AN: Thank you all for the reviews! Ryan and Marissa are not dating! I have an idea for the direction I want to take this story in, and it will start to shape up in the next few chapters.Let me know what you think!
Chapter 3
Monday morning Rory woke up refreshed and ready to face the world. Today was her first day at Harbor. She was excited. She could already tell it would be a better start than she had at Chilton. She already had friends.
Summer was so much fun. She introduced her to Seth, Marissa and Ryan. Seth was a bit of geek, but was really funny and had been nice to her.
Marissa seemed nice enough. She seemed a little more distant than Summer, but she was still nice to her.
Ryan though… he was great. They had spent hours at the beach yesterday talking. She told him about Stars Hollow, and he told her about his life in Chino.
She spent most of the day at the beach with them, but left to come home in time for dinner. They invited her over to Ryan and Seth's for dinner, but she wanted to spend some time with her dad.
Chris and Rory had grown close in the short time she had been in California. She was looking forward to developing a relationship with her dad that she saw other kids have. Finally, things were starting to fall in place for her.
She got out of bed and selected a cute jean miniskirt and a blue tank top. The blue brought out her eyes. She let her hair hang down strait and grabbed some sandals, before going downstairs.
"Good morning dad!" She said, seeing Chris rushing around the room, grabbing files. He was dressed in a suit and tie, and was placing things in his briefcase.
"Morning, Ror." He said, stopping to give her a quick kiss on her forehead.
"Do I smell coffee?" She asked, walking into the kitchen.
"Yeah, and the cook made breakfast, too." Chris' voice followed her into the kitchen.
"You must be Rory." A man said, putting some vegetables away.
"Yeah, that's me." Rory replied, pouring a cup of coffee.
"I'm Jeff, the cook. If you're ever hungry, just let me know. Now what would you like for breakfast?" He asked her, turning around.
"Pop tarts are fine." She said, gulping down the heavenly black liquid, allowing it to slide down her throat, rejuvenating her.
Jeff watched on in amusement. "I don't think we have any of those. I can add them to the grocery list, if you like."
She nodded. "Please."
Jeff glanced at the clock, then back at her. "You're starting Harbor today, correct?" She nodded. "Then you have time for breakfast before you need to leave. What would you like?"
She shrugged. "Anything's fine."
"How do pancakes sound?"
"Delicious!" She smiled. She wasn't used to having food actually in the house. Usually, her and her mom would just make pop tarts or head to Luke's. This wasn't so bad at all.
-GG-
Rory pulled up to the school, noting with relief that there appeared to be no Gargoyle's. She got out of the car and grabbed her messenger back Summer insisted she buy. "Not so off with their heads." She muttered, smiling.
"What?" A voice behind her asked, startling her.
She jumped slightly, turning around. "Oh, Ryan, hey." She blushed, happy to see him.
"You said something about 'off with their heads'?" He asked her, his voice filled with amusement.
She nodded, still blushing, "Just noticing how different this is from Chilton."
"Your old school, right?" He asked, walking to the building with her.
"Yeah, it was very… cold… unwelcoming… rather reminiscent of hell's headquarters." Rory replied, causing him to laugh.
"So, you need to go to the office and get your schedule, right?" He asked her once they were inside.
She nodded. "Yeah, can you point me in the right direction?" She asked him, looking around the large school.
"Come on, I'll do better than that, I'll show you."
"Oh, I don't want you to be late." Rory said, looking at him. "If you can just give me directions-"
"Nonsense. Now come on." Ryan said, leading her to the office.
Half an hour later she walked out of the office with her schedule in her hand. She bumped into someone, muttering, "Sorry."
"It's ok! Are you Rory Gilmore?"
Rory looked up, seeing a blonde girl stand in front of her. "That's me. But it's Gilmore-Hayden."
When she decided to move she decided to add her dad's name to hers. It only felt right. After all, it was the start of a new life.
"Hi! I'm Taylor, and I'm going to show you are school today! Are you ready?"
Rory nodded at the peppy blonde girl. "K, let's go!"
"Let me see your schedule." Taylor said, and Rory handed it to her. "Ok, you have the first two classes with me. After that, you have class with a few friends of mine. They'll take care of you." She handed her schedule back. "Do you know anyone here yet?"
"Um, yeah, actually. I met a couple people this weekend." Rory replied, following the girl to their first class.
"Who?"
"Two girls, and two guys. Summer, Marissa-"
"Seth and Ryan?" Taylor finished, looking at her.
"Uh, yeah. You know them?" She asked, still following Taylor.
The blonde girl nodded. "Yeah, you actually have class with one of them in every one of your classes, so you should be ok. Since you know them and all. Here we are, US History."
Rory followed Taylor into the class, noticing Ryan was there, and smiling at him. She was relieved. She already had four friends, and apparently one of them was in each of her classes. Everything was falling into place for her here. It was all starting to work out.
-GG-
Rory returned home that afternoon to find a message from her dad, saying he had to work late.
She walked up to her room and kicked her shoes off, lying on her bed.
The school day had been really great actually. She had Ryan in her first class, Seth in her second class, and Marissa in her third. She ate lunch with all of them, and then had class with Summer and Marissa, and then her last two classes with both Seth and Ryan.
She picked up her phone, quickly doing math for the time change. Her mom was hours ahead of her, so she should be home by now.
The phone rang several times, but there was no answer. Rather than leaving a message she hung up, and then decided to call Summer and see if she wanted to come over.