A/N: Hope you enjoy the chapter…

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Rory tapped her pen against her desk impatiently, sighing. She looked at the small paper in front of her. How could a boy's number be so tempting for her? She couldn't possibly want to talk to him that badly. She sighed, leaning against her chair. Yes, they had already kissed twice, and both kisses had been exhilarating, but she couldn't actually make a relationship out of all this, could she?

"Rory! Your father's here!"

Rory had dreaded for those words to come out of her mother's mouth. She groaned, and yelled back: "Tell him I'll be right there!" After that, she picked up her bag and sulked all the way outside. August was already chatting him up, talking and smiling.

"So, how are your dance lessons?"

She saw her father ask her sister, a smile playing on his face also.

"Oh, their super. I mean, me and Anna are having so much fun. People say that ballet is really boring, it really isn't. Quite the opposite. And school's going great. Straight B's. I know it should be A's...but, the ballet is really taking time off of my studies."

The tall man smiled and kissed her forehead. "Whatever you want, baby. If ballet is more important to you than school. Than that's okay."

Someone has to get their priorities straight. Rory couldn't help but think as she walked to her father. As soon as he saw her, he ran up to her and twirled his youngest daughter around. Rory couldn't help but get lost in that Daddy-smell. The smell of a pinch of cologne, and the smell of the drier that had dried the once wet shirt. She hugged him tightly. No matter how much she could hate her father, she loved him with all her heart, and sometimes it was okay to forget all the bad things that he might have done.

"Dad, I'm really too old for you to be carrying me." Rory smiled, as he put her down.

He shook his head, looking at his daughter proudly. "You'll always be my little girl." He stepped back to take a long look at her. "Wow, baby. You look so huge. 17 years old...wow. I should have come and visited you before."

"You should have, but that's okay." She gave him the innocent smile that showed him that it was alright.

Chris gave her a happy sigh. "I'm glad you let me do this."

"Mom wouldn't want to drive all the way to Harvard if we just went to New York the other day."

"Well, I'm glad I could be here for this memory. My little girl's going to college..."

"A college experience...not actual college. I'm just going to stay with somebody that can tour me around Harvard and show me what college life is going to be like. It's just for three days, it's not too long, anyways."

Chris shook his head firmly. "Your gonna have fun."

"Whatever you say."

He nodded, and grabbed the bag from her, walking behind his daughter to get to the trunk where he set the bag. Chris shut the trunk and looked at August before climbing in the car. "I'll call you, honey?"

August smiled politely. "Okay, daddy."

Rory took the hint and climbed in the front seat of the car, waving to August, who seemed to have just gotten a message from her boyfriend because she was squealing. She buckled her seatbelt and closed the door with a small.

"Don't you think this will be fun?" Her dad asked, turning on the car.

"Sure."

The drive to Harvard was long and boring. Chris had pretty good songs on the CD's he played, but every once in a while they would hit one of Sherry's songs. Something that would make Rory gag. But, the spending time with her father was good. Sure, he could be a jerk, but it was okay, because he was still her dad.

When they reached Harvard, Rory was awestruck. She couldn't think that she would ever be a part of something so big. So great. She could barely lift herself up when her father got out of the car, because she was so tired and her legs were so cramped for so long. She stretched out, feeling much better.

She bit her lip. "So…"

"You'll be okay?" Chris asked, looking around the campus.

"Oh yeah. You can go. I'm sure Sherry is waiting for you at home." Rory nodded, her mood not uplifting. He kissed her forehead and looked at her brightly.

"Have a great weekend. Call me if you need anything, I'm 15 minutes away."

Rory nodded, waving as he mounted his car, leaving her in the middle of the campus. Alone. With no one else but her bag. She sighed, looking around. Everyone either had their heads in their books, or were talking to their fellow college-mates. If that's the right term.

She looked down at the papers that she was holding. There was a map of Harvard, and all the information that she needed to find the dorm she would be sharing for the next three days. She picked up her bag and started on her adventure.

When she finally got to the building she was supposed to be at, (it took her a while to get the names right) she looked for the dorm.

"What's this number..?" She mumbled to herself, looking up at the door. "Okay. This should be it."

She knocked on the door, blowing the hair that had fallen on her face, the bag and the purse that she needed to carry occupied her hands. In another second, before she could even look up, the door swung open.

"What the--," Rory started, looking surprised.

"Rory." Jess smirked. "I see you've found where you're supposed to be. Took you long enough."

"But, what are you doing here? I was supposed to be paired up with Katie Thompson."

"Well, I wasn't going to ruin the surprise." He said, looking at her closely.

Rory shook her head, dropping her bags. "But, there can't be a surprise. You see, girls and boys aren't supposed to be paired up. I can't sleep here."

"Who said? You've always seemed friendly to the male species."

"Yes, but the rules--,"

"Screw the rules. Come in." He moved aside, so she could enter. Rory gave him a death glare, and sighed. She picked up her bag and entered the messy dorm.

She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Look, this doesn't mean that I'm staying here. I'm going to the office that handles these kinds of things…and then I'll tell her that they've made a mistake."

Jess shrugged, sitting down on one of the beds, and in front of his laptop. "Do whatever you want, but there's been no mistake."

"How couldn't there have been?"

"Well, they were a little desperate for volunteers, and there weren't any girls left to take another girl in…and since we got to choose who we wanted. I chose you, since there wasn't anybody else to do the job."

Rory frowned. "I'll sleep in the Janitor's Closet."

"Why are you so against this, again?"

She shrugged, stuttering. "Well, I mean, I'm just a stickler for the rules."

"It wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that you think something will happen?"

Rory looked at him as if he was crazy. "What? No. Of course not. I may be only a senior in High School, but that doesn't mean that I'm stupid. It's only been a few nights since…what happened. And, well, nothing could happen. Right?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

He smirked, his eyes focusing on the computer now. "Uh-huh."

-0-

Rory spent the rest of the day out of the dorm. Maybe it was the fear that something would happen with Jess, or maybe it was just her own crazy mind. But, either way, she didn't see Jess still nighttime. And that was because he called her cellphone so she would meet her at a coffee kiosk on campus. She was about to say no, and then she remembered that she would have to see him sometime.

He sounded a bit more cheerful when she said yes, and gave her the instructions to get to the specific kiosk. When, she walked in the direction that he wanted her to meet him, her stomach did a flip when she saw that he wasn't alone. A girl that looked about Jess' age, with black hair, and about his height was talking to him.

"Hey…" Rory cleared her throat.

Jess looked at Rory, smirking. "Hi. Well, my work here is done. I'll be going now."

"Jess, what are you--," Rory raised an eyebrow.

"This is Sarah." He gestured to the girl that was standing next to him.

Those were the last words he said before walking away.

Rory turned to the girl, waiting for an explanation. "Uh..?"

"Oh, right. Jess asked me to come and meet you." She said, smiling. "You must be Rory, then."

"Yeah…but, I'm still confused."

Sarah nodded, and gestured to a small table in front of the kiosk. "I'm Jess' friend. I met him this year. We've become close and everything. He can be tough, but trust me, it's mutual."

She looked down. "Oh. So you two are…?"

Sarah looked at her as if she was crazy. "God, no. I would never…with Jess. He's just way too much for me."

"Too much?"

"Well, Jess isn't exactly easy to get along with."

Rory looked up, feeling a little better. "Yeah, he isn't. I'm still a little confused, though. Why would he ask you to meet me?"

"He said we'd get along. And…he said that you weren't exactly great on spending time with him. So, he said if you were going to be awkward, then I should just show you around." Sarah said brightly. "Don't worry…Jess seems to like you."

"Why would that worry me?"

"It's a little obvious, don't you think?"

Rory frowned, "No. What?"

"That you're going to be one of his next victims."

"Victim?" She asked blankly.

"Actually, no. You seem bright. You would never let Jess be Jess. I'm sure that everything will turn out fine."

"I'm sorry…but it's all a little…no, very confusing."

Sarah sighed. "Let's just leave it at this. Jess wanted me to meet you because he thought that we'd get along. I'm just babbling."

Rory smiled, playing with her thumbs. "Then, nice to meet you."

"So…where would you like to go? I mean, there's a whole campus to get to."

"Well, we don't have much time…I'll have to get my sleep so I could get ready to shadow Jess tomorrow."

Sarah laughed. "Wow, I feel sorry for you."

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A/N: Okay, this chapter was kind of a filler. The next chapter is where everything begins. Rory shadowing Jess…-winks-, basically everything. Plus, you'll know a little more about Sarah by the time that Rory leaves Harvard. Next chapter, it's going to be Harvard part 2. Lol.

I know this chapter wasn't much, but please review! (at least just to say hi)