To the readers that never gave up:
Wow! Tenth chapter already! Thank you all soo much for sticking with me, and not giving up when the story started to get bad. I spent a few days reading fanfics, and I feel ready to write another chapter. This chapter should be brilliant. VERY VERY IMPORTANT: Rory doesn't behave in character near the end, prompted by a few crappy fanfics I read somewhere else. If they resemble yours, don't sue me or be mad. I'm not intentionally satirizing yours. Sadly, the review love has stopped. I'm wondering if it's because I've changed it to R? But it's not. Really. I don't want it to be R. I never wanted it to be R. But this chapter is good clean fun for the whole family. Did that scare you? Hope so.
--authors_anonymous
p.s. Jess likes this chapter. He really does...
p.p.s. 3 N's still in effect.
Rory felt Tristan move his legs under her desk. He had been doing a lot of that lately, fidgeting. Rory tried to ignore the feeling in her stomach and concentrate on her work. Uneasily, she slipped back into her reading and was jolted when Tristan fidgeted once again. Irritated, she moved her desk slightly forward. Tristan looked at Rory's back, hurt. He had hoped they could be friends, if not more. Rory started to get up and packed her books quickly. Around him, the other students were doing the same. Tristan mimed them, and accidentally brushed hands with Rory when she turned around to take her bag off her chair back.
"Sorry..." Tristan said, and looked at her hopefully. Rory didn't respond. She didn't even look like she'd heard him. 'Off in her own world...'he thought and walked out to his locker.
When he got there, Rory was unpacking her books [time inconsistency #1].
"Mary...earth to Mary..."
"It's Rory!" she said maliciously and slammed her locker door shut. "Leave me alone." That said, she turned on her heel and walked quickly away.
Three periods later, Rory couldn't believe her oh-so-blue eyes. Tristan walked into English with his arm around the waist of another girl. 'Not that it mattered…' Rory chided herself, before taking a deep breath and walking into the room. The girl was sitting in Rory's desk, swiveled facing Tristan. She heard a few words when she got closer to them.
"…Actually, today's my second day here…it was awful, I had to leave all my friends and my boyfriend…no, we both agreed that long distance relationships are too hard…"
"Ahem." Rory coughed, ignoring the startled looks around her.
The girl turned around, "yes?"
"Sorry to break this up, but you're in my seat…so, if you don't mind…"
"Oh, not at all!" she said, rising. "My name's Tiffany."
"Oh, hi…" said Rory, distracted. Tiffany looked at Rory expectantly. "I'm Rory."
"Nice to meet you Rory…" the comment was cut short, however, when the class was called to order by Mr. Medina, in a terrible mood, because his favorite book (Swan's Way) had been used as a coaster by a math teacher. Tiffany sat down in the vacant seat next to Tristan.
Rory listened to the Tiffany's tapping pencil in annoyance. 'Ugh! She's so annoying and perky!' thought Rory, and tried to ignore how close Tristan had moved to her. They were whispering and Tristan had his arm around the back of her chair. Since she didn't have any books, he had 'valiantly' offered to share his. 'It shouldn't matter!' Rory thought angrily, 'it's not like I like him or anything…' It wasn't too soon when the bell rang. Rory packed up her books slowly, not sure what to do. She had come to a resolve to talk to Tristan about what had happened. It was shattered when Rory happened to look the over her shoulder.
Rory stalked off, tears stinging her eyes. How she hated him. She had trusted him, and look what had happened! Word had spread through the school: Tristan and Tiffany- the newest couple. She had been in Chilton for less than a day, and she already had a boyfriend! And to make the blow even harsher for poor Rory, they declared their love during English class by making out in the back. Mr. Medina had been too busy reading Swan's Way to notice. Rory looked at her watch. If she ran, she would just catch the bus home [time inconsistency #2]. The project could wait. If necessary, she'd do her part at home and then join it up with his.
Rory went outside just in time to see the bus pull away. "Drat!" she said aloud, and settled herself down for a long wait.
"Where were you?" asked Tristan, breaking into her oblivion.
"Here…" answered Rory simply, never looking up from her book.
"We had a date-" no sooner then the words were out of his mouth he regretted them, "-a, um…a study date…"
"Looks like it's broken."
"Look, Rory, I'm sorry about the whole Mary thing. I didn't think it would bother you so much."
"Whatever" she replied, not looking at him.
"Rory." Tristan said, and tried to make her look at him. "Rory, come on. Let's go to my house. Or let me drive you home…" she didn't reply. "Think about the project," he cajoled, "think about Harvard…"
"Fine!" Rory said eventually, and stood up. With as much dignity as she could muster, she walked with him to his car and got in, but ignored his weak attempts at conversation by staring resolutely out the window.
"Did you finish the dance?" asked Tristan, looking up from his complicated choreography chart.
"Almost…" said Rory, and set about putting the final touches on hers. Tristan waited patiently, and as soon as she finished he stood up to demonstrate his. Several hours later the two were sitting in the garden eating dinner.
"I have a surprise for you," said Tristan
"Oh yeah, what?" asked Rory, still eating the spaghetti. Tristan pulled two strips of paper with periferal lines on them from his pocket and handed them to her.
"These are tickets…" said Rory dumbly.
"Keep reading…"
"P.J. Harvey tickets…"
"Mmm hmmm…"
"P.J. Harvey tickets for tonight…oh my god!!!" Rory practically yelled.
"Wanna go?"
"How did you get these? They've been sold out for years!"
"Look at the seats…" Tristan said, smiling.
"Fifth row center!"
"What?" asked Tristan "Oh, sorry, those are the wrong ones."
Rory handed them back, slightly upset. After all, those were dream seats.
"Here are the right ones…" said Tristan and handed her a new pair.
"Tristan…these are on the stage…"
"Yeah. That's the closest I could get."
"That's impossible. We can't sit on the stage! We'll get in her way and trip over things and…"
"Rory, you're babbling."
"You call that babbling? You haven't seen me babble!"
"So, do you want to go or not?" asked Tristan, his palms sweating.
Rory stopped a moment in indecision. "What about Tiffany? Won't she want to go?"
"Tiffany?" asked Tristan confused, "who's Tiffany?" Rory stared at him in disbelief.
"Tall, blonde, skinny as a stick…the one you were making out with during English…"
"Oh, her!" Tristan said, comprehension dawning. "Oh, why would she want to go?"
"Because she's your girlfriend…"
"We broke up. It wasn't working out."
"Tristan," said Rory, starting to get very much annoyed, "you only knew her for three hours. For two of them you were sticking your tongue down her throat."
"Yeah, well, she didn't have much to say…"said Tristan, who desperately wanted to change the subject. "Do you want to go?"
"Definetly!" said Rory, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I've got to get ready though. I didn't bring any concert clothes…" she said, her face falling.
"We'll stop by your house on the way" said Tristan, and took her hand.
"Hey mom!"
"Hey Rory, what are you doing home?"
"I'm going to the P.J. Harvey concert with Tristan tonight, and I need to get changed!"
"What are you going to wear?" asked Lorelai, slightly bemused at her daughter.
"I have just the thing!" Rory said, and dashed into her room. Lorelai followed. "…You know, to be one with the scene…" Rory held up an all leather pant suit.
"It's great!" said Lorelai, "considering the fact that a) P.J. Harvey is a vegetarian, b) you shouldn't own such a thing and c) if you infact did own such a thing, you should have lent it to me last night when I went on a date with this guy from my business class who hit on me next to the soda machine last week."
"You went on a date with a guy from your business class who hit on you next to the soda machine last week? Do tell!" said Rory, while struggling into the all leather pants suit.
"Well…" said Lorelai, clearly relishing the memory, "last week I was standing next to the soda machine-"
"Help me with this, would you?" asked Rory, indicating to a zipper. "Go on!"
"Well…last week I was standing next to the soda machine, the one next to the cookie machine, and two machines away from the coffee machine…"
"You were standing at a soda machine when there was a coffee machine two machines away?"
"Hi, it was out of order!"
"Oh. Continue."
"Okay, so, I was standing at the soda machine and this guy walks up to me-"
"This guy?"
"Yeah, Chuck…"
"What kind of name is Chuck?"
"Can I continue?"
"Definitely."
"So, Chuck walks up to me, and introduces himself and then offers to buy me a soda. I started talking about how the coffee machine was out of order, and that's the only reason I was standing in front of the soda machine, and then he offered to take me out for coffee."
"You went out for coffee with a man named Chuck?"
"He was really built" replied Lorelai smugly.
"Ahh…"
"So, one thing led to another…and he asked me out, and I went."
"And…" Rory prompted.
"Chuck isn't the smartest knife in the drawer."
"Oh."
"And he's caffeine intolerant"
"Chuck. The caffeine intolerant man. How sad."
"Oh, don't cry for me."
"Noted. So, how do I look?" asked Rory, and modeled the leather cat suit for her mother.
"Like you own a motorcycle."
"Thanks."
"So, have fun kid. Be safe. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Lorelai shouted to her retreating back.
"So, basically anything legal?" joked Rory.
"Wow…" mouthed Tristan when he saw Rory. She was wearing tight leather pants, and a very low, very tight, very revealing top that showed quite a lot. "You look…amazing…" said Tristan, for lack of a better word. Rory just smiled.
Author's Note: I hope anyone who got this far has enjoyed it. I'm terribly sorry that the end sucks, but I'm going to fix it all in the next chapter. I leave you with this:
Chapter 11 contains: -An unexpected event that brings the Tristan and Rory closer
-A trip far far away
-A definite NON trory chapter…(unless you tell me otherwise)
Now, if it's not too much trouble, I'd be ever so much obliged if you would review, because it prompts me to write faster and it makes me all tingly inside. Remember: Flames=bad
--a_a
Wow! Tenth chapter already! Thank you all soo much for sticking with me, and not giving up when the story started to get bad. I spent a few days reading fanfics, and I feel ready to write another chapter. This chapter should be brilliant. VERY VERY IMPORTANT: Rory doesn't behave in character near the end, prompted by a few crappy fanfics I read somewhere else. If they resemble yours, don't sue me or be mad. I'm not intentionally satirizing yours. Sadly, the review love has stopped. I'm wondering if it's because I've changed it to R? But it's not. Really. I don't want it to be R. I never wanted it to be R. But this chapter is good clean fun for the whole family. Did that scare you? Hope so.
--authors_anonymous
p.s. Jess likes this chapter. He really does...
p.p.s. 3 N's still in effect.
Rory felt Tristan move his legs under her desk. He had been doing a lot of that lately, fidgeting. Rory tried to ignore the feeling in her stomach and concentrate on her work. Uneasily, she slipped back into her reading and was jolted when Tristan fidgeted once again. Irritated, she moved her desk slightly forward. Tristan looked at Rory's back, hurt. He had hoped they could be friends, if not more. Rory started to get up and packed her books quickly. Around him, the other students were doing the same. Tristan mimed them, and accidentally brushed hands with Rory when she turned around to take her bag off her chair back.
"Sorry..." Tristan said, and looked at her hopefully. Rory didn't respond. She didn't even look like she'd heard him. 'Off in her own world...'he thought and walked out to his locker.
When he got there, Rory was unpacking her books [time inconsistency #1].
"Mary...earth to Mary..."
"It's Rory!" she said maliciously and slammed her locker door shut. "Leave me alone." That said, she turned on her heel and walked quickly away.
Three periods later, Rory couldn't believe her oh-so-blue eyes. Tristan walked into English with his arm around the waist of another girl. 'Not that it mattered…' Rory chided herself, before taking a deep breath and walking into the room. The girl was sitting in Rory's desk, swiveled facing Tristan. She heard a few words when she got closer to them.
"…Actually, today's my second day here…it was awful, I had to leave all my friends and my boyfriend…no, we both agreed that long distance relationships are too hard…"
"Ahem." Rory coughed, ignoring the startled looks around her.
The girl turned around, "yes?"
"Sorry to break this up, but you're in my seat…so, if you don't mind…"
"Oh, not at all!" she said, rising. "My name's Tiffany."
"Oh, hi…" said Rory, distracted. Tiffany looked at Rory expectantly. "I'm Rory."
"Nice to meet you Rory…" the comment was cut short, however, when the class was called to order by Mr. Medina, in a terrible mood, because his favorite book (Swan's Way) had been used as a coaster by a math teacher. Tiffany sat down in the vacant seat next to Tristan.
Rory listened to the Tiffany's tapping pencil in annoyance. 'Ugh! She's so annoying and perky!' thought Rory, and tried to ignore how close Tristan had moved to her. They were whispering and Tristan had his arm around the back of her chair. Since she didn't have any books, he had 'valiantly' offered to share his. 'It shouldn't matter!' Rory thought angrily, 'it's not like I like him or anything…' It wasn't too soon when the bell rang. Rory packed up her books slowly, not sure what to do. She had come to a resolve to talk to Tristan about what had happened. It was shattered when Rory happened to look the over her shoulder.
Rory stalked off, tears stinging her eyes. How she hated him. She had trusted him, and look what had happened! Word had spread through the school: Tristan and Tiffany- the newest couple. She had been in Chilton for less than a day, and she already had a boyfriend! And to make the blow even harsher for poor Rory, they declared their love during English class by making out in the back. Mr. Medina had been too busy reading Swan's Way to notice. Rory looked at her watch. If she ran, she would just catch the bus home [time inconsistency #2]. The project could wait. If necessary, she'd do her part at home and then join it up with his.
Rory went outside just in time to see the bus pull away. "Drat!" she said aloud, and settled herself down for a long wait.
"Where were you?" asked Tristan, breaking into her oblivion.
"Here…" answered Rory simply, never looking up from her book.
"We had a date-" no sooner then the words were out of his mouth he regretted them, "-a, um…a study date…"
"Looks like it's broken."
"Look, Rory, I'm sorry about the whole Mary thing. I didn't think it would bother you so much."
"Whatever" she replied, not looking at him.
"Rory." Tristan said, and tried to make her look at him. "Rory, come on. Let's go to my house. Or let me drive you home…" she didn't reply. "Think about the project," he cajoled, "think about Harvard…"
"Fine!" Rory said eventually, and stood up. With as much dignity as she could muster, she walked with him to his car and got in, but ignored his weak attempts at conversation by staring resolutely out the window.
"Did you finish the dance?" asked Tristan, looking up from his complicated choreography chart.
"Almost…" said Rory, and set about putting the final touches on hers. Tristan waited patiently, and as soon as she finished he stood up to demonstrate his. Several hours later the two were sitting in the garden eating dinner.
"I have a surprise for you," said Tristan
"Oh yeah, what?" asked Rory, still eating the spaghetti. Tristan pulled two strips of paper with periferal lines on them from his pocket and handed them to her.
"These are tickets…" said Rory dumbly.
"Keep reading…"
"P.J. Harvey tickets…"
"Mmm hmmm…"
"P.J. Harvey tickets for tonight…oh my god!!!" Rory practically yelled.
"Wanna go?"
"How did you get these? They've been sold out for years!"
"Look at the seats…" Tristan said, smiling.
"Fifth row center!"
"What?" asked Tristan "Oh, sorry, those are the wrong ones."
Rory handed them back, slightly upset. After all, those were dream seats.
"Here are the right ones…" said Tristan and handed her a new pair.
"Tristan…these are on the stage…"
"Yeah. That's the closest I could get."
"That's impossible. We can't sit on the stage! We'll get in her way and trip over things and…"
"Rory, you're babbling."
"You call that babbling? You haven't seen me babble!"
"So, do you want to go or not?" asked Tristan, his palms sweating.
Rory stopped a moment in indecision. "What about Tiffany? Won't she want to go?"
"Tiffany?" asked Tristan confused, "who's Tiffany?" Rory stared at him in disbelief.
"Tall, blonde, skinny as a stick…the one you were making out with during English…"
"Oh, her!" Tristan said, comprehension dawning. "Oh, why would she want to go?"
"Because she's your girlfriend…"
"We broke up. It wasn't working out."
"Tristan," said Rory, starting to get very much annoyed, "you only knew her for three hours. For two of them you were sticking your tongue down her throat."
"Yeah, well, she didn't have much to say…"said Tristan, who desperately wanted to change the subject. "Do you want to go?"
"Definetly!" said Rory, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I've got to get ready though. I didn't bring any concert clothes…" she said, her face falling.
"We'll stop by your house on the way" said Tristan, and took her hand.
"Hey mom!"
"Hey Rory, what are you doing home?"
"I'm going to the P.J. Harvey concert with Tristan tonight, and I need to get changed!"
"What are you going to wear?" asked Lorelai, slightly bemused at her daughter.
"I have just the thing!" Rory said, and dashed into her room. Lorelai followed. "…You know, to be one with the scene…" Rory held up an all leather pant suit.
"It's great!" said Lorelai, "considering the fact that a) P.J. Harvey is a vegetarian, b) you shouldn't own such a thing and c) if you infact did own such a thing, you should have lent it to me last night when I went on a date with this guy from my business class who hit on me next to the soda machine last week."
"You went on a date with a guy from your business class who hit on you next to the soda machine last week? Do tell!" said Rory, while struggling into the all leather pants suit.
"Well…" said Lorelai, clearly relishing the memory, "last week I was standing next to the soda machine-"
"Help me with this, would you?" asked Rory, indicating to a zipper. "Go on!"
"Well…last week I was standing next to the soda machine, the one next to the cookie machine, and two machines away from the coffee machine…"
"You were standing at a soda machine when there was a coffee machine two machines away?"
"Hi, it was out of order!"
"Oh. Continue."
"Okay, so, I was standing at the soda machine and this guy walks up to me-"
"This guy?"
"Yeah, Chuck…"
"What kind of name is Chuck?"
"Can I continue?"
"Definitely."
"So, Chuck walks up to me, and introduces himself and then offers to buy me a soda. I started talking about how the coffee machine was out of order, and that's the only reason I was standing in front of the soda machine, and then he offered to take me out for coffee."
"You went out for coffee with a man named Chuck?"
"He was really built" replied Lorelai smugly.
"Ahh…"
"So, one thing led to another…and he asked me out, and I went."
"And…" Rory prompted.
"Chuck isn't the smartest knife in the drawer."
"Oh."
"And he's caffeine intolerant"
"Chuck. The caffeine intolerant man. How sad."
"Oh, don't cry for me."
"Noted. So, how do I look?" asked Rory, and modeled the leather cat suit for her mother.
"Like you own a motorcycle."
"Thanks."
"So, have fun kid. Be safe. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Lorelai shouted to her retreating back.
"So, basically anything legal?" joked Rory.
"Wow…" mouthed Tristan when he saw Rory. She was wearing tight leather pants, and a very low, very tight, very revealing top that showed quite a lot. "You look…amazing…" said Tristan, for lack of a better word. Rory just smiled.
Author's Note: I hope anyone who got this far has enjoyed it. I'm terribly sorry that the end sucks, but I'm going to fix it all in the next chapter. I leave you with this:
Chapter 11 contains: -An unexpected event that brings the Tristan and Rory closer
-A trip far far away
-A definite NON trory chapter…(unless you tell me otherwise)
Now, if it's not too much trouble, I'd be ever so much obliged if you would review, because it prompts me to write faster and it makes me all tingly inside. Remember: Flames=bad
--a_a