Authors: Summer and Joan

Title: Whispered Existence

Rating: R

Chapter Title: Green Tea Kind Of Girl

Chapter Summary: Some roommates are easier to get along with that others, at least for Rory.

Dedication: To Lola. 'Cuz without her ranting and encouragement, we wouldn't be writing… at all or missing Lauren on The View.

Authors' Notes:

Wow, I'm not used to updating this quickly. Um, right. So, this chapter has already been outlined out, which is why it's done so quick. And I love reviews. ;) And I have absolutely nothing to say.

-Summer, the manic outliner

Heh, without Summer's manic outline, I never would have finished this. Or even started it, lol. Huge thanks to everyone on ORG, just 'cuz. I have to agree with Summer {yet again}, on that I have nothing else to say.

-Joan, the un-nicknamed crazed coauthor

Disclaimer: If we owned anything of any importance, would we be writing at ff.net? Just think about it.

The kitchen was peculiarly quiet. Alexandra and Gregg stood off to the side, watching the other two girls. Jade stood with her arms crossed by her waist, scrutinizing Rory.

Rory glanced away uncomfortably, not used to being observed so carefully. "It's, uh, nice to meet you," she offered.

Jade shrugged her shoulders, glancing over at Gregg and Alexandra. "I'm sure they've told you otherwise." She scowled.

"Um, no, actually," Rory responded. "They didn't mention you. They just got home a minute ago, actually."

"Ah, out practicing consumerism," Jade replied, smirking. "You know, the price of Al's outfit could feed a small country."

Alexandra rolled her eyes. "Jade…"

Jade held up a hand, silencing the blonde. "I'm done for now, princess. Don't worry; you're safe. I don't have the time… or energy… to throw around much more casual banter."

Rory smiled. "You seem busy."

Jade raised an eyebrow. "I am."

"What are you doing?"

"Going out." The girl definitely didn't make conversations easy.

"Oh. Okay."

Before Rory could say anything else, Jade glanced at the clock and swore under her breath. "I'm late. Gotta jet. See you later, Lori."

Rory walked into the living room, and found Alexandra sitting on the couch, lazily flipping through a magazine. "Hey," Rory said, sitting down in a nearby chair.

Alexandra looked up, "Oh, hey."

"Soooo," Rory said, awkwardly, "Is that a good magazine? What is it, Vanity Fair?"

Alexandra rolled her eyes, "Yup. The Hot Teen stars issue. I just looove Hilary Duff."

Rory chuckled appreciatively. She could deal with sarcasm; it was certainly better than nastiness.

"So, you've been here for a week already?"

"Yup. One miserable week of Jade coming in and out. I don't know where she goes, but she certainly goes somewhere at night. I don't think she drinks though; she never stumbles in or is hungover the next day. Weird way to have fun at night, but whatever. She's just different than what I'm used to, I guess."

"Oh," Rory didn't know what to say in return. "Well, Alexandra, she does come off pretty rudely."

She rolled her eyes, "Puh-leez don't call me Alexandra. It makes me feel like my grandmother."

"Oh, sorry." Rory shrunk back, slightly intimidated.

"No, it's fine. I just prefer that my friends call me, Alex or maybe Lexi. You should call me Alex."

"Oh, okay. So I would count as one of your friends?"

"Of course! But, Jade…" Alex shook her head. "She calls me Al. Can you believe that? It makes me feel like a beer swigging mechanic."

"Heh, well she seems to be making false pretenses about all of us. She said I live in a fantasy world."

"Doesn't surprise me. She is so nasty to Gregg. Maybe she thinks he's a fag or something."

Yet again, Alex left Rory at a loss for words. She curled her legs up in the chair. "That's rude of her. The little of Gregg I know so far shows him as a nice person. She really shouldn't be judging him based on the fact that he's gay."

"Well, I don't know for a fact she thinks so. I'm just saying, that's all." Alex quickly redeemed herself; one of the things she had learned growing up was that you never said something that could be used against you. Though Alex thought she could trust Rory, she could never be sure.

"Of course," Rory assured her. Her voice was comforting to Alex.

Rory's cell phone rang shrilly, interrupting their conversation. Alex scurried off, leaving Rory to converse in peace.

"Hello?" Rory answered.

"Hey babe!" Lorelai exclaimed, "How's college life so far?"

"It's good. So far I haven't ventured out of the condo."

"Oh, so you haven't met any hot guys yet?"

Rory giggled, "Well, one of my roomies is a guy. Gregg Stanley."

Lorelai's tone grew cautious, "It's never good to get involved with a roommate."

"No need to worry, Mom. He's uh, He's gay."

Lorelai paused, obviously contemplating this. "Hey, he probably has a lot of cute straight friends then. And, as Grace knows, gay guys make the best friends. Keep him close."

Lorelai continued, "What about the other two?"

"Alex seems nice, if not a little snobbish. I'm sure she'll break out soon enough. Jade, well I don't really know. She said I live in a fantasy world. Alex says she is nasty to Gregg and that she disappears at night."

Lorelai replied, "Well, you don't know the full story. Give Jade some time before you go making conclusions."

"Okay," replied Rory, "I'm not in any rush to be her best friend though."

"You don't have to be, sweetie. Sometimes you just have to wait a while before someone comes around. Remember how nasty people were to you when you first came to Chilton? But after a while, Paris and her cronies came around and bibleboy was shipped to Military school. Life always works out in the end."

Rory was obviously brightening up, "I'll give her a chance, okay? How's life in the Hollow as a single woman?"

"Well, on my way home, I stopped by Luke's. It was Danish Day! Heh, Danes' Danish. He says hi."

"Hi Luke," Rory cut in.

"Anyway, he told me Jess called."

Rory's voice quivered, "What did he say?"

"Luke says he's doing fine. But he's not so hot about the pastel colors."

"Oh," said Rory, "he didn't mention me?"

"Nope. Listen, I got to go. Sookie and I are meeting with an interior decorator about the Dragonfly."

"Bye, Mom. Have fun."

"Bye."

Rory clicked the end button and slipped the phone back into her purse.

Rory had just settled into the LAZ-boy with a novel she'd bought on the way to New Haven when Gregg knocked on the doorframe.

She glanced up at him. It was cute that he was so aware of personal space. "You can come in," she said, offering a smile.

"Alex and I usually go to this nearby coffeehouse for dinner, and we wanted to know if you wanted to come," he said, walking into the room.

Rory paused. She'd wanted to read a little, but this would get her out of a potentially embarrassing situation where she had to play Suzy Homemaker and cook dinner. "Okay."

Gregg grinned. "Really? Okay then."

Rory smiled as Gregg walked out of the room, and followed him a moment later. It was comforting to her that someone she barely knew could be so friendly to her.

"So, Jade didn't want to come," Alex said sarcastically. Although the wording would suggest a question, she'd stated the assumption as if it were a simple fact.

"She said she's not into coffee. She's more a 'green tea kind of girl.'" Gregg mimicked Jade's degrading tone.

Alex rolled her eyes. "Jade's just way too cool and sophisticated for us, let me tell you."

Rory smiled awkwardly, not one to join in on insulting someone. "Maybe she was busy doing something else," Rory offered meekly.

Gregg shook his head. "No, Jade is one of those people who never plans things in advance."

"Maybe she just doesn't trust people enough to make friends," Rory theorized.

Gregg shrugged. "Maybe she had a bad past. Maybe one of her parents abused her. Maybe one's a drunk. Maybe-"

"Gregg," Alex interrupted suddenly, shaking her head. "You're letting your imagination run away with you. Believe me, I can tell when someone has an alcoholic parent."

Gregg glanced away, and Rory didn't know what to say. An awkward silence ensued.

A few minutes later, a waiter ambled over to the table. "Hey. Are you ready to place your order?"

Rory took in the waiter. He was cute, with the stereotypical tall, dark, and handsome look. He also had a bit of a French accent. She was about to order her drink when Alex spoke up.

"I'll order you," she said, raising an eyebrow. "With a side of that accent. Yummy."

The waiter laughed softly. "I don't believe I'm on the menu."

"You should be. You're delish. I'm sure you'd sell out pretty quickly, though." She pouted. "I'd have to get here early."

"I doubt that."

"Ooh, and you're modest too. This just keeps getting better." Alex grinned, leaning toward the waiter. "Are you single too?"

"Yes," the waiter said, taking a step back.

"Tell me. How can a specimen as perfect as you be single?"

Gregg cleared his throat, grabbing Alex's shirt and pulling her toward her. "Back, Tiger. Calm down." Turning to the waiter, he rolled his eyes. Gesturing to Alex, he said, "I'm sorry, she hasn't taken her medication yet."

The waiter laughed. "Well, I don't have a problem with that. I'm Jason, by the way. And I'm here late." His gaze lingered on Alex.

Rory's eyes widened. "Um… right," she recovered quickly. "I'll take a French Vanilla coffee, with cream and three teaspoons of sugar, please."

Rory stepped out of the booth with Alex and started walking toward the door. She stopped suddenly and turned toward Alex. "Are we waiting for Gregg?" she asked.

Alex nodded. "He's tipping the waiter," she explained, nodding toward the table.

Rory raised her eyebrows as Gregg placed two bills on the table, what appeared to be a twenty and a ten. Quite the tip for a $20.95 meal. "Should we pay him back?"

Alex shook her head. "No point in it. He won't let us. Mommy still gives him a weekly allowance. More than I could probably spend in a month, and as Jade says, I practice consumerism." Rory laughed.

Gregg joined the two girls and swung his arms around their shoulders. "So, ready to go?"

"Yep," Alex replied, letting Gregg pull her out the door.

They walked in silence for a few minutes. Unexpectedly, Alex turned to Rory. "I'm going out for lunch with a few friends tomorrow. Gregg can't come, but I'd love to have you come."

Rory paused. It was nice of Alex to invite her, but it was odd since they weren't truly friends yet. "Um, okay," she said slowly.

Alex grinned. "You'll love them, I promise."

Gregg nodded. "Yeah, they aren't shallow at all," he said monotonously, earning a jab in the ribs from Alex.

Rory laughed again, feeling at ease with her roommates. It occurred to her that she'd bonded with them fairly quickly. To think just a few days before, she'd worried her roommates would be distant.

Alex, Gregg and Rory snuggled into the couch as Jade popped the video into the VCR. Jade sat down in the LAZ-Boy , and glanced over at the three. Alex caught her eyes, and Jade quickly looked away. "So, Gregg, did you talk to your Mom today?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. She says she's doing fine, but she misses me."

"Awww. How sweet," Alex joked. She turned toward Rory, "Gregg here is the epitome of a Momma's boy."

Gregg grinned, "What can I say? It certainly helps with my credit card bills."

Rory giggled, "That it would."

Alex sighed loudly, she couldn't stand not being the center of attention. "So, Rory, what are you majoring in?"

"Journalism," Rory said with a smile, "It's just always been my dream to be an international correspondant."

"Oh. I'm majoring in International Business/Trade/Commerce. " Alex shrugged, "It just made sense, ya know? I've been brought up around business talk and I love to travel. What about you Gregg?"

"Humanities. I'm a people person and er…it was my Mom's major."

Rory giggled. She turned to Jade, almost fearfully, "What's your major, Jade?"

Jade's gaze switched from the movie, to Rory, almost automatically. Jade didn't answer. Rory flinched, wondering whether Jade was going to answer or not.

She finally responded, "Double major. Political Science and theatre." Her eyes returned to the screen, where a blonde actress was screaming, "Come back, George! Come back!"