I recently re-watched AYITL and I was filled with such spite, I forced myself to work through the writer's block and come up with this.
Thank you for the reviews, likes, and follows!
Emma couldn't help staring at Tristan sitting next to the window, not listening to Ms. Caldecott who was droning on about a debate the class would have next week. Ever since the big blowup with her mom, he had been distant and Emma was growing increasingly worried even if she wouldn't admit it out loud.
She was busy thinking of the fact that he hadn't even called her this past weekend when their teacher cleared her throat, catching Emma's attention.
"Is there something you'd like to share with the class, Miss Gilmore?" Ms. Caldecott called her out from the front of the class. Several kids turned around to look at Emma, who was slowly turning red. Tristan turned around and raised an eyebrow at her, curious. Rory shot her a sideways look from her seat beside Emma's.
"No, Ms. Caldecott." Emma answered honestly.
"Are you sure?" Ms. Caldecott raised an eyebrow, displeased and unsatisfied. "Nothing fascinating we should know about?"
Emma considered the question and was about to give her a smart answer but hesitated when she saw Rory glaring at her. "Just this debate, Ms. Caldecott," Emma said, flashing a winning smile at her teacher.
Ms. Caldecott seemed satisfied with that answer, or just uninterested in discussing it any further, and moved on.
Emma went back to looking at Tristan who had already turned back to ripping a piece of paper into smaller pieces. She could feel herself getting angrier. He was ignoring her on purpose and that just wasn't the way a relationship was supposed to be. Emma couldn't even be sure they were in a relationship. Yeah, they had some kind of talk but what was there beyond that? She still hadn't met his parents, and beyond going out for something to eat after class, they didn't even go on real dates. All he really wanted to do was party. Meanwhile, Rory was squired around town and she probably wasn't being treated like this! Emma took a deep breath to relax before tuning into whatever her teacher was saying.
"You, you, you, you…con." Ms. Caldecott was handing out their assignments. Emma watched with interest as Rory was grouped with Paris and her sidekicks. She could immediately see the despair on Rory's face but it was Paris who stood up, wholly more upset. She was not jealous of Rory at all but managed to shoot her sister a sympathetic look when Rory turned to her.
Sorry.
This sucks.
Then, it was Emma's turn.
"You," Ms. Caldecott pointed to her, then turned to see who was left without a group. "You," she said, pointing to Tristan, and Emma felt her stomach flip, "You, and you. Pro."
Emma turned to see who else was in her group and saw Sophia and a boy she was pretty sure was named Bart staring back at her. This time, Emma looked at her sister, horrified, who shot her back with a sympathetic look. Rory knew enough of her dilemma with Tristan to know Emma was panicking.
"Cool." Tristan nodded in their direction. Tristan moved his seat to sit close to her and when Sophia followed suit, Bart reluctantly joined them.
"Hey guys." Sophia said cheerfully.
"Hi." Bart said quietly, more interested in staring at his desk.
"I know you," Sophia said to him, "You're in my Latin class."
He only nodded in response.
"How'd you do on the last quiz?" Sophia tried again. Emma had to give her props for her commitment in trying to talk to the guy. He was so quiet, even in the hallway when Emma would sometimes pass by him. He usually kept to himself, reading while he ate his lunch. If Rory wasn't so in love with Dean, Emma would've pointed her in Bart's direction. Considering Rory liked to talk a hundred miles a minute when she got comfortable with people, Bart could say three words in their whole relationship and they would be happy.
"Good." Bart said.
"Jeez, how are we gonna get a word in this debate when this guy's just gonna talk over us?" Tristan said, rather snidely.
Emma glared at him. "Shut up, Tristan," Okay, maybe she shared Tristan's sentiments but she wasn't mean enough to say them out loud. Especially to Bart's face. "Leave Bart alone." It felt good to release some of her pent up anger toward Tristan, even if it was to defend someone she didn't know.
"Ben." Bart - Ben corrected her. "My name is Ben." He had been staring at his desk a moment ago, but now he made direct eye contact with Emma and she was startled by his striking brown eyes. She knew brown eyes were common but there was something in Bart - no, Ben's eyes that gave her pause. Like he knew what she was thinking and he thought it was funny.
"Oh, sorry," Emma said, feeling her cheeks turn hot, "Ben."
He didn't respond verbally but he did nod at her before looking away. Emma found herself missing his pretty brown eyes. OK, Emma, it's not that serious. It's just eyes.
When she looked away, she caught Tristan staring at her, hard.
"Whatever," Tristan said, aloof again. "How are we gonna do this? I'll take whatever's easiest. Someone else can do the main argument."
"Are you admitting you're not planning to help?" Emma glared at him.
"I know my strengths and they don't include running lame debates," Tristan said, "But hey, you like arguing so why don't you lead the debate?"
Emma opened her mouth to speak, her eyes narrowing before Sophia cut her off.
"Okay, chill out guys." Sophia raised her hands, as if to stop them. "We don't need to decide who's gonna lead right now. We need somewhere to work on our debate."
"We could work at Tristan's," Emma said calmly, "I'm sure he has a ton of space at whatever bridge he lives under."
Tristan's jaw clenched.
Sophia looked between them before cutting in. "We could go to my house…but my mom's on a juice cleanse, so she would probably stuff celery juice down your throats."
"We're kind of hosting a town rummage sale. Our place is kind of a mess." Emma said, accepting the call for ceasefire. "How about you, Ben?"
She looked at him again, ignoring that small part in her brain that was begging him to look at her again. Whatever that was about.
Ben shook his head. "Uh, no." He didn't offer up more information.
"How about you, Tris?" Sophia asked, moving on. Tristan opened his mouth to say something but Sophia cut him off. "Great. We'll meet up at your house tomorrow."
She sounded so firm that nobody argued with her.
"Tomorrow." Tristan nodded.
"Okay." Ben neatly placed his books into his backpack.
"...Fine." Emma said, glancing at Tristan who did not return her look. She gathered her things but as soon as she stepped outside into the hall, she felt a hand on her arm. When she turned around, she saw Tristan's irritated expression.
"Can you tell me what the hell that was?" Tristan demanded, letting her go at the very least.
"What?" Emma said defiantly, raising her chin.
"You were being obnoxious." Tristan told her. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Is this a girl thing?"
Emma bristled at this. "Tristan, have you called me in the past week?"
Tristan's anger faded into confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"You've barely called me-"
"Your mom doesn't like me."
"We never go out anywhere-"
"I took you to that new cafe in Hartford last week."
"And we never talk!" Emma exclaimed angrily, before Tristan could cut her off again. "I'm not imagining this, Tristan."
He shifted from foot to foot. "I didn't think we had to spend every second together, Juliet."
"Don't call me that, and that's not what I'm talking about," Emma whisper-hissed at him, aware they were still in a very public setting. "I just want a little effort."
"And I didn't know we had to spend every second together. There's a thing called 'space' you know?" Tristan coolly said, but then hesitated as if he had spoken before he thought it through.
Emma blinked, taking a step back. "Fine."
"Juliet…" Tristan trailed off at the venomous expression on Emma's face. "Emma, that's not-"
Emma took another step back and Tristan was about to follow her when she held her hand up. "Nope. I'm trying to create some space here."
"Wait-"
"See you tomorrow, Tristan." Emma said, turning on her heel and quickly leaving before Tristan could say anything else.
"Boys suck!" Emma announced as soon as she entered the house. Lorelai appeared from the kitchen, holding half a pop-tart in one hand and dinner in the other.
"All boys or just one in particular?" Lorelai said, rather wisely, looking at her daughter with concern.
"What the hell, add them all to the list." Emma grumbled as Rory appeared from her bedroom. Emma tossed off her soccer cleats, kicking them into a corner in the foyer before taking her mom's offering of the pop-tart.
"What happened?" Lorelai asked gently, glancing at Rory with a questioning look on her face. Rory only shrugged in response but looked equally concerned.
Emma sighed. Lorelai wanted communication. No secrets. "Tristan said he wanted 'space,'" Emma said, adding in air-quotes.
"He said that to you?" Lorelai said, anger filling her expression. "What an insensitive, snot-"
Rory interjected before her mom could continue, "He just said that out of the blue?"
"No." Emma took a bite of the poptart, not finishing her bite before she continued speaking, so it all came out garbled. "I asked him why we haven't been spending time together. And then he said he wanted space."
"Do you want me to kick his ass?" Rory offered, sincere.
Emma laughed like Rory had said the funniest joke. Just picturing Rory trying to fight someone was enough to cheer Emma up for a while. "No, thanks," Emma led the way into the living room and settled into the sofa with another large sigh. "I just want to eat chinese food and watch whatever show you guys picked out."
Rory and Lorelai exchanged looks over the top of Emma's head. "Sure, hun." Lorelai agreed, settling into the middle seat. "But if you want to talk-"
"I don't." Emma said, grabbing a container as Rory turned on the tv.
Rory led Emma to Luke's diner, trying to be sensitive to her sister's bad mood. She spotted her mom's rummage sale poster on the window and was about to nudge Emma when she noticed Emma's scowl and thought better of it.
Inside, Rory beelined for the counter and Emma took the seat next to her, grabbing a menu without really looking at it.
"If you want coffee, you'll have to wait." Luke said, his eyes narrowed at Rory's gleeful expression.
"Hey, Luke, someone put a sign for the rummage sale up in your window over there." Rory pointed behind her.
"You can have decaf right now if you're in a hurry." Luke ignored her previous statement.
"You should call the cops about this," Rory continued, "I mean we all know how you feel about public displays of town affection."
"Your mom asked me to put it there, okay?" Luke scowled at her.
"And you said yes?"
"She's not real good with 'no." Luke said.
"No, she's not." Rory agreed.
"For every second you laugh at me, that's one second longer you're waiting for coffee." Luke said, the threat in his voice clear.
"For the love of everything good, let the man get us coffee!" Emma threw her hands up in frustration.
Luke side eyed her, then glanced at Rory as if to ask 'What's wrong with your sister?' who shot him an apologetic smile. Luke opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but ultimately decided to get started on the coffee when Emma gave him a dirty look, turning away from them.
It was then that Lorelai waltzed into the diner, donning a cowboy hat and a big grin. "Margaret Atworthy just dropped off three boxes of city council pot holders and begged me to take her grandson. People are getting crazy, man. What?" Lorelai demanded when Rory kept staring at her. Emma couldn't care less, mostly ignoring her mom's antics.
"What are you wearing?" Rory asked, horrified.
"Hey, we have already argued about the sweatshirt." Lorelai said defensively.
"Yes, but we have not argued about the hat."
"What hat?"
"The one on your head, Annie Oakley." Rory said.
"It's great, isn't it?" Lorelai seemed pleased with herself.
"You made me throw out my pink cowboy boots but you get to keep this?" Emma motioned to the cowboy hat.
"Yes, because those boots did not fit anymore." Lorelai said simply. "And unless you were going to bind your feet like a geisha to make them tiny, then the boots had to go."
Emma rolled her eyes, but did not argue.
"What the hell do you think you're wearing?" Luke said, loudly and with such anger Emma looked up at him.
"I agree." Emma said. Luke looked at her, unimpressed but did not comment.
"Take that off." Luke continued.
"What?" Lorelai said, confused.
"Now that is not yours, take it off." Luke demanded.
"But I'll have hat hair," Lorelai said, confused and still not grasping how upset Luke was.
"I'm talking about the sweatshirt."
"Luke, calm down." Lorelai said, a little nervous, glancing around the diner to see people staring back at them.
"That is not yours." Luke said, ignoring her.
"No, I found it in the bags of stuff for the sale." Lorelai said.
"Oh, so you just find something and then you take it, is that it?" Luke exclaimed.
"No, I paid for it." Lorelai said slowly, still trying to calm him down. Emma and Rory exchanged glances, silently questioning if the other knew what was going on.
"Oh, so that makes it alright." Luke said sarcastically.
"It makes it legal," Lorelai shot back. "What is the matter with you?"
"Nothing." Emma thought there was definitely something. "Nothing is the matter."
"Luke…" Lorelai tried to say.
"Pour your own coffee." Luke said, forcefully placing the coffee pot in front of Emma before stalking away. She shrugged, grabbing her empty mug and pouring coffee into it as Lorelai looked in Luke's direction, still completely bewildered.
After a quick session helping her mom and Rory pile items for the rummage sale, Emma took her mom's Jeep to Tristan's house, feeling her nerves build as she approached her destination. When she finally did arrive, she parked in front of a large white house, much like her grandparents. There was a large circular driveway with a large lawn that was neatly trimmed. Emma jumped out of the car and stared up at the house. She scanned the street to see if anyone else arrived when Sophia pulled in behind her.
"Hey." Emma nodded at her. She still hadn't forgotten that Sophia had technically been the one who had snitched on her to her mom. Yet her anger at Tristan outweighed her annoyance with Sophia.
"Did you just get here?" Sophia asked, slamming her car door shut. Emma nodded. "Oh. Cool. Let's go in then."
Sophia confidently stepped onto the pathway, leading the way to the door.
"Have you been here before?" Emma asked, almost afraid of the answer. What did it mean that Sophia was so familiar with Tristan's house? She knew they said they were old friends but Sophia was not ugly and usually that's all it took for some guys.
"Yeah, his mom is friends with my mom." Sophia said, ringing the doorbell. The door swung open to reveal an older woman, dressed in a silky robe, holding a glass of what Emma presumed was alcohol.
"Sophia, darling," the woman greeted the young girl and she leaned forward to give her a kiss on the cheek. "How nice to see you again."
"Hi, Mrs DuGray." Sophia smiled politely at her. "This is Emma." She motioned behind herself to Emma who smiled hesitantly. "We're here for the group project."
"Emma?" Mrs DuGray ignored her. "Emma who?"
"Gilmore." Emma answered, arching an eyebrow as if to ask what it mattered what her last name was.
"I knew it." Mrs DuGray smirked. "You look just like your mother. Her genes must be so strong."
Emma nodded once. "Must be."
"I know your grandparents," Mrs DuGray said, this time letting them inside and closing the door behind them. "They host absolutely wonderful gatherings."
"I'll be sure to pass on the compliment." Emma said, more interested in looking around Tristan's house than talking about the parties her grandparents host. There was a large portrait of an older man hung in the entryway, staring down at all of them. He had ashy blonde hair, a thick mustache, and an expression that suggested he had never smiled before.
"That's Mr DuGray." Sophia quietly said to her as they walked further into the house.
"Tristan's dad?"
"Yup." Sophia said. They stopped in the living room where Tristan was already sitting with Ben who looked very uncomfortable.
"Well, I'll leave you kids alone." Mrs DuGray said, directing most of her smile at Sophia, before turning to Tristan. "Tristan, remember we have dinner with your father's associates tonight. Don't forget to shower beforehand. And wear the suit Bea laid out on your bed."
"Fine." Tristan told her shortly, then turned to the new arrivals "You guys made it." Tristan stared at Emma who was looking anywhere but at him.
"Hey." Sophia greeted him easily, sinking into the carpet and crossing her legs. Emma chose not to respond and took a seat between Ben and Sophia, intentionally not looking in Tristan's direction.
"When did you get here?" Emma asked Ben, who had shifted closer to the group.
"Ten minutes ago." Ben mumbled. "Longest ten minutes of my life."
Emma grinned. "Was his mom bugging you?"
"I'm pretty sure she thought I was lost."
"Why would she think that?" Emma tilted her head.
"I don't have an old-money name." Ben told her just as Sophia called for their attention, leaving Emma unable to ask more questions.
They had been able to get through a good chunk of the debate prep but they decided to break for cucumber sandwiches and lemonade that Bea, Tristan's housekeeper had made. They all ate around the kitchen island, all of them too lazy to bring the food out to the actual dining room.
"This is good, Tris." Sophia noted, nibbling on another sandwich. "We would never have gotten this at my house."
"What is the juice cleanse supposed to do anyway?" Emma asked.
"Her club friends say it's supposed to clear you of toxins or something. And then she's supposed to drop ten pounds." Sophia rolled her eyes. "She's kinda crazy."
"Sounds ambitious." Emma said.
"What about you?" Sophia asked.
"Uh, well, I'm okay with not losing any weight." Emma shrugged.
Sophia laughed. "I mean, what's your mom like?"
"Oh-"
"I mean, I already met her and she seemed cool… and young." Sophia pressed. Ben looked between them in interest as he picked at another sandwich.
"She is cool," Emma allowed. "For the most part. Cooler than most parents probably."
"Except she doesn't like parties." Tristan told Sophia.
Emma huffed. "Well, maybe she has a point. Parties are kinda stupid. And annoying."
"Of course you would say that."
"And why's that?" Emma demanded.
"Guys…" Sophia and Ben shifted uncomfortably, but Emma didn't care. Let Tristan say what he wanted to say.
"You don't like to have fun." Tristan said.
Everyone went quiet.
"Are you saying I'm boring?" Emma finally asked after a moment of silence. Tristan finally looked around and seemed to realize they had an audience.
"Maybe we should go someplace else." Tristan suggested.
"No, I'd like to know what else is wrong with me!" Emma exclaimed. "I'm boring and I'm clingy. What else?" Sophia visibly cringed and Ben looked equal parts entertained and uncomfortable.
Tristan sighed. "Please, can we talk somewhere else?"
"Fine." Emma snapped, throwing the rest of her sandwich on the plate. "Let's go." She followed him outside of the kitchen where there were double doors leading to a patio. Tristan ushered her outside and closed the doors behind them.
"I don't want to fight." Tristan told her. "It's not fun."
Emma crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh, you're not having a complete blast right now?"
"I didn't mean to say you're boring, okay?" Tristan sighed. "It's just ever since you got in trouble with your mom, it's like you don't want to do anything. I invite you out with my friends and you say no."
"Your friends are idiots." Emma said.
"My friends and I have fun." Tristan snapped. "At least I try to make plans. You never want to do anything. All your life is soccer, your sister, and that stupid town."
"That is not all my life is." Emma said defensively, her hackles rising.
"Soph says she tries to be friends with you all the time and you shut her down." Tristan told her. "Do you even have friends?"
Emma's jaw clenched even though the tips of her ears went red. All of her Stars Hallows friends had basically dropped her. Except for Tristan and Rory, Emma didn't interact much with the other students at Chilton. And Lane was nice, but she was always more Rory's best friend than Emma's.
"Sophia talks a lot." was the only thing Emma could come up with to say.
"I-"
"We should go inside," Emma suddenly said, turning away from him. "Soph's probably waiting for you, Tris."
Tristan sighed again in frustration but followed her inside.
An hour later, the team was done and everybody was headed out. Mrs DuGray appeared out of nowhere to give Sophia and Emma kisses on the cheek while barely managing to wish Ben a good day. Almost as if she couldn't wait to get him out of her house. Emma and Tristan didn't really speak to each other the rest of the time and when it came time to say goodbye, the most they could muster was a short 'bye' at the door. Emma started down the pathway, Sophia ahead of all of them. Ben walked behind her, hands in his pockets. Emma hurried to catch up to him, which was a feat considering how long his legs were.
"Ben!" Emma called out, causing the boy to slow down. She fell into step with him. "Sorry. I don't have anything to say but I didn't want Mrs DuGray to call me back into her house to talk about my grandparents or something."
He shrugged. "It's okay."
"So, where's your car?" Emma asked.
He tensed. "I don't have one."
"Oh yeah, I don't have one either," Emma assured him. "The Jeep is my mom's. I got my license as soon as I could though. Rory failed her test the first time." She laughed. It was one of the few times she beat Rory at something, and although they never really competed against each other, it did fill her with pride that driving just didn't come naturally to her sister.
"Uh, I didn't drive here." Ben explained and Emma felt bad immediately. "I took the bus."
"Right. Sorry." Emma winced. "I meant, sorry about my question. Not sorry that you don't have a car. I mean, it sucks if you don't have a car and have to take the bus but not in a high and mighty kind of way. Me and Rory take the bus too! Sometimes, when our mom can't drive us-"
"You can stop." Ben told her, amused.
"Thank you." Emma exhaled.
"And it's okay," Ben said. "It's not a big deal. To me, at least."
Emma glanced at his side profile as they approached her car. "Is that why Mrs DuGray treats you like you have the bubonic plague?" She was hinting at something but didn't want to outrightly ask in case it made the boy uncomfortable.
"Because I'm poor?" Ben was more direct. "Yes, she must have a sixth sense about those kinds of things. Those kind of people always do." Annoyance filled his expression for just a split second before it passed. "Or maybe Tristan told her."
"Well, what the hell does that matter?" Emma said. "You're in their fancy private school. And you're kind of a genius."
"I don't know about that." Ben said, his cheeks slightly pink.
"Come on, if it wasn't for you I think we would still be debating what we're supposed to defend."
"I think that's just reading the instructions." Ben's eyebrows furrowed.
"But you read them!" Emma bumped his shoulder. "Common sense, Ben. Not all of us have it."
"Is that why you keep fighting with Tristan in front of us?" Ben asked and Emma couldn't help staring at him in bewilderment. She hadn't expected that from him of all people. "Sorry. Was that too rude?"
"Kind of," Emma let out a loud laugh, not caring that they had already arrived at the car and she needed to meet up with her mom, Sookie, and Rory soon. "But it's the funniest thing I've heard you say."
Ben winced. "I shouldn't have said that."
"No, it's a reality check." Emma sighed. "It's embarrassing. I'm embarrassed. I've never been so…" Emma searched for the word. "Insecure like this. I guess it's because he's my first boyfriend."
"First?" Ben seemed surprised. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but then thought better of it. "Uh, wow."
"I should probably try harder. I mean, I wouldn't want to hold Tristan back from going to parties just because I don't want to go."
Ben hesitated. "Sure."
Emma nodded absent-mindedly then checked her watch. "Crap. I gotta go." She turned to Ben. "Thanks for the talk. You're actually nice to talk to."
She was about to walk around the car to get in when Ben stopped her. He looked extremely conflicted but then said, "You know, Tristan went out last weekend?"
Emma paused. "How do you know?"
Ben shrugged. "I'm quiet so people tend to think my hearing is not so good. Or that I'll never tell anyone what I overhear. I heard him talking about it with his friends in History."
She glanced down at the ground and when she looked up again, Ben could've sworn the blueness of her eyes had turned to ice. "Thanks, Ben. See you in class."
Emma had hurried home to find out that Madeline, Louise, and Paris had replaced Lane, Sookie, and her mom and would be attending the Bangles concert with them. She had been extremely confused but Rory had shaken her head so questions would have to be later.
"Hey, how was it?" Lorelai asked as Emma jumped out of the car.
Emma shrugged. "Fine."
"And Tristan?" Lorelai tried to keep the snideness to a minimum but she couldn't help herself. Emma frowned and crossed her arms over her chest.
"He was there, yes."
"Did he apologize?" Lorelai pressed, taking over the driver's seat. Emma switched to the back seat while the rest of the girls were still getting ready.
"No." Emma sighed.
"Are you guys broken up?"
Emma shrugged.
Lorelai took a deep breath. "Okay, I know you're upset but we have to talk about what happened at Luke's because it's not okay. If you're just going to be a big sour grape about whatever is going on between you and Tristan, you either have to talk about it or stop being rude to people who are being nice to you. Doing both would be even better," Lorelai said firmly, leaving no room for argument. "You understand?"
"Yes." Emma muttered, sliding further down in her seat. In truth, she was a little embarrassed by her behavior in Luke's but not enough to confront her feelings about what Tristan and Ben had said.
"So, are you going to talk about it?" Lorelai asked, glancing at her daughter in the rearview mirror.
"No." Emma sighed.
"Fine." Lorelai sighed as well. "And when we see Luke, you're going to…?"
"Apologize." Emma said. "How did you even know about that? You weren't even in the diner yet."
"Miss Patty told me. And then I pulled it out of your sister." Lorelai admitted. "I would've asked Luke but it looks like he's in a bad mood too. Must be something in the air."
"Or maybe it's because you're wearing his ex-girlfriend's sweater and parading it around like you're mocking him." Emma said.
Lorelai went silent as she processed what her daughter said. "I was not parading."
"Is that what you took from what I just said?" Emma rolled her eyes. "Mom, come on. Sookie and Miss Patty mentioned it was probably his ex-girlfriend's. It was probably weird for him to see you wearing her clothes."
"Well, if he hasn't moved on then maybe he shouldn't be donating these clothes," Lorelai said defensively, "They obviously still mean something."
"Or maybe it's the lady who's wearing the clothes." Emma mumbled, low enough so her mom couldn't hear.
"What?"
"Nothing." Emma quickly said.
They arrived at the concert quickly and the girls separated from the adults who headed for the nosebleeds after a quick check in. Emma followed behind Rory and Paris who had seemingly put their differences aside in the face of a common enemy which included an excited Madeline and Louise.
"I have never sat this close to a stage before," Madeline commented. "In fact, I've never even really been to a concert before so I could be sitting at the back and say the same thing." They slid into their row with Emma in the middle of all of them.
"Wow, these are amazing seats." Rory said.
"Yes they are." Louise said slyly, looking behind herself.
"What are they looking at?" Rory asked.
"One guess." Paris said curtly. Emma glanced back to see two guys standing behind them, watching them. Emma rolled her eyes and turned back to Rory.
"So stupid."
The concert was in full swing when Louise turned back to the girls, finally breaking away from her very important conversation with the two random guys who were most definitely out of high school.
"Listen, there's a massive party going on right around the corner." Louise said.
"So?" Rory was unimpressed.
"So they invited us." Louise continued.
"Who?"
"Jeff and Sean, we've been talking to them this whole time, they're extremely cool." Louise said, undeterred.
"Are we going?" Madeline entered the conversation.
"Going where?"
"To the party?" Madeline said.
"There's a concert going on." Rory gestured to the stage where the ladies were rocking out.
"The band won't miss us." Louise said.
"We can't just leave Louise." Rory insisted.
"It's America, Rory." Louise rolled her eyes.
"We have to meet my mom after the show." Rory said.
"Oh come on."
"What do you mean 'oh, come on?'" Rory exclaimed. "We have to meet my mother after the concert. The band may not miss us but Lorelai sure will."
"These guys are so cute."
"Emma, help?" Rory demanded, turning to Emma.
"What do you want me to do?" Emma's eyes widened. "Sit on them?"
"Emma!"
"Well, we're going." Louise insisted. "Paris?"
"No, thanks." Paris didn't even pretend to entertain their idea, turning her attention back to the concert.
"Fine. Emma?" Louise said. "Come on, don't be so boring."
Emma bristled. "What?"
"We'll be back by the time the concert's over." Madeline said, realizing Emma was not as firmly against them as Rory was.
Emma took a deep breath. "Fine."
"Em!" Rory exclaimed, grabbing onto her sister as if she could prevent her from leaving. "What am I gonna tell mom?"
"That you're a very good little girl." Louise said, getting up.
"The party's in a building on the corner of Waverly and First." Madeline said, following after Louise. Emma also slid out but Rory was still holding onto her arm.
"Em!"
"What, Rory?" Emma said. "Look, I won't be stupid. And at least I can make sure nothing happens to them, okay?"
"And who's going to watch you?!" Rory said, fully panicked.
"If someone tries anything, I'll sit on them." Emma patted Rory's shoulder with her free hand before finally pulling away and heading out after Louise and Madeline. She would show them who's boring.
Emma very quickly regretted her actions five minutes into arriving at Jason and Steve's party, or whatever their names were. The girls had very quickly been offered booze which Madeline and Louise accepted and Emma had promptly thrown out the cups in exchange for beer cans. If they were going to drink, they were not going to drink from a communal bowl. Emma had also taken a beer and downed it quickly, finishing before letting a loud burp. Some people cheered around her which empowered her to give an exaggerated bow. It had burned and she still didn't really enjoy the taste but she was here to have fun, not to sip and play video games. She took another can and sipped as she snooped around the apartment, going into the bathroom and hiding bath products and their toilet paper. Next was the bedroom where she hid every left shoe she could find.
She had then gone on to dance in the middle of the tiny apartment but quickly exited when a guy tried to dance against her. She let out an audible "Ew" and informed him she would be right back and took great care to avoid for the rest of the night. And just when she had enough, she swiped another beer can and exited into the hallway, leaning against the wall and sliding down until she was sitting.
Emma cracked open the can and was casually sipping when her mother appeared around the corner in a flurry, followed by Sookie, her twin, and Paris.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Lorelai demanded, spotting her daughter, unharmed, but drinking. She didn't know whether to be relieved or angry and settled somewhere between both. "Why the hell did you run off?"
"Mom." Emma said, not really surprised. "You made it."
"Get up." Lorelai pulled her to her feet. "What were you thinking?"
"You don't get it." Emma said, her voice wavering now.
Lorelai stared down at her daughter, then said, "We'll talk about this later." She then headed into the apartment and quickly came back out with the rest of the girls who looked embarrassed. "I am not even going to begin to tell you how completely insane it is to take off with anyone you don't know, or drink beer, or act like you have a clue when you don't, but so help me God, if you ever pull a stunt like this again, it will be around my kids! Do you understand me?!"
"Yes."
"Good, now let's go." Lorelai said. "I can't wait to meet your parents. We have some catching up to do. I think we'll just talk and talk and talk all night long."
Lorelai led the way and Rory quickly took up position next to her sister, wrapping her arm around Emma's. "What happened?"
"Nothing." Emma shook her head, still holding onto the beer can. Rory plucked it out her hands and set it down on the floor, next to the door.
"Mom's going to kill you," Rory informed her, very serious.
Lorelai had let her daughter go to bed without any confrontation, but by the next morning she was ready for some answers.
She entered Emma's room, where she was still in bed, despite the fact she was awake. "Morning, Miss Hilton. Should I get the butler to bring the Bugatti around?"
Emma sat up, making space for her mom to sit down on the bed.
"Okay, kid, I think you know you're no longer allowed to not talk about whatever's got you down." Lorelai said firmly. "Not when you go to strange boy's parties and completely betray my trust again."
"I know." Emma quietly said.
"What's going on?" Lorelai tried to understand. "Is it Tristan? Did he do something other than say he needs 'space'?" She made air quotes around 'space' and rolled her eyes at teenage boys' stupidity.
Emma sighed, clutching her pillow. "You know Jenna and I don't talk anymore? Or any of the soccer team?"
"What happened?" Lorelai asked.
Emma shrugged. "Jenna's busy, I guess. And the rest of the girls think I'm a huge snob for transferring to Chilton. They think I think I'm better than them."
"What jerks." Lorelai said. "Do you want me to talk to their parents?"
Emma shook her head. "No."
"Fine." Lorelai said. "And what about Tristan?"
"He said he wanted space." Emma said.
"I still can't believe this guy said that! Didn't he spend all that time chasing after you, giving you creepy nicknames?"
"Yeah, but back then I had friends." Emma sighed. "I think I was relying on him too much. He's basically my only friend."
"He should worship the ground you walk on." Lorelai said, in full seriousness but when Emma cracked a smile, Lorelai smiled too. "But that wasn't the reason you went to the party."
"He kinda called me boring because I don't go to every party he invites me to," Emma relented. "And I guess I stupidly thought he stopped going to parties but then Ben said he heard that Tristan went out last weekend and he didn't even invite me, and what does that mean, you know? Does it he talk to other girls?" Lorelai was about to say something but Emma continued. "So when Louise and Madeline implied I was boring, I don't know, I guess I just thought 'here's my chance to prove them wrong.'"
Lorelai shook her head. "I think you need some new friends, kid."
Emma didn't argue. "You're probably right."
"Look, I know you're broken up about this, but you should remember not to take these things seriously," Lorelai began. "You're young. You're gonna have plenty of time and different boyfriends who are gonna bring you down, but a kid like Tristan? Should not be one of them. He's an entitled boy who doesn't know how to treat girls, if Rory's stories about him and Paris are to be believed."
"I know." Emma looked down.
"And you should be focusing on classes, anyway." Lorelai said strictly.
"I know that too." Emma nodded.
"Good." Lorelai placed her hand on top of Emma's. "Now: who's Ben?" Lorelai waggled her eyebrows, which made Emma roll her eyes light-heartedly.
"He's on my debate team." Emma told her. "He's nice."
"And cute?"
"Mom."
"Right. We shouldn't even be talking about this," Lorelai nodded. "We should be talking about your punishment."
Emma let out a loud sigh, flopping back onto her bed. "Okay, hit me with it."
"Grounded for two weeks." Lorelai announced. "One for leaving the concert and one for drinking, especially when you're underage."
"So, I shouldn't mention your teen partying days?" Emma arched an eyebrow. "And how you were probably worse than me?"
"Not if you don't want to make it three weeks."
And so Emma went on a mini apology tour. She went into Luke's, who quickly forgave her when she gave him her best puppy dog eyes and tried to blame her outburst on her period. He quickly became uncomfortable and told her she would never have to apologize again if she never talked about that again to him. She then quickly told Sophia and Ben she was sorry for being dramatic to which Sophia said it was okay and Ben nodded. Then she went to Tristan after class. He was standing by his locker, shoving books inside his bookbag.
"Sorry for calling you a troll." She began.
Tristan eyed her. "Huh?"
"I'm sorry." Emma repeated. She wasn't going to mention how she knew he didn't invite her to his parties. She just didn't want to fight anymore. She had decided to be boring about it all.
"Me too." Tristan shrugged. It wasn't really an apology but Emma figured it was as good as it was gonna get.
"Friends?" Emma held her hand out. Tristan stared at it. "Tristan?"
"Sure." Tristan said. "Friends." He turned away and headed down the hallway, not looking back. Emma shrugged before heading her own way.
As if she was going to make Tristan her entire personality.
She needed someone to talk to that wasn't her sister or her mom. With determination and a sense of faux confidence, Emma approached Ben's table at lunch, where he was filling out a sudoku puzzle. In pen. Of course he would, Emma thought.
"So, I was thinking we should hang out after school," Emma began, startling the boy. "To celebrate crushing our debate." She clarified, sliding in the empty seat in front of him.
"What?" Ben stared at her with wide eyes.
"I'm inviting you out. For ice cream or something else." Emma could feel her confidence slipping. He hadn't rejected her yet but Emma was not used to working very hard to get people to like her. They either did or they didn't, and she never used to worry about it. Except for now. "You know, just in case you're lactose intolerant. Or maybe you just don't like ice cream? How about frozen yogurt?"
"I like ice cream." Ben said hesitantly, bookmarking the page with his pen. He finally made eye contact and Emma was once again struck by how striking his eyes were. Stop, Emma told herself.
"Cool beans." Emma heard herself say, internally wincing. "So, after school? We can meet up at the gargoyle that looks like Miss Winshaw." She knew, technically, she was grounded but she was allowed to stay out for soccer practice but it was canceled because Coach's sister was in town but her mom didn't need to know that.
Ben cracked a smile at that. "Why do I know exactly which one you're talking about?"
"Am I lying?" Emma shot back, smiling now.
"Aren't you on the soccer team? Don't you guys have practice after class?" Ben asked.
"You know I'm on the soccer team?" Emma furrowed her brows.
Ben nodded. "I'm on the Franklin. The newspaper. I take pictures of all the sports games."
"Oh." Emma said. "How am I?"
"I don't actually know soccer," Ben shrugged. "I just take pictures of you guys kicking the ball around."
"Okay, but how cool do I like doing it?" Emma demanded, leaning forward in her seat, looking at Ben with such seriousness, he had to laugh.
"Very cool." Ben said.
Emma grinned. "Thanks." Emma leaned back, satisfied. "And practice was canceled." Emma stood up, "So are you in?"
"Won't your boyfriend mind?" Ben asked nervously, scanning the dining hall as if Tristan was waiting to ambush him.
Emma rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about him."
"Uh, okay." Ben nodded. "After class."
"Great."
I researched teen heartthrobs of the 2000's around Jared and Milo's age and I was qwhite surprised by the options I could choose to incorporate in my story. I know I don't go into depth about how Ben looks (except for his dreamy brown eyes) but I do picture Penn Badgeley for this.
Anyways, thanks for reading! Until next time!