First period today she had a study, so Rory headed directly for the library. Right before she reached the double doors, however, she was accosted by a waspish call.
"Gilmore you stop right there!" Paris came running down the hall. "You haven't given me your editorial yet! I need to compile all of the articles by the end of next week!"
"Paris, you said those articles were due next Monday."
"Yes, and that means this Wednesday! Don't you know anything about deadlines? I have to format the pages and probably edit most of what you've written, because I can't have December's first issue be total crap."
Rory rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks. Look I don't have it with me. I'll give it to you tomorrow, I promise."
"No, not good enough. I don't trust teenagers." Rory's eyes popped a little at this outrageous statement. "Come write it now, where I can keep an eye on you."
"Paris, I--"
"--She's busy." Tristan came to her rescue. "I promised I would let her tutor me in French."
Paris scrunched her forehead in disbelief. "Going for a little rendevous, Gilmore?"
"More like a tete a tete." Rory countered, and Tristan had to supress a grin.
"Come on, teacher lady," he said, putting his hand around her waist and guiding her to the door of the school. Once Paris had left he leaned in to her and whispered in her ear.
"A tete a tete?" he asked.
"Oh shut up, that was just for Paris." she giggled, smacking his hand away and following him out the door.
-
"So where are we going?" she asked as she got into his car. It was a silver BMW, and she grinned at the thought of her mother's reaction.
"Anywhere you want." he said, flinging his arms wide in a parody of possibility. "The world is our oyster."
"Well," Rory thought out loud, "I haven't had coffee yet..." they sped off before she finished her sentence, gone in search of a much needed venti macciato.
-
Tristan raised his mug to Rory, in declaration of a
toast.
"To the future," he began.
"No no regrets," she added, her mind drifting to other
things.
"And finally, last but certainly not least, to your
infamous chastity." he teased, earning him a smack on
the shoulder.
"The only reason you're getting away with this is
because you bought the coffee." she admitted, and he
raised his mug again.
"To buying the coffee!" she peeked over at his cup.
"What did you get?" she asked curiously.
"A decaf latte." Rory's eyes widened, and she giggled
a little.
"Can I have a sip?" Tristan obliged her, puzzled as
to the humor of the situation. It must have been
something good, because Rory was clearly working very
hard to suppress her mirth.
"What?" he asked, and she smirked around her giggles.
"Nothing, nothing." she said while watching him. He
waited a moment, then took a sip.
"Just that you drink wuss coffee." He almost spit it
out.
"Beg pardon?" he tried to act offended, all the while
enjoying the sight of Rory so happy.
It was a drastic change from yesterday, when her face
was a mask and only her eyes betrayed her true angst.
Now her eyes sparkled with single minded happiness,
and Tristan found it absolutely delightful.
"Wuss coffee." she repeated, wrapping her tongue
around each word and relishing it. "Who would think
that Tristan DuGrey, king of Chilton and master of
flavor-of-the-day-girl, would drink wuss coffee!"
"You wouldn't tell anybody, would you?" his face shone
with consternation, and she held out her hand.
"What's it worth to you?" his mouth fell open with
surprise, but he recovered instantly. Leaning
forward, he touched his forehead to hers. He could
feel her warm breath lightly brush against his face.
The air became as heavy as his eyelids, and he noticed
hers droop shut as her breathing quickened.
"Well, well, well, Mary, let's discuss that." Her
blue eyes snapped open and met his, and she pulled
away.
"Ohmigod!" she exclaimed. He said nothing, gouging
her reaction.
"We're going to be late for second period!"
"We--what?"
"Come ON!" she pulled on the wrist of his Chilton
blazer, asking the coffee vendor if they could get it
to go.
-
They walked into school just as the bell rang and the halls filled with students, mulling around before the next period.
"Better get going, Mary, you wouldn't want to be late to being early," Tristan teased, but Rory just smiled.
"Nothing you say can get me down, your words are nothing to me." she walked on her tip toes, imitation floating on air.
"And why is that, Mary?"
"Because you drink weaker swill than my grandmother." she smirked.
"What's this?" Paris came up behind them, flanked my Madeline and Louise.
"Nothing."Tristan said firmly, and sauntered away to class.