I'm the party star, I'm popular
I've got my own car, I'm popular
I'll never get caught, I'm popular
I'm never last picked, I'm a teachers pet.

xxx

Rory Gilmore sighed as she slumped against the bathroom stall, waiting for the bell to ring to signal the start of her first class. This was it. She was finally in Chilton, she breathed, feeling the ever present weight on her chest. She had always dreamed of Chilton for one reason - it would be a huge stepping stone into getting into Harvard. A big step up from Stars Hollow High, a school that was as non existent as the next small town’s education building. But now, now that she was here, it seemed for totally different reasons she was thankful. Surprisingly, Harvard didn’t even make the top ten reasons to get into Chilton anymore.

It was two weeks till her seventeenth birthday, and her oh so simple and seemingly perfect life had been turned upside down over the past couple months. First Dean, her first and only boyfriend of two years broke up with her on their two year anniversary as a result of bad timing and realization. She sighed and put her head in her hands, just thinking about him anymore made her head ache. She never wanted to go to that start of Junior Year party. She had just had a weird fight with her mother about something stupid due to the stress they were both feeling from the worry over how she was going to pay her tuition but yet Dean hadn’t noticed and had dragged her along.

Then one thing led to another and those little red cups started to look more and more inviting and seemed to be calling to her and as the hours ticked by, with Dean hanging out with his friends and leaving her to do as she pleased… she gave in. And 4 drinks and 3 hours later, somehow they had ended up on the bed upstairs, the door unlocked and neither of them thinking straight, and innocent Rory Gilmore finally grew up.

It was supposed to be perfect, and she made herself believe it was, but by time the next day rolled around… she couldn’t lie to herself and act like the awkwardness and regret wasn’t there. And she was stupid enough to confide in Dean, she thought with a wry smile. And he had actually gotten mad. The morning of their anniversary, with a huge night she had planned for months ahead, she had told him she wasn’t ready to do it again right away when he hinted at that night ending a different way then they’d planned. And he got angry. She figured that during the fight, when she had told him about finally getting accepted to Chilton after holding it back from him for 2 months didn’t help either. But what hurt the most was that the guy she trusted, thought she loved and meant the world to her for the past two years, was just another teenage boy and not the perfect guy she had made him out to be in her head.

The bell rang and Rory got up from her seat on the top of the toilet, slinging her bag over her shoulder. And to think she didn’t even think about him barely anymore. After only a month. Maybe it was for the best. She definitely got woke up to reality by everything that happened and now, she was starting fresh, in a new school, away from Dean, the town that labeled her perfect, and away from everything else that had been nagging at her for the past 16 years.

It was time to start new.

xxx

The headmaster had given her the lecture from hell before releasing her and telling her she could go organize her locker for the remaining 15 minutes until the bell rang for her first class. Of course, she had opted to have a trip down memory lane in the bathrooms instead, which was a bad idea she figured as she got to her locker for the first time, trying her combination for the fourth time and still not being able to get it.

The bell rang, signaling the students they should now be in their class. Great, she thought, glaring at her locker. It wouldn’t exactly be a good impression to be late to your first class. Especially when you had 15 minutes before hand to get there.

Finally the locker opened and she released a sigh of relief, starting to unload her books, squatting down so her blue plaid skirt cascaded around her shoes.

“So are you bringing Lindsey?” A guys voice echoed through the halls she thought to be empty. Apparently she wasn’t the only one late.

“No man, she’s history.” A second voice replied, sounding bored.

She glanced around, looking for the source of the voices when she heard laughter. “I mean, she was an okay lay. But that’s about it.” The second voice echoed with the laughter and Rory rolled her eyes. Apparently Chilton boys were just the same as any other guy. Pigs. The illusion of polite manners to go with the perfect suits vanished.

She heard footsteps now and turned just in time to see three guys turn the corner and start down the hall in her direction. She quirked her eyebrow at their appearances, each of them donned with a blue and white letterman jacket over their uniforms. Her mind went to wondering if the sports teams were as prestigious as the school itself before her eyes landed on the guy in the middle. Icy blue eyes and spiky blonde hair he ran a hand through as she watched. His slightly baggy jeans, untucked shirt and loose tie so unlike the other boys she had seen upon entering the school.

Already guessing just who they were from their appearance, she turned her attention back to her locker, picking up her books from the floor and stacking them on the single shelf her locker provided.

A wolf whistle sounded but she kept her eyes on her locker, ignoring it. “Well, well. What do we have here?” she could see from the corner of her eye one of the darker haired ones was the owner of the voice.

“Mmmhmm.“ The other dark haired boy drawled out. “Look at this.”

She grabbed the rest of her books, now shoving them just a little more forcefully into her locker.

“Looks like a Mary to me. What do you guys think?” Now it was the blonde. His deep cool voice matched his image perfectly.

“Oh, yeah. Definitely a Mary.”

Rory was actually dumbfounded. They were actually talking about her, now walking barely feet away from her, speaking as if she wasn’t even there and couldn’t hear them. Or they didn’t care that she heard them. One or the other.

As they came closer, the two dark haired boys stopped a few feet away but the blonde made his way right up next to her, leaning a shoulder on the locker next to hers. Hoping too express her dislike for his sudden company and let him know she had heard every word her had said, she glanced over at him to show him her annoyed look only to watch him drag his eyes from where they were sliding over her chest and down the rest of her body.

“You new?” he asked while his eyes were still focused somewhere on the area between her waist and her knees.

Oh wonderful, she thought. She so did not need this right now. “Have you seen me before?” the sarcasm evident in her voice as she spoke.

“Only in my dreams.” He replied quickly as a huge well practiced smirk made its way over his lips. She heard the other two muffle laughs behind him.

Shaking her head, wondering what else could possibly happen to her to ruin the day, she grabbed a notebook and shut her locker but before she could walk away he spoke again.

“I’m Tristan. Dugrey.” he said his last name apart from his first as if it was supposed to mean something and then gestured to the other two guys. “And this is Derek and Mike.”

“That’s really great.” Rory said with false cheeriness.

He seemed to pick up on it and grinned, tilting his head to the side. “What’s the matter? Not happy to be here, Mary?”

Mary. Lorelai had given her to 411 on private school degrading lingo before she’d come and Mary had to be one of the most degrading titles she’d ever heard.

She figured her glare showed him just exactly what she thought. “Oh, I’m just not happy that the first people I meet are you. I’m going to hope not everyone in this school is like you because I have to say, going to a school that’s filled with a bunch of immature assholes, isn’t so appealing to me.”

His smirk only grew. “See, it seems you don’t like me, Mary. And we’ve only just met. Now why is that?”

Rory actually wanted to laugh. “First, my name is Rory. Not Mary. And second, I know it might be a hard thing to grasp but not everyone in this world has to like you. We learn that in kindergarten. That’s the way things work and first impressions are key. See, I just met you, and I already know I dislike you. Immensely.”

She saw the two guys eyes behind his shoulders widen and tried to side step him but he just mimicked her movements until her back was against her locker and he was in front of her.

He chuckled and took a step toward her till her personal bubble was completely invaded. “You see Mary, seeing as how it’s your first day and all, I’ll let it slide,” he said as he brought his hand up and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “But just so you know…” he whispered as he brought his mouth to her ear. “Everybody loves me,” He finished before taking the bottom her ear between his teeth, running his tongue over it and laying his hand on her thigh she had instinctively brought up between his legs as a warning before she was rendered shocked still.

After her obvious momentary lapse in sanity, she pushed him off of her with as much force as she could muster and straightened her skirt which he had made ride up slightly. “See, this is where you’re so obviously wrong. And again, my name is Rory.” she gritted out before taking off down the hall.

Tristan licked his lower lip as he watched her walk away.

“Looks like you got your latest conquest, Dugrey.” Derek smirked.

Tristan bit his lip and smiled. A look no one would call pleasant but had sinister written all over it. “And she had no idea what she’s just done.”

Xxx

Rory gripped the pass in her hand as she reached the door to her class. She had just happened to pass the office on her journey to her first class she was coincidentally late for and for some reason, without a thought had stepped in, told a quick story to the secretary about her locker getting jammed as the reason for her tardiness and the disinterested lady had quickly scribbled out a pass and handed it to her.

Rory Gilmore didn’t lie. Ever. But not even an hour in this school she had already told a lie to get a pass. What was happening to her? Maybe the dungeon look of the school really did mean something. This place was evil.

And it even had the son of Satan, she mused, thinking about the blonde who had been the reason she was late and therefore lied to get a pass.

Shaking her head at the complete disaster this day had already turned out to be, she turned the handle of the door and stepped into the class.

She held her breath as all eyes turned to her and the teacher who had been speaking, stopped to spare her a glance. She quickly murmured a sorry and handed him her pass. He barely glanced at it before tossing it to his desk and raising a somewhat condescending eyebrow at her.

“Well class,” He said, facing the other students once again. “As you can see we have a new student.”

Rory clutched her books closer to her chest as everyone in the class eyed her from head to toe. Holding looks anywhere from disinterest to glares. So welcoming.

“How about you introduce yourself?”

Rory cleared her throat. Some people looked away, out the window or started talking to other students. She shook her head and shrugged it off. “Well, I…” she started but was cut off as the door behind her opened and in walked Satan’s son himself.

“Mr. Dugrey, so nice of you to join us.” the teacher drawled, seemingly bored. “Our new student was just introducing herself.”

Tristan grinned and the look sent shivers down Rory‘s back. “Oh well then. Allow me.” he smirked as he walked over to her and moved his arm in an exaggerated motion as if he was auctioning off a grand prize on a game show. “Everybody, this is… Mary.”

The atmosphere in the classroom quickly changed and all attention was back on her. But now instead of people looking bored out of their minds, the guys were whistling and snickering, and nearly every girl was either glaring at Rory or rolling their eyes at the guys.

“Actually,” Rory gritted out, glaring at Tristan as he high fived a guy in the front row. “It’s Rory. Rory Gilmore.”

The teacher nodded, totally oblivious to the nickname Tristan had given her as he turned the page of a book he now was looking through, not even paying attention to the students next to him. “Well Ms. Gilmore, welcome to Chilton. Now, if we can get continue…” he dismissed them with a wave of his hand and Rory took one of the two empty seats in the class quickly, knowing her face was red as people continued to snicker and whisper back and forth while eyeing her up.

“So,” A voice whispered behind her, hot breath moving along the back of her neck. “Mary. Already have classes together. Must be fate.”

Rory gripped her notebook till her knuckles were white and ignored him where he was seated behind her until he chuckled and started talking to the guy next to him. She looked up at the teacher who was reading from a book while writing on the board and tried to get into what he was saying but the different conversations happening around her were too distracting.

“… if Tristan already has his eye on her, she might as well just give up.” A curly haired

brunette in the seat next to Rory murmured to another girl while sending a glare in her direction.

“Does she know how lucky she is?” the other girl replied, now looking at Rory also.

“You do know it’s not nice to talk about people right? Especially when they’re sitting right next to you and can hear every word you say?” Rory murmured, shrinking in her seat. “And for the record, lucky? Are you kidding?”

She had said it more to herself than anything but the girls had picked it up and were now glaring daggers at her but then turned into their seats and lowered their voices.

Rory had never been more happy to hear a bell ring, even though standing up to leave the class resulted in Tristan using the moment to rub against her, his hand accidentally colliding with her backside when he did so.

But right when she was in the hall, free from her first class from hell, her quick getaway was interrupted as someone stepped in front of her.

“Paris Geller.” The girl greeted. And Rory looked around as if thinking she was talking to someone else before meeting her cool eyes.

“Hi. I’m, uh, Rory Gilmore.” Rory said cautiously shaking her hand, her fingers nearly going numb at the other girls grip.

“How are you? Good? That’s nice.” Paris said quickly and then let go of her hand. “Now that the pleasantries are over, I need to know if you are going to be signing up for the Franklin? The school paper? One of the top 10 high school papers in the country? I’ve looked at your portfolio and while you do have that local small town public school simple way of writing, it’s obvious you do your research and write thorough articles. I’m the editor this year and…” she trailed off and Rory just stood there, wondering how she was able to keep talking when she never stopped to take a breath.

By time she was done, Rory was still trying to digest everything she said. Talk about intense.

She cleared her throat. “Right now, I'm just trying to get through my first day...”

“Yeah, Paris take an easy on her, she’s still getting used to everything. Aren’t you, Mary?” Tristan interrupted as he walked up behind Rory and put his arms over her shoulders, hugging her from behind.

Rory pushed him away, turning to face him and sending him a look of disgust. “Do not, touch me.”

Tristan just chuckled and winked at her, “You know you want me, baby.” he said, walking backwards and winking one more time before turning and disappearing down the hall.

“Well.” Paris murmured from behind Rory and she turned back around to see her staring at her oddly.

“What?” Rory asked slightly irritated. That guy was really getting to her.

“That was Tristan Dugrey. My next door neighbor, playpen buddy and asshole extraordinaire. And you just shrugged him off.” Paris looked her over with a raised eyebrow. “Interesting.”

“Not really.” Rory shifted, uncomfortable. “Look, I need to get to my next class, I don’t want to be late again and…”

Paris cut her off with a wave of her hand. “What’s you’re next class?”

“English. 31A. Mr. Brooks.”

Paris nodded. “Same as me. Let’s go.” she said before taking off down the hall and Rory quickly followed her.

First friend? Rory thought. Eh, she’d wait a little longer before she decided that.

Xxx

“So,” Louise, a blonde haired junior with a voice that sounded as if she smoked three packs a day looked at Rory. “Where are you from?”

Rory took a sip of her water, before setting it back on her tray. Given the day she had had already she wasn’t exactly in the mood to touch any other part of her lunch. But at least this was one part of the day she didn’t have to worry about. Paris had invited her to sit with her and her two friends and so far Madeline and Louise didn’t seem that bad.

“Stars Hollow.”

Madeline nodded. “Small town girl.”

Rory shrugged and then sent a wry look at Louise as she leaned forward on the table, getting closer to Rory and lowering her voice.

“We heard Tristan’s pegged you as a Mary.”

Rory rolled her eyes. “You mean Satan?” she asked and received amused looks from all three girls. “What is he, swim captain/prom king or something?” she asked, not missing the way people moved out of his way in the halls and swarmed him like he was a celebrity.

“Basketball captain actually.” Louise corrected. “And not prom king but more… the King of Chilton. You know, the every girl wants him and every guy wants to be him guy.”

“Yeah, I figured as much.” Rory muttered.

“He laid on the charm in the hall early, practically mauled her and she shrugged him off.” Paris informed between bites of her salad and writing something in a notebook.

Louise made a disapproving noise. “Bad move. That is just going to make him more interested.”

Wonderful, Rory thought.

“I’m going to… go check out the library.” Rory stood, feeling nauseous now.

“You’ll be at the meeting.” Paris stated more than asked, not looking up from what she was doing and Rory nodded, having agreed to attend the Franklin meeting that afternoon.

“Yeah,” Rory responded before uttering a quick goodbye to the other girls before grabbing her tray, dumping its contents in the garbage and leaving the noisy cafeteria.

She wasn’t even twenty feet away when someone fell into step beside her.

“Hey Mary.”

Rory kept walking and ignored him the best she could while inwardly cursing herself. She should have stayed at lunch.

“See this is how I figure it…you must have got a bad impression of me when we first met. Therefore, you think all these horrible things about me. But, if you knew the real me, I’m sure your opinion will change and you’ll fall madly in love.” The cockiness in his tone literally dumbfounded her. How could someone be so conceded? “… so I was thinking we should go out so you can get to know me better.”

Rory stopped walking and turned to face him, the look of disbelief on her face seeming to amuse him. “Okay, listen. I’m sure this really amuses you to bother me like this and it’s totally entertaining. Ha ha ha. But honestly, you are probably one of the most annoying people I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. You’ve managed to turn my somewhat crappy day into a complete nightmare. So saying that, you’d have to be completely stupid to think I would ever go out with you.”

He didn’t say anything for a minute but just stared at her and Rory flushed with annoyance and embarrassment at her rant to him. But then he stepped towards her and she quickly jumped back, her back against the wall and his face stopping just inches from hers.

He licked his lips. “No one ever says no to me.” he whispered.

Rory took in a shaky breath at the casual threat in his tone and side stepped to get away from him. “That, is where you’re wrong.” she said shakily as she turned and quickly walked away from him.

Tristan stood there and watched her go, running his hands through his hair and smiling slightly.

“How long until you nail her?” Derek asked, coming up beside Tristan and watching her walk away as well.

Tristan smirked, glancing at his friend and then back to Rory‘s retreating back before turning and heading back to the cafeteria.

“Ah, just give it time.”

xxx

I'm a quarter back , I'm popular
My mom says I'm a catch , I'm popular
I'm never last picked
I got a cheerleader chick