Chapter 8

So I got dragged to Rory's debate and Christopher and Sherry were there. After the debate I got browbeat into putting out some of my stash for the guests, I glared at mom but reluctantly gave up a family bag of Barbeque Ruffles, and a box of chocolate Hostess cupcakes, the Hostess cupcakes were not my favorite and were left over from our last movie night, and the Barbeque Ruffles were on sale last week at Doose's three for six dollars, so I had two more bags, so it wasn't really a hardship. I poured the chips into a bowl, and put the wrapped cupcakes on a plate. And we all sat down. Sherry and Christopher maneuvered Rory into dinner with Sherry but I didn't agree to go.

"No, I don't want to go…." I said to Mom. Completely in earshot of Christopher and Sherry. As Q I never liked Sherry, when she left Gigi I liked her even less. Although I always liked the actress. Which is making it really difficult to scowl at this woman who is stealing my daddy away.

"Please Quinn it would mean a lot to me if you would go with sherry and Rory." Christopher said

"Why Should I?" I pouted and crossed my arms across my chest.

"Quinnie please, go with me, I don't know Sherry very well, I'd feel better if you came too…Rory said

"Okay for Rory, I'll go." I went with them, and completely ignored Sherry the entire time, I knew it was childish but I've known for months that my emotions and behaviors were infected by the girl whose life I'd taken over. That even though I had my art skill and intelligence, my emotions, and behaviors were all pre-teen Gilmore. Sherry is getting practically hysterical trying to get me to talk to her, Rory may believe in being nice and polite to everyone but she knew I was too much like mom and she wasn't going to get me to talk to acknowledge Sherry if I didn't want to so she just worked as translator and talked to me and asked me questions so it would as if I was in the conversation too. I knew she felt bad for Sherry but I didn't, but then she didn't know what I knew, the next day went Rory told Mom all about the night she told mom what I was like and Mom said I was so her kid and laughed and hugged me.

"I saw so need to be nice to her, I barely tolerate Christopher after the whole deadbeat dad routine he's been pulling our whole lives I felt no need to make nice with the woman he's replacing us with."

"Baby girl Christopher is not replacing you with Sherry."

"Of course he is, I never thought he's marry you Mom, but he should have been there for me and Rory."

"He's starting to be there for you and Rory."

"No, he's starting to be there for Rory, he went to her coming out Party, her debate, he hasn't been to any to any of my Judo Matches, he hasn't come to visit me, He always remembers her, and forgets me, and now he's going to shack up with some perky business Barbie and she's going to have babies with him and he's completely about us, and until he needs something from us, or until he wants to make himself feel less guilty or get in your pants and then he'll show up and ruin our lives completely unaware of the devastation he brings!" Mom hugged me and rubbed my back. Before he left Dad came out to talk to me.

"Quinn, I'm going to visit more often, I promise. And I won't just come to Rory things and I'll visit just because I'm not going to forget about you and even if I have babies with Sherry, you and Rory are very important to me your my girls."

"I wish I could believe you dad, but actions speak louder than words and until you prove it, I just can't believe it."

"Okay, I understand, I understand that."

I kept Mom from trying to clean out the rain gutters, I offered to do them but she told me no, then I suggested she hire Jess. She agreed it turns out because of the whole Dean not coming to her and Her and Rory not getting into a fight she doesn't hate him as much, it helps that he didn't have beer at the welcome party, or mouthed off to her. I took him aside and even though he was pissed off at being there, I showed him a 20 and said I'd give it him before he left if he stayed and got to know Rory, I don't like her current boyfriend I said, you'll do nicely I said. I guess he did it because he was intrigued or something but he tried getting to know Rory through the entire night even if he didn't flirt with her, he didn't get the beer and he took the twenty from me. He didn't end up stealing the bridge money because he had my twenty I guess, I still smoked like crazy which didn't endear him to anyone and he still pulled the fake murder in front of the Market which I helped him with. I couldn't just let him do that alone besides I have plenty of chalk and mine untraceable. I'm also much better at drawing the human figure then he is. He laid down and I traced him. Making the Outline thick so Dean couldn't get off easily. And I stood up and confessed to the crime when they were going after Luke, everyone stared at me, I told them to check my room the evidence was there. I had taken the crime scene take from Jess after the prank. Rory didn't talk to me for two days after, and Mom bought me Ice Cream. Jess wasn't happy with me either, he wanted credit but when I explained to him it would help him get my Mom on his side when he was eventually dating Rory and I promised to do another prank with him he agreed. I will be spending the next week, any time I'm not in school, creating new art. Right now, I'm creating a dreamscape version of Star Hallow including some townsfolk, By the time Friday afternoon at four rolls around I'm exhausted I have the required six paintings, and four drawings. Mom drives me to the Museum, and we set up. I have a Dreamscape of Stars Hollow with townspeople dressed as magical creatures, I have one of them as them normal selves, I have a Pop art painting depicting Kirk in an Accident, I have a Painting of a Gothic Mansion, I have a painting of a field of Lilies with a girl lying in the middle, I have an abstract painting, that doesn't resemble anything but Is rather dark, and I have four drawings, One of Luke behind his counter, One of Rory studying, One of Sookie Cooking, and One of an entire town meeting. I set everything up and put up my name plaque which I also designed and then Mom, and Rory and I get coffee, and then we go to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner.

A maid answers the door her name is Leslie, she seems nice but I don't get too attached. We get our usual drinks, Grandpa makes Grandma a Grandma a Sidecar, Mom a Vodka, Rory a Soda, himself a Scotch, and me a Shirley Temple.

"Are you prepared for your art show Quinn?" Grandma said

"Oh, yes we already set up, and I have a portfolio of all my pieces and have them in a binder." I said grinning. "I'm so excited. My First Art Show….and Anita Dupree is going to be there she has Galleries in Hartford, Boston, and New York." I said. "She's a major player in the art world. Getting a Nod from her is like Rory getting a piece picked up by the New York Times, it could mean everything….." the rest of the dinner was about me and my art show. I was so happy the dinner was for once about me. The next morning we had breakfast at Luke's we went home and put on our nice, fancy clothes that Mom made for us. Then we went into Hartford, we had the luncheon Grandma's boring friend who droned on for 45 minutes before we ate, then we had lunch. Then we went to see the art work, I went to my area immediately, and people came by. I talked to the people that came by, including Grandma and Grandpa, I didn't see Dad yet.

"Very Interesting Paintings." I was face to face with Mrs. Francine Hayden.

"Thank You, Mrs. Hayden. Do you ever think of Rory and me?" My voice small.

"Sometimes." She said caught off guard

"You know You lost the chance to know your Grandchildren because of the way he acted last year." I said with a smile.

"I know, I was Mortified. Stroub was just so angry Christopher's future was ruined. He had to blame someone."

"And You think it's healthy that he blames my mother? First of all it takes two to tango, second Dad never would have gone to Princeton, Mom let him off the hook he could have gone off to Princeton if he wanted, he could have had that life he didn't want it. He never wanted it. Look how long it's taken him to become a responsible adult, while my mother became one at 17." Dad showed up. I stopped talking there is so much more I wanted to say.

"Mother, Quinn…."

"Hi, dad….Mrs. Hayden and I were just getting to know one another."

"That sounds ominous."

"Your daughter is rude and unprofessional, she's also very insightful, and has a way with words."

"Well, she's her mother's daughter.

Grandma Manipulated Mom to go on a Spa Weekend with her. I stayed home with Rory, and spent the weekend painting. Of Course Paris showed up wanting to study which put a damper on things, Rory had already ditched Dean for the weekend, and just as Paris was about to leave, Jess showed up laden with food. All four of us ate and talked about literature, and then Dean showed up.

"Come on in Dean, we have plenty of food, Jess, and Paris are here…."

"jess?"

"Well, He is my friend, Dean." I said "More than he's Rory's, Rory can't control who I invite over, and you know Paris she flipped out about some studying thing and strong armed Rory into studying with her. You Should join us, there's plenty of food." I hadn't planned on pacifying him but I just didn't want him to be mad in that moment.

"Yeah, I'll do that." I lead him into the kitchen.

"Rory Your boyfriend is here, I invited him to join us. He understands that I invited Jess, and you were just studying with Paris." Dean joined in and had a few French fries.

"So, Jess you were invited by Quinn, interested in little girls are you?"

"She's my friend Dean, I'm not interested in her romantically. But she's a cool kid. I think of her like a kid sister, we glued Kirk to his seat in the diner last week, we put food coloring in some of the cheerleaders hair products, We planned and executed the Murder in front the market prank together and then she took the wrap for it herself." Jess said

"Well Luke was getting ganged up on in the town meeting, I couldn't let that happen." I said

"I appreciate that." Jess said he'd changed a lot since he'd come here. He wasn't as angry.

"So, what's your next big prank?" Rory asked

"well, if we told you it wouldn't be a surprise." I said. It wasn't a prank necessary just some hijinks at the next town meeting as for the moving garden Gnome sculpture well he was a gift for Babette even if she thought he would create some hijinks of his own, when he was finally finished.

"Jess has obviously corrupted you." Dean said.

"Dean that's not true, Quinn has always pull pranks when she was 5, she tied Kirk's shoe laces to the table leg at the diner to celebrate learning to tie knots, and when she was 10. A few months before you moved here She replaced all the red pen in the elementary school with purple feathered pens…..and in 3rd grade she let three Bunny rabbits loose in the school but they just kept them as the class pets."

"Chester, Bugs, and Babs." I said "I caught them myself. But they didn't keep them in separate pens and there were soon many more than three. It turned into even a better prank than it started out as. Taylor was pissed, but most of the parents didn't care."

"I think Taylor believe wants Stars Hollow to exist in another time period then the rest of the world." Paris said

"How would you know?" Dean asked

"I interviewed once. And I've done my research." She said

Jess laughed.

Dean growled "What you shut up!"

"You don't tell me what to do, John Boy."

"Wow." I said "Why don't you just drop your pants for a more detailed comparison."

"Quinn!" Rory yelled

Paris started laughing.

"I'm out of here!" Dean said

"Me too!" Jess said. they both storm out of the house.

"Well, that went well." I said

I was eating Breakfast with Mom before Rory showed up. "I invited Dean in and then it just sort of blew, I mean I told him I invited Jess, but I'm not sure he believed me."

"Well, you were lying."

"Well I did say he could over any time once, so in a way I did invite him."

"You are so my daughter. You didn't plan this to try and break Rory and Dean up?" She eyed me suspiciously.

"No! I've totally on my best behavior. I invited Dean in and I told him I invited Jess and Rory had no control over who I invited, I mean what else could I have done?"

"Nothing I guess." She shrugged.