"Rise and shine!" Mom chirped as she threw open my bedroom door.

"Ugh," I groaned as I cracked an eye open. My head was pounding as Mom threw open the curtains and I winced as I was blinded by the morning light.

"Aw, hung over?" she said knowingly, and with very little sympathy might I add.

I pulled my pillow over my face in response, which was instantly stolen by my mother.

"It's the weekend!" I complained.

"I'm sorry, did you think after that stunt you pulled that today would be yours?" she asked, I assumed rhetorically, with her hands on her hips. "Now up!"

"I'm sorry,' I said, using my best puppy dog eyes. She gave me a sceptical look, and I gave up. "Okay, I'm not. What is the big deal? It's not like anyone even noticed."

"I noticed," she said with annoyance. "Your sister noticed, as did your father. Now get out of bed, Barney Gumble,"

"I'm sorry you had to leave early," I said furiously at the mention of Christopher. Like I cared in any way what he thought of me. "But you left me here and you all had some family time. Evil rebel daughter out of sight, out of mind, right?"

She sighed and sat down beside me. "Why did you drink, Ava?"

I shrugged.

"Hey, a real answer please," she said.

"I don't belong there, Mom,"

"I don't either, and I wasn't drunk,"

"Not for a lack of trying," I muttered, and she sent me a warning look.

"Is this about Christopher?" she asked after a moment, her voice uncharacteristically soft.

"Nothing I do is about Christopher," I scowled.

"He wants to be around more,"

"That's nice," I said, my voice heavy with sarcasm. "And you believe him, do you?"

"I'm not going to force you into becoming Daddy's little girl," she said, getting up. "But you're going to have to learn how to deal with him being around,"

"I'll deal with it if he actually shows up, how's that?" I snapped, pulling the blankets over my head. She pulled them off and looked down at me with that disappointed expression that was somehow worse than her ranting.

"Alright, time to get up," she said. "And you owe your sister an apology,"

"I am not apologising to Rory," I said flatly.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"What was that, Silent Bob?" Mom said, nudging me to repeat myself. Rory looked at me quizzically.

"Sorry if my drinking ruined your night," I said dully. The threat of being grounded for either two weeks if I apologised versus being grounded until I apologised (either way I was facing at least two weeks) made me grit my teeth and say I was sorry.

"No problem," Rory said, and I sensed her surprise that I had said sorry. Mom nodded in approval as she headed to the counter to hassle Luke for more coffee. Basically, I was to be attached to my mother's side for the next two weeks, unless I was at school. I was sure she was hoping I would crack and tell her all my problems in life. Oh well, at least Jess wasn't here to see my humiliation.

"Nice grovelling," a voice remarked behind me, and I jumped as Jess walked past me.

"God," I called. "You need a bell or something,"

He sent me a smirk as he headed upstairs. Rory raised her eyebrows at our exchange but didn't say anything. I was the only Gilmore, and one of the select few in town, that Jess deigned to speak to.

"Are you still mad at Dad?"

I really wasn't in the mood to get into this again. "Wonder what the hold up is on the pancakes," I said, changing the subject.

Rory merely sighed and we waited in silence for our mother to return.

I spent that day alphabetising a bunch of files at the Inn, my mother being called in to handle some emergency Michel just could handle because of 'how stupid the people were'. I had been eager to egg Michel on, but Mom had quickly directed me to the office to sort through the files. At home that evening, I got the joy of being at my mother's beck and call.

I sat at Luke's the next morning, dying to get to school and away from the insanity of one Lorelai Gilmore. Rory was already on her bus on the way to school, whereas I was enjoying my last bit of coffee before heading to Stars Hollow High.

Mom and Luke were discussing some business stuff to do with Mom organising her inn with Sookie, and I watched, amused, as a tourist raised her mug for more coffee to Jess and he just ignored her. I looked down at my book again.

"I'm terrible at coming up with names," Mom said, getting my attention. "When we first bought the house, the girls and I wanted to name it, you know, like Jefferson named his place Montecello…"

"And all we could come up with was the Crap Shack," I said without looking up from my book.

"Nice," Luke nodded.

"Coffee?" Jess appeared, refilling my mom's cup and providing me with my usual to go cup, without me even having to ask.

"Well, don't I feel special?" I smirked, and he shrugged.

"So how are you, Jess?" Mom asked, purely because I was always on her case to try and be nice to him. I enjoyed Jess' good looks and got along with him, but he tended to hang with a different group at school and the only time I got to really speak to him were the odd occasions at Luke's or on the bridge. I'd been too awkward to bring up the whole 'both of us drunk next time' thing yet. That was weird within itself – Ava Gilmore was not the shy twin, that was for sure. The boy liked to be mysterious too – I had no idea what he thought about me.

"Well, I'm not bleeding or anything," he said, and I shot him a look. I had also tried to get him to be more polite to Mom.

"Well, then it's gonna be a good day, huh?" Mom said, giving me a look that basically said see why I don't bother?

"7:45," Jess said abruptly to his uncle.

"So?" Luke prompted.

"So do you want me to go to school, or do you want to openly defy child labour laws?" he said.

"Go," Luke said.

I grabbed my to go cup. "I better go too, see you later,"

"Bye hon," Mom called as Jess and I walked out.

"Freedom," I said with elation, making Jess laugh.

"How long does the imprisonment continue?" he asked.

"One day into my two week sentence," I said with a groan. "Next time, I think I might try not to get caught,"

"So there's a next time?"

I sensed he was hinting about what I had said to him during my drunkenness.

I grinned. "I did promise a drunk Jess and drunk Ava, right?"

"You did," he nodded and as I headed towards school, he started to veer off in a different direction. "Later,"

"Hey!" I called. He turned and looked at me. "What are you doing?"

"You'll see," he called back. I shrugged and headed into school. While I wasn't completely devoted to studying like my twin sister was, it was rare I skipped class. I enjoyed art and English and tolerated the rest. I wasn't Ivy League bound like Rory, but I was determined to actually get out of this town and do something. Anything, really.

I was a floater at school. I was kind of mid to high in terms of popularity, because I got along with pretty much everyone. But I didn't have a best friend or anything, nothing like the connection between Rory and Lane. When I had told my mother I didn't belong at that fancy ball, I could just as easily been talking about the halls of Stars Hollow High. The difference was, here I had learned how to fake it, how to gossip to the right people and how to just float around the groups and be accepted.

So I did my schoolwork and devoted my time to reading and my art. I just existed in this place. Living would come later, right? I headed to my locker, saying hey to a few people as I went.

"Ava Gilmore," Ms Geist stuck her head out of the guidance office, her frizzy hair taking up more space than her actual head. "May I speak with you, dear?"

"Uh, sure," I said with surprise. I tried to think of any recent sarcastic remarks I may have made in class. I sat down across from her at her desk. "What's up?"

"You were out sick the other week when the others met with me to talk colleges," she said. I had had the flu, and been pretty wrecked. I had forgotten all about the meeting I had missed. "So what are you interested in, Ava?"

"I'd like to study English," I said confidently. "With some art electives if possible. I know I don't have any hopes of an Ivy League or anything, but hopefully I can end up somewhere decent."

"Well your grades are great," she said. "And we'll know more once you do your PSATs, which aren't too far away! You definitely have the chance of a decent college, however your extracurriculars are a bit thin, dear,"

"Oh!" I said in surprise.

"You're in the Art Club, the Book Club," she read off my file. "I know we get into these things early, with next year being your senior year. But before you know it, it'll be time for college!"

"Well, I also contribute to many town events," I said, remembering all the times my mother had signed me up alongside Rory and often Lane to volunteer.

"You just need something a bit extra," she said. "How about the school paper?"

My jaw dropped. That was completely Rory's thing. She had dominated it while she had been here and had moved on to even greater things at Chilton. The grandparents still talked about the pavement piece.

"I don't know," I said hesitantly. "It's not really…"

"I understand it's what your twin sister was involved with," she said, surprisingly sympathetic. "And I know you girls were quite keen to separate yourselves as individuals. But I was talking with your English teacher, Mr Grozny, and he said you have great potential in your writing, Ava. And this could be just the thing to push you over the line."

I sighed heavily. Anything to get out of this town. "When do they meet?"

Seriously, I was never telling Mom or Rory about this. The last thing I needed was another thing to compare me to my perfect sister.

After school, I was walking along with my head in a book when the sound of a siren made me look up. My jaw dropped at the sight of police cars and fire trucks parked outside of Doose's. I suspiciously looked around for Jess. What the hell had he been up to?

I walked up to see Taylor freaking out and bit my lip to hold back my laughter as I saw there had been a chalk outline of a body drawn onto the sidewalk, surrounded by police tape. I stood beside Dean, who was part of the small crowd.

"Hey," I greeted.

"Hey Ava," he nodded. "Crazy, huh?"

"What's going on?" Rory asked, as she and Lane joined us.

"I don't know, I got here and this is what I found," Dean explained. "I mean, I told him it looked fake but he didn't believe me."

"Oh, it's fake," I grinned. This was gold. If Mom didn't hate Jess so much, she would love whoever could make Taylor freak out like this.

Rory's eyes widened. "Ava…"

"Was with me working on a project," Lane interrupted.

"I'll pay you fifty for the alibi later," I nodded, and she laughed because it was true, we had been working on a science project together.

We turned in time to Sadie, one of the town's police officers, say, "Looks like this is just an elaborate prank,"

Of course Taylor was off on a rant again, and as I turned to say goodbye to Lane, I spotted Jess across the street, leaning casually against a lamppost. He spotted me and smiled. I grinned back, and quickly headed over to him.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey," he responded.

"You've really earned the title of town delinquent today,"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said.

"Just try and keep that air of mystery alive, bad boy," I teased. "That's too bad that it wasn't you then,"

"Why's that?" he asked, sounding disinterested.

"Whoever pissed Taylor Doose off like that is my personal hero," I said. "Full Wind Beneath My Wings kind of material. I'd be like their slave, so devoted in my thanks." I shrugged. "But hey, it wasn't you…"

He laughed, leading me towards the bridge. "Gotta be something a bit manlier than Wind Beneath My Wings for that epic prank,"

"Got a rep to maintain, huh?"

I got a duh look in reply.

"Don't worry, the hair gel isn't making anyone wonder… at all…" I teased, dashing off, daring him to chase me. I couldn't help but smirk when he did.

Mia's arrival in town had put us all in a joyful mood, so my grounding was lifted and by the time of the town meeting all was good in the world. It was always awesome to see Mia. She was like the kind, wonderful Grandma who didn't judge you. A description which, let's face it, did not match up with Emily.

It was weird, because we arrived on time for a change and the meeting had already began. Apparently, there was a 'Jess situation'. Mom, Rory and Mia sat down. Luke paced and I remained standing by the door as Taylor listed Jess' wrongs.

"The charges against your nephew are numerous," Taylor informed Luke. "He stole the 'Save the Bridge' money,"

"He gave that back," Luke said quickly.

"He stole a gnome from Babette's garden," Taylor continued.

"Pierpont was also returned,"

"He hooted at one of my dance classes," Miss Patty said.

"He took a garden hose from my yard," Fran put in.

"My son said he set off the fire alarms at school last week," Andrew spoke up. Ha, yeah that'd been a good day. We all got to chill outside while all the teachers freaked out.

"I heard he controls the weather and wrote the screenplay to Glitter," Mom mocked, and I couldn't but smile at her. I was glad that even Mom, who was definitely not Jess' biggest fan, could see how ridiculous the town was being.

Yeah, Jess was being a bit of a pain in the ass. But seriously, to have a town meeting like this? What if it was me acting like this? Would I be evicted from Stars Hollow like a demented episode of Big Brother?

An argument between Bootsy and Luke broke out, continuing from first grade. Taylor broke it up by bringing it back to Jess, saying Stars Hollow was a better place before he got here. I couldn't disagree more. Life was so much more interesting with Jess around.

Luke defended himself, reminding the town of how he had lived there his whole life and didn't get in the way of anyone else doing what they wanted to do. Taylor asked what his point was.

"His point is you are all butting your noses in where it's not needed!" I snapped, and the entire town swivelled around to look at me in surprise. Besides the occasional sarcastic comment, I didn't speak at town meetings. "He's pulled a few pranks, big deal. What are you all planning on doing, storm Luke's diner with fire and pitchforks and demand that Jess leave town? You are all being completely ridiculous!"

"Oh, someone's got a crush," Miss Patty murmured.

"We all see them chatting it up at Luke's," someone said.

"Defending her boyfriend, then?"

Completely sick of the room at large, I stormed out as Luke told the town he was done with them.

"Hey, Ava!" Luke called. I stopped and turned.

"Thanks for doing that," he said sincerely.

"They're insane," I said simply. "You don't deserve that. And he's my friend, you know?"

"Yeah, well, he's a pain in the ass," Luke said bluntly. "But he's family,"

"I got your back, Jack," I grinned, and he smiled back. "Night, Luke,"

"Night,"

I started to walk home, and I started feeling annoyed at Jess. Luke was a good guy, he didn't need this kind of crap. Some jokes were funny (such as the body outline) but stealing a garden hose from Fran wasn't.

I wasn't surprised when Jess wasn't at school. He was really loving this whole Rebel Without A Cause mystique he had going on. School went by faster than normal, mostly because I was dreading that afternoon.

I entered the news room (an old classroom converted, with five computers and printers) and Emily, the editor smiled at me. I had spoken with her earlier that day, expressing my interest in the paper.

"You need more extracurriculars, huh?" she said wryly.

"Yeah," I admitted.

"We meet after school today," she said with a smile. "Come on by, we could always use more writers,"

So I had come by and was surprised by how friendly everyone was. Maybe because of how Rory had described her battle with Paris, I had expected some adversity. I was given an opinion piece on the school's art program (which actually was pretty good) to do, and like that, I started writing for the paper.

After the meeting, I gave into my craving for Red Vines and headed for Doose's to stock up.

Jess approached the store at the same time I did.

"Should you be standing here all alone?" he asked. "I hear this is a pretty dangerous corner,"

"I'm fine," I shrugged.

"Feeling succinct today?"

"I guess,"

"Did I do something to offend?" he asked.

I sighed. "Don't get me wrong, this," I indicated to the chalk outline beneath our feet. "Was hilarious, and I stand by it. But the other stuff…."

"What other stuff?"

"Never mind," I said, turning away.

"No seriously, what other stuff have I done that's offended you in some way?"

"It's not me, it's Luke," I said. How could he not see how it was affecting his uncle? "The whole town is against him because of you,"

"Really how did I do that?"

"All the other stuff," I repeated.

"I'm not really familiar with the blue book laws in this town , you could be talking about a lot of things," he said sarcastically. "Dropping a gum wrapper, strolling arm in arm with a member of the opposite sex on a Sunday…"

"The whole town knows about Pierpont and about the save the bridge money," I said. "They had a meeting about it,"

"You actually went to that bizarro town meeting?" he said incredulously. "Those things are so To Kill a Mockingbird,"

"Hey, it's one of the few entertainments available in this town," I said defensively. "Anyway, they all ganged up on Luke because of you, he's like the town pariah because he defended you. I defended you…"

"You defended me?" he said, looking surprised.

"Yes, I defended you," I said. "Because yes, I can see how insane this town is. And we're friends, aren't we?"

"We are," he confirmed, looking a little pleased.

"Good, then do me a favour," I said. "Luke's a good guy. I'm not saying you have to be all perfect like… Rory or anything but not making his life harder would be nice,"

"Didn't know they were coming down so hard on him," Jess said. "So are they treating you like the town pariah too?"

I shrugged. "Well I may have inadvertently started dating rumours," I said. "But they're more focused on Luke,"

"Okay, I get it," he said. "I'll try not to be such a pain in the ass,"

"Good," I said. "And P.S. everyone knows you did this, so next time at least try and make it less obvious,"

"Then how would you know it was me?" he asked with a grin, walking away.

Once again, I left the diner with Jess as we headed to school.

"You fixed the toaster," I said, still a little taken aback that he had taken my advice.

"Like I told Luke, I don't fix things," he said, and I was surprised as I turned towards the school, he continued to walk beside me instead of heading off doing God knows what.

"You old softy," I teased, nudging his shoulder with mine.

"I'm not a softy," he insisted. "I'm just trying not to be such a pain in the ass, remember?"

I couldn't help but smile at that. "You are a softy,"

He scoffed. "I have a reputation, remember?" he then added, "It' s only because you see how crazy they all are,"

"Softy," I muttered cheekily again, and he shoved me jokingly as we walked into school. I had heaps of acquaintances at school, knowing the majority of students from the years we had all attended school together. But it was kind of nice walking into school with a friend.