Why am I so obsessed with that annoying, smirking, ever so intriguing, unbearably cute boy? I mean, hello, I have the perfect boyfriend already…
But there is something about him that captures me and spirits me away. He is trouble. That much is clear! Everyone hates him, my Mom hates him and that should be reason enough for me to keep away…but I don't want to. I like him…
I more than like him…
I think about him all the time, to the point that my mind is in turmoil over it. Dean's talking to me…and I'm sitting there, blatantly not listening, imagining what Jess would say about this, or do about that!
I'm making out with Dean, but I'm concentrating so hard on what Jess' lips would feel like, caressing mine. And then, Dean gets all excited because he thinks that I'm passionately responding to him! The guilt drives me crazy!
I am officially a horrible person.
I don't even know why I care. Jess has made his feelings for me pretty clear, considering the fact that wherever I turn he's busy sucking face with Shane.
Sucking face! Rory Gilmore you have just gone way beyond the barrier of moronic thinking! I can't believe you… Sucking face with Jess…"Helloooooooooooo, are you even listening to me!"
"Sure Jess," Rory replied gazing intently into the swirling foam of her mug of coffee.
"You did not just say that…I must have slipped into some freakish alternate reality…what sort of food colouring does Luke put into these doughnuts anyway?" Lorelei started babbling incoherently.
Rory realised what she had just said and cursed herself silently for allowing her mind to float into an unaccountable delirium.
"Slip of the tongue Mom, it's not a big deal!" Rory persistently stammered.
"Not a big deal!" Lorelei stopped Kirk as he was walking past and demanded, "Do I in any way resemble a scowling, moody, scumbag, complete jerk-ish teenage boy?"
Kirk opened his mouth to respond but Lorelei silenced him, "Don't answer that."
Luke, who had been hovering nearby, wiping tables piped in sarcastically, "Ooh, can I answer that one?" to which Lorelei gave him one of her most powerfull withering stares, and Luke filled up her coffee mug in silence.
"Oooh, me too please!" Rory held up her coffee mug to Luke.
"Nah-ah, no more coffee for you…Taylor!" Lorelei sang with amusement.
Rory responded to that remark with her own withering stare and then picked up her school bag and left the diner to catch the bus for school.
Lorelei, still smiling to herself, was taken aback when she found that Kirk was leaning down to whisper something in her ear.
"You can use code-names as much as you want, it won't protect you…I have other ways of extracting the information I need from my victims."
Lorelei spluttered and burst out laughing.
"Firstly, Kirk the Ripper, I'm not your victim, and secondly, what the hell was that?"
"I'm no fool Lorelei, the annual Stars Hollow dance marathon is in two days time. No doubt you will endevour to come up with some evil scheme that will rob me of my four-year reigning title! Be warned, I've been practising my moves for five months straight. That includes stamina, endurance, flexibility…"
"For your information Kirk, me and my partner are going to wipe the floor with you this year, and with no cheating, theiving, scheming, blasphemy, adultery, treachery or murder involved."
"Oh and let me guess, your partner is…Lisa Minelli?"
"Close, but no, my partner this year will be the fabulous, the wonderful, the dazzling superstar…" Lorelei gazed pleadingly at Luke, to which he motioned an action vaguely resembling choking to death. "…My daughter, Rory Gilmore!"
Kirk made a strange snorting noise and then left the diner, with his head held high in the air.
"Sorry, did Kirk actually just laugh here? Today? And in my diner?" Luke asked.
"Yep," Lorelei replied, "And thus the four horseman drew their knives and the world ended…so Lukey, not dancing this year?"
"If you mean, not dancing this year as in not dancing any or every year then yes."
"What? You're dancing this year!"
"No!"
Lorelei began to look thoughtful and mischevious.
"Don't look at me like that! That look is a portent of pain and suffering for me."
"I'd do anything, within reason mind you, I'm not too liberal, if you would take part in the dance marathon this year!"
"No thank you, I wouldn't want you to experience any discomfort."
"Oh come on, I've seen the way you look at that dance floor every year. The same look of excitement and regret battling with eachother as the confusion takes over your fragile mind."
Now it was Luke's turn for the withering look.
"Live a little! I'll…………eat salad for a week…no a month…two months?"
"And…"
"I'll give up coffee and stop berating you eveyday over your many flaws!"
Luke was silent for a while and then said, "Fine," and walked away.
"Woo hoo! This better be worth it Luke, you do realise that coffee has been sacrificed here! I expect to actually witness you in a hat that's not your baseball cap you know… shock horror!" Lorelei called after him.
Luke was completely mortified when he found himself smiling.
A/N – apologies is you were disappointed at the lack of Jess in this chapter, but this one kind of set the scene as to what's going on! PLEASE REVIEW!