❝THE YEAR 2000❞
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⋆𐙚₊˚⊹ chapter eight,
Gilmore Girls — Season One

September 6th, 2000

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[ LUCY'S POV ]

     I'VE BEEN TOLD I'M A DARLING DAUGHTER, A CHILD PRODIGY, A FRAGILE KID. I've been told I'm a sweet girl, a girl who holds a heavy heart and her head low—usually in a book— but I believe I hold my head high and proudly, especially when I'm at school or studying.

     I'm leaning against my hand, flicking through my textbook as the dim light of my desk lamp flickers, meaning I need to change the bulb soon. It's late, it's dark and my eyes are starting to sting but I'm confident to finish my work. If I don't, I'll feel as if I'm falling behind— even if I'm more ahead than other kids in my year— but I'm also exhausted, and all I want to do is crawl into my perfectly made bed and pull the sheets over her head.

     My dad is sound asleep, light snores leaving his mouth, and I hope I can finish this work without making a sound. So far, I've been successful, but there have been nights where I've stayed up much later than this and woken him up. Dad is due to wake up in less than an hour, and if I can get just a couple minutes of sleep, I would've accomplished all my goals for the night.

     I fall asleep at my desk at 4:08am and I wake up thirty-seven minutes later to the sound of Dad's alarm. One day, in the future, I will get enough sleep, but until then there's nothing coffee can't solve. I move down the stairs, rubbing my eyes, and I step into the diner. My head pounds in my skull, and I desperately want coffee, coffee, coffee.

     I reach for the filter to make a new batch of coffee, smiling when I smell that gorgeous coffee.

     Dad hates how much I love coffee, hates how I rely on it every single morning, and hates how I make the coffee too strong for any customers to drink but I don't care.

     Dad steps past me as I pour my coffee into my mug, pushing a kiss against my head. "You haven't slept," he says, squeezing my shoulder as I move away, holding the cup in my hand as I sit at the counter.

     "I slept." For thirty-seven minutes.

     "For how long? Thirty minutes?"

     "Thirty-seven minutes," I correct, pointing my finger towards him.

     He shakes his head, obviously disappointed by his daughter's sleeping arrangements. I can't say I blame him for being frustrated with my lack of sleep, especially since I always act like I'm going to sleep the same time he is before I switch the lamp on and continue with work.

     I clicks my fingers together. "Oh, also, I need a new bulb for my lamp," I say, lifting my coffee cup to my lips. "It keeps flickering."

     "You can get a new one when you sleep." Dad pours me another cup of coffee, groaning as he finds me immediately reaching forward to drink it. He hates coffee, and he always claims that I— his sweet baby girl— am not his child.

I indulge in his crazy diets, I stay clear of Taylor, and I scoff at the ridiculous town gatherings and meetings— even if I love them— and he says I'm not his daughter. How dare he?

I leans my head on my hand, yawning in the process because, of course, I'm tired. "So can I have a new bulb? Please?"

He points his finger to me. "When you sleep."

"I'll sleep when I'm dead," I argue as he walks away, not wanting to indulge in this conversation any longer.

I continue to sip on my second coffee while Dad turns the lights on in the kitchen, turning the stove on in preparation for when the diner opens in an hour. "So why haven't you slept?" he shouts, catching me off guard and stopping me from sleeping on my hand.

"Studying," I shout back.

Dad steps into the diner, arms crossed over his chest. "For what?"

My dad likes to keep a schedule on the fridge upstairs that read off the dates for when I have assignments or tests. He has the schedule so he can wish me luck on the day or simply taunt me with constant reminders about the day a test arrives.

Except, I know— and he knows— that I don't have a good enough reason to be studying right now when my next test is in three weeks.

I remain silent, sipping my coffee to avoid speaking to him about how I simply find studying to be relaxing to me. "The next test you have is in three weeks for Biology, isn't it?" Damn him and his calendar.

"Uh, yeah." I clear my throat. "So in three weeks I'll be asleep," I confirm, nodding my head with a slanted smile on my face. Dad doesn't look amused, but I certainly am.

"Don't make me hide your books again, Luce." Dad always threatens my books when I refuse to stop studying. If he thinks taking my books will stop me, he's very, very wrong.

     He's been hiding my books since I started constantly studying three years ago at the young age of thirteen. He started hiding my school books on a shelf hidden in the back of the storage room and when I found it, I stole my books back, used them for studying, and then put them back on the shelf before he realised, meaning he hasn't found a new spot because he doesn't know I know.

     He really needs to find a new spot to hide them.

     "You want breakfast?" he asks.

     I shake my head. "No, I—"

     He steps away, and I realise that saying no would only make him bring me mountains of food.

     When Dad comes back ten minutes later, there's a stack of pancakes covered in fruit and syrup in front of me, and they look mouth-watering. They look so fluffy. So delicious. So edible.

     Ugh, I hate him.

     I chew my bottom lip, tempting a smile at Dad. "Thank you," I whisper, snatching the fork and knife from him. "But I've told you a million times that I can eat at school."

     "Why would you eat at school? Your dad," he points to himself, grinning widely. "Owns a diner. You can get all the free food you want, kid."

     "You made me pay for that cup of coffee last week," I argue, jabbing my fork into the stack of pancakes more aggressively than intended.

     "After your eighth cup, you have to pay." The "pay after your eighth cup of coffee" is a unspoken rule in the diner, but I really want him to make it an official rule because I'm not the only one who has eight cups a day.

     "But I'm your daughter." I've use the same argument every single time he makes me pay for anything but he simply doesn't entertain my quips. "I thought I'd be entitled to free coffee for the rest of my life."

     "Well, I was hoping for a daughter that doesn't gurgle coffee like you."

     My mouth falls agape. "How dare you."

I jab her fork into the pancake, poorly attempting to cut a piece of rich fluffiness off. Eating these has made me realise that I haven't had a fattening, delicious breakfast in weeks. I'm constantly eating fruit or vegetables or anything green for that matter.

     However, Dad always treats me to the most excellent food, and even though I eat healthy foods along with Dad, he always makes sure I eat junk food every now and then. When I'm studying a ridiculous amount, Dad always makes sure I eat, even if I'm not hungry.

     The bell sounds behind me and I turn my head to see my best friend, Adelaide— Addy— Sloane who is up awfully early this morning, and there's only question I ask, "Why are you here?"

     "We're not open!" Dad is rushing in to see who has decided to open his door this early in the morning but then he finds Addy, and she gives him an awkward wave. "Oh, you," he grumbles, shrugging his shoulders. "Why are you here?"

     "Nice to see you guys too." Addy steps forward, throws her bag down, and her body falls against the counter. She slumps over, groaning in the process, and I can see that she's obviously exhausted from something.

     Dad heads back to the kitchen, and I continue to eat my breakfast while Addy's eyes close, and her head rests in her arms. I don't know if I should give her a shake or yell in her face. Maybe she just needs food or coffee. "Are you—"

"My mom is up my ass!" Addy exclaims, and I flinch from the sudden outburst. "It's always, "Adelaide, do this. Adelaide, do that. Adelaide, darling, be more like your brother," and it's so, so annoying. I'm so, so, so, so—" She cuts herself off, snatching my fork and jabbing at my pancake too aggressively. "Sorry, can't go wrong with Luke's pancakes. Thanks." She swallows the food and I allow her to pull my plate towards her. "Anyway, I'm exhausted because I was up all night trying to study but—" She sighs, taking another bite from her— my— food. "Lucy, how do you do it? How do you study all night long, it's exhausting, and I— Wow, these taste really good."

Addy is prone to stress eating, especially when she rambles. She often steals my food, something I don't mind... to an extent. "I'm stressed," she says with a mouthful of food. "My mom stresses me out, Lucy. I... I'm so tired."

Addy has anxiety, and its quite bad, especially when she's around her mother. I like Addy's mother but we've never really seen eye to eye, mainly because Addy's mother is extremely withdrawn and unsociable, especially towards Addy's friends.

It's been less than two years since Addy's father passed away— and Addy cried to my dad— and Addy had a perfect relationship with her father, just like I do with my dad, but Addy's dad died in a car accident when on a business trip, leaving Addy with her mother.

Addy's mother took the news about her husband pretty hard, and I can see that she's still struggling. However, Addy is dealing with the grief just as badly as her mother, and it isn't fair that they constantly disagree over the smallest of things because they secretly need one another.

Addy is still eating my food. "Look, Addy, I love you but stop eating my food. I'll get you your own," I insist and Addy drops the fork and knife to the counter, groaning in frustration. "What do you want?"

"A burger."

"Ads, it's six in the morning."

"Your point?"

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❝DID YOU HEAR THE NEWS?❞ My eyes move from my textbook to my best friend who is sitting beside me. "Rory Gilmore got accepted to Chilton," Addy finally confirms and all I do nod because what am I supposed to say?

     "That prestigious, competitive school for super smart kids?" Nathan— a close friend of ours and Addy's boyfriend— asks, and Addy hums in response. "No wonder."

     I choose to stay quiet, deciding that I don't have much opinion on where Rory Gilmore goes to school. Addy and Nathan aren't the biggest fans of Rory, for whatever reason, and I hate getting involved in discussions that involve her. I find it unfair to discuss her when she's not exactly done anything wrong by getting into Chilton. I'm happy for her.

     Me and Rory used to be closer than we are now. Don't get me wrong, we still hold a conversation every now and then because she and her mother always come into the diner, but we definitely aren't as close as we used to be. We've sort of just separated over the last two years, only holding polite conversations for a few minutes before separating. 

     "Nathan and Adelaide, stop speaking, please." I hadn't even realise my two friends were still talking as I pull myself out of my thoughts.

     I look up to the teacher and then back to Addy and Nathan who slump back in their seats, grins on their faces as they fall silent. You can always count on Nathan and Addy to be told off and cause havoc in class. They bring the entertainment, as they like to say.

     When the bell sounds and everyone leaves the classroom, I move quickly with Nathan and Addy to collect my books for English— the class I sit alongside Rory Gilmore. Thinking about it, I now don't know who I'll be sitting with since she's leaving. Whatever happens, I hope Chuck Presby isn't the one to sit with me.

     "You want to come over after school, Luce?"

I snap my head towards Addy. "I—"

Addy is cutting me off immediately, "Before you object, Luciana, may I remind you that you promised me that you'd come over sometime this week to help me study."

     "I wasn't going to object," I say, even though I definitely was. "Also, I said "sometime this week," so the offer extends till Friday."

     "But I want you to come over tonight." Addy leans against the locker beside me as I shut mine. "Pretty please? I'll dance for you."

     Any excuse to dance. I roll my eyes. "Fine. I'll come by later."

     "I love you." Addy squeezes my cheek, and I roll my eyes. "I gotta go. I'll catch you guys later."

I watch Addy walk off, and I hope she's actually going to her class because she has a tendency to skip them. I walk ahead with Nathan following behind as we have the same class together. "Thanks for helping her, Luce, I know she'll appreciate it."

"Her mom has been up her ass about her grades and... Well, I know a couple things about school so..." I'd help Addy with anything in a heartbeat, she knows that, and Addy doesn't trust too many people except me, Nathan and my dad. She'd rather me tutor her than some stranger which I completely understand so I try to help her every week whenever I'm free. "I like tutoring her anyway."

We step towards our classroom, and I'm met with the loud noises of jocks and cheerleaders. I let out a sigh as I move past a few boys from the football team to reach my desk that sits at the back of the classroom.

I sit in between Nathan and Rory which is where I've always sat, and this class is probably my favourite because of my seating arrangement. And I'm also just a sucker for English in general.

"Hey," I say to Rory as I lift my bag onto my lap to find my pen.

She smiles politely— like she always does— and says, "Hi."

I want to congratulate her on getting into Chilton or say anything that isn't one syllable but Nathan is nudging me and catching my attention. "Do you have a pen?" he asks, and I roll my eyes because he forgets a pen every single friggin time.

I hand him my spare pen. "Keep it."

Me and Nathan have been friends for almost two years now, and he's been dating Addy for just short of six months. At first, I didn't exactly like the idea of being a third wheel to the only two friends I've ever had, but now I see how in love they are, and I can't possibly hate it. I admire their relationship, and I love how Addy acts around him. It's wholesome.

"Everyone turn to page sixty-two," the teacher shouts upon entering the classroom, silencing the noisy kids at the front.

I look to Nathan, noticing he doesn't have his copy of the book— something he forgets every single friggin time— and I decide to shuffle my seat closer to his so I can hand my book off to him. Luckily for him, I already made notes on the book a few nights ago to get ahead of my work.

"Has anyone told you you're a saint?"

"Yes," I reply. "You. Every time you forget something."

I lean back in my chair and my eyes move towards Rory who is already scribbling in her book. Soon, I wouldn't be sitting alongside Rory and I really hope this seat remains empty. I definitely didn't want one of the jocks sitting alongside me.

I make a mental note to congratulate her at the end of class.

But I never do.

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ADELAIDE SITS ON HER BED, LEGS CROSSED WITH HER TEXTBOOK ON HER KNEES. I rest on Addy's chair, my head on the desk as I indulge in another cup of coffee. Addy's coffee definitely isn't as good as my dad's but I have to drink this in order to stay awake.

"Okay, and what conclusion have you reached?" I ask after ten minutes of silence. My eyes dart over to my best friend who is doodling circles in the corner of the page, obviously not paying any attention to the words in the textbook or me. "Adelaide."

Addy glances over at me, chuckling like it's no big deal. "Huh?"

"What conclusion have you reached?" There's no indication of Addy replying so I sigh and recall the name of the poem we're supposed to be reading. "About the poem? Ozymandias?"

"I thought we were praying," Addy replies, and I scoff, closing my book abruptly. "What?"

I know Addy is smart, she just doesn't portray it in any way. I usually have to kick her in the shin for her to actually do something. Me and Addy are different in a few ways but our smartness levels are— in some senses— very similar but Addy has never fully applied herself in the way that I do.

I move from Addy's very uncomfortable chair to sit on the end of my bed. "I'm bored," Addy declares, closing her book.

"You asked me to help you study."

"I know I did." Addy's head falls against her pillows, a sigh leaving her mouth. "But let's be honest, Luce, I'm gonna end up writing my own magazine and making my own nail polish."

I lean forward, snatch my best friend's hand and yank her upwards. "Addy, you know I'll love your magazine and nail polish but..."

"Ah, here comes the "You can do anything" talk," Addy groans.

I roll my eyes because I've had this talk with her many times. "Listen, you can do whatever you want," I say tauntingly. "If you keep studying, you'll be able to get into Juilliard, and you'll be the most incredible dancer."

"Yeah," Addy says softly, shrugging in response. "I guess."

"That is what you want, right?"

Addy doesn't respond. Instead, she leans forward and her head hits my shoulder. "You smell nice," she whispers, and I can't help but  chuckle. "Might make my own perfume brand when I'm older. Call it Luciana."

"It'll be a beautiful smell," I say, squeezing Addy's shoulder. "I want free samples."

"Oh, of course, sweetness."

Addy can joke all she wants about owning a magazine or making a perfume, but I know that her biggest dream is to go to Juilliard and study ballet. She loves dance, she always has, and I want her to achieve her dreams at the end of the day. While Addy enjoys Patty's dance recitals, I can't dance to save my life and I quit when I was twelve. Addy works alongside Patty during town events, helping her to teach the kids whenever she gets the chance to.

I adore Addy and her dedication to dance and teach the kids at the dance school. She usually helps Patty with classes to avoid having difficult conversations with her mother. I always watch the dances she choreographs for the kids, and I'm her biggest supporter, as is my dad who has been to every single one of Addy's dance recitals since she was a kid. My dad supports Addy because Addy's mother never did as she believed Addy's dancing was simply "a phase."

Speaking of her mother, she opens Addy's door and I flinch at the ferocity. "Why is this—"

"Mom, you can't just walk in here."

Her mother's eyes fall on me and I smile awkwardly, my body shaking with fear as I can't hold a conversation with Addy's mother to save my life. "Hi, Ms. Sloane," I say, waving politely. For the past eleven years, I've never called Addy's mother by her name, and nobody dares. "Nice to see you again."

She ignores me which isn't unusual for her. "Why is Lucy here?"

"She's helping me study, Mom," Addy replies, her voice firm and frustrated.

"Well, she needs to leave."

"Why?"

"It's nine pm." To add to all the insanity of the Sloane household, Addy isn't allowed company after nine pm, meaning I now have to pack up my belongings and sulk back to my place. "You need to leave," her mother says again, her eyes moving to me as I nod affirmatively, realising I already need to be out the door.

"I'll be going." I grab my books quickly and swiftly, pulling my coat on, and chucking my bag over my shoulder while Ms. Sloane stares at me. "Goodnight, Ad..."

"Goodnight, Luce, I'll see you tomorrow."

I step past Ms. Sloane awkwardly, and move out of the room, rushing away quickly before I have to listen to Addy and her mother erupt into another argument.

Addy lives about ten minutes away from me, and sometimes I hate that Addy doesn't live seconds away because it's freezing right now. I cuddle my arms over my chest and I begin to walk down the street, passing a couple neighbourhood houses who have their lights on. I wave to a few townsfolk who smile warmly in return.

I love this town and the people within it, and because I've lived in this town my whole life, people know and love me too. This town is charming and strange, but I adore this place with my entire heart even if my father shows some resentment towards it.

I breathe a sigh of relief when I finally reach the diner, and the bell rings in my ears. "I'm back!"

Dad looks up from his notepad, scribbling down an order before he walks over to me. His arm falls around my shoulders, his lips kissing my head, and I lean against him, hugging back. "Hey, kid. I'll get you something to eat."

"I want the biggest cup of coffee," I demand, my body slumping over the counter. "Ms. Sloane kicked me out."

"Well it is nine pm."

A cup of coffee is pushed towards me. I look to my dad, a smile on my face as I say, "Ah, I love you." My dad knows how to make coffee— real coffee— while Ms. Sloane just throws some packet in water and demand I drink it.

"Has it been busy?" I ask, lifting my coffee up to my lips and humming in delight because it tastes perfect.

He shrugs. "Been quiet for the most part."

The diner usually falls quiet past eight pm with a few loners hanging about asking for slices of pie every few minutes. However, with it being quiet, I get all the food I want, and all the coffee I want. There are many benefits to having a dad who owns a diner, and getting free coffee and food is definitely the biggest benefit of them all.

For the remainder of the evening, I drink three more cups of coffee, eat my burger and fries, and I help Dad clean and close the diner before heading head up to the apartment. "Lucy, you better sleep tonight or I'll glue your eyes shut."

Another threat. "You need to stop threatening me with that," I quip, a yawn following.

I grab my pjs from my broken dresser— the dresser my dad says he'll fix but hasn't yet— and I step towards the bathroom to change.

When I change and brushes my teeth, I open the bathroom door, yawning again as I saunter off to my bed. "Night, Dad. Love you."

"Night, kid. Love you too."

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authors note:

luke & lucy :')

also i hope you all like addy, she'll forever be important trust me