"Bye Mary!" he called, laughing despite the dull ache still present in his foot. His friends all laughed. He turned back to them and the topic of conversation moved back to before he'd been mauled by the new girl.

"You guys," Logan said in a worried voice, "I really think she has it in for me. This is the second time she's flunked me on a test--"

"A teacher doesn't flunk you on a test, idiot. You either get answers right or wrong." Colin cut in. Tristan smirked.

"There are ways around that." he suggested.

"I would, I would, but this lady's like 97. I don't think she would survive another Alenson heiste." Logan fretted. There was a short pause as the gang thought back on a fond memory.

"I guess I'll have to start, like, doing work." Logan concluded gloomily.

"Yeah. And I'll dovelop terminal monogomy." Tristan japed, and the group laughed a little. When th enoise died down a little, one voice alone continued laughing. Marty patted Tristan on the back in comradery. Tristan stepped back a little, unconsiously brushing off dust from the shoulder Marty had touched. Marty's smile faded.

"So what are we doing tonight, guys? Last night I guess everyone had to do their homework, you know, last minute tests..." Tristan and his friends exchanged guilty looks. They had gone out, of course, but somehow had neglected to tell Marty. Somehow.

"I have to go study something...I mean...class..." Logan said, with all the subtlety of a punch in the mouth. He smiled sheepishly, mouthing an apology to the friend he was trapping with this creepy student.

"I just don't want to be here." Colin said bluntly. He pounded Tristan's fist and promptly ignored Marty's outreached hand, choosing instead to simply walk away. The rest of the group dissapated just as quickly, leaving Tristan to deal with the nonstop chatter of a boy with no friends.

-

Rory was having a very bad day. First that horrendous exchange with that guy, and now this.

"Paris, I'm just reading. There is no possible way I could be interfering with your studying."

"You're breathing louder than a dying athsmatic." Paris deadpanned.

"Paris! I am not!"

"Was you father a vacuum cleaner, by any chance?"

"Don't talk about my father." her voice grew suddenly quiet. There was a long pause as Paris reevaluated her roommate.

"Wait...do you hear that?" She cocked her head to the side.

"No..." Rory answered after a moment.

"MAYBE THAT'S BECUASE YOUR FREAK RESPIRATORY PATTERNS ARE BLARING OVER IT!" she half shouted. Rory rolled her eyes and looked away, and was hit in the head with a soft fluffy object.

"You threw a pillow at me!" she asked incredulously. Paris shrugged. "Real mature, Paris. Real mature."

"Sorry, I would think up a witty comeback to that withering statement, but I can't hear myself think." her voice dripped with sarcasm. Rory gave up.

"Fine. I'm going for a walk." she grabbed her jacket and stormed out of the room, snatching up her key.

She walked around the school halls for a short time, still not used to her surroundings. She was un such a new...life. Not just a new surrounding, bot just new friends, but new life. Everything was so different, Rory found she wasn't even acting the same way she used to. She felt colder, less friendly. She didn't like it.

Repression was something she had of course learned about in her psychology class, but she had never thought it would change her entire personality. She knew she was refusing to think about her mother, but she was okay with that, at least at the moment. She wasn't ready yet, not acclimated to where she was. Not safe enough to open up.

Once she became bored with the stone and marble walls of Chilton, she moved outside. The sun had just reached the horizon, rendering the whole world golden. This was her favorite time of day, it was so beautiful. She walked silently through the streets, glancing at restaurants and buildings she had never given a second glance.

One building was so charming she even went inside. It was a small diner, nestled between two larger buildings. Quant, with a smight fifties vibe. She sat down at the bar, gingerly smoothing her skirt underneath her and settling on the vynil seat. A man came out from the back, rubbing his hands on a small dish towel. He wore...plaid. Trucker hat, blue jeans, surly expression, and...plaid.

"What do you want?" he asked brusquely.

"Um...?"

"To eat. What do you want to eat?" Rory snapped to attention.

"Coffee, please,"

"Now? It's almost dark out."

"Yeah, mid evening fix," she smiled, taking the offered cup.

"Young people today." he grunted disgustedly. "You all drink that aweful stuff, and you kids here are even worse."

"Oh, I'm new here." she defended herself, ignoring the coffee comment. The man grunted. Rory wasn't sure if this meant he cared or not, but she continued anyway. She longed for conversation right now."

"From San Fransisco." His ears pricked up slightly.

"Yeah? I have a nephew there. Good kid, sort of." he leaned against a counter behind him. Rory sipped her drink.

"Mmm, this is fantastic." she said in amazement. Sorry, please continue." The man didn't smile, exactly, but the corners of his mouth definitely curled a little.

"Jess. He's uh...he marches to his own beat."

"Jess who? I know a Jess."

"Mariano." Rory almost spit out her coffee. Almost.

"Jess is like, my best friend in the world!" The man extended his hand.

"Luke." he said.

"Rory." she responded. He knew Jess! Just hearing his name was like breathing fresh air for the first time in weeks. She couldn't suppress the smile which had conquered her face.

"Hi. Well...uh...he visits sometimes, during vacations and things like that. I'll write to him and let him know you're here."

"Thank you! There's no cell phone service here. Really, no service at all, and the computers restrict emails that leave this place." This fact had been a matter of much consternation to Rory, but now seemed to be of very little importance. She glanced down at her watch.

"I...should go, but it was great to meet you, Luke," she smiled. He nodded his head. When nothing else came, she took that as goodbye, and made her way out of the diner. On the way back, she was careful to remember the location of the diner. The coffee had just topped her list, and she had a new place to stop each morning. She went back to her room with a grin on her lips.

-

"Honestly, I don't know why you put up with it." Colin said in an exasperated voice. He and Logan were waiting in the dorm room Tristan shared with Logan. Tristan shrugged.

"He's just so...pathetic." he rationalized to his friends. He couldn't tell them that he lacked the heart to actually tell Marty off. He had approached the popular guys on his first day at Chilton, 2 years ago. Being the head of the group, it was left to Tristan to decide whether or not this newcomer was worthy of their attention.

Tristan was never able to do it, to insult this particular social tragedy. Sure, he was annoying, but there was something so earnest about Marty, that Tristan found himself pitying the guy.

"I don't really know why you don't get rid of him either," Logan admitted. Colin snorted.

"You mean why he's being such a woman?" Yeah, Colin was a little bit of a jerk. "You should send him out on his ass, Tristan. What's the matter with you? Live up to your rep, man," Tristan sighed and shook his head.

"Okay, new topic." Logan said, sensing the need. He was Tristan's best friend, and understood that sometimes there was more to him than his reputation. "About this new Mary." he grinned.

"Ahh, yes, you have given her a name. Everyone know what that means." Tristan smirked and nodded.

"This will be easy," he said. It was easier to be cocky about something that wasn't personal. Marty? Personal. Mary? Not so much. He thought back to the morning, smiling a little. This would not only be easy, but this would be fun. There hadn't been anyone new at Chilton for quite a while.

-

Upon Rory's entrance to the dorm room, she was greeted by a sight which astonished her to no end.

Paris. Crying.

"Go away, Gilmore," she said into her pillow. She was curled up in her bed, clutching a small bear in her hands.

"Paris, what's wrong?" Rory asked, ignoring Paris's order. She sat down on her own bed, facing the weeping girl.

"I'm sure you just love this, don't you? Paris Gellar, crying and holding a stuffed animal, blubbering like a baby. I'm sure you're just loving this."

"Don't be rediculous." Rory admonished. "What's wrong?"

"His name was Ch-Charlie," Paris hiccuped. "He...was visiting his cousin for a couple weeks, and we talked." she blushed. "More than talked. the other night I stayed in his room."

"Oh..." Rory said under her breath. That would explain the girl's absense that night. Rory had assumed she'd fallen asleep in the library.

"By the end of his stay said he loved me, that he was goingto speak with his parents about attending Chilton himself." she laughed a little, a sad, sarcastic little laugh. "Last night, after you left, I couldn't focus. It was the night he'd left.I went out, after you'd gone, and went to the plane dock. He...was there..." she sniffled a little. "With his girlfriend." Rory's mouth fell open.

"Are yousure that's what she was? She could have been his sister or something,"

"How often does a brother try to clean his sister's tonsils with his tongue?" Paris asked tartly. "And no greek god jokes." Rory supressed a smiled. Only Paris could say something like that at a time like this.

"He doesn't know I was there. I didn't want to talk to him." There was a long silence.

"Paris." Rory said after a moment, "I have known you what, a week or two? I would like to think of us as friends." She tried to overlook the glare Paris shot her, the 'are you kidding?' conveyed in her watery eyes.

"In all the time I have known you, this isn't what I would expect. Paris Geller, beaten by some asshole with no boundries?"

"Well, not exactly beaten..."

"Defeated?" Paris stared at her.

"You're better than this. I'll bet his girlfriend is absolutely dumb as a doorknob."

"She did look ditzy," Paris agreed, wiping her eyes.

"Exactly. You're lucky you're not stuck with him, if he would choose someone like that. He doesn't deserve you."

Paris nodded.

"You're going to do great things someday. And he--"

"--Will live with his girlfriend, in his trailer park, chugging beers and wishing he went to college." Paris finished, with a fierce fire in her eyes. Not exactly the words Rory would ahve chosen, but they seemed to do the trick.

"Good night, Paris." she said, and slipped into the bathroom to change into her pjs. She slid into bed and turned off the light.

"Thanks, Gilmore," Paris said, and Rory smiled. Maybe living with Paris wasn't so bad. She closed her eyes.

"Oh, and Rory?" Paris added, "tell anyone about he bear and you'll wish you'd never even heard of Chilton."

Rory smiled.

Sleep came almost instantly.

Merry Christmas, here's a chapter!

Tristan's POV for a while, blah blah, blah.

Luke's here, but he won't be that prominent a character, just a way for Jess to reenter the story. Unless I change my mind. Kay. So this is a filler chapter really, but certain things needed to be emplained, Tristan needed a soul, Paris and Rory needed to connect somehow. I think I got a lot done.

In this story Marty is totally different, by the way. When I first saw him on the show he seemed nice enough, and it's my personal hypothesis that Rory will end up with the 'nice guy' eventually, but he also struck me as a little bit pathetic. I decided to emphasize this for the sake of the story, and, yeah.

Don't worry, Logan wont go anywher enear Rory. I hate Rogans, and there is nooo way I'm planning on writing one.

Please review!

I need Christmas lovin' too!