a kid to be a certain way was basically saying the kid should be perfect, and there was no such thing. Though, Luke did hate when there were annoying kids in public and was glad Shelby wasn't one of those kids, but to be that hard on one's own kid?
Changing the subject, Lorelai ordered food to go since she hadn't eaten yet. Luke also made food for Shelby to take with her. Before long, the kid had returned, holding one of their duffel bags, all ready to go. She assured him Gexie had fresh mealworms and water, and suggested they clean her tank this week before school started on Monday. It actually helped prove his point of how responsible Shelby was and how hard she tried, putting a big smile on his face.
Kissing each other good night, Shelby left with Lorelai when they had their food.
Luke watched through the window as the kid climbed into the front seat of Lorelai's jeep, waving when Shelby noticed and waved first.
Of course, the kid would end up having a great time over at Lorelai's, coming back the next morning happier than when she had left. It was relieving to know the woman could help cheer Shelby up. Though, it wasn't Lorelai's job, nor did she have to. The fact Lorelai was willing to help his kid made Luke glad to have a friend like her.
Along with having a yearly physical, Shelby also had her six-month dentist appointment and was very proud of herself when the dentist told them she did not have any cavities. Luke was also extremely proud of his little buddy and was glad to see something else make her happy.
While Luke took his turn, Shelby took his chair and read to herself until he finished. It was another book Jess had gotten for her before he left, called Matilda the two weren't able to finish before he took off.
Afterwards, they went home to get Gexie for her appointment with the town's vet. Since she and Luke were having their check-ups, Shelby thought it was only fair if Gexie had one, too, to make sure she was healthy as a gecko should be. Luke tried to point out a small lizard did not need to be seen by a doctor, but lost when Shelby pointed out Gexie being part of the family and her health was just as important. So, he called to ask if the town's veterinarian saw geckos and made the appointment the same day as their dentist appointments.
Needless to say, Luke had to pay the guy fifty bucks to hear him tell them, Gexie was a happy and healthy, little gecko. Since Gexie was Shelby's responsibly to take care of, he told her the cost was coming out of her allowance to teach her about having expenses. Shelby was bummed about it but agreed it was fair since Gexie was hers and it was her idea to bring Gexie there.
Friday morning during the diner's downtime, Luke had to rush off to do some errands of his own, including getting the paperwork turned in for baseball that was to start in early September, wanting to get it in now since last time he forgot and missed the deadline. Between lunch and dinner, Luke and Shelby headed over to the park to play catch and get in some more practice.
Since summer was coming to a close, Shelby suggested renting movies and ordering pizza after the diner was closed for the night, Saturday. It ended up being a Japanese cartoon night when Shelby not only chose the newest Pokemon movie that came out earlier that year, but also some weird movie called Spirited Away, which brought up several questions throughout the entire movie for Luke. Since Spirited Away got most of Shelby's curiosity, they watched it first. There were a few scenes that frightened her but Shelby held interest the whole time and by the end, loved it and wanted to check out the other similar movies she had seen at the rental store.
Halfway through, though, Shelby had to pause the movie after her dad kept asking questions. "Do we need to use Lor-lai and Rory's movie rules?" she asked, annoyed by her dad.
"They have rules?"
"No 'quishing during the movie," she listed on her left hand. "No talking during the movie, only very few to no di-trac-tions, like moving around. No phone calls. No bathroom breaks either."
Luke stared at her at that. "You're not allowed to use the bathroom?"
Shelby shook her head. "No' during the movie. There's no pausing because you don't ge' the feel of the movie if you have to pause."
"You're kidding."
Again, she shook her head. "Not kidding. Tha's why I always make sure to go right before and only drink little as possible whenever we watch classic movies. Lord of the Rings was okay to pause because it was a long movie."
"Remind me again why I let you go over there?" he asked, bewildered at the Gilmores' strange habits.
She shrugged. "I don' know."
"Just start it again," Luke nodded towards the TV, promising to keep the questions to a minimum.
Monday morning, Shelby awoke the same time her dad usually did, getting dressed in one of her new baseball jerseys and one of her new pairs of shorts. Luke got the diner ready while Shelby was getting ready but sat down to have breakfast with her.
Like she was the last three years, Shelby was still a little nervous even though she knew the majority of the other kids by now. He made sure to help calm her nerves and reassure she would be fine.
As they had done for the first day of second grade, Luke snagged a picture of Shelby with her messenger bag slung over her head, behind her, and holding her lunch box in front of the diner. Rachel had tried to call a couple times last week wanting to see how Shelby was doing, but Shelby wasn't up for talking yet and denied her request when her mom asked if she could be there for her first day of third grade. Luke at least said he would get doubles when he developed the pictures.
For the first day, Luke offered to take Shelby to school, taking his truck. When they got there, there were kids already being dropped off by either their parents or the bus. This time, Shelby slid out on her side, pushing the door closed as Luke came around to her side.
"Ready?"
Shelby looked up at him, then over towards the school where kids were heading inside the building. She looked back at him and nodded. They then headed over to head inside, as well. Truthfully, he was just as nervous about the first day just as Shelby was, and this was his fourth first day of school. Shouldn't this be a piece of a cake by now? At least for him?
Once they got inside, they headed for the third grade hallway. The third grade hallway was still on the ground level with the kindergarten through second graders. This was actually Shelby's last year on the ground level since the fourth through sixth graders were upstairs. They ended up having to walk to the back of the building where Luke checked the class lists for Shelby's name, scanning down each list with his eyes. In the process, he happened to notice Alan was placed in a separate class. He couldn't help wonder if he and Ethan have ever been apart before. Luke didn't have much experience knowing how twins worked, though despite Ethan and Alan being twins, the two were still completely different in some ways. Thankfully, Ethan would be in Shelby's class, but poor Alan would be by himself.
"Looks like you and Ethan have," Luke glanced back at the list then looked back at Shelby, "Mrs. Sweeney."
"What about Alan?" she asked in a soft voice so only he heard.
"Looks like he got put into another class, kiddo." She gave him a heartbreaking look at the mention of one of her best friends being in another class all by himself. Having been in a separate class in first grade, he knew Shelby understood how terrifying and lonely that can be. "Maybe this might be good for them," he said. "Time apart may help give them a break from each other."
"They have been fighting a lot more." Shelby seemed like she was agreeing, but still did not seem to like the idea of her best friends being split up.
"Come on, kiddo. Let's go find your teacher." Luke led Shelby further down the hallway with his hand against the back of her head.
With it being closer to the time school starts, there was a teacher standing outside her classroom, writing something on a clipboard. She was tall and very thin. Her hair was very short and black with grey ends. Shelby quietly pointed out she reminded her of Aunt Petunia from Harry Potter.
They stopped a few feet away. "Uh, we're looking for Mrs. Sweeney's class," Luke politely said.
"That would be me," the lady replied in a serious, stern tone. She looked up towards Shelby to ask, "Name?"
"Shelby Danes," Luke answered for Shelby, who was holding onto his hand in a tight hold.
Mrs. Sweeney flipped to the front page of her clipboard and scanned the point of her pen down the list before checking off Shelby's name. "Please go in and find your seat. The directions are on the board."
Luke exchanged a look with Shelby. When they both tried to enter the classroom, Mrs. Sweeney stopped them, stating she was only talking to Shelby. "I can't walk her to her desk?"
"This is third grade. She should be able to walk in on her own," she told them. "You can see where she sits at Parents' Night, tomorrow."
Luke exchanged another look with Shelby. Instead of arguing with the teacher, who looked like a woman Luke did not want to cross, he just offered a hug, good-bye, and exchanged kisses. Shelby then turned to head inside, waving at him.
As she passed Mrs. Sweeney timidly, staring towards the floor, the lady spoke up again. "Please remove the hat. Hats are for the playground only, not inside the classroom."
Shelby looked back at her dad, who gave her a nod to comply. It looked like the kid had another teacher who was strict on the rules. Thankfully, Shelby was more confident than she was in kindergarten. So, she was able to willingly remove it as Shelby made her way inside the classroom to find her seat.
Before he left, Luke pointed out Shelby's anxiety. Clapping the side of his fist against his other palm softly, he said, "Uh, Shelby meets with the speech therapist, here." He swallowed. "For some of her sounds and for her mutism. It's hard for her to speak up in uncomfortable settings like school."
Mrs. Sweeney finished whatever she was writing and held the edge of the clipboard against her front as she looked up at him. "I've had shy kids in my class before. I will work more with her individually, as we get more into the school year and have spoken with the speech therapist. Until then, I have to grade her the same way as everyone else."
"So...?" Luke pointed at the floor. "You won't pass her until then?"
"If she doesn't participate in class, yes," she nodded. "To me, it just sounds like you're asking for special treatment for your child. I have gotten my fair share from parents over the years." With that said, Mrs. Sweeney dismissed him, stating he was blocking the doorway when more kids arrived.
Stealing one last look into the classroom, Luke noticed Shelby was sitting in the second row from the door, towards the back of the room. Her bag was propped against the leg of her desk. Since her lunch box was nowhere in sight, he assumed it was propped against the other side of her bag. Shelby had her hat hanging off the back of her chair.
Shelby had gotten out a pencil and was writing in a black and white composition notebook everyone had sitting on their desk. Luke gave a quick whistle to get her attention and waved one last time, which she waved back. He then forced himself to walk away.
Luke spent most of the day working at the diner, of course, keeping himself busy. He could not wait for school to let out that afternoon so he could hear all about how Shelby's first day went.
Lorelai stopped by for coffee and lunch. "So, how'd it go this morning?" she asked, eagerly.
"It went okay. Shell's in the same class as at least one of the twins," he said with a shrug.
She looked surprised. "They split up the boys?"
"Guess so. I told Shelby, it might actually be good for them since I can see they're starting to have their own personality from each other, and some time apart would do them some good."
Lorelai had taken a drink while she was listening. "Time apart is always good," she agreed with a shrug. "Did Shelby get Mrs. Laurel? Rory absolutely adored her when she was in the third grade."
Luke went over to a nearby table to clear it. "She got Mrs. Sweeney. Her and Ethan. I think I saw Alan got her, though."
Lorelai gasped when he told her who Shelby had gotten this school year.
He carried the dishes over to set inside the dish tub to be washed. He looked back over his shoulder. "What?"
"Shelby got that teacher?" she questioned in horror, like Luke had told her, Shelby had Freddie Krueger for a teacher, or something.
"Yeah, why? What's wrong with Mrs. Sweeney?"
"Rory may not have had her, but Lane did. Mrs. Sweeney is the strictest and toughest teacher in the entire school. Mrs. Kim approves of her."
Luke raised an eyebrow at that. "Mrs. Kim scares Shelby. She once tried to give us a lecture about how Pikachu was actually the devil."
Lorelai stared at him, blinking. "How can that cute, little, yellow thing be compared to the devil?"
He just gave a long shrug. "Not sure, but it caused her to ask Reverend Skinner the next time he stopped by here for lunch. Thankfully, he helped set her mind at ease. Now, Shelby tries to avoid Mrs. Kim as much as possible."
"Jeez, can't that kid ever catch a break?" Lorelai asked.
He gave a slight shrug. "Occasionally."
"Well, I guess it's like that old saying. What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."
Luke picked up the stack of orders he had set on the counter next to the register to go through them. He stared over at the woman. "Yes, that's very comforting to hear about your kid," he told her in a sarcastic tone.
"Well," she shrugged. "It may not be pleasant to hear, but it's the way it is."
Luke began looking over the orders from that morning, placing one behind the other. He couldn't help think of the life his little buddy has been dealt with since the day she was born. Before she was born. It made him think back to his own childhood and how things were tough for him, his sister, and father, especially after his mother passed away. Guess nothing comes easy in their family.
Lorelai interrupted his thoughts. "You alright there?"
"Huh?" He stared up at her, slightly out of it.
"You look like you were thinking about something. Everything okay?"
"Uh, yeah. Yeah, everything's fine." Luke rubbed the side of his hand against his forehead while staring at the order he had stopped on. "Just got a lot on my mind, what with having to run the diner and other stuff. I'll be fine, though."
She gave him a sympathetic smile. "You sure?"
The smile made him smile in return. "Yeah, I'm sure."
"Hey, since you have your hands full here, and since I have some time this afternoon, how about I go pick up Shelby for you?"
Luke brushed her off, modestly. "Oh, you don't have to do that. I told her I would pick her up for the first day."
"I know, but I want to. What with Rory being in college and all. I miss being able to pick up a kid from school," she assured him.
"You sure?"
"Positive," she answered with a grin.
"Alright then. That would be great, thanks."
"My pleasure." That said, Lorelai finished her lunch and coffee before having to leave to take care of some errands before the elementary school dismissed.
It was a good thing she offered, too, because the diner ended up getting extremely busy over the course of the afternoon. Luke was constantly running around, making sure everyone's needs were being met. By the time Shelby usually got home from school, he hadn't even noticed she had walked in. Which was a good thing since it took his mind off of worrying whether the kid had a good first day or a bad first day.
Luke had his hands full of plates when he noticed Shelby there. A smile appeared immediately on his face. Finding the table the plates went to, he set them down and made sure there wasn't anything else they needed before hurrying back over.
"Hey, kiddo." Luke wrapped his arms around the kid's head. "How'd it go?" He leaned over so she could whisper in his ear.
"It wen' okay," she replied.
"Yeah? Everything go smoothly the rest of the day?"
Shelby thought on it before nodding. They decided to wait until later to finish talking. Instead, she offered to help out, dropping her stuff off upstairs before returning. Shelby took care of the customers she knew, and helped bring out customers' orders to them, and cleared tables when they were through.
The busyness ended up lasting throughout the dinner rush. The diner finally began to clear up and settle down around seven that evening. It had been so chaotic that Luke hadn't realized Shelby hadn't even taken a break halfway through like she was supposed to. So, he made sure she was done for the day. While Shelby headed upstairs to shower and get ready for bed, Luke remained downstairs and helped close the diner. There were still a few stragglers that came in for a bite to eat.
By eight-thirty, though, Luke finally closed and sent Caesar and John home. Making sure all the lights were off, including the stove, Luke locked up and headed upstairs where Shelby was relaxing on the couch, playing her Pokemon game on her new GameBoy she had finally been able to buy with the money she earned and saved. Unlike her old one, this GameBoy had hinges that could be folded and the screen lit up like a TV. Luke already caught her playing at night when Shelby was supposed to be asleep and had to threaten to take it away if she didn't turn it off and go to sleep. Who thought it was a good idea to make it useable in the dark, anyway?
"Any requests for dinner, Shell?" he called over to her as Luke headed over to the kitchen.
Without looking up from her game, she replied, "Um... something quick. I'm really hungry." He noticed Gexie was curled up on her shoulder.
Luke opened both the freezer and the fridge. Afterwards, he looked in the cupboard where they kept the dry food. "How about I make us some simple spaghetti?"
"Okay," she agreed.
So, Luke got out a large pot and the noodles, filling the pot up with water and letting it heat up first before dropping the noodles in.
"So, you liking third grade already? Or is it too soon to tell?" he called over, wanting to hear more about her day, now that they had the time to chat.
Shelby rolled over to prop herself up onto her elbows, being careful of the little gecko who moved to the back of her shoulder. "I don't know." He saw her shrug. "Mrs. Sweeney sounds really tough."
"How so?" Luke couldn't help think of what Lorelai had mentioned about Mrs. Sweeney and about Mrs. Kim approving of her.
"We have to keep the class rules inside our binders she gave us and gave us our only warning to follow them. If we don', we ge' detention. If we talk in class when we're no' supposed to, tha's a detention. If we don' have our homework the nex' day, tha's a detention. If we bring anything to school and have it ou' during class, she takes it and tha's another detention, plus our paren's have to come pick it up on Fridays."
"Sounds like this teacher doesn't mess around," he noted.
Shelby twisted her legs where they crossed at the ankles while still playing her game. "Mrs. Sweeney also says she only helps you enough so you can find the answer on your own." She looked up at him. "Like, we can raise our hand and ask questions, bu' she won' jus' give you the answer. She'll walk us through the 'teps and make it a li'tle more clear for you, bu' you 'till have to figure it ou' on your own."
"I'm sure you'll do fine." Luke dumped the noodles inside the now boiling water.
"Yeah, I know. Mr. Harris kind of did tha' too. Bu' he didn' seem as tough as Mrs. Sweeney does," she said, sounding a little nervous.
"How are Ethan and Alan taking not being in the same class?"
"They were sad a' firs', bu' Alan said he was able to mee' some nice kids in his class. One even ate with us a' lunchtime. His name is Max."
Luke smiled over at Shelby. "So, you made a new friend?"
"Seems like it. Alan explained to him how it takes me a while to talk to new people and Max seems okay abou' it and we all played a game of baske'ball since we finally had four players."
"That's great," he told her, happily. "Did you win?"
"No, we los' by a point. Max is a good player too, and he and Alan bea' me and Ethan."
While the noodles were cooking, Luke heated up a few pieces of garlic bread in the oven. "Well, you can't win them all," he shrugged as he slid the pan into the oven and closed the oven door. Luke then set the timer for fifteen minutes. "Right?"
"Right," Shelby repeated with a nod.
Time went by while Luke was checking on the noodles, stirring them around with the large spoon he was using and while Shelby played her game. There was a point when Shelby mentioned, liking a lot of the new Pokemon that were in the game and that the game lets the player play as a girl. Another plus was one of the starter Pokemon was a gecko, which she of course had to nickname, Gexie. Alan actually ended up getting the new GameBoy for his birthday because his old one broke and has to share it with Ethan since his old one still worked. So, Shelby could still battle and trade with her friends and all three could still keep up with the new Pokemon at least. Luke, being an adult, did not understand why they kept adding new Pokemon every couple years or so, other than to make money off of children's parents. Though Shelby pointed out Nintendo wasn't making money off of him since she bought her own game, herself.
"It's still the principle," he stated.
Shelby just rolled her eyes and snickered at her dad.
"Hey, you laughing at me?" he asked of her.
"May-be," she said slowly before snickering some more.
Letting the food finish cooking, Luke made his way over to the couch, pinning a knee into the cushion. He then ambushed the little girl, getting her back for laughing at him with a series of tickles. He at least made sure Gexie wouldn't be smashed in the process, who climbed up the back of the couch. Shelby tried to slip away but wasn't fast enough and was pinned down while her dad tickled her to death. She laughed out loud. In between laughs, she would try to plead with him to stop. As soon as Luke felt the kid had enough, he stopped, letting her catch her breath.
While Shelby was catching her breath, her eyes locked onto his, and the two shared a smile.
"No fair, Dad," she informed him with a fake glare.
This time, Luke snickered.
Once dinner was cooked, he told Shelby to put Gexie back inside her tank and to wash her hands so they could sit down and eat.
During dinner, Luke asked more about her day and went through her binder with her since there were things for him to sign. Everything would also be covered during Parents' Night, but Luke hasn't gone to any of those since having a kid in school. Being in a room with other parents, who would no doubt try to persuade him to participate in PTA meetings and bake sales, did not sound like fun to him. So, Luke just read through everything on his own and if he had any questions, he would just go ask Mrs. Sweeney, later, on his own.
Despite still being nervous, Shelby's first day of third grade could still be counted as a success.