Trouble ─ rory gilmore

five

Apparently, Tristan's name is actually spelled 'Tristin,' but that's a stupid-ass spelling, so I'm not gonna change how I've been spelling it <3.

★★★

THE past couple weeks since the unfortunate test incident had been mediocre at best. Rory was working her ass off to keep up with homework on top of the intense extra credit work Mr. Medina gave her to make up for the missed exam. Her neighbor's beloved cat died. Her mother was possibly dating her teacher. The new boy in Stars Hollow, Dean, was very interested in her, which should have been good. Rory had been attracted to him when they first met, had nearly given up Chilton because of him, but she wasn't sure what she felt anymore.

Even though she panicked and told him she was interested when he approached her at Cinnamon the cat's wake last week.

This week, though, was going to look up because Rory's 16th birthday was on Friday. She was going to have a little celebration with her grandparents at Friday's dinner, and then on Saturday, her mother was throwing her a big party at home. It was going to be great.

Rory decided she was going to invite Marley to her Stars Hollow birthday party. They were close enough that it wouldn't be weird. She wanted Marley to meet the people closest to her heart—Lorelai, Lane, everyone else in town who'd been a staple in her life since she was a child. All of them wanted to meet Marley too. Apparently, Rory talked about her a lot.

Rory's plan was to ask Marley after first period on Tuesday. They both stood up when the bell rang, and Rory opened her mouth to ask. Marley spoke first.

"Hey, why didn't you tell me that your birthday's on Friday?" she asked. Rory blinked, bewildered.

"How did you know?"

"The invitation to the party Friday night," Marley answered as though it was obvious. She was confused that Rory was confused, seeing as it was Rory's party. She dug the invitation out of the front pocket of her backpack. "I got this yesterday."

Rory took the card and opened it. Her stomach dropped. Her grandparents had invited Marley to their party, and it had to be the most TMI party invitation she'd ever seen.

"Oh my God," she muttered, heading for the classroom door. Marley followed, still confused.

"Happy birthday," Tristan called after Rory, holding up his own invitation. "I'll see you Friday, birthday girl."

Rory paused to look at him. "Who else got these?"

"I don't know." He shrugged, smirking. "Everyone in our class, I think."

"I have to go."

Mortified, Rory shuffled out of the classroom, gripping Marley's invitation so tightly it crumpled. She didn't protest when Marley gently grabbed her wrist and tugged her over to an area of the hallway where nobody else was standing.

"Hey," Marley whispered, releasing Rory's wrist. "What's going on? You didn't know about your grandparents' party?"

"I..." Rory struggled to find the words. "I thought it was just going to be a small celebration, or at least just their friends. I didn't think my grandmother was going to invite everyone in our grade."

"Shit." Marley knew Rory didn't exactly like most other kids at Chilton. They had similar social status, although Marley's problem was less disliking the other kids and more the other kids disliking her. Regardless, if her parents threw her a birthday party and invited everyone from Chilton, Marley would put a fist through her bedroom wall.