Disclaimer: If I owned Gilmore Girls do you really think I would be sitting here typing fanfictions? If you guessed no you'd be right. Yay, gold star for you!

Summary: The mistake Lorelai made 16 years ago was being echoed in her daughter.

Okay.. Everyone keeps asking me.. Are Rory and Jess going to get together.. The answer is yes. But I'm having a problem here, cause once they're together the story is over, there is no more complication and the world is happy and bright, that doesn't make for great writing. This story IS a Lit, but you gotta be patient this is what happens leading up to them being together. Okay.. Now that that's out of the way..

TO ALL MY REVIEWERS- Thank you all!

So you're reading my story, All you need to know- Here's where Rory graduates and there is a VERY VERY VERY important Author's note at the end.. So please read it..."If I don't decide now I'm kinda Fed out of the boat here man.." Read along silently as I read the directions aloud...

Chapter 8- Leaving high school behind

Lorelai, Luke, Jess, Lora, Emily, Richard, Sookie, Jackson, and Lane sat in the chairs as they waited for Rory's graduation to start.

"Invited guests, fellow faculty, honored attendees and students, welcome to the Chilton Academy graduating class ceremony of 2003. applause This year's class is a distinguished assemblage, equal to or surpassing what has proceeded it. In its 200-year history, Chilton has not failed to produce a class that brings only honor to these grounds and to the academy's fine traditions. To begin, I would like to invite the student body president Paris Ghellar to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Paris?"

Paris stood and lead everyone in the pledge before returning to her seat.

"It's a distinct pleasure for me to introduce to you our valedictorian. She is humble, hard working, competitive when need be, and unparalleled in her academic achievements. Ladies and Gentlemen, Rory Gilmore."

Everyone cheered, Rory caught the anger in Tristen's face but brushed it off as she saw Jess and Lora smiling at her.

"Not crying, right?" Sookie asked.

"Not crying. Keeping our cool so we don't miss anything." Lorelai told her.

"Tears get in your eyes."

"Then you miss things."

"So we're not crying."

"Not crying."

"Not crying." Sookie repeated.

"Not crying. Not crying." Jackson said.

"What?" Luke asked.

"No crying." Lorelai told him holding his hand.

"I'm not crying." He told her.

Jess looked down the row at all the people who had just said no crying, they all had tears in their eyes.

"Headmaster Charleston, faculty members, fellow students, family and friends, welcome. We never thought this day would come. We prayed for its quick delivery, crossed days off our calendars, counted hours, minutes, and seconds, and now that it's here, I'm sorry it is because it means leaving friends who inspire me and teachers who have been my mentors - so many people who have shaped my life and my fellow students' lives impermeably and forever. I live in two worlds. One is a world of books. I've been a resident of Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County, hunted the white whale aboard the Pequod, fought alongside Napoleon, sailed a raft with Huck and Jim, committed absurdities with Ignatius J. Reilly, rode a sad train with Anna Karenina, and strolled down Swann's Way. It's a rewarding world, but my second one is by far superior. My second one is populated with characters slightly less eccentric but supremely real, made of flesh and bone, full of love, who are my ultimate inspiration for everything. Richard and Emily Gilmore are kind, decent, unfailingly generous people. They are my twin pillars without whom I could not stand. I am proud to be their grandchild."

She took a deep breath.

"My daughter, Lora, who I love so much and could never imagine my life without."

Lora recognized her name and waved to her mother. Rory felt tears in her eyes and she found it hard to read her speech, though she didn't need to, it was from the heart.

"Luke, who has been my constant through out my life, and I would be lost without. But my ultimate inspiration comes from my best friend, the dazzling woman from whom I received my name and my life's blood, Lorelai Gilmore."

"Uh oh." Sookie said quietly.

"Hang in there."

"My mother never gave me any idea that I couldn't do whatever I wanted to do or be whomever I wanted to be. She filled our house with love and fun and books and music, unflagging in her efforts to give me role models from Jane Austen to Eudora Welty to Patti Smith. As she guided me through these incredible eighteen years, I don't know if she ever realized that the person I most wanted to be was her."

"Not crying." Sookie said.

"Crying a little." Lorelai admitted.

"Crying a little, but not blubbering. That's what we meant when we said no crying, no blubbering." Sookie told her.

"Thank you, Mom. You are my guidepost for everything." Rory spoke.

"On the verge of blubbering here." Sookie told her.

"Not doing too well myself." Jackson admitted.

"Not you, too." Lorelai directed at Luke.

"I'm blubbering, you're freaks." He told them.

"As we prepare ourselves today to leave. . ." Rory continued her speech.

"Paris Michelle Ghellar..." Paris walked on stage and accepted her diploma.

"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore." Everyone cheered as Rory accepted her diploma and walked across the stage.

After the ceremony everyone congratulated her. After all the craziness settled Rory walked through the halls alone. Her robe was open revealing the beautiful dress Lorelai made for her. For four years this place had been her life. So much had happened there, and she was finding it hard to let go. She came to her old locker, she ran her hand along it, this was where she met Tristen.

"Mommy!" She heard Lora's voice echo in the hall she turned around to see her daughter running towards her, Jess walked behind her.

Rory picked Lora up, "Hey honey."

"Lorelai and Luke left they said to meet them at the house." Jess told her.

"Alright well lets go."

They started walking up the stairs, Rory turned around and took one last look, before continuing to leave high school behind her. She would be joining Jess at Yale in the fall and she didn't need to hold onto Chilton anymore.

Okay I am repeating this cause some people don't read the stuff at the top... Everyone keeps asking me.. Are Rory and Jess going to get together.. The answer is yes. But I'm having a problem here, cause once they're together the story is over, there is no more complication and the world is happy and bright, that doesn't make for great writing. This story IS a Lit, but you gotta be patient this is what happens leading up to them being together. Okay.. Now that that's out of the way..

A/N.. Major autho's note here people READ IT- Jess graduated last year, he just finished his first year at Yale and he got in on a scholarship.. I know I didn't say anything before but the end I have planed doesn't work with out it...

Thanks for all the reviews.. I've got the ending in my mind and trust me its good.. There will be some more conflicts and stuff and I'm already working on the next chapter. Reviews inspire me to write faster... and update sooner...

Newt