Are We or Aren't We?
Chapter 6 – Entering Stars Hollow...
Tristan slid further down in his seat as the car entered Stars Hollow. Not happening. This is not happening, he thought to himself. Yet, barely breathing, he scoured the streets for – he wasn't quite sure what. But the town seemed deserted. The odd person walked down the sidewalks, but other than that, no one. Or no one that counted.
They passed through what could only be sarcastically called the downtown, through some more streets, and finally ended up in front of a great ugly beige building. A school. With that decor, it could only be a school. Or rather, Tristan realized, my school. He turned to the driver.
"This is where I let you off," the driver said.
"What -"
"You've got to register in the office for school and then find your lodgings." He handed a slip of paper to Tristan. "That's the address. The person was too busy or something to come to meet you."
"Oh, okay," Tristan said. That was nothing new. But he stayed seated. He didn't want to get started with this new life. It was already torturing him to be so near – but so far. It was all going to be torture.
"So -" the driver said impatiently.
"Yeah?"
"Goodbye," he said pointedly. Tristan looked at him.
"Oh, right. Sorry," he said, looking once more at the school. Now it seemed to loom up in front of him, even uglier than before. Then he blinked, swallowed and got himself under control. "Thanks for the ride," he said, picking up his small duffle bag and getting out of the car. The driver drove off without a reply.
Tristan headed towards the building. Inside, there was more beige with some light grey added. His footsteps echoed as he walked down the empty hallways. Schools always felt wrong empty. Eerie, somehow. But it couldn't get worse than military school.
He followed the signs to the office. Even from outside the closed door, he could hear angry voices from within. He pushed open the door and smiled at the old secretary sitting at her desk. He looked around. The voices were coming from behind another closed door, with the words 'Mr. Louis, Principal'.
"Hello, dear," the secretary said calmly, ignoring a sudden crash coming from inside the office. "You must be Tristan DuGrey."
"Yes ma'am," said Tristan, turning on his old charm.
"Well you just take a seat. Mr. Louis should only be a few more minutes." At that, the office door suddenly flew open with a bang and a small, dark-haired kid almost fell out of the room. Behind him, the principal advanced towards him.
"I've had enough of your attitude, young man. And so have most of your teachers." The principal was getting in the kid's face, trying to bully him into submission.
But the kid was having none of it. He pushed himself upwards, so that even at his smaller height and size he looked impressive. His chin jutted out.
"Most? Only most of the teachers?" he said, giving a mock horrified look. "Damn, I guess I've gotta' work harder. At my last three schools, it only took a month for everyone to get fed up with me." At this point, the principal advanced once more towards him.
"Get out of here! Get out - before I suspend you."
"Suspend me? Ooooh, I'm scared," the kid said, heading towards the door. "I'd dare you to suspend me, but I know you wouldn't -"
"All right! You've got your wish," the principal said brusquely. "This is ridiculous. Until you apologize to me and your teachers, I don't want to see you back in school."
The kid shrugged his shoulders. "Then it's good bye, I guess. Or rather, just bye." He turned around, opened the door and shut it firmly behind him.
It was quiet in the room, except for the deep breaths Mr. Louis was taking. Then the secretary's calm voice cut in.
"Mr. Louis," she said. "Tristan DuGrey is here."
* * *
Tristan walked down what seemed to be the main street of Stars Hollow, his head down as he stared at the slip of paper in his hands. He'd managed to survive registering at school, but now - 24 Plum Street. "Plum," he muttered to himself. After forty-five minutes of walking he'd been able to find Peach, Cherry and Orange Street – just not Plum. "Ugh," he muttered to himself. "At this rate I'm going to have to camp out on the-"
Suddenly, Tristan found himself stumbling backwards, clutching his stomach. He finally steadied himself and looked up into the laughing eyes of the dark-haired woman he'd bumped into. He couldn't help but give a laugh at the expression on her face.
"I think I've got third degree burns from your cup of coffee," Tristan said, looking down at his drenched shirtfront. He looked back up at the lady and gave his old grin. Then he faltered for a second. There was something familiar about her...
"Well, you did bump into me," the woman said with a laugh. "Serves you right. And look!" she said, gasping with sarcastic horror and pointing at her coffee cup. "There's no more left!" With that, she turned over the coffee cup to prove it to him.
"Well," said Tristan, smiling back at her, this time genuinely, "I did bump into you, so I'd be delighted to buy you another cup of coffee."
"Perfect! I'm in heaven! Coffee and a handsome date to go along with it. I'm Lorelai, by the way."
Lorelai? No, it was impossible. Just a coincidence.
"At this point you're supposed to tell me your name."
"Oh - nice to meet you Lorelai. I'm Tristan."
"Tristan?" Lorelai said, raising her eyebrows slightly. Didn't that sound familiar somehow? But – whatever. It must be the lack of caffeine. "Come on, let's go." She pushed open the door they were standing in front of, and Tristan found himself inside the quiet interior of some sort of mismatched diner. There was only one customer sitting in the corner, reading a newspaper.
"Luke!" Lorelai said in a singsong voice. The man behind the counter turned around and gave a groan.
"Lorelai? Back so soon? And with a new conquest, I see," he said, giving Tristan a dark look.
"Yup. And he's buying me coffee, so serve it up!"
"Why do I even bother pouring it? I should just give you the whole jug at the rate you and your kid drink it."
"Right Luke, just pour," said Lorelai, holding out her cup and winking at Tristan.
"So who're you?" Luke said to Tristan, now intent on ignoring Lorelai.
"He's Tristan," Lorelai interrupted, once more in a singsong voice. "And that's all I know."
"Tristan, huh?" Luke said, giving him a curious look. "Just passing through?"
"Actually, no. I'm here from my school, I'm supposed to be doing some community work -"
"You're the delinquent!" Lorelai suddenly burst out. "Well, welcome to Stars Hollow," she said, thrusting out her hand for him to shake. She turned to Luke. "Luke, isn't this great? So much for Taylor's vision of a scruffy guy with tattoos on his arms – huh?" She laughed, and so did Luke.
"Yeah, but don't forget the piercings, Lorelai. The nose, the tongue, and the 'I don't want to know where else'," Luke said with another laugh. By now, Tristan was staring at them, confused.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Nothing, nothing," Lorelai said. "You just won a bet for us against one of our town rivals."
"Oookay," Tristan said warily.
"Don't worry about it, man," Luke said. "And the coffee's on the house."
* * *
Rory was lying facedown on the couch, now her familiar after school haunt. There was a quiet knock on the door. "Go away," she muttered. But the knock came again, this time louder. Groaning, Rory hauled herself up and opened the door drowsily. "What da ya want," she said, before recognizing Jess.
"Eloquent, Rory. Very eloquent," Jess said smirking. Then he turned serious. "Your mom home?" he asked.
"No."
"Then can I come in?"
"Sure," Rory said, holding open the door. "Make yourself at home." Jess walked in and flopped onto the couch. "What's wrong Jess?"
"Ikindagotsuspended," Jess said in a rush without meeting her eyes.
"What?" Rory asked again, confused.
"I got suspended from school," Jess repeated clearly, this time looking at her straight in the eyes.
"You what?"
"You heard me."
"And why?"
"Well -"
"I mean, Mr. Louis is the nicest guy around – I don't think I've ever even heard of him threatening someone with a suspension!"
"Yeah, well," Jess looked at the ground. "I sort of goaded him into it."
"You what?"
"Again, Rory, you heard me."
"Ugh. I don't believe this. I come home from a terrible day of school, and – wait, why exactly is this my problem?"
"It isn't!" said Jess. He rose to his feet, a hurt expression on his face. "I just thought -"
"You thought what? That I was the ever gullible Rory, ready to jump in and comfort poor old troubled Jess? That isn't my job, you know. I have my own problems."
"Everything's not about you, Rory," Jess said, turning towards her, his eyes glowing strangely.
"I never said it was! But why am I always in the centre – the one people come to telling me their stupidities. Why did you come here anyway?" Jess pressed his lips together and stared at her.
"Whatever, Rory. Just – whatever." He turned and walked out of the door.
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