The Other Gilmore

The Start of Friday Night Dinners

Frankie walked across the street to Luke's after her classes at Ms. Patty's that night. Lorelai and Rory were already there, but to her surprise, they weren't speaking. Frankie ordered quickly and sat down in between her mother and sister, glancing at each of them as she waited impatiently for her dinner.

"So, you were late getting home tonight," Lorelai spoke to Rory, cutting through the silence that had enveloped the table.

"Yeah, I went to the library," the girl stuttered.

"Oh."

Frankie looked over at her sister with a furrowed brow. She knew Rory was lying, but she didn't know why.

"I forgot to tell you guys, we're having dinner with your grandparents tomorrow night," the girl's mother said nonchalantly. Frankie's head snapped towards Lorelai, confusion written all over her face.

"We are?" Rory asked.

"Mmhmm."

"But it's September," said Frankie matter-of-factly.

"So?"

"So what holiday's in September?"

"Look, it's not a holiday thing. It's just dinner, okay?" Lorelai snapped.

"Fine, sorry." Frankie raised her hands in surrender, not trying to start a fight.

Just then, Luke came over with the family's dinner. He placed the plates down on the table and ripped the order sheet from his note pad. "Red meat can kill you. Enjoy."

Frankie couldn't help the grin that spread across her face as she watched Luke walk away. He's such a sourpuss, she thought, giggling.

"So, I finished hemming your skirt today," Lorelai said to Rory with a smile. Rory's face fell slightly, to Frankie's surprise. "A grunt of acknowledgement might be nice."

"I don't understand why we're going to dinner tomorrow night. I mean, what if I had plans? You didn't even ask me," Rory blurted out.

"Woah," Frankie muttered, looking down at her food, wishing she was anywhere but at that table in that moment.

"If you had plans, I would've known," Lorelai stated.

"How?"

"You would've told me."

Rory scoffed. "I don't tell you everything. I have my own things."

"Fine, you have things."

"That's right, I have things."

"Great, glad we established that Rory has things," Frankie said, annoyed with the juvenile argument happening between her sister and mother.

"Hey, I had dibs on being the bitch tonight," Lorelai said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Just tonight?" Rory muttered.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Lorelai asked, staring at her daughter. Frankie looked over at Rory, intrigued.

"I'm not sure I want to go to Chilton."

"What?"

"Yikes," Frankie said under her breath, shrinking back into her seat.

"The timing is just really bad," Rory said.

"The timing is bad?" Lorelai questioned, angry.