"And he likes you."
--☆--☆--☆--
Rory and Cassie sat at the bus stop like they did every morning to get to Chilton. Rory had a book in her hand while Cassie was reading a sports magazine. The bus pulled up at the same time it did every day and the girls got on, but something was different today.
Cassie noticed as a certain bag boy hopped onto the bus at the last second, his eyes focusing on her twin sister. Instead of sitting next to Rory like she always does, Cassie sat in front of her sister. Rory, of course, didn't notice because she was too focused on the words written in her book.
The bag boy sat down in the seat behind Rory, quickly realizing that Rory was focusing on her book and not on him. "Hey."
"Ah!" Rory screamed, causing Cassie to put her hand over her mouth so she wouldn't laugh too loudly. "Morning."
"Good book?" The bag boy asked her as Rory turned to face forward in her seat. She saw Cassie sitting in the seat in front of her and she suddenly wished her sister hadn't moved away from her.
"I don't know yet."
"I saw you standing in line so I thought I'd say hello." He told her but Rory didn't say anything, instead she looked up at her sister. It was like she was asking Cassie what she should do. "Hello?"
"Hello," Rory looked at her sister, and Cassie immediately shook her head. She knew what her sister was going to do and she wanted to stop it but Rory was already speaking. "Do you know my sister?"
"Sister?" He looked up, suddenly realizing that there were two versions of Lorelai Gilmore in front of him. "Dean," He said, introducing himself.
"Cassie," She said quickly then went back to her issue of Sports Illustrated before Rory could try to get her and Dean to talk.
"Oh, hey, thanks for helping me get a job at the store. I mean, it's not a career or anything, but it's got me solvent," He thanked Rory.
Cassie, who was pretending to read, nodded her head glad that Dean was focusing on Rory. A lot of the guys they met would simply switch from Gilmore to the next, but not Dean. Dean was giving Rory his full attention.
"Solvent is good."
"Yeah. Uh, are you always this serious?"
"No," Rory answered right away.
"So, how long does it take you to get to school?"
"Um, 40 minutes if the bus driver's focused, but longer if he's trying to win something on the radio," She told him, turning her head slightly to look at him. "Hey this bus is going to Hartford!" Rory realized, her eyes widening a bit.
"Yeah, I know."
"But you go to school here. You've got to get off the bus," Rory said in a frantic tone. She suddenly stood up waving her arm in the air like an idiot. "Hey! He has to get off the bus."
"W-Wait!" Dean yelled, pulling Rory back into her seat. "You're forgetting something. Buses make stops." He reminded her, right as the bus pulled to a stop. Rory looked down, realizing he was right and hating herself for appearing like such an idiot. "Goodbye Lorelai Gilmore."
The second Dean was off the bus Cassie moved into her normal seat beside her sister. She immediately raised her eyebrows when she recognized the embarrassed look on Rory's face.
"So that's Dean?"
"Yeah... that's Dean," Rory nodded as the bus started up again, heading towards Hartford.
"He's cute, tall," Cassie told him, nudging her shoulder. "And he likes you," She added, in a sing-songy voice.
"He doesn't like me," Rory shook her head, trying to get back to her book.
Cassie shook her head, as she grabbed Rory's book from her hand. "Rory, wake up. Smell the freaking roses. He likes you."
"No, he doesn't. Guys don't don't like me, Cassie," Rory told her.
"What are you talking about?"
Rory sighed, she wasn't ready to have this conversation yet. She wasn't ready to tell Cassie that always felt like she was a second choice to her around guys. She didn't want to make her twin sister feel guilty for something she had no control over.
"Nothing, forget I said anything."
"Rory, don't be like that. You can tell me anything," Cassie turned in her seat but she could see that Rory wasn't ready to talk about whatever was on her mind. Rory reached over, grabbing her book back from Cassie. "Whenever you're ready, I'm listening."
"Mhm," Rory hummed, turning the page in her book.
Cassie knew something was bothering Rory. It was the same thing that's been bothering her since they turned 13. Cassie has always wondered what it was. Rory turned to her sister, leaning her head on Cassie's shoulder. Telling her sister that everything would be okay.
--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--
It was safe to say that the twins were nervous about the spread Lorelai would come up with for the Chilton bake sale. None of the Gilmore Girls really knew their way around the kitchen. The only thing they knew how to do was pick up the phone and order food or eat the Halloween candy that was leftover.
But this required a little bit more attention. For all they knew all the Chilton moms were professional cooks putting together amazing tables to show off. The twins were worried that Lorelai would end up arriving with a box of poptarts and a bag of marshmallows. But Lorelai was smarter than that. She showed up to Chilton with a real chef and her best friend Sookie.
"Okay, we've got our French Fantasies. American treats, and our Italian sensations," Sookie told the twins as she applied the finishing touches to their table. "Well what do you think?"
"Amazing."
"It's perfect Sookie," The girls complimented.
"It is good, isn't it," Sookie nodded looking at her masterpiece. "Well, final touch."
"Oh, Can I do that," Rory asked when Sookie picked up the small torch.
"Oh. W-W-Whoa, Honey. This is a more delicate procedure than you might think," Sookie warned her. "It takes an expert hand," She said and at the same time she also managed to light their table on fire.
Fortunately Lorelai was a quick thinker and the table next to them was serving Lemonade. Lorelai reached over grabbing a cup full of lemonade and threw it to put out the fire. Cassie laughed quietly, shaking her head at the woman who was basically her aunt.
She turned her head a sigh leaving her lips when she spotted the Dawson boy. He seemed to be everywhere lately. But, of course, he was never alone, wherever he went Tristan was always right around the corner. He waved to her but Cassie pretended like she didn't see him, she turned around hoping that he would give up and leave her alone.
Cassie looked around the crowd, trying to find Rory. She couldn't believe it, she was looking for her sister so she could hide from a boy. Cassie went to walk away from him, not realizing that he decided it was time for them to speak again. Since the last time they spoke didn't end so great for him.
"Hey Gilmore!" He called out.
Cassie couldn't help but slow down, she didn't come to a full stop but she was suddenly slow enough for him to catch up with her. He ran up beside her, then the two of them started walking side by side.
"I haven't seen you in a while," He said, earning a confused look from Cassie.
"We have classes together everyday," She reminded him.
"Yeah but you suddenly stopped looking in my direction."
"Was I looking in your direction before?"
Josh laughed, shaking his head at her. He didn't know what to do with Cassie Gilmore. Josh had gotten used to girls following him around, not him following them. But then again it's been a long time since he thought he might actually like someone.
Cassie hadn't realized this yet, but there was a lot more to Josh Dawson then what meets the eye. He had a backstory, one that might explain his odd behavior but might not at the same time. He wasn't the simple, shallow, prep school boy everyone thought he was.
"I guess I was seeing things," He shrugged.
"I guess so," Cassie didn't really look at him while they were talking. She glanced up at him every now and then but she tried her best to keep her eyes on the food everyone brought. "So where's Tristan?"
"How would I know?"
"You two are attached at the hip, it's kinda weird," She told him, looking up at him.
"So are you and Rory."
"We're twins, it's different," Cassie told him, believing her words with every ounce of confidence she could muster.
"Well I don't know where Tristan is," Josh assured her. "But I know where Sophie is."
Cassie looked up, spotting Tristann's cousin looking in their direction. When she realized they were both looking at her she turned around, pretending to examine baked goods.
"I'm never gonna shake her, am I?"
"No, once Sophie Dugray is your life she never leaves," Josh laughed, looking away from Sophie. "You'll grow to love her though. She's kinda great."
"Hm," Cassie hummed, she knew that Sophie didn't like Josh, but maybe Josh liked Sophie. "You have a thing for her?"
"You jealous?"
"What's there to be jealous of?" Cassie asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked up at Josh.
"You don't know anything about me," Josh told her.
"I know enough."
Josh shook his head. "Oh come on Gilmore, don't be like that."
There was a silence that filled the air between them for a few minutes. Cassie didn't bother trying to come up with something to say since something else caught her attention.
She slowly started walking away from the tables, not noticing that Josh was still beside her. Cassie was too busy watching her mother and Max Medina walking away from the crowd to pay attention to the Dawson boy. She recognized the look on Lorelai's face, it's the same one she'd get whenever she had a crush.
"Cassie?"
"Hm?" The youngest Gilmore turned her head, suddenly remembering that Josh was still next to her.
"Why are you staring at Mr. Medina?"
"I'm not staring at Mr. Medina," She told him, but he didn't believe her. "I'm watching Mr. Medina talk to my mom."
A look of pure shock took over Josh's face. He took a step forward, trying to get a better look at the woman talking to his English teacher. "That's your mom?" Josh asked her and Cassie simply nodded her head. "That is your mom?" He repeated.
"Yes, that is my mom."
"Really?" His head tilted to the side, still looking at Lorelai.
This wasn't an uncommon reaction, in fact it happened all the time. This is the kind of thing that happens when you have your daughters at sixteen. Anytime the twins introduce Lorelai to anyone they always have this kind of reaction. First there's the freeze, then the head tilt, then the comparing Cassie or Rory to Lorelai until the twins let out a sigh stopping the comparing process.
"Yes, continue to drool over her, that's fine," Cassie scoffed as she turned around to walk away.
"Woah wait," Josh quickly turned around, grabbing Cassie's arm before she could walk away.
She turned her head down, looking at the point where they touched. Cassie could talk a big game but she's never had a boyfriend. So she didn't understand the feeling of butterflies in her stomach when Josh's hand touched hers.
"Why do you hate me so much?"
Cassie had to clear her throat and shake the thoughts out of her head before she could answer him. She didn't know what was going on with her body, it was a complete mystery to her. So in that moment all she could think to say was.
"Why do you think I hate you?"
"Because you can't look me in the eyes and you barely speak to me," He told her and Cassie then forced herself to look up into his eyes.
She couldn't help but stare at him for a moment. She's never realized how pretty his eyes were. They were the color Cassie wished her eyes were. A beautiful light blue color. Both Rory and Lorelai had blue eyes while Cassie got stuck with brown eyes. She could stare at Josh's eyes for hours, but of course that thought made her stomach feel funny.
"Cassie?" His voice snapped her out of the trance she was in and she had to force herself to remember what they were talking about.
"I barely speak to anyone at this school, don't take it personally," Cassie said quickly, then pulled her wrist out of his grasp. She quickly turned around and started walking back to their table.
Josh shook his head, wishing he could find some way to understand her better. He was beginning to grow frustrated, but at the same time the more she pulled away from him, the more attractive she became.
Of course what he didn't realize was that Lorelai finished her conversation with Max a few minutes ago, so she saw this mysterious boy grab ahold of her daughter. And she saw the chemistry between them.