AN: Sorry this took so long, I had finals and then I was moving and then I kinda got caught up in my other story, Life as We Know It. I'm gonna try to get at least one more chapter up before I go back to school..probably two because after that updates will probably be very slow. Hope you enjoy :)
"Hey Mare."
Rory ignored the voice from behind her as she continued to pile the books she would need for the weekend into her backpack. She closed her locker and finally turned around to see that the owner of the voice was still standing there. "Can I help you, Tristan?" she asked the tall, blond boy.
"So accommodating, I like this side of you, Mary." Rory just glared at him; one would think that after three years of hitting on her he would, A) learn her name and, B) get the hint that she wasn't interested, but neither seemed to be the case.
"What do you want, Tristan?" she asked icily as she slung her backpack over her shoulders and headed towards Chilton's front doors.
"You— shoved against a locker with your tongue in my mouth," he replied without missing a beat as he hurried after her.
Rory almost gagged at the image that had just been placed in her head; had the boy never even heard of the word "tact"? "Well why don't you go home and take a nice nap, because that dream world you're living in is about as close as you're ever going to get."
"You wound me Mary, really you do," he replied.
She stopped walking to turn and look at him. "Go away, Tristan."
"And leave you to fend for yourself amongst these crazy masses? What kind of gentleman would I be if I did that?" Rory looked around and for the first time she noticed that the students around her— or at least the female ones— seemed to be in some kind of frenzy.
"What the heck is going on?" she asked, mostly to herself, but Tristan answered her anyway.
"They must be going crazy because they heard I'm free tomorrow night and an opening for a date with my fine specimen of a being might be available; don't worry though, I'm giving you first dibs."
"Well you can go give someone else second dibs, because I'm not interested." At that moment Rory saw two familiar and very flustered faces hurry by and she scurried to catch up with them. "Madeleine! Louise!" she called after her two friends, or as close as to friends as she had at this school; they were ditzy, and superficial, but underneath it, they weren't too bad to hang out with. They were sure to know what was going on.
The two girls turned to look at her. "Oh my god, Rory. You won't believe who's here," Madeleine, the brunette of the duo, gushed.
"Umm…Elvis?" Rory speculated, wondering who could be causing such uproar.
"Please, with his hair? So not hot. No, this is way better," Louise responded.
"I wonder who he's here for," Madeleine pondered.
"Who who's here for?" Rory asked, still not understanding what was going on.
Both girls turned to look at her, as though she were crazy for not being up on these things. "Logan Huntzberger, of course," Madeleine told her.
Rory held back a snort. All of this hubbub was seriously about Logan?
"He never dates high school girls," Louise explained.
Madeleine sighed, "I wish it was me. My mother would have a coronary if I bagged myself a Huntzberger— but don't worry, it would be a totally happy death."
"Is that who all this fuss is about?" Tristan asked, finally catching up with them. "What would anyone want with that fool?"
"I wouldn't diss him, Tristan, he's you— only in college and with bigger muscles and more money," Louise reminded him.
"And a soul," Rory muttered to herself.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
The group surrounding her accepted her answer and moved on.
"I can't believe he's dating a Chilton girl," Louise said. "This could totally put us on the map."
"Huh?" Rory would never get what went through these girl's heads.
"If Logan Huntzberger is willing to date a Chilton girl, all the other hot, rich, college men will think we're worthy too," the blonde clarified her previous statement.
"Maybe if we find out who the lucky girl is, she can set us up with one of his friends…I hear he's got this hot Australian friend, Finn Morgan, who owns a whole bunch of vineyards. He's totally loaded."
Vineyards? Rory laughed to herself. That certainly explained a lot.
"Plus, the accent is really hot," Louise added.
"Please," Tristan scoffed. "Accents are so overrated."
Madeleine and Louise both turned to look at him as though he had two heads. Even Rory found this comment amusing. "No, actually even I have to admit that Finn's accent is pretty sexy."
The girls turned to look at her, mouths agape. "Do you know him?" they asked excitedly.
"We met at Thanksgiving," Rory said offhandedly.
"Was he as hot as they say?"
"Did he talk about his vineyards? Just how rich is he?"
"Do you know Logan too? Do you know who he's dating?" the girls gushed excitedly, firing off questions quicker than Rory could answer them, even if she wanted to, which she didn't.
They made it out of the school and into the parking lot. "There he is. Let's wait and see who meets him," Madeleine suggested eagerly.
Rory looked to where Madeleine was pointing and there was Logan, leaning against a red Mustang. "Geez, how many cars does he own?" she asked to nobody in particular, but all six ears around her heard and immediately perked up.
"Oh my god, you do know him," Louise raved. "Who's he dating?"
"He's not dating anyone…well actually, I'm pretty sure he's dating every blonde bimbo at Yale, which you would think would make for a rather small dating pool but I guess Yale likes bimbos more than they want to let on— but he's not dating anyone from Chilton, that I know of."
"What do you mean? Of course he is, why else would he be here?"
Before Rory could answer she heard a voice cut through the crowd. "Ace!" She looked up to see Logan smiling and waving at her.
She rolled her eyes and waved back. "Bye guys; see you Monday," she said, walking off towards Logan and leaving two very stunned girls and one very bitter boy behind.
"Hey Logan," she said as she reached the car.
"Good to see you, Ace," he replied, helping her off with her backpack and placing it in the backseat of the Mustang before giving her a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Such a gentleman," she smiled at him.
"Well I guess all those years Mom forced me to go to charm school are starting to pay off," he smirked at her.
"Yeah well, maybe you can turn the charm down a notch; I think I just made a hundred new enemies."
"Oh I don't believe that, who could hate you?"
"Umm, every girl at school who's convinced that you're here to pick up your date. You're the talk of the school, you know."
"Really?" he replied with a smirk.
"I know; it's a mystery to me too." She shrugged.
"Well, you know, if they're gonna talk we could give them something to really talk about," he said suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows.
"I don't think so, Huntzberger."
"No? Hmm, then I guess I'll just have to settle for your company, sans inappropriate touching," he relented, opening her car door for her and then shutting it behind her. He walked around to his side of the car and jumped in without even bothering with the door. She stared at him incredulously for a moment.
"Show off."
"What? The door's a hassle."
"What are you even doing with the top down anyway? It's freezing out," she told him.
"Actually, according to the handy-dandy thermometer on my dashboard, it's only 35 degrees Fahrenheit, and freezing is at 32," he argued.
"Just put the damn top up, Logan."
"Fine, fine, if you insist." He pressed a button and the top of the convertible came up, encasing them from the elements. Logan pulled out into the streets and headed to Yale.
"Can we stop by your dorm or something? I need to change my outfit," she requested.
"Well, if a beautiful girl wants me to take her back to my place to get naked, who am I to say no?" he replied playfully. "Although why you want to change is beyond me; you look very cute."
She rolled her eyes at him; she felt like she did that so often in his presence that she was starting to get dizzy. "I am not walking all around Yale in my Chilton uniform."
"But you've got this great 'Hit Me Baby, One More Time,' look going for ya. Just tie up your blouse to show off your belly button, throw your hair in some pig tails and do a little dance and you'll have all the college boys drooling."
"Oh just what I want— to emulate Brittany Spears and have horny college boys ogle me."
"Well I'd get used to it, Ace, because you're hot and the boys at are gonna ogle whether you like it or not. Don't worry though, most will be discreet about it. We Yale men are very upstanding citizens, after all."
Rory snorted in response.
"I'm sorry, did you just snort?"
"I'm sorry; did you just call yourself an upstanding citizen?"
"Well what do you think I am, some sort of…miscreant?"
"Nope; miscreant doesn't quite cut it, I'd say you're more of…a butt-faced miscreant."
"Butt-faced miscreant?" he asked incredulously. "Seriously, Ace? A butt-faced miscreant? I'm hurt that you think so lowly of me."
"Well if it makes you feel any better, you're kind of a cute butt-faced miscreant."
"So you finally admit it; you think I'm cute." He wiggled his eyebrows.
"Oh yeah, I just want to pinch your cheek and wuv you and hug you and squish you to pieces," she replied in a little kid voice while giving his cheek a little squeeze.
"So if I'm a butt-faced miscreant does that mean you just grabbed my ass?"
"I…you…" she sighed in frustration when she couldn't come up with an appropriate comeback. "I hate you," she finally replied, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back into the seat. "Stupid, butt-faced miscreant," she mumbled.
Logan just laughed as he continued to drive down the highway.
So I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that not all dorms here at Yale look like yours does?" Rory asked as they walked through the campus.
"Ours may be a little nicer than most. And they don't usually come with the leather sofa, you kind of have to provide that yourself."
"And the full-size bed?"
"Hmm, no originally it came with a twin but my dates found it to be a tad bit crowded, especially when there were two of them."
"Ugh, gross, Logan."
"Kidding, Ace," he assured her.
"Hey, give us a location?" someone's voice cut through the crowded quad.
"What was that?" Rory asked.
Logan nodded his head off to the left where a group of eccentric looking students stood in a circle, gesturing wildly. "Crazy drama students…think they're on Whose Line," he explained. "Hell," he yelled at the group of improvisationalists.
Rory gave him a dirty look. "What?" he replied innocently. "It's a town in Michigan."
"You're kidding? There's seriously a town called Hell?"
"Yep. I had to go there for a business meeting with my Dad once. Finn got in his car and followed me there just so that he could tell people he followed me to Hell and back. He even brought his cat, Rover, and put her in a picnic basket so he could say his cat went to Hell in a handbasket. Oh and it was winter so there was snow and he took a picture so that when girls told him 'when Hell freezes over,' he'd have evidence to support his argument."
Rory laughed. "Finn sure is something else, isn't he?"
"Yep, but the really funny part of all of this is that one time, it actually worked."
"You're kidding," Rory said, not believing that any girl would actually fall for that, there was no way.
"I swear to god. He showed some girl the picture and the next morning I caught her sneaking out of his room with her shirt on inside out."
"Wow, some girls will believe anything if it's said with a sexy accent."
"Tell me about it," he laughed.
"So where to first, Huntzberger?" Rory asked, changing the topic. "Are the others meeting us?"
"They're meeting us at our first and only stop, Ace."
"Only one stop? I thought you were giving me a tour of 'fun Yale.'
"Ace, Ace, Ace, have you learned nothing? Fun Yale is wherever we are…and where we usually are, is the Pub."
"A Pub? Logan, you know I don't drink."
"You don't have to drink, they do have coffee. It's a cool scene, ever since they did away with folk night, that is," he insisted. "Plus, they have the best burgers within walking distance."
"Well I do like coffee, and burgers," she relented. "But I bet it can't hold a candle to Luke's."
"Well there's only one way to find out," he goaded.
She seemed to think about this for a moment before finally giving in. "Fine, to the Pub."
"To the Pub!" he cheered.
"She seems to fit in well," Steph told Logan as they sat at a table in the Pub.
Logan looked over to the jukebox where Rory and Finn were arguing over what song they should play next. Although they were fighting, both their faces seemed to exude happiness. Finn swung his arms around wildly, clearly trying to make a point. Rory scowled playfully and poked her finger into his chest. Logan smiled to himself. "She certainly does," he admitted.
"I like her."
"That seems to be the popular position," It was true, every one of his friends loved her.
"You like her, too."
"She's cool. Smart, funny. Like I said, she fits in."
"Pretty," Steph added pointedly.
"Not this again, Steph," Logan said exasperatedly.
"What? You don't think she's pretty?"
Logan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, she's pretty, so what?"
"Nothing, I'm just saying…she's pretty, you're pretty. You're even kind of pretty together."
"She's also probably pretty with her boyfriend."
"And if there was no pretty boyfriend then…"
"Then nothing Steph. She has a boyfriend and I have…well, not a girlfriend. A whole lot of not girlfriends as a matter of fact. There's nothing between me and Rory. We're friends. She's fun to hang with but that's the extent of it. Give it up Steph."
Stephanie decided to let it drop for the time being. "Maybe we should invite her to hang with us more often. Like, we could make this 'Friday-afternoon-before-her-grandparents',' thing regular."
"Yeah," he looked back at Rory who was laughing at something Finn had said. He could practically see her bright blue eyes shining from all the way across the room. "I like that idea."
Rory sat down at an empty table in the cafeteria and went to pull out the copy of "To Call it Sleep," she was currently reading but she was interrupted before she even had a chance to open it.
"Well, well, if it isn't Mary," Tristan sang out, slamming his hand down on the book to keep her from opening it. "Or maybe that nickname isn't appropriate anymore—should we change it to Magdalene?"
"You know, it's December and in the spirit of the holidays, I'm going to pretend I didn't just here you call me a whore, and go back to ignoring you," she said, pulling her book away from him and opening it to her book mark.
"So you're not denying it then?"
She sighed and looked up at Tristan. "Denying what?" she asked, against her better judgment.
"Sleeping with Huntzberger, of course."
"I'm sorry, I must be having a stroke, it sounded like you just accused me of having sex with Logan."
"Everyone knows he doesn't date girls who don't put out."
"I am not dating Logan, and I am definitely not sleeping with Logan. I have a boyfriend for god's sake."
"Ah yes, Diner Boy. Great replacement you found for Bag Boy. He probably wouldn't like it too much if he knew you were off getting horizontal with Huntz."
"Oh my god, I am not having sex with Logan," she replied exasperatedly.
"Tell me it's not true, Gilmore," a very disgruntled blonde girl asked as she sat down at the table next to Tristan.
"You better not be referring to this ridiculous rumor about me and Logan," she replied to Paris, the student body president to her vice-president.
"So you're not dating him?"
"God no. What is everyone's trauma today?"
"Because a whole lot of people saw you get into his car Friday afternoon…and he gave you a kiss."
"Are you referring to the friendly peck on the cheek he gave me before taking me to a very public place to hang out with the friends I met at my grandparents' Thanksgiving party?"
"Huntzberger doesn't do friendly with girls—at least not your kind of friendly. You know he's trying to get in your pants."
"If he hasn't already," Tristan mumbled petulantly.
"He's not trying to get in my pants Paris," Rory insisted. "OK, I'll admit he was trying to get in my pants when we first met but he knows I'm with Jess and he and I are just friends."
This was the moment when Madeline and Louise chose to join the table. "Oh my god, is he a good kisser?" Madeleine asked.
"Forget about kissing, I want to know about the good stuff," Louise argued.
"Where'd he take you?"
"Do you think you could introduce me to Finn?"
Rory just sighed, dropping her head down on the table. It was going to be a very long lunch.
Psst...this is the point in time where one would generally leave a review ;)