Chapter 22

Monday had sped by and before Rory knew it was Tuesday. She had been surprised to see that people left her alone on Monday. For the most part, it hadn't been as difficult to ignore the whispering or the snickering as she thought it would be. With Duncan and Bowman both still suspended the only person really out to get her now was Summer. Rory was finding it easier and easier to tune her out---that was, of course, before Tuesday and before the picture.

Summer had been shooting her troubling glares all morning; and, Rory wasn't an idiot. She knew that even though it was easy to tune Summer out when she was without an audience, the cafeteria would soon be crowded by over-privileged Chilton students, and Summer loved to perform for them. So with that thought in mind, Rory wasted no time getting out of the classroom as soon as the lunch bell rang.

She'd intended to sit in the library, the only place in the school with no chance of Summer and/or her entourage hounding her. She couldn't have lunch in there, which wasn't a problem considering she hadn't had much of an appetite lately anyway, but she could sit and absorb herself in peace and quiet and literature.

She'd been in such a hurry to shove her things into her locker that she almost missed something falling from it. Leaning down to pick whatever it was off the floor, a task she had no idea she'd later regret, she grasped the object in her hand. She picked it up and upon further inspection she surmised it was a photo.

She flipped it over, coming face to face with Tristan. Her eyes closed quickly as she felt like she'd been punched in the gut. All the air had rushed from her lungs and her fingers gripped tighter around the picture. She opened her eyes and locked her gaze on the photo. It took a moment for her to realize that she wasn't just looking at Tristan, but at Summer as well. Was I really so entranced by seeing Tristan that I missed the she-devil herself? All thoughts of Tristan were quickly replaced with thoughts of anger.

Rory's eyes instantly darkened as she looked around the hallway to see if Summer had stuck around. She moved to rip the photograph to shreds when she noticed the caption. How she'd missed it before she didn't know. She didn't even notice Paris until she felt the photo being removed from her grasp.

"Game on Bitch? Really?" Paris asked surprised and annoyed after seeing the caption on the photo. "Is that supposed to be some kind of threat?"

Rory shrugged before slamming her locker shut. "I don't know," she said trying to remain calm.

Paris rolled her eyes. "What's she trying to prove?

"I don't know. And I don't care," Rory said trying not to envision ripping her to shreds and not just her photo.

"I understand you're trying to move past all this, but this has to be bothering you."

Rory shook her head. "If she knows that, she'll never stop."

Paris nodded as she saw Rory's eyes trail back to the picture. She saw an uncertain amount of sadness in Rory's eyes and sighed. "He didn't even care about her."

"Says the girl who's holding the picture of his face attached to Malibu Barbie's lips." Rory snapped bitterly.

Paris sighed. "That doesn't mean anything and you know it. Tristan kissed a lot of girls," she said before realizing that probably wasn't going to help. "But it never means anything."

Rory shot her a look of sadness. Was that true? Did a kiss with Tristan really mean nothing? She couldn't help but wonder what that said about the kiss they'd shared at Madelyn's. She couldn't help but now wonder if she herself had been one of those meaningless kisses. "You're not really helping, Paris," she said, her voice stronger than she felt it had the right to be.

The melancholy expression on her face was enough for Paris to shut her mouth. She sighed wearily. "So, what do you want to do?"

Rory shrugged her shoulders in a clueless gesture and took the picture from Paris. Taking a deep breath, she glanced at Tristan again. This time taking special care to look closely at him and block out the image of Summer attached to his cheek. She could tell by looking at him that he wasn't happy he was being photographed. Looking into his eyes, she could see no twinkle; and, despite the fact that he was smiling, it was obvious he wasn't happy at all. Even when he was "happy" he was miserable Rory thought to herself. With that realization, she felt tears stinging her eyes and thrust the picture at Paris. "Get rid of this," she said tersely wanting to get rid of the proof of his misery–as if the very act of disposing evidence of his unhappiness would somehow nullify it and as if it would somehow make them all feel better.

Holding the picture in her hand, Paris watched as her best friend turned and stormed off in the direction of the library. As she did so, a thought suddenly occurred to her... Maybe, Summer just needs a little reality check...

xxxxxx

Finding Summer hadn't been hard. She was sitting in the middle of the cafeteria at her usual table, gloating. Paris strode to her table on a mission. "Summer." she snapped angrily.

"What can I do for you Paris?" Summer asked her voice full of fake sincerity.

Paris smirked before slamming the picture down on the table. "I thought I'd return this."

Summer smiled widely and looked around the cafeteria. "I take it Rory didn't like it. I mean she's not here, should I start looking for the nearest bathroom. If she's sobbing she shouldn't be alone..."

"Game on Bitch?" she asked pointing to the caption.

"Just a friendly reminder."

"Of what? That you're a Bitch. Don't worry she won't forget that."

"Now, now, Paris, no need to be so snippy."

"Shut up!" Paris snapped, "Your little plan back-fired. She didn't care one way or the other..."

"Oh I doubt that," Summer interjected.

Paris rolled her eyes. "You really are clueless aren't you? You think he cared about you because he spent one night chasing you around at a party begging for your attention? Newsflash, he didn't. He despised you, Summer, but your brown hair and blue eyes were enough for him to pretend you were Rory." Paris snapped noticing for the first time that the cafeteria had gone completely silent. They were all listening to her and they were all waiting for what would come next.

"Does it make her feel better to think that?" Summer asked visibly annoyed.

Paris scoffed. "Did you ever wonder why the two of you never talked? Why he was always kissing you? He knew the second you opened your ignorant mouth that you'd ruin his fantasy. As long as you kept your mouth shut, he could keep on pretending you were the shy, brown haired, blue-eyed bookworm he had fallen in love with."

Summer remained silent. She couldn't think of what to say. She looked back down at the picture of him smiling at her, as if it would somehow give her some kind of reassurance, but she kept coming up empty.

"Even when everyone thought he'd quit chasing after her, he was done with you. That's what really bothers you. He's still chasing her and..."

"Still? Not much chasing can occur when he's not in the same country." Summer pointed out.

"And, the fact that he's still trying, despite the Atlantic Ocean between them, really tells you something doesn't it?" Paris asked quickly. It wasn't really a lie. Even from North Carolina, Tristan was still racking his brain trying to think of ways to make Rory feel better, to make her see he cared. She reached down and snatched the photo away from Summer and tore it, effectively separating her and Tristan. She threw the half of Summer back on the cafeteria table before sticking the half with Tristan in her jacket pocket. "You know you're right. I think Rory would like this," she snapped before turning on her heel and leaving Summer flabbergasted and no longer gloating.

xxxxxx

Somehow knowing that he was going home on Friday morning, that he would get to see her; made military school a little easier. He still despised his teachers and the majority of his classmates, but it didn't seem as important. He kept thinking of what he'd say to her when he saw her again. Would she be happy to see him? Would she slap him for causing her so many problems and then leaving her pick up the mess he'd left behind? Would he even be able to help her? Would she even want his help? Would she simply resent him for leaving all over again when the weekend was over?

He knew it wouldn't be long until he had the answers to those questions. He imagined their reunion many ways and not a lot them didn't involve her yelling at him for invading her personal life. And despite Paris' admission that Rory missed him, very few of those imagined reunions involved her being pleased to see him. Although, a few did involve a chick fight breaking out between her and Paris and that thought alone made him smile.

Feeling the buzzing electronic in his pocket he discretely pulled out his cell phone. He had been avoiding Paris' calls. Mainly because he didn't want her to know he was coming. He didn't want her to tell Rory, and he didn't want her to have to walk around on eggshells around her if he told her. He quickly silenced the call and opened the text message window. After sending a text that read in class I'll call you later he sighed and closed his phone. He'd have to tell her something. If he didn't, he wouldn't have to worry about Rory's reaction to his return; Paris would kill him when he got there.

xxxxxx

Paris hadn't had a chance to talk to Rory since before lunch, but now the end of the day was upon them, and she was finally going to get her chance. Tristan's text message had irritated her, but she knew that her irritation with Tristan was no where close to Rory's irritation with Summer. "Rory," she said before Rory could leave the classroom.

Rory sighed. "What Paris?"

"Can we talk?"

"About what?"

Paris handed Rory the torn picture of Tristan. "This."

Rory stared down at the picture for a moment before sticking it in her pocket. "I asked you to get rid of this..."

"I thought you'd like to..."

"Not start a war with Summer." she sniped.

Paris looked at her strangely. "You can't seriously be mad at me for standing up to her, especially since you wouldn't."

Rory scoffed. "I've been doing nothing but standing up to her since Tristan left. She's all over me, and you've just made it worse, Paris."

"How? Tell me how I made it worse." Paris snapped.

"Telling her Tristan was only with her because she reminded him of me! What part of your brain thought that was a good idea?" she yelled exasperated.

Paris sighed. "I didn't tell her anything that wasn't the truth."

"That's not the point. And you don't know that's why he was with her!"

"Rory..."

"But now, she's never going to leave me alone. And whatever she does next, I can guarantee will be better than sticking a picture of them kissing in my locker. She's not going to stop until she breaks me now. And it's your fault," she snapped. She desperately wanted to cry. Paris had basically thrown her into raging rapids and inadvertently left her without any kind of life preserver.

Paris watched as Rory pulled her book bag back on to her back and started to leave the room. "Where are you going?"

"To catch my bus," she said trying to hold back the tears she knew would come the second she had a moment alone.

"I'll drive you home." Paris offered feeling guilty. She could tell that Rory was really upset and she felt horrible about it, knowing that even though it hadn't been her intention she had made it worse for Rory.

"No thank you." Rory snapped before leaving.

xxxxxx

It wasn't until she was sitting in Luke's did she trust herself to pull out his picture. She was surprised she had made it all the way here without crying to begin with. If she'd done it on the bus, she knew she wouldn't have been able to hold back; but here at home, like Chilton, there were people she knew, people she didn't want to see her break down. Looking at the picture made her feel worse about the way she treated him. She could see the misery so clearly in his eyes, but what she couldn't figure out is why she'd never seen it before. When he'd been a constant presence in her life, she had simply believed that his smiles were genuine, that he truly loved the life he lived. It had never occurred to her that the only true, genuine smiles he'd ever used were used solely for and with her. Sighing sadly, she looked up from the picture only to be met with Jess' gaze.

"What are you looking at?" Jess asked curiously.

Rory shook her head. "Nothing," she said defensively trying to stick the photo back in her pocket before he saw it.

"You just zoned out for ten minutes looking at nothing?" he questioned disbelievingly.

"Uh-huh," she said nodding.

Jess laughed. "You do know I don't believe you, right?"

"Yes."

Jess laughed again and sat down next to her. "Show me."

"No," she said determinedly.

Jess sighed. "Come on, Rory. One of these days you're going to have to trust someone enough to tell them what's going on. You obviously don't trust Lorelai..."

"I trust Mom."

"Not enough apparently. You kept this Tristan thing from her for months before you told her anything."

"You don't know the first thing about Tristan..."

"I know that you're holding a picture of him in your pocket."

"And how do you know that?"

Jess smiled sadly pushing a strand of hair back behind her ear. "Because the only time you look this sad is when you're thinking about him," he said softly before getting up and leaving the table.

Rory pulled the picture out one last time to look at it and sighed. Since when did he get to know me so well?

xxxxxx

Wednesday was spent walking around on cautiously. Rory could tell just by looking at Summer that the girl was plotting something. She spent the entire lunch period in the library again, avoiding everyone. She still wasn't talking to Paris when Thursday rolled around. She knew that by the end of the day, she would have to cave and give in, but that didn't mean things wouldn't be tense between them for a while.

The second she stepped onto Chilton's grounds on Thursday, she knew something was different. Everyone was back to calling her Mary; and as if that wasn't enough, she kept coming across pictures of Tristan. She had spent her morning gathering up the ones she came across and by lunch time she had over twenty pictures. Rolling her eyes in annoyance she spotted Summer across the cafeteria and headed in her direction. She dumped the entire stack of them onto the table and smiled as Summer looked up at her. "And you think I'm obsessed with Tristan. I mean seriously, look at this Summer. This is ridiculous. I didn't care about your other picture why would these bother me."

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

"And enough with the Mary... it doesn't bother me like you think it does." she said informatively before pointing to the pictures again, "Your photo copier is probably running low on toner or something by now. Why don't you move on and get a hobby or something."

"Excuse me?"

"He doesn't want you. He never really did. The night you broke up with him, he told me that he never wanted to be with you again. That the two of you were never getting back together. So why don't you move on. He did," she snapped before turning to leave.

"You're a bitch." Summer sniped.

Rory laughed. "I'm ok with that." she said turning to leave.

Summer waited until Rory was almost gone before speaking again. Paris had publicly humiliated her on Tuesday, and there was no way Rory was going to get away with it today. "And you think he wants you?" she called out. "Seriously Mary, you were nothing but a notch on his bedpost."

"Summer..." one of her friends started; every one of them had realized that this was going too far. Summer was out of control.

"You weren't anything real to him, Rory. He used you---just like he used every other girl in this school. He was only after one thing. You were just a conquest for him; and judging by your response to his absence, I'm guessing he conquered you," she sniped venomously.

Rory stood silent trying desperately to stop the tears from coming. She could feel them rising in her eyes and the bile rising in her throat.

"Come on, Mary. Aren't you going to deny it? Tell me you never slept with Tristan?"

Rory tried to form the words but they wouldn't come to her. Say something! Anything! The longer you stand here in silence the more they're going to believe her!

"Hmm... guess not. Looks like our little Virgin Mary is a Magdalene after all."

Rory turned around and looked at Summer and her friends. She could see several of them hanging their heads in shame. It was obvious to Rory that they knew Summer had gone to far. "I have never done anything to you," she said softly.

Summer grinned. She was pleased that the tears were now pouring freely from Rory's eyes. "I'm just trying to get you admit what we've all known from the beginning. He didn't care about you. He didn't love you. He didn't want you. He wanted to get in your pants and that's it. You were nothing to him," she said smiling wider as Rory's eyes closed. Any minute now and she'll be sobbing. "In fact, he left because of you."

That had apparently been enough to bring her over the edge because before she knew it she was sobbing. Pull yourself together Gilmore. You can't let them see you like this.She knew she would have to say something, anything before she could leave the cafeteria but it was as if her mouth had been glued shut.

"Enough." Came a voice from the doorway.

Summer turned towards the voice and her face blanched. "Mr. Medina."

Max glared at her. "Office now, Ms. Roberts."

"But..."

"Now," he bellowed. "And don't think for a second that you're going to weasel your way out of this again," he snapped quietly as she passed him. "I'll meet you there." The cafeteria was silent as he made his way over to Rory, who was still sobbing. "Are you ok?" he asked her gently while putting his hand on her shoulder.

Rory shrugged off his touch as if it burned. "Don't, you'll only make it worse."

Max nodded. "Do you need to go home?"

Rory looked around the cafeteria. She knew she should stay and finish the day but there was no way she'd get any work done with everyone, including the teachers staring at her like she was going to have a nervous breakdown any minute now. She nodded quickly while trying to get herself under control.

He nodded. "Alright, I have a free period after lunch, I'll take you myself."

She shook her head. "You don't have to do that."

Max smiled at her. "I want to. Come on," he said gesturing towards the exit.

The cafeteria was silent as they watched them exit. No one knew what would happen next and no matter what punishment would be imposed things were not looking too pretty for Rory or Summer.