Rory had told her Mom all about her day. Lorelai was furious at what Jamie and Stacy had said, and asked whether she could go and have a "talk" with them.
Lane wanted to know about all the cute guys, particularly Tristan. All three of them were sitting in Luke's on Sunday of that week.
"So, he's the rich bad boy of the school huh?"
"Yeah. Everyone seemed to be swooning over him, especially Jamie."
"Well, it makes since doesn't it."
"I think he does drugs though."
"Well, I wouldn't be surprised. They have money to right?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean they should."
"Yeah, well, if you get invited to a party, definitely count me in."
"I don't think I will be getting invited to any of their parties. Oh, I have to join the tennis team."
Both Lane and Lorelai looked at her as if she was crazy.
"It should be fine. I mean, I have played before."
"But, not competitively. You do no that you onced tripped over your own shoelace hon."
"Thanks mom for never letting me live that down."
Luke came over to them with large hamburgers and attempted salads. He asked Rory about the school to which she replied similarly, excluding the part about cute guys.
A couple of weeks went by. Tennis was going exceptionally well, considering Rory was terrible at sports. She had won a couple of matches and Hannah and Gina were very helpful. She didn't really talk much with Beth except in history, but, then again, she didn't really expect to.
Then, one day, Tristan walked in to her Chemistry class during lab time. He handed the teacher his schedule.
"Rory," Ms. Imar called her over.
"Tristan will be joining our class now. I want you to help him. Ms. Gilmore is exceptional, she will help you catch up."
Tristan walked over to the lab station with Rory and put his stuff down next to Patrick. Rory told Patrick what was going on, but he just grumbled because he was in the middle of pouring a chemical into a flask.
"Well, umm, here is the lab manual," you can borrow it if you want to look over.
"I have one," Tristan replied.
"Oh, okay."
"Well, we're just pouring right now if you want to help measure."
"That's fine. I'll watch."
"You don't like chemistry that much," Rory asked.
"Yeah, physics is more of my thing."
"Same here." Tristan eyed her carefully.
They spent the rest of the block in almost awkward silence. It was clear Patrick didn't like Tristan much. Tristan only spoke to make a couple of rather rude comments to Patrick. Rory just ignored the two and focused on her work.
When the bell rang, Tristan was the first one out of the room.
"What's up with you guys?" Rory asked.
"Oh, he thinks he rules the school and can walk over anyone he wants."
"Well, does he?"
"Supposedly."
"Fine, whatever. Just don't let it get in the way of our work."
"If he doesn't."
Rory rolled her eyes. She saw Beth afterschool and ran to catch up to her. She was with Jamie again, but this time, they were with another guy Rory didn't know.
"Hey Beth."
Beth turned around and smiled. She introduced Rory to Brian.
"What's up Rory?"
"Well, do you think you could talk to Tristan for me. You guys seem like good friends."
She laughed, "What did he do now?" Jamie gave Rory an evil glare.
"Passing chemistry is important to me, and I just wish he would take it more seriously."
Beth paused, "Well, he doesn't usually take class very seriously, especially science. He's already pretty good at it."
"Then, why doesn't he even try?"
She shrugged. Jamie piped in, "Well, maybe he doesn't try around you." Beth waved off her comment and said, "Well, why don't you tell him yourself?"
"What do you mean?"
"We're all going to the mall later to buy stuff for homecoming. The guys are all on the team, so, we like to look nice."
"Oh."
"You could come with us," Beth said while Jamie had an expression of shocked horror on her face.
"Well, I don't know."
"Why, what else are you going to do on a Friday afternoon?"
"I might have plans with my mom."
Beth looked at her strangely. "Your mom?"
"Yeah, I know it sounds weird, but we're pretty close. She had me when she was sixteen."
"Oh, that's cool. But, I insist that you come. We could create a whole new you," she said with a smile, "Not that the now you isn't great. You just look kind of plain, no offense."
"No, I know. Umm, I'll have to call my mom."
"Fine. You can catch up a ride with me."
"Okay."
So, Rory called. Lorelai had tons of questions as to how exactly she got invited to hang out with the "in" crowd for the afternoon.
Meanwhile, Jamie was complaining to Beth.
"Why did you invite her?"
"Why shouldn't I?"
"Why are you trying to be so nice to her? She won't fit in."
"So what?"
"Well, why does she want to talk to Tristan?"
"Unless your deaf you heard her. And why are you so angry? You don't feel threatened by some poor girl do you?"
"No," Jamie said quickly. "I just don't think the others will like it very much."
"Well, they don't even have to talk to her."
"Do you see the freaks she hangs out with?"
"Yes. But, I'm not going to push her around."
"When is this charade going to end?"
Just then, Rory came back. "Okay, she said I could go."
"Great. Let's go."
All three of them were sitting Beth's car while they drove to the mall. Beth and Jamie were talking about the latest gossip in their group of friends. When they finally got there, Beth made an abrupt stop and they all piled out.
The Hartford mall was large. Rory didn't usually come to shop here because a lot of the clothes were expensive. She did however want to buy a birthday present for Lane, maybe some unique CDs to add to her collection.
"So Rory, which stores do you like?"
"Umm, it doesn't really matter."
"Let's go to Armani first," Jamie suggested.
So they went there. Jamie and Beth bought a couple of skirts while Rory browsed around. "You're not going to buy anything?" Jamie asked rudely.
"No, I didn't find anything."
They went to look for dresses next. Beth seemed to know exactly where she was heading and Jamie and Rory just followed. They stopped in front of a small boutique. They went inside and Beth and Jamie went to look for more dresses.
Rory sat down after looking at the price of the first nice dress she saw.
"Hey Rory, What do you think?" Beth asked her, wearing an extravagant cream yellow dress.
"It looks nice."
"Cool, I might buy it. It's simple, but nice enough for homecoming. Why don't you go try something on."
"I don't think I could afford anything here," Rory said with an awkward smile.
"Oh, well, just try something on and if you find something, I'll get it for you. I never did pay you back for what you did."
"No, I really couldn't."
"I insist," Beth said, handing her a lavender colored dress. "Now go."
Rory tried on the dress. It looked pretty nice. It went longer in the back.
"See,
it looks really great on you," Beth said, interrupting her
thoughts. "Do you want it?"
"No, I think I'll take a look
around more."
"Okay."
"My mom usually makes my dresses for me. She's really good."
"Oh, my mom would never go near a sewing needle," Beth replied.
Jamie was standing by the door holding another shopping bag, "Can we go please?"
"We're supposed to meet the guys at Nordstroms. They went to get fitted for their tuxes. Let's just browse around for a bit."
Beth insisted on making Rory try on an outfit. She had to admit though, she still maintained her conservative look, but she did look less plain. Beth bought her a polo and a cute knee-length skirt to go with it.
"There, we're even," she said with a laugh.
"There they are," Jamie said, walking much more quickly.
She went right up to Tristan and put her arms around his neck, "Hey, are you coming over tonight." He shrugged and said, "Why not."
"Good." They all sat down in front of the café.
"Whose your friend Beth?" one of the guys Rory had seen before asked.
"Oh, everyone, this is Rory Gilmore. You know these guys, but this is Adam and Tommy."
Rory waved, and they winked at her.
"She's on scholarship," Jamie added with a mischievous grin.
The guys nodded, and there was an awkward silence.
Beth broke it by saying, "She helped me out of a tight spot with Charleston."
They all ordered something and headed over to the music store so Rory could get some CDs. Rory browsed around the classic rock section when Tristan came over and looked too.
"You like rock also?" he asked her.
"Yeah, my best friend and I trade CDs once in a while. It's her birthday soon so I decided to get her something."
"Oh. So, why are you hanging out with Beth and Jamie?"
"Oh, Beth's just being nice after the other day."
"Yeah, but that was like weeks ago. I didn't really think she would still be talking to you, no offense."
Rory , a little annoyed said, "Well, she's just nice."
He chuckled a little, "Yeah, Beth maybe. She's nice if you're nice. Jamie and Stacy are sort of bs though."
"You talk about your girlfriend like that?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, aren't you dating Beth. You're going to her house tonight."
He laughed, "Oh that. No, she's always had a crush on me, and she amuses me once in a while. Also, I don't really have girlfriends if you know what I mean."
"Yeah."
"So, Beth said that
you had something to say to me."
"Oh, yeah, in chemistry, try
to be a bit nicer to Patrick and umm, put in your fair share," she
said quietly.
He looked at her as if she were crazy. "Okay, I can't promise to be nicer to the big lard, but I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not too crazy about school." His cell phone rang, and he picked it up, waved to her and walked away.
Rory stood by herself and mumbled, "That went well."