*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.

*A/N: Hey! :-) I know I haven't updated in a while, but I had to study for some tests. I don't know if I aced them all, but I did ace my Math test!!! Which came as a total shock, since I'm not exactly a mathwhiz. Anyway, not the point, the point is that this is another chapter and that I hope it's to your satisfaction. :-)

*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)

The ephemeral wall, that Rory had intuitively cast between her and the rest of the world, started to evanish as the sharply high ringing of her cell phone intruded her personal sentiments, causing her eyes to find its focus and herself to collide with the harsh serenity of the morning once more. She fell back into realism as she reached for her phone, which she always carried with her, just in case.

''Hello ?'' she asked, in a dazed voice, influenced by the thoughts that were still trying to find their peace in her restless mind.

''Why aren't you here ?''

''Here ?'' Rory asked, immediately recognizing her mother's voice.

''Here, at Luke's ?''

''I'm on my way to school.''

''Why ?''

''Cause I have to get to school eventually and I figured that having an early start wouldn't hurt,'' Rory flawlessly explained, as she looked at the school, which she was approaching in a tedious speed.

''If you have such an early start why don't your just turn around and stop by Luke's ?'' Lorelai asked, trying to put sense in such a meaningless sentence.

''I can't, I'm already halfway there, so if I turn back it would be a waste of my time.''

''Then just walk quickly and drop in for a quick coffee to go,'' Lorelai tried once more.

''Nah, I'll think I'll just get some coffee at the cafeteria.....'' Rory took an almost unnoticeable pause, before continuing. ''....since I'm early and all.''

''What's wrong, sweets ?''

''Nothing,'' Rory answered, hearing the clear change in her mother's voice. ''Listen, I'm almost there and since cell phones aren't allowed I have to hang up.''

''Did you tell them that it has a calculator ?''

''And a clock,'' Rory added, with a small smile.

''And they still didn't acknowledge the usefulness of it ?''

''I might have to send a letter of complaint to the headmaster.''

''I wouldn't have expected any less,'' Lorelai said.

''Bye mom.''

''Bye, sweets, have a good day.''

Rory turned off her phone and slipped it into her back pocket for safe keeping, knowing that she would be able to reach her mom or Lane whenever she wanted. She headed up the steps as she was embraced by the haunting silence around her, knowing that no one would be at school already, except for three or four early birds who still had some papers to grade or reports to copy. Even the usual group of guys who was always crowding near the entrance, hadn't taken its place yet.

Rory lowered her eyes as she climbed the last few steps and entered the main building. She heard her voice in her head, saying that she would never fall for one of their skillful tricks and yet now she was doubting if she did. Jess was one of them after all. That was one of her main concerns, she was afraid that he would lead her into his dark pool and tempt her to fall in and drown in his sometimes unfortunate behavior and choices. The other reason was less complicated and easier to understand, however she doubted she herself completely did.

*~*~*

Rory held her breath as Jess passed her. She had known that he was bound to come, since they had the first period together. But she never knew if he was coming or not. Ever since he had started hanging out with those loners, which had practically been from day one, he had been skipping some of his classes. Rory had never understood what the fun was of not coming to class. And she had often wondered what they did instead.

And she had found out, when she had taken a seat next to one of the large windows. She had seen them, including Jess. They were standing underneath the three oak trees in front of the main entrance, smoking. The thing that had surprised her was the fact that Jess had been standing alone, away from the other guys. And he had his eyes fixed on the ground in front of him, as if he was thinking the same thing as her. What was the purpose of skipping class, what was he trying to say ? Was what he was doing right now so much more meaningful and entertaining ? For Rory the answer had immediately been clear, but it seemed as if he had never made up his mind. Until now.....to Rory's misfortune. Knowing that he would be sitting in the same classroom would only make her more nervous and confused than she already was.

He passed her without saying a word, though his presence didn't need any vocal embellishment. As she patiently waited for him to enter the classroom, she started to rummage through her locker, just to have something to do with her hands, that were on the verge of losing control.

Just a couple of seconds before the door closed, she made her way into the classroom, aware that everyone was watching her, waiting for her to sit down. And she knew his eyes were among them, she always knew when he looked at her. It was like an invisible brush of a hand or a telepathic whisper. She quickly sat down next to Lane, glad that this was one of the few classes they had together. Lane whispered a fast and barely audible greeting before the lesson started.

While Rory was taking notes, a crumpled piece of paper suddenly appeared right in front of her. She reached for it and opened it, as silently as possible, placing it on her notes, to make it look unsuspicious. A small smile found its way on to her face when she read the simple question; what's wrong ? It was amazing how Lane could read people. Rory placed her pencil on her paper and before she knew it near ten minutes had passed and her handwriting covered almost the half of the sheet. She neatly folded it and passed it to Lane when the teacher had her back turned. While it took Rory ten minutes to write the note, it took Lane only a couple of seconds to read it.

''Oh my God !''

Their teacher instantly turned around only a few spilled seconds after those words had escaped Lane's lip, sliding of her tongue as easy as butter. And with her piercing gaze came at least a dozen more interest expressions, grateful for this interruption. Although Rory knew that all those eyes weren't meant for her, she still felt uncomfortable underneath their weight. But only Jess' seemed unbearable, which she had gotten a glimpse of out of the corner of her eye.

''Anything wrong Mrs. Kim ?''

Lane kept her eyes fixed on the wall behind the teacher, as she carefully slipped the note, she and Rory had exchanged, between her binder.

''Uhm.......yes, I just saw a really big spider......right above the blackboard, which is on the other end of the room, so for me to notice the spider it had to be really big.''

''A spider ?'' their teacher asked without a sign of amusement, while raising one of her neatly trimmed eyebrows.

''Yes, see, I'm arachnophobic. I can't even be around stuffed spiders,'' Lane explained, without blinking once.

''Uhuh, try to focus that imagination on your work.''

Lane nodded, not denying the teacher' statement. ''I will.''

Rory and Lane quickly exchanged a look. ''We have to talk during lunch.''

Rory nodded and went back to her notes.

*~*~*

Although Rory had been anticipating for the bell to ring, the shrill and abrupt ringing still made her jump in her seat, causing her to drop her books on the floor. She sighed and grabbed her pencil, before it could fall from her desk. By the time she had grabbed her bag and was heading towards the door, the classroom had already emptied out.

While she was trying to cram her books in her messenger style bag, she left the classroom. She went around the corner as she put her last book in her bag, almost running into Jess, who was leaning against one of the many rows of lockers. When she lifted her head, she knew that it was too late to pretend she hadn't seen him and take another route to her next class. Instead she took a couple of steps back and started to pull at the shoulder strap of her bag.

''Jess,'' she said, as she forced herself to keep her eyes leveled with his.

Jess fixed her with an emotionless stare, making it even harder for her. ''I'm surprised you even remembered my name.''

''Good guess,'' Rory said softly, lowering her eyes to her bag again, as the guilt became painfully visible.

''We need to talk.''

Rory bit her lip, before looking up at him again. ''About what ?''

Jess met her eyes with a neutral expression and nodded, as if he knew she was avoiding their confrontation. And the worst thing was that she wasn't even denying it, causing herself to become even more guilty and nervous within his gaze's reach. Luckily for her the bell rang, giving her the opportunity she had been waiting for all this time.

''I have to get to class.''

Jess nodded, but didn't make any attempt to move or say anything. And as he watched her walk away, he knew that in order for them to talk, he had to make her feel comfortable around him again.

*~*~*

Jess threw his cigarette on the floor and blew out the last of the smoke, his eyes fixed on the petite girl, who was standing in the middle of the court. He knew that she had been there for a while. She was hesitant at first, afraid that he might show up at the sound of her ball bouncing of the asphalt. But after a while she got bolder, dribbling her ball louder and longer, relieved at the fact that she was all by herself.

Jess knew all of this by the way she was moving on the court, stopping every now and then to throw a glance in his direction, even though he knew she couldn't see him. But that didn't mean that she couldn't sense his presence, so when Rory heard footsteps approach her, there wasn't anything to surprise her. She assumed that he had been waiting for one of her undeliberate signs, giving her all the time she needed until then.

Rory turned around and faced him, wiping her hair out of her face while she did this, preparing herself for everything, but not quite understanding the choice of his question.

''You wanna play some one on one ?''

Rory slowly nodded, meanwhile wondering if he was willing to forget their kiss ever happened.

*~*~*

Jess raised the ball above his head, preparing another one of his shots, but stopped when he saw Rory just standing a couple of feet away from him, not even making an attempt to block the upcoming shot. He lowered his arms and turned around.

''What's wrong ?''

He had a pretty clear idea of what was going through her mind right now, considering the small fact that she hardly blocked any of his shots, afraid to come to close. Though he had decided to forget about their recent kiss for a while, her current attitude changed his mind for him. He missed her competitive side.

''........Nothing,'' Rory answered, still not moving from the spot she was standing.

''You're acting different,'' Jess said, stating only what he had witnessed.

Rory shrugged. ''I guess I'm just tired.''

Jess kept his eyes on Rory while she said this, studying her facial featured that were partly covered by the nightly shadows. It was obviously clear that she was lying, all evidence pointed in no direction but that one. She was subtly avoiding his gaze and her voice was soft, almost soothing, like she wanted to reassure him that what she was telling him was true.

''Then explain to me why you didn't block any of my shots. Not even the simple ones ?'' Jess asked, throwing the ball at her with a certain amount of force, though she easily caught it.

''I'm tired, I told you.''

''I think there's more to it.''

Jess took a couple of steps towards her.

''Well, there isn't so stop being paranoid,'' Rory quickly said, throwing the ball back at him, hoping that he wouldn't come any close. She was afraid of what he might do and what she might let happen.

''I have to go home.''

Rory turned around, forgetting about her ball, which Jess was still holding. All she could think about was him and it didn't get any better when she felt his fingers gently lock around her wrist, forcing her to turn around and look at him, since he was standing so close.

''What's wrong, Rory ?''

He darted his eyes over her face, before continuing. ''Is it about the kiss ?''

Rory immediately lowered her eyes and pulled her arm free, not liking the fact that it gave Jess the control to pull her even closer if he wanted to.

''I just don't know how to feel about it,'' Rory finally admitted. ''I mean we were sorta friends, but what are we now ?''

''Sorta friends with advantages.'' Jess jokingly said, though the amusement didn't find its way onto his face.

Rory shook head and took a step back. ''Friends can't stay friends when something like that happened.''

Rory brought her eyes up to Jess' face, as she continued with what had been lingering on her lips for the past day.

''I mean are we boyfriend girlfriend now........,'' Rory started, locking eyes with him.

Jess had no choice to meet her honest gaze, not when those words just left her mouth. He never realized that she would think that far ahead.

''........cause I don't know if I want that.''

A short silence fell between them, as she took a deep breath, before going on, not aware of the damage she was causing.

''I like being just friends with guys, especially you. I went on one date and it was a disaster.''

''I'm not Dean.''

Rory's expression softened at his truthful words, not missing the hard edges in his voice.

''I know, but I don't want things to change between us,'' Rory said, denying the fact that she really did want things to change between them.

''They won't,'' Jess reassuringly said, not wanting to scare her off. He knew she was on the verge of running. And although he was trying to remain patient and understanding with her, he knew that they were already starting to fade, quicker than he would have thought.

''They already did.''

And with those last words, Rory turned around, wanting desperately to retreat to the safety of her lonesome room.

''Rory.......''

She bit her lip and turned around.

''Your ball,'' he said bitterly, throwing the ball at her.

Rory caught it, not daring to meet his eyes, which had unwillingly darkened, because of her behavior and his lack of patience. Instead she mumbled an useless apology and left.

*R*E*V*I*E*W*! Please ? :-) Yes, I know, Rory is acting like a pathetic little girl and she's making the problem bigger than it actually is, but there is a reason after every chapter, so just wait and see, cause the game is quite over yet. Thanks for the reviews, which encouraged me to make the story just a little longer that I originally planned it to be, and I hope you guys are still reading. :-)