Title: Love to Hate You
Author: lannah
Summary: Students at Chilton head to Eagle Mountain for a ski trip, during the course of the winter holidays. Rory and Tristan meet under slightly different circumstances.
Pairing: R/T. What else?
"That is it for today," Rory's calculus teacher said wrapping up the day's lesson as the bell signaling the end of the period rang. "Have the problems for chapter one done and chapter two read for next class."
He had barely finished the last sentence before Rory shot out of her seat almost knocking her books off the table.
It was not so much the slow, painful torture calculus was undoubtedly going to be that caused her intense need for escape from the confined spaces of the classroom. It was more so the her intense need for escape from a certain boy beside her who continually kept staring at her throughout the duration of the lesson.
He had successfully managed to make her uncomfortable, completely lost in the lesson for she found herself having much trouble paying attention and also completely embarrassed in the space of one hour. For the calculus teacher had also noticed Tristan's unnatural amount of staring and had decided to make a comment about it.
Her cheeks still flamed in embarrassment from the thought.
Rory was halfway down the hallway before she realized someone was calling out her name.
"Gilmore, you want to slow down?" an annoyed Paris huffed as she caught up with Rory.
Rory slowed her pace. Barely.
"Sorry," she mumbled.
"What is with the disappearing act?" Paris asked, slinging her backpack over her shoulders.
Rory shot a look over her shoulder back at the math room. Tristan was talking to that Summer girl she had met (sort of) earlier that morning.
"Nothing," she answered, quickly turning back to Paris.
Paris looked at her closely for a moment then looked back at the math room. A flicker of a smile overtook her features.
"Nothing?" Paris questioned.
"Nothing," Rory answered, firmly.
Paris shrugged. "Well, I have to be up on the third floor right now. Meet us at lunch," she said and walked away.
It was only after Paris left that Rory realized she had no idea how to get to her English Lit classroom.
Letting out a sigh, she started walking up the hallway only to hear a voice calling out her name again.
It was quite depressing really, how she had come to view "Mary" as her name.
Attempting to ignore the voice, she sped up her walking. She did not manage to get anywhere very fast and far though because for one, she had no athletic ability whatsoever so her speed walking was more akin to a normal person's walking speed; second, she still had no idea where she was going.
"Are you avoiding me?" Tristan asked when he had caught up to her.
Rory rolled her eyes. "No, I just enjoy speed-walking."
Tristan grinned. "You call that speed walking?"
He threw up his hands in mock protest as Rory shot him the deadliest glare she could manage.
It did not matter if what he said was true. It was simply the fact that he said it which bugged her.
"You know Mary, you're not very nice sometimes," he continued.
"And you know DuGrey, you just don't get the hint sometimes," Rory shot back. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get to class."
She began to walk away but was immediately stopped as Tristan grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him.
"We need to talk," Tristan said, simply.
He was obviously very stupid and very dense if he did realize that she did not want to talk to him.
"Talk about what?" she asked deciding to play dumb.
Why was he rolling his eyes? There was only one stupid and dense one between the two of them and it was not her.
"Cut the crap Gilmore. You know what I'm talking about."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Tristan gazed at her for a few seconds without speaking.
Shifting uncomfortably under his gaze, Rory let her eyes wander to everything in their environment aside from his face.
"Do you want me to say it out loud for these nice people to hear?" he asked innocently, indicating the few people that were still milling around the hallway.
Rory narrowed her eyes at him. "Look, can we just forget about what happened?"
Tristan blinked. "Forget what happened?"
"Yes. It was an accident. It meant nothing," Rory stated firmly. "Actually, you're the one who kissed me so I really had nothing to do with it."
"Which explains why you kissed me back, right?"
Oh how she wanted to smack that stupid, irritating smirk off of his face right that instant.
"It was an accident. It just happened. I was really cold and suffering from a temporary brain freeze at that moment," Rory said. "I mean…obviously I was not in my right mind when I kissed you because really, I would never do that willingly…"
Her voice trailed off as Tristan's features hardened ever-so-slightly.
His silence was beginning to make her uncomfortable when he finally decided to speak again.
"Fine," he answered. "We'll forget about it."
Just like that?
But she said nothing and simply nodded.
The bell rang signaling the start of second period causing her to groan out loud.
"Great! I'm late for class. This is all of your fault," she grumbled at Tristan and started to walk away from him.
After taking a few steps she paused then turned back to him.
"Could you, um, tell me where room two thirteen is?"
"Is it normal to feel this tired when only half the day has gone by? Rory asked, flopping down onto an empty chair beside Paris at lunch later that day.
"Welcome to Chilton," Paris muttered glaring at her food and proceeded to repeatedly stab at her wilted salad with her fork.
Rory raised her eyebrows at Madeline and Louise who mouthed a quick: "Don't ask."
Rory nodded and proceeded to unpack her lunch.
"I should do that," Paris said, indicating Rory's lunch. "Cafeteria food is beyond disgusting and absolutely inedible. You would think that with all the money we're paying here, they would use some of it to provide us with some decent meals but, that is obviously beyond the scope of their ignorant, incapable brains."
"Ouch," Rory muttered and looked up at the sound of new voices.
"Oh look. It's my four favourite ladies," said Brendan who was accompanied by Austin and Tristan (how lovely).
"Who invited you here?" Paris asked, testily.
"Paris don't you remember?" Tristan asked in mock amazement. "Last night when you came over to my house to profess your undying love for me, you said we were allowed to sit at your lunch table."
Paris threw her fork at his head (which, unfortunately for Rory, he managed to duck) while the others cracked up laughing.
"So Rory, how has your day been so far?" Brendan asked, before Paris decided to throw anything else. "Are you enjoying this lovely place we call hell?"
Rory laughed. "It's tiring."
"Why you would want to come to this place is beyond me," Austin said, grabbing a french fry off of Paris's plate only to have her yell at him.
"What? It's not like you were eating it," he said in defense.
"Very entertaining bunch, aren't we?" Louise asked Rory, watching the two continue to bicker in amusement.
Rory smiled just as Summer siddled up to their table and planted herself on Tristan's lap.
"Hey Tristan," she exclaimed, brightly as he greeted her.
After realizing that there were other people seated at the table, she mumbled her greetings to them as well.
"You know Summer, there are other chairs around here. You know chairs? Those things that are made for you to sit on," Paris said.
"Paris, don't you have some chess club meeting or something to attend?" Summer shot back.
"Ooh, catfight..." Brendan said, grinning.
Rory barely heard him. Her gaze was fixed on Summer and Tristan, who seemed to be enjoying the fact that she was sitting on his lap.
And he wanted to talk that morning.
"Sometimes, I just want to smash her head in with a locker," Paris muttered under her breath.
'Right now I just want to smash DuGrey in the head with a locker,' Rory thought to herself.
"Are you listening to me?" Paris asked.
"What?" Rory asked, snapping out of her thoughts.
Paris followed her gaze towards the couple then turned back to Rory.
"Nothing, huh?" she asked.
"Shut up," Rory grumbled, sinking back into her seat, only to be blessed with the sound of a very high-pitched almost screechy giggle coming from Summer's direction. "What's up with them anyway?"
Paris shrugged. "They're always on-again, off-again. I guess now they're on again."
Rory diverted her attention back to her previously forgotten lunch trying to ignore the funny feeling in her stomach at Paris's words.
Now this was going to be one extremely long school year.