Author's Note: I am soooooo sorry it has taken me so long to write this! I have been crazily busy and I just haven't had time to write this. But, it's here now. And I personally don't like it as much as some other things I've written, but it serves the purpose. hehe As always, please be nice and R/R. Oh, and I'm not going to be mean and say that I need a certain number of reviews before I post the next chapter, but because I'm so busy, the reviews really help to encourage me to make time to write… so please review! And lots of constructive criticism is always welcome. Thanks guys! This is Rory's POV. Oh, and one more thing: I talk about Harvard some of the time in this chapter and it will be discussed probably in detail in the future… keep in mind that I'm a 13 year old girl, and, as much as I'd like to go to Harvard, I really have no idea what I'm talking about. Also (and this is it, I promise! haha) Rory is friends with Jess, because his attitude has changed. Ok, I forgot another thing! lol Sorry! But I know Rory saw Tristan at the airport, I didn't mean to say (in the voting area) that she hadn't seen him all summer… I don't know what I was thinking! So I'm sorry for any confusion. lol

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this yet… especially since this is Rory's POV. I just took a quiz today that said I was like Lorelai, does that give me any rights to that character? Nah… probably not. But, hey, a girl can dream! haha

~*~

I walked to the beginning of the golf course, wondering the whole way about what my grandfather was going to surprise me with.

I was almost at the golf course when I saw Grandpa and it looked like he was with two other people.

"Rory!" One of the people yelled to me. I knew that voice. I knew that voice extremely well.

"Tristan!" I yelled back and hurried over to them. Tristan pulled me into a huge hug.

"Hello Rory," Grandpa said warmly. "I thought you might want to see Mr. DuGrey and he wanted you to meet someone." He motioned towards the other person standing with them, who I had completely forgotten about: she looked to be about my age. She was blonde and tall, with blue eyes. Was this Tristan's girlfriend? I felt a pang of jealousy inside of me. I didn't know why, either.

Tristan looked at me. "Rory, this is my cousin, Alexa DuGrey." His cousin? I let out a deep breath that I didn't know I was holding. Then, he turned to his cousin and said, "Alexa, this is Lorelai Gilmore."

Alexa smiled and held her hand out. I shook her hand and also smiled. "Tris is just being fomal. You can call me Rory. Everyone does. But that's mainly because otherwise people would get my mother and me confused. But now I'm babbling. I'm sorry." My grandfather looked at me as if I were insane, but Tristan and Alexa laughed.

"Oh, look! There's James Corbay. I think I'll go say hello." Grandpa smiled and left.

"Anyways, you can call me Lexa, my most commonly used nickname, or Lexi… or Alex, Lex…" She laughed. "Pretty much anything works." Tristan opened his mouth, as if to say something, but Alexa cut him off. "I said SHE could call me pretty much anything; not YOU."

"No fair that Mary gets special privileges." Tristan said, pouting.

"Oh, get over it Devil Boy." I had long ago told Tristan about the names Mom and I had come up with for him.

Lexa looked between the two of us. "I don't think I'm going to bother asking."

"Smart idea," I said. "Oh, we really should start towards the club house. I promised Mom and Grandma that I'd meet them in about ten minutes."

"You left Lorelai and Emily Gilmore alone?" Tristan asked with a look of shock.

"I take it they don't get along too well," Lexa guessed, with her eyebrows raised.

"Not usually, but they've been better lately. I think Grandma realized that my mom must not be so bad once I got accepted at Harvard." I shrugged, hoping that it didn't sound like I was bragging.

Tristan and Lexa exchanged glances. "Actually, Ror, that's part of the reason that Lexa's here." He looked at the confusion on my face and continued, "Well, remember how you found out that you'd be sharing a room with four other girls?" I nodded. That was true, I was supposed to be sharing some sort of dorm suite. My grandparents apparently knew some people at Harvard and made sure I was given the best of the best. "Well, Lexa's doing the same thing and we found out that you two are going to be roommates."

"That's great! And I'm so glad that I've met you." I really was excited.

"Oh, I'm glad to meet you! We have so much to catch up on…" Lexa smiled. "So, tell me, do you have a boyfriend?" She asked as she put her arm over my shoulder. We started walking, leaving Tristan to follow, rolling his eyes. Lexa looked back at him. "Hey, Tris, didn't you say that you wanted to see some friends today?" She was trying to get rid of him! We were going to get along so very well.

Tristan raised up his hands. "Fine, fine… I'll leave you ladies to your game of twenty questions."

I smiled. "Bye Tris. Why don't you come over later, say around six-ish? I'll invite Lane, Henry, Jess, and you come, too, Lexa." Ever since Tristan's return from military school, we had been really good friends and he had come to get along with all of my friends. He and Dean were even able to act civilized around each other. But then Dean moved to Kansas and we broke up. Long distance relationships are just too hard.

"Sure. Later girls." Tristan said, winking at me, in his usual charm. Then he left.

"So, who are those people?" Lexa asked, curiously.

"Well, Lane is my best friend. She's Korean and her mom is really strict. But she has a boyfriend, Henry, that her mother adores, so as long as Henry goes with her, Lane's allowed out a lot more often. And Jess is from my town, Stars Hollow. He lives with his uncle, Luke, who has runs the diner and who is completely in love with my mom, but neither one will admit it. Jess used to be the bad boy in town, but he's shaped up quite a bit and now we're pretty good friends." I explained, running out of breath.

"Wow… ok… SO… back to my original question, do you have a boyfriend?" Lexa asked, devilishly.

I laughed. "Well, not anymore. About six months ago, my boyfriend, who I loved a lot, was forced to move to Kansas. We eventually broke up. The long distance relationship was too hard." My face grew sad.

Lexa frowned and looked extremely sympathetic. "Oh, I'm sorry."

I smiled, sadly. "It's ok. I just miss him sometimes." Then I smiled. "What about you, are you dating anyone?"

It was Lexa's turn to laugh. "Nope! I'm single. I had a steady boyfriend for a while, but it didn't work out."

And it was my turn to be sympathetic. "I'm sorry."

Lexa waved it off. "Hah! It's really no big deal. Now I can choose from some of those college hotties that we are bound to find!"

"You and me both!" We laughed as we walked into the clubhouse's dining room and found Mom and Grandma sitting at a table, looking, for once in my life, happy together.

I pointed out their table to Lexa and we walked over. Grandma and Mom looked up from their conversation. "Sorry to interrupt, but there's someone I'd like you both to meet."

"Oh, you're not interrupting anything, dear. Who's your friend?" My grandmother looked at Lexa.

"This is Alexa DuGrey. She's Tristan's cousin and she's going to be one of my roommates at Harvard," I said to them, then I turned to Lexa, "Lexa, this is my mother, Lorelai Gilmore. And my grandmother, Emily Gilmore."

Lexa shook hands with Grandma first. "Hello, Mrs. Gilmore. It's nice to meet you."

My grandmother was obviously happy with Lexa's good manners. "And you, my dear."

Then Lexa turned to Mom. "Hi Ms. Gilmore." Mom and I cringed.

Mom turned to me and whispered, "How could you forget to tell her not to call me that?!" Then she said to Lexa, "Please, call me Lorelai. The whole "Ms." thing is so formal and it makes me feel old."

Grandma rolled her eyes. "That's just proper manners, Lorelai."

Lexa smiled. "Sorry, Lorelai."

"Ah… so much better… and don't worry, I'll forget all about it if you buy me a coffee."

"Oh, and she's not kidding, Lexa. And when you buy her some, you may as well buy me some of the magical substance as well." I added to my mother's demand.

"I'll make a mental note to myself to always remember that you two love coffee. That could come in handy." Lexa smiled.

"Oh, I can guarantee to you it will," I assured her.

Grandma went back to talking to Mom about some social event and Lexa began to talk to me about some of the hot guys at Harvard. Eventually, Grandpa also joined us, with a newspaper to read, of course. This was turning out not so bad. I had met Alexa DuGrey. She was smart, funny, and she liked to bother Tristan as much as I did. We were going to get along well. I would have her and Tristan at Harvard, if no one else. That made me feel better. I looked over at my mother, briefly and she looked at me. We shared a smile that reassured me. Mom may not have been going to Harvard with me, but she'd always be there, wherever "there" was, when I needed her to be.

~*~

Well, that's it. I hope you like it. PLEASE review! I'm serious. If I don't get a bunch of reviews for this chapter, I'll just assume that you don't want to read anymore. Thanks guys. Oh, one more thing… please vote on the following:

Should Lexa be with:

Jess

Dean, who moves back to Stars Hollow and is going to go to a more local college

Some guy from Harvard

Oh, one last thing, for those of you JAVA JUNKIES out there, please check out my new message board! http://jjaddict.proboards9.com/index.cgi Thanks a bunch!