Love Me Softly - Gilmore Girls -

Chapter Nine

I had managed to complete the rest of my homework while talking with Rory, my mom popping into the room to check in silently. She's almost happier than I am about Rory seemingly being a way better person than I first assumed.

The following morning, I walk down the stairs to see Paris drinking coffee with my dad.

"Paris," I groan, still waking up, "you know I love you like a sister, but why are you here?"

"Good morning, Alice." She grins looking up from her cup of coffee. Dad looks silently between us, looking back down at his files scattered across the table.

I stare her down, winning when she rolls her eyes, downing the coffee left in her cup. "Fine, I didn't want to wait for you to get to school to know how yesterday went. Are you happy?"

"Very," I smile, sitting beside her to begin eating breakfast.

"Alice," she's exasperated now as she probes for more information, "I need to know what happened."

I giggle slightly, enjoying the French toast that Chelsea brought out to me. Dad looks up once again to see if I'll reveal anything about yesterday's interaction with Rory.

"Alice if you don't start talking I'm stealing your French toast and telling Louise she can set up a blind date for you."

The fork pauses on the way to my mouth in full shock that she'd threaten me this way while Dad has let out a light choking sound at the last part of her sentence.

"It went well, you demented child." I turn to face her, and partly shield my food, "She's much nicer than we thought, we may be able to teach her how to properly behave like a society brat and she'll be an ally for you if you let her. Now, can we not threaten my existence so early in the morning?"

"I'll need more later," she smiles, reaching for the blueberries in front of her, "but you're safe for now."

We finish our breakfast and say goodbye to my parents before heading to school. Paris spends the entire ride trying to find out more information, but I refuse to give in. When we finally make it, I get out of the car as if I'm on fire, hoping to get away from Paris' intense stare. My freedom is temporary as the rest of our friend group joins us around the car.

"Haning out with Mary and you didn't invite me," Tristan pouts, slinging his arm over my shoulder.

I lean into my best (guy) friend, happy that he's here as a buffer for the girls. "You can join us eventually, I want her to get comfortable being my friend before dragging her into this group."

"Scared she'll like me better," he smirks.

"Definitely," I laugh, "the thought has me shaking in my boots."

The girls laugh at how annoyed Tristan gets before they go to ask their questions. They seem content with the answers as we walk to our lockers inside. We're standing around making minor plans to hang out during the week and working on the sequence of events for my upcoming birthday.

The girls are in the middle of discussing color themes when I hear, "Hi Alice."

I turn to see Rory nervously approaching the five of us, I shoot Tristan a look and he gets the hint before leaving for his class.

"Hey, Rory," I smile, facing her now with the girls on either side of me. "Ready for the test today?"

Her body seems to go into a light shock, "What test?"

She's scared for a minute, and I feel bad for the teasing, "Don't worry, I'm just kidding. Didn't realize you'd get so worried about it. You're almost as bad as Paris."