Author's Note: Okay, I'm SO sorry that this took so long! I wanted to update days ago but another GG fic that I really needed to write distracted me. Unfortunately that fic won't be posted till April. Sorry, I should have been paying more attention but when you read that other fic, you'll understand. PLEASE don't forget to review, I really need some kind words right about now.
PS- There was an added delay because we had to take my grandmother to the hospital, sorry!
Chapter 4
Rory stood alone in her room. It was the one place where she felt at ease and was able to let at least some of her guard down. She wasn't constricted in her room, she could be herself in there instead of the kind of girl that every guy wanted to date and every girl wanted to be, the princess of Chilton. Simple and uncluttered it made the hectic panic of the world around her fade away, leaving her to sit in the solace of peace and quiet. That was exactly the way she liked it.
She sighed sadly and looked around her surroundings. Her room was a corner room that jutted outward ever so slightly from the rest of the house giving her a beautiful view of the woods and lake that surrounded the Hayden property. It was the room that every girl dreamed of. Opposite all the windows were two doors, one led into a closet that was bigger than most peoples' bedrooms and the other led to a spacious bathroom that cost a small fortune to furnish.
A black, wrought iron, king-sized, canopy bed with light semi-transparent silk draping across it, giving it a delicate touch, sat in the middle of the room with windows on either side. It was covered in a large white down comforter so thick with feathers that you sank slowly into it. The pillows and mattress were just as heavenly. The windows were draped in light yet elegant white curtains that swayed gently every time a breeze trickled in through the open window.
In the corner farthest from the bed was a magnificent bookcase filled with limited and early editions of all the classics. Her grandparents had donated the collection but she had yet to read any of the literary masterpieces that graced her room. A small sitting area with a white loveseat and whitewashed coffee table with a glass top took up space not to far away from there. Running along the same wall as the bookcase, was a set of large double-doors that opened into a magnificent balcony overlooking the surrounding splendor. In the farthest corner of the room, the spot in the room that was a far as one could possibly be from the rest of the house, next to the balcony, was a bay window with beautiful pillows, each unique in their own way.
In all, the room glowed with gentle brightness. Inspiring and breathtaking were the only words that could fully describe the beauty the room held.
Anyone would think that Rory Hayden would be happy with what she had but she wasn't. While the room provided comfort from her shallow friends and uninvolved parents the fact that she needed it as an escape tore at her heart. She slowly trudged her way to the bay window. Sitting down she picked up a random pillow and hugged it gently as she gazed out into the scenery not looking at anything in particular. Looking down she tugged at the one of the tassels on the pillow she held. It was off white with Chinese script on it, spelling out the word `hope' and adorned with little tassels on the corners. She smiled slightly remembering when she had gotten the pillow. Her mother had gotten it for her when Rory was just twelve.
Looking around her she realized that most of the pillows were selected with the help of her mother. There was a time when the mother and daughter pair loved each other and spent every minute possible with each other. There was a time when Lorelai would never think of laying a hurtful hand on her child instead of now, when abuse came almost as a second nature. There was a time when Lorelai and Christopher were against high society and instead strived to be forever young with crazy banter and schemes. It was when Rory turned fourteen that things took a turn for the worst. Christopher started to get bored with his marriage and started to have affairs, Lorelai was crushed that she wasn't enough for him and turned to alcohol and affairs of her own. She began to pay less attention to her daughter at the time that Rory needed her the most and soon conflict grew between them. Rory turned to concentrating on playing the game of popularity and began to surround herself with shallow
groupies who felt the same neglect from their parents as she did. The only thing separating her from them was that they accepted their fate of being nothing more than conversation pieces for their parents to flaunt around. Rory however had a conscience, she wished for nothing more than to get back the mother she knew when she was younger, to be able to erase all the painful words she had said to her parents, and to stop running in meaningless social circles in order to save herself from the doomed fate of a socialite.
That was when she felt it, a tear running down her cheek. She angrily wiped away the tear and ran into the bathroom. Turning on the water to the large marble bathtub she turned to the large mirror.
"Damn it Rory, pull yourself together!" she scolded herself. "You're a Hayden! Hayden's don't cry! This is your life accept it!"
She turned back, sat on the step to the tub, and stared down into the water that was quickly filling the bath.
"You have a reputation to hold up." she said softly. "You are the most popular girl in Chilton and you are not going to mess that up. I don't want to be a trophy wife but that is the future that I have to accept. Now stop talking to yourself, it's time to mentally prepare for the game tomorrow. Target: Davenport. Goal: add him to your lists of conquests." she finished dully.
The next day...
Rory stood up against the row of lockers absentmindedly twirling her hair around one finger, a repetitive action notorious for driving the men of Chilton into her arms. In the halls she was not the girl who fought with her mother and regretted it or the girl who let down her guard in the comfort of her room. Instead, she was Rory Hayden the coy enchantress that no one dared to cross.
She looked up at the gentle hum of whispers. The corners of her mouth tugged upward, she had long ago figured out the inner workings of the Chilton rumor mill. The bible boy himself was wandering down the hall, the whispers just a few feet ahead of him signaling to Rory that it was time to turn on the charms.
Tristan however did not notice the whispers nor did he notice the girl leaning beside his locker, as he was lost in the world of the author of the week. Only when he reached his destination did he look up from the book in his hands and notice Rory.
"Um...hi." he said nervously.
"Hi, Tristan Davenport right?" she said boldly. "I don't think we've properly met yet, I'm Rory Hayden."
"Yeah, I know who you are." he said quietly ducking his head down as he loaded his bag with the morning's books.
"Really, you pay that much attention to me huh? So what was it, the appealing outfit or the hair twirling, guys love the hair twirling." she whispered seductively.
"Well, actually it was the whole `bible boy' thing from yesterday. That and Henry warned me about you." he countered.
"Cho? Henry Cho warned you about me?" she asked in disbelief.
Tristan nodded his head.
"Yeah well." she said dismissively. "You can't believe everything people tell you. And about the bible boy thing however, think of that as an honor."
"An honor to be called the male equivalent of the Virgin Mary?" he asked slamming his locker shut and turning his full attention to her.
"So, I'm guessing your mom told you about that one huh?" she said, nodding in defeat.
"How'd you guess?"
"Chilton alumni, they never forget the traditions. In turn the knowledge is passed on to the children thus ensuring the customs never die."
"Imagine that." he muttered dryly.
"Imagine. So I have a few classes with you. Third period English, fifth Math, and the last period of the day, sixth History."
"Yup, you and your two sidekicks."
"Yeah well, if you need to borrow any notes for any of those classes I'd be more than willing to lend a hand. We could even..." she let out a small giggle, "study together." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"No thanks. Studying is a solitary activity to me." he said politely. "Actually I need to start heading to class now."
"Okay, later bible boy." she called at his retreating form.
He looked over his shoulder to correct her. "The name's Tristan."
She simply smirked in reply.
"So, I see the bible boy didn't fall for the hair twirling charms." Louise commented, coming up from behind.
"Yeah, well, it's still early in the game." Rory assured her.
"Come on, let's ditch first for a smoke." Louise suggested.
"Agreed." she answered before the two slipped away moments before the first bell.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Okay, relena, Tristan and Rory switching would not involve them switching families and parents. Good question though. Now, Beannie, thank you for you insight on Asian last names. Coincidentally I have a friend who is Korean and I consulted him on the last name. In fact, both of us are Asian and we both agreed that the Asian cultures are closely related and do share similar if not the same last names. In addition, I do not refuse to change my mistakes when I can, so you may have noticed that I went back and changed the name Wang to Cho because that is his "real" last name on the show. Now I have a question for you. Reviews are meant to give the author feedback on the fics that they work so hard on. Well when you reviewed, instead commenting on my work you gave me a lecture on Asian last names. So with that in mind Beannie, what did you think of the story?
PS- There was an added delay because we had to take my grandmother to the hospital, sorry!
Chapter 4
Rory stood alone in her room. It was the one place where she felt at ease and was able to let at least some of her guard down. She wasn't constricted in her room, she could be herself in there instead of the kind of girl that every guy wanted to date and every girl wanted to be, the princess of Chilton. Simple and uncluttered it made the hectic panic of the world around her fade away, leaving her to sit in the solace of peace and quiet. That was exactly the way she liked it.
She sighed sadly and looked around her surroundings. Her room was a corner room that jutted outward ever so slightly from the rest of the house giving her a beautiful view of the woods and lake that surrounded the Hayden property. It was the room that every girl dreamed of. Opposite all the windows were two doors, one led into a closet that was bigger than most peoples' bedrooms and the other led to a spacious bathroom that cost a small fortune to furnish.
A black, wrought iron, king-sized, canopy bed with light semi-transparent silk draping across it, giving it a delicate touch, sat in the middle of the room with windows on either side. It was covered in a large white down comforter so thick with feathers that you sank slowly into it. The pillows and mattress were just as heavenly. The windows were draped in light yet elegant white curtains that swayed gently every time a breeze trickled in through the open window.
In the corner farthest from the bed was a magnificent bookcase filled with limited and early editions of all the classics. Her grandparents had donated the collection but she had yet to read any of the literary masterpieces that graced her room. A small sitting area with a white loveseat and whitewashed coffee table with a glass top took up space not to far away from there. Running along the same wall as the bookcase, was a set of large double-doors that opened into a magnificent balcony overlooking the surrounding splendor. In the farthest corner of the room, the spot in the room that was a far as one could possibly be from the rest of the house, next to the balcony, was a bay window with beautiful pillows, each unique in their own way.
In all, the room glowed with gentle brightness. Inspiring and breathtaking were the only words that could fully describe the beauty the room held.
Anyone would think that Rory Hayden would be happy with what she had but she wasn't. While the room provided comfort from her shallow friends and uninvolved parents the fact that she needed it as an escape tore at her heart. She slowly trudged her way to the bay window. Sitting down she picked up a random pillow and hugged it gently as she gazed out into the scenery not looking at anything in particular. Looking down she tugged at the one of the tassels on the pillow she held. It was off white with Chinese script on it, spelling out the word `hope' and adorned with little tassels on the corners. She smiled slightly remembering when she had gotten the pillow. Her mother had gotten it for her when Rory was just twelve.
Looking around her she realized that most of the pillows were selected with the help of her mother. There was a time when the mother and daughter pair loved each other and spent every minute possible with each other. There was a time when Lorelai would never think of laying a hurtful hand on her child instead of now, when abuse came almost as a second nature. There was a time when Lorelai and Christopher were against high society and instead strived to be forever young with crazy banter and schemes. It was when Rory turned fourteen that things took a turn for the worst. Christopher started to get bored with his marriage and started to have affairs, Lorelai was crushed that she wasn't enough for him and turned to alcohol and affairs of her own. She began to pay less attention to her daughter at the time that Rory needed her the most and soon conflict grew between them. Rory turned to concentrating on playing the game of popularity and began to surround herself with shallow
groupies who felt the same neglect from their parents as she did. The only thing separating her from them was that they accepted their fate of being nothing more than conversation pieces for their parents to flaunt around. Rory however had a conscience, she wished for nothing more than to get back the mother she knew when she was younger, to be able to erase all the painful words she had said to her parents, and to stop running in meaningless social circles in order to save herself from the doomed fate of a socialite.
That was when she felt it, a tear running down her cheek. She angrily wiped away the tear and ran into the bathroom. Turning on the water to the large marble bathtub she turned to the large mirror.
"Damn it Rory, pull yourself together!" she scolded herself. "You're a Hayden! Hayden's don't cry! This is your life accept it!"
She turned back, sat on the step to the tub, and stared down into the water that was quickly filling the bath.
"You have a reputation to hold up." she said softly. "You are the most popular girl in Chilton and you are not going to mess that up. I don't want to be a trophy wife but that is the future that I have to accept. Now stop talking to yourself, it's time to mentally prepare for the game tomorrow. Target: Davenport. Goal: add him to your lists of conquests." she finished dully.
The next day...
Rory stood up against the row of lockers absentmindedly twirling her hair around one finger, a repetitive action notorious for driving the men of Chilton into her arms. In the halls she was not the girl who fought with her mother and regretted it or the girl who let down her guard in the comfort of her room. Instead, she was Rory Hayden the coy enchantress that no one dared to cross.
She looked up at the gentle hum of whispers. The corners of her mouth tugged upward, she had long ago figured out the inner workings of the Chilton rumor mill. The bible boy himself was wandering down the hall, the whispers just a few feet ahead of him signaling to Rory that it was time to turn on the charms.
Tristan however did not notice the whispers nor did he notice the girl leaning beside his locker, as he was lost in the world of the author of the week. Only when he reached his destination did he look up from the book in his hands and notice Rory.
"Um...hi." he said nervously.
"Hi, Tristan Davenport right?" she said boldly. "I don't think we've properly met yet, I'm Rory Hayden."
"Yeah, I know who you are." he said quietly ducking his head down as he loaded his bag with the morning's books.
"Really, you pay that much attention to me huh? So what was it, the appealing outfit or the hair twirling, guys love the hair twirling." she whispered seductively.
"Well, actually it was the whole `bible boy' thing from yesterday. That and Henry warned me about you." he countered.
"Cho? Henry Cho warned you about me?" she asked in disbelief.
Tristan nodded his head.
"Yeah well." she said dismissively. "You can't believe everything people tell you. And about the bible boy thing however, think of that as an honor."
"An honor to be called the male equivalent of the Virgin Mary?" he asked slamming his locker shut and turning his full attention to her.
"So, I'm guessing your mom told you about that one huh?" she said, nodding in defeat.
"How'd you guess?"
"Chilton alumni, they never forget the traditions. In turn the knowledge is passed on to the children thus ensuring the customs never die."
"Imagine that." he muttered dryly.
"Imagine. So I have a few classes with you. Third period English, fifth Math, and the last period of the day, sixth History."
"Yup, you and your two sidekicks."
"Yeah well, if you need to borrow any notes for any of those classes I'd be more than willing to lend a hand. We could even..." she let out a small giggle, "study together." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"No thanks. Studying is a solitary activity to me." he said politely. "Actually I need to start heading to class now."
"Okay, later bible boy." she called at his retreating form.
He looked over his shoulder to correct her. "The name's Tristan."
She simply smirked in reply.
"So, I see the bible boy didn't fall for the hair twirling charms." Louise commented, coming up from behind.
"Yeah, well, it's still early in the game." Rory assured her.
"Come on, let's ditch first for a smoke." Louise suggested.
"Agreed." she answered before the two slipped away moments before the first bell.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Okay, relena, Tristan and Rory switching would not involve them switching families and parents. Good question though. Now, Beannie, thank you for you insight on Asian last names. Coincidentally I have a friend who is Korean and I consulted him on the last name. In fact, both of us are Asian and we both agreed that the Asian cultures are closely related and do share similar if not the same last names. In addition, I do not refuse to change my mistakes when I can, so you may have noticed that I went back and changed the name Wang to Cho because that is his "real" last name on the show. Now I have a question for you. Reviews are meant to give the author feedback on the fics that they work so hard on. Well when you reviewed, instead commenting on my work you gave me a lecture on Asian last names. So with that in mind Beannie, what did you think of the story?