Rating: PG-13 for mild cussing

Rating: PG-13 for mild cussing

Spoilers: Do not read if you have not seen the whole first season.

Warnings: Not a whole lot of the Gilmore Girls, more Tristin, sorry. Characters may not totally be "in character," sorry again.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or anything affiliated to it (AKA Rory, Lorelai, Tristin, Dean, Lane, Chilton Preparatory, Stars Hollow, Headmaster Charleston, Paris, etc., etc., etc. All I own is Josie Fitzgerald, Shawn Fitzgerald, and their parents. Please don't sue me, I'm too poor to squeeze any money out of.

Thank you to hunni bunni and fAiRyDuSt for reviewing!!

Author's Notes: This is a point of a view of a character that is new to Stars Hollow and Chilton. Please be gentle, this was written on a whim.

I am not totally sure on any of the locations in Stars Hollow or at Chilton, so I made educated guesses. If you find anything wrong with where I located everything, just tell me in your review.

Feedback is nice, although not mandatory, although, I would appreciate comments, suggestions, questions, being told grammatical errors, etc., etc., etc.

I was thinking of making different POVs for this, such as maybe a Shawn POV, a Tristin POV, and/or a Rory POV. Just an idea, what do you think? Or maybe I should change this to a third person story with a know all, see all (I think it's called omniscient) thing.

You may also notice that my character, Josie, has a lot of run-ins with Tristin, happens to have a lot of classes with him, and happens to have a birthday near his, but it's my story, and I can have it like that if I want to. And don't just assume just because I love the character Tristin and think Chad (the person who plays Tristin) is incredibly hot, that Josie will hook up with him, because she may or may not (I haven't decided yet.) Yes, I know I am just babbling yet again, so I'll shut up now and continue my story.

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The voices from the morning radio talk show hosts wake me up from my peaceful, wonderful slumber. I groan as I push the snooze button on my alarm clock, then turn it off. I slowly get out of my bed and stretch.

What time is it? I look at my clock and see that it is 6:02 AM. School starts at 8:05, but today, my brother Shawn and I have to be there at 7:40 AM so we can get our class schedules, locker assignments, books, and probably talk to the headmaster. I've never had a headmaster before, just a principal. I never wanted to go to private school. Well, I have approximately an hour to get ready since we have to leave at 7:00.

I walk out of my room and go to the linen closet. I grab a towel and walk into the unoccupied bathroom to take a shower. After I finish my shower, I go back to my room and put my school uniform. When I finish putting on my clothes, I put on my Mary Janes, and then go downstairs to eat breakfast.

When I arrive to the kitchen, I see my parents, Jack and Miki, are already there sitting at the table, drinking coffee.

"Morning mom, dad," I say to them.

"Morning Delilah," replies my dad.

"Morning honey," says my mom. "You look so cute in your little uniform. Are you excited about your first day of a new school?"

"Oh yeah, thrilled," I reply sarcastically. They know perfectly well that I am not excited to go to a damn private school.

"No need to get an attitude, young lady," scolds my dad.

"Okay, sorry," I reply.

"Is your brother up yet?" my mom asks me.

"I dunno," I shrug. What am I, my brother's keeper? Hell no.

I grab a bowl from one of the cabinets, the box of Honey Nut Cheerios that was on the counter, milk, and then a spoon as my mom leaves the kitchen, probably to make sure that Shawn is awake.

I make my cereal and then quickly eat it. As I walk back upstairs to brush my teeth, Shawn finally comes down the stairs.

"We're leaving in about a 20 minutes," I remind him as we pass each other.

"I know, Jos," replies Shawn.

I walk into the bathroom, and do the appropriate morning grooming like brushing my teeth and brushing my shoulder length, black hair. I walk back into my room and grab my messenger bag that holds my binder, G4, discman, some CDs, my wallet, minor make-up, writing utensils, and other school necessities. Even if they don't allow discmans I am still going to take it. I open one of the velcro pockets on the messenger bag and take out my glittery lip-gloss then apply it to my lips. After I put my lip-gloss back in my bag, I walk back downstairs with my messenger bag across my shoulder. I go to the den and watch the news while I wait for the time to pass.

After about 10 minutes pass I look at my watch and it says that it's 6:57, time to go. I turn the TV off, get up from the couch in the den, and then hustle to the kitchen to get my lunch that my mom packed for me. I then proceed to walk to the front entrance/hall area. I grab my mom's car keys from the key rack that was near the door.

"Mom! Shawn! Time to go! I'll start the car!" I shout to my mom.

"Okay honey," says my mom.

I walk out of the house and go next door to knock on Rory's door. After about a minute, Rory comes to the door.

"Morning," I say to her.

"Good morning," Rory replies.

We walk to my family's 2-door PT Cruiser in the driveway that had also arrived with our things a couple of days before and I unlock the door. I let Rory climb into one of the backseats, and I climb into the front passenger seat, put the key into the ignition, and start the car. As I step out of the car so I can climb into the back seat with Rory, my mom and brother finally walk out of our house and come to the car. Shawn climbs into the passenger seat. Right after Shawn and my mom close their doors, and everyone buckle their seatbelts, my mom backs the car out of the driveway and drives to the highway that heads to Hartford.

After a half an hour we pull up to the parking lot of the school. We all get out of the car and walk together through the main entrance of the school.

"Those gargoyle sure are welcoming, aren't they?" I say sarcastically.

Rory leads us the way to the headmaster's office, so we can have a little get together or whatever before we get our schedules and stuff. As we walk to the office we pass three girls who give us less than pleasant looks.

"That's Paris, Louise, and Madeleine," says Rory.

"Oh," I reply. So that's Paris. Hmm, interesting.

We walk a little further down the hall until we are in front of the headmaster's office.

"I'll be in the library," Rory says. "I'll probably see you there in a couple of minutes. I'm sure someone will give you directions, hopefully."

"See ya," I say.

"Bye," says Shawn.

"Bye," replies Rory.

"See you later, Rory," says my mom. "And thank you for your help."

"It was no problem, Mrs. Fitzgerald," says Rory. "Bye."

Rory leaves us, and we walk into the door. We step into a room that has a desk with a strict looking woman wearing library glasses sitting at it. We walk in front of the desk.

"Hello, my name is Miki Fitzgerald and these are my children Mari and Shawn," says my mom. "We are here to see the headmaster."

The secretary takes her glasses off and gets up.

"One moment please," says the secretary.

She walks away briskly and opens a door that leads to the headmaster's personal office. A couple of seconds later, the secretary opens the door again.

"Headmaster Charleston will see you now," says the secretary.

"Thank you," says my mom.

We walk past the lady and into the room. As we enter the room, the secretary closes the door.

"Hello Mrs. Fitzgerald. I'm Headmaster Charleston," says the headmaster.

He extends his hand, and my mom takes it to shake it.

"Hello, nice to meet you," says my mom.

"Have a seat," says Headmaster Charleston.

Shawn, my mom, and sit on the chairs that are across from Headmaster Charleston's desk.

"This will be brief," says Headmaster Charleston. "I just want to welcome you to apart of Chilton Preparatory. It is a wonderful school, and I am sure you will enjoy being apart of it."

"Thank you," says my mom.

"I will inform your children on everything they need to know," says Headmaster Charleston. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

"No, I don't have any questions right now," says my mom.

"Alright," says Headmaster Charleston. "It was lovely meeting you."

"Same," says my mom.

"I hope seeing you again," says Headmaster Charleston.

"Me too," replies my mom.

She stands up, followed by Headmaster Charleston, and she turns to us.

"See you after school in front of the building," my mom tells Shawn and me.

"Okay," replies Shawn.

"Goodbye Headmaster Charleston," says my mom as she shakes his hand.

"Goodbye," says Headmaster Charleston.

My mom leaves the room and Headmaster Charleston sits back at his desk. He opens two folders and looks at them.

"I've looked at your records," says Headmaster Charleston. "You both have managed to maintain a 3.5 or above. Teachers gave good recommendations. Sports are your main social activities I see."

"Yes, soccer, basketball, and softball," I reply.

"Same with me, except I play baseball instead of softball," says Shawn.

"What are your aspirations?" asks Headmaster Charleston.

"I've always wanted to become a psychologist," I reply.

"Do you know what college you want to go to?" asks Headmaster Charleston.

"I'm not sure," I reply. "Princeton or NYU."

"Princeton is a good school," comments Headmaster Charleston. "What about you Shawn. What are your aspirations?"

"I want to go to Harvard Law," says Shawn,

"That's good," says Headmaster Charleston. "Chilton has one of the highest academic standards of any school in America. You may have been some of the smartest students at your high school, but this is a different place. The pressures are greater, the rules are stricter, and the expectations are high. If you make it through, you will have received one of the finest educations one can get. And there should be no reason why you should not achieve all your goals. However, since you are starting a little later, and are not used to this highly competitive atmosphere, there is a good chance that you will fail. That is fine. Failure is a part of life, but not a part of Chilton. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," I reply. Wow that speech sure made my confidence level go very low. I wonder if he always says this to the new students.

"Yes," says Shawn.

Headmaster Charleston closes the folders and gives them to us.

"Take these to Miss James in the administration office across the hall," says Headmaster Charleston.

Shawn and I each take our folders and walk out of the room. We leave the other office and head out into the hall. We cross the hall and walk into the administration office.

We walk up to the desk where a woman is sitting at.

"Hello, we're looking for Miss James," says Shawn.

"Names?" asks the woman.

"Shawn Fitzgerald," says Shawn.

"Mari Fitzgerald, but I go by my middle name, Josie," I say to the woman I presume is Miss James.

"Fill this out, please," says Miss James.

She hands us each a sheet of paper and pencil and then takes our folders. As we sit down in chairs to fill out the form, Miss James puts the folder down on a desk to the side. She gets up and goes to a filing cabinet.

My brother nudges me and I look to where he is pointing at and see a girl at the desk that Miss James put the folder on grab Shawn's and my folder and hand it out the window. I casually walk to the seat next to the window and listen for short while as I fill out the form.

"Why do we always have to do this?" complains a girl.

"Did I mention how much I hate this bush?" whines another girl.

"Shut up," says yet another girl. "Mary Fitzgerald and Shawn Fitzgerald."

Okay, did I mention how much I hate when people say my name wrong?

I poke my head out the window.

"It's not pronounced Mary, it's pronounced Marie," I say. "Well, at least that's the closest way anyone who doesn't speak Japanese can pronounce it."

The three girls look at me in shock. Oh it's those three girls from the hall, Paris, Madeleine, and Louise.

"You're Paris right?" I ask a plain looking girl with brown hair and eyes.

"Maybe," says Paris as she glared at me. "What's it to you?"

"You know, it figures you'd want to size up the competition," I say to her. "But don't worry about me, because I am in no way a threat to your way to becoming valedictorian, so don't even bother reading my folder or threatening me on how high and mighty you are at this school, alright? Although, you may have to worry about Shawn, he was on his way to valedictorian at our old school."

I lean out the window and grab our folders from Paris' stunned hands.

"Oh, and don't worry," I say to them. "I won't tell anyone that you three or your accomplice here are peaking at anyone's records. It'll be our little secret."

I turn back into the room and put the folders back onto the desk. I continue filling out the form, and when I finish I sit back next to Shawn.

Miss James walks back from the filing cabinets and hands us things.

"Here's your locker number, here's your schedule. Here's the rules of the school and the Chilton code of honor. Here are the words to the school song, which must be recited upon demand. This can happen anytime, anyplace. If you do it in Latin you get extra credit. Do you have any questions?"

"Not currently," I reply.

"No," says Shawn.

"If you do, you can make an appointment with your guidance counselor, Mr. Winters. He handles everything but Bulimia and pregnancy. For that, you have to go to the nurse, or Coach Rubens. Welcome to Chilton," says Miss James.

"Wait, now I have a question," I say.

"What is it?" asks Miss James, half-irritated.

"Where do we go from here?" I ask.

"You can go to the library," sighs Miss James. "You show the librarian your schedule and she will give you the appropriate books. To get to the library, you just go down the hall and on your right you will see a sign."

"Thank you," I say.

We leave the administration office and walk down the hall. As we walk to the library, we compare schedules.

"What do you have first period?" asks Shawn.

"I got Pre-Cal with Griffith, you?" I ask back.

"Spanish with Shaw," answers Shawn.

"Second period I have photography with Hartwig, what do you have?"

"Same. Third?"

"English with Montgomery. You?"

"Statistics & Probability with Rivera."

By the time we made it to the time we got to the library, we had compared both our schedules and found that we had three classes together. We enter the library and go to the counter to ask for our books. As we receive some of our books, I look around for Rory.

I look around for awhile but I quickly find her at a table buried in a book. I sit down across her.

"Hey," I say.

Rory looks up from her book.

"Oh, are you already to go?" asks Rory.

"Well, Shawn is waiting for our books at the counter," I reply.

"Okay," says Rory. "Let's see if you got them yet."

We walk over to the counter where Shawn is with a stack of books.

"Looks like you guys got all your books, why don't I show you to your lockers?" suggests Rory.

"That'd be great," sighs Shawn.

My brother. Always falling head over heals over some girl. It's sad really. Too bad he doesn't know she goes out with Dean.

"I got locker A10 and Shawn's got locker B412," I tell Rory.

"Well your locker's are on different floors and sides of the school," says Rory.

I look over at my brother, who I could tell wanted to walk with Rory alone and talk to her.

"How about you tell me which way to go, and I will find my locker, while you show Shawn to his locker and classes," I suggest.

"Are you sure?" asks Rory.

"Yeah," I reply. "He has a bad sense of direction."

"Okay," says Rory.

We walk out of the library with our books in our arms to the hall where more students have started to fill it.

"Your locker is over down that hall," says Rory, pointing to our left.

"Okay," I reply.

"Do you want me to come back to show you how to get to your first class?" asks Rory.

"Nah, I'm sure I can find it," I say. "See you at lunch or something."

"Alright," says Rory. "Well, what do you have first period?"

"Pre-cal, Griffith," I reply.

"Oh, so do I," says Rory. "I'll see you there, it's right near your locker anyway."

"Okay, thanks," I reply.

We go our separate ways, Shawn and Rory to the right while I go to the left. I wall down the hall and try to find my way to my locker. On my way there, I look around and notice people are staring at me, probably sizing me up, just like Paris. Just ignore them. I don't care what they think.

I quickly get to my locker. I put my four books on the ground and open my locker with my combination well it's more like I try to open it. Damn it, it's stuck. I can do this. I tug on the locker, give it a kick, and after two strong pulls the locker finally opens. I look around to see if anyone was staring, and I see a really cute blonde guy at his locker looking in my direction, laughing, probably at my struggle with my locker. At least I didn't fall back on my ass.

I pick up my books and pile them onto the shelf in it. I open my bag and put in my lunch, discman, and CDs. I grab my pre-calculus book and try to find my first class. I go down to classrooms and find the classroom. I look at my watch and see that I have three minutes until I have to be in class, so I find the nearest bathroom and go in it.

After I am done with the bathroom, I head back to the classroom. I walk into the class to find most of the people already there. I see Rory near the middle of the classroom and I give her a little wave. As I walk to the teacher, the bell rings.

"Class take your seats," says Mr. Griffith in a loud voice. He notices me still standing up. "Are you in this class?"

Would I be here if I wasn't?

"Yes, I am a new student," I say to him.

"Ah yes," says Mr. Griffith still in a loud voice. He looks at his list of names. "Mary Fitzgerald, correct?"

"Actually, it's pronounced Marie, but I go by my middle name, Josie," I say to him. At first I thought he was just using the loud voice to get the attention of the class, but apparently he uses that loud voice all the time.

"Alright, I'll make a note of that," says Mr. Griffith. "You can take that empty seat in the middle of the classroom."

I look at the empty seat he is talking about and see it's next to that really cute blonde who was laughing at me in the hall. Well, this is nice. I hope he doesn't distract me. I head to the empty seat next to the blonde, and prepare to listen to Mr. Griffith talk. The first sentence that comes out of his mouth still has that loudness as if he was talking to a deaf person. Somehow I managed to drown him out. Math has always been one of my stronger subjects, so it's all right if I am no totally listening to him lecture about it. I start to doodle on my notebook, trying to look like I'm taking notes.

The 48 minutes of the class seemed to go very, very slow. When the bell rings the class stands up and rushes for the door. I am about to follow them, but Mr. Griffith stops me.

"So do you understand the chapter I was talking about today?" asks Mr. Griffith.

"Yeah," I reply.

"Good because there is a test on the chapter on Wednesday," says Mr. Griffith. "And I suggest you get one of your classmates help you catch up."

"Okay, thank you," I say.

I leave the classroom and in the hall I see Rory waiting for me.

"Hey," I say to Rory. "Is his voice always that loud?"

"Yep," replies Rory. "But at least you'll be able to hear him."

"Yeah," I laugh. "So, do you know where photography with Hartwig is?"

"Uh, I think that's down the stairwell at the end of the hall," says Rory.

"You think," I repeat. "How sure are you?"

"Pretty sure," replies Rory.

"Well you better hope you are, otherwise there will be severe consequences," I joke.

"Really, and what are these consequences?'" asks Rory.

"That I'll have to figure out when I get to photography," I tell her.

We walk down the hall and at some point she turns off to go upstairs, while I continue to go straight to the stairwell. I go down to the basement and find a small hallway with about 3 classrooms. I look around for the number that my schedule says the class is in. I find it, then walk into the class.

Well, Rory's safe, but I was going to have fun dealing with the consequences.

I walk into the class and look around for my brother. I see him talking to the teacher at the teacher's desk, so I walk up to the desk. I stand next to them and wait until I have Ms. Hartwig's attention.

As Ms. Hartwig talks to Shawn, she glances over and sees me standing there.

"How may I help you?" Ms. Hartwig asks me.

"I'm a new student, Josie Fitzgerald, but I am probably written down as Mari," I tell her.

"Ah yes," says Ms. Hartwig as she looks at her attendance sheet. She looks at me and then looks at Shawn. "You two are related?"

I roll my eyes. No we just coincidentally have the some last name and are both starting school at the same time. When will people stop saying it like it is the most amazing thing in the world?

"Yes, twins, actually," says Shawn.

"Really? That is so interesting," says Ms. Hartwig. "Well you two can just sit in any empty seat, there is no seating chart in this class, but I do expect order."

"Don't worry, we're as quiet as mice," I say.

Ms. Hartwig gives me a strange look then says, "Good."

We sit down at a table that had a couple people sitting there. The 50 minutes of the class is spent with Ms. Hartwig lecturing about how you should focus on an object and how you should frame it in the camera. I manage to pay attention. The bell rings and we all leave the class. Shawn and I walk up the stairway. While he goes upstairs, I am going to continue forward on this floor to get to my locker.

"See you at lunch in the cafeteria," I say to Shawn.

"See ya," says Shawn.

We go our separate ways and I walk down the hall to my locker. When I get to my locker I take out my Pre-cal book. Please don't be stuck. I spin the combination on the locker, and it manages to open right away. Thank you God. I toss in my Pre-cal book and grab my English Lit book. I close the locker and as I walk down the hall I look at my schedule to read what room my English class is. As I walk I bump into a body.

"Sorry," I say.

I gaze up to see who I bumped into, and gaze into a pair of crystal blue, gorgeous eyes. It's the same really cute guy from the hall and my pre-cal class.

"No problem, Mary," says the cute guy.

"First of all it's not Mary, its pronounced Marie," I snap at the cute guy. "And second, I don't go by Mari, I go by Josie."

"I like Mary better," says the cute guy.

Something about this guy seems familiar. I take a good look at the guy. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and likes to call people Mary.

"I know I look good, but you can stop staring at me?" smirks the cute guy,

Arrogant and he smirks. Bingo, I know who this is.

"You're Tristin DuGray, correct?" I ask the cute guy.

"Correct," answers the cute guy. "Not even fully into the 3rd period yet and you're already asking about me. I think that's a new record."

I roll my eyes. Exactly as Rory described him. What can I do that would bug him? Ah ha, I know exactly what I can do.

"I wouldn't be so proud of yourself, Triscuit," I tell Tristin. "My source did everything but praise you. However she did get you down to a pact. Egotistical, likes calling people by the wrong name, arrogant, and last but not least a big jerk, yet, for some reason, you don't look like how I imagined."

"Really, and how did you imagine me looking?" asks Tristin, seemingly amused.

"Well, you're missing your horns, tail, and pitch-fork," I count on my fingers.

"Oh, I left those at home," jokes Tristin.

"Ah, well that explains a lot," I say.

"So who is this source who speaks so badly of me?" asks Tristin.

I lean in and whisper, "I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you. But guess I'll give you a hint being the kind person I am: You did seem to enjoy tormenting her last year."

Tristin looks as though his thinking who I could possible talking about.

"Rory," he says.

"In one," I reply. "Although she thinks you were tormenting her, I highly believe it was your first grade way of telling her you like her."

"I don't like Rory," replies an exasperated Tristin.

"You keep telling yourself that and maybe it will come true."

The bell rings.

"Well since you're here, could you tell me how to get to Montgomery's English class room?" I ask him.

"I was just going there," says Tristin, slightly shocked about me.

"Ah, then lead the way, Triscuit."

"It's Tristin," he snaps.

"See, how do you like it?" Maybe he got the message.

As we walk up a stairway to the class, I decide to press Tristin on Rory.

"So, did you like Rory the first day you saw here, or did it occur some time before the winter formal?" I ask.

"I don't like Rory."

"DuGray, buddy, pal, amigo," I say to Tristin as I put my arm around his shoulder. "Don't worry. I won't disclose this information to anyone. See I am going to be a psychologist, so I need to practice this patience-doctor policy."

Tristin looks at me like I am absolutely crazy.

"I think you're odder than Rory."

"I guess I'll take that as a compliment," I shrug.

"You two aren't related, are you?"

"I don't believe so," I reply as if I am actually not sure.

We come up to a closed door.

"This is it."

"Before we go in, I just want to say something," I begin. "I think your assholeness is all a façade. You think you have to be a jackass to get girls to like you and to be popular, but see DuGray, there are many girls such as myself and my source, who like nice guys. And I think deep down inside, when you get past your good looks and arrogance there is a nice guy screaming to come out."

Before he says anything, I open the door and walk into the class, followed by Tristin.

"Mr. DuGray I see you decided to grace us with your appearance today. And with a guest I see," says Mr. Montgomery.

"Um, that's my fault," I say. "I was lost and Tristin here was gracious enough to help me get to the classroom."

"Ah, well, that was very noble of Mr. DuGray," says Mr. Montgomery. "What is your name?"

"Mari Fitzgerald, but I go by Josie," I tell Mr. Montgomery.

"Well, Miss Fitzgerald, you should be glad you arrived today and not tomorrow," says Mr. Montgomery. "We are discussing a project that I am assigning today, and since you and Mr. Dugray are both late, you can be partners. Here are your packets explaining the project. Take a seat please."

We grab our packets, and then Tristin goes to a seat in the second row of the classroom, next to some windows. There is only one empty seat, and that is two rows behind him. I assume the seat was assigned for me, so I walk over to it. As I walk to my desk, I see Paris glaring at me. Now I bet she's mad at me for hanging with Tristin.

I arrive to my seat, and sit in the desk. Paris is seated right behind me. Why oh why must F be before G? I swear I can feel her eyes piercing into my skull.

"Now as I was saying before," continues Mr. Montgomery. "You'll will have until next week, Thursday to be exact, to find out as much as you can on your partner. In the packet I including some required questions and you can add some if you wish. The biography you have to write will be at least 15 pages, double-spaced in Times New Roman, size 12. You will have to write a summary of your biography and present it to the class. Visuals are extra credit. Today will be the only class time you will receive. Otherwise, you and your partner must get together on your own time. You may move your desks accordingly so they face each other and start now."

15 pages?? How am I going to write a 15 page paper on DuGray?

I get up from my desk, grab my bag & book, and then switch seats with the person in front of me.

"So DuGray, it seems as though I'll get time to pick at your brain and get to know ya better," I say to Tristin as I put my bag on the ground. "Won't that be fun?"

"A blast," says Tristin dryly as he turns his desk around to face me.

"Oh come on DuGray. I'm really not that bad once you get to know me," I plea.

"We'll see. Let's just start the questions."

Tristin opens the packet and flips to the questions.

"What's your full name and how did you receive it?" reads Tristin.

"Mari Josie Fitzgerald. My dad wanted my name to be Marie, while my mom wanted it to be something Japanese. They settled on Mari, which means 'ball' in Japanese. And I have no idea why I was named Josie. How 'bout you?"

"Tristin Janlen Dugray. Tristin is my grandfather's name on my mother's side and Janlen is my grandfather's name on my father's side."

"Parent's names, including mother's maiden name, and how did they meet?"

"Robert DuGray and Patricia Winchester. They met at a social function at my father's house. You?"

"Jack Fitzgerald and Miki Makabe. They met in college at Berkeley."

"Siblings?"

"One. Shawn, he's my twin."

"Does he go here?"

"Yeah, he does. Do you have any siblings?"

"I have two older brothers, Robert Jr., and William. Robert's a successful stock broker in New York and William is finishing his senior year at Princeton."

"That's a tough act to follow," I comment.

"I guess."

"Okay, next question. Where and when were you born?"

"Hartford, Connecticut on September 18th, 1984."

"Ooh, so your birthday is coming up. What cha going to do?"

"I don't know. Party with my friends, I imagine."

"Do your parent's throw you a big elaborate party?"

"No, they just buy me things instead," says Tristin sourly.

"Oh."

"So anyway, when and where were you born?"

"September 21st, 1984 in San Francisco, California," I reply.

"So, I'm 3 days older than you,"

"Ooh, you can do math."

Tristin glares at me.

"First words?" I ask.

Tristin looks at the paper.

"That's not on here."

"Well, it should be. Anyway he said we could add some if we wanted. So answer the question, did your parents ever tell you what your first words were?"

"I never bothered to ask. Besides, I don't think they were paying attention to me when I said my first words," says Tristin bitterly.

"Alright." Obviously family is a sore subject. "Name one thing you would change about your life."

"Nothing. I'm popular, rich, good looking and adored by many girls. I've got it all."

"Okay, popularity, money, good looks, and groupies are all well and good, but those aren't the things that should make a person happy. I mean to me, it sounds like your family life could be better."

"Oh, really? And what makes you think you know my family life anyway? I mean you just met me."

"Like I said, DuGray, I want to be a psychologist, so I have to be good at sensing problems, and to me, it seems like you want a better home life. But, then again, maybe I am wrong."

"You are."

The bell rings before we can continue.

"Well Mr. DuGray, our session is over for today. Talk with my secretary and you can schedule another appointment," I joke to Tristin.

One of Tristin's eyebrows goes up and he looks at me strangely.

"You are definitely stranger than Rory," comments Tristin.

"Yeah, but I know you love me anyway," I smirk. I love giving people a taste of their own medicine. It's so much fun. "Check you later."

"Bye," says Tristin.

I get up from my seat and grab my English book & bag. As I leave enter the hall, Paris stops me in my tracks.

"I don't know who you think you are, but you are definitely treading into some dangerous water," says Paris.

"Is that an attempted threat?" I laugh. She's so predictable.

"Tristin is not yours for the taking," says Paris taking a step towards me.

"Does Tristin have your name branded on his ass?"

"Don't be ridiculous," snaps Paris.

"Does Tristin even go out with you at all?"

"Not currently."

"Then you have no right to say who can or cannot go after Tristin."

"You just better stay out of my way!" hissed Paris in a huff as tries to walk around me, but I step in her way.

"Funny, I was just about to say that to you," I semi-snarl at Paris.

I walk forward and our shoulders run into each other. I bet she's going to end up being one of my clients in 10 years. Heeheehee.

I manage to find my way back to my locker, then my way to my Japanese class. After about 50 minutes pass, it's finally time for lunch. I go to my locker, toss in my Japanese book into it, then find my way to the cafeteria. I enter the cafeteria that's looks more like a big dining hall than a school cafeteria and then look around for my brother or Rory. I find Rory sitting at a near empty table, by herself.

"Hey," I say as I take a seat across from Rory.

I place my brown, paper-bagged lunch on the table.

"What's up?" I ask.

"It looks like your brother has already got a fan club," says Rory.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

She points behind me and I turn around to find Shawn sitting on a table surround by a bunch of girls, including Louise and Madeline.

"Well, he sure got popular fast," I comment.

Before we can say anything else, Tristin and a few of his friends and groupies walk by.

"Hey Mary, brown bagging it I see," observes Tristin. "Very classy."

His lackeys and groupies laugh at Tristin's attempt to make me look bad.

"Tristin-" starts Rory, but I interrupt her.

"Gee, Triscuit, I would flip you off, but I don't think that's part of the Chilton code of honor," I simply retort and glare at Tristin. I know, sorry comeback, but oh well, like I care.

Tristin's lackeys snicker while his groupies give me the death stare.

"Run along," I say and I use my hand in a "shoo away" motion.

Rory laughs as they walk away.

"Triscuit?" comments Rory.

"Hey, he called me Mary, so I called him Triscuit," I reply. "It's only fair."

"I can't believe you just did that," says Rory.

"Well, what can I say? I speak my mind."

"So how were your morning classes?"

"Including pre-cal, I have two tests this week, but that's not the eventful part of the morning."

"Really, what happened?"

"Did my brother tell you that when were in the administration office, a girl handed our records out the window?" I ask Rory. She nods her head in a yes. "Well, when I poked my head out of the window, I came to find that Paris, Madeline, and Louise were the ones checking our records, and I basically told Paris off."

"Man, I wish I could have seen her face."

"That's not all. When I was walking down the hall to find my English class at third period I ran smack dab into Tristin."

"How did you know it was Tristin then?"

"He called me Mary."

"Figures."

"So, basically, I put Tristin in his place. We entered our English class late together. When I walk to my desk, Paris is seated right behind me, glaring at me. Tristin and I have also have to be partners in some biography project that's due next week."

"Oh, that's too bad," sympathizes Rory.

"Actually, I'm kinda excited about getting to know Tristin."

"Did you just have a strong blow to the head?"

"No, it's more that if I want to become a good psychologist, I need practice and I think somehow I can get through to Tristin and make him drop his façade."

"Good luck, you'll need it. Anything else happen?"

"Yeah. So I walk out of the class and when I try to walk to my locker, Paris stops in my tracks. She basically threatened me to stay away from Tristin, and I basically laughed in her face."

"Well, Paris does think she can get whatever she wants."

"I highly doubt she'll get what she wants, especially since you stand in her way of becoming valedictorian."

"Hopefully," says Rory.

"Oh please, you know for damn sure you're going to become valedictorian Miss Studious."

"Ha, ha."

"So do you want a ride after school?"

"Sure, that'd be great. So, what classes do you have next?"

"I have Chemistry with Hart, Astronomy with Taylor, and Economics with Anderson," I read off my schedule.

"I have Economics with you."

"So does Shawn. So how much longer do we have for lunch?"

Rory glances at her watch. "About 40 minutes."

"Okay, well I better eat then so I can find my next class before the bell rings."

I eat my lunch and after 20 minutes, I get up.

"I am going to roam the halls so I can get to know it better."

"Do you want me to go with you?" asks Rory.

"No, that's alright. I just want to observe them on my own."

"Okay. Well, see you in Economics."

"Okay. Bye."
"Bye."

I walk out of the cafeteria and go to my locker. I open the locker, grab my chemistry book and put it in my bag. I grab my discman and CD holder case. I take out my Incubus CD and insert it into my discman. I slip my headphones on, place my discman in the special pocket for it on my bag, put my CD holder case back in my locker, and then close the locker. I take my schedule out from the bag and read the class numbers.

I stroll down the halls and search for my class. I had the volume down low, so I can still hear my surroundings. After about ten minutes, I hear footsteps behind me, and when I turn around, I see that Tristin is behind me.

"Are you following me?" I ask him as I turn of the discman then slide my headphones down around my neck.

"No, we just happened to be walking in the same direction, Mary," says Tristin.

"You're still calling me Mary, Triscuit? Why? I mean, I don't see any of your lackeys or groupies around for you to keep your image for. But I guess you never know who is watching. You wouldn't anyone to spread it around that you are a nice person."

"Mar-" starts Tristin, but he sees my eyes narrowing. "Josie, there's no façade, I am who I am."
"Right. I still think different."
"Whatever." He glances at my headphones. "You know, you aren't supposed to have discmans at Chilton."

"Oh, no!" I mock gasp. "Don't turn me in, I wouldn't want to get into any trouble."

I roll my eyes.

"What were you listening to?" asks Tristin.

"Incubus."

"Their newest CD?"

"Yeah."

"Cool."

"So, why aren't you surrounded by your thousands of admirers?"

"Needed a break."

"Oh. So where are you going?"

"No where. Where are you headed?"

"I need to find my chemistry class."

"Who do you have?"

"Umm" I glance at my schedule to double-check. "Hart."

"So do I. I can show you where it is, if you want."

"Be still my beating heart," I say in a thick southern accent. "Is Mr. DuGray being nice?"

"Don't get used to it."

"Well, it's a good side of you," I tell him. "One anyone would like, including Rory."

"So, when do you want to get together for the English thing?" ask Tristin.

"It doesn't matter," I tell him. "Do you want to get together on the weekend for one big meeting or do you want to do a little everyday?"

"Well, I have practice after school," says Tristin. "But we could get together afterward. Where do you live?"
"I live in Stars Hollow," I say. "It'll probably be better if we just meet once this weekend or something."
"Yeah, I guess," says Tristin. He stops in front of a classroom. "Well, this is chemistry. Do you want me show you your other two classes, we have time."
"Sure, I'd like that," I smile. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," says Tristin.

"Why are you being nice to me?" I ask with a suspicious look. Something's gotta be up. Or maybe I got through to him earlier.

"I was bored and thought I'd try something new," says Tristin.

"Right."

"So, what classes do you have after chemistry?"

"Astronomy with Taylor, then Economics with Anderson."

"I have Astronomy with you, so I'll just show you where your economics class is."

"Okay."

We walk for awhile until we stop in front of another classroom.

"Well, this is your economics class," says Tristin.

A lot more kids start to fill the halls. I glance at my watch again and see the bell will ring in a couple minutes.

"I guess we should head back to chemistry," I say.

"Alright," replies Tristin.

I slip my headphones and put them into my bag.

"So, is Hart a hard teacher?" I ask we start to walk back to the chemistry room.

"Yeah, she's pretty tough," answers Tristin.

"Great," I reply sarcastically.

"Not good at chemistry?"

"I've never taken it before, but I am sure I won't be able to remember anything on the periodic table. I have the worst memory."

"Well, we have to take a test on it every other week."

"Great," I reply sarcastically again.

We soon walk into the chemistry room. I see a crowd surrounding someone, and as I get a closer look, I see that the person that was in the middle was none other than my brother Shawn. I push and shove to get to Shawn.

"I see you've got yourself an entourage now," I comment to him.

"What can I say, I'm magnetic," replies Shawn.

"Right," I roll my eyes. "I'm going to check in with the teach."

"You do that," says Shawn.

As I walk away I shake my head and roll my eyes again. All of a sudden my brother's popular and he thinks he's God's gift or something. Note to self: find a way to bruise Shawn's ego.

I walk up to the Ms. Hart and tell her my name.

"Oh yes, Marie Fitzgerald," says Ms. Hart. "Welcome to chemistry. I see that your brother is in this class also."

"Yes," I reply.

"Well, since Miss Louise Grant already volunteered to be partners with your brother Shawn. You will get to be with her old lab partner, umm" says Ms. Hart. She looks at her seating chart. "Mr. Tristin Dugray."

Tristin? Partners again? Oh well, it could be worse; I could be stuck with Paris.

I stroll over to Tristin and sit in the empty seat next to him.

"Hey there, partner," I say to him as I put my bag on the ground.

"Partner?" repeats Tristin.

"Yep, yours ditched you for my brother," I reply. "Why were you partners with Louise anyway, I mean, wouldn't you want a good grade in chemistry?"

"She asked, I accepted," answers Tristin. He looks over at Louise and Shawn. "So that's your brother, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Funny, you don't look related."

"Well, we are."

Before we can continue talking, Ms. Hart interrupts us and starts the class. I vaguely pay attention and take notes. Soon, the 50 torturous minutes of chemistry is over, and the bell rings. I look over at Shawn and see Louise flirting shamelessly with him.

"Hey Romeo, see you in Economics," I call to Shawn as I leave the room.

I start to walk down the hall when I hear a voice call from behind me.

"Hey Mary, do you even know where you going?" calls the voice behind me.

I turn around to see it was Tristin, of course, who was talking, and I glare at him.

"No, I don't," I reply. "Why don't you lead the way, Triscuit?"

Tristin and I walk down the hall in a comfortable silence until we get to our next class. We head into the classroom and I go to talk to the teacher, and basically, I go through the same drill. I tell him my name; he assigns me to my seat. I get to my desk and see Tristin is seated to my right. And to my left isoh no!!! Paris Gellar!! What did I do to deserve this? I sit down and put my bag under my desk.

"Paris," I say as I take out my notebook.

"What?" snarls Paris.

"Nothing," I say. "It was a greeting. You know kinda like 'hello,' but not as friendly."

"Whatever," replies Paris.

While I take out a pen and place it on my desk, the teacher starts talking.

"Today we have a new student in our presence," says Mr. Taylor. He glides his hand towards me. "Class, say hello to Josie."
"Hello Josie," says the class in unison.

I smile slightly, then look down at my notebook. Please, just start the class.

Luckily, Mr. Taylor goes right into talking about new constellations, how they got their names, and where they are located. I take as many notes as I can, and the 50 minutes fly right by. The bell rings, and as the "cattle" moseys on out of the classroom, Mr. Taylor stops me.

"It will be helpful if you get notes from another student because we have already learned all about 15 constellations and there will be a test on all of the ones you have learned on Friday," says Mr. Taylor.

"Okay, thanks," I reply. Great, more finding of notes and tests. Woo hoo.

I walk out the door and go to my locker. After I switch books, I try to remember where Tristin showed me where my last class is located. I wander the halls until I find the class. I enter the classroom. I scan the class and look for Rory or Shawn. Rory and Shawn are seated next to each other one the right side of the room. I wave at them, then walk to Mr. Anderson. I tell him my name then he assigns me my seat, which is to the right of Shawn. As I sit down Mr. Anderson starts the class.

The 52 minutes of the class passes, and the bell rings at 4:00 PM, indicating that school is over for the day. Yea! The torturous day is over. Shawn, Rory, and I walk out of the class together.

"I'll meet you guys at the front of the school in a couple of minutes," I tell them.

"Alright," replies Rory.

"Sure," says Shawn.

"Oh, and Shawn, are you bringing home your chemistry and economic books?" I ask.

"Yeah, why?"

"Cuz, I have to bring almost all my other books home, so two less would be great."

"Okay."

We walk in our separate directions and soon I am at my locker. I toss my economics book in my locker, and then grab my pre-cal, Japanese, and astronomy books. I put my pre-cal and Japanese books in my bag, and carry my astronomy book. I take my CD holder out of my locker and put into my bag, then close the locker door. As I walk to the main entrance, I look around at the guys who are my age and remember Lane saying yesterday about having Henry find a Chilton guy so we could go on a double date. Would I really want to date a Chiltonite? Maybe.

I walk outside, and I see my mom already parked in front, waiting for us. After about a minute, Rory and Shawn stride out of the school towards me. We go to the car and get in for the ride home.

"So, how was school?" asks my mom as we get into the car.

"Good," replies Shawn.
"Okay," I reply.

"That's nice," says my mom. "Make any new friends?"
"Uh huh," I answer.

"Tons," replies Shawn.

"That's good," says my mom. "Do you guys want to go eat somewhere in Hartford to celebrate a successful first day?"
"We could just go to Luke's in town," I tell her.

"Luke's? Who's Luke?" asks my mom.

"Luke is a guy who owns a diner," I reply.

"Okay," says my mom. "We can go there."
"Can we stop at a Starbucks first so I can get a Frappachino?" I ask.

"Sure honey," replies my mom.

After I get my Carmel Frappachino from Starbucks, we drive to home. 35 minutes later, we arrive in Stars Hollow. We stop in front of Luke's, then get out of the car.

"I would like to join you, but I just remembered I told Dean I'd meet him after school," Rory tells us. "I'll see you later."
"Okay," I say. "Bye."

"C-ya," says Shawn.

"Goodbye Rory," says my mom.

"Bye," says Rory.

Rory walks off towards the bus stop while my Mom, Shawn, and I walk into Luke's. We sit at some tables in the middle of the diner.

"So, who's Dean?" asks Shawn.

"Rory's boyfriend," I reply. "You'll probably meet him when you start work at Doose's Market today."

"Rory has a boyfriend?" asks my mom.

"Yeah, he's really nice."

Luke comes over to our table and takes our order. After we eat, we go to the car and drive home. When we get home, I go to my room, toss my bag on the ground, and then change into some jeans and a t-shirt. I walk back to the living room and find my mom sitting on the couch reading a book.

"Mom, I'm going to my friend's house," I tell her.

"Rory's house?" asks my mom.

"No, Lane Kim," I reply. "Her parent's own the antique store in town."

"Oh, okay," says my mom. "Be home by 6:30."

"Alright," I reply.

I leave my house and go to Kim's Antiques. I open the front door and walk through it. As I get into the house, all I see is furniture, no people. I wonder if Lane is even here.

"Hello?" I yell.

"We're open!" yells Lane.

"Is that you Lane?" I ask.

"Josie?"

"Yeah! Where are you?"

"In the kitchen!"

I make my way towards where I remember the kitchen being and find Lane sitting at the table in the kitchen.

"Hey. What cha doing?"

"Statistics and Probability."

"Such fun."

"Tell me about it. So what brings you here?"

"I needed to find something to occupy my time before I have to do my homework."

"Well then, sit."

"So, I was thinking about you proposition from yesterday," I tell Lane as I sat down.

"Proposition?"

"You know the one where you get me a blind date," I remind her.

"Ah, yes."

"You haven't asked Henry yet, have you?"

"Not yet, why?"

"Well, I have a few conditions if you want to set me up."

"Continue."

"Well, first, don't tell Henry I go to Chilton, just telling I live here in Stars Hollow with you."

"Didn't make a good impression today?"
"It's not that, it's just that I don't want them to know who I am before I know who they are."

"Okay, I can understand that. Any other conditions?"

"Don't tell them my real name, give them a fake ones cuz they may match my real name up with my face."

"Alright. Any ideas?"

"I don't know. Vilandra?"

Lane gives me a weird look.

"Vilandra?"

"It's from the show Roswell."

"Strange, but I guess it'll work."

"Oh, and if you don't want me to back out, don't tell me who the guy is."
"Got cha."

"So when do you think this date should take place?"

"Friday?"
"That's good."

"Subject change. How was your first day at Chilton?"

"It was okay. I met Paris and Tristin."
"Interesting. How were they?"

"Exactly like Rory described them. Although, Rory never mentioned what a hottie Tristin is."

"Well, I'm sure Rory was more focused on what how he acted not how he looked."

"True. Guess what? I have four out of my seven lovely classes with him, I'm partners with him in Chemistry, and in English I have to be partners with him on a project."

"What kind of project?"

"We have to write biographies on each other."

"So you get to learn more about Tristin?"

"Yep, and he gets to more about me."

"Fun."

"Well, I guess I better get going before your mom gets mad at me for distracting you from your studies."
"Okay, bye."
"Bye."

I walk back out of the house and decide to go to the market to see Shawn at work. I go into Doose's Market and see Dean working at register. I go to the fridges in the back and grab a Coke. As I go to the candy isle to buy a Milky Way, I see Shawn putting away some bags of chips.

"Hey there, Stockboy, get any discounts?" I ask Shawn.

Shawn turns around and looks at me.

"No, Taylor said 'If we want discounts, work at a mall,'" replies Shawn.

"Oh. So, how's work?"

"Boring, but at least it pays."

"True. What time do you get off?"

"Six."

"Okay, well I'll see you at home."

"Alright."

I continue my way to the candy, and get my Milky Way. I walk to the checkout stand and pay for my things.

"Hey," I say to Dean.

"Hey," echoes Dean.

Dean rings up my items.

"$1.53," says Dean.

I reach into my pocket, grab two dollars, and hand it to him

"So, how was your first day at Chilton?" asks Dean as he gives me my change.

"It was okay," I reply.

"That's good," says Dean.

"Well, c-ya later," I say as I take my two items.

"Yeah, c-ya," replies Dean.

I walk out of the market and walk down the main street towards my house. I go into my house, and walk to the living. I find my mom still reading a book on the couch.

"So what's for dinner?" I ask.

"You're back earlier than expected," says my mom.

"Well, Lane was doing homework, which I need to get to."

"Oh."

"Now, as I asked before: what's for dinner?"

"Aren't you full from Luke's food?"

"Ummno."

"Well, then fix yourself a sandwich."

"Alright."

I walk to the kitchen, make myself a ham sandwich, and then go to my room. I put the plate that the ham sandwich is on and the Coke I bought from Doose's Market on my desk. I grab my bag, turn on the stereo, and then walk back to the desk. As I do my homework, I eat my sandwich and drink my pop. After I am done with all of my homework, I look at the clock and see it's 10:00 PM. Damn ChiltonI've been doing my homework for almost 4 freakin' hours. I am so not cut out for this school. *Yawn* Guess I better go to bed. I change into my pajamas, set my alarm clock, then crawl into bed.

~~~~

I know, I know, bad ending. Sorry.

TBC