Champagne Problems | Gilmore Girls

The Debutante

Serena woke up Monday morning feeling restless and overwhelmed. With Colin gone, the weight of what had happened that weekend had hit her, including the fact that she had lied to her dad. She needed to talk to someone, but it couldn't be Christopher, obviously.
"You look like you have a lot on your mind," Christopher commented as she came for breakfast. "Are you still mad at me about the weekend?"
"No." Serena denied though she didn't know if that was true or not. It was hard to be too angry since she'd gotten to have a special weekend with Colin, but at the same time, she was angry that Christopher hadn't trusted her and still angry about the amount of influence Sherri appeared to have over him. "I just have a lot on my mind." She put her spoon down. "Do you mind if I take a 'me' day?"
It was a system that she and her father had agreed on years before, she got a couple of 'me' days a year. Days when she could just blow off school and in exchange, she never faked being sick.
Christopher paused and Serena wondered if Sherri's influence was going to have him eliminate 'me' days, but finally, he nodded. "Go ahead."
"Thanks, Daddy," Serena told him. As soon as he left, she grabbed her purse and her keys. She had been truthful about needing a 'me' day, but mostly she needed to talk to someone.
She needed to talk about her dad and Sherri and how she was having more trouble adjusting to life in Boston than she thought she would. And while it had been great to talk to Colin, it wasn't enough. Because she also needed to talk about Colin.
About the way he made her feel and the big step they had taken and how that made her feel. But also how she'd felt about lying to her dad and sneaking around and just everything. And there was the only person she could think of to talk to about all that.
Her mom.
__________________________

"Mom?"
Lorelai looked up from her paperwork in surprise, because that wasn't Rory's voice. Besides Rory was in school. But Serena was also supposed to be in school. In Boston.
"What are you doing here?" Lorelai asked after she had hugged her daughter. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"
"Dad let me take a 'me' day," Serena explained.
Lorelai nodded, familiar with Christopher and Serena's agreement. It wasn't her way of doing things, but Serena was a different kind of kid than Rory and since Serena still got good grades, Lorelai wasn't going to interfere.
"And you decided to drive to Connecticut for the day?" Lorelai teased. "I'm flattered."
"I need to see you," Serena told her and Lorelai suddenly realized that her confident, unshakeable daughter looked a little lost and she suddenly felt very alarmed.
"What's wrong, Babe?" Lorelai demanded. "Did something happen?"
"Can you get away?" Serena asked, not answering her question. "I just... I need to talk to you."
"Give me five minutes," Lorelai promised and quickly made arrangements for Michel to cover her duties, even though he groaned loudly then she was exiting the Inn and driving back to her house, Serena right behind her.
"What's going on?" She asked once they were settled on the couch.
"I need you to promise not to tell Dad what I'm going to tell you," Serena said softly.
"Honey..." Lorelai began. "I don't know if I can do that."
Whatever issues she'd had with Christopher's role in Rory's life, he was Serena's primary parent and he'd done a good job. It was why Lorelai had forced herself to back off and she wasn't sure that she should be interfering now.
"At least not all of it," Serena clarified, "If you feel like you need to tell him some, I get it, but... Some of this is private."
"Ok." Lorelai agreed. "I'll only talk to him if I think he needs to know."
Serena nodded and then sighed. "Dad has a new girlfriend," she began, "well, he's been seeing her for a few months her name is Sherri and she's awful."
Lorelai felt a pang at the mention of Christopher's relationship, but that pang turned to concern as she listened to Serena describe the changes at home. It wasn't that she disapproved of the changes, she fully supported some of them, but she wasn't sure how she felt that they were coming from Christopher's girlfriend instead of Christopher himself.
"Serena, why didn't you say anything sooner?" Lorelai asked her.
"Well, at first Dad asked me not to," Serena said with a shrug, "And then you were so busy with Max and the wedding and then the wedding happen and... I didn't want to bother you. Besides, it wasn't so bad when I was here, but now that I'm living there... It's awful. She even got Dad to change his mind about me visiting Colin and Logan at Yale because she said that it wasn't the right place for a girl my age."
Lorelai wasn't sure how to feel about that, since she had never been totally on board with Serena staying at a dorm with a bunch of college boys. Still, she thought Christopher should have thought that ahead of time and not changed his mind at the last moment. "I bet you were upset."
"Yeah." Serena agreed. "Mostly because Dad has always trusted me before."
"Did you go anyway?" Lorelai asked, wondering if that was what Serena was about to confess.
"No," Serena assured her.
Lorelai was relieved because she would have felt obligated to tell Christopher if that was the case. "Honey, I know you're mad at your dad, but maybe you should be talking to him instead of me. You guys have always been able to talk about things."
"I know," Serena said softly. "But things have changed... It's more than just Sherri. I always felt like I could tell Dad everything, but now I can't, because there are things I know he wouldn't understand." She paused and then looked straight at Lorelai. "Mom, I'm not a virgin. Colin and I had sex."
That was obviously the information that Serena didn't want Christopher to know. Lorelai wasn't overly surprised. She had been expecting this for some time. Serena was getting to the age where her hormones were going to take over and of all the boys Serena had ever mentioned, Colin was by far the most serious and seemed like the most likely candidate for her first time.
"Oh." She said because she wasn't sure what else to say. "Was it ok?" She asked, feeling a little awkward. She'd had the sex talk with both of her daughters, but she wasn't ready for this part. "And were you safe?"
"Very," Serena assured her. "And it was great. Everything about it was great."
"I'm glad," Lorelai told her sincerely. Sixteen, on the edge of seventeen, seemed so young now, but then she remembered that she was a mother by that age. It wasn't the path that she wanted for her girls, but it meant she understood teenage hormones and while she'd rather they waited, mostly she wanted them to be safe and to feel good about their first time and it seemed like that was the case with Serena...
"I don't want to tell Dad about Colin and me," Serena admitted, "I feel like he'd forbid me from seeing Colin if he knew. That's how unreasonable he is these days."
"Honey..." Lorelai said softly. "I'm sure he wouldn't." Yet, she was a little concerned about Christopher's sudden change of heart. She thought it was a good thing he was stepping up, but maybe it was too sudden. They had always trusted the twins. Maybe Rory was a little more manageable than Serena, but for the most part, Serena had earned that trust and she'd always been open with them. Perhaps too open, like the time she'd told Christopher about stealing the car and this change seemed very drastic and Lorelai worried that that type of extreme sudden change would result in Serena rebelling.
"I won't tell him," Lorelai promised finally, "It's not my place to tell him about your personal life, but try not to get too mad at your father. He's just trying to do what he thinks is best for you."
Lorelai remembered being sixteen and she remembered how she had hated her parents' rules and rebelled against them. And ended up with twins. Which she didn't want for her daughter. She'd also ended up with an extremely strained relationship with her parents, something else she didn't want for her daughter.
"Ok," Serena promised after a moment. She rested her head on Lorelai's shoulder. "Change sucks."
"Yes, baby, it does." Lorelai agreed, stroking her hair. "Now on a much less serious note, are you ready to be bartered off like cattle this weekend?"
Lorelai was relieved to see Serena smile. "I'm ready, but is Rory? Does she actually know what she's getting into?"
"Nope," Lorelai said with a laugh, relieved that the conversation seemed to be taking a lighter tone.
"It's why I didn't mention it, Francine and I agreed I'd do the DAR ball because I thought grandma might be happy with just me coming out and Rory would escape it" she mused "guess I was wrong, not that I mind doing it with Rory, apart of me can't believe I'm doing it but I thought for the grandparents and the little girl inside of me who used to dream about it I'd just enjoy it, you know"
"You used to dream about your coming out?" Lorelei asked
"Yes, I know it's embarrassing but I remember seeing these princesses as a kid and Francine telling me that one day it'd be me in a dress made from a cloud and I went through a bit of an obsession" Serena laughed and Lorelai looked a little sad about missing so much of her other daughter's life but enjoyed the story too, Rory never wanted to be a princess.