MELLIFLUOUS | gilmore girls ¹

chapter one!

chapter one! the announcement

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"I am so thrilled about this. Do you think the two of you will get a certificate?"
Emily beamed, the biggest smile Thea had seen in a while plastered across her face.

"I'm not sure,"

"They don't usually," Thea replied, pushing her vegetables around her china plate.

"Well, they certainly should give you a certificate or plaque or something," Emily declared, pointing her silver fork between the Gilmore twins.
Thea had been top of her class since she first started at Chilton, and her grandparents had never made a big deal about her top spot in the class leaderboard,
"I'll talk to Bitty about that tomorrow."

"I can't wait to tell Tellman McCabe about this," Richard smirked, sitting up even straighter in his chair at the head of the table,
"Oh, he's always bragging about that simpleton grandson of his,"

"William is a lovely boy," Emily declared, shaking her head at her husband.

"He is failing French," Thea points out, remembering seeing that the McCabe grandson had been added to her list of students to tutor, "And his head is shaped like a football,"

"It is not," Emily warned.

"If he fell asleep in the park, someone would try to punt him," Thea continued, ignoring her grandmother's warning, "I think someone did try once."

"Theodora, Tellman is a very dear friend of your Grandfather's don't be rude,"

"Yes, he is. And one should always share wonderful news with one's very good friends," Richard smiled even brighter.

"You just want to brag,"

Lorelai stepped back into the room, a smile covering her lips as she fumbled with her phone. Rory looked over at her mother as the rest of the family continued the discussion about Richard's right to brag to his friends. 

"Well, I think I have a right, don't you?"

"Well goodness, you'd think you were the one who finished in the top three percent of your class," Emily tried again to talk her husband down.

"Well, it was my genes, I get to claim a little responsibility,"

Rory suddenly rose to her feet, squealing as she rushed over to hug her mother. The two of them continued to squeal as they jumped around hugging each other, leaving everyone else at the table completely perplexed. 

"Oh!"

"Goodness,"

"That was unexpected," Thea muttered, turning her attention back to her food knowing that she would not get a look in now. 

"I just spilled on my shirt," Richard grumbled, his gaze focused on the food that had been dropped on his shirt, "What are you doing? What are they doing Emily?"

"I have no idea, Stop that you too!" Emily scolded, dropping her fork onto the china, trying to regain control of her Friday night dinner. 

"Sorry,"

"Yeah, sorry,"

"What is going on?"

"Uh, I'm just really jazzed about this whole three percent thing," Lorelai giggled, releasing Rory from the tight, celebratory hug, clearly not wishing to tell her mother and father the real news.

"Yeah, really, really jazzed,"

"Yeah,"

"Don't even try to understand Richard," Emily grumbled, with a shake of her head, "Antonia, please bring some club soda for Mr Gilmore's shirt,"

• • • • • • •

"I don't understand why your grandmother is making this such a big deal," Paris snapped, pacing up and down Thea's carpeted floor.

"Paris please sit down," Thea begged, drumming her pencil onto her workbook.

The Gilmore glanced up from the summer work and over at the dirty blonde, who hadn't stopped pacing or ranting since she'd stepped foot into Thea's bedroom an hour ago. Paris' ranting ranged from Rory's celebration dinner to her parents' prolonged divorce.

"You've been top of our class since grade school, and you've never once had a celebration dinner," Paris snapped, her hands flying everywhere as she raved on.

"Paris, calm down. This is just my Grandma's latest attempt to keep Lorelai and Rory around," Thea revealed, drooping the sharpened HB onto the exercise book.

"No, I'm not going to calm down, Thea," Paris snapped, coming to a swift stop and focusing her gaze on the girl,

"Well at least stay still, you're making me dizzy," The Gilmore groaned, holding a hand to her temple.

Paris collapsed onto the edge of the blanket-covered bed, her blonde head hitting the duvet. Turning to look up at Thea, she caught the softened eyes of her friend, who looked so exhausted with everything going on.

"Thea," Paris called, pulling the brunette's attention to her and away from the work that had gained it once again.
"You'll always be my favourite Gilmore,"