Disclaimer: Story based on Gilmore Girls show and characters.

Rory walked into her first class on the first Monday of her sophomore year at Yale, grabbed a seat a few rows back and patiently sipped her coffee. She loved the first day of school, and all the fresh starts that came along with it. New classes, new assignments at the Yale Daily News, new dorm. Well, she mused, she still had Paris as her roommate, and that was far from fresh, having had to navigate the cringe-worthy world of Paris Gellar since high school. They'd both excelled in their freshmen year, choosing to keep their heads down and focus on school and, for Rory, the newspaper. She was doing okay and hoped to stay on the same path.

When a woman Rory assumed was the teacher walked down the steps and headed towards the podium, she tuned in and listened.

"Good morning, I'm Professor Kelly, and this is Journalism 203. It's a new course, as you all know. It was envisioned as more of a free thinking and writing opportunity. The way I see it, so long as you all follow the requirements, which I'm going to cover in a moment, you will have gained another perspective on your writing and will also be happy with your grade. You're our guinea pigs. So here's how this will work - you've been assigned a partner. This person will be your partner for the entire semester. You'll sit together in this class three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and participate in the dialogue, and you'll meet up on your own - in person - twice a week for two one-hour meetings. During the out-of-class meetings, you'll discuss assigned topics and use prompts to jointly write a single submission. During the class, we'll discuss the submissions. We've built in protections to make sure you're working as partners and following the rules. There will be no other homework for this class and no tests. If we learn you are not following the rules or one of you is shirking your obligations, you'll have lost your easy A. Got it?" Seeing the nods, she continued, "I'm going to cut this short today and hand out the first assignment. You can then go to the list posted at the board in the back. You've been paired alphabetically. Take this time to meet your partner and coordinate your out-of-class meetings. Your first submission is due Wednesday. Good luck everyone."

Rory processed what she just heard. The concept of a partner made her nervous, not because she couldn't work with others, but because she didn't like putting any part of her academic future in someone else's hands. Not everyone was as into school as her, she knew it, she understood it. But it made her nervous. She stood slowly, waiting for the line to die down before walking to the board.

She stared at the board. Gilmore and Huntzberger. And sure enough, she turned to see Logan Huntzberger leaning against a nearby desk, apparently waiting for her. She'd met him at the YDN office last year. He'd written a few articles but was far from a YDN regular. It was odd - Huntzberger meant news - worldwide news. As far as she could tell, though, Logan Huntzberger had little interest in the newspaper. He was friendly enough, but more well known for his...hmmm...social endeavors. If you believed the rumors, he regularly ditched class, he regularly got drunk, and he regularly hooked up with his fellow students - lots and lots of fellow female students. With these thoughts running through her head, she gave him a small smile and re-introduced herself.

He smiled back, "I've seen you at the paper. So, I guess this sounds okay, right? Relatively little input required."

She bit her lip, already not liking what she'd heard. "Um, I guess we should figure out when we can meet each week." She pulled out her schedule and asked if he had his. They compared the two, Rory snapping a picture of his, and found a free hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the out-of-class meetings. They exchanged cell phone numbers and agreed to meet the next day.

Walking back to her dorm, Rory worried about the class. Sure, Logan had readily agreed to the meetings and less willingly agreed to meet at the library. He'd suggested the Pub, with a smirk, making her think maybe he was kidding. But she wasn't sure. They agreed on the library, and agreed to re-evaluate the location in a week or two. In this strange turn of events, she'd be spending an hour a day, every day, with Logan Huntzberger. Lord help her. And help him, if he screwed this up for her.

Rory made it through the rest of her first day without any other surprises. She'd hung out for a little bit that night at the dorm floor party, had a beer, talked to some friends from last year, and met some new people. She listened to Paris lecture (read that as yell at) people, and laughed when Marty told her he hoped to not be the naked guy again this year.

RLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLR

Logan walked across campus towards the library Tuesday afternoon. Finn and Colin had laughed their asses off when he told them where he was going. Finn, in his third year at Yale, had yet to step into a library, swearing his skin burned around so many books. And Colin only stepped foot in the library when it was time to cram. Logan flicked them off and left them sitting on the couch watching TV and drinking beer. He probably would have been right there with them had his dad not laid down the law at the end of the summer. Apparently now that he was in his junior year, he was expected to put forth some effort into his college education. He was expected to attend class, study, and become more involved in the YDN. He knew all about the expectations that came with being a Huntzberger. He'd lived with them his entire life, and had succeeded in some and failed in a whole lot more. Really though, his meeting with Mitchum had not been that awful. Logan figured he could handle school, and keep his dad off his back, and still have his life.

He thought about his journalism partner Rory. Rory Gilmore. He didn't know much about her, only that she worked on the paper and appeared quiet. She was pretty, kind of in a classic way, longish dark brown hair, bright blue eyes, maybe 5'8, skinny. He knew the Gilmores - Emily and Richard - through his family, and assumed she was somehow related to them. He figured she'd be as good a partner as anyone, and they'd get through the class without issue.

"You're late." He found her sitting at a table in the back, surrounded by textbooks. Okay, so maybe not without issue. He was ten minutes late. Maybe he should add 'slightly uptight' to his list about her. "Yeah, sorry about that."

Luckily, she waved it off, and they got started. Not surprisingly, the assignment turned out to be sort of an ice breaker with questions. Nothing too personal. They talked easily, and he found himself smiling when she rambled on about her favorite movies. They had some common ground.

They got it done, both re-read what they wrote on Rory's laptop, and hit send to submit. They smiled at each other, he mock saluted her, she saluted back, and he said he'd see her in class.

Obligations officially complete for the day, he was ready for a drink.