AN - Thank you for the reviews! You have no idea how surprised I was to see in my inbox two replies. Since two is my lucky number, I decided to go ahead & write more. lol Cheesy, aren't I?

Well, since this does take place before the show, I don't intend on having Lorelai end up with anyone, though if people enjoy my writing style and ask me to continue, I may decide to tweak it and create my own little Stars Hollow, with Chris and all. (Until it was apparent that Chris was a total ahole, I really liked them together)

Ho hum...I'm new to so I don't officially know what JJ means - Java Junkie, I believe. About how much Lorelai loves coffee? It's a given that ANY GG FF would contain THAT!

Anywho, I own nothing, and must give you my next wonderful chapter.

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Friday morning came, unwanted, to Lorelai Gilmore. She pulled herself out of bed and trudged downstairs to see if Gloria, her mother's latest cook, had at least made coffee yet. A nasty surprise awaited her.

"Lorelai."

Nearly jumping out of her skin at the voice as she fixed her own pot of coffee, Lorelai frowned hard as she turned to look at Emily Gilmore. "Mother! God, do you have to be so...so...chipper?"

"I'm sorry that the rest of the world cannot accommadate to your particular mood this morning, Lorelai." Emily Gilmore was already dressed, and looked perfect, as always. She raised one of her eyebrows as she eyed her bedraggled daughter. "Why do you insist on tromping around the house in your pajamas?"

Lorelai grunted as she got a cup of freshly made coffee and took a drink. "I need coffee, Mom. I always need coffee. I've done this for the past four years."

"Ah, yes, well, some of us can do better without coffee, I suppose."

As Emily turned toward the doorway, Lorelai gave her back a glare. Being sixteen in this house was hell.

"Oh, Lorelai, the tailor is coming next month to fit you for your dress."

"Of course, Mom." Lorelai pushed past her Mother and went back upstairs. "I need to get ready for school."

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If the Gilmore house was a hellhole, there wasn't a name bad enough to describe the hallways of Chilton. Lorelai's only comfort was Christopher. She laughed out loud as she saw him standing by their lockers, two large cups of coffee in his hands. "Oh, Christopher! What would I do without you?" She dropped her bag next to them as she stood and downed the coffee. "God, new coffee place?"

"Yeah, down the street from my place."

"Ohhh...checking out the merchandise." She gave him a teasing look, one he tossed right back, then patted her butt lightly.

He leaned to whisper in her ear and nibble on the lobe of it gently. "Always, Lore."

Lorelai couldn't help but laugh as he dipped her lightly, then kissed her passionately.

"Ah, yes, the lovebirds." Lorelai stiffened at the sound of the voice...that hateful voice. Both Lorelai and Chris stood up and looked at Mitzi. "Mind moving? You're in the way of my locker."

"Your locker is over that way, Mitzi," Lorelai said, motioning vaguly in the opposite direction.

"I bet you only wish it was." Mitzi's brown eyes shot daggers in Lorelai's direction, her perfect hair pulled up and away from her face.

Lorelai sighed heavily, throwing her extra books into her locker and throwing the door shut. She just wished Mitzi would twist an ankle in her saddle shoes. "Fine, Mitzi. I'm almost late for Chem Lab anyway."

As Lorelai stomped away, Christ caught her by the arm. "Lore-"

"Don't do that Chris. I can't do it right now." Lorelai sighed. "I've got to leave school early today. Emily is making me help plan for tonight. I'll see you at dinner." The story was a complete farce, and both of them knew it, but Lorelai needed to get away from Mitzi and just have some time on her own, even though she had no idea where she would go.

But Lorelai had experience in the Gilmore household - she needed to have time on her own, and that included not having Chris around...it also included not being in school at certain times.

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Later that night, when Lorelai arrived home, she wasn't sure if she was pleased or dismayed to see the Haydens had already arrived. It was, after all, nearly seven fifteen, and as Lorelai climbed up to her balcony, she smiled to herself.

"Chris!" Lorelai nearly fell off the balcony, but managed to swing herself over the edge properly. "Shouldn't you be downstairs?"

"I volunteered to come check on you. You'd better get dressed before Richard and Emily decide to impose as well." There was a playful twinkle in his eyes.

Lorelai smiled broadly at this. "Alright, alright, I'll come join the circus."

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K, guys, that's all, for now. I need to rush off to work. I'll see tonight if I can squeeze anything more out of my muse. Please R&R, please suggest! Next post will be a kind of snippity dinner & the whole... cough appearance of Rory, if I can call it such. No worries, no graphics. The dinner will be nothing compared to when everyone finds out...oi...recall that episode? This'll be just as bad, if not worse! Laterez, all!