One morning, Rory dragged Eleanor down to the market to go shopping since they attend a serious school now, which meant they needed new serious school supplies.

Lorelai wasn't having any of that and decided to go with them, "Shopping for school supplies – party."

"We didn't ask for you to come," Eleanor said.

"Yeah, nobody demanded that you come," Rory said.

Lorelai asked, "Are you kidding? How often do you get to do things like this?"

"Once a year when school starts," Eleanor said.

"You're crabby. I told you to drink some coffee before we left," Lorelai told her. Eleanor ignored that, because her mother said no such thing. "I was thinking, while we're going crazy, we should get some toilet paper and a plunger next."

"Nell and I can do this later," Rory said, looking like she was tired of their mother's joking already.

"No, I'm teasing," Lorelai said. She grabbed a hand basket, "Come on, get that list of yours."

"Okay," Rory said, taking a list out. "I need legal pads..."

"Got it," Lorelai said.

"Tons of pens," Rory continued.

"Right," said Lorelai.

"Some #2 pencils, three highlights, an erase, a staple remover, and a folder," Rory read.

Eleanor asked, "Just one folder?"

Lorelai added, "And three highlighters?"

"Yes," Rory replied.

Lorelai asked, "Three?"

"Yes," Rory repeated.

"That's a very random number," Lorelai stated.

"Three is not a random number," Rory replied.

Lorelai said, "No, but I mean, how did you get to the number three?"

"One dries up, one gets lost, and I have one left," Rory explained.

"You really have thought this out," Lorelai replied.

"Are you really that surprised? This is Rory we're talking about," Eleanor told Lorelai.

"Yeah, you're right," Lorelai said. To Rory, she asked, "What came first – the chicken or the egg?"

Rory asked, "Can we get back to this list, please?"

"All right," Lorelai said. She looked at the legal pads, "Ooh, hey, legal pads." She took two legal pads and stuck them in the hand basket.

"No," Rory said. "Those are purple."

"Yes, purple is festive," Lorelai said.

"We can't have purple," Rory said, motioning to her and Eleanor.

"Yes, you can," Lorelai replied. "They're on sale."

"Nell and I are going to a serious school now," Rory said. "We need serious paper."

"Paper's paper," Lorelai countered.

"Not at Chilton," Rory replied.

"All right, fine," Lorelai said taking the two yellow legal pads that Eleanor took from the shelf. She stuck them in the hand basket, "Here's your serious paper."

"Thank you," Rory replied.

"Ooh and here are your somber highlighters, your maudlin pencils, your manic-depressive pens," Lorelai added.

"Mom, manic-depression isn't a joke," Eleanor pointed out.

Lorelai asked her, "Who do you know that has manic-depression?"

"No one but it sounds awful to have," Eleanor stated.

Lorelai looked at the shelves and took some erasers, "Now these are on lithium so they may seem cheerful but we actually caught them trying to shove themselves in the pencil sharpener earlier."

"Let's go, Rory," Eleanor told her sister. "We should do this later."

"Yup," Rory agreed. "Let's go home." Eleanor moved to the door, but Rory went to the next aisle.

"No wait!" Lorelai called, "We're going to stage an intervention with the neon post-its and make them give up their wacky crazy ways."

"Sounds like Mom Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to me," Eleanor stated.

"That she did," Rory stated. "She's never coming shopping with us again."

"Ooh, here's a card tray," Lorelai stated.

Eleanor risked a look at her test to see that she had managed to get a C+. She relaxed because it was a lot better than she expected. She wasn't sure how she managed to get a C+.

"Take these home, learn from your mistakes," Mr. Medina told them. "Look at the large red circles around various parts of your paper as friendly reminders that to err is human. And that here at Chilton we try to beat that humanity right outta ya!"

I hope it's with a baseball bat, Brad's unwelcomed voice came to mind.

Things went oddly quiet and she realized that her classmates were looking at her. She had said that out loud.

God, Brad was rubbing off on her. She can just imagine him laughing his ass off at that.

"Anyway, next up," Mr. Medina started, "The test – the dreaded test. Shakespeare! The man we've been droning on about for the last three weeks, finally comes back to haunt us on Friday."

"My best friend, Brad, had a Bop It, and we woke up in the middle of the night to it playing itself. It got a high score of thirty-two. That haunts me," Eleanor blurted out. "He also had a Furby, but it fell on our friend, Madison's, face while she was sleeping. It was screeching as it fell."

Rory looked like she was trying hard not to laugh.

"I would've pissed myself if my Furby fell on my face screaming," a girl muttered.

Paris asked, "Are you done rambling?"

"Sorry," Eleanor stated.

"My little sister had this toy that was supposed to sing this annoying song, but when she pressed the hand, it said, 'I love your skin,'" a boy stated.

"My little brother has one of those robot dogs but it would start barking in the middle of the night and our real dog would start barking along with it, because she doesn't know why the robot dog is barking on its side," a girl said, sounding irritated.

"My brothers had this educational toy thing and one night I just heard 'What letter makes the 'n' sound' come from their closet," a boy said. He dragged out the 'n' sound. "I think one of them actually pissed himself."

"Last week, my Furby was opening and closing its eyes and it sounded like it was making all of its programmed noises at the same time," a girl said.

"I dumped my Furby in blue paint because I don't like the color orange and all it does it scream 'eggshells' at me now," a boy said.

"Okay, we're getting off track," Mr. Medina stated. "Next class I will give you a writing assignment where you write one paragraph about one of your toy nightmares. Anyway, the Shakespeare test is a big one. Multiple choice with an essay section that will count for twenty percent of your grade for this semester. And don't be fooled by my kind face and charming personality. This test will be hard and there will be no make ups."

The bell rang.

"Refer to the study materials that I gave you at the beginning of the month and those extensive notes I know you've been taking," Mr. Medina told them.

"Hard paper," Paris stated.

"Killer," Louise agreed.

Paris asked, "How'd you do?"

"A," Louise told her.

"Me too," Paris bragged.

"Oh, small world," Louise replied.

"Isn't it?" Paris asked, "Madeline, what'd you get?"

"You know I got a B," Madeline replied.

"A B's not bad," Paris replied.

"Oh, not at all," Louise said.

"Respectable even," Paris said.

"I'd be proud," Louise added.

"A D and a C+ however that would be cause for concern," Paris added.

Eleanor rolled her eyes and walked out of the classroom, nearly running into Tristan.

"Hey, Magdalene," greeted Tristan.

Eleanor ignored him and continued heading towards her locker. Between Dugray and Elliot, she'd rather take Elliot's mocking over what Dugray calls flirting.

Dugray said, "Oh, you look like you're in a rush."

"Yeah, to get away from you," Eleanor stated. "Don't you have someone else to annoy?"

"Oh, yeah," Dugray said, "Your sister." He went back to Mr. Medina's classroom.

Eleanor couldn't focus on sending the Big Bad Wolf off on her sister; she had to see what Elliot's grade was.

She actually walked into her locker in her haste to get away from Dugray.

Elliot looked startled at the sound of her hitting the locker. Okay, Eleanor will, grudgingly, admit that Elliot was attractive, but he was mostly an annoying, pain in the ass, who had no right to have eyes that was that pretty shade of blue. He looked tired.

Eleanor tried to play it off, "I got a C+, what did you get?"

"I got a C-," Elliot grumbled.

"Ha!" Eleanor said. "I finally beat you at a test." She practically shoved her test in his face. "Read it and weep, bitch."

It looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. "Okay, Lenore. You finally beat me on one test. There's still that big Shakespeare test that I will crush you on next time."

"There will be no next time because I will beat you on that test too," Eleanor told him.

"Whatever makes you happy," Elliot replied and looked in his locker.

This wasn't how their petty arguments normally went.

It normally went with more trash-talking and once the bell rang; they would storm off in opposite directions.

"Looking good, Fi," Dugray called.

"I know," Fiona replied as she strutted down the hallway with a text book held to her chest.

Eleanor looked at Elliot who rolled his eyes before slamming his locker close and taking off. She wasn't even sure what to even say to that.

After school, they got off the bus.

Eleanor asked, "Do you think he's upset for the fact that he got a C+?"

"No," Rory replied. "I think he and Fiona had some kind of argument. He seemed to be pissed off at her." She shrugged at the Taylor twins' antics. "Why do you care? You called him the bane of your existence two days ago."

"I just wonder what crawled up his ass," Eleanor said. "Hey, I have cello practice, so I won't be able to go to the inn with you."

Rory nodded, "Okay. I'll let Mom know. I need chocolate."

Eleanor said, "Period cramps are a bitch, huh?"

"Dugray too," Rory said, "And my D on my test."

Eleanor winced, "I can help tutor you."

"No, no, I got it. I'll be fine," Rory told her.

"Just ask if you need it," Eleanor replied. "I'm here for you if you need me."

Rory nodded, "I know." They went separate ways, Rory towards the inn and Eleanor to the house to change and get her cello.

After getting home from cello practice, Eleanor walked in the door.

"Good, you're here," Lorelai said. "The news is on."

"One sec," Rory called out from the kitchen.

"For our top story tonight, a grisly horrible thing that happened in a small town where no grisly horrible things ever happen," Lorelai said, "Everyone's shocked."

"A man with a machete and wearing a ski mask broke into someone's house," Eleanor added.

"Liposuction kills, stay fat," Lorelai said. She turned the TV off. "Hey, let's get ice cream. I'm bored." She looked into the kitchen and went over to Rory. She knocked on the table in front of Rory, "Hello?"

Eleanor went to put her cello up and came into the kitchen.

"Have some more pizza," Rory told Lorelai.

"It's cold," Lorelai replied.

"Heat it up," Rory stated.

"It's not the same," Lorelai told her.

"It really isn't," Eleanor said.

Rory told her, "Lorelai, go to your room or play with Nell!"

"Wow, smart girls are mean," Lorelai said.

"It you let me study now, I'll play with you this weekend," Rory told her.

Lorelai asked, "Promise?"

"Yes, we can do anything you want," Rory told her.

Lorelai asked, "Will you go to the shoe sale with me?"

"Yes," Rory replied.

Lorelai asked, "Will you me try on anything I want?"

"Yes," Rory said.

Lorelai questioned, "Will you help me push other people out of the way if they're going for my size?"

"I'll even run interference for you and look the other way when Nell starts elbowing people in the ribs," Rory said.

"All right, you've got a deal," Lorelai said. She looked at Nell, "Get your coat on, we're going to get ice cream."

Eleanor nodded, "Okay."

After a shift at Weston's Bakery, they went to Brad's house to help Eleanor study for the Shakespeare quiz.

Arielle asked, "Which one of Shakespeare's relatives was executed?" She was laying on her front on a beanbag chair.

Madison sat up from lying on the floor in Brad's room, with her legs on Brad's bed. She asked, "He had a relative that was executed?"

"Yeah, his name was Edward Arden. He was a cousin to Willy Shakes's mother. He supposedly plotted against Queen Elizabeth the first, even though there wasn't any evidence that he was involved," Brad explained.

Eleanor looked at Brad confused, "How do you know that?"

"I like histroy," Brad replied. "I can't believe that they look like they're wearing drapes for clothes."

"Sometimes I wonder how you made it to seventeen and skipped a grade," Madison told Brad, shaking her head.

"You and me both," Brad replied.

Eleanor asked, "Remember when that Bop It that played itself?"

"Yeah," Brad replied. "What the hell was up with that?"

"I know," Eleanor replied.

Arielle said, "Can you guys focus? This test is worth twenty percent of Rigby's grade."

"Which is so stupid," Leslie said. "A test shouldn't be worth that. What if poor little Muffy gets a ten percent? Those rich parents would file a lawsuit."

Eleanor laughed, "Who the hell names their kid Muffy? How can a dad look their baby daughter in the eye and call her 'Muffy'?"

"Imagine my grandmother looking my dad in the eyes when he was a baby and saying 'good morning, Hildred'," Brad said. "And look at my uncles, Wrase, Crismond, and Ducent. My grandmother swears that their names are from the bible. As a kid who was forced to read that thing, they weren't."

"I can understand why he goes by the name Anthony," Eleanor said.

Arielle asked, "Then who the hell is Mildred?"

"My dad, but I guess these people thought he misspelled Mildred by using an H and changed it to Mildred," Brad told her.

"Your poor dad," Leslie told him.

"Those names are regal as hell, though," Madison stated.

"Hildred sounds like a dude who wears a kilt and carries a sword," Eleanor said.

Arielle asked Brad, "Why doesn't your dad just change his name?"

"Too much paperwork and he says that he's lazy," Brad explained.

As if to counter that statement, Anthony barged in the room, holding a plastic bag. "I finally finished all of your scarves, girls!"

He tossed a black-and-white striped scarf to Eleanor, "That one has the mittens on it that you requested, Nell."

"Thanks," Eleanor said.

"Here's you pink and white scarf, Maddie," Anthony said, tossing one to Madison. "Your plain white scarf, Arielle," he tossed that one to Arielle. "And your candy cane striped scarf, Leslie."

"Thanks," Leslie said.

By Thursday, Eleanor stayed over at Brad's house, because she still needed to study.

Leslie and Arielle went home, so Madison was the only other one to stay behind. Eleanor had brought banana pudding cookies, mini cheesecakes, raspberry and white chocolate scones, and lemon tartlets to snack on while she studied.

Brad asked, "Why are you studying so much?"

"Well, this is twenty percent of my grade," Eleanor told them. "And I want to wipe the floor with Taylor's ass."

Madison was confused, "What did Doose do to you?"

"I meant Elliot Taylor," Eleanor clarified. "He annoys me to no end."

"Uh-huh," Madison replied, eating a banana pudding cookie. "So, how many plays did Willy Shakes write?"

"Thirty-seven," Eleanor said.

"You know, I've helped you study for this guy for so long that I fell asleep in class and when my teacher woke me up, I yelled some random fact about Shakespeare. My math teacher was not impressed," Brad said. "How many lines does the Comedy of Errors have?"

"One thousand-nine-hundred," Eleanor said.

"So close, but no," Brad said.

Eleanor said, "One thousand-eight hundred?"

"Nah," Brad replied.

Eleanor asked, "How many?"

"One thousand-seven-hundred-and-seventy," Brad told her. Eleanor groaned and Brad took a cookie, "Here. Have a cookie." He stuck it in Eleanor's mouth. "You'll do fine. I believe in you."

Madison shook her head and grabbed a scone, "You two should date."

Brad scoffed, "I think it's a known fact that I'm dating myself."

Eleanor stuck a lemon tartlet in his mouth, "Yes. We all know that you're in love with yourself."

Madison rolled her eyes. "How old was Anne Hathaway and Willy when they got married?"

Eleanor said, "Wasn't she like twenty?"

"Think a little higher," Madison told her.

Eleanor asked, "Twenty-four?"

"Close, just a little higher," Madison said.

Eleanor said, "Twenty six?"

"Yeah, now how about good-ol' Shakes," Madison said.

Eleanor said, "Twenty?"

"A little lower," Madison said.

Eleanor said, "Eighteen?"

"Yeah," Madison stated.

"Jesus," Brad said. "He gave her the second-best bed in his will."

"Rude," Madison said.

"Incredibly messed up," Eleanor stated.

In the morning, Eleanor was rudely awoken by Madison, "Get up!"

Brad asked, "What? Why?" He had been asleep on the floor. It looked like his dad had probably come home from a night shift and threw a blanket over him. Although it felt like Anthony had also threw a blanket over her and judging from a discarded blanket on the floor, he covered Madison too.

"It's seven-twenty!" Madison snapped. "We need to drop Eleanor off because she might not make it in time."

So, Eleanor ate a slice of bread and some breath mints for breakfast while she got dressed in the Chilton uniform. Brad drove while Madison quizzed Eleanor on the way there.

She hoped that Rory's morning was better than hers so far.

They managed to get to the school by seven-fifty-five.

She got to the hallway with the classroom; however Mr. Medina and Elliot were heading inside. Elliot gave her a look before stopping to say something to Mr. Medina.

She hurried inside the class.

Elliot asked, "If suicide meant being sent to hell back then, does that mean Romeo and Juliet went straight to hell after killing themselves?"

Eleanor sat in her desk.

Paris asked her, "Why does it look like you slept on a floor?"

Eleanor ignored her, because she had better things to focus on, like the exam.

Paris asked, "Praying to every deity that you know hoping that you'll pass the test?"

"I'm actually praying that you'll get better insults," Eleanor told her.

Mr. Medina and Elliot walked in the class.

After taking the roster and going over any questions, Mr. Medina passed out the tests.

Eleanor decided to do the essay first before doing the multiple choice questions. She only looked up when the door opened.

She winced when she realized that Rory must've missed the bus.

"Everyone back to your tests," Mr. Medina said. To Rory, he spoke, "Miss Gilmore, you're going to have to wait in the library."

Rory asked, "But what about the test?"

"I'm afraid you've missed the test," Mr. Medina told her.

Eleanor went back to her essay, finishing it, before going to the multiple choice portion.

"So I'm driving down this road and I stop and I get hit by a deer," Rory told him.

Mr. Medina sounded shocked, "You hit a deer?"

"No, I got hit by a deer. You don't believe me? I've got antler prints on the side of my mother's car," Rory stated.

"Rory, come on," Mr. Medina said, using a lot of patience.

"And just what is wrong with you, huh?" Rory yelled at Paris. "You already have everything! You already have the grades and the status. What the hell is wrong with you that you have this constant need to be the biggest jerk in the entire world?"

"Okay, let's go," Mr. Medina tried to intervene.

Rory continued, "Huh? What's up? What's up quippy? Why so silent?"

Rory walked away, before speaking again, "My sister's not interested in you, her name is Eleanor, and my name is Rory!"

The door closed.

Eleanor found Madison and Brad sitting on a bench in the school hallway with Rory.

She sat next to Brad, "What are you two still doing here?"

"A security guard asked us what we're doing out of uniform and outside of class," Madison started.

"And we told him that we obviously don't go to school here," Brad continued. "He didn't believe us."

"So, he sent us to talk to the principal. He hasn't called us in yet," Madison said. "Honestly, do I look like a rich white girl to you?"

Brad asked, "And do I look like a rich pretty-boy to you?"

Eleanor gave them that. She looked at Brad, "You are kind of pretty."

Madison asked, "How did you do on your test?"

"He needs to grade them," Eleanor told her.

Paris and her two lackeys walked by, smirking at Rory. Then she looked at Madison and Brad, "They're letting anyone in these days."

Brad asked, "Do I look like the type of person that they'll allow through the doors?"

"And I'm not some rich preppy bitch like you," Madison snarled.

Eleanor noticed Dugray, heading their way, "Oh, god, he's coming towards us."

"Here, let me help," Brad said. He took Eleanor's hand, holding it up, yanked the sleeve down, and proceeded to lick up her arm, while Eleanor looked Dugray in the eyes without blinking.

Dugray stopped in his path.

Madison stood up and walked towards Dugray. "You are the most generic white guy I had ever seen." She grabbed Dugray's shoulders and started turning him this way and that, looking at him. She nodded, "Yup, very generic. Not very memorable either."

Brad nodded, "I know. He looks like the love interest in every teen romcom ever."

Madison snickered looked at Eleanor, "Is this the asshole that calls you a slut?"

"Yeah," Eleanor said.

"So he's clearly getting by on looks alone, since everyone knows that Mary Magdalene was never a prostitute," Brad said.

Dugray asked, "Are two done insulting me?"

"Oh, we're not insulting you. We're describing you," Brad stated.

"Yeah," Madison added. "He looks like he belongs on Dawson's Creek."

"As a recurring character because he's not that important enough to be a main character but has more personality than an extra," Brad added.

"Okay, that's enough out of you Brad," Eleanor stated. She noticed how Rory looked like she was trying hard not to laugh.

"Yeah, that's enough from you Brad," Dugray said.

"At least I know how to take a goddamn hint unlike you," Brad added, getting the last word.

Rory went home for the day, while Eleanor stayed.

She was heading towards the bus stop when she heard, "Hey, Lenore!"

Eleanor considered running but she remembered how Rory said that it looked like her boobs were going to hit her in the face. She turned to look at Elliot, annoyed. "What?"

"You owe me one," Elliot said.

Eleanor replied, "I owe you nothing."

"I distracted Medina for you," Elliot said.

"Yeah, thanks for that," Eleanor replied. It was nice that he did that. "Why did you do that?"

"It's not really much of a competition if you flunk a test by not arriving on time," Elliot replied. "So, I did you a favor, so you owe me one."

Eleanor was irritated, but she can see his point. "Fine, nothing embarrassing, I won't wear anything revealing, and I won't be a maid to you either."

Elliot smiled, "Fine with me. I'll let you know when I think of something."

Eleanor nodded how cold Elliot's smile seemed. It didn't seem cruel, just...cold. It was a little jarring compared to how sunny and happy he looked on the surface.

Elliot seemed confused, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Eleanor blurted out, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Elliot replied, still sounding confused.

"Elliot!!" That was Fiona. "Quit flirting with her! Let's go!"

Elliot rolled his eyes but went over to his sister.

Eleanor went to the bus stop. What did he have in mind for her?