Author's note: So, I know that it's been a while since I've updated. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!
Thanks so much to Jenn for reading through this beforehand...! And two thumbs up for the people who are still following this story.
Summary: A school newspaper. Two different opinions. A book. Mixed in with some confusion, misguidance and attraction. A perfect recipe for a good old fashioned fairy tale story, so to speak. (Trory)
Askepott
Chapter fourteen
Saturday night, Gilmore house
"Rory, you look great!" Lane squealed as she looked at her best friend's appearance. She and Lorelai had spent the entire day buying last minute stuff for Rory's date with Tristan, such as a tiara, gloves and hair pins. In addition, Lorelai insisted on throwing in a few hours at the beauty parlour for the girlie necessities, like a facial and getting her nails done. By the time they had gotten home, there had only been an hour until Tristan would be there to pick her up.
"Yeah, you could give Julia Roberts a run for her money!" Lorelai commented.
Rory looked at mom quizzically. "I don't know if being compared to a prostitute with platinum blonde hair is a compliment or an insult."
"Oh, definitely a compliment. We all know that her hooker days were numbered once Richard Gere came into her life."
"So basically what you're telling me is that I'm a hooker dressed in school clothing?"
"If Britney Spears could do it, surely my baby can!"
"Gee, thanks mom!" Rory blurted out sarcastically. Turning towards the mirror, she looked nervously at her reflection. "Do you guys think he'll like it?"
Lorelai and Lane exchanged knowing glances and upon seeing their looks in the mirror, Rory let out an exasperated sigh. "What? I'm just wondering! I don't want to embarrass the guy or something!" she tried to defend.
"Oh, I was under the impression that you didn't care about what Tristan thinks about you. Actually you weren't even looking forward to going to the ball in the first place." Lane pointed out and couldn't help but smile shrewdly.
"Yeah, honey, why the sudden change of heart?" Lorelai inquired with a raised eyebrow.
Rory eyed them on the bed and knew exactly what they were aiming for. "I'm not having a change of heart. It's more like turning over a new leaf."
"Hey, you say coffee, I say elixir of life. Same thing." Lorelai shrugged.
Rory rolled her eyes at her mother's comment. "No, it's not the same thing. And besides, I've been doing some thinking and figured that I'm not the only one who has to suffer through this evening so maybe I should try and look at it a bit differently."
"Huh, I wasn't aware that there was any thinking involved." Lane feigned innocence. "Were you?" she directed at Lorelai.
"Nope, no awareness whatsoever!" Lorelai replied, copying the same tone as the short Korean girl. "So what initiated this newfound mental activity?"
"Nothing.", Rory simply said and turned back to gaze at her reflection in the mirror. The two sitting on the bed exchanged glances once again and suspected that Rory was holding back on something. "I just hope that he doesn't find it too girly."
"Well, let's ask him instead." Lane proposed as the tuneful sound of their doorbell indicated that Tristan had arrived. "Lorelai and I will go down and give him the pre-date third degree routine and you wait a few minutes before going down." Upon nodding in agreement, the two rushed down to answer the door while Rory remained where she was. She picked up a perfume bottle on her mom's dresser and dabbed some on her wrists and behind her ears. Applying another coat of lip gloss, Rory looked at her reflection one last time. She walked out of the room and started down the hall. Upon reaching the stairs, she could hear the faint sound of voices in the foyer. Taking a deep breath, Rory lifted her gown a bit and began her descend down the stairs.
"Yeah, so Tristan, what's your opinion on the Spice Girls breaking up? Any chance for a reunion, you think?" Lorelai inquired.
"Uhm, I…. uh..." he started but fell short once he caught a glance at Rory. To say that she looked breathtakingly amazing was an understatement. Her princess-like dress fit her perfectly and her hair was curled into large waves that flowed down her shoulders. A small hint of make up and lip gloss emphasized her beauty, topping the whole ensemble off. "Wow.", was all he could utter when she had come down. Rory couldn't help but turn a slight shade of red. "You look beautiful."
"Thanks." she replied shyly. "You don't look too bad yourself."
"Well, I did get some help in looking good." Tristan looked at Lorelai and smiled.
"And don't you forget it!" she exclaimed. "Just call me 'Fairy-god Mother Extraordinaire'!"
Both teenagers grinned at the elder Gilmore's antics. "So, I guess we better get going." Tristan proposed. "Shall we?" he asked and extended his arm to Rory.
"We shall." she replied and accepted his gesture.
"Have a great time, kids!" Lorelai chirped merrily. "And, Tristan, try to bring her back before sunrise or else she'll turn into a pumpkin."
"I will." he said as he opened the front door.
"And babes, remember your little promise, okay?" Lorelai quipped right before Rory slipped out the door. She eyed her mother and merely nodded. "See you!"
The gymnasium of Chilton had been transformed into a scene from a fairy tale. The decorations were magnificent and the lights and music added to the ambience. Chilton really went all out.
"This place looks great." Rory commented once they stepped into the hall, taking the entire scene in.
"Yeah, well, what can you expect from this school?" Tristan said. "Nothing but the best."
Rory glanced sideways towards her date, and nodded. "This explains why the likes of Paris Gellar set foot in this building."
"And talk about the little angel herself.", Tristan said as he noticed the amazing trio sauntering their way. "Try to be nice."
"Huh, as if that's going to help me one bit.", Rory replied sarcastically. She could already feel Paris' eyes burning a hole in her head, even with ten feet between them. Accompanied by Madeleine and Louise, it looked like they were ready to take over the world, or at the very least make her world a living Hell. Whichever was more convenient.
"Well, well, if it isn't the happy couple."
"Hello Paris." Tristan greeted, trying to seem cool and calm.
"Hey, Rory, where did you get the costume? They had the annual Stars Hollow barnyard sale, or what?" Louise interjected, looking her up and down.
She could feel her blood start to boil, but she remembered Tristan's words about trying to be nice. So she gathered up enough self-control and answered her as pleasant as she could. "No, my mom made it for me."
"Really? Well, I hope she doesn't quit her day job." Louise remarked which earned a giggle from Madeleine. Turning to Tristan, she put on her best smile and practically lit up like a Christmas tree. "Oh my gosh, Tristan, you look fabulous! Where did you get your costume?"
Looking Louise in the eye, he held a straight face. "Actually Rory's mom made it for me."
"Oh."
"And I think she did quite a nice job on it. Now if you'll excuse us." Tristan said as he started leading Rory to the refreshment table. "Oh, and, Louise." he quickly added with a twinkle in his eye. "Please do something with that foot in your mouth. It doesn't really match with your outfit." And with that the couple walked away, leaving the trio behind. Once they had gotten themselves refreshments, Rory finally let out a squeal.
"I can't believe you just said that!"
"What? It wasn't as if it wasn't obvious."
"Yeah, but still! You didn't actually have to say it!"
"Come on! It was the classic case of the elephant in the room!" Tristan argued. "And besides, she totally deserved it after what she said about your mom."
"Yeah, I kind of wanted to flush her down the toilet or something for that." Rory admitted. "Well, I appreciate the fact that you stood up for me.", she said genuinely.
"Is that your way of saying thank you?" Tristan leered.
Rolling her eyes, she sighed. "No, that's my way of saying that if you hadn't done that I would've had to inflict some massive bodily harm on her."
"Is that so?"
"Uh huh, I have the ability to summit the power of all the martial arts gurus in the world, enabling me to cause major destruction to whoever crosses my path."
"Well, I consider myself warned."
"As you should be." Rory advised. She took a sip of her drink and scanned the place. "So, do you want to sit down or walk around or something?"
Tristan cleared his throat and looked at his date warily. "Do you mind if we go for a walk?"
"You're not going to kidnap me and take me to Canada, are you?" she joked and narrowed her eyes.
"I can't make any promises, Gilmore. I know this really cosy bed and breakfast right by the border….." Tristan said suggestively. The two walked out of the gymnasium and into the hallway.
"And to think that I didn't bring my passport!" she deadpanned. They continued down the hall until they reached the office of the Franklin. "So as much as I'm enjoying this little tour we're having, is there a particular reason why exactly we are out here and not in there?", she asked, pointing towards the gym.
Tristan faced her and took something out of his jacket. "Yeah, uhm, I think this belongs to you." He handed her an all too familiar book.
"Oh, my book! Where did you find it?" she gasped.
"At the library the day of the fire alarm. It was on the floor."
"Thanks! I've been looking for this. I even had to buy a replacement since I borrowed it from the library at home." Rory filled him in. "How did you know that it was mine?"
"Well, your book presentation kind of clued me in.", Tristan stated the obvious.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that." Rory replied sheepishly. She looked at her book and thought back to the day of presentation. Suddenly a thought struck her. "Wait, was that why you…?"
Tristan gazed down to the floor, unable to look at her in the eye as a sense of awkwardness momentarily washed over him. "Yeah, you could say that I literarily fell of my chair when I found out it was you." he blushed.
"Found out it was me? We're just talking about a missing book here, not the discovery of who framed Roger Rabbit!"
"Well, I found out something else too." he said. Fishing a note out of his jacket, Tristan unfolded it and gave it to Rory. "I think this belongs to you too."
Rory inspected the piece of paper, and now it was her turn to feel awkward. She looked down. "So, you know who I am?" she asked meekly.
Noticing that he was making her feel uncomfortable, Tristan added on a lighter note. "Actually I should've figured it out even without the note. I mean with your manic obsession with candies and all, it really is quite obvious."
"Yeah, I guess it's not the best pseudonym in the world." Rory replied, a smile threatening to curl upon her face.
"Oh, believe me…. It's better than what other people can come up with." he commented, referring to his own lack of creativity.
Suddenly realizing that her secret was out, concern crossed her features. "You don't think that anybody else knows, do you? With Paris being editor and all…." she trailed of.
"Don't worry." he reassured. "I'm sure if this had gotten out, it would've spread like wild fire and Paris would've been in your face about it by now."
"I suppose you're right." she sighed before looking at him cautiously. "Hey Tristan, is it okay that…"
"Your secret is safe with me, Mary." he understood before she even finished her sentence.
"Thanks.", she smiled.
Tristan glanced at her and grinned back. "Your welcome."
"So, what do you say we tear this place down?" Rory asked excitedly, relieved that her secret was still under wraps.
"Why, I never knew you had it in you!"
"Well, what I meant was let's go party, not go TP Headmaster Charleston's office." she explained. "I still do want to graduate, you know."
Tristan let out a small laugh, finding Rory Gilmore's frolics amusing. "In that case, what do you say to a dance?" he enquired as they were walking back to the gymnasium.
"I don't know. I'd have to check my dance card.", she fibbed.
"Is that right?" Tristan raised an eyebrow.
"Actually that's just something I say to cover up the fact that I don't dance."
"Oh come on. You can't be that bad!"
"That's what you say now. Wait until you end up with a missing body part; then let's see what you have to say then."
"Okay, how about this?" he suggested once they stepped in to the gym yet again. "One dance and if I lose an arm I promise I won't hold it against you."
"Well, it's your arm.", Rory shrugged.
"So that's a yes?"
"I suppose so.", she gave in and let Tristan lead her to the dance floor. She put her arms around his neck and felt his circling her waist. As much as she didn't want to admit it the evening had turned out to a lot of fun. Dancing with Tristan was quite simple, and nice. She snuggled closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. She could smell his cologne and found herself lost in his embrace. Making that promise to her mom was completely unnecessary. She was already having the time of her life.