Lorelai, Charlotte and Rory were standing in the checkout line in Dooses' as Lorelai flipped through a crossword puzzle book.

"Urgh I hate crossword puzzles! They make me feel stupid." Lorelai groaned.

"Here's a suggestion then. Don't do them." Charlotte joked.

"Oh but if you don't do them, you're not only stupid, you're also a coward." Lorelai pointed out.

"Or you have better things to do with your time?" Rory suggested.

"Do you think people will buy that?" She asked.

"Who?" Charlotte asked.

"If you mean the people who line up on a daily basis and ask you if you do crossword puzzles and then, when you say no, challenge you as to why then yes, I think they will buy it." Rory said dryly.

"I feel like you're both mocking me." Lorelai pouted.

"That's what we're here for." Charlotte grinned.

They got to the front of the checkout line. "Hey Taylor, are you pulling double duty today?" Lorelai asked.

"Oh, I like to fill in behind the register every now and then." He said. "It keeps me in contact with the clientele. Also, it allows me to keep an eye on the 'take a penny' pot here and make sure people aren't pocketing those pennies for their own personal gain but are legitimately using them to make exact change. A certain boyfriend of one of your daughters springs to mind." Taylor said glancing at Charlotte.

"Jess doesn't steal your pennies, Taylor. Just give him a break." Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"Yes well, you can tell him to not even try it because I will be here all day." Taylor said.

"I'll be sure to give him the good news." Charlotte said sarcastically.

"Oh cool! Mom, Charlie, look!" Rory said excitedly pointing to a poster.

"Oh yeah, it's Movie in the Square night again!" Lorelai said just as excited.

"Cool! Those are always great!" Charlotte grinned.

"We'll be there." Rory told Taylor.

"Ah, excellent." Taylor smiled. "Here you are." He said giving them their things.

"What's the movie this year?" Charlotte asked.

"Oh, it's going to be something really great." Taylor said.

"Really, what?" Lorelai asked.

"A real winner." He said.

"What's it called?" Rory asked.

"Well, show up and be surprised." Taylor said.

"Why won't you tell us what the movie is?" Lorelai asked.

"Because it won't be a surprise otherwise." He said.

"Oh no..." Charlotte said.

"There's a line behind you." Taylor said.

"You chose The Yearling again, didn't you?" Charlotte groaned.

"It is a fine, wholesome motion picture. Moving story, lovely scenes of nature." Taylor defended his choice.

"Urghh you've shown The Yearling the last three years in a row!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"You know something, I'm getting a little tired of hearing you three complain about this every single year."

"I'm tired, too! Pick another movie." Lorelai said.

"A lot of hard work and careful planning go into those nights. You never help plan, you never volunteer, you have never once been a ticket ripper as long as I have been involved in that function. Personally, if you can't participate with a smile and a hug, then you shouldn't participate at all." He said imperiously.

"I shouldn't, but I am. Pick another movie." Lorelai exclaimed.

"No!" He said exasperated.

"Taylor, there's millions of great movies out there. Any one of them would be better than The Yearling for the fourth time." Charlotte said.

"Fine, you do it!" He exclaimed.

"What?" Charlotte asked confused.

"You three pick the movie." Taylor said.

"Seriously?" Lorelai asked surprised.

"I've had it. You have such strong opinions about everything, you go out and try to find a movie that everybody will enjoy. It's all yours. I relinquish my movie picking crown to you."

"He relinquished his crown." Lorelai grinned at her daughters.

"We heard." Rory said.

"I got his crown." Lorelai grinned.

"Uhh no, we got his crown." Charlotte corrected her.

"Cool, this is going to be fun! Let's go home and make popcorn and pick which movie we're going to show." Lorelai said excitedly.

"Sounds good!" Charlotte grinned and with that the three of them left the store and headed home.

********************************

The next morning, they still hadn't come up with a movie choice. Lorelai was sat on Rory's bed in Charlotte and Rory's room putting on makeup as the girls were getting ready for school.

"The Wizard of Oz?" Lorelai suggested.

"The Sting?" Rory suggested.

"Rocky!" Charlotte grinned.

"Ooh, I got it!" Lorelai exclaimed. "Arthur."

"Yes!" Charlotte and Rory exclaimed in unison.

"Or Sophie's Choice." Lorelai said.

"Very similar." Rory nodded.

"Oh man, I can't choose, there's too many great movies!" Lorelai groaned. "The burden is overwhelming. I'm sinking under the pressure. My grasp on reality is slipping. I can't do it, I can't hold on, I just can't, I just..." She exclaimed melodramatically.

"We can do it." Charlotte grinned.

Just then the phone rang.

"Will you get that?" Charlotte asked their mom.

"No." Lorelai said.

"Why not?" Rory asked confused.

"Time?" Lorelai said.

"6:45." Charlotte said.

"On?" Lorelai said.

"Wednesday..." Rory said and then she understood and rushed to the phone with Charlotte. "Hi dad!" She grinned.

"Hey dad!" Charlotte shouted down the phone as well.

"Hey kiddos, what's going on?" Chris smiled.

"Not much. Just getting ready for school and trying to think up movies." Rory told him.

"Movies for what?" He asked.

"Our town does this big movie festival outdoors every year and this year we get to pick the movie." Rory said.

"Oh yeah? How did you get that gig?" He asked.

"Mom ticked off the guy that usually does it and he quit." Charlotte grinned.

"Sounds about right." Chris chuckled.

"So how are things there? How's Sherry?" Rory asked.

"Oh...uh...nothing much is going on here. Same old, same old. Hey, listen, I've got to cut this talk short but I sent you both an email, so read it and add an extra forty minutes onto my time for next week's call, deal?" He said.

"Deal." Charlotte said.

"Hey, do you want to say hello to Mom before you go?" Rory asked.

"Oh...uh...no it's ok. I really need to run. You say hello for me." He said.

"Ok." Rory said.

"Ok, I'll talk to you both on Wednesday. Bye girls." Chris said.

"Bye Dad." Rory said.

"Bye!" Charlotte called down the phone.

"He says hello." Rory told their mom.

"He does not." Lorelai said.

"So, are you going to tell us what it is you two are fighting about?" Charlotte asked.

"I'm not fighting." Lorelai said stubbornly.

"Ok, are you going to tell us what it is you're not fighting about that keeps you from talking to each other ever again?" Charlotte smirked.

"What about Desperately Seeking Susan?" Lorelai said changing the subject.

"What about, our mother is two?" Rory said rolling her eyes.

"Never saw it. Angie Dickinson?" She said.

"You're impossible." Charlotte said shaking her head.

"You're right. You're Impossible was the one with Angie Dickinson." Lorelai grinned.

"Fine, forget it." Charlotte sighed. "Stay in a fight. We're late for school. We'll finish the list later."

"After school, Luke's?" Lorelai suggested.

"We'll be there." Rory said.

"Bye sweets." Lorelai smiled.

"Bye mom." Rory said.

"See ya later!" Charlotte said grabbing her bag and then following her sister out of the room.

********************************

The following day, Lorelai was sat at the kitchen table going through the huge book of movie titles that Taylor had given them as Charlotte and Rory walked in from school.

"Marshmallow?" She offered them.

"Thank you." Rory said taking one and then giving one to Charlotte as well.

"Ok, so I have now finished going through every single one of these movies. I've read them, reviewed them and I'm proud to announce that I have chosen our movie. How does The Yearling sound to you?" She grinned.

"Perfect." Rory nodded.

"Taylor will be happy." Charlotte smirked.

"And buh-bye!" Lorelai exclaimed closing the book with an almighty bang just as there was a knock on the door. "You guys expecting anyone?" She asked.

"Nope." Rory said.

"No. But tell them hey from us." Charlotte smiled following Rory into their bedroom and then closing the door.

Lorelai went to answer the door and found Luke standing on the porch with a box. "Oh hey!" She said surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh...well...I made some brownies. I thought you might like some." He said holding up the box.

"Oh, well thanks!" Lorelai said. "Since I just ate half a bag of marshmallows, six Pop Tarts, four bagel dogs and a really stale Cheese Nip, I guess it's brownie time!" She grinned. "Hey, question?"

"Yeah?" Luke said.

"Well, you probably have a diner full of people who would love these brownies. Plus I bet they would pay for them..."

"Oh, well, I accidentally dropped triple the amount of cocoa powder in the batter so I either had to dump the batch or find someone with some sort of superhuman chocolate tolerance. Only one name came to mind. Or three at that." He smirked.

"God, I love being special." Lorelai grinned. She saw him looking round. "What?" She asked.

"Oh nothing. I just...hey, Charlotte isn't here by any chance, is she?" He asked.

"Yeah, her and Rory just got back from school. They're in their room." Lorelai said.

"Do you mind if I talk to her for a sec?" Luke asked.

"Oh..uh...sure, go right ahead." Lorelai said slightly confused.

"Thanks." He said going to knock on the door. "Hey, it's Luke. Can I come in for a minute?" He called through the door.

Charlotte opened it and smiled. "Hey, what's up?"

"Not much. Can I...uh...?" He said gesturing to inside the room.

"Oh sure, come on in." Charlotte said, giving her mom a look but only got a shrug in return.

"Sorry Rory. I just wanted to speak to Charlotte for a minute." Luke said.

"It's ok." Rory smiled at him.

"I didn't want to interrupt either of your studying." He said.

"It's cool. What's up?" Charlotte asked sitting down on her bed while Rory got on with her studying.

"Ok, look, I wanted to ask you a favour." Luke sighed. "I was sort of wondering if you could tutor Jess."

"What?" Charlotte asked surprised.

"He's not doing too well in school. The principal said he's not going to let him move on unless something changes. I was wondering if you could help." Luke sighed.

"But that doesn't make any sense." Charlotte frowned. "He's smart enough to pass any subject."

"I don't think it's his lack of smarts, more like his lack of proximity to the actual classes that's the problem." Luke said.

"Ah." Charlotte said understanding. "But why me? Rory's way smarter than me."

"Don't put yourself down." Rory said. "We're interested in different subjects. That doesn't mean one of us is smarter than the other."

"I know it's a big ask but I feel like Jess would listen to you seeing as you're dating and stuff..." Luke said awkwardly. He sighed. "I'm just out of options. He certainly won't listen to me."

"Ok sure, why not?" Charlotte smiled. At least she'd get to spend more time with Jess.

"Look, I don't expect you to work miracles and it doesn't have to be a full time everyday thing. If you could just get him through a couple of his next tests, maybe make the school see that he can do it, that would probably help out a lot." Luke said.

"Sure." Charlotte nodded.

"Great! Thank you." Luke said gratefully. "So tonight?" He asked.

"Tonight." Charlotte smiled.

"I really appreciate this." He smiled gratefully. "Ok well I'll let you get back to your studying. See you guys tonight."

"Se ya Luke!" Charlotte smiled.

"Bye." Rory smiled.

Rory shut their bedroom door and turned to Charlotte. "Did you know Jess was having problems at school?" She asked.

"He never said anything about it to me." Charlotte said.

"Do you think this is such a good idea?" Rory asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You tutoring Jess."

"I thought you told me to do it?" Charlotte frowned confused.

"No I told you that you could do." Rory clarified. "Won't you two just get distracted?"

"Nope." Charlotte said.

"No?"

"I plan to have a full schedule of the subjects he needs to revise and when we'll do it." She grinned.

"Poor Jess." Rory smirked.

"Well I'm his teacher now. I need to take this seriously. Any other questions?" She smirked.

"Nope. I think you're the right person for the job." Rory laughed.

********************************

"Well, at least now we have something fun to do tonight." Lorelai smirked at Rory after Kirk had just walked away having given them a copy of his movie.

"You're not watching that without me!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"Fine, we'll wait." Lorelai smirked. "So, are you and Jess staying here to study?" She asked.

"Yep." Charlotte nodded.

"Cool..." Lorelai said.

"Yep."

"So you'll be here when Luke closes?" Lorelai asked.

"I'll bring back some doughnuts." Charlotte smirked.

"You are my favourite daughter!" Lorelai grinned.

"Hey!" Rory said indignantly.

"I didn't mean it like that...I...uh..." Lorelai tried to backtrack.

"Yeah good luck with that one mom!" Charlotte laughed.

"See you later sweets!" Lorelai said. "Come on. We'll get some junk food." She said to Rory, getting up.

"You can't buy my love, you know." Rory pouted following her mom out.

"I know. But it's a start!" She joked.

Charlotte shook her head amused, watching them leave the diner. She turned round when she heard a familiar voice.

"Hey Teach." Jess smirked.

"Hey." Charlotte grinned. "And it's Miss Gilmore to you."

"Sorry ma'am." He said dryly.

"That's better." She grinned. "So, are you ready to start?" She asked.

"Yes, I am." He said sitting down at her table.

"Where are your books?" She asked.

"Huh. Guess they've disappeared." He said looking round in mock concern.

"How are we going to study without your books?" Charlotte shook her head at his antics.

"I guess we can't. Too bad." Jess said. "So, what now? Movie?" He smirked.

"Nope. Nice try though." She smirked. "Luke asked me to tutor you and that's what I'm going to do so get your books."

"The cat ate them." Jess tried.

"Get your books or I'm going home and you won't get anything special at the end of your tutoring session." She said her eyes twinkling.

"Fine, wait there." He said, going to leave but before he headed to the stairs he turned back around. "Watch this." He said.

"What are you doing?" Charlotte asked.

Jess took a tea towel and started doing an illusion with it, ending up with an apple in his hand which he offered to her. "What do you think?" He asked.

"I think you're stalling." Charlotte smirked. "But it was a pretty good trick. Now go get your books!"

"Yes ma'am." He smirked.

Charlotte and Jess were sat at that same table later in the evening. Charlotte was going through a book as Jess played with a deck of cards.

"Ok so explain to me the political ramifications of the Marshall Plan." Charlotte said.

"Pick a card." He said holding them out to her.

Charlotte gave him a look and took the deck and threw them on the floor.

"Huh, well, that just made the trick a little bit harder." Jess smirked.

"Jess, focus!" Charlotte laughed. "We're meant to be studying."

"Yeah meant to be." Jess nodded.

"Why won't you at least try to remember the Marshall Plan?" She asked.

"Have you ever read "Please Kill Me"?" He asked.

"No."

"Huh, oral history of the punk movement. I think you'd like it. You can borrow it if you want." Jess said.

"Jess!" Charlotte sighed. "Look, Luke asked me to help you study. Now, if you don't want to do it then there's no point me being here and I'll just go home. But if I'm staying, then can you please at least try and pay attention?"

"Ok." Jess said. "Sorry."

"Good. Thank you." Charlotte said looking back at the book. She glanced up. "And yes, I would like to borrow it, thank you very much. Now open your book." She said with a slight smirk.

"Anything you say Teach." He smirked, finally opening one of his books.

A bit later, Jess finished writing something on a notepad handing it to Charlotte. "Done." He said.

"This isn't Shakespeare." Charlotte said.

"Huh. It's not?" He asked innocently.

"Did you seriously just spend the last half an hour writing the words to a Clash song?" Charlotte raised her eyebrows at him.

"Ah, but which Clash song?" Jess said.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not the one who's meant to being tested right now." She said but started reading the lyrics.

"Ten seconds." He smirked.

"Jess!"

"Nine, eight, seven..." He counted down.

"Stop it."

"Six, five, four..."

"You're not helping!"

"Three..."

"We're meant to be stud...ooh, Guns of Brixton!" She exclaimed, grinning triumphantly.

"A plus. Well done." Jess smiled.

"Ok why did you even agree to this studying thing in the first place? It's obvious you're not interested in it at all." Charlotte said.

"Because Luke said I had to." Jess said.

"You've never done anything because someone said you had to before." Charlotte pointed out.

"I moved here because someone said I had to." Jess pointed out.

"Very different." Charlotte said.

"Also, I agreed because it would mean spending time with you." Jess said. "Thought it would be nice. I didn't realise it would be such a chore for you." He said dryly.

Charlotte's expression softened. "It's not a chore."

"Could have fooled me."

"I agreed because I wanted to spend time with you as well but Luke asked me a favour. And I don't want to let him down." Charlotte sighed. "You know I love spending time with you." She said softly.

"Yeah I know." He replied. "Hey, do you want to get out of here?" He suddenly asked.

"What? Seriously, do you have the attention span of a five year old?" She laughed.

"I'm sick of studying." He smirked.

"How can you be sick of studying? You haven't done any studying!" She laughed. "You've done card tricks, you've made coffee, you've tried to explain to me how on earth Coldplay could be considered an alternative band, but as of yet, no studying."

"You've got a car right?" He said.

"Yes." Charlotte answered.

"Ok, tell you what. Let's go get some ice cream, and then when we get back, I'll study." Jess compromised.

"This is a diner, there's ice cream here." Charlotte pointed out.

"Yes but we don't have any cones." Jess replied.

"Cones?"

"I need cones." He said.

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Ok fine! So if we go get ice cream..." She said.

"In cones." Jess added.

"Then you will be a perfect student for the rest of the night?" She asked.

"That's right. I'll even learn some Shakespeare for you so Luke will see that you did tutor me." Jess smirked.