Chapter 1: Friday

Rory began identifying sounds before she was fully conscious. There was a twittering sound, almost like birds, but it seemed harsher and less happy. The next sound was a knocking that seemed to originate somewhere near her head. Now a smell joined the sounds. It was abrasive and hit the back of her throat when she inhaled. As Rory shifted, the twittering noise erupted again. Finally came an easily identifiable sound – a male voice calling her name.

"Rory. Is my lecture that boring?"

Groggily, Rory opened her eyes and struggled to focus on her surroundings. Her forehead was resting on her arms, and underneath those was… a desk. So the smell must have been the Comet cleaner that the janitor used to scrub the graffiti off the desks. But, if this was a desk that she was sleeping on…

Rory suddenly felt very aware of her surroundings. She slowly brought her head up to look into the slightly laughing eyes of Max Medina.

"Mr. Medina… I am so sorry, I don't know…" Rory's brow creased as she tried to remember why she had fallen asleep during Mr. Medina's notes on Beowulf. But Max was waving her apology off.

"Just don't let it happen again, ok?" Rory nodded, then rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as Mr. Medina walked back to the front of the classroom and resumed his lecture. Paris turned around and shot Rory a look that clearly expressed her disbelief at the fact that Rory Gilmore had been sleeping in class. Rory widened her eyes and shrugged, equally mystified.

-----

"Mom?" Rory yelled as she entered the house.

"Bedroom!" came the response. Rory dropped her backpack onto the couch on her way to her mom's upstairs room.

"Mom, I think something might be wrong with me." Rory's tone was only half-joking. "I fell asleep in Mr. Medina's class today!"

Lorelai winced. "Out of all your classes, you had to conk out in his?"

"Well, he didn't give me a detention. Probably any other teacher would have, so it's a good thing that it was English and not Math or Society class. But the point is, I fell asleep in class! And we were talking about Beowulf, which I absolutely love. And to top it all off, I almost fell asleep on the bus ride home, too! And I feel tired right now. I don't think this is normal."

Lorelai studied her daughter. Over the past two weeks, Rory had seemed listless and not as energetic as usual. She tried to mask her concern, though. "You're just sick of school. And, face it, life has been a bit crazy lately. You just need some coffee."

Not even the promise of caffeine could snap Rory out of her funk. "Yeah, that's probably it. Let's go to Luke's." Mother and daughter traipsed down the stairs and walked to their favourite diner.

"Ror, you grab a table, and I'll order. Do you want anything in particular?"

"No, just a coffee."

Lorelai frowned as she made her way to the counter. "Luke, I need two coffees and some advice."

Luke looked up from the counter he was wiping down. "Do I look like Dr. Laura to you?"

"Nope. But it's a funny mental picture."

"Then, how about, I'll give you the coffee, and you ask the good doctor for advice."

"Well, that's a great plan, Watson, except for one teeny detail. Dr. Laura can't see Rory, nor does she know what Rory is usually like."

"So, this advice is about Rory?"

"Brilliant deduction. Look at her." Lorelai shifted to the right to give Luke an unobstructed view of Rory. The teen was sitting at her and Lorelai's normal table with her chin cupped in her hand. Her eyes were closed. "Now, does that look like the Rory you know and love?"

"Brown hair, at your table? Yep, I'd say that's her."

"No, Luke, look again. Isn't something missing?"
"Nose, mouth, eyes, ears… Or are you talking about your brain?"

"Funny man. No, I'm talking about energy. Vivaciousness. That Rory sparkley life thing. I mean, she's not even moving. I don't think Ghandi was ever that still. Not to mention, in the past few weeks she's been quiet and it's hard to get her attention… she even fell asleep in class today!"

"Well, at least she goes to school. Some teens don't. And really, who hasn't fallen asleep in class?"
"This is Rory we're talking about. Rory doesn't sleep in class. Especially not in English class."

Luke was beginning to see how serious Lorelai was. "It's probably just some teenaged growth spurt, mood swing phase. It'll pass."

"I never had a phase like that!"

"Yeah, well, need I remind you, you're teenage years were less than normal."

"Point taken. But really, Luke, it's scary. It's like aliens have replaced my daughter with a slower, less fun clone!"

"Lorelai, I'm fairly sure that if aliens had come to Stars Hollow, they would have seen Taylor or Kirk, or a porcelain unicorn, and they would have run away as fast as their spaceship could carry them."

"But, what if the switcheroo took place in Chilton? Huh? What about that?"

Luke rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I can't believe I'm actually having this conversation. Look, I'll give you guys your coffee, Rory will perk up, and if I see little green men, I know which direction to point them in." Luke smiled slightly, trying to cheer Lorelai up, but she didn't see it. She was looking worriedly at Rory.

"Yeah, thanks, Luke. Um, could we have those coffees to go? I think I'm going to take Rory home. Maybe she just needs to sleep."

"Good plan." Luke poured the coffees and snapped lids on the cups. "I'll see you guys for breakfast?"

Lorelai grinned at Luke as she took the coffees. "Oh, you know it." She went to the table where Rory was sleeping. She set one of the coffees down on the table and kneeled beside Rory's chair. Smoothing back her daughter's hair, she whispered something that Luke couldn't hear. He was so focused on the women that he didn't notice Jess, who had just come downstairs.

"You know, if we were in Armenia you'd have to marry Lorelai for looking at her like that."

Luke jumped. "Jeez, Jess, don't sneak up on me like that. And I wasn't looking at Lorelai 'like that'. I was just… Oh nevermind. Look, bring those plates," he said to his nephew, pointing at three platters of food, "to table four."

Jess did as he was told without comment, but he smirked silently as he walked away from his uncle. Luke turned back to look at Lorelai and Rory again, but they were gone.

The walk in the fresh air, combined with the coffee, woke Rory up slightly, but Lorelai called her parents to explain that they wouldn't be able to make it for dinner. When she explained that Rory wasn't feeling well, her father told her that it was fine that they missed a week, if it meant a speedier recovery for his granddaughter. It was a good thing that they cancelled, because by seven that night, Rory was tired again. She barely had the energy to put on her pyjamas and brush her teeth before she fell into bed. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.