98That afternoon after school Tristan waited at Rory's locker. He smiled as she approached him.
" Hi, Rory," Tristan moved away, so that she could put her books away.
" Hey, Tristan," Rory greeted a little shy. Tristan looked real good today. It made her blush that she thought that.
" Rory. I need to ask you something."
" Sure. Shoot," Rory said putting her books in her bag and closing her locker. She leaned on her locker and looked up at Tristan.
Tristan took a deep breath then said, " Will you go to the formal with me this Saturday?"
" Umm… sure I guess. But I'm warning you, you better not mess up. This is your only chance to go on a date with me." Rory smirked every though she was serious.
Tristan nodded happily. " You won't be sorry. The formal starts at 7:00. I'll pick you up at 6:30 since you live in Hartford. It's about a 30 minute drive from there."
Rory was about to tell him that she didn't live in Hartford but Tristan reached down and kissed her on the cheek before walking away.
Rory stood there confused. Why did Tristan think she lived in Hartford? Then it suddenly all made sense. Tristan must have assumed that she lived at her grandparents' house. That was reasonable, Rory guessed, since her party had been there.
Rory walked towards her bus stop thinking about Tristan. He had been so nice and kind lately. Did Tristan really like Rory? Part of her wanted Tristan to like her, but the other part was unsure and scared. He was sometimes annoying, but not lately. He was drop- dead gorgeous, Rory had to admit whether she liked it or not. But he thought she was rich like him, which she wasn't, not by a long shot.
Rory finally realized what she wanted have to make this work. She had an idea. It would mean breaking a few of her mother's rules, but Tristan would be worth it. Wouldn't he?
Saturday afternoon Rory left her house, telling her mom that she was going to the library, when she was really going to see her grandmother. She hated lying to her mom, she really did. But she had to in this case. She couldn't just tell her mom where she was going. Lorelai would insist that she didn't. It wasn't really fair for Rory. Just because her mother's relationships with her parents were bad it didn't mean Rory's had to be.
Rory got on a bus and rode to Hartford. Rory got dropped of close to her grandparent's house and only had to walk a little. Rory walked down the driveway and stood silently at the door. She took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.
Rory heard a noise from inside, then the door opened and a maid appeared.
" May I help you Miss?" She asked politely.
" Is Mrs. Gilmore here? I need to talk with her."
The maid nodded, " Come in. Mrs. Gilmore is in the living room." The maid ushered her inside and walked briskly to the living room.
Emily was in the living room writing something, which looked like a letter. She looked up when she heard Rory's voice.
" Rory? What are you doing here? Is everything alright?" She asked concerned. Emily nodded to the maid and she left leaving Emily and Rory alone.
" Yes Grandma, everything's alright. I was hoping we could talk."
" Of course, Rory, sit down." She motioned to the sit beside her. Rory smiled and sat down.
" First off, my mother doesn't know I'm here. I told her I was going to the library. She…she wouldn't understand me coming here for help. She'd want to help me herself. Normally that's fine, but she can't help me with this."
Emily looked at Rory confused. Rory was coming here for help instead of going to her mother? Emily nodded. " What do you need help with, Rory?"
Rory blushed. " Well, you see, Grandma. I think I like this boy, Tristan DuGrey…"
" Tristan DuGrey? But his family's rich! I thought you didn't like that type of people."
Rory looked away. " I was wrong to judge Grandma. Anyways he thinks I live here, because of the party, and he thinks I'm rich. He asked me to go to the formal at Chilton with him, and I said yes. But look at me! I can't go to a formal like this. If I told my mother about Tristan she'd flip."
Emily nodded and smiled reassuringly, then stood up. " Come upstairs. What time is Tristan picking you up at?"
Rory smiled and got up. " 6:30."
Emily looked at her watch. It was 4:30. They had exactly two hours.
" Go upstairs to my bedroom and wait there. I'm going to call my hairstylist."
Rory looked at her grandmother. " Oh Grandma. Isn't that a lot of work and money to call her? I don't want to be a nuisance."
" Rory. It's no problem, really. This is important right?"
" I think so. I mean I think I might like him." Rory blushed. Emily nodded and picked up the cordless phone. Rory walked upstairs to wait for her grandmother.
A few minutes later Emily came upstairs. " Rory. My hairstylist will be here in an hour. That leaves as plenty of time to go shopping," Emily said picking up her purse.
" Oh Grandma. You can't buy me clothes to wear as well. That's so much to ask."
" Rory, it's not to much, and you didn't ask, I'm offering. Anyways you planned to go like that?"
Rory shook her head and finally caved in. " Alright." Rory walked over to her grandmother and hugged her. " Thank you so much Grandma."
Emily was so surprised, but hugged her back. " My pleasure, Rory."
Emily and Rory went downstairs. Emily told the maid that they were leaving for a while then opened the door and walked outside. Rory followed her, and much to her surprise saw a limousine in the driveway.
Emily saw her shock and smiled. " I called before and told them I needed a limo right away."
Rory grinned and walked up to the limo. " Oh Grandma, this is so cool." Emily nodded and got inside. Rory climbed in next to her.
They drove to this fancy dress shop, about 10 minutes away and stopped at the door.
" Come on, Rory. We have to hurry." Rory followed in awe. She'd never been in such a fancy dress shop.
A half-hour later Rory had picked a perfect spaghetti strapped black dress. It looked perfect on her, so Emily insisted she paid for it. They bought it and drove back to the house.
The hairstylist was there waiting. Quickly Rory got into her dress and went upstairs so the hairstylist could fix her hair.
At 6:00 her hair was done. She had her hair up in a beautiful bun. It looked beautiful with her dress.
" Wait," Emily said walking over to her dresser and gently taking something out.
" Wear these." She showed Rory a lovely pearl necklace and matching earrings.
" Oh Grandma, there gorgeous. Are you sure?"
" Of course." Rory took them and put then on. Just then she heard the doorbell ring and the maid answering it.
" Is Rory Gilmore here?" The voice asked the maid.
" That's Tristan, Grandma. Let's go." They walked down the stairs and saw Tristan at the door.
Tristan stared at Rory. She looked absolutely gorgeous. " You look amazing, Rory," He said when Rory was standing next to him. Rory blushed. " Thanks. Bye Grandma, thanks for everything." Emily smiled as they left.
Outside yet again was a limo. Rory stopped, making Tristan turn around. " Are we driving in that?" Rory asked pointing to the limo. Tristan smiled. " Of course."
The got in and drove to the formal.