Life and Death

By blackbirdfree


Chapter Eleven

Logan walked over to Damien and to Rory with the girl on his arm following him.

"Hey, Logan," said Damien.

"Hi, Damien," he answered. "Hi, Rory."

Rory tried to smile. "Hi, Logan." She turned to look at the girl beside him. "My name's Rory," she said in way of an introduction.

"I'm Shane," said the girl. The girl had short blonde hair and a cherry red lipstick on her lips. She seemed to be examining the room around her curiously. "Where are the drinks?"

Rory nodded toward the table. "They're over there. Feel free to help yourself."

Shane nodded. "I'm going. Do you want something Logan?"

"Just a scotch-on-the-rocks," said Logan. Shane nodded and left.

"I heard about your dad," said Rory to Logan. "I'm sorry that he's sick."

Logan nodded. "Yeah. It came out of no where. My grandfather keeps saying that it's because he works long days and doesn't take care of himself enough. I don't know. Maybe when he gets better he could go on vacation or something."

"That's a good idea," said Rory. "Anyway, how did you meet Shane? Is she a senior like you, Finn, and Colin?"

A voice interrupted the conversation. Rory turned around and saw Jess standing there with a drink in his hand.

"Shane's not from Chilton," explained Jess. "She goes to Stars Hollow High."

Rory was surprised. "Jess! I didn't know you were here."

"Yeah. Paris invited me to her birthday shindig a little late. I figured I'd drop by anyway to check things out."

"Hi," said Logan as he spoke over Jess. "You and I haven't officially met. We take an elective English course together."

"Yeah, I know," said Jess. "You're Logan Huntzberger. The girls in the back of the classroom can't stop whispering about you whenever there's a lull in the middle of one of Mr. Medina's droning lectures."

Logan laughed. "You'll have to point out those girls sometime. Anyway, I remember you from class. You had an epic argument with Mr. Medina the first day."

Jess shrugged. "Yeah… I get like that sometimes. It's like I have to win."

"I get that," said Logan with a nod.

The next second, Shane arrived. She had a beer in her hand. She handed Logan his scotch-on-the-rocks.

"Hi, Jess," she said. "I forgot that you went to Chilton, too."

Jess shrugged. "Yeah. Just one of the many."

"So how do you and Shane know each other?" questioned Rory to Jess.

"She goes to Luke's a lot. Sometimes we talk when I'm not busy on my shift."

"And how do you know Logan?" questioned Rory to Shane.

"Oh, we bumped into each other one day at a bar," explained Logan.

Shane smirked. "We liked each other right away. Then, Logan asked me to go to this party. I said, 'yes.' I'm always up for a party."

Rory gave a pained smile. "That's great."

"So where's the birthday girl? Paris, right?" asked Jess. "I haven't seen her around."

"She's making the rounds at the 'big house,'" joked Rory.

"Ah," said Logan with a knowing nod. "I hate having to do that."

Rory smiled. "It's just one of those obligations you can't get out of I guess."

Shane rolled-her-eyes. "Logan, do you want to go dance?"

"Actually, I was thinking about talking to Rory for a while."

Shane looked annoyed. "Whatever. How about you, Jess?"

"Yeah, sure." Jess turned to Rory. "I'll see you later, Bambi."

Rory nodded. "Later."

There was only Rory and Logan left when the two left together.

"Did you come to this party with Jess?" questioned Logan immediately when the two left. "Are you two going out?"

"Oh," aid Rory in surprise. It sounded like Logan was a little jealous of her and Jess. "Well, Jess and I have gone out before. But we're not dating seriously."

Logan smiled. "Good," he said.

Something bright and burning filled Rory's chest. She liked Logan. It seemed like he liked her as well. "How about you and Shane? Are you two…"

"Nah," said Logan. "Shane's a fun girl. I decided to invite her to this thing in a spur-of-the-moment decision."

"Okay," said Rory.

"Hey," said Logan. "Do you want to go outside talk?"

"Sure," said Rory. "Let's go."