Life and Death
By blackbirdfree
Chapter One
Rory was quiet that morning. She had a lot of things on her mind. She ate her scrambled eggs and toast with less gust-o than she usually did at breakfast. This morning, she drank three cups of coffee. That was one extra cup more than she typically drank.
"I see that that's your third cup of coffee, Rory," said Emily Gilmore. Emily Gilmore was Rory's grandmother. Rory, whose fully name was Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, lived with her grandmother at the Gilmore's home in Hartford, Connecticut. Her mother left her when she was just a child, presumably because she was not ready to raise a daughter at her age. Her mother, who was also named Lorelai Gilmore like Rory herself, gave birth to her when Lorelai was only sixteen-years-old. Rory saw her mother every now and then on days like Thanksgiving or Christmas.
"Yes," replied Rory. "I'm nervous about today."
"I am sure you are," said Emily. "It is your first day at Chilton. This is a whole new world for you. It is an important year. The foundation you lay now will be the foundation that you lay for these next four years."
"I know," said Rory. She rolled-her-eyes. "I can already feel the pressure, Grandma. You don't have to go-on about it."
"Mind your tone, Rory," said Emily in a sharp voice.
Rory responded with a sigh.
In minutes, Rory finished her breakfast.
"Can I be excused, Grandma?" asked Rory. "I want to get to school early so that I can find my locker and figure-out where my homeroom is at Chilton."
"That's a good idea," said Emily. "Say 'hello' to Henry for me."
Rory rolled-her-eyes again. "I'm always nice to our driver," she said. "You don't have to always remind me of that."
Rory picked-up her bookbag and left.
Rory took a deep breath as she walked into the halls of Chilton. She smiled and she waved at the different people she knew in the hallways. It did not take her too long to find her new locker. A few people came up to her while she began to put away her bookbag. One of the girls that approached her was her friend named Francie.
Francie had short red-hair and a bossy personality. However, Rory and Francie grew-up together. They knew each other well and were friends… mostly because that's what happens to people when you are thrown together in the same group of people over-and-over again.
"Hello, Rory," said Francie. "You got one of the good lockers. It's right by the senior parking lot. You can check-out the senior boys everyday after the last bell rings."
"Yes," said Rory. "I guess I'm just lucky."
Francie rolled-her-eyes but nodded.
"Who do you have for homeroom?" asked Rory.
"I have Mrs. Finch. Did you hear what Damien had to say about her?"
"Yeah. He said that she was a total witch… with a capital B."
"That's Damien for you," said Francie.
Rory smiled. "True," she agreed. "I have Mrs. Finch, too. Let's walk to homeroom together."
"Okay," said Francie. "Come on."
The two girls walked together down the hallway in an amiable way.
When they entered Mrs. Finchs' classroom the place was already full of students. Rory and Francie made their way to two seats at the back of the classroom. The seats were right beside the windows. The windows were wide and open. They looked out onto Chilton's courtyard.
Rory and Francie sat near a group of people that they knew from the two's childhood. They knew the three girls well. One girl was named Paris Gellar. The other two girls were named Louise Grant and Madeline Lynn.
"I see that they placed the best people here in the same homeroom," said Louise smartly. She was chewing on some bubble-gum.
"They were smart to do that," said Paris Gellar. Paris was never one to remain quiet.
"Who do you think that boy is over there?" asked Madeline in an almost-too-loud whisper.
"He's hot," added Louise.
There was a handsome boy there. The boy had dark hair and no tie around his neck. He had dark brown eyes and an intense stare. He sat in the opposite side of the room in the back row.
"I talked to him earlier in the hallway," said Louise. "His name is Jess. Jess Mariano. He's from a small town nearby named Stars Hollow."
"How quaint," said Rory. But she didn't hide her inquisitive glance as she examined him curiously.
After a moment of staring too long, the boy turned to look at her. Rory blushed and glanced away quickly.
"What was that?" asked Paris. "Are you checking-out the new boy?"
Rory sighed. Paris always got under Rory's nerves. "We're all new today, Paris," she said impatiently. "Anyway, what's wrong with checking-out some eye-candy? The first bell hasn't even rung yet. You need to relax."
"Whatever," grumbled Paris.
Rory shrugged and turned back to look at the whiteboard.
The day passed by in flashes of new introductions, new text books, and old-and-new faces. Rory already knew many people at Chilton. She lived at Hartford all of her life so that wasn't a surprise to her.
Lunch was her reprieve. Rory sat at a mahogany lunch table in the center of the room. Her friends from homeroom were all there, too. And so were some new people that she hadn't met yet.
"Hello," said Rory as she sat down at the lunch table. She placed her tray of food on the table and sat down. She decided on a salad, a fruit cup, and a Perrier sparkling water for lunch.
"Hi, Rory," said Madeline. "We just sat down. This is Logan Huntzberger, Colin, and Finn. They're seniors."
Rory examined the three boys.
The boy named Logan was handsome and striking. He looked tall and lean. He had dirty-blonde hair and clear blue eyes. There was a carefree smile on his face. Finn had a leaner build. He had dark hair and a roguish expression on his face. Colin was the shorter of the two. He had a pale face with a smug expression.
"Hi, Rory," said Colin. "It's nice to meet you."
"Likewise," said Rory.
"So, how has your first day at our fair-ol'-school gone so far?" asked Finn with a wink.
"Let the girl breathe for a minute, Finn," said Logan. He smiled at Rory in a friendly way. "She just sat down."
"Don't worry," replied Rory with a smile. "I can handle myself."
"Dually noted," said Finn.
"Anyway, my day's been okay so far. But I was already assigned tons of homework. I've always heard that Chilton was a tough school, and I think those rumors are right."
"That's Chilton for you," said Colin with a shrug.
"My day's been the same," said Logan. "Though there was already some excitement in my English class."
"What happened?" asked Rory.
"Some student had the guts to second-guess our English teacher, Mr. Medina," answered Logan. "The two argued about an obscure fact on Shakespeare for twenty minutes straight. What an idiot."
"That kid sounds too cavalier for this school," said Paris in a snide tone-of-voice. "It's not a good idea to second-guess a teacher."
"Especially so early in the game," added Rory.
"Every faculty member of this school is top-notch," said Madeline primly.
"That's a fact that my Grandmother makes sure to tell me every minute that she has a spare breath," said Rory with a sigh. "What's the name of the guy in question?"
"His name is Jess Mariano," said Logan. "He's sitting over there."
Everyone in the group turned their heads to look at the boy. Immediately, Rory noticed that it was the dark-haired boy from Rory's homeroom class.
The boy in question sat in the opposite side of the cafeteria. He had a sandwich, a soda, and chips on his lunch tray. There was also a thick book on the lunch tray. Jess was reading the book with headphones on. He looked to be too engrossed in his reading to notice the stares directed at him by everyone at Rory's lunch table.
"Huh," said Rory. "Imagine that."
