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"ᴵ ˢᵗⁱˡˡ ʰᵃᵛᵉ ˢᵒᵐᵉ ˢᵃⁿⁱᵗʸ ˡᵉᶠᵗ."
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Mel was at the counter, ordering their drinks. Gabby was watching her, brow furrowed in thought as she fiddled nervously with the sleeve of her top, taking in the sight of Mel. The cafe they were in was buzzing with life, chatter filling the air as she sat at the little table by the window alone, waiting for Mel to return with their drinks. She shifted and her foot knocked against the suitcase that lay under the table, the one that neither Mel or Gabby made and effort to address.
"Here." Mel interrupted her thoughts with a cup of coffee. Mel always brought her coffee, black and with three sugars.
"Thanks." Gabby smiled, biting down a grimace at the sight of the dreaded drink. "So, where are you going?" She asked, addressing the packed bags as a last resort to get the conversation rolling.
"Up to Vancouver for a few days. My sister just had a baby." Mel explained and Gabby nodded. "A girl, they're still deciding on a name though, they're torn between Bexley and Hallelujah." Mel told her, biting back a laugh.
"Wow." Gabby couldn't hold back a breathy laugh. "Certainly.. unique." She said and hid her smile by pretending to sip on the coffee, "But, seriously, they are pretty names.
"They are. But her other daughter is called Jane, so I'm not sure how it all ties in." Melissa explained and the two laughed, drawing the attention of the elderly couple sat next to them. "So," Mel continued, "What's new with you?"
"I live with my sister now, and her daughter. Mom and Dad thought I'd be happier there." Gabby told her.
"Are you?" Melissa asked,
"I'm not sure." Gabby shrugged, "I only moved in on Thursday, so I'm not used to it yet. Maybe when I get comfortable, I can revaluate." She explained, holding the mug in both hands.
"How are your friends? How's Marcus doing?" Melissa inquired, recalling the sight of the tall boy with the nervous eyes.
"He's good, yeah. I'm going to see him tomorrow, we've got a study session at school." Gabby told her.
"School on a Sunday? Lucky you." Mel snorted, sipping her coffee.
"I know, but there's only one teacher so it's mostly just students in our grade or the grade above, we just study in little groups or just mess around." Gabby explained, smiling softly at Mel's manner. The hour had passed quite swiftly and soon Mel only had half an hour to catch her flight, meaning the goodbye was rushed and yelled down the busy Hartford street as Mel was hurried into a cab and driven away, leaving Gabby in the street.
Exhaling slightly, Gabby turned on her heel and wandered back down the pavement, flipping open her phone and dialing her sister's number.
"Hey Lore."
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"I can't believe you choose to go to school on Sundays." Lorelai groaned, wiping the sleep from her eyes onto the sleeve of her pajamas, sipping coffee from Luke's. Gabby had been up for a couple of hours now, and had walked to Luke's to get coffee and pastries in a bid to bribe her sister into driving her to Chilton.
"Why can no-one get their head around this? I have to study, might as well do it in the place that was made for studying!" Gabby explained, wiping down the plates from last night as her sister plonked down at the kitchen table, still groaning about the earliness of the day.
"I hate you and your logic." Lorelai mumbled, mouth stuffed with cherry pastry.
"Attractive." Gabby snorted at her sister's manners, putting the dishes away. "You have forty minutes to shower and dress and then we'll go, okay?"
"Alright, bossy. You're more like Mom than you think." Lorelai complained.
"I know. Now, move your butt. Go!" Gabby giggled, pushing her sister out of the seat, towards the stairs. Lorelai just stuck her tongue out at the younger girl before going upstairs. Rory appeared in the doorway of her room, yawning and pulling the sleeves of her pajamas down so they covered her hands.
"Hey Rory." Gabby greeted softly to the other girl, who merely hummed in return, "There's coffee for you there and a pastry next to it. I got cherry, I wasn't sure what you like."
"Okay." Rory answered shortly. Gabby had found it hard to connect with the girl the few days she had stayed, but at the current moment, the awkward silence that stretched over the pair, it seemed irreparable. The only sound was the shower being turned on upstairs and Rory drinking her coffee, now sat in the seat her mom was sat in before. Gabby focused on the plates in front of her, wiping them dry before placing them in the cabinets. She wasn't quite sure how Lorelai and Rory had survived before her, because despite the maids she had raised with, she did regular laundry and washing up and she liked cooking. Her room wasn't lived in enough to get messy yet, but she tidied up the main room when Lorelai's clutter spread past it's places and Rory's books balanced on sofa arms and lampshades.
The shower had turned off and they could hear Lorelai curse the coldness of the water and the earliness of the morning.
"Where are you going?" Rory asked.
"Study session at school. Lore's driving me." Gabby explained, wiping her hands on the tea towel before turning around. Rory looked tired. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Rory answered shortly, finishing her coffee and disappearing back into her room. Gabby stood silent, lips slightly parted, words stuck in her throat. Sitting down at the table, she fiddled with the the hem of her jumper, the cream fabric soothing under her fingertips. Her thoughts were racing and she was stumbling as she tried to catch up, as she tried to calm them.
Tomorrow would bring the unknown to Chilton, the unknown to Rory, the unknown to Gabby. She had grown up with these kids, known them and their lifestyle since she was five, and she knew how they worked. She knew the hatred they had for their lives but also the smugness for their possessions, for their parent's money. She knew why Tristan Dugray acted up and why Paris Geller pushed herself, she knew why that boy in the grade above stopped playing football and she knew why Vivienne Wade in the grade below came into school crying last Wednesday. Rory didn't know any of this. She didn't know how these people worked, how they felt or thought. She didn't understand the recklessness, the desire to live, the want to prove themselves, she didn't get the hierarchy.
"Ready?" Lorelai asked, looking slightly less sleep-deprived now. She was clutching her car keys in one hand and a bag in the other.
"Yep." Gabby spoke, silencing her thoughts and standing up, shouldering her bag as she did so.
The drive to school was uneventful and loud, Lorelai singing as loud as her lungs would allow and Gabby laughing at her sister's crude attempt to sound like Frank Sinatra. Lorelai had pulled up outside Chilton, still serenading and let her sister go, welcomed by Demi who watched in amusement.
"Hi Lorelai, nice to meet you, I'm Demi." She greeted, linking arms with Gabby who was now stood next to her.
"Hi Demi, nice to meet you too. Look after this one, she's wild!" Lorelai called as she reversed out of the school grounds, laughing as her little sister rolled her eyes fondly.
"She seems really nice." Demi laughed, pulling her friend inside.
"She's crazy!" Gabby explained loudly, voice bouncing off of the stone walls of the school corridors, free to be loud without being hushed by a teacher. The only adult supervising was Mr Medina and he was really relaxed about rules on the weekends. Demi and Gabby walked to the library, catching up and giggling as they did so.
The doors to the large haven of books were open, revealing the image of a few groups of students huddled in corners, half-hidden behind novels and textbooks as they studied or gossiped. Gabby noticed Paris, flanked by Louise and Madeline, sat in the far corner, Paris reading while her friends painted their nails. She smiled, finding comfort in the odd but inseparable trio. Catching sight of Marcus talking to some other boys, one of them being Tristan, she dragged her friend over.
"Hey." She greeted, nudging him as they walked over, before greeting the other two, "Tris, Michail." She smiled softly and Demi greeted them as well. Tristan smiled, not his usual cocky smirk but a soft one, and Michail nodded, brushing his long hair from his face, revealing his large brown eyes.
"Hey Gabs. Haven't seen you in a while." Tris commented.
"I'm good. How's your grandfather?" She asked in return, already knowing the reason for his absence the last week.
"Recovering. Slowly but he'll be fine." He nodded and it was then she noticed his tired eyes and untidy clothes.
"C'mon you two, we have studying to do." Demi pointed out and gestured to their usual seat, before the three said their goodbyes and took their seats, spreading flashcards and books out, highlighters floating around with rulers and Marcus tapping a rhythm on the chair.
"What?" Demi laughed at Gabby, who was smiling to herself.
"Nothing." She said, shrugging. "I'm just happy." She laughed as Marcus shook his head fondly nudging her foot with his own.
"I'm not. Cal brought a Foo Fighters record yesterday so I was kept up all night again." He groaned.
"There is nothing left to loose?"
"I still have some sanity left."
"I meant was that the album he brought, you donut."
"Oh."
"Well?"
"I don't know!"
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