SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER
...☕️...
WITH the last of their finals that afternoon, Lorelai was treating her daughters to a heart breakfast at Luke's "--Okay, you can order anything but you gotta eat a banana."
"A banana?" Rory questioned in bemusement.
"Brain food." Their mother elaborated "Something about it gives your brain a little power up. Like coffee. It's makes you happy. Maybe it's the color."
Hayden smirked "Or the shape."
"Hey." Lorelai chided jokingly "No being slutty before 9am."
The three snickered before heading inside, and Hayden gave a two-fingered salute to Jess before smiling at Luke as he filled up a customers coffee "Hey, Luke."
"Hey, back." His lips twitched up in the corners "Take a seat."
Lorelai glanced around "Anywhere?"
"Anywhere you want."
Hayden watched in amusement as her mother turned to the man reading a paper by the door "Could you move please?"
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion "What?"
Luke rushed to put his hand on her back, urging her away from his paying customers "Anywhere where there's not people."
"Oh, well, like I'm a mind reader. I was just joking." She told the man before the three took a table towards the middle of the diner "Hmm, that's funny."
"What?" Rory questioned.
Lorelai looked around "Something's different here, something's changed."
"Luke doesn't change things." Hayden argued "No matter how much I try and bribe him to get cute aprons."
"No, I swear, there's something."
Rory hummed in thought "You know, I'd be very disappointed if something changed in here." She glanced to Hayden as her sister opened her mouth to comment "Except for the aprons.
Their mother looked to Rory "Why are you so anti-change?"
"Because most change sucks."
"That's true, it does." She gasped as she finally spotted it "Uh! The chalkboard!"
Hayden's head whipped around "What about it?"
"Luke's special omelet." She read aloud "That is brand new."
"A new special?" Rory was aghast "His four-slice French toast has been up there since we were born!"
Lorelai placed a hand on her arm "You just gotta let that go, baby."
Luke approached their table, order-pad in hand "What can I get you?"
Hayden looked to him hopefully "New aprons."
"No." he denied and her lips pushed out in a pout.
"You have a new special." Lorelai pointed out.
Luke nodded "I sure do."
"Nice." she complimented "What is the special omelet?"
"You won't like it."
Lorelai frowned "How do you know?"
"Because you've been eating here for years and I know what you like, and you won't like it."
"Can I at least hear what it is?"
Luke let out a huff "Fine. It's three eggs with bits of bacon--"
"I like bacon."
"--Cubed tomatoes."
Lorelai hummed "Sounds good."
"--Swiss cheese and a dash of oregano."
Lorelai looked between her twins "A dash, he says."
"I've got other customers here." He pointed out, ready to leave.
"I'm gonna go with the special omelet." Lorelai declared.
He sighed but jotted it down "Okay."
"With a side of bacon."
His gaze lifted from the order-pad "There's bacon in the omelet."
"Oh, then skip the bacon."
"The side of bacon?"
Lorelai grinned innocently "The bacon in the omelet."
He sighed but noted it down "Hold the bacon."
"Can I get Jack cheese?"
"On the side?"
Lorelai shook her head "Instead of Swiss, Swiss is so stringy."
"Fine, Jack cheese."
"Also, I think I'm allergic to oregano so hold that, too, and some coffee."
Luke's lips pursed "So, just the eggs, tomatoes, and Jack cheese."
"Not too many tomatoes."
"Light on the tomatoes." He added.
Lorelai held up her pointer finger and thumb close together "Very light, just a teeny-tiny amount, practically none."
"I'm skipping the tomatoes." Luke declared, ripping out the page of his order-pad and starting a new one "It's an omelet with Jack cheese."
She grinned "Perfect."
His eyes narrowed "You did this on purpose."
She batted her eyelashes innocently "Did what?"
"French toast for me." Rory ordered.
"Blueberry pancakes, please." Hayden chirped before turning to her mother "That was cruel. Funny, but cruel."
She grinned "I know. Look how hard he worked on that sign and everything. Look at the handwriting, it's so precise, so determined. It's focused-Luke."
Hayden went to correct her mother when Rory beat her to it "That's Jess' handwriting."
"Really?" Lorelai questioned.
Hayden's eyes narrowed "How do you know Jess' writing?"
She shrugged "Oh, well, I lent him a book and he wrote some stuff in it."
"He vandalized one of your books?" Lorelai demanded with a scoff.
"No, he didn't vandalize it." Rory corrected "He wrote in the margins, thoughts and stuff."
Their mother rolled her eyes "Like what, like play basketball, eat a sandwich stuff like that?"
"No, stuff, like margin stuff." Rory elaborated "People like Mark Twain wrote in margins."
"You think Jess is like Mark Twain?" Hayden questioned knowingly.
Lorelai frowned "Pilot a steamboat, write Huckleberry Finn?"
"Forget it." Rory grumbled.
"No, no, I'm sure margin writing is very common." Their mother held up her hands before rising an eyebrow towards the door "Oh, hey, you didn't tell me Dean was joining us."
Rory frowned as Hayden sighed silently "Dean?"
"Hey." Lorelai greeted as the tall boy approached their table.
He smiled, leaning down to place a kiss on Rory's unsuspecting lips "Hi."
"Excuse me." Hayden muttered, making her escape to join Jess at the counter.
Rory swallowed "What are you doing here?"
"I just dropped by to say hello and wish you good luck for you last finals."
"How'd you know we were here?"
Dean raised an eyebrow "'Cause you're always here."
"We're not always here." Rory defended.
Lorelai looked between them "Uh, do you wanna eat with us, Dean?"
He looked to his girlfriend "Rory?"
But she was looking past him, watching Jess and Hayden before she was pulling her gaze away with a frown "Huh?"
"Is that okay?" he asked.
"Yes." She snapped out of it "Oh, yes, you don't have to ask."
Lorelai grabbed Luke's attention as Dean took a seat "Hey, we're four."
"I did the math." He responded blandly before turning to Luke "You gonna eat something?"
"Sure, yeah, I'll take the, uh--" he looked to the board "--special omelet, I guess."
Luke turned to Lorelai in annoyance "You put him up to this?"
"No, I did not!"
"Sure." He shot back before looking back to Dean "You don't even know what's in it."
Dean shrugged with an easy-going smile "I'm not picky."
"So you'll send it back after I make it?"
"No."
"Right." He scoffed "I'll come back when I've got time for this."
Dean frowned as the man headed back towards the kitchen "What was that all about?"
"I think it was a little something in your attitude, mister." Lorelai taunted.
Hayden perked up as her plate of blueberry pancakes was set in front of her, complete with a smiley face on top made of extra blueberries. But it was the unusual garnish of sliced fruit at the sight that had her look to him "Banana?"
"Brain food." he told her in passing, taking her mother and sisters orders, Rory too having an extra garnish of banana on the side "Eat it."
...☕️...
RELIEF was all around Hayden as she escaped through the doors of the assembly hall amongst the throngs of classmates who'd just officially began summer just like her. She felt an arm loop through each of hers and smiled as Madeline and Louise led her towards their lockers for the final time that year.
"School is out, summer is in and we are getting our party on." Louise smirked "My Aunt's house."
"Why not your house?" Madeline questioned.
Louise rolled her eyes "The decorator is doing the parlour room and my mother is doing him. My Aunt's vacationing with her new man so we'll have the place to ourselves."
"And plenty of cute boys to go around." Madeline grinned.
Hayden shook her head with a smile before feeling a hand latch around her arm, dragging her away from the pair "Whoa!"
Paris glanced her way "I need your help."
"It's summer Paris, give it at least a day before you start studying--"
"No," Paris stressed she had them stop, turning to face the girl "I need your help. I have a date."
...☕️...
HAYDEN sat on the Gellar girl's bed, watching her pace back and forth in her room "--And he's not your cousin?"
Paris paused long enough to send her a sharp look "No, he's not my cousin."
Hayden held up her hands in surrender "Just checking."
Paris sighed as she took a seat beside her, fiddling with the sleeves of her blazer "His name is Jamie. He's the son of one of my fathers partners, they both attended dinner last week. He's graduating and headed to Princeton in the Fall."
"Is he cute?" Hayden teased, nudging her.
Paris nodded bashfully "Very. And he asked me out, I just want to be prepared."
"So you need help picking out an outfit?" Hayden assumed as she got to her feet but she was quickly tugged back down by Paris.
The Geller girl hesitated as she bit her lip before breathing out the words "I need you to teach me how to kiss."
Hayden blinked slowly "You want me to teach you how to kiss?"
"Forget it." Paris snapped, taking her shock for rejection and quickly got to her feet.
It was Hayden's turn to pull her back down "Paris wait, I'm just wanting to make sure that you're sure you want it to be me."
"You were my first kiss, when we did Romeo and Juliet..." Paris admitted with an unusually shy expression before she was clearing her throat "And I figure it's beneficial to continue my research with the same subject. For continuity."
Hayden held a hand to her heart with a soft smile "Well, I'm honoured to be part of your scientific discovery."
Hayden's hand deftly brushed Paris's cheek that flushed under the contact and the Gilmore girl met her eye, waiting for any hesitation before she slowly leant in. Paris' breath hitched as she felt Hayden's lips brush her own, her eyes crossing as they stared wide eyed at the girl before her. When the kiss deepened, Paris' eyes fluttered shut as she finally began to kiss back.
"Slower." Hayden murmured between kisses "Good. Good girl."
A squeak escaped Paris and Hayden smiled into the kiss before parting the girls lips with her tongue, slipping it inside much to Paris' amazement. The Geller girl battled back, her tongue pressed against Hayden's, her hand moving to the girls shoulder as—
The bedroom door suddenly opened and Nanny's brown eyes were wide as she walked in "Oh men Deus!" She gasped, stumbling back out the door "Com licença."
The door closed behind her leaving the pair to sit in silent shock before turning their eyes to one another and bursting out into laughter. The two giggled as they lay back on the bed, turning to face one another until their laughter died down when Paris met Hayden's gaze seriously "Thank you."
...☕️...
THE party was in full swing at Louise's Aunt's very impressive estate and while her classmates were having plenty of fun around her, Hayden wasn't. She nursed her cup as she watched her friends canoodling and dancing with boys and while they were right about there being plenty of cute boys, Hayden wasn't interested in any of them. And Hayden felt totally alone. Rory had Dean, Louise and Madeline had dates and so did Paris. Everyone had someone except for her.
Taking her cup, Hayden slipped through the mass of hormonal teenagers towards the grand staircase, making her way down the hallway until she found an empty bedroom. Slipping inside, she traipsed towards the desk, snooping through the knickknacks as she polished off her drink when her eyes landed on the gaudy cow keychain which she picked up, reading aloud the country imprinted upon it "Switzerland."
"I'd recommend it."
Dropping the keychain, Hayden spun around, eyes widening as she found Colin smoking by the balcony doors "W-what are you doing here?"
He stamped out his cigarette before waltzing back inside "My father is having another dalliance with Louise's Aunt. She invited me for one last hurrah before my friends and I traipse drunkenly across Europe."
"That's what my mom, sister and I plan to do after graduation." She told him.
He raised an eyebrow as he approached "But not drunk?"
"Hmm, I wouldn't count it out." She admitted, a smile tugging at her lips at his chuckle "When do you leave?"
"Tomorrow." He admitted and she found her heat dropping into the pit of her stomach as he came to a stop before her "We just can't seem to stay away from each other Birthday Chick."
Hayden's heart raced as she felt the heat of his body pressed against her own and lifted her gaze to meet his "Fate's funny like that."
Hayden could count the number of times she'd seen Colin on one hand but every time felt so electric, so magnetising, she just couldn't resist. Standing on here toes, Hayden wrapped her arms around Colin's neck as his circled her waist, pulling one another closer as their lips met once again.
Kissing Colin wasn't the same as kissing Paris, for one, he was clearly experienced as the precision and passion of his tongue sent her wild.
The pair didn't break apart, neither one wanting to be the one to end it and so Colin backed them up, Hayden's feet stumbling slightly until she felt the back of her legs brush the bed. She allowed the boy to lay her back, his knee parting her thighs as he hovered above her when finally they needed to breathe. Panting, the pair looked back at one another, eyes bridled with lust and lips swollen and Colin stepped back to his feet, giving her space to think "I'm leaving tomorrow."
Hayden swallowed at the reminder but nodded breathlessly "I know."
"I don't do relationships." He admitted "I don't want one."
"Who said I did?" Hayden challenged as she got to her feet "I want fun." She kicked off her shoes "Excitement." She reached behind her and tugged at the zipper of her dress before she pulled the straps off her shoulders, pushing her dress down until it pooled at her feet, leaving her in underwear "I want this."
Colin swallowed thickly as he drank her in before he dragged his gaze up to meet hers where he breathed out "You're incredible."
Heat flushed against her skin as Colin took her in his arms again, reconnecting their kiss, the passion simmering between them as they returned to the bed. Their bodies entangled as Colin stripped off completely before helping Hayden do the same, and as her body was bared to someone else's eyes for the first time, she thought she'd be embarrassed, unsure. But one look into Colin's heated gaze made her feel beautiful.
The knowledge that he was leaving for Europe battered around in the back of her mind, and the logical part of her screamed she'd only get her heart broken. But Hayden wasn't in love with Colin, this wasn't like her and Tristan. She wasn't planning a future with the boy she barely knew. This was here and now. They'd have tonight.
She'd worry about tomorrow when it came.
...☕️...
💭
🐸☕️👀
Well....