Chapter 1: One Terrible Day

Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls, or any of the characters. I'm just borrowing them.

A/N: This story takes place in season 1, before Rory's birthday party. She has met Dean, but nothing is really going on at this point.

Rory Gilmore sat in the library at Chilton pouring over her books. Midterms were in two weeks and she was still had tons of studying ahead of her. Chilton was so different from Stars Hollow High School. She never had to work very hard to be the best at SHHS. She was a shoo-in for valedictorian, and she had tons of friends. She ate lunch with Lane, everyday, and she knew all her teachers. No one at the school hated her.

Chilton was different. Chilton was hard. Somehow, the teachers seemed less caring and more formal with their students. The worst part about it was the other kids. They all hated her, and she had no idea why. How could they hate her? They didn't even know her. She had only been there for a couple of months, but everyone called her, "Mary." What was wrong with looking like a virgin? What was wrong with being a virgin? She was only 15 for crying out loud. Paris Gellar was the worst. She obviously felt threatened by Rory, but Rory had no idea why. She was behind and was probably never going to catch up.

Things between her mom and her grandparents weren't great. Every Friday night dinner ended in turmoil. Rory got a stomach ache every time she they pulled up to the house. She loved her grandparents, but she couldn't help but feel like she ruined everything just by her birth. Rory felt unwanted at school and at Friday night dinner. She knew her grandparents loved her, but it was obvious that they wished her mom had never gotten pregnant. How could she not feel just a little bit responsible for causing the falling out between her family members?

The bell rang, signaling the end of study hall, and Rory sighed as she loaded her books into her backpack. The bell rang just as she slipped into the locker room to change for gym class. She hated stripping down to her bra and panties for gym class. She was very modest, and really did not like being on display. She quickly slipped her gym uniform on and hustled out for volleyball.

Rory was hit in the face three times with the volleyball during one gym class. That had to be some kind of a record. Gym sucked. Chilton sucked. She laced up her saddles shoes and straightened her skirt just as the final bell rung. Thank goodness this day was over. Rory grabbed her backpack and headed outside for the bus stop. On the way, Paris shot daggers at her with a nasty look. Madeleine and Louise just utterly ignored her, which was a welcome relief. At least she didn't have to hear any biting remarks.

Rory was walking through the parking lot when she heard squealing tires. Rory turned and saw a black Mercedes Benz heading straight for her. She didn't have time to get out of the way before the car hit her. She was knocked backwards and slid across the pavement. The driver got out of the car and ran to her aid.

"Mary! I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

Rory opened her eyes and saw a very attractive blonde-headed boy kneeling above her. Of course it was Tristan DuGrey that hit her. Could this miserable day get any worse? Other than some bumps and bruises, Rory felt fine. She could move her arms and legs and she hadn't hit her head very hard. Tristan must have slowed down enough before he ploughed into her. Great. Now she wouldn't even have a good excuse to miss school, even though she was hit by a car.

"The name is Rory," she grumbled as she stood up.

"Lay back down," Mr. Medina said as he came up to them. "I called 911 and an ambulance is coming to get you."

"Why? I'm fine!" Rory retorted and stood up despite her teacher's instruction.

"See. I'm fine. This moron must have hit his breaks in time."

"You're calling me a moron?!" Tristan said, angrily. "You're the one that stepped into the parking lot without looking."

"I'm a pedestrian, so I automatically have the right of way," Rory said. "You were probably too busy fixing your hair to notice someone walking in front of you."

Mr. Medina was about to say something when the ambulance appeared on the scene. Rory was humiliated when she realized that everyone was staring at her. Mr. Medina insisted that she let the paramedics take a look at her. She assured them that she was fine, and the paramedics took a look at her and recommended that they take her to the hospital just to make sure that she was okay.

"That's really not necessary. I'm fine."

"Yes, but sometimes head injuries take hours for the symptoms to show up."

Rory couldn't argue with that, and she knew Lorelai would insist upon taking her to the hospital if she knew about it. Sighing, Rory relented, and allowed them to put a neck brace on her and load her into the ambulance. This was ridiculous. As the paramedics were about to shut the doors, Tristan asked if he could go with her to make sure she was okay.

"Sure, you can ride along, but don't touch anything."

Before Rory could protest, Tristan was climbing into the back of the rig. This was the worst day, ever.

"Can I at least sit up?" She asked.

The paramedic raised the gurney up and started hooking her up to monitors.

"Well, since you're here, can you hand me my history book," Rory asked Tristan.

"Really? You got hit by a car and you want to study?" Tristan asked.

"Yes, really. I was planning on studying for midterms on the bus, but because of your irresponsible driving I am now going to be spending my Thursday night in the hospital. Midterms are next week and I have a ton of studying to do. So if you don't mind, Please hand me my history book."

Tristan acquiesced to her request, and Rory opened the book. The neck brace made it difficult to read, but not impossible. Besides, as long as she had the book up she could ignore Tristan, completely. He obviously didn't get the hint.

"I am sorry that I hit you. I really didn't see you, Mary."

That was it. Rory had had it. He had the gall to call her, Mary. After hitting her with his car! The nerve of this arrogant, self-centered, douche bag!

"MY NAME IS RORY!"

"Stop calling me Mary. Why do you try to purposely annoy me, Tristan? What have I done to deserve that? Please help me to understand why you and everyone else at this school hate me so much."

Rory could feel the tears bubbling up to the surface, but she refused to let Tristan see her cry. He didn't deserve her tears. Besides, her tears really didn't have all that much to do with him. He was just the cherry on top of this incredibly awful ice cream sundae of a day.

"I don't hate you, Rory," Tristan said, seriously. "Is that what you think?"

"Yes. Why else would you call me by that horrible nickname?"

"I call you Mary because you seem so sweet and innocent. It's actually kind of nice to find a girl that's like you. Rory, you are rare. I'm intrigued by you. I gave you that nickname because you're special."

"Yeah right. You're just saying this because you hit me with your car."

Tristan tried to hide a smile, but Rory could see humor in his blue eyes. For the first time, she realized that Tristan might not be so bad. He was actually being pretty sweet right now. Sure he could be a bit of an ass, but maybe they could actually be friends. It would be nice to have a friend at Chilton... even if it was Tristan.

"Okay DuGrey, how about we make a deal," Rory said.

"What deal?" he asked, raising one eyebrow.

"If you promise to stop being a jerk to me, then I guess I'll let you off the hook for hitting me with your car."

"Hmmm… that seems like a fair trade," Tristan said with a smirk.

"Maybe we could try being friends?" Rory asked, hopefully.

"Friends, huh? I've never been just friends with a girl before."

"Well I've never really been friends with a guy before, either, so it would be a first for both of us," Rory admitted.

"What the hell? Okay Gilmore, friends it is. So what will we do, first, braid each other's hair and make friendship bracelets?"

"Is that what you think girls do?" Rory laughed.

"Well then how about we shoot some hoops and talk about all the girls we've hooked up with," Rory blurted out.

"Why Rory Gilmore, are you telling me that you hook up with girls? No wonder you only want to be my friend," Tristan teased.

Rory turned scarlet and retorted, "That's not what I meant and you know it. And is that being nice? I seem to remember that one time when you hit me with your car! Oh wait… that's right now!"

"Okay, okay! I'll play nice," Tristan said.

The paramedic snickered at the two of them and Tristan shot him a look.

"Do you mind? We're trying to have a private conversation, here," Tristan said.

The paramedic shook his head at the teenagers. At that moment, the ambulance pulled up to the hospital. Rory realized as Tristan grabbed her history book that she hadn't gotten any studying done, but at least she had made a friend…. Or so she hoped.

Lorelai Gilmore burst through the doors of the hospital demanding in a very Emily Gilmore kind of way where her daughter was. The nurse calmly showed her to the curtained off area where Rory was sitting.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Rory asked.

"What do you mean what am I doing here?" Lorelai said in a panicky voice.

"Your teacher called me and said that you were hit by a car!"

Rory sighed, "I'm fine, mom. I was just about to call you. I literally just have a few scrapes and bruises. The car was almost stopped when it hit me, so no harm done."

"No harm done?! What do you mean no harm done!? You… were…. HIT… BY… A… CAR!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"An almost stopped car. It was like running into a parked car. That is literally what it felt like, Mom. I'm completely fine."

"If you are completely fine, then why are you in the hospital?"

"Mr. Medina made me go. I didn't want to, but he insisted in case I had a head injury," Rory calmly explained.

"A head injury?! You hit your head?"

"Just barely. I'm fine. I just had a CAT scan to make extra sure that I'm okay."

"Well why didn't you call me?"

"I couldn't. As soon as we got here they took me to get a CAT scan. That's the nice thing about going in an ambulance… no waiting time."

"Oh my poor baby. You must have been so scared!"

"Actually, I was more annoyed than scared," Rory said with a laugh.

Just then, Lorelai caught motion out of the corner of her eye. She saw an extremely attractive young man shifting his position in a chair. Warning bells went up as she surveyed the cocky attitude that practically dripped off this young man.

"Who are you?" Lorelai asked him.

"My name is Tristan DuGrey. I go to school with Mar… I mean Rory."

Lorelai narrowed her eyes and tried to place where she had heard that name. It sounded so familiar. Suddenly it dawned on her. Tristan almost called her Mary. This was the punk that had been making Rory's life at Chilton so hard.

"Wait a second, you're Bible Boy!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Bible boy?" Tristan asked.

"Yes. You call her Mary don't you? The virgin Mary is a Biblical reference… hence the nickname Bible boy."

Rory groaned as her mother prattled on. She loved her mother. Adored her, but sometimes she needed to say less to certain people. Luckily, Tristan thought the nickname was amusing, and it blew over, quickly.

"So why are you here? Just being a good Samaritan, Bible boy?" Lorelai asked.

Tristan laughed, and replied, "Actually, I'm the one that hit Rory, and I came with her to make sure that she was okay."

"You hit her?!" Lorelai yelled in her best mama grizzly voice.

"Mom, it was an accident. I wasn't looking where I was going. He hit the brakes and stayed with me to make sure I was okay. I am okay, so everything's fine. Plus, we've decided to bury the hatchet and actually be friends. Weird. Normally hitting someone with your car would make the opposite happen," Rory babbled, hoping to calm her mother down.

Before Lorelai could say anything, the doctor came in and cleared Rory. They couldn't find anything wrong with her, so he said that he would get their discharge papers and then they were free to go. Lorelai and Tristan stepped out of the curtained area to give Rory some privacy so that she could change her clothes. The two of them stared awkwardly at one another.

Lorelai didn't want to hurt Rory's chance at a friendship, but Tristan frightened her deep down. He reminded her of Christopher. He looked like a rich, rebellious, pretty boy. He had danger written across his forehead, but if she didn't accept him, then she would be no better than Emily Gilmore. Why couldn't Rory stay eleven? That was the perfect age. She loved nail polish and makeup, but didn't have any serious interest in boys. Now she was fifteen, and would be turning sixteen in a couple of months. Rory was the same age Lorelai was when she got pregnant. It was frightening. In her mind, Rory was still a little girl in so many ways. Lorelai wasn't ready for boys, but she knew it was inevitable.

Tristan fought the urge to squirm under Lorelai's scrutiny. He really did feel bad about the accident, and he was very intrigued by the offer of friendship made by Rory. He truly liked her, but she was not his type at all. He normally went after the easy cheerleader types. Rory was not that type at all. She was smart, funny, well-informed, and a bit odd at times. She fascinated him in a way no other girl ever had. Most girls played games, but Rory just said it like it was. Her innocence was enchanting. He doubted anyone had ever touched her… He stopped himself right there. Friends. That was all they were. He didn't need to be thinking about touching her when they were just friends.

Rory emerged from behind the curtain and was dressed in her school uniform with her yellow backpack pulling on her shoulders. She looked so cute with her long brown hair tucked behind her ear. She really did have the most perfect ears.

Rory saw Tristan staring at her and she smiled at him. After this horrible day, she was glad something good came out of it. She had a friend at Chilton. Maybe tomorrow wouldn't be so bad, after all.

"So, Bible boy, how were you planning on getting home, tonight?" Lorelai asked him.

"Oh yeah. My car is still at school. Do you mind dropping me off?"

"Wait. What time is it?" Rory asked.

"It's just after 6," Lorelai replied.

"Well we can't go back. Chilton locks the gate to the parking lot at 6 pm unless there is a meeting or extra-curricular activity going on."

"I guess we can drive you home," Lorelai suggested.

"You can, but there's no way I can get to school, tomorrow," Tristan explained.

"Can't your parents take you?"

"Uh, they're both out of town," he admitted. "I would take the bus, but the closest bus stop is miles from my house. Don't worry about me, though, I'll figure something out."

Lorelai felt a bit of pity for this boy. His parents were gone, and he would be all alone in that house. He had stayed with her daughter all afternoon when he could have left her. If this was any other of Rory's friends she would offer to let him stay with them and go with Rory to school, tomorrow. But he wasn't any of Rory's other friends. Still, it would be nice to get to know him, better. It's best to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. She hoped this boy wouldn't become an enemy, but the warning in her heart told a completely different story.

"Why don't we let you go pick some clothes up at your house and you can spend the night at our place," Lorelai suggested. "When do your parents get back?"

"Um, next week sometime," Tristan replied. "I'm not sure, when."

"Well, since tomorrow's Friday why don't you spend the whole weekend with us? If you're not busy, that is."

"No, I'm not busy. I'd love to stay for the weekend. Are you sure it won't be a bother?"

"No. We can just hang out. I just like to get to know Rory's friends. We can order pizza and rent movies. It'll be fun."

Tristan could not believe his luck. Rory's mom was inviting him for the weekend. He was so sick of the Chilton party scene that he relished a chance to do something different. Plus, he would get to see Rory in her world. He had so many questions about her, and he had a feeling that this trip would only increase his infatuation with the beautiful girl.

Rory could not believe the strange turn of events. Tristan was staying with them for the weekend. On one hand, she was happy to get to know Tristan, better, but on the other hand it was kind of embarrassing to have her mom ask him to stay over. Wait, this wasn't a date. Tristan wasn't her boyfriend. He was just her friend. It would be like her mom inviting Lane over. That wouldn't be weird at all, and Rory was determined that this wouldn't be weird, either.

"That sounds like fun. Okay I'm in! And by the way, I'm starving."

"Me too," Rory added. "Can we go to Luke's?"

"Of course, but Bible boy needs to hurry up and get his stuff. Let's get going. That cheeseburger is calling my name. It's saying Lorelai, Lorelai, please come and take a bite out of me. I've missed you so much. Then I'm going to tell Cheezy the cheeseburger that I've missed him, too. Just don't tell him that I've been cheating on him with Terry the Taco."

"Mom, you've got to pick one of them. You can't go stringing along Cheezy and Terry."

"I know, but it's so hard to pick just one. They're both so delicious."

"Honestly is the best policy."

"You're right. I'll have an honest conversation with Cheezy, tonight."

Tristan shook his head at this ridiculous conversation and wondered just what he had gotten himself into.

A/N: Well, what did you think? Please leave a review :)