A Second Chance

By Angel

Chapter 2: Avoidance

Tristan sighed. Could his life be any worse? He had spent a lot of time perfecting ways of avoiding her. He had it so he wouldn't have to see her at all. Now with one fell swoop, all his plans were laid to waste. Stupid project. 'How can I handle being so near to her when she hates me?' At first he was glad. It would his chance to see her up close again. He caught glimpses of her in the hall (when she wasn't looking of course), but it had never been enough. And time had not healed his heart. He wasn't sure if he was ready to see her, or even talk to her again.

It had been a while since that fateful day in the courtyard. Summer passed by in a blur of parties and pretty girls, and before he knew it the school year had started again. The first few days had been hell, seeing her in the halls and avoiding any eye contact. It was still torture to see her. At least he didn't have any classes with her this year. That would have killed him. He had tried to avoid her at any cost. 'Maybe if I avoid her I'll forget about her' he had thought. A small snort escaped from his lips. 'Yeah, that worked real well.' He still wanted her more than ever. And the most painful part was that she went on with her life. She was actually much happier without seeing him at all. 'She must be relieved to be rid of me.' With that thought, a pained expression crossed Tristan's face. Why did he have to miss her? She was the outsider. The new girl. The Mary. She was supposed to be just another conquest. But that didn't work out really well either. Instead of her wanting him, he wanted her. She wasn't even his to begin with. She never was. But he wanted her to be. He wanted her to be his so badly he couldn't stand it. Was he the only one who missed their daily sparring matches? Was he the only one who missed their almost friendship? And that kiss……..no he wouldn't go there. No sense causing himself even more pain.

He had to do something! Anything! Avoiding her wasn't working at all. And with this stupid project he couldn't even avoid her anymore. Working with her was going to kill him. Pain was the only thing he could feel nowadays. Just a constant throbbing pain. No one noticed though. No one cared. He had kept his cocky rich boy act going. No one noticed how strained the mask was. No one had noticed the cracks. Only he knew the difference. 'She would have noticed.' A little voice in his head said. 'She notices everything. That is….if she cared.' Tristan shook his head to clear it of those painful thoughts. He had to find something to replace the hole in his heart. Something to stop this constant feeling of paralysis. He was willing to do anything to make himself feel alive again.

~Chilton Hallway~

Rory groaned, banging her fist against her locker. Why did she always get stuck with a locker that would never open? "You would think with the amount of money people spent to get in here, they could afford decent lockers which open." She muttered to herself. 'Could my day get any worse?' She thought.

"You'd better do a good job on this Gilmore. If I don't get an A on this project because of you, I will personally make your life a living hell." Paris's cold voice interrupted her thoughts.

'Guess it just did.' Rory sighed as she turned towards Paris. "Paris, contrary to your belief that I am a complete idiot, I am capable of handling myself. And hey surprise, I might actually be good at schoolwork. So I'm sure this project will go off with no problems. If you want to bother someone, why don't you go ask Tristan, our newest resident juvenile delinquent? I'm sure he'd appreciate your concern over your marks. Now if you don't mind, I've had a bad day and I really don't want to deal with your threats and glares right now. I'll call you up sometime and we'll threaten each other then okay?" With that Rory slammed her locker shut and walked down the hallway, leaving Paris staring at her retreating form with a shocked look on her face.

As she rounded the corner of the hallway Rory let out a sigh. Paris had been the last straw, and in her anger she forgot to get the books she needed for tonight. She couldn't just walk back to her locker though. Paris was probably still there. Rory walked towards the library, her bad mood deepening even more. She had to say his name. As if things weren't bad enough already, in her anger she had completely forgotten, and had to mention him. Tristan. Rory sighed again. Why did it bother her that he was getting in trouble constantly? 'I mean it's Tristan' Rory told herself, 'he probably did all this stuff before, like he said.' 'Yeah, but even if he did, he was never stupid enough to get caught' a little voice said in her mind. 'Why do I even care? He made my life miserable last year.' Rory argued with herself. 'Not all of last year. You were almost friends for a time remember?' 'Yeah but that doesn't count' 'Why not?' 'Well, because he was such a jerk afterwards.' 'He hasn't bothered you at all this year.' 'That's because I haven't seen him all year.' 'Fine, if he's as horrible as you think he is, then why does it bother you that he's getting caught for all the things he been doing?' "Aahhhh. Will you shut up already!" Rory said to the voice in her head.

"Mary, mary, mary. You do know that it's not a good sign when you start talking to yourself like that." A smooth voice came from behind her.

Rory spun around and looked into two piercing blue eyes. 'Well speak of the devil himself' she thought. "Tristan"

Looking down into her fiery blue eyes, Tristan mentally slapped himself for even letting her know that he was there. He had promised himself that he would stay away from her, but he just couldn't resist. He had heard her conversation with Paris earlier, and was amazed at the way she handled herself. She never ceased to amaze him. Everything about her was surprising. He could have thought about her astonishing personality all day. Not only was she smart, but she was witty, and extremely beautiful. He could have stared at her all day.

"What do you want?"

Her annoyed voice interrupted his thoughts. Quickly Tristan got his bearings. "Oh, uuumm, yeah, uuumm I was wondering what time we had to meet for the project tonight." 'Jeez good one Tristan' he thought, 'how lame can you get?'

"We're meeting at seven in the Great Hall." Rory answered.

"Right. See ya later Mary" Tristan said as he quickly turned and walked down the now empty halls.

Rory stared at Tristan's retreating figure for a few seconds before making her way slowly back to her locker. 'That was strange. That was a half-decent conversation. I've never had a half decent conversation with Tristan.' "Yes you have. Last year, when you were almost friends.' 'Aaaahhhhhh. I thought I told you to shut up.' Rory sighed as she packed her bag and slowly made her way to the bus stop. This day could definitely not get any worse.

~So what do you think? It's definitely going to eventually be a Trory (sorry Dean fans. I love him a lot but I just love the idea of Tristan and Rory together more.) I know it's taking a while to develop into the story, but I'll get to it soon. I'd love to hear what you thought though. So please review!~