A/N: Wow, fast update, I kind of surprised myself. Just enjoy the chapter, and please tell me what you think.

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Gilmore House

Rory wakes up the next morning excited about what this trip with Jess might bring. She steps out of bed and dresses in her uniform and stuffs her backpack with an outfit for the day.

She opens the door and can hear her mom walking down the stairs. She quickly shuts it and stands blocking the door so no one can come in. She is hit with a fit of guilt. She will need to lie to her mom in order for this day to happen the way they have planned. If Lorelai finds out, she will blame it on Jess, and she will hate him even more.

She picks up her cell phone, and dials the familiar pattern.

"I can't do this," she says when he answers.

J: "Can't do what, Rory? It's early. Having trouble getting dressed?"

R: "I can't lie to my mom. I can't pretend to be her good little daughter, and then lie to her face. She thinks I'm going to school, and I'm not."

J: "Ok. If you don't want to do it, then we'll go to school."

R: "Ok. Good. No! Not good! I didn't do my homework because I wasn't planning on going to school! Now I'm just a lying, slacking, horrible person. I couldn't even go to school if I wanted to."

J: "What do you want to do Rory?"

R: "I want you to tell me that everything is going to be alright."

J: "Rory, everything will be alright, I promise. You won't have to do anything except for get in the car with me. I will take care of everything."

R: "Ok, good, thank you."

J: "You're welcome. Do you need anything else?"

R: "No, I'm fine."

J: "Coming in for breakfast?"

R: "Yeah, I'll see you in a little bit."

J: "Ok, see you there."

R: "Jess? Happy Birthday."

J: "Goodbye Rory."

Rory manages to open her door and get herself to step out of it. Slipping her backpack on her shoulders as she is entering the kitchen distracts her.

"Good morning, Hun."

Rory gasps. "God, you scared me."

Lorelai tilts her head at her daughter. She takes a pen from the table and writes on the newspaper in front of her, 'Prepare for conversation.'

Rory leans over her and reads. "Ok, I'm ready."

"Good, I didn't know I needed permission to start talking to you."

"Just this once. I'm jumpy today. Weird dream."

"What about?"

Rory panics. "Uh… pigs… and licorice… and sweaters."

"Well that sounds terrifying. You'll be fine once we get some coffee in you. Let's go."

Rory and Lorelai walk to Luke's and order breakfast from him.

Jess descends down the staircase and immediately walks over to the Gilmores.

"Hey Rory. You seem to have gotten dressed alright this morning."

"Yeah, after you talked me through it, everything went smoother. Thanks."

"Anytime. Lorelai, would it be all right with you if I drove Rory to school today? I already have permission to use Luke's truck."

"Any special occasion?"

"Yeah, it's actually my birthday today, and I wanted to take her somewhere after school, so we may be late getting home. It will probably be after dinner."

Lorelai looks at Rory with a questioning look, searching for any discomfort or uneasiness. Rory has the largest grin on her face and sends her mom a pleading look.

"First off, happy birthday, and yes, that would be fine, Jess," Lorelai tells him.

"Great. We should get going. Bye Lorelai."

"Bye Mom, thanks," Rory gives her mom a kiss on the cheek and takes Jess's hand and they walk out the door.

Once they sit in the car, Jess tells Rory to be quiet for a second, and turns off the radio. He calls the school attendance number twice and excuses both he and Rory for illness, disguising himself as both Luke and Christopher. His Luke impression was becoming uncanny.

After he is finished, he turns the music on and Rory starts in, "where are we going?"

"Here, you can pick the music, anything you want," Jess avoids the question.

"XTC. How long until we get there?"

"Probably a couple of hours," Jess answers as he puts in the CD she has chosen.

"Oh, I'm making progress. Where are we going?"

"That's all you're getting, let it be."

"I'm excited," Rory smiles at Jess.

"I'm glad. And so am I," Jess smiles back.

In two hours, the couple reaches Long Island.

"It's so beautiful here," Rory comments.

"Yeah, I always love coming out here. If you're ready to find out, I would like to explain where and why we are going."

"Yes, I'm ready."

"When I left New York to come to Stars Hollow, my mom told me one evening that I would be leaving the next morning. I had one night to say goodbye to my friends and to pack anything I thought I would need for about a week. That night, I went where we're going now, my friend Jake's house on Long Island. It was he and my three other friends. They made me promise that I would e-mail Jake once a week and that if I hadn't had a chance to visit, I had to come back on my birthday, just to see them, and you know, catch up."

"So I get to meet your friends?"

"Yeah. You'll like them. They're a lot like me, pretty laid back. They're expecting me. I told them there was a good chance I'd be coming, and I told them that you would be with me, so they'll invite their girlfriends too. Maybe you guys will have something in common."

Rory smiles nervously, "yeah, maybe," maybe not.

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Meanwhile at Luke's Diner

Immediately after Rory and Jess leave the diner and get into Jess's car, Luke walks up to Lorelai.

"Do you know what they're up to?"

"Not a clue."

"Concerned?"

"I trust Rory."

"Good, so do I."

Lorelai's cell phone rings, she answers it. Luke points to the door.

Lorelai mouths, "it's Chilton."

Luke puts his hand down; he wants to know what is going on.

The woman on the phone explains that Christopher Hayden has just called Rory out of school. Even though he is her father, the only person who has the authority to call Rory out of school is Lorelai. It isn't a big deal, because it's her father, but they need to call and verify with her.

Lorelai explains that it is fine, and Chris is staying with them and just wanted to feel like a dad for the week. She didn't realize it would cause problems for the school. She apologizes. They accept.

Lorelai then asks, "Hey, by any chance, is Jess Mariano excused for today?"

"Yes," the woman answers, "Luke Danes called just a couple of minutes ago."

"Thank you." Lorelai hangs the phone up, and looks at Luke. No he didn't.

"Well, look on the bright side," Lorelai tells Luke, "at least I know Rory isn't an experienced ditcher. She can't even ditch school for one day without being caught."

"Yeah, and maybe Jess isn't as good as we thought. Hey, why did you lie and say that Chris did call Rory out, and that it was fine with you?"

"Well my telling the truth to Chilton, that I knew nothing about it, would not make Rory go to school today, and if I want to punish her, I can, but I really don't want Chilton involved and I don't want to look like the irresponsible parent that I am, not knowing where my kid is."

"Fair enough. So what do you want to do about it?"

"I guess I can just call Rory, and ask her to explain. If I know where she is, it should be fine. I think she kind of deserves a day off; she works so hard." Luke nods that he understands and Lorelai continues, "I have to get to the Inn, I'll call you if I hear anything."

"Thanks, same goes for me. I'll try Jess."

"Bye Luke."

Simultaneously, Jess and Rory's cell phones ring. Fortunately they didn't have to make the decision about whether to talk to their guardians. Rory's phone is singing to itself on her dresser at home, and Jess's phone is turned off and tucked away in his clothes in the trunk only for emergencies. Nobody is going to spoil the day that Jess has been looking forward to since he left New York, and so much more since Rory agreed to go with him.

A/N: I hope everyone is enjoying the story. Suggestions would be much appreciated about what you would like to see. Please review this story. If you have the time, check out my other stories and let me know what you think of those as well. Especially the last story I posted, "Breakfast," I would love to hear your thoughts on that also. Ok, enough rambling, thanks for reading!