The Sunday before the day Rory was supposed to start Chilton, Lorelai and Rory sat on the front porch.
Lorelai was painting Rory's toenails red, while Delilah brought out a sundae, which was whipped cream-less.
"Where's the – why do I even bother asking?" asked Delilah right as Rory squirted whipped cream in her mouth.
"That's nice," Lorelai said sarcastically.
"Give me that, you pig," Delilah said, taking the can from Rory.
"Did you make your Sunday sundae?" asked Rory as Delilah squirted some whipped cream on her ice-cream and passed the can back to Rory.
"Yes," said Delilah.
"It's cold and you're eating ice-cream?" asked Lorelai.
"Hot fudge, Mom," said Delilah. "It's delicious. Why are you painting Rory's nails?"
"It's because she's starting private school tomorrow," replied Lorelai.
"Yeah, but I'm going to wear shoes and nobody's going to see my feet," replied Rory.
"Okay, but everybody knows that private school girls are bad, and bad girls always wear red nail polish," said Lorelai. She pointedly looked at Delilah's red middle fingers.
"Samantha wears red nail polish," Delilah pointed out.
"I wouldn't classify Samantha as a bad girl," said Rory.
"Have you seen the black-eye she gave Avery Thompson?" Delilah asked.
"She gave that to him?" asked Rory in shock.
Delilah nodded, feeling pride for Samantha, "Yeah."
There was a lull in conversation.
"Rory, are you nervous?" asked Lorelai.
"About what?" asked Rory.
"You know, going to Chilton," Delilah said.
"That and going to a different school than Lila," said Lorelai.
"Well, I wasn't until I heard about all those bad girls," replied Rory.
"Don't worry," said Delilah. "If anyone gives you a hard time, tell me and Samantha, and we can do something about them for you." She poked Rory on the head.
Lane ran up holding a CD, "Guys, guys! New CD – XTC, Apple Venus Volume 2." She ran past them and into the house.
"Oh, woo," said Lorelai standing up. "Nails done!" She followed after Lane.
"But you only finished half my toes!" Rory called.
"Lila can finish them if she wants! You're gonna be wearing shoes anyway!" Lorelai called out.
"Lila?" asked Rory sweetly.
Delilah handed Rory the bowl and took over Lorelai's spot to finish painting Rory's toenails.
Delilah got up early to make banana muffins for her friends.
She was mixing the batter when Rory ran into the kitchen, "Have you seen my tie?"
"Isn't it in your room with the rest of your uniform?" asked Delilah. "I have no clue what I need with your tie."
"Maybe you gave it to Samantha to turn it into a belt," said Rory.
"You're going to run late if you keep nagging at me about your tie," said Delilah. She scooped some batter into the muffin cups.
"Save me and Mom some muffins," said Rory.
"Way ahead of you," said Delilah, motioning to the woodstove oven that had muffins baking.
Rory went upstairs to her room. It took a few minutes before Rory yelled, "Found the tie, Lila!"
"Told you!" Delilah called back.
After the first batch of muffins were done and cooled, Rory came down the stairs in her uniform. She went into the kitchen, "How do I look?" She did a twirl, making the skirt flutter out.
"Like a snobby rich bitch that I want to punch in the face," replied Delilah. "Good job."
"Where's Mom?" asked Rory.
Delilah thought about it, "Probably still sleeping."
Rory went upstairs and Delilah heard Rory yell, "Mom!" There must've been a reply because Rory asked loudly, "What are you doing?"
Delilah rolled her eyes at how dramatic Rory was being about it being 7:10.
"We have to go! What if there's traffic? Mom!" yelled Rory.
Delilah started wrapping up the muffins in Saran wrap.
"It's 7:15!" Rory said loudly.
A minute passed.
"It's 7:16!" Rory said. "It's 7:17!"
Rory came down the stairs and grabbed the muffins.
"It's 7:18!" called Rory as she grabbed the car keys.
Delilah winced, "Have fun at Chilton, sis."
"Thanks," said Rory.
She went into the living room and leaned against the banister of the stairs. Delilah grabbed a small plastic container of mixed fruit to eat on her way to meet her friends. She walked in as her mother was hurrying down the stairs.
Rory started "It's seven—"
"Don't even think about finishing that sentence!" said Lorelai.
"Oh my god, what are you wearing?" asked Delilah horrified.
Her mother was wearing a pink tie-dye shirt with denim cut-off shorts and cowboy boots.
"Quiet, Lila. Look at what you're wearing!" said Lorelai.
Delilah looked at her dark blue short-sleeved button shirt with white trim that she wore over a red long-sleeved shirt, and dark blue skirt with black thermal tights. She put on a white-and-light red headband with a bow to tie the outfit together.
"At least she doesn't look like she's going to the rodeo," said Rory.
"All right, that's it," said Lorelai as she grabbed a picture from the desk. "I'm bringing the baby pictures."
"No! I'm sorry! I love the rodeo, the rodeo rules!" said Rory.
"That's what you get for rushing her!" called Delilah as she left the house. She locked it behind her.
"Bye! Have fun at boring public school!" Rory called. "Tell your boyfriend and girlfriend that we said hi."
"I'm not dating them!" snapped Delilah before she took off to meet up with her friends, as she heard Rory laugh.
Samantha took Delilah by surprise when she tried to jump on Delilah's back, and said, "Hey there, Delilah."
Delilah just smiled at her friends instead, "What's up?"
"Nothing," said Samantha. "Did you bring us muffins?"
She wore black skinny jeans, and a black long-sleeved shirt under a band tee-shirt. She wore a gray short-sleeve . She had pink glossed lips and had silver glittery eye-shadow on. Somehow she made everything she wore look good.
Matt just wore a regular black coat, a black tee-shirt and blue jeans. The thing was, he somehow managed to look good in everything as well. He could probably wear a plastic bag and Delilah would still think that he pulled it off.
"Of course," replied Delilah, jerking when she realized that she was staring. "What kind of person would I be if I didn't?"
Lane walked by them. She looked lonely as she walked.
"Hey, Lane," called Delilah.
Lane turned to look at her, "Yes?"
"You can hang with us you know," Delilah said.
Lane seemed to hesitate. "I would, but I don't want any untrue rumors to get back to my mom."
"What untrue rumors would come out of you hanging with us?" asked Matt, sounding confused.
"Things like me dating the three of you," said Lane. "I think my mom won't appreciate it."
Delilah rolled her eyes at that.
"Why do people think that? We're just really good friends," replied Samantha.
"Not with an outsider's perspective," said Lane.
"Do you want a muffin?" asked Delilah, more to get Lane to go away. She liked Lane, but she was Rory's best friend, not hers. It was annoying having everyone assume she was dating her best friends.
"Ooh, what kind did you make?" asked Lane interested.
"Banana," said Delilah.
"I'll take two," said Lane happily. Delilah passed her two muffins, "Thanks, Lila. You're the best." She took off, unwrapping one.
"Why do people think that we're dating each other?" asked Matt looking confused.
Delilah shrugged, "Rory told me 'say hi to your boyfriend and girlfriend for us' before they left."
"People are so weird nowadays," said Samantha.
"Yesterday before science class, some guy asked me how I landed two hot girls and that I was lucky," replied Matt. He looked disgusted at that.
"Ew," replied Delilah. "That's just gross, thinking that you're lucky for scoring two girls."
Even Samantha looked grossed out, "I can't believe that guys think that they're cool looking for dating two girls at the same time. It's gross."
Delilah nodded in agreement.
She liked math class, she did. She was great at math so she didn't feel the need to actually pay attention, so she decided to read instead. Matt had loaned her American Psycho to read.
"Delilah Gilmore," the teacher, Mr. Varner called.
Delilah looked up and at the board. "The answer is five and you forgot to carry the three."
Mr. Varner looked at the board with the algebra equation on it and didn't look happy to be corrected. "Whatever, go back to your reading."
Mr. Varner went back to teaching and Delilah smirked. Sometimes it was great to be slightly above average in math.
Dean leaned over closer to her. He seemed confused, "Are you related to Rory Gilmore?"
"Yes," replied Delilah. "She's my twin."
"She mentioned having a sister, but not a twin. You both do look similar," replied Dean.
"That's what I expect being twins," replied Delilah.
"Dean Forester, I know that Delilah is a cute girl, but can you tell me what to do next on this part?" asked Mr. Varner tapping the whiteboard.
"Carry the five and subtract six," Delilah whispered to Dean.
"Carry the five and subtract six," Dean answered.
Mr. Varner really didn't look like he appreciated that, "Yes, pay attention because she might not hand the answers to you next time."
Delilah tried not to laugh. With a smile, she said, "I like you. Don't ruin it anytime soon."
"I promise I won't," said Dean with a smile of his own.
"That's lunch detention Delilah Gilmore and Dean Forester," called Mr. Varner.
This time they started laughing.
Apparently word got out that Delilah had lunch detention, so Samantha and Matt showed up at the table.
"Samantha, Matthew, you do not have lunch detention," said the biology teacher, Miss Brown.
"Hold on, let us go do something to get lunch detention then," said Samantha, with her hands on her hips.
"Take a seat," said Miss Brown, motioning to the table with the other detention students.
The girl and the boy that was sandwiching Delilah moved away farther down the table. Delilah's two friends sandwiched Delilah this time.
Dean was sitting across from Delilah, seemed confused at how the two students moved away.
Samantha passed Matt a sandwich and a pint-sized carton of chocolate milk that she had gotten from the lunch counter. Delilah handed Matt a small packet of chips as she got out her lunch.
"Ugh," said Samantha looking at her sandwich. "Kathleen keeps forgetting that I'm allergic to pickles."
Kathleen was a friend of Samantha's parents and was frequently at Samantha's home.
"Here," said Delilah. She and Samantha swapped sandwiches. Samantha smiled at Delilah.
Dean watched with slight interest. It was an interesting friendship that the three had.
After school, she was surprised that her mother was waiting for her.
"I guess we won't do our homework together today," said Matt.
"Maybe when we get back from picking up Rory," said Delilah.
"All right," replied Samantha.
Matt and Samantha started walking away and Delilah felt a little irritated at her mother for ruining her plans. Why did her mother have to remember she had another child?
She went to the jeep and got in.
"Here, I got you French Vanilla coffee. Light foam," said Lorelai.
"Thanks," Delilah said taking the to-go cup. "Did your day suck?"
"Yes," said Lorelai.
"Ours too," said Delilah.
"'Ours'?" asked Lorelai confused.
"In English, I had two people ask me why I didn't go to Chilton. In Samantha's biology class someone called her an idiot, and in my math class, Mr. Varner gave me lunch detention..."
"Why?" asked Lorelai.
"Talking in class and giving Dean an answer," said Delilah.
"Why were you talking to him?" asked Lorelai.
"He asked me if I was related to Rory," said Delilah. "Apparently he didn't know that she was my twin. Somehow," She shrugged. "And for History class, Mr. Powell called Matt white trash."
"Mr. Powell is white," Lorelai pointed out.
"I know. That's why it was weird," said Delilah. She took a drink off her coffee and sighed. She missed coffee, she really did. She was Lorelai's daughter after all.
After getting to Chilton, Delilah got out to stretch her legs. People were leaving, so of course she got curious looks, but people looked past her, which was nothing new.
A blond guy came up to her, looking curious.
"I'm afraid that I haven't seen you around here," the blond guy said.
He had a cocky attitude. Clearly he was good looking and knew it.
"I'm Delilah Gilmore, the twin sister to Rory," Delilah said.
"And you're not going to school here?" asked the guy.
"I'm...average," said Delilah. "I see my sister." She went to her mother and sister.
Rory dropped her backpack, and hugged Delilah first before she latched onto Lorelai. She said, "So, this whole plaid-skirt thing. My idea?"
"Our day sucked too," said Lorelai.
"Promise?" asked Rory.
"I swear on my mother's life," said Lorelai, trying to break the hug.
"Not yet," said Rory, pulling her mother back in.
"Still hugging, still hugging," said Lorelai. Lorelai kissed the side of Rory's head, finally breaking the hug. "So, I brought us some coffee."
"Even Lila?" asked Rory.
"Yes, she drank hers," said Lorelai.
"And I missed it?" asked Rory in a mock whine.
"Yeah," said Lorelai. "Yours is triple caps, easy foam. If that doesn't work, we'll stick our fingers in a light socket." She laughed and picked up Rory's backpack and staggered. "What, do they expect you to get smart all in one day?"
"Oh, they expect a lot of things," replied Rory.
Delilah grimaced, "Well, I'm glad that I'm not going here."
"So, tell me," Lorelai said.
"I don't know. It was just one big, long, scary, tweedy, bad eight hours," said Rory.
"Add some hair spray and you got my day," said Lorelai.
"Add in a lunch detention too and some insults and you have mine," replied Delilah getting in the back seat of the jeep. "What was your sucky day?"
"One of the girls already hates me. The guys are weird. But not like Matt weird," said Rory.
"How is Matt weird?" asked Delilah.
"He likes horror which is weird, but the guys here are weirder," replied Rory.
Delilah couldn't figure out weird the Chilton guys are. "How are these guys weirder than other guys?"
"They kept calling me Mary," said Rory.
"You're kidding me," replied Lorelai. "Wow, I can't believe they still say that."
"How is Mary an insult?" asked Delilah.
"What does it mean?" asked Rory.
"It means like Virgin Mary," explained Lorelai. "It means they think you look like a goody-goody."
"Wow, that must be old," said Delilah.
"Lila, hey, I'm not that old," Lorelai replied.
"Well, what would they have called me if they thought I looked like a slut?" asked Rory.
"Jezebel?" offered Delilah.
"No, not Jezebel," said Lorelai, "They might have added a Magdalene to it."
"Wow, biblical insults," replied Rory. "This is an advanced school."
"By the way, Rory. Your boyfriend, Dean, told me to tell you that he said hi," Delilah said.
"I'm not dating Dean," replied Rory.
Lorelai had dropped Delilah off at Samantha's home, but told her to be at some pizza place at six to eat dinner, which didn't give her a lot of time to do homework with her friends, so she decided to catch up with them briefly, and take a drink of wine, before heading on over to meet her family.
Lane joined up with them. They got some slices of pizza to go.
"It was so weird not having you in school today," said Lane. "I mean, I finally noticed some of the other kids, and let me just say, they are a sad lot."
"Yeah, well, add a couple of plaid skirts, and you've got the Chilton freaks," said Rory.
"I totally miss you," replied Lane.
"I miss you," said Rory.
"Hey guys, I have an idea. What about, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, you know, when I go into Hartford for my business class, what if Lane comes along and you guys can shop and study and join a cult and shave your heads."
"Really?" asked Lane.
"All except the shaving your heads part," replied Lorelai.
"Oh, no," said Lane. "What time is it?"
"6:30," replied Rory looking at her watch.
"I'm late for dinner," replied Lane.
"Again? Lane, your mother is gonna kill me if I keep sending you home fed and happy," replied Lorelai.
"I'm sorry, but she found a web site that sells Tofu in bulk," said Lane.
"Oh, you're kidding, right?" asked Lorelai.
"Yesterday, she went out and bought a bigger fridge," replied Lane.
"Boy, now, your life is scary," said Lorelai.
"Can I have your crust?" Lane asked Rory, since Delilah was the one who eats the pizza crust.
Rory handed the crust to Lane, "It's the least I can do."
"Thanks, bye," said Lane.
"Bye," the three Gilmores said to Lane as she left.
They walked down the sidewalk some more.
"Pizza for your thoughts?" asked Lorelai handing Rory a slice of pizza.
"I wish I could figure out a way to get Paris off my back," said Rory.
"Tell her off for thinking she's so high and mighty," said Delilah. "Maybe we can swap places and I can tell her off for you."
"No, I don't want to do either of that," said Rory.
"I know what it's like," said Lorelai. "When I was in high school, I had a Paris."
"Really?" asked Delilah surprised.
"Yeah, she was horrible," replied Lorelai.
"How'd you get rid of her?" asked Rory.
Lorelai said, "I got pregnant and dropped out."
"What if I just learn to French braid her hair?" asked Rory.
"That'll probably be for the best," said Delilah.
"Even better," replied Lorelai. "Sweetie, you can't let those kids get you down."
"I know," replied Rory.
"Do you want me to talk to anybody? A parent, a teacher, a big guy named Moose?" asked Lorelai.
"You know a big guy named Moose?" asked Delilah confused.
"Yeah, don't you?" asked Lorelai.
"There's a girl in my math class nicknamed Cat," replied Delilah.
"Anyway, I'll figure it out for myself," said Rory.
"You always do, you're likeable," said Delilah.
Rory started chuckling.
"What's going on?" asked Delilah confused.
"What is it?" agreed Lorelai.
"I was just thinking about the way Paris's face looked when I beat her to that Martin Luther question," replied Rory.
"How red did her face get?" asked Delilah.
"It didn't turn red, it was like her face turned fourteen shades of purple," Rory said.
"Good for you," replied Delilah.
"Cool," added Lorelai.
"Tomorrow I'm shooting for fifteen," replied Rory.
They stopped in front of Luke's and Delilah waved as she spotted Luke.
They continued on.
"Hey, what do you think of Luke?" asked Lorelai.
"He's cool," replied Delilah.
"Yeah what Lila said, but what do you mean?" asked Rory.
"I mean, do you think he's cute?" asked Lorelai.
"I suppose," said Delilah a little uncomfortable. "Samantha called him dreamy at one point."
"Oh, no," said Rory. "No way."
Lorelai asked, "'No way' what?"
"You cannot date Luke," said Rory.
"I said nothing about dating Luke," replied Lorelai.
"When you ask someone 'what do you think about so-and-so' that usually means you want to date them," replied Delilah.
Rory nodded, "If you date him, you'll break up, and we'll never be able to eat there again."
"I repeat, I said nothing about dating Luke," replied Lorelai.
"Date Al from Pancake World, his food stinks," said Rory.
"Al's food isn't that terrible, Al is the one that smell bad," said Delilah.
Lorelai nodded in agreement.