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The day went by slowly and neither Rory or Tristan could focus on anything. But, surprisingly, Tristan was fairing far worse than Rory. The guilt gnawed at his heart, twisting his stomach this way and that, all the while his brain pounded with the constant knowledge that he let her down.
It also didn't help that she was absolutely all of his classes, sitting too close for comfort. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her. She was pouring herself into her notes and he knew that she was only shutting herself from the world. He hurt her, he knew he hurt her, and he did nothing to fix it.
Rory wasn't doing so well either. She spent her whole life under a safety blanket, never opening her heart to anyone, only to have it smashed on it's first attempted at love. She felt like an idiot, it wasn't as if she didn't know how it really happened. Rory couldn't believe that she wasn't the least bit skeptical when she met the perfect guy for her. Of course it was fake. Of course.
The final bell rang and Rory practically ran out of the school like a bat out of hell. She had no desire to stay in the place that was already swarming with bad memories. She loved him. She absolutely head over heels loved him, and he treated her like she was a toy to show off and flounce around. She should have known better.
At her locker, Rory tried to force the stubborn metal open, but seeing as she was cursed, it stayed shut. Kicking at the bottom, she leaned her head against the cool steel and gathered her breath. Looking to the side, she saw Lem in a group of five girls, following a brunette.
Lem smiled at her, walking over. "Hey girls, this is Rory. She just moved here from California. Rory, this is Summer," She pointed toward the brunette in the front, "Francie," a red-head nodded with a smirk, "Madeline," another brunette waved happily toward her, "And that's Louise." She pointed to a blonde flirting with one of the guys that was hanging out with Tristan earlier.
She smiled politely at them, then continued in the challenge of opening her locker. Summer walked over to where she was spinning the combination once again and leant up against the adjacent locker. "So I heard this rumor about you and…Tristan DuGrey?"
Rory frowned, looking down towards her feet. "Yeah, it's nothing really. We just met this summer and spent a lot of time together, and then I met him here…but he changed. It's nothing."
Summer pursed her lips, rolling her eyes. "Nothing…right." She snapped her gum, then punched the locker once. The metal door sprung open with a squeak, send Rory shooting backwards straight into a pair of arms.
Closing her eyes in embarrassment, she waited a second before looking up at her 'savoir'. Unfortunately, her savior was one Tristan DuGrey. Frowning, she quickly gathered herself from his arms, brushing the dirt of her skirt and moving toward her locker.
Tristan frowned, taking a step forward to talk to her, only to be interrupted by Carla Dennison flouncing down the hall…in their direction. Every person with them sighed, then the guys murmured, "peppy, peppy joy, joy" under their breath. Carla bounced right up to Tristan with a huge smile on her face.
"Tristan! Hey! You'll never guess what!" She said happily, her voice going straight through their heads like a knife.
Tristan smiled politely, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know Carla."
Carla beamed, bouncing on her heels. "I'm running for vice president!" She squealed, "Isn't it the most"
Louis smirked, "To say the least," Carla's smile wavered for a second, then she noticed Rory.
"Oh gosh! You must think I'm a total brat! I'm Carla Dennison! You're the new girl right! The one from California? Rory is it?"
Rory nodded politely, pulling her bag over her shoulder and closing her locker softly. She could feel Tristan's eyes on her, as well as all of Tristan's friends. She couldn't knowing that he was here, but he wasn't the Tristan she met at the beach. No…not at all.
She started walking away from the groups, nodding at all Carla was saying to her. Carla was mumbling something about Cheerleading Tryouts…and for some reason, she heard herself agree to going that night.
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"So, T-Man…what's with the Mary?" Jess asked, walking up and throwing his arm over Tristan's shoulder.
Tristan scowled, looking Jess in the eyes. "Don't know. Don't really care much either you know. She was just a good lay, that's all."
Jess nodded, even though he didn't believe a word of it, "Right buddy. Just a good lay, that's all." he looked over to Summer and Francie talking, but Summer was looking at him the whole time. Their eyes locked, and Jess smirked softly at her, his head leaning back in recognition.
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Two weeks later, Rory and Tristan were still playing a huge game of avoidance. Well, Rory was…and Tristan was just keeping his reputation as school pimp. Which meant that he couldn't go backwards in conquests. It was eating him up inside to see him everyday and not be able to hold her and tell her that he loved her.
But, he chose. He chose his reputation over her and he chose wrong. He knows he chose wrong. But he couldn't do anything about it now…at least…not yet. She wouldn't even talk to him.
She spent her time studying and cheering. That's right…Rory Gilmore the Cheerleader. No one ever thought that the day would come. She became friends with Lem and she attempted friendship with the rest of the 'Girls'.
At home she spent her nights with her mom, studying, and falling asleep with tears staining her pillow. She loved him. She still loved him and every day she sat near him and she passed him in the halls and he didn't even glance in her direction. There was a new girl shoved against her locker everyday, his lips attached to hers. And she was alone.
It grew to the point that Rory gave up on him. Tristan DuGrey was just a shadowed heartache hiding in the corner of her heart. He wasn't anything more than the e-mails he sent to reach her that ended up in the trash before any attempt at reading them…he wasn't anything more than a ringing phone that wouldn't be answered. He wasn't anything but a memory that only rose at night when her thoughts flipped from fake to real, and the good thoughts fluttering away with the sun, leaving only the hurt as she cried in the darkness.
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Tristan spent weeks watching Rory walk through her days alone, a false smile on her face. He watched as she came in on Friday days in her skimpy little cheerleading outfit that wasn't her, but she didn't really have a choice when it came to Chilton Cheerleader Uniforms.
He missed her, his heart ached every time she spoke, every time her hair swished, every time he even glanced at her. He missed her when she wasn't there, he missed her when she was. He was an idiot. He made the wrong decision.
But he's Tristan DuGrey. He didn't make mistakes that he couldn't fix. And he decided that he wasn't going to waste anymore time.
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It was the night of the homecoming game, everyone was going to be there. Tristan and The Gang went under Tristan's orders, and Tristan went because he knew he would be able to see Rory there. And then he would figure out where to go from there.
The band was playing the fight song as the cheerleaders bounced around the bonfire outside of the stadium. Tristan stood with Jess, Chad, Drake, and Brandon in the back of the large crowd by the cars. Summer, Francie, and the rest of the girls were supposed to show up later.
He watched as she waved her pompoms in the air, flipping backwards and forwards in the air, landing in the other girl's arms. She was amazingly acrobatic…who would have guessed…and she looked absolutely hott flying through the air, her small pleated skirt swishing around as she soared.
Rory on the other hand, was having an awful time. She screwed up the routine twice, she was cold, and she didn't have near enough coffee. Currently, she was sitting on the cold metal bench beside the football players waiting for the Coach to finish his speech.
A shiver crawled quickly up her spine, and she turned to see a tall brunette from the team watching her. He had floppy hair and dark eyes. He smiled when their eyes locked, mouthing 'hi' to her.
She smiled back, 'Hey' she mouthed back. The boy smiled, scratching his neck.
Rory could see his mouth form the words, 'How are you' and she smiled. He seemed nice enough. And he didn't hang out with Tristan obviously…which was always a good sign.
'Fine' she said back. He smiled, then focused on the Coach with a small smile on his face. Rory copied his actions, content with the turn of events the night took.
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Tristan frowned as he watched the small exchange between HIS Rory and the tall kid. This wasn't supposed to happen. Rory was his, everyone should know that. He became furious with the boy for even looking at Rory, let alone flirting with her.
But then he remembered that he let her go. Tristan had a feeling that that decision would be one he would regret for the rest of his life.
Leaning against the car, Brandon, Drake, and Chad were all jumping around like the cheerleaders, acting like idiots as he watched. Jess was leaning beside him, cigarette in his lips. The speech was over, and the girls were supposed to be heading over any second.
"So…you seem a little angry there T-Man." Francie said as she waltzed up to him. Tristan rolled his eyes, pushing her off as she latched herself to him.
"So where are we going tonight?" Lem asked as she looked around. Drake shrugged, then offered her a cigarette, which she immediately took.
"I was thinking about going to Stubbs's." Chad said as Madeline came up beside him, wrapping herself around his waist.
Jess rolled his eyes, "We go to Stubbs's every night."
Smiling, Lem nodded, "Then why buck tradition!" she laughed as she continued to look around.
"Who you looking for Lem?" Summer asked as she stood beside Jess.
Lem smiled at them, laughing slightly, "Oh…uh, Rory was supposed to meet us after her little show thing."
Tristan's smirk turned into a quick smile, then back to it's regular place. Now was the time for him to get Rory back in his arms…permanently. He leaned against the car, waiting for his lovely brunette to arrive to the scene.
When his lovely brunette did arrive, there was another brunette following. Unfortunately, the tall football player with the floppy poop-brown hair was laughing and talking with the love of his life. Scowling, Tristan took a few steps forward, wrapping an arm around Rory's waist.
"Hey sweetheart. Great job out there." He kissed the top of her head gently, like he'd been longing to do since he hurt her three weeks ago. "who's this?"
Rory pulled away from Tristan, looking at him incredulously. "This is Dean…Dean, this is Tristan." she growled.
Dean's eyebrows came together in confusion. "Is he your boyfriend?" he asked quietly. Tristan smirked at the boy's idiocy.
As Rory opened her mouth to tell him that he assumed wrong, Tristan cut her off. "Yes. I am. We met this summer and fell completely in love. I don't know what I would do with out her." he said, more to Rory than to the boy, looking into her big blue eyes. Which happened to be flaming with anger.
Gulping, Dean frowned and started backing up. "Oh…well, it was nice to meet you Rory. I have to be going now…" And with that he turned and left the parking lot.
Tristan smirked as the boy fled, then looked down at Rory who was furious beyond words. He chuckled nervously, "Uh…Rory sweetie. We should talk…"
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So there it is! I'm not sure what I think of this chapter…but Dean will be back I promise!
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