Rory walked through her front door and over to the couch. She threw her backpack down on the floor in front of the couch. Her mom wasn't home yet, so she figured she'd start her homework before Lorelai walked through the door and dragged her off to Luke's. Rory opened her backpack and took out a few books. Then she saw it. The mysterious red notebook. She took it out, anxious to get back to reading it. Judging by the first poem, whoever wrote these was a total jerk. But Rory couldn't help it. The writing was intrueging. She opened it up, flipped to the second page and curled up on the couch. She subcontiously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she started to read.
Who is this girl?
New to all I am used to
She is fire and I am ice
I have no way to make her melt
And she has overcome me
*Wow* Rory once again thought after reading the poetry. This time it was different, though. It wasn't a "Wow, what a jerk" like last time. This time it was a "Wow, how exciting" kind of wow. Rory bit her lip as she turned the page, intoxicated by the 2nd poem. It was like they were telling a story.
Rory didn't even begin to make the connection to Tristan. She was about to read the next poem as she heard the door open and her mother's voice.
"Hunny, I'm home!" Lorelai called in her best TV sitcom voice.
*Damn* Rory thought, upset that she had been interupted. "Hey, Mom!" Rory shouted to her mother, trying to sound cheery.
"You'll never guess what happened at the Inn today." Lorelai said as she hung up her coat and sat down next to Rory.
Rory put the notebook back into her backpack. "Michel was nice?" she guessed.
"Oh sweetie, the day that happens I'll come home singing."
"Ok, got it."
"Maybe even call you from the Inn and tell you to go look outside where I will have a plane flying over town with a banner that says "It's a miracle! Pigs really can fly!" Lorelai was getting excited.
"Mom." Rory tried to stop her, but to no avail.
"I think I would have Sookie bake a cake with little pink pigs with wings-"
"Mom!" Rory interupted her. "I get it. The day Michel is nice will be the day pigs fly."
Lorelai smiled. "Exactly"
"Now can you get back to the point about what happened at the Inn today before I am forced to hide all the coffee so you can calm down long enough to tell me."
"Hide coffee." Lorelai frowned. "How could you do that to you mother? That's horrible. It's awful. It's unthinkable... Besides, it wouldn't work. I would just go to Luke's."
"You know mom, one day looks gonna actually back up his threats. He's not going to serve you your coffee. Then what will you do?"
"Well," Lorelai began, as though she already had this all figured out. "Then I would have to move on to Plan B, which would be to-"
"Mom!" Rory was getting impatient. "What happened at the Inn today?"
"Oh yeah, right." She paused. "Absolutely nothing!" Lorelai had an excited look on her face but Rory frowned.
"I can't believe we went through all that, just so you could tell me nothing happened."
"No, seriously sweetie. Usually I come home upset about some disaster that took place, and complain that I need coffee to make me feel better, and then we go off to Luke's. But today everything went perfectly. Sookie didn't break anything or hurt herself. Drella didn't scare away any guests. Michel answered the phone. But he wasn't nice."
"Of course not."
"Right, but he actually did what I pay him for. Amazing, huh? I think we should celebrate my wonderful day."
"Okay. What do you want to do?"
"Go to Luke's and get coffee." Lorelai grinned.
"You're hopeless."
Lorelai laughed. "I know."
"And you're crazy."
"I know that too." She looked expectantly at her daughter. "Please."
Rory sighed. "All right, let's go."
Lorelai bounced up and down and excitedly clapped her hands.
"Stop it or I'm leaving without you." Rory called over her shoulder as she walked towards the door.
Lorelai abruptly stopped and got serious. She ran after Rory.
Rory sighed as she closed the door behind them. *I guess the poems will just hafta wait.*
Luke's Diner
"Please." Lorelai said as she sat down in front of the counter.
"No." was Luke's reply.
"Pretty please." she begged.
"No."
"Pretty please with sugar on top."
"No."
"How 'bout with sugar, whipped cream, sprinkles and cherries?"
Rory turned to stare at her mother. "That made absolutely no sense."
Lorelai turned to point a finger at her. "Shush you." She turned back to Luke. "Well, what do you say? Hmm..."
"All right, you had me at the sprinkles?"
She got excited. "Really?"
"No! You need help."
Lorelai stood up, smoothed her skirt and announced very proudly, "My name's Lorelai Gilmore and I'm a coffee-aholic." She sat back down. Rory was laughing at her. "There. Admitting you have a problem is the first step. See? I'm trying." Lorelai smiled at him.
Luke sighed and gave in like he always did. "Fine." He turned around to pour the two their coffees. *She always wins. It's that incredible smile that gets me every time.*
The Next Day At Chilton
Rory sat at her desk, absentmindedly taking notes. She was thinking about the poems. She hadn't gotten another chance to read them.
"You can take the rest of the period to begin brainstorming ideas for your report. I have to run an erran. I'll be back in a minute." Mr. Medina announced to the class before he left the room.
Rory pulled the red notebook out from under her other notebooks on her desk. Unbeknown to her, Tristan was watching her every move from his seat next to her.
She flipped to the third page and bit her lip as she began to read.
What I want and cannot have
Unaware of true feelings masked by stupidity and conceit
Her smile, heart and soul given to another
Unaware that someone else can take them in the same
That I can take them in the same
Rory smiled. The last two lines sounded so loving, caring. She was about to turn the page when she heard that voice talking quietly to her. Tristan.
"Well I'm surprised at you, Mary. That doesn't look like the assignment."
"Is it possible for me to do anything without it resulting in you teasing me about it?"
"Sorry. It's habit."
Rory had to laugh as Tristan smiled at her.
Tristan was glad she wasn't mad. He just didn't know how to initiate a conversation with her without saying something rude and cocky. "So, whatcha readin'?" he asked her genuinely.
"Oh, nothing."
"Have you finished that book yet?"
"No, I've had other things on my mind."
"Couldn't be me, could it?"
"Oh, Tristan, you've found me out!" Rory teased. Tristan laughed. Their conversation was stopped as Mr. Medina came back into the room.
Rory closed the notebook. She stared at it for a moment, then slowly traced the heart on the cover with her finger before smiling and putting it into her backpack.