"I had sex, but I'm not going to Harvard."

--☆--☆--☆--

"That sucks," Cassie wanted to laugh at her sister's predicament but all she could do was shake her head for Rory's sake.

Once again Chilton has thrown Paris and Rory together, forcing them to work as a team. A few weeks ago this would've been less of a problem. However, ever since the Francie debacle Paris has put Rory back on her list of enemies.

"Tell me about it," Rory agreed.

"So you're just gonna sit on the phone with her for hours?" Cassie asked her.

Rory shrugged her shoulders, "I guess."

"That sucks," Cassie let out a short laugh this time however she quickly stopped when she noticed the look her sister was giving her. "What?"

"You seem fine," Rory said to her.

Cassie gave her a confused look, not understanding what Rory meant. "I am?" Rory was still giving her a look which was beginning to make Cassie nervous. "Am I supposed to be not fine?"

"You and Ethan," Rory reminded her.

"Oh."

Last night Cassie had informed Rory and Lorelai that she and Ethan were no longer dating. With a smile on her face she told them Ethan got into UCLA which was a dream come true for him and how she was so proud of him. Naturally Lorelai and Rory were slightly confused, they were expecting heartbreak not excitement. Cassie explained that she and Ethan still care for each other and their plans to go to prom together are still intact, but that only seemed to make her mom and sister more confused.

"We're totally fine."

"But you guys broke up."

"It was the right decision. We wanted to leave on good terms and not ruin our relationship by putting the entire country between us," Cassie explained just as she did the night before. "It's not typical, I know. But this way he and I can actually be friends."

"And you're really okay?"

Cassie nodded, "I really am."

There was a knock at the door that grabbed the attention of the twins. Rory gave Cassie a confused look before standing up from her bed and walking out to the front door. Cassie stayed at Rory's desk, not feeling like standing up just yet.

Then she heard it. A voice that usually doesn't take over the comfort of her home. Cassie spun around in the chair just as Paris walked into Rory's room.

"Paris?"

"Cassie."

Cassie looked over at Rory who now wore a defeated look on her face. Paris was setting her bag down on Rory's bed, "So, I think the first thing to do is to acquaint ourselves with each other's speeches so we can judge who hit which point best. Here," Paris handed Rory her speech.

Rory picked up her speech from the desk, "Mine."

They both sat down on Rory's bed with the speeches in hand. "Why did you use this font?"

"Because I was on the crack," Rory responded, causing her sister to laugh. Paris gave Cassie a look, immediately shutting her up. Cassie easily could've gotten up and left but she was bored and the Paris and Rory show never failed to entertain her.

"Did you check these facts?"

"Yes, I did," Rory answered as she tried to continue reading Paris' speech.

"And the spelling of these names?"

"Yes, I did."

"Rory?" Paris looked up with a shy look on her face.

"What, Paris?"

"I slept with Jamie," Paris blurted out, causing Cassie's jaw to drop and Rory's heart to stop. They both looked at Paris with wide eyes. "Last night, after we talked."

Rory gulped, "Was it something I said?"

"I went over there to study and he lit a fire and then we did it. What are your thoughts on that?"

A panicked look remained on Rory's face, "My thoughts?"

"Because I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it myself," Paris admitted to her and Rory stood up from her bed. Without a second passing Paris and then Cassie stood up to follow Rory out to the kitchen. "I've been going over it in my head. I mean, it seemed to go pretty well. The fire was nice and thank God he didn't try to put on any ridiculous make out music," Paris continued while Rory opened the fridge to get a bottle of water. "And then it just happened. I was actually fairly surprised at the timing of it because I wasn't wearing anything particularly alluring, and in the moments just before the act-"

"Oh god," Rory cringed as she tried to drink her water.

"No," Cassie shook her head.

"We were actually discussing modern day Marxism in America, which is not what I would have deemed a come and get it sort of conversation, but nevertheless, he came and got it," Paris continued to tell the story while Rory downed her water. "Now I have to figure out what that means to me on a psychological level," Paris followed Rory back into her room, Cassie right behind them still. "So I thought maybe if you and I could have a sort of healthy debate about it, I could come to some sort of a reasonable conclusion about how I should be feeling right now. So, come on, talk. What do you think?"

Rory sighed as she sat back down on her bed, "I..."

"Are you pro?"

"Well..."

"Con? Undecided?" Paris before turning her head, "Cassie?"

"Paris, just stop talking and let me wrap my mind around this," Rory asked her and Paris nodded.

"Sorry, go ahead, focus." An entire two seconds passed before Paris spoke again, "Could you focus faster because I really need some feedback here."

"Oh, so you're telling me that you and Jamie..."

"Had sex," Paris finished the sentence for her.

Rory looked over at Cassie who was leaning against the desk. Rory shook her head, not knowing what to say. "Were you safe?" Cassie asked her.

Paris nodded, "Yes, it was a regular after school special."

"And he was..." Cassie awkwardly cleared her throat, "Nice to you? Nothing weird?"

"Yes, he was very nice to me."

"And the two of you had discussed it?" Rory asked her.

"Well, I don't know that we actually discussed it, it was just sort of implied."

Rory gave her a confused look, "Implied."

"Yes, implied. When you're dating a boy and you're together for a given amount of time and you're not Amish, then the eventual occurrence of intercourse is inevitable. Right, Cassie?"

A flushed look appeared on Cassie's face. This wasn't exactly the kind of conversation she ever expected to have with Paris, "Uh... yeah. I guess."

"Wasn't it with you?" Paris turned back to Rory.

"What?" Rory gave Paris that same panicked look.

"With Dean."

"No."

Paris now looked confused, "No?"

"No. I never did it with Dean."

Paris didn't say anything for a moment, she looked confused. She looked over at Cassie like she was waiting for something but Cassie didn't say anything. "You're lying."

"No, I'm not lying."

"You haven't..."

"No."

"Why not?"

Rory awkwardly shrugged her shoulders, "I just haven't. It's just not the time."

"Why is it not the time? I mean, if it's not the time for you, then maybe it's not the time for me either."

"You can't judge what's right for you against what's right for me. Cassie's my twin and we still differ on the right time," Rory added as she looked up at her sister. "We're all different. Jamie and Dean are different."

Paris nodded, looking down like she was thinking over everything. "Listen, Rory, these last few weeks, Francie got things all twisted around."

"You let her get things all twisted around."

"I know," Paris admitted, "I just tend to believe the worst in people, you know?"

Rory smiled a little, "Oh yeah, I know."

"I'm..." Paris trailed off.

"That's okay."

The backdoor opened, stopping the conversation, "Hello! Mommy's home!"

"We're all in here," Cassie called back.

"All?" Lorelai stuck her head in the door, "Oh hey Paris. I didn't know you were coming over."

"It wasn't planned."

"Oh, well, I brought pizza if you guys are hungry."

The three girls nodded their heads, "I'll get plates."

"I have to take my retainer out first," Paris told them as she walked past Lorelai to get to the bathroom.

"I'll take it," Cassie said before Lorelai handed her the pizza box to take to the kitchen. She turned around to see Lorelai tightly hugging Rory. There was a proud look on Lorelai's face but a confused one on Rory's.

"Okay?" Rory said after Lorelai said something quietly to her. Rory walked away and joined Cassie in the kitchen. "So let's eat?"

"Yes please."

--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--

It was late. The diner's last customer has just paid and left. Caesar had gone home an hour ago and despite his protests Luke had gone upstairs. He was completely exhausted and Cassie assured him she could handle the last bit of cleaning so he could get some rest.

Cassie flipped the sign from open to closed and pulled out the cleaning solution so she could wipe down all the tables. She worked in silence, letting her mind go blank as she cleaned. It didn't take long and she quickly finished with the tables and moved on the counter.

The bell ringing above the door caused her to turn around. She was just about to say "Sorry, we're closed" but she realized who it was before the words left her mouth.

Jess stood awkwardly in the doorway. Luke had given him the night off and Cassie hadn't seen him at all today. In fact she realized it had been days since they last saw each other.

"Where's Luke?" Jess asked her as he fully stepped into the diner and closed the door behind him.

"Upstairs," Cassie answered before turning back around to continue cleaning.

Jess watched her for a moment. He hated this as much as she did, maybe more. He hated that he messed things up. She was once his best friend, now she barely looked at him. All Jess wanted was to make sure things stay the same. He was terrified that telling her the truth would ruin everything, turns out keeping the truth from her is what messed things up.

Cassie glanced back at him when he didn't move. Jess cleared his throat before nodding his head at her, "Well... night."

"Night," She replied with a confused look on her face.

She watched as he walked past her and over towards the stairs. He took two steps up before stopping himself. Jess kicked himself for walking away but at the time he couldn't find the courage to turn around.

All he could do was stand there. Trying to convince himself to talk to her but not being able to move. He just stood on the stairs. On the other side of the wall, Cassie finished her job and left. Jess heard the door lock after the door closed. That's when he was finally able to move. Just in time to see her walking down the street.

--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--

"Still nothing?"

With a nervous look on her face, Rory shook her head. "Absolutely nothing."

"Come on it's Paris," Cassie felt the need to remind her, "To her skipping a school event is as bad as committing a felony, worse even."

"I know."

"She'll be here," Cassie said hopefully but her words did little to comfort her sister.

That's when Lorelai joined them, she walked up to her daughters with a smile on her face. "Okay, I got the coats hung, and I slipped the girl a buck to get the really good hangers. You know, the ones with the dry cleaning foam strips still attached," Lorelai told them before noticing the look on Rory's face. "Why are you frowning? Are you nervous?"

"What?" Rory had spaced out for a second and was only now listening to her mom, "No. I mean, yes. Paris is supposed to be here and she's not."

"Well, maybe she's just had a clothing crisis," Lorelai suggested.

Rory sighed, "Maybe."

"Do you wanna call her?"

"I did, no answer."

Lorelai tried to give her a reassuring look, "I'm sure she's fine, there's traffic. Just relax."

"Okay."

Richard walked up to the three girls, "There you are," he smiled at them.

"Hi."

"Grandpa, you came," Rory said before giving him a hug.

"Of course I came. I wouldn't miss my granddaughter talking on national TV," He said before looking into the auditorium. "That's quite a nice turnout you have in there."

"Yes, well, we're very proud of the number of people who have nothing to do on a Friday night."

Richard sighed at her, "Your mind never tires for a moment, does it?"

This made Lorelai smile, "It will once people start talking."

"Charming."

Lorelai put her hand on Cassie's shoulder before saying, "I'm gonna go track down some coffee cause there's no way they're not serving coffee at this. I'll be right back," She added with a smile.

Cassie turned her head, seeing Sophie walk down the hallway towards them. "I'll catch up with you in a sec, yeah?"

Rory looked down the hall, seeing Sophie, she nodded her head, "Yeah sure."

"She will be here," Cassie reassured her.

"Right."

"So?" Sophie gave her a questioning look, "Been a couple days post breakup, how're you feeling?"

Cassie smiled as she shrugged her shoulders, "Fine. I mean, sad that we're not together, but glad that we didn't ruin a good friendship in the process."

Sophie looked her up and down, like she was deciphering something. "You sound so mature."

"Oh please," Cassie scoffed. "Ethan and I might be taking the high road but..."

"Jess?"

Cassie nodded, "Still won't talk to me."

"Bizarre," Sophie moved on quickly, now pondering the Jess situation. "Maybe he's in love with you," She suggested.

"Not funny," Cassie replied.

"I wasn't trying to be funny," Sophie informed her.

"No. No way." Immediately Cassie shook her head, "He liked Rory, remember?"

Sophie sighed, now wondering if that was actually true or not. "But if he did they'd be together already. It's not like Dean is stopping them anymore."

"Cassie."

The two girls turned to see Lorelai waving them into the auditorium. A relieved look appeared on Cassie's face because she did not know how she was going to respond to Sophie.

"We are not done with this conversation," Sophie informed her as they both followed Lorelai into the auditorium.

Cassie and Sophie sat down with Lorelai and Richard, the four of them listening as Headmaster Charleston introduced Paris and Rory. Everyone in the audience seemed to be paying attention, Cassie, however, had her attention on Paris. Who looked more disheveled than ever before.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Paris Gellar and Rory Gilmore."

The crowd began clapping as the two girls took the stage. Rory stepped up to her microphone right away but Paris just stared into the crowd.

"'Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then do something. Don't just stand there, make it happen,' Lee Lacocca," Rory quoted before glancing at Paris. Paris, however, didn't say a word, So Rory read the next quote.

"What's up with Paris?" Sophie whispered as quietly as she could.

Cassie shook her head, "No idea."

"She looks like she's gonna murder someone."

"Yeah," Cassie agreed, "Or like she might spontaneously combust."

Rory gave Paris another nervous glance, but she still didn't say anything. Without a choice Rory continued delivering the speech they had planned, "An institution not just because of age and standing, but because of ideas. Because it encourages ideas and it will accept nothing less than everything you have to give. This is the place where our lives start."

"You know, it's funny, me standing here before you right now," Paris randomly began to start talking, "I've thought about nothing else for four years but this school, this big important school with all of our history and tradition and really super teachers. And I dedicated myself to it completely, heart and soul, believing in its power, believing in its ability to get me where I needed to go. Harvard."

Cassie turned her gaze over to Rory, who was now searching her notes as she slowly realized Paris was going off script.

"I have thought of nothing else. Many of you out there can attest to that fact."

"She's got a point," Sophie whispered.

I was on my way and nothing could stop me. And here's the really funny thing, after four years of slaving away, I got home today and I found this," Paris then held up a small envelope. Realization began sinking in for the students around the room. The students who knew the significance of a small envelope. "I'm not going to Harvard," Paris announced to the school, "I got the tiny envelope, the one that reads, 'Sorry, Paris. We're not interested. Try again next year. Love Harvard,' And the thing that's really funny here is, who in the world deserves to go to Harvard more than me?"

"She's gonna blow," Cassie realized, seeing the madness happening just as it began.

"Have you seen how hard I've worked over these past four years? I mean, can anyone here believe that I'm not going to Harvard. I can't. I'm not going to Harvard. I'm not going to Harvard," She repeated herself as nervous looks began appearing in the entire audience. "I had sex, but I'm not going to Harvard."

"Okay!" Rory quickly tried to intervene but there was no stopping Paris.

"And I have to tell you that if you asked me which of those two events I thought would be the least likely to happen, it would not be the not going to Harvard," Paris continued as the nervous looks quickly switched to horrified ones.

"Thank you and good night," Rory quickly said into her microphone before walking over to Paris.

"I'm being punished. I had sex, so now I don't get to go to Harvard."

"Paris, come on," Rory said as she tried to get Paris away from the podium.

"She's never had sex. She'll probably go to Harvard. She's a shoe in. Pack your chastity belt, Gilmore, you're going to Harvard," Paris yelled.

"Come on!" Rory finally got her off the stage and led her backstage.

Everyone in the audience was either horrified or thoroughly entertained. Cassie was feeling a little bit of both.

"Holy shit," Sophie gasped, still processing what they had just observed.

"God, that was on live TV," Cassie remembered as she looked back at the camera crew.

Sophie slowly shook her head, "It was like watching a car crash."

"Worse. Much worse," Cassie nodded. "Do you think she's okay?"

"I don't know."

Then there was one thought left lingering in both girls' minds. It was the wrong time but they both couldn't help but wonder, what envelope would be waiting for them when they got home.

--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--

With every step they took Cassie felt more and more nauseous. That mailbox contained the letters that would change her entire future. Yale, Columbia, Brown. She knew decision day was coming but now that it's here.

"I can't," She was the first to admit and the look on Rory's face suggested they were both going down the same doom spiral.

"It's gonna be okay," Lorelai assured her. Slowly she opened the mailbox and peeked inside.

Rory reached her hand out, taking her sister's. She squeezed Cassie's hand, both of them needing to be comforted as Lorelai reached into the mailbox.

Lorelai pulled out two letters, one addressed to Cassie, the other to Rory. Two big envelopes. "It's the big one."

"Oh my god," Cassie's eyes widened.

Lorelai reached her hand in again, this time pulling out four more envelopes, "So now what?"

The twins looked down at the envelopes in their hands. All their different choices laid out in front of them. Different futures, different lives, all in one hand.

"What does this mean?" Lorelai asked them.

Rory shook her head, "I don't know."

"Which one are you gonna choose?"

Cassie spoke up this time, "I don't know."

"I guess we better go inside. We all have a lot of things to figure out, huh?"

"I guess so," Cassie agreed.

"Yup."

Lorelai smiled at her girls before they started walking the rest of the way to the front door, "So what are the odds that Paris is ever gonna have sex again in this lifetime?"

"I don't know."

"Slim to none."

a/n: oh my god! I finally finished writing this chapter. I am so sorry it took me so long, I could list excuses but you guys definitely don't care. Anyways, I truly hope you enjoyed this and hopefully (fingers crossed) I will be finished with the next chapter soon. In the mean time let me know which college you guys think Cassie and Sophie will end up deciding.