Disclaimer: I own nothing. Gilmore Girls belongs to AS-P. The title of this chapter is a song by The Go! Team.
Rating: T - because Jess can't seem to keep his mouth clean, Finn likes getting laid waaaaay too much and because Rory finally likes to do something other than read.
It's the summer before senior year. She's up for a summer of boys and fun. He's ready to hit the sand and see the girls. Nothing could go wrong.
Chapter 1: Huddle Formation
On any normal day, Lorelai Leigh "Rory" Gilmore-Hayden would be found at the pool. She could also be found at a local shopping mall. One wouldn't be too far off looking for her at the spa, either.
This day, though, was different. This day she was in a place she hadn't been to in a while. If by "a while" you mean six months.
Court. She smirked inwardly at the thought. She dared not smirk while her father was standing beside herself and her two male companions. Not boyfriends, male companions. That's how she had always been. These two were always with her and she didn't really want anything else. Romance was not her strongest point.
"You do understand why you are here, correct Miss… Gilmore-Hayden?" the judge inquired.
Rory nodded. "Yes, sir. I stole a taxi cab with my friends."
"And you young men," the judge said, a bit more roughly, to the two boys. "Mr. Morgan and Mr. Mariano, you understand why you're here?"
The two boys nodded. "Yes."
"Well, I see no reason to hold Miss Gilmore-Hayden," the judge said. "However, there will be a fine of five hundred dollars and you will serve sixty hours of community service."
Rory breathed a sigh of relief. No jail. Thank. God.
"Mr. Morgan," the judge said, bringing Rory back to reality. "As you were the one driving, you will receive a harsher punishment. You have a fine of one-thousand dollars and you will serve no less than one hundred hours of community service."
Rory saw Finn roll his eyes and stifled a giggle. Her father glared at her and she sobered quickly. Jess, who was standing next to her, closed his eyes and bit his lip in an attempt to not laugh. Christopher Hayden glared at him, as well, but it did no use to glare at Jess Mariano.
"Mr. Mariano," the judge stated. "You were a mere accomplice in this rendezvous, I assume? You had nothing to do with it?"
"Actually, Your Honor," Jess began. "I was the one who suggested we steal the taxi."
"Any reason?" the judge inquired.
"We were sitting in the hotel room," Jess responded. "Bored as hell, let me tell you. Then I saw a cab, looked at Rory and Finn, and told them what had to be done to cure our case of boredom."
Rory knew the look on her father's face. Pissed. Completely pissed.
"So you suggested stealing a taxi cab because you were bored?" the judge asked.
Jess thought for a moment. "Yep, that's pretty much it."
"Well, Mr. Mariano, I guess I should thank you for your honesty," the judge said.
"Thank you," Jess replied.
The judge looked at Jess. "But I won't. You also have a fine of five hundred dollars and will serve sixty hours of community service."
"Bugger!" Finn exclaimed.
"I beg your pardon, Mr. Morgan?" the judge asked.
Finn looked from the judge to Mr. Hayden. He saw Rory, standing behind the rather scary looking man, shake her head slightly.
He looked back to the judge. "Nothing, sir."
"Fine, then this court is adjourned."
Rory turned to her father and smiled sheepishly. "Thanks, Dad."
"We'll talk later," Christopher responded. "After dinner with your grandparents."
"Both sets?" Rory asked.
Christopher nodded. "Both. Sets."
Rory sighed. "Great."
"Just be glad you're not in jail right now," Christopher said. "Be unhappy about dinner later."
"I'm going out until then," Rory said. "Jess, Finn and I have to talk about summer vacation."
"You are not leaving this country," Christopher told her.
"I know," Rory said. "We're going to North Carolina."
Christopher nodded. "Stay out of trouble. Be home by six."
"Will do," Rory said, walking over to Finn and Jess.
"So, Love," Finn said. "Louise's house?"
Rory smiled. "Sounds good to me."
"I should probably thank your dad later," Jess said. "When he's not pissed."
"Maybe you should have refrained from saying 'yep' to a judge," Rory suggested. "Just a thought, though."
Jess shrugged. "He wanted to know why we did it."
"And Jess told him," Finn explained.
Rory laughed at her two best friends. It had always been like this, since before she could remember.
She and Finn had met when her father brought her to Finn's house to talk international laws and such with Finn's parents. Jess had just moved in next door. The three of them had created some sort of bond in that afternoon, and had remained friends ever since.
Lane Kim and Paris Geller joined the group during their first year at Chilton Preparatory Pre-School. They had befriended the two girls the first day. Lane was the daughter of Yao Kim, jeweler extraordinaire. They'd all been scared of Lane's mother, Tan, at first, but they eventually grew used to the no junk food, all Christian music atmosphere.
Paris was a different story. Her parents were never home, and the group often escaped to her house -- even when they were little -- to get away from their parents. Paris was the anal retentive, school obsessed daughter of Lynn and Ted Geller. Mr. Geller was a big name agent in Hollywood, and the group often found themselves at movie premieres and rubbing elbows with the likes of Robert DeNiro and Drew Barrymore.
When they were in junior high, Madeline Lynn and Louise Grant joined them. Madeline was the daughter of Jeffrey Lynn, owner of Lynn Steel. She was ditzy and yet completely intelligent in the ways of the world. It was often thought by the group that she and Louise shared a brain.
Louise Grant, granddaughter of oil monger Peter Grant and wife Regina, often found herself as the center of attention. She knew that everything she did was monitored and she was often spotted on the covers of numerous tabloids. They all loved Louise dearly, and knew that, deep down, she cared what other people thought of her.
Dave Rygalski completed the group freshman year of high school when he swooped in and stole Lane's heart. He was the son of the famous artist Elena Rygalski. He hadn't been to many society events because of the way his mother was viewed. Rory recalled many times when Elena had been referred to as "nothing but a fake who only splats paint on paper."
Together, though, the group withstood everything. It was mostly Rory, Finn and Jess, though, who caused the trouble. They realized, though, that Paris was the reason they hadn't been in trouble more. Lane often stood back and watched, knowing full well of the hell that would be loosed if they got caught. Dave laughed everything off, partly because he didn't want them to do whatever they were doing and partly because he was too scared to do some of the stuff they'd done. Louise and Madeline were the ones who got more people involved than necessary.
She hoped that, when they all started Yale together in the fall, they could stay out of trouble.
"Love?" Finn broke Rory from her thoughts.
"Yeah?" Rory asked.
"It's custom in the United States to get into the car when the door is opened," Jess joked. "Maybe Finn's got it wrong though. Maybe I have it wrong."
"Maybe the whole world has it wrong!" Finn exclaimed. "God help us, every one."
Rory rolled her eyes at her friends. "Maybe you two should let me get in the car now."
Finn stepped out of Rory's way. "As you wish."
Rory got into the car and watched as Jess and Finn bickered over who would be driving. She couldn't help but be thankful that she was friends with them. She also couldn't help but be thankful for the fact that her father was one of the best lawyers in Hartford.
"Let's go!" Rory shouted from her open window.
"Who's driving?" Finn asked.
Rory got out of the car and took the keys from Jess. "Me."
Jess looked at Rory. "You're kidding."
"The Gilmore-Hayden's do not kid," Rory replied.
Finn laughed. "Yeah. They eat more than is humanly necessary, but they do not kid."
Rory glared at Finn. "Just because I beat you at the Fun-Dip eating contest that day is no reason to be jealous."
Finn winced. "God, don't remind me."
"That was a good contest," Jess said, getting into the front passenger seat.
Rory winked at Finn and got into the driver's side. "Come on now, Finny."
Finn sighed and got into the back seat. "Why does the foreigner always get stuck in the back?"
Rory shrugged. "You're not as fast as Jess?"
"Look at it this way," Jess explained. "It's practice for if you ever get a girl back there."
Finn glared at Jess as Rory started the car. "Fuck you."
Jess smirked. "No thanks, Finn."
They made their way across town to their development. Rory noted that all of the houses looked the same. It wasn't the first time she'd noticed this, but today she noticed it more. Maybe it was because she was leaving for summer vacation. She didn't know.
"They all look the same, don't they?" Finn asked.
Rory looked at Finn from the rear view mirror. "You read my mind."
They all looked to their right: Jess's house. Next came Finn's house, then Rory's. Following Rory's came Lane's, then Paris's, Louise's, Dave's and, finally, Madeline's.
"We grew up in prison," Rory noted.
Jess nodded. "Yeah."
Rory pulled the car into Louise's driveway, where the blonde was sitting on her front porch with Lane, Dave, Madeline and Paris. The group waved to Rory, Jess and Finn as the car was turned off.
Rory, Jess and Finn got out of the car and made their way up the driveway to the porch.
"There's my trio of fugitives!" Louise greeted. "Are you going to jail?"
Rory shook her head and smirked. "Nope. Daddy got us off."
Madeline looked up at Rory. "Thank God we know what you're talking about."
"Yeah," Louise agreed. "Otherwise, 'daddy got us off' would sound --"
"Extremely pornographic," Madeline said.
Paris looked from Madeline to Louise. "You two spend way too much time together."
The two shrugged. "Oh well."
Lane smiled at Rory. "So, what happened? Is your dad pissed?"
"At me," Jess responded.
"What did you do now, Mariano?" Paris asked.
"He patronized the judge and almost started laughing in court," Rory said.
"It's Finn's fault!" Jess exclaimed. "If he wouldn't have rolled his eyes I wouldn't have laughed."
"I wouldn't have rolled my eyes if you two didn't get off on grand theft auto!" Finn replied.
"Boys," Rory said. "Settle down. You were doing so well."
"So, change of subject," Lane said.
"Summer," Louise said. "North Carolina."
"Many military boys," Madeline added.
"Pretty," Rory said.
"Any other adjectives?" Paris asked, looking at the boys.
Finn smirked. "Well, since you asked…"
"Don't finish that thought," Paris said.
"We're staying at the Hilton," Louise said. "Gramps set it up for us to stay in the top floor penthouse."
Rory smiled. "That's what I'm talking about."
"And my dad said if we needed anything to call," Paris said.
Rory hugged Paris. "I knew I liked you."
"You use me," Paris responded.
Rory feigned shock. "I resent that!"
"I'm joking with you Gilmore-Hayden," Paris said. "Or is it Gilmore now because you disgraced the family name? Or is it Hayden now because you disgraced the other family name?"
Rory laughed. "I disgraced the family name, but I'm not losing the double name."
Madeline stood up from her seat and made her way to the door. "Good, because I would have --"
"Been confused," Louise finished.
Paris turned to the two girls. "Way too much time together."