April 16th
Jess cracked his eye open and after a split second of dread he remembered what day it was. Not only was it the last day of his grounding, but he was also getting the day off from school thanks to the Chilton open house that was happening in Hartford that afternoon. Both Luke and Lorelai were taking the day off as well and the family had planned to head into Hartford for lunch with Bud and Maisy before heading over to check out the school that hopefully both Rory and Jess would be attending in the fall.
Not that Jess was particularly eager to take a tour around the school, knowing full well the dreams both Luke and Lorelai had for him choosing to attend the prestigious palace. He knew if he decided he didn't want to go it would be a heated discussion full of disappointment from the elders that would end with Jess wanting to crawl in a hole and never come out. He knew his parents just wanted the best for him, but he hoped that in the end they really would let him make the decision for himself and not push him too hard to do what they wanted.
Luke was so sure that this school was going to be a great thing for him, and maybe it was. Jess just didn't know if he was prepared to rise to the occasion. He may have been bored and just getting by at his current school, but he was comfortable. He didn't have to work hard, he didn't have to push himself. He could slide under the radar and yeah maybe he missed a few classes here or there, but at least it wasn't a big deal. He was sure if he decided to skip a class at Chilton the work he would miss would be equivalent to missing a whole week. His days of slacking off would definitely be history, much to Luke's pleasure Jess was sure.
Sighing Jess rolled out of bed, happy that he technically got out of his last day of grounding a day early thanks to their outing. He had been going nearly insane being cooped up at the house before and after school for the past two weeks. Not only did he have nothing to do besides homework and chores to keep him entertained, but it only gave Luke and Lorelai ample time to bring the Chilton topic up at every possible chance.
The following week after Luke went in for his meeting with the school, Jess had started receiving separate work booklets from the rest of his class. Each teacher had been given directions to come up with ways to challenge Jess more in what would possibly be his last few months at Stars Hollow High and though Jess noted their effort, he still found that the new work wasn't that different from the previous. He didn't blame the teachers, not really anyway. They were trained to teach 'normal' kids, no more than that and they had never signed up to making a curriculum for someone who didn't fit the bill of 'average.'
Still Luke had sat Jess down at the table every day after school for the last two weeks to do his homework, trying to catch a glimpse of this new program he and the school had set up. Eventually he caved and asked Jess about it, if he was happier, if he felt more challenged. Jess told his uncle what he knew the man wanted to hear. Yes the new work was better, sure he was lucky that his teachers had agreed to help him out for the rest of the year, no he didn't need any help (he was pretty sure that question was meant to be turned down anyway if the dumbfounded look Luke gave his equations was anything to go by.) He knew his uncle would rather hear the truth than have Jess lie to him, but Jess just didn't want to get into another bout of how much better Chilton would be for him. He wanted his uncle to feel okay with the idea of him staying at Stars Hollow High if that's what he chose to do.
Throwing on some clothes and checking that his hair wasn't a complete disaster to be seen by his family with, he exited his room to get some breakfast. Rory was already sitting at the table practically vibrating with excitement for the day ahead. She still hadn't heard word back from the school on whether she was accepted or not, much to Jess' dismay, but she was still holding out hope and just as eager as ever to see the school she had been dreaming of.
"Can you believe it's finally today!?" she questioned her brother, looking more like a little girl awaiting Santa Claus, "I just can't believe we finally get to go see the school. I mean the pamphlets were great and all, but to actually set foot there. Did you know the banister was donated by Robert Frost?"
Jess was used to the girl's ramblings when she was overly excited about something and he knew that in these situations it was better to not bother trying to answer any of her questions until she was done.
"And Thomas Edison ceremonially lit a sconce on campus! Thomas freakin' Edison! Just the thought of walking through such a historical place is unbelievable."
"Well you're going to be able to walk through the school every single day for the next three years so maybe you could pause your party for a second and tell me where Luke put the rest of the pancakes."
"You don't know that for sure. I'm not in yet, remember?" Rory huffed at being reminded of the fact.
"You're going to get in so just stop," Jess rolled his eyes, guilt resurfacing at the knowledge that he was already accepted, "Pancakes?"
"Do you really think so? Principal Merton said that we should be finding out next week who got in and I guess I'm just getting a bit nervous. I mean maybe going on this tour today is a dumb idea."
"It's not. I swear Rory you're going to that school one way or another, so just enjoy the day, okay? You've been talking about this for months."
Rory smiled, "You're right, I should just enjoy myself and quit worrying."
"Exactly. Now seriously sis I'm dying of starvation here," the boy spoke dramatically.
"He's keeping them warm in the oven for you. He and mom just went upstairs to change before we go," Rory informed him.
Humming his response, the boy made quick work of retrieving his breakfast and lathering it up with butter and syrup. He was halfway through his second pancake when the elders returned to the kitchen.
"Oh good, see Luke, Jess found his breakfast, it's fine," Lorelai spoke to her frazzled looking husband.
"I just wanted to make sure he got something to eat before we left, you slept in late," he spoke the second part to his nephew.
Jess shrugged, "Day off school equals sleeping in I think, at least for us normal folk," he cocked his head towards the still overexcited girl sitting across the table and rolled his eyes, earning him a playful smack to the head from the man.
"Well I hope you don't require too much primping today because we've got to get a move on."
"I suppose I can go for the whole rolled out of bed look," Jess shrugged, "I'm sure Chilton wouldn't care, right?"
Luke shot his nephew with a tired glare and Jess couldn't help but snicker at getting the reaction he was hoping for.
"If you boys are done annoying each other," Rory broke in with an eye roll of her own, "I don't want to be late!"
Lorelai bit back a laugh, "Sweets it's ten in the morning, we're not going to be late."
"Well you know how much Maisy and Bud like to talk!"
"The tour doesn't start until two toots, I promise we will get there in loads of time," The mother assured, pressing a kiss to the top of her daughter's head, "Jess go get yourself ready quickly and grab the tie that you promised me was wrinkle free last night."
Jess sighed dramatically, "I don't get why I have to wear a tie to this thing! It's not like I'm a student yet!"
Rory exhaled loudly, "Jess would you just listen for once in your life!"
"Hey, cool it Hun," Lorelai chastised lightly, knowing that her daughter just wanted everything to be perfect today.
"Just go get the tie and bring it to me to tie for you Jess," Luke instructed losing his patience.
With one more exaggerated eye roll, the boy dragged his feet out of the room to retrieve the ridiculous object, feeling like his family was already ganging up on him this morning.
A half an hour later the family was in Lorelai's Jeep on the way to Hartford, Jess with his foot propped up on the center console reading a book and Rory gazing out the window, too anxious to focus her attention on much else. Luke and Lorelai sat in the front, bickering lightly on the fastest route to their destination. The argument was one they had every single time they drove into Hartford, and all parties knew it was more of a ritual than anything else at this point.
"I'm just saying the highway may seem like it would be the fastest, but I'm telling you! The back roads get you there exactly two minutes and fifty-two seconds faster Luke!"
"Whether that's accurate or not, I'm not going to change my whole route for a possibility of being there a measly three minutes faster! It's pointless!"
"Fine, have it your way, just don't come crawling back to me when we get to Bud and Maisy and they tell you that the last pot-sticker was ordered three minutes before we arrived!"
"They're going to feed us whatever they want either way," Luke shook his head.
"Well you'd be pretty darn sad if pot-stickers weren't even an option, wouldn't you!"
"When have we ever even had pot-stickers at Sniffy's!? I don't even think they're on the menu!"
"When have you ever seen a menu there to even know that!"
Luke groaned loudly, turning up the radio in an attempt to drown out his crazy wife.
"There's my babies!" Maisy greeted arms wide to envelop Jess and Rory into a rough hug, "My smart, smart babies," she pressed kisses to each of their foreheads before finally letting them go, "I want you to tell me all about Chilton!"
"We haven't even been to see it yet Maisy!" Rory laughed as they were directed to their usual table in Sniffy's Tavern.
"Well then I want to hear all about getting accepted then! When will you find out Rory?"
"Not until next week," Rory shrugged shyly.
"I will be waiting eagerly by the phone for the good news!"
"Don't say that! I might not get in!"
"Of course you'll get in!" Bud assured, appearing from behind the kitchen door skillfully balancing four plates as he walked, "Hey kids, it's been too long!"
Luke shook his head that even after all these years Bud still referred to him as 'kid.' He supposed when you've known someone since they were born it was a hard habit to break.
"Yeah sorry, we meant to come out after Jess' birthday, but things have been a bit hectic," Lorelai apologized. They always tried to make visits a regular thing, but with everything going on in their lives they hadn't managed to see the pair since Jess' party. The last time they had visited Hartford Bud and Maisy had been away visiting Maisy's sick sister. Luke had refused to even stop by Sniffy's when someone else had been in charge of making the famous food. Nobody could cook like Bud, not even him.
"Well we're seeing you now and that's all that matters," Maisy smiled lovingly, "Now how about you my genius boy? I want to hear all about your acceptance!"
"Jess' acceptance story ends with him getting grounded so I'm not sure that's much of thriller," Rory snickered, teasing her brother and dodging his swat swiftly.
Maisy shook her head, "Luke I still can't believe you could ground this sweet, sweet boy," she tsked, cupping Jess face lovingly.
"I'm sure you could believe it if you saw him with the cigarette hanging out of his mouth, or hearing that your 'genius boy' was on the verge of flunking out," Luke stressed the last words with an eyebrow raise to his nephew.
"Oh stop pestering the boy, we all make mistakes," Maisy waved her hands, causing Jess to smirk at his uncle.
"He's always harping on me Mais," Jess tattled with dramatics.
"Honestly Luke it's like you were never a boy yourself," She shook her head, everyone chuckling at Luke's exasperation.
He shook his head, "I'm going to stop coming here if you're all going to gang up on me every time."
"Oh enough whining from you now," the lady waved her hand, "Come over here and give me a hug!"
Luke fulfilled the lady's request as they all settled down to enjoy their home-cooked meal, steering clear of any more talk that would make Luke's face turn that particular shade of red.
The family pulled up to Chilton just before two that afternoon and all four of them were instantly amazed by the size of the place.
"The pictures made it look... smaller," Rory observed.
"And less 'off with their heads,'" Jess added.
"Yeah," Rory agreed, giving her brother a nervous glare.
"Come on now, it's just a building," Lorelai encouraged, "I'm sure it's not half as scary inside."
"The architecture is amazing," Luke remarked.
"Sure is," Lorelai chirped, having no clue about anything to do with architecture, "Now are we all just going to sit here ogling or are we going to be on time for this appointment?"
"We better go in," Rory agreed, taking one last deep breath before opening her door.
The four walked up to the main entrance, wondering aloud exactly where they needed to go when they noticed a man walking across the courtyard towards them.
"You must be my two o' clock, Rory Gilmore and Jess Mariano?" The short older man inquired greeting the group.
"Yes, hi, I'm Rory," she introduced shaking his hand.
"Ah your grandma has spoken very highly of you Miss Gilmore!" The man smiled brightly.
"Wait. How do you know my mother?" Lorelai questioned instantly in defence.
"Oh I'm very good friends with both your parents. You're their daughter Lorelai I presume?" He questioned with a smile.
"Uh... ya I guess," she answered bitterly.
"Now, I'm sorry, how do you all know each other?"
"Jess is my brother," Rory spoke up determinedly.
"Oh. I don't remember Emily mentioning a grandson," the headmaster furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Of course not," Lorelai mumbled under her breath causing Luke to nudge her gently. She coughed a few times.
"Well actually Rory's mine, Luke is Jess' uncle and Luke and I just got married a few years ago, so we're kind of like a modern day Brady bunch," she attempted a joke.
"I see," the man furrowed his brow even deeper and Lorelai was no longer surprised that he was a friend of her parents, "I suppose we should start the tour then."
"Let's," Lorelai gave her best fake smile.
Jess who had been watching the whole conversation from the side sighed deeply as he followed the crowd. If Chilton wasn't bad enough now he finds out that it's run by the friend of the two people who seemed to hate him the most. He knew the school would be full of people like them, but the added knowledge did not provide brownie points for the place.
"This, of course, is the main atrium," Principal Charleston informed as the group walked inside the huge double doors.
Jess stood in amazement at the grand room. It definitely didn't look like a school to him. It reminded him more of the entrance to some of the big skyscrapers that were in New York. Jess remembered one night when he was younger and Liz had been gone doing who knows what. He had forgotten his key into their apartment and at nine years old he had yet to master the ability to pick a lock. He knew that sleeping in the hallway of their not so safe apartment building was out of the question. Instead, he found himself in search of a place in the city for him to sleep away from the cold November chill. He had found an office building with enough people in it that he could slip in unnoticed and waited for about an hour until the workers had gone home and the building had been emptied. Carefully he had crawled under the 'out of order' stall that he had been hiding behind and found himself a little couch at the far end of the hall to use as a makeshift bed. It was an odd place for a piece of furniture to be, but Jess had grown accustomed to the weird decorating habits of the famous city that he called home and instead he felt grateful for his somewhat soft sleeping quarters for the night. It had definitely beat sleeping on the park bench.
He shook the memory from his mind and try to refocus on what the older man was saying, amused when he heard the same 'fun facts' that Rory had been spewing that morning. He glanced at his sister and shook his head at her focus, like she had never heard a word the man was saying before.
"I'll take you to observe a ninth grade class for a moment if you like. The two of you will obviously be going into tenth next year, but the students that you will see here will be your peers if you choose to attend."
Quietly he ushered the four into the back of the room and Jess shifted uncomfortably when half of the class instantly turned to look. With a slight annoyance in her voice, the teacher called for their attention once more and the family leaned against the back wall listening to her lecture.
Jess admitted that the curriculum they were teaching sounded much more advanced than that of the ninth graders in Stars Hollow High and he watched as the students scribbled endlessly in their notebooks.
Feeling someone's eyes on him, he glanced near the front of the classroom where a preppy blond girl was glaring at them. He nudged his sister's side and jutted his head towards the stare.
"What's her problem," he whispered, causing the girl to shrug.
They observed for a few minutes longer before they were shuffled out of the room again with the promise of the cafeteria as their next stop.
By the time the tour was over Jess was sure he had seen every inch of the large building and he was exhaustively bored.
"Well that was insightful," he muttered sarcastically as they walked back to the Jeep.
"C'mon Jess, don't be like that. It looks like a great school," Luke sighed.
"It's an amazing school!" Rory agreed.
"It better be for these prices," Lorelai grumbled looking down at the pamphlet the parents had been given.
The pair shot each other a concerned glance, neither exactly sure where they would find the money, but both willing to do whatever it took. Luke shook his head, "All I'm saying is none of those kids today looked bored, did they Jess?"
Jess rolled his eyes, "I'm not bored!"
Luke groaned, "Don't even try to backtrack this one, we've had way too many discussions about this already."
"Yeah and I'm sick of it so how about I end them now and just say I'm not going!"
"You can't just say that," Luke shook his head.
"If you're not going to let me make the decision, then why are you even bothering to ask me?"
"Jess! I just want you to give this more than half a second of thought!"
"I have given it thought!"
"Not without already having an opinion formed in your mind!"
"You won't even consider my side of it!"
"That is not true and you know it!"
"Okay!" Lorelai finally broke in, "Why don't we all cool off for a bit guys. It's been a long day and we're all tired. I believe milkshakes on the way home were in the plan."
As Luke sat behind the steering wheel attempting to calm his annoyance Lorelai gave him a look from beside that promised that they would discuss the situation privately once they got home. Nodding slightly and knowing that Lorelai was right to diffuse the fight for the time being, he shifted into drive and took off in search for a satisfactory place for milkshakes.
Jess sat in his desk chair later that night, drumming his fingers on his unopened science book. Luke was still annoyed with him and since he still wasn't allowed to go out until the next morning he decided that it was safest to stay in his room for the evening, away from the gaze of a disappointed uncle.
He sighed as he picked up the Chilton pamphlet that had been discarded on the floor when he had gotten home. Begrudgingly he leafed through the information once more. He hated this feeling. He knew what the right thing to do was. He also knew what he would like to do. The thing he hated the most, however, was that he felt like he had no actual say in the matter. Jess did not do well when he felt like he had no control and that very feeling had been overcoming him for two weeks now. He groaned quietly, tossing the leaflet aside once more. He rested his head on the cool tabletop, closed his eyes and wished not for the first time in his life that he could be like everyone else. On top of the crappy hand he had been dealt in his life so far, why couldn't he have just been born average?
A/N- I'm back! Sorry everyone, I really didn't mean to take such a long break but August just ended up being a really busy month for me. I want to thank all the new readers for dropping reviews throughout this story and the last and letting me know that there is still interest here! This chapter was done a different way until I got a message that inspired a whole new storyline that I hadn't considered and I ended up changing everything up. I hope it was the right move! Anyway, I'm ready to get back into the groove of writing this and I hope you have all stuck around! Please review if you have a spare moment! Thanks!