Special note for this chapter: I changed the point of view, so the story is not told through the eyes of Rory anymore. Just thought you'd like to know…

New Neighbours
Chapter Eleven: The Queen

Tristin was lying on his bed, he was supposed to be finishing his homework but he'd abandoned that a while ago. He was on his back staring up at his ceiling, one hand under his head acting as another pillow. His other hand was resting against his stomach, continuously drumming his pen against himself. This was something that he'd picked up from his father; it was an action both of them did when they were thinking very hard about something. Not that Tristin liked to admit that he and his father shared traits. He wanted nothing more in life then to be nothing like his father.

Nevertheless, he new that that would never happen. No matter what he did, or how many promises he made himself, he knew that when he was older he'd take over his father's job and he'd run the business. His father would convince him to. His father could make him do almost anything. It was one of his specialties. Making people do things that they otherwise would never do. And sometimes it proved to be a good thing but most of the time…it wasn't.

That was the reason Tristin didn't want to have his father's life. Arthur Dugrey was a liar and a blackmailer and he would do anything to make a deal, without thinking twice about its consequences. He drove families bankrupt just to get money and respect. He didn't really have a lot of respect though. Every man who'd done business with him regretted it. That was why they'd moved. His father had said they needed a fresh start. But really they moved because his father didn't have anyone left to suck money out of. And now he had millions of unsuspecting business men scheduled into his day planner, all will craft deals with Arthur Dugrey and every one of them will lose hundreds of dollars in the blink of an eye.

Tristin used to think that what his father did was illegal, running families into bankruptcy and making people lose their jobs and all their respect. But it wasn't. His father was that good of a businessman that he could do all that and more and makes it seem like the other guy brought it all on himself. It wasn't as if people haven't sued him before…it's just that they haven't won.

Tristin hated what his father did with a passion. He hated his father just the same. The man himself wasn't any better. And in Tristin's opinion he'd rather deal with the man behind the desk then Arthur Dugrey himself.

Before he'd come here to Hartford, he hadn't really cared which version of his father he was with because he didn't understand what was wrong with both of them. Tristin had been raised to not feel emotion. He wasn't loved as a kid, and he barely saw either of his parents after the age of 13. They'd figured that at that age he could fend for himself so they'd both stopped pretending to care. He grew up in a sterile house, no homey touches or family pictures hung on the walls. There hadn't been love in that house, not love between a child and his parents or even between the adults. Mr. and Mrs. Dugrey had never loved each other. They married because they were both wealthy and they knew by marrying they'd each get richer. Tristin had been conceived because they thought it would look good that they had a kid and Arthur needed someone to follow his example and carry the Dugrey name. His parents only acted concerned about him when in public.

The first time he'd felt emotion had been when he met Blake. It had been companionship and understanding. Both boys had gone through the same thing and they bonded instantly because of it. They'd become best friends and shared everything together. Blake was the only person outside the Dugrey family that knew how Arthur Dugrey did business, and he'd kept the secret.

It had only been when he came to Hartford that he finally recognized that something was wrong with the way his parents treated him. He hadn't established that fact when they'd first arrived in the new city. It seemed to be exactly like where he'd come from except a lot bigger and busier. The families he'd been introduced to had been the same and he'd been glad that Blake and his family had moved with them. He'd been sure that this place would have been hell without a friendly face. But then his father had picked his first 'victim' as Tristin liked to call them.

They drove over to the largest mansion Tristin had ever seen and he was overwhelmed when he walked in the door. He'd expected to see a house exactly like his old one or even his new one but this had been completely different. There was a mountain of clutter in the foyer, shoes and boots strewn everywhere and coats hanging on a giant octopus coat rack. Pictures cluttered the walls of the house, pictures of an older couple, smiling happily and in love. Other pictures included two younger girls who looked exactly alike. The first picture he saw of them entranced Tristin. He'd never in his whole life seen twins and here there was a picture of two identical girls at the age of six or seven, sporting braids and overalls. He was been torn out of his trance by a comment made by his father about the messiness of the house.

It had been then that the maid, who had let them in, finally returned with the couple from the pictures on the wall. They were a real sight to see. Both looked refreshingly modern and comfortable with themselves. The woman was dressed casual in a flirty sundress, but the man did have on a suit like Tristin and his father. Tristin grimaced when he heard the sarcastic comment his father made about the other mans tie. Unlike Arthur's tie which was a sophisticated black and grey argyle, the other mans tie was tie-died purple and blue.

They all walked into the living room to sit and wait for the Baker's to arrive. They sipped at tea and coffee for a while, talking about little things. Tristin really wasn't paying that much attention to the conversation anyway. His eyes were dancing around the room, taking in everything from the monkey lamp sitting next to him on a small side table to the painting above the fireplace. It was a scene from the wild, a tiger and her cubs lying in the tall savannah grass.

This place was so different from anything Tristin had ever seen, or experienced. And when he looked at the owners of the house he felt a pang in his heart. He felt sorry for them because they already trusted his father. He wanted to tell them everything, he wanted to warn them but he knew if he did his father would find out and he would be in so much trouble he wouldn't see the light of day for years.

That's when the Mavor's walked in and everyone greeted them and exchanged pleasantries. Blake sat next to Tristin and they talked quietly, as the adults conversed about business plans. It was almost the end of the night and the adults had decided to move out to the patio when the front door slammed shut and a voice echoed throughout the house.

The person attached to the voice soon appeared in the living room. Tristin instantly recognised her as one of the girls from the pictures adorning the walls. She immediately intrigued him. She was refreshingly beautiful, but it was the way she presented herself that reeled him in. Just like her parents, she didn't seem uptight or snotty like the usual upper class crowd. She radiated life and although she did dress a bit peculiar Tristin once again found himself wishing he could tell these people what they were getting themselves into. He felt this need when he saw the girl, this overbearing need to protect her. Although she didn't seem to need his protection, she looked like someone who could take care of herself and straight away Tristin respected her.

He was disappointed when she left so quickly and whispered to Blake that maybe moving here wouldn't be so bad. Blake laughed and soon enough they had all reconvened to the patio. Tristin could hear the loud pounding of music coming from one of the open windows and he knew that it must be her room. He wanted so badly to excuse himself, find her room, and talk to her. But he knew she would ask about his parents and even though he wanted to tell her about his father, he was ashamed. He didn't want her to know that he was related to someone as evil and cold as Arthur Dugrey. In addition, he didn't want to see the look of disgust that would appear on her face if he told her what his father was going to do to her family. Therefore, he kept quiet, and he promised to himself that no matter what happened he would never let that girl know about his father. He wanted to be her friend and it saddened him to know that after his father was done business with her father, she wouldn't want anything more to do with him…that is if they became friends in the first place.

He hoped they did. He needed someone like her in his life. Needed someone to colour coat his black and white world for him.

Tristin was jolted out of his reverie by a rapping on his bedroom door.

"Come in," he said pretending to be working on his homework just in case it was his father.

One of the maids opened the door and smiled at him slightly. "Your father has requested you presence in his study, Master Tristin," she said graciously.

"Thank you. I'll be down in a minute," Tristin told the maid and threw her a charming smile; another trait he'd inherited from his father.

Tristin slowly put away his school stuff and stood in front of his mirror. He combed his hair a little; his father hated how messy the blonde mop always was. He straightened his clothes and then left his room and went downstairs to his fathers study. He knocked on the wood door.

"Come on in," his father called from his big black leather chair behind his desk.

Tristin entered the room quietly and took a seat in front of his father. They had yet to make any form of eye contact.

Arthur Dugrey leaned forward and rested his elbows on his mahogany desk. "Business plans with Mr. Hayden aren't going as I intended," he started and but missed the grimace that came over Tristin's face. "Mr. Hayden himself is a very savvy business man, and he's just having a little trouble trusting me completely."

Tristin's father rarely ever talked to him about his work and so he looked at him quizzically. "What's this have to do with me?" he asked impatiently. If he hadn't been brought up in society he would have been nervously twitching under his father's steady gaze.

"Well since you ever so graciously offered to help me this time by working your way through the daughter I wanted to talk to you about the annual Daughters of the Daughters of the American Revolution Debutante Ball," Arthur stated smoothly, leaning back in his chair.

Tristin felt anger boiling dangerously inside of him. He hated when his father did something like this. He made it seem that this was all Tristin's idea. He wanted to tell his father off, and put him in his place but he knew better then to mess with Arthur Dugrey. So he sat there silently fuming. "What about the ball?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"I want you to accompany Miss. Hayden there, as her date," he told Tristin who eyes bugged out.

"You can't be serious!" he said.

Arthur Dugrey pushed himself out of his chair and walked over to the two large wood doors. "I believe I am serious. You will accompany her, you will be her date for the evening and you will put in a good word about me, understood?"

Tristin could barely hold in his anger anymore and so he stood up violently almost knocking over his chair. He stalked over to his father and starred him in the eye for a minute before sighing. "Understood," he muttered under his breath but his father caught it all the same and nodded his head. He opened the door of his study and Tristin walked past him.

---

"You're screwed man," Billy Hayden exclaimed, walking over towards the big bay window behind him to retrieve his hacky sack.

"I'm not screwed!" Tristin told him, not even convincing himself.

Blake looked at Tristin and then at Billy and nodded his head several times. "Face it man! You are screwed!" he stated laughing.

Tristin bent down and picked up the hacky sack Billy had just kicked towards him. He threw it at Blake and thanks to years and years of sports, hit him straight in the gut. He laughed as Blake clutched at his stomach, feigning agony and collapsed to the ground.

Billy laughed also but bent down and reached out his hand to pull Blake off the ground. "Alright, alright, alright! We gotta get down to business!" he announced, plopping himself down on his king size bed.

Blake and Tristin sat down in front of him. "How are we gonna pull this off? Tristin's never gonna get Rory to go to the Debutante ball, there's no way!" Blake complained.

Billy contemplated that for a minute before he responded. "Couldn't you just ask her as a friend…I mean it doesn't have to be a date or anything. She'd probably be more open to it that way," he told Tristin.

"That would work up until my father comes over and blows the whole thing," Tristin rationalized.

Blake nodded, silently agreeing, and then he added. "You know you could just tell her you like her and God forbid actually ask her out."

Tristin scowled at him and smacked him over the head. "No, I'm not doing that," he told Blake.

"Why not? You've never had any problems asking girls out before," Blake pointed out.

Tristin sighed, clearly exasperated. "I don't know…it's just different this time."

Billy, who had been quietly observing the two talk for a minute, decided to jump in. "Okay I'm thinking the easiest way to do this is to build her up to it. We have time the balls not for two months so if you can get close to her in the next 60 days or so, when you ask her it won't be as big a deal."

Tristin interrupted him. "I don't know about that…Rory's acting kinda weird around me lately."

Blake nodded his head. "Yah, she came onto him in the hall today. It was hilarious!" he told Billy earning himself another smack from Tristin.

"Okay fine…what if she rejects me?" Tristin asked.

Billy thought for a moment before suddenly getting an idea. "If she says no then I can just casually run the idea by my grandmother and she'll tell either Chris or Lorelai and Rory will have to go," he finished explaining, sounding very pleased with his plan.

Blake then threw at pillow at his face and the smirk was knocked right off. "Way to go you idiot! You just included me into your whole plan."

"What?" Billy asked.

"I'm dating your other sister and if Rory has to go, I'm just guessing that Lilly will have to go to," he huffed not liking the idea at all.

"But you'll go?" Billy asked.

Blake sighed. "Yah I'll go."

Tristin got off the bed and started to pace around the room, running his fingers through his already messy hair. "If only it would be that easy to ask Rory."

"Hey, I'm asking her twin!" Blake exclaimed getting off the bed with Billy.

Tristin turned around to face him. "Yah but you're dating her! I think that might have some kind of effect on the outcome," he said sarcastically.

Blake followed Billy out of his room, but passing by Tristin, he whispered; "If you weren't so much of a coward, you'd be dating Rory already."

---

The four girls sat at the back of their fourth period class the next day. They weren't paying any attention to whatever the teacher was droning on and on about, but they did have their books open and were pretending to be taking notes. Rory felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to face Nikki and Maddy. She poked Lilly and she turned around also.

"Alicia's been staring at you for the past 20 minutes," Maddy told Rory quietly not wanting to attract the teacher's attention. None of them wanted another detention.

Rory clapped her hands together enthusiastically. "Oh joy I have a female stalker!"

The girls all laughed, forgetting to be quiet, and earned themselves a glare from the teacher. They all ducked their heads and pretended to be reading the textbook like everyone else in the class. When they were sure the teacher wasn't paying attention to them anymore they turned around to face each other and continued talking.

"She's jealous, you can see it in her eyes," Nikki added and they all looked over at Alicia who if you looked closely enough kinda resembled a big green monster.

"She probably heard about your little show with Tristin," Lilly told her sister, poking her in the side.

Rory smirked when she thought back to what had happened yesterday in fourth period and at lunch. "Yah she'd been like that all day. Got really mad at me yesterday during third when I sat myself on Tristin's desk," Rory said, waving at Alicia, who in turn glared at her and turned around.

"I'm telling you, you should do something after school today!" Maddy exclaimed.

Rory rolled her eyes. "I want to do it when no one expects it. You know, really throw him off," she said, smiling evilly.

"You're really evil you know that?" Nikki told Rory.

Rory laughed a little, and let a huge smile grace her face. "You say it like it's a bad thing!"

---

She could feel eyes on her. They'd been on her the whole day. Moreover, she was certain it was the same person or persons. Trying to shrug it off she kept walking until she was forcefully pulled into the girl's bathroom. Her eyes widened but she recovered quickly as her eyes landed on Roxanne, Alicia's bestest friend in the whole wide world.

"Well, well, well, nice of you to drop by Rory," Roxanne greeted Rory in her sickeningly sweet voice.

Rory tugged her arm out of the grasp of one of Roxanne's followers and crossed both her arms in front of her. "Well I've been meaning to come and see you in your new office," she told the other girl sarcastically, pushing away from the two girls and walking towards Roxanne, looking around pretending she'd never seen it before. "I don't know Roxy, I'm sure you could've done better."

Roxanne narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "What do you mean?"

Rory looked at her for a minute. "Never mind. So, what'd you wanna talk about?"

Roxanne smiled, not at all true. "I'm here on Alicia's behalf," she began.

"Cause we all know she couldn't have come here ant talk to me herself." Rory turned around to face Roxanne again. "She's such a busy little bee!"

Roxanne let out a dry laugh before continuing. "Alicia has been watching you…"

Rory gasped mockingly, placing her hand on her mouth, her black nail polish clashing with her pale skin. "Wow a stalker and I'm only 16!"

"Alicia doesn't want you hanging around with Tristin," Roxanne said.

Rory looked at her, one eyebrow raised, her hands back at her sides. "Funny I don't remember Alicia being in control of my life!"

"Listen as long as you hang around with Tristin you'll have to deal with Alicia," Roxanne told her in what she thought was a threatening voice, before walking out the door.

Rory smiled at the two girls still standing by the door. "I think you're supposed to follow her."

Their eyes widened and they both hurried out of the bathroom and down the hall. Chuckling to herself Rory turned around to face the mirror and checked her appearance. After letting down her hair and attaching the claw it had been in to the bottom of her skirt, she walked out of the bathroom and down the hall towards her sister's locker. Lilly, Nikki and Maddy were sitting on the floor, chatting.

"Hey," Rory called to them and they all returned her greeting. "I was just about to find the guys, you wanna come?"

The three smiled and nodded, before pushing themselves up form the ground. They walked into the cafeteria, thinking that'd be the best place to start looking for the guys. However, they weren't there and so they left the cafeteria, and started walking down the hall.

"Oh you know what, I think Blake said something about playing football at lunch," Lilly told the group and they turned around making their way to the gym. They left through the gym doors and walked over to the football field, Lilly running ahead.

Lilly ran up to the side of the field, took her scarf out of her hair, and waved it calling in a southern belle accent: "Oh Blake darling, could you come over here for a second?"

The guys stopped playing, turning their attention towards Lilly with amused looks. That morning it had been real cold when the girls were leaving for school and so Lilly had put on her polka dot legwarmers underneath her cut off's. She really was something and the guys found her very strange. Some looked at Blake oddly but Tristin and Matt smiled encouragingly at him. Blake told the guys he'd be right back and started to run over to Lilly.

"Hey Lilly," he greeted her.

Lilly smiled at him, quickly looking over him. He wasn't wearing the normal uniform anymore but the guy's gym clothes. She couldn't help but lick her lips at the sight of his white shirt clinging to his chest. "Hey," she said after a while and when she looked back up into his eyes she notice the slight blush on his cheeks. Oh my God! He's so cute! She thought it was odd that he blushed when being checked out, I mean he was gorgeous he should be use to it!

Blake hated the fact that she could make all his charm and attitude just melt away with one look. Trying to regain some of his normal confidence, he lifted his arm and ran his finger across her cheek softly. "Did you want something?" he asked her gently.

"Well we were going to go out tonight. And I was wondering if you wanted to come along…" Lilly trailed off, looking at him hopefully.

"You and?" he asked.

"Me and Nikki and Maddy and Rory," Lilly clarified for him, still giving the puppy dog look.

"Don't we have that big history project due tomorrow?" he asked her, recalling the teacher reminding them about that like fifty times during class.

Lilly scrunched her eyebrows together, trying to remember anything about a project. "Oh yah that project…I don't really think it's that important," she told him.

Blake looked confusedly down at her. "You mean just blow it off?" he asked her.

Lilly thought about that for a minute before nodding. This was something new to her. All the people she usually hangs out with don't care about school. She always thanked God she wasn't like the people in her class that finish projects the first night they get them. It always annoyed her but now she just thought it was cute that Blake was like that…God what was happening to her?

Blake could hear his conscious screaming at him to tell her he can't go out. He was just about to tell her when he made the mistake of looking into her eyes. They were the lightest blue he'd ever seen, and they were full of hope that he'd come tonight. Oh what the heck, it's just one project. "Yah sure, I'll come," he told her and he felt immense warmth spread throughout him when she smiled. He realized then that he loved making her smile.

Lilly let her pearly white teeth show in a wide smile. "Great! You can bring along some peoples if you like, just not…"

Blake interrupted her, "Just not the peoples you don't like," he finished her sentence with a knowing smile. The turning around he pointed out three of the guys. "How about Matt, Jaimie and Tristin?"

Lilly's smile grew some more. "Perfect," she told him, before leaning up and planting a kiss on his lips. "I'll see you in gym," She whispered into his ear before patting him on the chest and walking off towards the stand where the gang was sitting.

She climbed up a couple of rows and sat down next to Rory, wrapping her arms around herself. She might have worn her leg warmers to school today but she hadn't brought a sweater or even a winter coat. "I hate the fact that it's so cold!" she whined.

Nikki who was sitting opposite her laughed. "Well you should have expected it! I mean it is the end of November."

Rory put her arm around her sister, smiling. "I wasn't ready for the cold either. I mean didn't we just have this major hot front of whatever you call it?" Rory asked the others.

"Yeah we did last week and now it's like freezing!" Maddy whined, remembering how her and Rory had gone swimming in her backyard last week, granted the pool was heated but it was still outside.

"Stupid weather," Lilly grumbled, but then she brightened when she remembered their plans for the night. "Ooh!"

"What?" Nikki asked her.

Lilly lifted her head, which had been resting on Rory's shoulder, and addressed the group, forgetting for a moment how cold she was. "Where are we going tonight?"

Maddy looked at her confused. "We're going out tonight?" she asked.

"Yeppers," Rory said, happily.

"Why don't we just go down to the dock?" Nikki suggested.

One day in the summer the four of them had found themselves bored and hot and tired of going to the same places everyday. Therefore, they'd gone out in search of somewhere new to hang out. And after a while of walking they'd gotten down to the beach, and they walked along it for a while until they came to the dock. And so for the rest of the day they just lounged on the wood planks, slipping into the water time after time. And from then on the dock had become one of their regular hangouts.

"Yeah sure the dock sounds fine but we better bring coats and blankets or something," Rory told everyone.

"Yah it'll be cold by the water," Maddy threw in, shivering when she once again became aware of the goose bumps covering her body.

"Oh and I invited the guys to come to," Lilly told them and she saw Rory's and Maddy's eye light up.

"Which ones?" Nikki asked, out of all of them she hated the jocks the most.

"Blake, Matt, Jaimie and Tristin," Lilly told her, laughing at the dreamy expression on Maddy's face at the prospect of spending the night with Jaimie.

Nikki looked quizzically at Lilly for a minute. "Who's Matt?" she asked.

"He's one of their friends from the football team. Don't worry though he's different from the others, he's nice."

"By the way guys I needed to talk to you about the plan with Tristin and me," Rory told them.

They all seemed intrigued and so Rory continued. "Well I was walking down the hall today, on my way to meet you guys, when Roxanne pulls me into her new office…"

"Storage closet?" Maddy asked.

"Girl's bathroom," Rory clarified and the girls nodded, having each been accosted by Roxanne one time or another. "Anyway I got the just of what she was prattling on about and it translates into the fact that Alicia is very threatened by me. She's starting to get scared that I'll get Tristin and not her…"

"Which you will," Lilly cut in.

Rory laughed at that. "Anyway I was thinking maybe we could altar the plan a little."

"I'm thinking we get rid of it all together," Lilly said.

Rory's blue orbs clouded with confusion. "What? You're the one who came up with it."

"Yah I know but I think it would be better. Listen we all know how Alicia gets her guys, it's with seduction and you know her natural state of being a whore!"

Maddy nodded, understanding what Lilly was saying. "And if you continued with the plan it's be just like Alicia except a lot less whorish and a lot more conservative."

"So you want me to screw the plan and just be like his friend?" Rory asked.

The other girls nodded and Rory smiled. "I can do that," she said happily.

"We're really messing with this kids mind!" Maddy laughed.

"Yah I know, I mean first I hate him, and then I tell him we can be friends…"

Lilly continued for me, amused. "And then you turned around and started coming on to him for like a day and now your back to just being his friend!" They all laughed at how confused Tristin will be and probably already is.

"What can I say I'm the queen of mixed signals!"

---

Sorry for the long wait guys, I tried to make it up to you my making this a long chapter, even though there's no Trory in it. All that will be in the next chapter.

I added some Lilly/Blake into this one, tell me if you guys like it.

NE way I wanted to thank everyone who reviewed my last chapter, you guys rock!

-Ella