Hey everybody, and merry Christmas. I'm sorry to say my holiday isn't going very well.
oh and for the record I wrote this BEFORE "One's Got Class and the Other One Dyes" so some of the similarities...well, I guess I'm just that good (just kidding, man, people take me wayyy too seriously) but I did write this long before the ep, so I just felt I should mention that.(ok, good mood-Beastie Boys are on the radio "you gotta fight..for your right..to paaaarty!" hehehe)
Oh if anyone wants to see what Bree's bike looks like
enjoy and please review
Chapter Six
"I don't know, Jess," Bree said as they came into the diner a few hours later.
"What was wrong with it?" Jess asked. "Big windows, nice carpet, no drug dealers living below you - although I see how that may be a down side for you guys -"
"It was *pink*," Bree interrupted.
"So?"
"So, I don't want to live inside a giant cotton candy machine. It looks like a three year old threw up in there after a day at the fair."
"We'll paint it," Jess assured her. "It's not that big of a deal."
"'We'?" she frowned.
"Dom and I. Relax, we won't make you do any actual work," Jess teased.
"Hey, that's not fair!" Bree stated defensively. "I worked last year; even earned enough for 'Danyel'."
"'Danyel'?" Lorelai inquired as Jess asked, "You worked?"
Bree shot Jess a (mostly) nasty look, and said, "Oh, I can't believe I didn't introduce you! He's out back."
"So, you'll paint the pink for her?" Luke asked, as Bree led the group outside.
"What can I say, she looks better in a thong," Jess shrugged as they reached 'Danyel'.
"That's a 2003 Yamaha V Max!" Lorelai exclaimed in awe.
"A motorcycle?" Luke asked, surprised. Lorelai glanced at him, her expression clearly mocking him. "Yes, I know it's a motorcycle, leave me alone."
"That's Bree for you," Jess told them.
"And that's 'Danyel'," Bree said, gesturing to the sleek black and chrome bike.
"Bree?" Lorelai said.
"Yeah?"
"'Danyel' is sexy."
Bree laughed in agreement, as her phone rang in her pocket.
"Hello?" she chirped into the reciever, still smiling. The smile faded as her caller identified themself, and she edged away from the group a little. When she spoke, she'd lowered her voice and her whole manner was serious, cold, and terse. "So I assume Bill spoke to you... yes... yes, I know what I said, so Bill explained... yes, I *know* I said I'd never again ask you for... yes, I *am* aware of my responsibilities...." She glanced at Jess, steeled herself, and nodded resolutely. "Yes, I'm sure... okay... day after tomorrow is fine... okay...."
Her responses had been growing steadily more mechanical, but whatever the caller said next got her full attention. "You've*what*!? I've been enrolled *where*? Yes, I *know* the conditions, but... there are other... okay." Her voice went cold again. "Fine... I understand... thank you... goodbye." She disconnected, a little viciously, and her normally proud and self-assured manner wavered for a moment as she stared at the phone in the palm of her hand. She took a long, slow breath, then turned back to the group, that same false smile on her lips.
"Hey," she said cheerily.
Not fooled for an instant, Jess touched her shoulder lightly. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Fine," she said, without much enthusiasm.
Jess nodded, accepting the lie for now but silently telling her that they'd discuss it later.
Lorelai's keen eye caught the silent exchange and, being Lorelai, she couldn't help butting in. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah. I'm just gonna go inside," Bree smiled, and did as she said.
Everyone followed her. Jess's eyes were on Lorelai, his lips pursed and tense as he awaited the inevitable barrage of questions.
"Who was on the phone?" She asked.
Bree paused, glancing over at Jess, whose interest showed plainly.
"Martin," she sighed.
Luke noticed Jess roll his eyes. "Who's 'Martin'?"
"Her father," Jess said simply.
Bree raised her eyebrows as if to say, "Who else?", and laughed bitterly.
"Your father?" Luke asked.
"Yeah."
"What'd he want?" Jess sneered. "Another charity ball? Maybe a kidney? What about your leg - you've got two of them after all. What insane demand did he have *this* time?"
"Actually... it was the other way around," Bree admitted.
"What are you talking about?" Jess asked, bewildered.
"I guess Dom didn't tell you," Bree realized.
"Tell me what?"
"About 6 months ago - actually, probably more than that - I cut myself off," Bree confessed.
"Good for you!" Jess said, impressed.
Jumping back into the conversation for some clarification, Luke said, "Cut yourself off?"
"From my family's money."
"Your family has money?" Lorelai asked, shocked.
"They have some," Bree confirmed cautiously.
"Right, and Luke has just 'some' flannel," Jess scoffed, laughing as Luke glanced down at his flannel shirt. "I remember the time Trump himself was kissing your ass."
Bree laughed at the memory. "That was at a charity auction, and his kissing my ass had nothing to do with the size of my... donation," she finished devilishly. "But, anyway, I cut myself off."
"Why?" Lorelai asked curiously.
"Taking money from Martin meant living by his rules," Bree explained. "And even though I understand it, I didn't want to do it anymore. I know it sounds stupid. I mean, I get as much money as I want and all I have to do is attend a few parties, a few functions... but...." She trailed off, unable to find the words to describe how she felt.
"It adds up and you start to feel suffocated," Lorelai softly finished for her.
"Yeah," Bree nodded, and they stared at each other for a moment. "Anyway, when I decided to quit school--"
"You quit school?" Lorelai broke in again.
"Well, I got my GED," Bree said.
"GED?" Luke asked.
"General Equivalency Diploma," Jess translated, then looked back to Bree. "Dom didn't give you a hard time about it?"
"Well, he understood the situation," Bree said. "It was either GED or repeat my senior year, which I was *not* about to do. So I GED'd, Martin said either finish school or no more money, and I said that I didn't need him. Haven't spoken to him or heard from him since."
"You moved out?" Lorelai questioned.
"No... yes... Well, I moved out like, 3 years ago, so it's not like... I mean, I wasn't living with him."
"So, if you cut yourself off, why is he...." Lorelai looked from Bree to Jess as things went 'click'. "*Oh*."
"Aw, Bree, you didn't" Jess protested.
"Moving costs money," Bree stated.
"Bree...."
"It's not just that, okay?" she stated defensively. "I wasn't doing too well in New York."
"No, just well enough to pay rent for that great apartment in the Village and buy and maintain a motorcycle," Jess corrected her.
"Okay. So I was doing well. We had a payment schedule and as long as we-"
"We?" Luke asked.
"Her and Dom," Jess said dismissively.
"- As long as we didn't deviate from it, we were fine. Look, I hated living like that, okay? Saving and counting and sacrificing - I hated it." She directed this to Luke and Lorelai, seeking to justify her actions. "It's not like I used the money all that much. I just liked knowing it was there." She looked back to Jess, her voice taking on a quality he knew well. "Don't talk to Dom about it, okay? You know how he feels about people with money and he was so proud of me for breaking away. So I'm back on the payroll, it's not a big deal, but to him it is, and the less he hears about it the better."
"So Dom doesn't know that you've..." Luke asked.
"Tied myself back on? Yeah, he knows. He's not happy about it. He still thinks we could have made do without it. But it's not like he tells me what to do; he knows he doesn't have a say in this matter. It won't stop him from talking, but -" she laughed a little.
"So does this mean you have to play the 'good little rich girl' whenever he tells you to?" Jess asked, disgusted.
"Pretty much. Oh and his first demand is, he's making me go back to school."
"Stars Hollow High?" Jess asked. "Tell me we're going to school together again."
"No, some rich, snobby private school where I have to play the good girl in class and not make waves," Bree explained.
"What school?" Lorelai asked apprehensively. 'Titanic' had *nothing* on the sudden sinking feeling she had.
"Chidion? Chilcon? Some shit like that."
"Chilton?" Lorelai's voice was a little flat. Utter dread has that effect on people.
"Yeah, that's it" Bree remembered. "You've heard of it?"
"Rory goes there," Lorelai told her.
"Is that so?" she mused, a slightly evil smile spreading across her face. "So I guess that means I'll be retaking my senior year with your girlfriend, Jess."
"Why does that thought terrify me to my very core?" Jess asked, not entirely joking.
"Well, 'cause you a smart boy," Bree said matter-of-factly.
Jess sighed. "Yeah."
Next time....
Lorelai gave in, "A little bird told me you're going to have a new classmate."
"At Chilton? Who told you this? Miss Cleo?"
"Nope. I heard it straight from the horse's mouth."
"How did we go from a little bird to a horse. Evolution doesn't even explain that."
"Hey Darwin, aren't you curious to know who's going to be the new classmate?"
"I'll find out eventually," Rory shrugged.