April 2nd

At twenty minutes to noon Luke couldn't take it anymore and although he was literally a few steps from the school, he had hollered to Caesar and announced that he was leaving and would be back soon. Now that he was standing in the school entrance, however, seventeen minutes remaining until their meeting, he realized that he couldn't really head straight for the principal's office, and suddenly he felt foolish for arriving so early.

Walking down the hall brought back memories that Luke would have preferred to keep buried. He had always felt uncomfortable when the kids were younger and he needed to go back to his old elementary school, but now that Jess and Rory were in high school, and the need for his visits had decreased considerably, he had less experience revisiting the old building where he spent (or tried to avoid spending) his teen years. He laughed to himself remembering how often he would skip classes when he was younger, to the dismay of his dad, instead opting to help out at the hardware store. Yet, the man, just having lost his wife, never said much, as he needed the help and the family needed money. Luke shook his head, realizing not for the first time how much he and his nephew were alike. He could admit that school hadn't been his thing either, but he also knew that Jess was a lot brighter than he was, whether he wanted to apply those brains or not was up to him.

The halls still smelled the same as they had all those years before. A mix of teen odour and excessive Axe spray making Luke's nostrils clench from the intensity. To-go coffee mugs, many from the diner, piled on top of the over flowing garbage and Luke shook his head wondering at what age the caffeine addiction became considered normal. He was aware that over the past few years Rory had grown increasingly interested in the beverage that her mother worshipped, and to Luke's dismay, Lorelai had no issues with allowing her still young daughter to indulge in the bad habit as well. It had caused quite the fight between the couple when the issue was first brought up. Lorelai had offered Rory a cup one day, which had caused Jess to become interested as well. It was the first time that the parents' rules had conflicted and although he wouldn't have let Jess drink coffee at thirteen under normal circumstances, he had no choice but to pick his battles. The two kids lived in the same house and the same rules needed to apply for both of them. Luckily for him, Jess hadn't taken much of a liking to the hot beverage anyway.

Passing the mess of lockers, many of which not even bothered to be locked, he casually peeked into a classroom window as he passed it by, a few heads turning lazily to the door when they noticed the movement outside. He chuckled to himself at the post-lunch crash that seemed to have hit ninety percent of the students in the room and Luke felt for the poor teacher who was trying his hardest to produce some sort of reaction out of his tired pupils.

Stopping right before the trophy case where he and Lorelai had found incriminating high school pictures of him when they had visited on parent's night, Luke checked his watch and noticed he had killed nearly fifteen minutes. He decided it was now appropriate to make his way to the office and he tried his hardest not to jog there in anticipation.

He arrived in the waiting room and was greeted by the receptionist who checked him in and told him to wait in one of the plastic chairs lining the walls. He felt transported back to his younger days as he sat outside the principal's office and he squirmed out of habit. It was only another minute or so before the door swung open and the man who Luke had met just once before walked out.

"Mr. Danes? Hello, it's nice to see you again," he greeted extending his hand.

"Uh, yes, you too," Luke replied, wiping his hands on his pants as he got up to accept the hand.

"Why don't you follow me into my office and we'll talk."

Luke did as told and was surprised to find two other individuals in the small office when he entered.

"Mr. Danes, this is Mr. Blakes, Jess' History teacher, and Mrs. Truly, his English teacher. They'll be sitting in on our meeting as well."

Nodding politely, Luke inadvertently gulped, wondering just what his nephew had gotten himself into if it meant the principal needed back up to confront him about it, "Hi," he replied, shaking their hands respectfully before taking a seat in the empty chair.

"Now I know you're probably wondering why I asked for this meeting with you. I honestly didn't mean to be mysterious," the man chuckled from behind the desk, "I just thought it would be much easier to discuss this in person."

Luke silently nodded, reminding him more of Jess than himself.

"I'll let Mrs. Truly have the floor to explain the situation," the man gestured to the younger woman and she smiled warmly.

"Mr. Danes, your nephew is an exceptional student," she began, "I've never quite met a young man who reads as much as him and he has such a way with words in his writing it trumps even my skills. You should be very proud."

He waited for the 'but' to come. He had heard the speech before, 'Jess is very bright, but he doesn't apply himself,' he knew the line and he sighed internally waiting for it to fall from her lips.

"I noticed right away that he was special," she continued, "And over the past few months I've been noticing that the materials we were studying in class just weren't challenging enough for him. I've recently started giving him separate assignments from the class and he has seemed a lot happier with the new material."

Luke nodded to let her know he was paying attention, though, honestly, he was no longer sure where the conversation was going.

"I started asking around to Jess' other teachers, but to my surprise they all had very different reports of my star student. Mr. Blakes has filled me in on the Jess he sees in his class and I have to admit I was a bit perplexed."

Mr. Blakes nodded, "I agree that Jess is exceptionally bright, but in my class and with my other colleagues, he just doesn't seem to be applying the same initiative. I would go as far as saying he is simply bored. I've caught him daydreaming countless times in my class, that is when he shows up, as the amount of classes he skips have been building up considerably. Yet, if I were to ask him a question on the material he can answer with more knowledge than I have taught."

"So what exactly are we getting at here?" Luke finally spoke up, "I know my nephew doesn't show a lot of enthusiasm towards school. I didn't know about the skipping classes, but I can talk to him about that. Honestly, this is a problem I've been dealing with since elementary school and I appreciate the concern, but-"

"Mr. Danes, I don't mean to cut you off, but maybe I should get to the point," the English teacher smiled, "The ninth graders all took standardized testing a few weeks back, and the school received the results the other day," She explained. "Jess' scores were exceptionally high. Number one in the school actually."

Luke blinked, "Wait... what?"

"It's pretty remarkable Mr. Danes," the principal spoke up, "The school hasn't seen a score like that in a very long time. Your nephew is, well... gifted."

"I mean, we always knew he was smart..." Luke trailed, "What exactly does this mean for him?"

"I know we had you and your wife in here not long ago discussing options for your step-daughter in regard to Chilton," he answered and Luke nodded slowly, "Well, we think that it might be the right choice for your nephew as well."

"Chilton? Jess?" Luke asked. The two words together almost sounded funny to him.

"I can understand your reservation Mr. Danes, but we feel that if Jess was challenged more like Mrs. Truly has been experimenting with in her class, his attitude toward school may improve as well," the man explained.

"When you have a child as bright as Jess is," Mrs. Truly picked up, "Sometimes they become so bored with the easy material that they act out. They don't feel the material is worth their time so they simply refuse to do it. They are bored in class so they become a distraction to the other students, or they just don't bother showing up at all."

"It's obvious that he is by far the smartest in his grade," the principal informed, "Yet with the amount of missed classes and unfinished homework I'm afraid he will be on the verge of failing if he doesn't improve."

"I didn't know it had gotten that bad," Luke rubbed the back of his neck, "I know Rory keeps an eye on him and I just figured she'd say something..."

"Sometimes it's not so easy ratting out your brother," Principal Merton pointed out, "Look, I'm sure he figures a class here and a missed assignment there is no big deal, but the fact is his grades have been slipping since the new semester."

"We really do feel that Chilton will be a step in the right direction for Jess," Mrs. Truly smiled, "Like I said, he is doing very well in my class and Chilton has the advanced material that we think he is in need of."

"It really is up to Jess Mr. Danes, but we sent in his test scores to the school and they said they have a place for him in the fall if he wants it," the principal added.

Luke raised his eyebrows in surprise, "He's in? Just like that? We haven't even heard back about Rory yet."

"With her grades and diligence I have no doubt in my mind that she will be accepted too," the man promised, "The truth is the school hasn't started accepting anyone for the fall semester yet. However, with Jess' impressive test scores, they've pushed him through as an exception."

"That's... I mean if this could help Jess," Luke stuttered, still in awe.

"We don't need an answer today," Principal Merton assured, "Go home and discuss it with Jess, see what he thinks. It is a big decision."

Luke nodded in a bit of a haze as he stood up from the chair, "Thanks, I will."

The principal smiled, "Call me back when you make a decision and we will get all the logistics figured out at that point. For now, I'm going to speak with his teachers about coming up with some advanced work for him for the last few months."

"That would be great," Luke agreed, "Thanks a lot."

He turned to head out, but the younger woman rested a gentle hand on his arm as she too made her way towards the exit. "He really is a special kid. You should be insanely proud of him."

The uncle blinked once before letting a smile small spread on his face, "I am."

Luke left the meeting with his mind still swimming with thoughts. The discussion had definitely taken a different direction to what he had been expecting and he felt a sense of relief and fear all at the same time.

For the most part, Jess was alright. He would need to work with him to get him through the last two months of school, put his foot down about the skipping and homework, but the prospect of Chilton gave the man a solution he had never considered before. After all the years of fighting with the boy, worrying about his future, there were suddenly answers. Positive answers and a plan for improvement. His boy, his gifted boy, might be alright after all.

He smiled to himself as he turned the corner towards the back of the school. He knew Lorelai was still on her lunch break and he decided to head home to catch her before she went back to the Inn. The truth was, he needed to talk everything out with someone before all the rambling thoughts drove him insane.

He walked towards the back of the building and turned when he heard laughing coming from the far corner. A group of boys crowded around the old school dumpster and Luke shook his head at the delinquents. As he passed them by he shot a disapproving glare their way, feeling like he was getting closer and closer to becoming the grumpy old man of the town. However, as he passed by, the corner of his eye caught something familiar, a bit too familiar, causing him to stopped dead, praying that he was seeing things. Unfortunately, zeroing in on the teens only confirmed his concerns. There in the middle of the crowd was his nephew, lit cigarette dangling from his mouth and easy smirk on his face.

Luke's heart sunk as he watched his nephew take a puff of the cancer stick, feeling anger and fear fill up inside him all at once. Before he could even think, he found his voice taking over.

"Jess William," Luke bellowed from across the street and the uncle watched as his nephew's eyes shot towards him when he heard the familiar voice. Quickly, he dropped the glowing stick, smoke rising from the foot that refused to stomp out the heat.

He watched as his nephew cheeks instantly burned red in embarrassment. Luke was unsure if it was because of his uncle's loud exclamation of his full name, or the fact that the man had caught him in the act and he was ashamed. Either way, by the look of the man's face and the firmness of his voice, Luke was sure that the boy's friends were fully aware that he was in deep trouble and Luke bet that it was hurting his pride a fair amount.

"What do you think you're doing?" Luke questioned furiously as he stomped over to the circle of future high school dropouts.

"Luke-" Jess swallowed and the man noticed the obvious drop of 'uncle' in front of his classmates, "I, uh..." the boy looked around sheepishly.

"I guess it's pretty obvious what you're doing isn't it? I could ask why you'd think this was okay, but I can answer that question too, you weren't thinking at all! And here I thought you were smart!" Luke let the anger take over, not registering the fact that the two had an audience and his nephew was shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"Can we do this someplace else?" the teen finally asked in desperation causing Luke to halt his ranting upon hearing his nephew's hushed voice. His first instinct was to continue chewing the boy out no matter how uncomfortable he appeared to be, but one glance at the kid who looked embarrassed to even be asking that question in front of the crowd, he instantly felt pity and he found himself giving in to the compassion.

He sighed, "C'mon," he finally ordered, grabbing the teen's upper arm and pulling him from the group of onlookers. The looks of amusement on the other kids' faces as they passed told Luke he had made the right choice.

Luke walked quickly, Jess struggling to keep up as the uncle steered them in the direction of their house. The boy was quiet and his cheeks were still flaming from the entire situation, but Luke left his pity back at the school. Now that they were alone again, he could feel his anger reignite and he mentally coached himself to calm down during the short walk back to the house.

Once they reached home, Luke walked the boy up the stairs and through the door, hand still resting on the boy's shoulder, though more loosely now.

"Babe?" Lorelai called upon hearing the door open, "What are you doing home so ear-"

She stopped suddenly when she noticed the additional presence standing beside her husband.

"What are you doing home so early?" She rephrased her question, now directed at Jess with an eyebrow raised. By the look on the kid's face it didn't take a genius to figure out something had happened.

"Jess, go to your room. I'll be in to talk to you in a bit," Luke ordered in an even tone.

Jess, glad to be sent away from the tense situation without having to explain himself, quickly moved his legs across the living room and disappeared through his door, closing it behind him. Once the door clicked shut, Luke motioned for Lorelai to follow him into the kitchen.

"What happened?" Lorelai asked once more regrettably.

The man shook his head, deciding on the best place to start, "The principal called today and asked me to go in for a meeting," Luke divulged.

"Oh no... what did he do?"

"Nothing actually, well not nothing," he rephrased, "but the meeting wasn't about what he did."

His wife shot him a confused look and he continued, sitting down at the table. "Turns out they did some standardized testing a few weeks back and I guess Jess tested off the charts."

"Really?" Lorelai smiled, "I mean not that I'm surprised, we know how smart he is."

"Yeah, well apparently they think he might be too smart for Stars Hollow High. They think that the reason he has no initiative in school is that he's bored, the classes aren't challenging enough."

"That makes sense," Lorelai agreed, "So what does that mean?"

Luke sighed, "Well, they think that he should transfer to Chilton in the fall. Said they sent his test scores over already and he has a place if he wants it."

Lorelai's eyes went wide, but a smile danced on her lips, "Are you serious?" She questioned in amazement, "Rory hasn't even heard back about her spot yet."

"I know," Luke shrugged, "I guess this testing was sort of a big deal."

"This is amazing! What does he think about all this?"

The man shook his head slowly, tired eyes meeting his wife's.

"Well I haven't exactly had the chance to tell him yet," Luke sighed, "While I was at the meeting they mentioned that one of the benefits of him transferring might be he is less bored and therefore has less absences. Turns out they were about to call me about all his missed classes, but when they found out about the test scores they decided to just meet with me instead."

"So he's been skipping school?" Lorelai huffed in disappointment.

"Yeah, well then on my way back to the diner after the meeting I catch our little genius, not only skipping class, but with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. I'm not joking Lorelai I saw red."

"You're kidding me! He was smoking!?" the woman's faced etched into a deep frown.

"It terrified me, I swear my heart stopped," Luke confessed.

"Aw Babe, I can only imagine after losing both parents to cancer," she gave him a sympathetic look as she rubbed his arm, "What did he say when you caught him?"

"Not much really," Luke shrugged, "I yelled, he asked if we could talk about it somewhere else, I took pity on him and brought him here and sent him to his room. That's as far as I've gotten so far."

"Well, just because we found out he's a little Einstein today doesn't mean we're going to let him get away with all this, right?"

"Definitely not," Luke shook his head firmly, "I should probably go in there and talk to him before Rory gets home."

Lorelai nodded in agreement, "Do you want me to come with you?"

"No. I caught him, I can deal with it," Luke promised, "You probably need to get back to the Inn anyway."

"I can wait until you're done if you want. If you need to go back to the diner after I can stay with him," she offered.

"It's okay, I think I'm home for the day now," the man sighed, "go ahead, I'll see you later tonight."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead and she squeezed his arm reassuringly before he turned toward Jess' room.

Though he didn't feel the boy necessarily deserved it, he knocked twice on the door, letting the boy know of his presence before letting himself in without awaiting a reply.

The teen was sitting on his bed when Luke entered, back resting against the headboard and legs casually pulled up to form an upside down V. He didn't say anything at his uncle's presence, instead watching in silence as the man slowly walked across the room and grabbed the desk chair, pulling it over to the edge of the bed and depositing himself into it.

Once settled in the chair, Luke looked up tiredly at the boy and sighed.

"What were you thinking Jess? Is it a stress thing because I promise if you're stressed we can find a better way-"

"I'm not stressed," Jess huffed in frustration.

Luke held his hands out in question, "Well then what?"

"I don't know," the teen shrugged, looking anywhere than at his disappointed uncle, "It was just something to do."

"Something to do," Luke repeated more to himself, shaking his head, "Seriously Jess? Something to do?"

"Can we please just drop it?"

"No we cannot drop it, you skipped school, I've now learned not for the first time, and I catch you not only not in class, but smoking, and you expect me to just ignore it and pretend it didn't happen?"

When the teen remained silent the uncle went on, "We've had the smoking conversation Jess. I know I've stressed to you how bad it is, how harmful. Jeez Jess, both my parents died from cancer and I can't begin to think what I'd do..." he cut himself off abruptly taking a breath. Getting himself all emotional was not what Jess needed right now. "I don't need you starting a habit that you can't quit."

The man could tell that the emotion behind his words, whether he meant to show it or not, had struck a chord with the teen, who even bothered to look guilty.

"I wasn't- I didn't plan on getting... addicted, or anything," Jess huffed, probably realizing how foolish it sounded himself.

"Do you think anyone actually plans to get addicted to nicotine Jess? One cigarette is all it takes sometimes," the man sighed, scratching the back of his neck, "How many times has this happened Jess? Huh? Are you already addicted... or-"

"It was the first time," Jess cut the man off, "I barely took two puffs, I swear."

Luke nodded, hearing the frustration in the boy's voice, "Okay. I want you to promise me it will be the first and last time Jess. I don't care about peer pressure, I don't care that you're bored. You say you're not stressed, but if you were we would find a way to deal with it. You only have one body and I'm not going to watch you harm yourself."

"I won't."

"I'm serious Jess. You promise me stuff that you don't always keep, but this is a big one. If I ever catch you with one of those in your mouth again you won't be a happy kid I can promise you that."

Jess sighed, "You don't have to threaten me, I won't do it again."

"I don't mean to threaten you, I don't want to threaten you," Luke shook his head, "I just want you to realize how serious I am."

"I get it, I do," Jess promised, "I didn't even want to smoke the stupid thing in the first place."

"I seem to remember peer pressure getting you into some pretty massive trouble when you were younger too," Luke reminded.

"It wasn't peer pressure. Those guys didn't care if I took one or not," Jess confessed.

Luke was confused now, furrowing his brow, "So you didn't want to smoke it and they didn't pressure you to smoke it, yet I still catch you smoking? I have to admit I'm really not understanding kid."

Jess huffed, growing increasingly frustrated with himself or Luke, the man wasn't sure, "I just... did it, I don't know. I guess you're right, I wasn't thinking."

Luke nodded, allowing his nephew's explanation to slide. He briefly wondered if it was just the sort of rebellious behaviour Mrs. Truly had been alluding to during the meeting.

"Alright. Whatever your reasoning was, I think we've come to the agreement that I don't have to worry about you doing it again, correct?"

The boy nodded once and Luke nodded back.

"You're grounded for two weeks starting now. One for smoking and one for skipping, which we will discuss in a second. That also means forfeiting all your shifts at the diner."

"What!?-"

"I don't want to hear it Jess," Luke warned cutting off the boy's complaints.

"Don't normal parents usually make their kids work more when they're grounded?" Jess questioned unhappily.

"Oh don't you worry kid, there will be plenty of work for you to do at home, for no pay. You're going to be helping me out with that nice long list Lorelai has for me on the fridge, not to mention yard work, cleaning rain gutters, we can even see if Babette has any jobs she needs done and I swear if you roll your eyes at me one more time I'm going to tack on another week."

Jess huffed, but sank into his pillows once more, resting his back on the headboard.

"Now the real reason for this discussion, I want to talk to you about why your principal called me in for a meeting today," Luke started. He wasn't exactly sure how he was going to bring up the Chilton topic, mostly because he wasn't sure how Jess would react. On one hand, Luke felt relief in thinking that maybe this could be exactly what Jess needed to get him more engaged in school, more willing to do the work. But, on the other hand, the uncle was fully aware of how much Jess seemed to dislike school right now, and trying to convince him to agree to attend a school that will be even more work seemed like a tough sale.

Jess huffed, "I know skipping is wrong. I know I need to be in class. I won't do it again, okay? We can skip the lecture."

"I'm glad you know all that, Bud, and yes the topic was brought up, but that's actually not what the meeting was about," Luke informed.

Jess sat up a little straighter, racking his brain for any other misdeeds, "Well, then what? I honestly don't know what else I did Uncle Luke, seriously!"

The uncle shook his head, smirking a bit at his nephew's sudden seriousness, "You didn't do anything, Bud. Do you remember that testing you did a few weeks back?"

The teen nodded slowly, "Yes, but they didn't even let you study for that test Uncle Luke, if I did badly-"

"You didn't do badly," Luke assured, "Actually, kid, you sort of did the opposite of badly."

Jess looked caught off guard, "Really?"

"You scored off the charts, Jess. They actually said that possibly the reason you have felt so bored and have been skipping classes was because you weren't being challenged enough. Do you think you'd agree with that statement?"

Jess shrugged self-consciously, "I guess... yeah, you could say that."

Luke nodded in relief at hearing the admittance, "That's good. That's good, Jess. I know that since you were younger you've been complaining that the work was easy and you didn't feel like you needed to do it. I wish I had listened to you more back then. I should have been making sure you were getting something out of school and I didn't."

"It's fine," Jess bolstered, "I mean it's not like there's much we can do about it anyway, right? I'm not skipping a grade if that's what you're asking."

Luke quickly shook his head, "We're not asking you to skip a grade. Actually they had a very interesting proposition for you."

"Oh yeah, what's that," the boy asked jutting his jaw out while fiddling with a loose thread on his blanket.

"Well..." the man took a breath, "They were thinking that it might be beneficial if you didn't attend Stars Hollow High next year."

Jess raised his eyes towards Luke at that statement, taking a moment before he spoke again. "And just where do they think I should go?"

He sounded skeptical and Luke knew that this wasn't going to be as easy as it sounded. Sighing heavily, he looked his nephew in the eyes, "Your principal sent your test scores away to Chilton and they have a spot saved for you in the fall."

"Luke-" Jess began to protest.

"Listen, they just have it saved, Jess. We don't need to give an answer right away. They said it's there if you want it, they told me to go home and discuss it, but I really think this could be a good thing, Bud."

"What, to go to a school with a bunch of teacher kissing academic nerds and wear school girl uniforms? Seriously!?"

"I'm pretty sure they have pants for the boys," Luke attempted to make light, but the look on the boy's face told him it hadn't worked. Dropping the charade, Luke's smile faded and he sighed, "Look Jess, I just want you to think about it, that's all. I know you don't like school, but Chilton's going to challenge you. You're not going to feel bored. I don't care if your grades aren't exceptional there, but it would make me feel better to at least know that you feel more fulfilled at the end of the day. Would it hurt to try it for a few months at least? Or just go to an open house and see what it's like? We're going to be taking Rory anyway, what's the harm in looking?"

"Rory hasn't even been accepted yet," Jess spoke up, a hint of guilt in his voice.

Luke smiled fondly at the concern he had for his step-sister. Their bond really was something else. "The principal didn't seem all that worried about her getting a spot. He told me they haven't started accepting anybody for next year yet. Yours was a special case and they pushed it through early."

"Do we have to tell Rory before she finds out?" the boy questioned meekly.

"We don't have to if you don't want to," Luke agreed, "Although I think if you decide to tell her she would understand. She might even help you make a decision."

Jess shrugged again, silent now.

Luke squeezed his shoulder in comfort, "Just give it some thought, okay?"

The boy nodded once.

Luke paused for a moment before speaking once more, "I want you to know I'm proud of you, Bud. You may make me go grey sometimes, but you are pretty remarkable."

Jess smiled shyly, "Thanks."

He got up, feeling good about how the conversation went and mentally patting himself on the back.

"I want you to stay in here for a little bit though, you are supposed to still be in school after all. Just because you're a brainiac doesn't mean you're not still in trouble," he reminded the teen.

"I know," Jess nodded, "I'm sorry... about all that."

Luke smiled in reassurance, "One thing you can always count on is that I'll always forgive you, Bud. Just try not to take too many years off my life, okay?"

Jess smirked in reply, "I make no promises."

A/N- Yikes this got long and took forever to finish! Congrats to the person who guessed what the meeting was about ;) So what do ya think, could Jess be a Chilton boy? Let me know what you think! As always thanks for the feedback!