*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I
own is my imagination and the plot.
*A/N: Hey!!! First thing's first. I wanna thank *Kelly* for pointing out a grammar mistake in the last chapter. Really appreciate it. And you're right about the rating. I guess I just put PG13 as a precaution, but as you can see it's down to PG. So, thanks! Second of all, thank you all for the reviews! They rock and of course every single one of you ROCK!!! (If I could play guitar I would show you how much you guys rock.) Please review this chapter too and ROCK my world! (lame, I know) ;-)
IMPORTANT: I changed Lane (the cheerleader) into Jane. It was too confusing having two Lanes in the story.
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)
The next day, Rory arrived at school earlier than she normally did. She figured that Tristan and Dean would never be caught dead at school this early. They were probably still standing in front of the mirror, Dean practicing his lame yet sweet lines and Tristan fixing his hair so that he would look irresistible to everyone but her. She pushed open the doors, filling the empty hall with the mild morning breeze. As she started to make her way towards her locker, the door fell closed behind her, preventing the sounds from outside to linger between these walls too long. Surprisingly there were no thoughts running through her head on this beautiful morning, hints of scarlet were still visible in the soon to be cloudless and clear blue sky. She was too tired and too upset to think about what had happened the day before. Besides she would only end up crying if she allowed herself to pine over what she could have done if she had only opened her eyes a little earlier. And even when she saw Dean standing by her locker, she didn't allow herself to think regretful thoughts. She stayed calm, too calm and she knew this, but for now she would remain calm. She would remain calm, because if she didn't, she would break down again and then Dean would know how weak she really was. And that was the last thing she wanted to happen. So, she casually walked over to her locker, avoiding Dean's friendly gaze. When she reached her locker, a smile appeared upon his face.
D: ''Good morning.''
R: ''Morning.''
Rory quickly opened her locker, so she could hide her face.
R: ''You're early.''
D: ''I know. I wanted to ask you something, without everyone around.''
Rory couldn't believe him. He was still acting as if nothing was going on. As if he wasn't the one who was only being nice to her so he could win a stupid bet. But even though she could taste the bitterness of her anger on her lips, she stayed calm.
R: ''Well, what is it ?''
She took a step back and turned her head a little, to look at Dean. He held out two tickets for a concert or something.
D: ''I was wondering if you wanted to go to this concert with me ?''
R: ''I can't.''
She saw the disappointment that was written all over Dean's face and had the urge to laugh. He was hurt, cause she didn't wanna go to some stupid concert with him ?! It didn't even come close to what she had been feeling ever since she found out about the bet.
D: ''Why ?''
R: ''Cause that wouldn't be fair to Tristan.''
She lifted her eyes and met his gaze. Shock and confusion was readable in his eyes. Immediately she knew that he had figured out the double meaning of her comment. He must have really misinterpreted her, if he thought that she would just let him play with her like this. The bitter taste in her mouth got even worse and thoughts of regret started to run through her again. The anger and hurt within her had awoken again and took over her body, as if someone had cast a spell upon her.
R: ''I can't believe you made a bet. I would have never thought that you could be capable of something so low.''
Rory's eyes that were normally as calm as a transparent lake, not interrupted by all the pollution, turned into a whirlpool. She slammed her locker shut and disappeared into the bathroom.
Once she was in there, tears started to run down her cheeks again. She hated herself for being so weak, but yet all she could do was cry and wish that someday they would find out what it would be like to hurt like this. She slid down against the wall, pulling her knees up to her chest and hoping that no one would come in and find her like this. But seeing how this was a bathroom and all, someone was bound to come in eventually. So, after about ten minutes or so, the door did open and two girls did came in.
Jane: ''Rory ?''
Rory looked up and found Jane and Camille standing by the door, looking at her with worried looks on their faces. When Jane and Camille saw her red eyes and the black streaks of mascara on her cheek, they hurried towards her and kneeled down in front of her.
C: ''Are you okay ?''
Rory shook her head.
C: ''What happened ?''
Rory didn't know if she should tell them. If she did, the news of her, found crying in the bathroom over some stupid bet, would probably be all over school by the end of this day. But on the other hand everyone would probably already know. All Tristan had to do was tell one of his friends. After all it took only one person to spread gossip and rumors.
C: ''Hey Jane, get her a tissue will you ?''
Jane nodded and got up to get her a tissue. She kneeled back down in front of Rory and handed it to her. Rory gratefully took it and started to wipe away the streaks of mascara.
Jane: ''You can tell us you know ?''
Rory met Jane's eyes and Jane shot her a comforting smile, showing Rory that she really meant what she just said.
R: ''They, Tristan and Dean, made a bet.''
Jane: ''What kind of bet ?''
R: ''A bet where they could win me.''
Rory said it with a broken voice and tears in her eyes. No matter how many times she said it, it still hurt her.
R: ''They were so nice, both of them.''
Jane and Camille exchanged a look.
C: ''They're jerks.''
R: ''I can't believe I didn't see through them.''
Jane: ''Yeah, don't cry. They don't deserve that.''
R: ''But I'm so stupid.''
C: ''You're not stupid. Don't you ever say that about yourself again. You just fell for the wrong type of guys, it happens to everyone.''
Jane: ''Besides, they weren't worth your time anyway.''
Suddenly the bell rang and the three girls looked up. Rory couldn't believe that she had spent more than 15 minutes in the bathroom, crying over a couple of guys that weren't worth her tears. Yeah, Camille and Jane were right. Dean and Tristan didn't deserve her crying over them. She got up and walked over to the sink to wash her face. As she did this, Jane and Camille kept their eyes on her, as if they wanted to make sure that she wouldn't start crying again. Rory noticed this and gave them a weak smile.
R: ''I'm okay, thanks.''
C: ''Any time.''
Jane: ''Yeah, what are friends for, right ?''
Jane winked at her and Rory's smile got a little bigger. It was nice to hear that phrase again. And it was nice to know that she had a couple of friends here.
R: ''Thanks.''
C: ''You're welcome. We have to get to class. Are you sure you're okay ?''
R: ''Positive.''
Jane: ''Good. So, we'll see you at lunch ?''
Rory shrugged.
R: ''Maybe.''
Jane nodded.
C: ''See you around.''
Jane smiled and left the bathroom with Camille. Rory smiled and looked at herself in the mirror. If you looked closely you could still see that her eyes were a little red, but other than that all the traces of her tears were gone. She took a deep breath and left the bathroom, ready to face the rest of the world again. Including Dean and Tristan if she had to. But she wasn't prepared to face the person that was leaning against the wall, across from the bathroom. The only person who she was sure didn't talk behind her back and didn't think she made a complete fool of herself. He was looking straight at her and every chance he got he locked eyes with her, as if he was trying to see what she was thinking. Rory however kept avoiding his eyes. She even thought of just looking straight through him and going to class, pretending that she didn't see him, but for some reason she couldn't do that to him. Besides he didn't deserve that.
J: ''Hey.''
He didn't move, he just kept leaning against the wall, waiting for her reaction. When she hesitantly took a step towards him, he couldn't help a smile to break through his rough features. Everything was alright.
R: ''Hey.''
She stopped right in front of him.
J: ''Are you alright ?''
R: ''Yeah, I'm fine.''
Jess smiled when he heard her soft voice and looked into her blue eyes. He missed her. He missed her sitting with him at lunchtime, he missed her rambling and most of all he missed just sitting and reading, knowing that she was watching him. It made him feel as if someone really cared about him.
R: ''I should have known that this would happen. Guys like that never fall for a girl like me. I don't know why though. Maybe it's my personality or...........maybe I'm just not pretty enough.''
Jess hated Tristan and Dean for making her feel like that. Of course she was pretty enough, maybe not as beautiful and gorgeous as some of the girls around here were, but she had nothing to worry about. Besides she was much more beautiful on the inside than all the other girls. And if guys didn't see that, than it was there loss.
J: ''Rory...........''
R: ''I gotta get to class.''
She lowered her eyes, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and turned around. At the end of the hall, she looked at Jess once more before she disappeared into a classroom.
*~*~*
Rory was on her way to the buss stop when she saw the crowd. A crowd of people was gathered a couple of feet away from her. She could hear some people screaming; fight! fight! Rory decided not to pay any attention to it. Fights always disgusted her, nothing was worth fighting over. She shook her head an continued her walk to the buss stop. But she couldn't help to glance at the two guys that were fighting. When she saw who they were, she immediately stopped walking to take a closer look. The longer she looked, the more familiar the two guys seemed. Suddenly she recognized them. It were Jess and Tristan. Rory hurried towards the crowd that was gathered around the two boys and pushed past a couple of people to get to the beginning of the crowd. The closer she got, the louder the yelling got.
T: ''You were the one who told her ! Dean told me !''
Tristan took a step towards Jess as he said this. Before Tristan could hit Jess again Rory opened her mouth.
R: ''Stop it !''
Tristan and Jess both looked up. Tristan looked from Jess to Rory and back again. He shook his head and shot Jess an angry look.
T: ''You talked to Rory about homework, yeah right !''
He took a step towards Jess and punched him. Rory watched in shock as the two boys fought, over her apparently. Suddenly she snapped out of it and got in between the two of them.
R: ''Stop fighting !''
Jess met her eyes and Rory gasped when she saw that his lip was cut. Blood covered his lip, making it look much worse than it really was. Tristan saw the way Rory looked at Jess and snorted.
T: ''Figures.''
Rory turned her head and looked at Tristan.
R: ''You're a jerk. I can't believe I actually went out on a date with you.''
T: ''Yeah, well you did.''
He shot Jess one more anger filled look before he turned around and started to make his way through the crowd that was starting to fall apart. Rory returned her gaze to Jess.
R: ''Are you okay ?''
J: ''Ironic huh, since I asked you almost the same question a couple of hours ago.''
Rory didn't say anything and watched him as he brought his fingers to his lip to check the damage. Rory cringed as he did this, almost feeling the pain herself. Jess saw her face and smiled.
J: ''It looks worse than it really is, you know ?''
R: ''That doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt.''
Jess met her eyes and nodded in understanding.
J: ''I gotta get home.''
R: ''Me too, looks like we're going the same way then.''
J: ''Guess so.''
Jess wiped the blood away with his hand as they made their way towards the buss stop.
R: ''Are you sure you're okay ?''
J: ''I had worse. What about you ?''
Rory shrugged and lowered her eyes, looking at the ground.
R: ''I haven't.''
J: ''Huh ?''
R: ''I never had a boyfriend before, so.............''
He glanced at her. It was hard to believe that she never had a boyfriend before.
J: ''This kinda sucked ?''
R: ''Yeah, this kinda sucked.''
Rory's buss arrived and she turned around to see if Jess was joining her.
R: ''Are you coming ?''
J: ''No.''
R: ''But I thought you lived in the same direction as me ?''
J: ''Everyone lies.''
He smirked at her and started to back away from her. Rory shook her head and smiled as she got on the buss.
*A/N: Hey!!! First thing's first. I wanna thank *Kelly* for pointing out a grammar mistake in the last chapter. Really appreciate it. And you're right about the rating. I guess I just put PG13 as a precaution, but as you can see it's down to PG. So, thanks! Second of all, thank you all for the reviews! They rock and of course every single one of you ROCK!!! (If I could play guitar I would show you how much you guys rock.) Please review this chapter too and ROCK my world! (lame, I know) ;-)
IMPORTANT: I changed Lane (the cheerleader) into Jane. It was too confusing having two Lanes in the story.
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)
The next day, Rory arrived at school earlier than she normally did. She figured that Tristan and Dean would never be caught dead at school this early. They were probably still standing in front of the mirror, Dean practicing his lame yet sweet lines and Tristan fixing his hair so that he would look irresistible to everyone but her. She pushed open the doors, filling the empty hall with the mild morning breeze. As she started to make her way towards her locker, the door fell closed behind her, preventing the sounds from outside to linger between these walls too long. Surprisingly there were no thoughts running through her head on this beautiful morning, hints of scarlet were still visible in the soon to be cloudless and clear blue sky. She was too tired and too upset to think about what had happened the day before. Besides she would only end up crying if she allowed herself to pine over what she could have done if she had only opened her eyes a little earlier. And even when she saw Dean standing by her locker, she didn't allow herself to think regretful thoughts. She stayed calm, too calm and she knew this, but for now she would remain calm. She would remain calm, because if she didn't, she would break down again and then Dean would know how weak she really was. And that was the last thing she wanted to happen. So, she casually walked over to her locker, avoiding Dean's friendly gaze. When she reached her locker, a smile appeared upon his face.
D: ''Good morning.''
R: ''Morning.''
Rory quickly opened her locker, so she could hide her face.
R: ''You're early.''
D: ''I know. I wanted to ask you something, without everyone around.''
Rory couldn't believe him. He was still acting as if nothing was going on. As if he wasn't the one who was only being nice to her so he could win a stupid bet. But even though she could taste the bitterness of her anger on her lips, she stayed calm.
R: ''Well, what is it ?''
She took a step back and turned her head a little, to look at Dean. He held out two tickets for a concert or something.
D: ''I was wondering if you wanted to go to this concert with me ?''
R: ''I can't.''
She saw the disappointment that was written all over Dean's face and had the urge to laugh. He was hurt, cause she didn't wanna go to some stupid concert with him ?! It didn't even come close to what she had been feeling ever since she found out about the bet.
D: ''Why ?''
R: ''Cause that wouldn't be fair to Tristan.''
She lifted her eyes and met his gaze. Shock and confusion was readable in his eyes. Immediately she knew that he had figured out the double meaning of her comment. He must have really misinterpreted her, if he thought that she would just let him play with her like this. The bitter taste in her mouth got even worse and thoughts of regret started to run through her again. The anger and hurt within her had awoken again and took over her body, as if someone had cast a spell upon her.
R: ''I can't believe you made a bet. I would have never thought that you could be capable of something so low.''
Rory's eyes that were normally as calm as a transparent lake, not interrupted by all the pollution, turned into a whirlpool. She slammed her locker shut and disappeared into the bathroom.
Once she was in there, tears started to run down her cheeks again. She hated herself for being so weak, but yet all she could do was cry and wish that someday they would find out what it would be like to hurt like this. She slid down against the wall, pulling her knees up to her chest and hoping that no one would come in and find her like this. But seeing how this was a bathroom and all, someone was bound to come in eventually. So, after about ten minutes or so, the door did open and two girls did came in.
Jane: ''Rory ?''
Rory looked up and found Jane and Camille standing by the door, looking at her with worried looks on their faces. When Jane and Camille saw her red eyes and the black streaks of mascara on her cheek, they hurried towards her and kneeled down in front of her.
C: ''Are you okay ?''
Rory shook her head.
C: ''What happened ?''
Rory didn't know if she should tell them. If she did, the news of her, found crying in the bathroom over some stupid bet, would probably be all over school by the end of this day. But on the other hand everyone would probably already know. All Tristan had to do was tell one of his friends. After all it took only one person to spread gossip and rumors.
C: ''Hey Jane, get her a tissue will you ?''
Jane nodded and got up to get her a tissue. She kneeled back down in front of Rory and handed it to her. Rory gratefully took it and started to wipe away the streaks of mascara.
Jane: ''You can tell us you know ?''
Rory met Jane's eyes and Jane shot her a comforting smile, showing Rory that she really meant what she just said.
R: ''They, Tristan and Dean, made a bet.''
Jane: ''What kind of bet ?''
R: ''A bet where they could win me.''
Rory said it with a broken voice and tears in her eyes. No matter how many times she said it, it still hurt her.
R: ''They were so nice, both of them.''
Jane and Camille exchanged a look.
C: ''They're jerks.''
R: ''I can't believe I didn't see through them.''
Jane: ''Yeah, don't cry. They don't deserve that.''
R: ''But I'm so stupid.''
C: ''You're not stupid. Don't you ever say that about yourself again. You just fell for the wrong type of guys, it happens to everyone.''
Jane: ''Besides, they weren't worth your time anyway.''
Suddenly the bell rang and the three girls looked up. Rory couldn't believe that she had spent more than 15 minutes in the bathroom, crying over a couple of guys that weren't worth her tears. Yeah, Camille and Jane were right. Dean and Tristan didn't deserve her crying over them. She got up and walked over to the sink to wash her face. As she did this, Jane and Camille kept their eyes on her, as if they wanted to make sure that she wouldn't start crying again. Rory noticed this and gave them a weak smile.
R: ''I'm okay, thanks.''
C: ''Any time.''
Jane: ''Yeah, what are friends for, right ?''
Jane winked at her and Rory's smile got a little bigger. It was nice to hear that phrase again. And it was nice to know that she had a couple of friends here.
R: ''Thanks.''
C: ''You're welcome. We have to get to class. Are you sure you're okay ?''
R: ''Positive.''
Jane: ''Good. So, we'll see you at lunch ?''
Rory shrugged.
R: ''Maybe.''
Jane nodded.
C: ''See you around.''
Jane smiled and left the bathroom with Camille. Rory smiled and looked at herself in the mirror. If you looked closely you could still see that her eyes were a little red, but other than that all the traces of her tears were gone. She took a deep breath and left the bathroom, ready to face the rest of the world again. Including Dean and Tristan if she had to. But she wasn't prepared to face the person that was leaning against the wall, across from the bathroom. The only person who she was sure didn't talk behind her back and didn't think she made a complete fool of herself. He was looking straight at her and every chance he got he locked eyes with her, as if he was trying to see what she was thinking. Rory however kept avoiding his eyes. She even thought of just looking straight through him and going to class, pretending that she didn't see him, but for some reason she couldn't do that to him. Besides he didn't deserve that.
J: ''Hey.''
He didn't move, he just kept leaning against the wall, waiting for her reaction. When she hesitantly took a step towards him, he couldn't help a smile to break through his rough features. Everything was alright.
R: ''Hey.''
She stopped right in front of him.
J: ''Are you alright ?''
R: ''Yeah, I'm fine.''
Jess smiled when he heard her soft voice and looked into her blue eyes. He missed her. He missed her sitting with him at lunchtime, he missed her rambling and most of all he missed just sitting and reading, knowing that she was watching him. It made him feel as if someone really cared about him.
R: ''I should have known that this would happen. Guys like that never fall for a girl like me. I don't know why though. Maybe it's my personality or...........maybe I'm just not pretty enough.''
Jess hated Tristan and Dean for making her feel like that. Of course she was pretty enough, maybe not as beautiful and gorgeous as some of the girls around here were, but she had nothing to worry about. Besides she was much more beautiful on the inside than all the other girls. And if guys didn't see that, than it was there loss.
J: ''Rory...........''
R: ''I gotta get to class.''
She lowered her eyes, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and turned around. At the end of the hall, she looked at Jess once more before she disappeared into a classroom.
*~*~*
Rory was on her way to the buss stop when she saw the crowd. A crowd of people was gathered a couple of feet away from her. She could hear some people screaming; fight! fight! Rory decided not to pay any attention to it. Fights always disgusted her, nothing was worth fighting over. She shook her head an continued her walk to the buss stop. But she couldn't help to glance at the two guys that were fighting. When she saw who they were, she immediately stopped walking to take a closer look. The longer she looked, the more familiar the two guys seemed. Suddenly she recognized them. It were Jess and Tristan. Rory hurried towards the crowd that was gathered around the two boys and pushed past a couple of people to get to the beginning of the crowd. The closer she got, the louder the yelling got.
T: ''You were the one who told her ! Dean told me !''
Tristan took a step towards Jess as he said this. Before Tristan could hit Jess again Rory opened her mouth.
R: ''Stop it !''
Tristan and Jess both looked up. Tristan looked from Jess to Rory and back again. He shook his head and shot Jess an angry look.
T: ''You talked to Rory about homework, yeah right !''
He took a step towards Jess and punched him. Rory watched in shock as the two boys fought, over her apparently. Suddenly she snapped out of it and got in between the two of them.
R: ''Stop fighting !''
Jess met her eyes and Rory gasped when she saw that his lip was cut. Blood covered his lip, making it look much worse than it really was. Tristan saw the way Rory looked at Jess and snorted.
T: ''Figures.''
Rory turned her head and looked at Tristan.
R: ''You're a jerk. I can't believe I actually went out on a date with you.''
T: ''Yeah, well you did.''
He shot Jess one more anger filled look before he turned around and started to make his way through the crowd that was starting to fall apart. Rory returned her gaze to Jess.
R: ''Are you okay ?''
J: ''Ironic huh, since I asked you almost the same question a couple of hours ago.''
Rory didn't say anything and watched him as he brought his fingers to his lip to check the damage. Rory cringed as he did this, almost feeling the pain herself. Jess saw her face and smiled.
J: ''It looks worse than it really is, you know ?''
R: ''That doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt.''
Jess met her eyes and nodded in understanding.
J: ''I gotta get home.''
R: ''Me too, looks like we're going the same way then.''
J: ''Guess so.''
Jess wiped the blood away with his hand as they made their way towards the buss stop.
R: ''Are you sure you're okay ?''
J: ''I had worse. What about you ?''
Rory shrugged and lowered her eyes, looking at the ground.
R: ''I haven't.''
J: ''Huh ?''
R: ''I never had a boyfriend before, so.............''
He glanced at her. It was hard to believe that she never had a boyfriend before.
J: ''This kinda sucked ?''
R: ''Yeah, this kinda sucked.''
Rory's buss arrived and she turned around to see if Jess was joining her.
R: ''Are you coming ?''
J: ''No.''
R: ''But I thought you lived in the same direction as me ?''
J: ''Everyone lies.''
He smirked at her and started to back away from her. Rory shook her head and smiled as she got on the buss.
