Title: Nine Months. Good copy
Author: Professional Scatterbrain
Rating: R
Couple: R/T
Summary: Tristan returns to Chilton, and to the game, but Rory's not playing.
Note: Tristan left later on in Rory's first year at Chilton, so therefore the whole nine-month thing works (a little hint, it's a metaphor for the fic). After Tristan left Rory formed a fledgling friendship with Paris, Louise and Madeline, and by the time senior years rolls up there good friends, well, most of the time at least. Everything that happened with Dean and Jess happened except it happened all before senior year. At the end of the year before Rory told Jess she loved him, and he left suddenly straight afterwards.
I made Chilton darker, because I found the whole picture perfect school depicted on the show nice, yet unrealistic. I tried to model it around my High School, showing the competitiveness, the cruelty, and self delusion within my environment. I go to a girls school though, so the guy thing still might take me a while to work out. Suggestions would be nice as this is my first GG fic.
***
Chp 6
***
In the stuffy halls of Chilton, Tristan stalked down the hall. People moved to accommodate his path, never the other way around. Chilton was his territory; not even a stint in Military School could do anything to change that. Spotting the figure he was looking for, Tristan lengthened his strides, years of swimming training and cross-country running were visible as moved with raw grace along the rows of lockers.
Seeing Paris annoyed look even from a distance, Tristan wonder what or who caused her this annoyance today. Knowing Paris it was probably something to do with the people she bossed around on the school paper. Usually he'd wait until she was in a somewhat better mood, but as he watched her stalk over to her locker, pushing people to the side with her usual lack of pleasantries he had a feeling she wouldn't be in a 'good' mood anytime soon. Besides, after another no show in Legal Studies that morning, Tristan was more than a little curious about where the darling Rory Gilmore was.
Leaning against the locker next to hers, he asked bluntly, "Where's Mary?"
Paris flipped her long hair over her shoulders in irritation, "Away."
"Away as in?" he prompted.
"Suspended. And don't you even start." She spat, turning on her heel, "Rory didn't do anything wrong and even an idiot like you should know that."
All day Paris had been fielding questions about the third Lorelei, and Paris was never happy when her time was wasted. It wasn't that she had anything against Rory; Paris had known her actions were a long time coming, but it wasn't anybody's business about the repercussions of Rory's choices.
Paris hated gossip, she hated being victim of it, and she detested it when her friends were effected by the vapid useless people that graced the Hartford society pages. Louise, and to some extent Madeline could handle this sort of attention, but Rory had grown up where the only attention she got was for a good grade, not a rebel without a cause standing up to the authorities type of action. Without the girl in question around to focus the attention of the masses Paris was left trying to deal with her life and the annoying interest from fellow Chiltonites.
"Don't be mean Paris darling," he joked trying to get a smile out of the girl.
"That doesn't work on me," she retorted evenly, not enjoying having him following her round like a puppy on a leash.
She hated being used.
She hated it when people only spoke to her when they wanted something. Tristan could be like that, but she forgave him because he didn't do it consciously like others. Tristan didn't know how to have friends, he only knew how to use people. Paris gave her thanks to that to his 'loving' parents for that gem of a talent.
"It used to," he tried smiling that dazzling smile that made other lesser girls weak in the knees
"But luckily, I reaslised how much of a dick head you are, so now I can proudly say I'm unaffected by your sexual innuendoes and half assed flirting." She retorted dryly, her eyes sparkling as she spoke to him, bemused by his tactics.
"Par, you must have a bullet in your pocket. Being around you is like adrenaline rush all the bloody time," Tristan joked, pulling her hair just to annoy her further.
Paris signed, and muttered, "Idiot," before giving him the finger and stalking off into her next class.
***
Days pasted, and as the two young Gilmore women drove up to the Inn for the fourth day that week, Rory was suddenly struck by how small it was, and how claustrophobic it made her feel. Each day before had felt like she was drowning, struggling to breath, but only opening her mouth to find it filling with stale useless air. The scratching uniform she was wearing was too tight against her throat, and as she pulled it looser Rory had the abrupt awakening that if she didn't do something she'd die.
"We're late. Hurry up Rory, you've got to do the morning shift with the other maids. The same shift I did when I was your age. God, you're turning into me," Lorelei muttered, her words cutting into Rory.
Tugging hair into a messy ponytail, Rory told herself to keep her mouth shut. On the tip of her tongue she wanted to yell and scream something, anything, just to try and stave off the feeling of suffocation she felt closing in. Each day it was the same, the same looks, the same whispering behind her back. 'Look, Rory's turning into Lorelei'.
Just like in the assembly all those many days ago, Rory felt something take her over, so fighting spirit that refused to let her disintegrate under the hell of white sheets, dirty towels, and the oh so sugary sweet customers.
"I'm not you okay, so stop saying it." Rory spat as she finally popped the top few buttons of her starched white blouse open.
Whipping around to face her daughter, Lorelei Gilmore's face took on a quality Rory remembered seeing on Emily whenever she got pissed off. She cocked her head on one side, taking on the intimidating position that would have scared anyone other that Rory, and then crossed her hands over her waist defensively.
Lorelei hated being challenged when it wasn't on her terms.
"What did you say mini me?" she questioned, her voice dulcet and relaxed, but there was a visible undercurrent of anger that should have warned a saner Rory to back down. But that Rory wasn't in charge at the moment, and because of that the air around then crackled with electricity.
"You heard me the first time. I'm not you. Stop trying to make me into you."
"It doesn't look like I have to," Lorelei snapped, "You're doing a bang up job of becoming a high school drop out/screw up all by your little self fruit of my loins."
"Why do you always have to do that?" Rory spat, "Why am I always your mini me, or some other name implying my identicalness to you? To everyone that matters I'm like Lorelei mark two, god, you even had to name me after you!"
"You don't honestly think that?" Lorelei cried out dramatically, "I gave up so much for you, I gave up my future, I gave up my family-"
"Yes, you gave up so much. You gave up a set of parents you hated, and a future you didn't want. All I was an excuse to run away, an excuse to give up a relationship that scared you half to death." Rory yelled, half of what she said being lies, the other half being truths that she had refused to speak before this day.
"You don't know anything!" Lorelei yelled, her eyes blazing.
"Apparently I do, with me being Lorelei junior. You ran away from Chris, so terrified that it wouldn't work out and he'd leave you just like everyone else had. You left him first so he wouldn't have the chance to leave you. You do it with every guy, and guess what? So do I, I ran from Dean, oh and then Jess went and mixed up the rules of the game, so after I ran from him and came back, he decided to run from me. Great track record, only thing that's missing as an 18 month old kid-"
"Shut up." Lorelei swore, her face twisted and heated with fury, for the first time she was more than angry with her daughter, her best friend, Lorelei was furious.
"Right, great come back. I've been told that all my life. Shut up and look pretty Rory, get good grades Rory, go to Harvard Rory, go see the world like Lorelei never could Rory, stay away from boys Rory, what else do you want from me? How about go off to New York let Jess fuck me outside his balcony, get pregnant, start working full time at the Inn? Then we can really be identical." Rory snapped sarcastically, "Then people will really be able to call us sisters,"
"I gave you a better life, I gave you everything I could give, and this is how you treat me?" Lorelei retorted, her hands clenched in fists, her nails cutting into the skin of her palms.
"You gave me everything you wanted. You never really gave me anything I wanted." Rory yelled, the truth of her words leaving her hollow as they left her mouth.
"Then what do you want?" Lorelei asked her tone condescending and dangerous; she had never spoken to Rory like this.
"How would I know? I'm just Lorelei mark two, but it looks like I'm not doing much of a better job than the original. Wonder how long until I start fucking up and falling back to what the first Lorelei did?" Rory smirked cynically, her voice strong, with darkness filling the pauses of each break between words.
Gliding past her mother, Rory realised she had nothing left to say. Everything thing that had been building up in her finally was let go. But in her wake she left a dangerous woman, angry and bitter.
"Don't walk away from me!" Lorelei yelled at her daughter's back, only to have Rory turn and fix those dark cobalt eyes on her.
"Why not?" Rory questioned, her tone so innocent yet sounding dangerous, "You do it to me all the time."
***
The next few days pasted without incident. Rory worked her hands to the bone in the Inn, and came home each night with weary muscles and a killer headache. Lorelei had not once taken it easy on Rory because she was her daughter, probably in result of there fight she was treated worse than the other employees. Lorelei was sulking, and without Rory bending to her will like in the past, Lorelei was left angry and bitter.
As night came on Saturday evening, Rory changed into an old over sized Harvard shirt her father had given her and pulled her bright purple dressing gown tight around her curvy form. She was tired beyond belief; all she wanted to do was crawl under her blankets and sleep. How her mother could have done that sort of work at her age with a baby was miraculous. All Rory wanted to do each day was close her eyes and wake up when everything didn't feel like it was crushing down on her. Hearing the clicking of heeled shoes, Rory cracked an eye open and smiled as her best friend entered her room.
"Hey Rock Star in training," Rory greeted as Lane ambled into her room dressed perfectly in black pants and delicate green top making her look so different from the girl that had befriended Rory in kindergarten all those years ago.
"Hey, I heard about the suspension. I would have called but-"
"But your mother found out and wouldn't let you talk to the bad seed." Rory said knowingly.
Nodding flippantly, Lane grabbed a handful of chips, then threw the packet to Rory, and replied in a muffled voice, "Something along those lines. She also said you needed to find religion my trouble making side kick."
Closing the door to her room, Lane flipped out the latest CD. Smiling to herself to slip it into the CD player, her face relaxing into a blissful smile as the first beats of the music pasted through the speakers. Fast, loud, brashly poetic music filled the rooms, lifting Rory's mood.
"So, you allowed to go out tonight?" Lane questioned hopefully.
"Sometimes I get the feeling your using me so you can spend time with Henry." Rory joked, but the mirth of her words didn't reach her eyes that were left cold and shattered from the darkness closing in on her.
"Why else would I have you as my best friend?" Lane replied without missing a beat. "So? You 'Party girl Barbie' or stay at home 'Locked in your room Barbie'?"
"Neither hopefully. And Lane, Barbie?"
"Rory, I can't go without you!" Lane pleaded, her eyes taking on the puppy dog look she had learnt early on from Lorelei. "Please, please came with me tonight, and don't dare tell me Lorelei has done something as prosaic as putting you on house arrest."
Yawning, Rory paused, stretching her aching muscles, "Yeah, I can go, but only for an hour, so no time for the bank job, only the slutty dancing and so forth."
"So it's not really worth it?" Lane sighed, flopping down on Rory's unmade bed.
"Lorelei's version of grounding me."
"Original. Sort of like the Cinderella deal, but without the Prince Charming."
Rory wrinkled her nose, "I hated those fairy tales. All about repressed women getting saved by some pretty guy. They should save themselves."
"Yes, but that would have taken the romance out of the story of little old Cindy saved Prince Charming from his horrible father." Lane said ever so seriously.
"You think about these things way too much." Rory laughed, amused by her best friends somewhat eccentric nature.
"Hey, you try going to Stars Hollow High with only Lindsey and her friends to listen to." Lane huffed, with a slight edge to her voice.
Not everything had been smoothed over since Rory left for Chilton, leaving Lane behind. Obviously, there were issues that had still to be resolved, but neither girl made any move towards bringing them up. It was easier this was. It was safer. But is could still hurt.
"I call you tomorrow. Give you the run down." Lane said picking herself up.
Rory watched her movements. They were gracefully and effortless. Lane was growing up, changing. Her hair was longer now, and was almost always out, swinging around her face. As Lane stood by the mirror at the far side of the room, she examined her make up once more. Applying more make up than her strict mother would ever let her, Lane's dark eyes became smoky, and her cheekbones stood out, making her face catlike, and rebellious. It wasn't the first time Rory had the epiphany, that someday Lane would really rebel, and break free of the cage she was forced to live within. She'd be free of her parents, her family, everything sooner or later.
But was that what Rory wanted as well?
She couldn't decided, and it scared her.
***
Tristan watched from the middle of a large group of friends, for what he didn't know, he just watched the people. He watched Giles flirting with Marcy Joy, the pretty Asian gymnast whose trademark flexibility made her one of the more memorable girls. On the other side of the room Tristan spotted Louise, going off into some random room, with some random guy, while unconsciously looking at Giles. Alcohol was being consumed by the crate load, teenagers dancing and acting recklessly, with no care for anything or anyone. There was an air of violence, either potential or performed in the atmosphere.
"What's with you?" Summer asked approaching the tall blonde teenager, her eyes narrowing, and her face wrinkling in distaste.
Tristan felt a wave of anger wash over him. Summer. Here. Flaunting the power she had. All he wanted was to get back at her. To show her where she really belonged. She was nothing more than a trophy wife in training, another Annabelle except she exemplified everything Tristan was meant to want while Summer only imitated it.
Revenge.
He knew there was nothing short of sadistic and hedonistic to these wishes of pay back, but he didn't feel remorse. Why should he? Summer had played him, even he had to admit that. But the tables would turn, and he would show her. All Tristan had to do was wait. Summer wasn't stupid, she wasn't a ditz, or a fool, but in a way that would make revenge all the sweeter.
"Made anyone cry today Summer?" he asked, making sure not to catch her eyes, he didn't want her to think he cared.
Her catlike eyes scorned at him, but that only made Tristan grin to himself. Giving Tristan the finger, Summer stalked off, her hips swinging, her body flowing like quick silver.
Smirking to himself he watched her hips sway as she glided away. Summer was a bitch, but he was used to bitches in his lifestyle. Finding a group of his friends, Tristan eased into the mindless conversation his mind swimming from the liquor he had consumed earlier. He wasn't a big drinker, he had long ago learn the importance of always making sure he had his head in the game wherever he was, it was easier that was to avoid any incidents. Or to create them if his track record was anything to go by.
James grinned knowingly as he spotted Tristan's wondering gaze, "You still looking for your Mary?"
Giles turned slightly, taking his eyes off Louise to watch his friend. "Go ask the girl with Henry. I think her names Jane or Lane. She and Rory are friends."
Tristan merely nodded, knowing there was an ulterior motive to any advice his friends would hand out. He knew right then not to approach the graceful Korean girl or ask any questions about Rory. She was a challenge not an obsession, Tristan had to keep that in sight or else he'd end up like his parents. Rory wasn't cold, but she wasn't someone he could picture in his life. He wanted her, that was certain, but he didn't believe it would work. It just seemed like he always forgot that when he saw her.
"Apart from her untouchable status, and siren beauty," Brad stated, leading onto a bluntly spoken question, with a hint of curiosity, "What is it about that Gilmore chick that makes you want her?"
"I think they were the things that got me about her." Tristan clarified, his tone was bored, and showed no hint of affection to Rory.
That was the way it had to be, the way that it had always been.
"About who?" Madeline asked bouncing up to the group with Austin's arm around her waist.
Her raven hair glinted in the light, and her wide eyes looked a little hazy. She wasn't drunk, she was too smart for that, but it was enough to relax herself, to "socialise," as her mother had stated when her daughter had asked to stay home that night.
"No one." Giles muttered his eyes fixing on Louise once more.
Madeline seemed to pause and redirect her attention for a moment, "Rory isn't coming tonight. Lane told me she'd really, really worn out from working at the Independence Inn all this week."
Twisting the crystal necklace around her neck with one hand, Madeline looked every bit the free spirit carefree girl she was. But she was optimistic, not stupid. She wasn't innocent, she wasn't a slut, but she knew how people like Tristan worked, and she knew that Rory, although appearing like she knew everything, in fact knew little about the society her parents ran from as teenagers.
"We weren't talking about Rory." Brad commented idly, his eyes already seeking out a new topic of interest, in this case the subject of his attention was in a leather mini shirt and a shear top.
Feeling Austin's grip on her waist tighten. Madeline smiled at him lustfully, knowing he was making sure he knew how much she knew he wanted her. It was the same pattern every time, just with different people acting out each role. Madeline let his hand stray under her top, just touching the skin of her midriff, that was the next part in the game, soon it would be over and ready to start again, she knew that but did nothing to change the outcome.
"Of course you were." Madeline stated happily, with a smile on her face, "Tristan always gets this look in his eyes when Rory the topic of interest."
He hated her for saying that, for bring attention to his weakness.
***
Next Chp: Hangman's Robes.
***
Daniel stiffened, it was obvious to Tristan how much Daniel disliked conversing with his brother from this one action, "It's neither. There was a fire on the old DuGrey property. Arson. The original house was burnt to the ground."
"I hated that wreck." Tristan muttered smirking.
"You shouldn't say that around father." Daniel warned crossing his arms over his chest defensively.
***
Another thank you to Belle for helping me with this fic and with everything else.
***
