Champagne Problems | Gilmore Girls

The 'Sub' Party

So you and Tristan?" Rory asked Serena  Sunday evening. She'd spent the whole day wallowing and Serena  had stuck around to help. She was feeling slightly better now, at least well enough for some sister talk.
Serena shrugged. "He's hot and a great kisser, but I don't think it was anything more than your typical party make-out session."
"How can you be so casual about it?" Rory asked her. "I mean, doesn't it mean anything to you?" For her, you didn't kiss a boy unless you really liked him.
Serena shrugged. "It's nice."
Rory just didn't understand that attitude. "So you don't like Tristan?"
"No, I do." Serena told her. "He's by far the hottest guy at Chilton and he amuses me. If opportunity arises, I'll probably do it again, but I'm not going to sit around pining for him." Serena grinned. "Did I tell you about the guy Emily set me up with?"

"No." Rory told her. "Grandma set you up?"
"That's what Friday Night Dinner was." Serena told her. "It was this big set up. She had picked this super boring guy for Mom and this appropriate young gentleman for me."
"Oh, what was he like?" Rory asked, amused by the way her sister could switch from one guy to another in the blink of an eye.

"More interesting than Emily probably knows." Serena told her. "He comes off as sulky and insolent, but once I got him away from his pompous dad and his twit of a step-mom, he was pretty cool. We're hanging out at this sub-party next week."
"So you like him?" Rory asked with a smile.
Serena shrugged. "He was cool, though don't you dare tell Emily that."
"I can't believe she set you up." Rory said, shaking her head.
Serena shot her a look. "What's not to believe? The perfect granddaughter wasn't there, so she took the opportunity to try and fix the lives of her wayward daughter and granddaughter. Typical Emily."

And it was, Serena hated it of course but to her Gilmore grandparents she was like her mother had been at her age, she didn't measure up to Rory. Not as good as a student, not as innocent or demure. It bothered her that she didn't have a nice relationship with them as she had with her Hayden grandparents but then maybe it was fair as Rory didn't have a relationship with them at all.
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"Did you have a good weekend?" Francine asked the moment Serena walked in the door.
"Yeah, it was okay." Serena said, deciding not to mention Rory's romantic troubles. It wasn't like Straub or Francine would really care.
"Remember, we're having dinner with the Carleton's on Friday and we want you there." Francine told her. "Then the week after that, we're having the Johnsons for dinner on Friday and Saturday is the Mayfield's anniversary party."
"I remember." Serena said with a smile, thinking of the sub-party that Colin had told her would be formed at the Mayfields.
Francine smiled. "Excellent. I thought tomorrow we could go shopping for something suitable for you to wear on Saturday."
"Grandmother, you've already bought me lots of clothes." Serena told her.
"You're our granddaughter, we like buying you things." Francine told her fondly. "So tomorrow come straight home from school and we'll go shopping, all right?"
Serena nodded, knowing that she couldn't get out of it. "Okay."
It wasn't that she didn't like to shop, she did, it was just that shopping with Francine wasn't really her idea of shopping. Still, maybe she could slip some decent clothes in there. Maybe.
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"You okay?" Lorelai asked Rory after Serena  had left. She'd given her daughters some alone time late in the afternoon and gone out to do some errands.
Rory nodded. "I think I'll be okay."
"That's good." Lorelai said, wrapping her arm around Rory's shoulders.
"It was nice having Serena around when I needed her." Rory said after a minute. "I like having her nearby."
"So do I." Lorelai agreed with a smile. It was true, she really liked having her other daughter close by.
The only thing better would be having Serena under her roof, though she understood Serena's reasons for not wanting that. She didn't like them, but she understood.
Besides, even if Serena wasn't living with them, at least now she was an every day part of their life and that was definitely a change for the better.