Chapter 1: Green Aliens and Pink Bunnies

The ringing phone was a shrill alarm clock.

Without opening her eyes Rory felt for her pillow to block out the sound. When she didn't immediately come into contact with the soft fabric she hesitantly opened one eye a crack. She had a horrible crick in her neck and as she blearily eyed her surrounding she found herself sprawled face first over a pile of books on her desk. The phone was ringing again and she groaned as she realized that it was across the room. Staggering across the floor she grabbed the phone and collapsed onto her bed before hitting the answer button.

"What..." she croaked in a hoarse sleepy voice.

"Wake up sleepy head" she heard in a way too chipper tone from the other end.

"Mom? Why in god's name are you calling me so early, how many cups of coffee have you had anyway, I am going to have to call Luke and tell him to cut you off."

Lorelai gave a shocked gasp at this threat "Is this Rory? Surely this couldn't be Rory, my loving daughter, who has just had the gall to threaten my coffee supply. Take it back this instant or I will have to phone in a call to the FBI and tell them that I have definite proof that my daughter was abducted by aliens, quick go look in the mirror and check for little green antennae."

Rory groaned again realizing that her mother was on a caffeine induced roll this morning and there was no chance she was going to get back to sleep anytime soon, slowly she pried one eye open. She gasped in shock and bolted upright when she saw the time on her bedside clock... Damn, she must have slept through the alarm and now she only had 20 minutes to get coffee and get to class. She realized then that she was still holding the phone to her ear.

"Mom, what's up?" she said, now scrambling around her room looking for clean clothes.

"Well, ungrateful offspring who may be an alien, I was just calling to give you the most recent update on the saga of Luke meeting the elder Gilmore Duo... you will not believe the horror that he has endured this time... let me just say four little words golf at the club"

Rory grunted in reply, only half listening as she hurriedly dressed, only 15 minutes to go, she grabbed her brush and ran it through her hair, no time for a shower, clearly coffee was a higher priority that cleanliness if she intended to be awake through her poly sci class. Grabbing her purse and slamming the door behind her she was halfway across the courtyard before she realized that her mom's voice was breaking up, she looked at her hand and realized that she had walked out of her room with the cordless phone.

"Mom, I would love to hear the rest of this rant but can I have a rain check...I have lots to tell you as well, here's a little preview, safari hats, gorillas and umbrellas... right now I have to sprint or I won't have time to even get coffee and you should respect the type of tragedy that would be."

"Oh, mean ...who taught you to be so cruel, giving me a teaser like that, now I will be making up all sorts of crazy tales in my head all morning and what have I told you about sprinting...Gilmore's never sprint...anywhere, its against rule number 15 of the Gilmore Girl Code...have I taught you nothing" she relented after an exaggerated sigh "Okay hon., even I have to bow to the gods of coffee, call me after your class and spill all the dirt. Better call me soon or who knows what kind of stories I will have concocted to tell your grandmother."

She dropped the phone back onto the desk beside the door and slammed the door behind her as she raced for the coffee cart across the quad. If there was no line then she could make it to her class, just barely. She rocked impatiently from one foot to another as she waited for the person in front of her counting the seconds until the caffeine bolus hit her system. She stepped forward and ordered the largest cup of coffee they offered, gripping the hot cup in her hands to warm them as she stepped back from the kiosk with a smile for the guy behind the coffee machine. She cursed softly when she backed right into someone and came dangerously close to spilling the precious liquid; she whirled to confront the rude individual.

"Watch where you are going, you nearly made me spill my coffee and let me tell you do not want to know what the punishment is for that crime, if you value your health you do not want to be the thing standing between me and caffeine in the morning." She came face to face with the perpetrator as she finished her threatening diatribe and stopped short when she met a pair of laughing brown eyes.

"Well, good morning to you too Ace, that was a pretty good rant I must say. You made the threat entirely believable with the wild caffeine depraved look in your eyes... had me shaking in my boots."

She just gaped at him for a second but then collected her wits an narrowed her eyes at him, "Hello Huntzberger, you have just confirmed my darkest suspicions...you really are the root of all evil today."

"Who Me?" he said with exaggerated innocence.

She rolled her eyes in exasperation, she was in no mood for this playful banter, she was almost late for class and here he was lurking at the coffee booth just waiting for the opportunity to poke fun at her, BEFORE coffee, she narrowed her eyes at him and poked a finger into his chest

"Yes, you. Clearly you are the evil mastermind behind my day so far."

He quirked an eyebrow with an infuriatingly skeptical look and glancing with a smirk at the finger touching his chest he gestured with his hand for her to continue "Please, do explain...I didn't realized that I had so much control over your life, but I can't wait to hear this theory."

She knew she was acting a little crazy but that smirk really got under her skin and she couldn't stop the words from rolling off her tongue. She glared at him as she ranted "Its very simple, but I will say it in small words so even you can understand...If you hadn't made me go to that overnight thing without telling me it was an overnight thing which meant that I didn't finish my soc paper until last night and fell asleep on my desk, leaving lovely book marks on my face I might add, I'm not sure yet what you had to do with me sleeping through my alarm but I have a conspiracy theory I am working on that involves Paris, regardless, if none of that had happened I would not currently be standing here with only my first cup of coffee, which you nearly made me spill" she glanced at her watch mid-sentence and gasped "and now I am late for class." With a last poke for emphasis she whirled and dashed towards the poly sci building trying not to spill her coffee along the way.

Logan's words trailing behind her made her pause half way up the steps "Have a great day Ace, oh, and by the way, nice slippers."

She looked down in confusion and could have died of mortification when she saw the pink bunnies that adorned her feet, in her rush she must have put them on instead of her shoes. She groaned in irritation. She refused to look back at him, knowing he was getting a great laugh at her expense but she would be damned if she would let him see her embarrassment, raising her head high she stomped towards her class.

As Logan watched her stalk away, her pink bunny slippers slapping against the sidewalk, her back rod straight with annoyance he couldn't help but chuckle. The score was Huntzberger 1 Gilmore 0 but he knew their game was only beginning and anticipating their next match was half the fun. He was whistling to himself as he walked away...