Victoria came home from work to see Lorelai painting Rory's toenails on the porch swing. She sat down next to Rory, who squirted whipped cream in her mouth.

"That's disgusting," Victoria muttered.

"Shut it," Rory told her.

"Don't move, please," Lorelai said.

Rory asked, "So, why are you insisting on doing this?"

"Well, because you're going to be starting private school tomorrow," Lorelai stated.

"Yes, but I'm going to be wearing shoes. Nobody's going to see my feet," Rory replied.

"Okay, but everybody knows that private school girls are bad. And bad girls always wear red nail polish," Lorelai said.

Victoria looked at her nails, which she painted black, because Nick did and she picked that up from him. "I thought bad girls wear black nail polish."

"That too," Lorelai said. "Are you two nervous?"

"Nervous?" Victoria asked, "What for?"

"About starting Chilton," Lorelai said.

"Well I wasn't until heard about all those bad girls," Rory said.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you," Victoria joked.

"I wouldn't call you a bad girl though," Rory replied. "You're rude and grumpy, but you're mostly a teddy bear."

Victoria wasn't sure if she should be offended or flattered.

"You guys! XTC, Apple Venus Volume 2!" Lane ran into the house with a CD.

"Oh, woo! Nails done!" Lorelai said, going in the house after Lane.

"But you only finished half my toes!" Rory called after her.

Lorelai yelled, "Tori can finish them if she wants! Besides you're going to be wearing shoes anyway!"

Music started playing from inside the house.

In a sweet voice, Rory asked, "Tori?"

Victoria said, "Fine, but I get to sit in the front tomorrow."

"Sure," Rory said with a shrug.

Victoria went to go sit where her mother had been sitting so she can finish painting Rory's toenails.

Victoria got up at six in the morning to get ready to go to Chilton. It was her first day of being a Chiltonian.

She looked at herself in horror in her bedroom mirror for a few moments before getting ready. Eyeliner, lip gloss, hair brushed...

She put on a different doughnut bracelet and she hesitated before putting on a circular silver locket. 

It had been a birthday gift from her mother last year. There was one picture of Lorelai and Christopher when they were younger on one half, and there was a baby picture of her and Rory on the other half. She had never taken it off, until the day of the party...

No!

This was her locket, a gift...she can make newer memories that overwrite the worst one.

She put it on and grabbed her backpack. She was going downstairs when she heard Rory yell, "It's seven—"

"Don't even think of finishing that sentence!" Lorelai ordered as she ran down the steps, nearly sending Victoria down them.

"Sorry Tori," Lorelai said.

Victoria hoped her mother was apologizing for nearly blinding her with her outfit instead of nearly making her fall down the stairs.

Her mother was wearing denim cutoffs, cowboy boots, and a pink v-neck tie-dye shirt.

Victoria demanded, "Since when was that in your closet?"

"Yeah, I didn't know the rodeo was in town," Rory said.

"A rodeo for clowns," Victoria added.

"That's it, I'm bringing the baby pictures," Lorelai said, grabbing a picture off the desk.

"No! I'm sorry! I love the rodeo, the rodeo rules," Rory said.

"And clowns should go to hell where they belong," Victoria added, chasing after her mother and sister.

Victoria looked up at Chilton at the stone gargoyles and the intimidating looking building. If people could be a building, Victoria was sure Kayla would've been Chilton. No, stop thinking about her, Victoria thought.

"I remember it being small," Rory said.

Lorelai started, "Yeah, and less—"

"Off with their heads," Rory said.

"Ah," Lorelai said, tilting her head.

Rory asked, "What are you looking at?"

"I'm just trying to see if there's a hunchback up in that bell tower," Lorelai said.

Victoria asked, "Are there are evil-signing crows?"

"No," Lorelai said.

Rory asked, "So, how do we look?"

Lorelai looked at Rory and Victoria, "You both look great."

Rory asked, "Really?"

"Really," Lorelai said. "You two are amazing kids. You both have earned this."

Victoria snorted. No, she didn't.

Lorelai said, "You two just go in there and show them what smart really is. I love you two. Call me if you need me."

"You have to go in there with us," Victoria said.

Lorelai asked, "Really?"

"Really," Rory repeated.

"You need to meet the headmaster," Victoria told her.

"Well, look at me! I can't meet anyone who does anything in there. I look like that chick from the Dukes of Hazzard," Lorelai said.

"Daisy is a babe," Victoria admitted. She got some weird looks before Lorelai shook her head.

"This is our first day. You are not getting out of going in there with us," Rory said.

"Tori can go in for you, and you can go in there for her. That's why I had twins," Lorelai stated.

"Mom, you can wear your overcoat," Victoria said.

"Fine," Lorelai grumbled.

They got out of the jeep.

"Good morning," Lorelai greeted to two women. She was putting her overcoat on, "Oh, well, we're going to be best friends."

They walked in the courtyard and Rory looked at a piece of paper.

"Where are we supposed to go again?" Victoria asked Rory.

Rory said, "Uh, the Ambroise building."

Lorelai asked, "Which is?"

"The big scary one," Rory said.

"They're all big scary buildings," Victoria said.

"Yeah," Lorelai said.

Victoria noticed a group of three standing by a tree. A blonde girl was holding a tennis racket and she nudged the Asian looking girl to look as well. The lone guy looked over and his eyes widened. Victoria looked away embarrassed.

"Down the stairs, make a left, and the headmaster's office is at the end of the hall," a man said. He was wearing a yellow tie.

"Great, thank you," Lorelai said.

"You're welcome," the man said.

Rory grabbed Lorelai's arm but the man extended a hand to Lorelai. "Uh, I'm Ian Jack. My daughter, Julia, goes to school here." The parents shook hands.

"Hi! I'm Lorelai Gilmore. This is my daughters, Rory and Tori," Lorelai said, pointing to the girls.

"Your daughters? Really?" Ian asked surprised, looking at the teens. It was a little more obvious with Tori, since she resembled her mother the most.

Victoria tuned out and then they were on the move.

They managed to find the office, but the secretary looked busy, maybe she fell asleep.

Lorelai cleared her throat, "Um...excuse me." The secretary looked up. "Oh! How...wow. Hi, I – I'm Lorelai Gilmore. This is my daughter, Lorelai Gilmore. This is my other daughter, Victoria. I named them after me. I was in the hospital all whacked out on Demerol. Never mind. B-b-but we call them Rory and Tori. It's short for Lorelai and Victoria, or even 'hey, you' depending on the... is the headmaster here?"

The secret got up and removed her glasses, "One moment."

She walked into a room and when the door closed Lorelai whispered, "See, that's what happens when you go to bed with your makeup on."

"Not really. I just broke out really bad when I did," Victoria whispered.

"Headmaster Charleston will see you now," the secretary said.

"Great, thanks," Lorelai whispered.

They walked in the room and the secretary closed the door.

"Ms. Gilmore, I'm headmaster Charleston," the headmaster said.

For a weird reason, Victoria thought of the KFC guy when she saw him.

"Hi, wow, it's really nice to meet...Mom," Lorelai said. "Uh, excuse..." She went to talk to Emily.

Victoria looked at Rory, who seemed really flustered.

Emily walked over, "I came to wish my granddaughters luck on their first day of school. Rory, Tori, you both look wonderful in that uniform!"

"You didn't have to come all the way out here, Mom," Lorelai said.

"I thought she said it was five minutes away," Victoria muttered.

"This gave me a chance to make sure that Hanlin here takes good care of them," Emily told Lorelai.

"You're Hanlin?" Lorelai asked the headmaster.

"Hanlin Charleston," the headmaster replied.

"Hanlin's wife and I are on the symphony fundraising committee together," Emily stated.

"Wow, that's great," Lorelai said.

"Your father and I are golf rivals. We're still fighting it out to see which one is worse," Headmaster Charleston said.

Victoria ended up tuning out.

Quickly, Emily asked, "Hanlin, did you know that Rory has a 4.0 grade average and that Tori has a 3.8?"

Victoria tuned back in when she heard her name. Lorelai had taken her overcoat off.

"I'm sure he does, Mom," Lorelai said.

"The both of them are very special girls, you take good care of them," Emily said to the headmaster.

"We'll do our best, Emily," the headmaster said.

"Rory and Tori aren't going to be a problem, they're totally low maintenance, you know, like a Honda. You know, they're just easy..."

Victoria woke up on the ground. Kayla smirked and said, "You're very easy."

"—we should take up anymore of your precious time. It was lovely to see you. Give Bitty our love," Emily said.

"Tell Richard I'll see him at the club Sunday," Charleston said.

"Have a wonderful day, you two. I want to hear all about it," Emily said. To Lorelai, she spoke, "Do you need a ride or is your horse parked outside?" She left the office.

"It's so nice to meet you," Lorelai said. She shook hands with the headmaster, kissed Rory's forehead, patted Victoria's shoulder. "Have a great day."

"Oh, you don't want to forget your coat," Charleston said.

"Oh, no, 'cause that would be embarrassing," Lorelai replied and left.

Charleston told Victoria to wait in the office so she went to wait.

She took a book out to read while she waited.

"Your turn Tori," Rory said, coming out of the office. Victoria went in with Rory wishing her luck.

Victoria sat in a chair as the headmaster looked over a file. "You are very bright."

"Thank you," Victoria said.

"You have quite a few social activities: astronomy club, math club, and science club. It says you work part time as a waitress. So, what your aspirations? Do you aspire to go to Harvard to study journalism and political science like your sister?"

"No," Victoria said. "I want to go to either: M.I.T, Yale, or Cornell—"

"On your way to being..." the headmaster interrupted.

"An astrophysicist," Victoria stated..

The headmaster seemed a little surprised, like he wasn't expecting Victoria to want to study science, "I see."

"The universe is a mystery and I would like to help solve it. It's a huge place and I find it ridiculous that people think that Earth is the only one that has life on it," Victoria admitted. "Although being a baker is okay too. It's my fall back."

The headmaster got up, "I've known your grandparents for quite some time."

"That's good," Victoria said. Maybe bribery had nothing to do with her getting into Chilton then.

The headmaster spoke, "In fact, I was at a party at their house just last week where I had the most delicious lobster puffs I've ever eaten. I'm very fond of them."

"I prefer the lobster cakes myself," Victoria admitted.

The headmaster sat at his desk across from her. "None of this, however, will be of any benefit to you. Chilton has one of the highest academic standards of any school in America. The pressures are greater, the rules are stricter, and the expectations are high. If you make it through, you will have receiver one of the finest educations one can get. And there should be no reason why you should not achieve all your goals. However, since you are starting late, and are not used to this highly competitive atmosphere, there is a good chance that you will fail. That is fine; failure is a part of life, but not a part of Chilton. Understand?"

"Challenge accepted, sir," Victoria said.

The headmaster handed her a file, "Take this to Miss James in the administration office across the hall."

She took the file, "I hope you have a nice day, headmaster."

The headmaster seemed a little startled, but nodded, "Thanks. Have a good day, as well."

Victoria left the office and Rory got up. They went to the administration office. There were students in there.

They went to the desk.

Rory said, "Hi, we're looking for Miss James?"

The woman asked, "Names?"

"Lorelai Gilmore, but I go by Rory," Rory said.

"Victoria Gilmore," the black-haired girl said.

"Fill this out, please," Miss James said, taking the folders, and handing them a sheet and a pencil each.

Rory and Victoria went to sit at a table.

"Well?

"Shut up."

"Hurry. Please. Spiders."

"Lorelai Gilmore."

"Nice stripper name."

"Victoria Gilmore."

"Named after a lingerie company?"

"Both formerly of Stars Hollow High School."

"Where's that?"

"Make a left at the haystacks and follow the cows."

"Ooh, Dixie chicks."

"One has a perfect attendance, 4.0 grade point average. The other one has good attendance, but a 3.8 grade point average."

"Bugs, dirt, twigs."

"One's a journalist major."

"That means she's going out for the school paper."

"Not necessarily. The other is an astrophysicist major."

"Ooh, a science chick."

"The both of them got a thousand recommendations in here."

"Popular with the adults and one going out for the paper?"

"Will you stop? You don't know that she's going out for the paper."

"Ow, something's biting me!"

"Quiet down."

"I hate nature."

"They'll never catch up. They're a month behind."

"You can tutor them. Be like a big sister."

"You're funny. Besides they have each other."

"Okay, lizard, goodbye."

"Why are they letting all these extra people in? They just take up space and screw up the curve. We don't need any new kids here."

"Too late."

Victoria and Rory finished filling out the forms and went to hand them in.

Miss James passed out papers, "Here's the dining room, the science hall, the theater. Here's your locker numbers, here's your schedules, take this map. Here's the rules of the school and the Chilton code of honor. Here are the words to the school song, which must be recited upon demand. This can happen anytime, anyplace. If you do it in Latin, you get extra credit. Do you have any questions?"

Victoria asked, "So when are we allowed to breathe?"

Miss James didn't look impressed.

Rory nudged Victoria, "Uh, not at the moment."

Miss James spoke, "If you do, you can make an appointment with your guidance counselors, Mr. Winters and Ms. Abernathy. Mr. Winters handles everything but bulimia and pregnancy. For that, you have to go to the nurse or Coach Rubens. Welcome to Chilton."

Victoria wondered if pregnancy was a common occurence.

It seemed like everyone stared at her wherever she went. For a weird brief moment, she wondered if they knew what had happened to her, but that was ridiculous. These people probably never heard of Stars Hollow, so how was it going to spread here?

She found that she had English class with Rory.

The teacher was speaking, "And while French culture was the dominant outside cultural influence, especially for Russia's monied class, English culture also had its impact. Tolstoy's favorite author, for instance was, was..."

"Dickens," a blonde girl said, with her hand raised.

The teacher continued, "Yes, and last week we discovered Dostoevsky's main authorial influences."

The blonde girl raised her hand, "George Sand and Balzac."

"Good, as Tolstoy commenced writing both War and Peace and Anna Karenina, Count Leo would turn too—"

"David Copperfield," Victoria said, quickly, with her hand raised.

"Correct," the teacher, Mr. Medina, said, smiling.

It was something she knew because Nick was Russian and he had discussions of Russian literature with her. So she liked to think that Russian literature was something that she knew.

The blonde girl gave her an unimpressed look.

Mr. Medina continued, "He would turn to David Copperfield for inspiration."

A door opened and Victoria looked to see a guy walk in.

He looks like a generic white guy, Reyna's voice said in Victoria's mind. Victoria kind of agreed.

"Ah, Mr. Dugray," Mr. Medina said.

"Sir," the guy handed the teacher a note.

"Nice to have you back," Mr. Medina said. "I hope your grandfather's feeling better."

"Much better, sir," the guy said.

He walked over to seat, and seemed to leer at Rory and Victoria.

Victoria wondered, what does he know?

"Good. Take your seat please," Mr. Medina said. "Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, Little Dorrit, all major influences of Leo Tolstoy."

Victoria raised her hand, "Les Misérables actually had an enormous influence when he wrote War and Peace, when he was thirty-five up to when he was fifty. He also met Victor Hugo after he finished reading Les Mis."

"Ah, yes, very good," Mr. Medina said with a smile. "I was going to get to that."

The blonde girl seemed to glare at Victoria even more.

The bell rang.

"Class dismissed," Mr. Medina said.

The blonde girl and two other girls looked at Victoria and Rory with disdain.

"Looks like we got ourselves a couple of Mary's," the guy said.

"Oh, how cute. You read the bible. I'd rather be Deborah. She was a warrior, a judge, and a prophet," Victoria told him. "My sister would rather be Jael, because she killed Sisera with a tent peg."

"Miss, uh, Gilmores, could you come up here please?" Mr. Medina called to the two. They went to the desk. "These are last week's study material." He gave them a huge binder each. "There'll be a test on them tomorrow, but since you're new, you can take a makeup test on Monday. Will that be sufficient time?"

Victoria doubted that this huge binder was last week's study material. She looked at Rory and nodded. "Yeah, Monday works."

The teacher explained, "That's just an overview. You'll find it very helpful to you to borrow one of the other student's personal notes. They tend to be more detailed."

Rory asked, "More detailed than this?"

"It's seems daunting right now, I know," Mr. Medina said.

"No, no, it's okay. We'll be fine," Rory said.

"Remember to get those notes," Mr. Medina told them. "They'll be a lifesaver."

They left the classroom and Victoria saw the blonde girl who was death-glaring her.

"I'm Paris," the girl said.

"I didn't see you there." Rory asked, "Where'd you come from?"

"I know who you two are. Lorelai and Victoria Gilmore from Stars Hollow," Paris said.

"You can call me Rory," Rory responded.

"Are either of you going out for the Franklin?" Paris asked.

Rory asked, "The what?"

"Nice innocent act. At least I know you're not going out for drama club. The Franklin, the school paper, are either of you going out for it?" Paris asked.

"No," Victoria said.

"We have to find our lockers first," Rory said.

"I'm going to be editor next year," Paris said.

"Well, good for you," Rory said.

"I'm also the top of the class and I intend to be valedictorian when I graduate," Paris said.

"I didn't even plan on being valedictorian, but thanks for the idea," Victoria said. She and Rory tried to move, but Paris blocked their way.

"You'll never catch up. You'll never beat me," Paris stated.

Victoria said, "Okay, whatever you say. I have to get to math class, so London, can you move before I make you move?"

At least Paris allowed Victoria to go.

She headed down the hall when she realized that it sounded like someone was following her.

"Hey, Deborah," a guy said.

"My name is Victoria," the black-haired girl snapped.

"I'm Tristan," the guy said.

"Okay," replied Victoria.

Tristan asked, "So, you and your sister are new?"

"Yeah, it's our first day," Victoria told him.

"Remmy's class is rough, but you seem to know Russian literature," Tristan said.

"I dated a Russian guy last year for six months. He was very knowledgeable about Russian literature and he talked to me about it," Victoria explained.

"His loss," Tristan said.

"He moved away and we both agreed the long-distance thing was not going to work," Victoria replied. "Yesterday, over email, he told me he started seeing someone new."

"I could loan you and your sister my notes, if that would help," Tristan said.

"Thanks, that would be great," Victoria told him.

The weird thing, he turned and started walking forward, making her step back. "Yeah? How great?"

He was crowding her against a wall.

She was on the ground, how did she get there? A hand covered her mouth and the stars were spinning. Cotton candy body spray was invading her nostrils.

Victoria's body was getting heavy and her skirt and underwear was yanked down.

"What did you do to her?" a female voice demanded.

Victoria came back, sitting on the ground, breathing heavily. Her pulse was racing and she was on the verge of another panic attack.

"I don't know. I asked her if I can help her study and she just fell down," Tristan said.

"Get to class, Dugray," the girl spat harshly. She had brown hair but her hair around her temples was dyed blonde.

She had a friendly face...not a creep like Dugray or...Kayla.

"Hey, are you okay?" the girl asked sounding concerned. Victoria nodded, though she didn't feel okay. "Do you need to see the nurse?"

Victoria shook her head. She didn't want to be known as the panic attack girl.

"Which class do you have?" the girl asked.

"Mrs. Calgary," Victoria managed to gasp out.

"That's my teacher," the girl said. "Come on, we're going to be late."

Victoria allowed the girl to help her up, "I'm Victoria."

"I'm Claire," the girl said. "So, what happened?"

"I slipped and fell," Victoria lied.

Claire looked like she didn't believe Victoria, but didn't press. That reaction was so not from slipping and falling.

When they walked in the teacher said, "Ah, Miss Carter, glad you can join us."

"I was helping Victoria find the class. She got a little turned around," Claire explained.

"A good Samaritan," Mrs. Calgary said. "I trust that Victoria doesn't need your help finding a seat."

"I can find one just fine," Victoria said.

"Then why are you two still doing standing around?" Mrs. Calgary asked.

They sat down at their seats.

After math class, Mrs. Calgary passed Victoria a thick binder, "Here's last week's notes. You can borrow a student's personal notes to get you up to speed."

"She can borrow mine," Claire said.

"Thanks," Victoria said to both of them. She went to her locker, which was on the bottom row while a guy had the top one.

He had to step to the side when he noticed her, so she can open her locker. "Would it be better if we switched?"

She really didn't want that guy going near her crotch, even if it was to get to a bottom locker. "It's fine."

"If you're sure," the guy said.

Victoria looked at her schedule, "Where's Mr. Kesler's classroom?"

"You're taking astronomy too?" the guy asked.

"I want to be an astrophysicist," Victoria said.

"Me too," the guy said. "I'm Brandon."

"Victoria," the girl replied. "I suspect that I'm going to end up needing to borrow last week's notes..."

Brandon chuckled, "Of course you can borrow mine."

The blonde girl from morning seemed to bounce over.

"Hey, Brooke," Brandon managed to say before the girl was kissing him.

Victoria thought that was rather rude, but maybe it looked like they were flirting. She guessed that she was going to walk to class alone.

Rory came up, looking perturbed, "Are you okay?"

Victoria was confused, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"That guy, Tristan, he's the one who keeps calling me Mary, said that you had a panic attack," Rory told her. "Are you okay? Do you need to see the nurse?"

"I'm fine," Victoria replied.

"How did that happen?" Rory asked.

Victoria replied, "He was trying to block me in against a wall and I freaked out a little. He wasn't trying to hurt me in any way, but it freaked me out."

Rory nodded, "Are you sure that you don't want to see the nurse?"

"I'm good. I don't know what a nurse is going to do when I just had a panic attack," Victoria said.

"You should. Panic attacks are no laughing matter. My brother had one and nearly crashed a car," the blonde girl said, after she detached her mouth from Brandon's.

"Uh, thanks for the input." Victoria replied, "But I'm fine."

"If you say so," Brandon said, though Victoria was sure that he didn't believe her.

Victoria emerged from a school building, feeling like life made Victoria her bitch. Lorelai was hugging Rory. Victoria walked up to them.

"Hey, you," Lorelai greeted Victoria.

Victoria joined in the hug.

"My day sucked too," Lorelai said.

Rory asked, "Promise?"

"I swear on my mother's life," Lorelai said. She tried to pull out of the hug, but Victoria put her arms tighter around her mother.

"Don't let go just yet," Victoria muttered.

"Yeah," Rory agreed.

"Still hugging, still hugging," Lorelai agreed. She kissed them, "So, I brought us some coffee."

"There's a shock," Victoria muttered.

"Triple caps, easy foam," Lorelai said to Rory, "And a cappuccino for you. If that doesn't work, we'll stick our fingers in a light socket." She picked up Rory's backpack and staggered, "What? Do they expect you to get smart all in one day?"

"Oh, they expect something all right," muttered Victoria.

"So, tell me," Lorelai said.

"I fell like I hit a wall at a run," Victoria said.

"It was just one big, long, scary, tweedy, bad eight hours," Rory said.

"Add in some hair spray and you got my day," Lorelai said.

"One of the girls already hates me. The guys are weird," Rory said.

Lorelai asked, "Weirder than other guys?"

"Yeah, they kept calling me Mary and call Tori, Deborah," Rory told her.

"You're kidding me. Wow, I can't believe they still say that," Lorelai said.

"Why? What does it mean?" Rory asked.

"It means like Virgin Mary. It means they think you look like a goody-goody," Lorelai replied.

"You're kidding," Rory replied.

"No," replied Lorelai. "I don't know what Deborah means, though."

Rory asked, "Well, what would they have called me if they thought I looked like a slut?"

"Well, they might have added a Magdalene to it," Lorelai explained.

"Wow. Biblical insults," Rory said. "This is an advanced school."

"You okay back there?" Lorelai asked Victoria. "I haven't heard you speak in a while."

"I'm fine," Victoria told them. "I got a headache."

Victoria stared out her bedroom window, sitting on the window seat. 

She had made it through the day. Rory and Lorelai had asked her to join them for pizza, but she declined saying that she should start on her homework for the next day. They promised to bring her back some pizza.

Victoria did start on her homework, but she wanted a break and she decided to look out the window.

She had messed up really badly by having a panic attack because of that ass, Dugray. She held the round purple pillow close to her chest.

Things will be different at Chilton, she told herself. She didn't have to worry about word getting out about what happened to her, because no one knew her or cared about her. 

She just had to survive the last two years of high school first. It'll be a piece of cake, she tried to tell herself.