"I always knew you went to Chilton, but I never imagined you wearing a uniform," Rory Gilmore said, an almost teasing smile on her face.

"Ha ha," Ebba Canosa deadpanned, leaning against a nearby locker as she waited for her friend to finish putting her things in her locker, "Maybe I should let you find your next class by yourself."

"Wait, I'm sorry!" Rory exclaimed as the girl turned to walk away, "You make red, white and blue look amazing together and totally don't look like a walking American flag! I love you, don't leave me."

"Whatever," Ebba held back a smile, "Tell me again how you were almost late?"

After she shut her locker, Rory began recounting the events of the morning as she walked down the halls with her red-haired friend, telling the tale of the fuzzy clock that didn't purr on time as well as her mother's wardrobe trip to the rodeo.

"She's my hero," Ebba sighed, "I wish I could've seen it."

"I'll ask her for a reenactment for you and Theo when we get home," Rory offered, earning a grin.

The two girls reached their classroom, which already had a few students in it despite the bell not having rung yet.

Rory introduced herself to the teacher, and they exchanged polite greetings before Ebba led her to the back of the classroom. Once they were settled in two unoccupied desks, she began filling Rory in.

"Alright, so you want to stay away from her because she's out like, every week with the flu or something."

"That guy has already gotten two girls pregnant this year."

"Oh, that's Paris," Ebba leaned over to whisper, nodding to the blonde who had been shooting Rory looks, "She probably already knows who you are. She's really smart but... how do I put this? Not the best as socializing," Rory smiled, "She has a lot of self-confidence, and for good reason. If she's in your class, then I wouldn't even try outdoing her."

"Is she mean?" Rory asked, mimicking her whisper.

Ebba smiled, "Only of you get on her bad side."

     "And while French culture was the dominant outside cultural influence, especially for Russia's moneyed class," their teacher rambled on, "English culture also had its impact. Tolstoy's favorite author, for instance was...?"

Paris' hand shot up, "Dickens."

"Yes. And, of course, last week we covered Dostoevski's main authorial influences...."

"George Sand and Balzac."

"Good."

Ebba took a break from taking notes to turn to Rory, giving her a "See? I told you" look. Rory, however, looked like a deer in headlights.

"As Tolstoy commenced writing both "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina," Count Leo would turn to..."

"David Copperfield," As Paris said the answer out loud, Ebba silently mouthed it.

"Correct. He would turn to David Copperfield for inspiration."

The classroom door opened, and Ebba looked up from her notes to find a certain blond.

"Ah, Mr. Dugray," the teacher's tone was not very pleased.

"Sir," Tristan greeted, handing over a slip of paper.

"Nice to have you back," their teacher said, "I hope your grandfather's better."

"Much better, sir," Tristan said.

"Good. Take your seat, please," the teacher said, gesturing to the array of desks.

As Tristan began walking to his usual desk, his gaze was drawn to the back row, where his blue eyes met Ebba's brown ones. The two held eye contact for a bit before he glanced over to Rory, the smallest smirk appearing in his face. He was going to enjoy this.

Ebba wasn't even paying attention to what their teacher was talking about anymore. All she knew was that whatever it was, she had already read about it in a textbook. She was more so focused on the way Tristan kept turning around to "look at the clock" when she could in fact feel his eyes on her. She kept her eyes straight ahead.

Before she knew it, the shrill of the bell filled the classroom, and everyone got out of their seats.

"Class dismissed," their teacher called.

"Looks like we got ourselves a Mary," Ebba heard Tristan say, rather loudly. She looked up to find him focused on Rory, and she rolled her eyes.

"Miss, um, Gilmore? Could you come up here, please?"

Rory turned to Ebba, eyes wide with panic.

"Don't worry, it's nothing," she reassured, "I'll wait for you outside."

"Okay."

As soon as Ebba walked out of the classroom and turned the corner, she almost ran into none other than Tristan Dugray leaning on a locker as if he just happened to be hanging out there.

"Long time no see, huh?" he asked, tilting his head.

"We literally just had a class together," Ebba reminded him, however she was holding back a smile.

"You know what I mean," he said, "Did you miss me? I definitely missed you."

During their freshman year at Chilton, Tristan would flirt with almost any girl he came in contact to. He would never admit this, but all it took was one flirty response from Ebba, and he was hooked. Maybe it was because he knew she would never really mean it. Maybe he truly had feelings for the girl. Either way, it gave him something to do.

"I missed your hair more than I missed your mouth," she smiled, earning a pained look from the blond.

"That's hurtful," he placed a hand on his chest, as if he were experiencing heart palpitations.

Meanwhile, across the hallway Paris Geller watched the two like a hawk. Her eyes flitted between Ebba's smiling face to the way Tristan leaned towards the girl.

"You know, those two would be very cute together," Madeline said.

"Shut up!" Louise quickly shoved her elbow into her stomach.

Luckily, Rory had finally left the classroom, so Paris didn't have time to yell at her. She had a new student to intimidate.

"Oh!" Rory had to come to a quick stop to avoid running into her.

"I'm Paris," she immediately introduced, not bothering with a wave or a greeting.

"I didn't see you there," Rory let out a slight laugh, in an attempt to lighten the mood, "Where did you come from?"

"I know who you are, too," Clearly the two girls had very different conversational goals, "Lorelai Gilmore from Stars Hollow."

Suddenly Rory was very thankful Ebba had warned her about this particular girl.

"You can call me Rory," she offered lightheartedly.

"Are you going out for the Franklin?" Paris blurted.

"The what?"

"Nice innocent act," Paris rolled her eyes, "At least I know you're not going out for drama club."

"I'm confused."

"The Franklin," Paris repeated, "the school paper. Are you going out for it?"

"I don't know, I have to find my locker first," Rory glanced across the hall to find her guardian angel in the middle of a conversation with some golden haired boy.

"I'm going to be editor next year," As Rory tried to take a few steps to get away, Paris followed her.

"Well, good for you."

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

"Okay, I'm going now," Rory tried to walk over to her friend, but Paris got in front of her again.

"You'll never catch up," she said, "You'll never beat me. This school is my domain, and the Franklin is my domain. And don't you ever forget that."

"What are we talking about?" Both girls looked up to find a certain redhead.

Paris, for the first time since Rory had known here, was silent.

"The Franklin," she finally managed to get out, pretending to ignore the way Madeline and Louise were whispering to each other.

"Oh, fun," clearly Ebba didn't mean it, "Rory, you ready? I need to go to my locker."

"Yeah, me too," she graciously accepted the escape route.

Without making it obvious, the pair walked as quickly as they could to get away from the trio.

"So," Rory began, her voice at a normal volume, "I think I'm on her bad side."

a/n

ik i said this was going to be a paris fic (IT IS TRUST) but i need to build suspense

nobody watches a tv show just for the love interests to get together in the first season (unless theres some other side plot idk)

anywayssss make sure to vote and comment so i have a reason to keep updating!!!