Rory tells Richard and Emily that she’s going to Yale. They don’t react at first, but after Lorelai assures them that she’s totally fine with it, they jump up from the dinner table to call all their friends. Jess tells Rory that Yale is only 22.8 miles from Stars Hollow, and she’s really touched that he took the time to look it up.

Tobin the night manager comes to a meeting at the inn to talk about what they’re going to do with the place. Michel hates him. Tobin gives Lorelai a present because he knows her birthday is coming up. It’s just a candle, but Lorelai loves it. A few days later, Michel comes to the inn with his own present for Lorelai. Michel is feeling pretty good about himself until Tobin gives Lorelai her real present, some dead guy’s jacket (Joe Strummer from The Clash).

Luke watches Jess go to school one morning. As soon as he gets near the door, he cuts around the side of the school, gets in his car and drives away. Luke tries to talk to Jess that night, but Jess insists he has everything under control. Luke has lunch with Nicole and her parents the next day, and he loses it when they ask him if he might ever want children. The next morning, Jess leaves to go to school and freaks out because his car is gone. Luke tells him to just go to school and he’ll take care of finding the car. When Jess is gone, Luke smiles smugly.

Paris calls Rory and asks if there’s any more homework for her to do. She wants to keep her mind off things, but Rory says she’s done all the work she’s missed. Rory tells her to go out and do something, and Paris shows up at school the next day with her nose bandaged. She got it pierced after getting off the phone with Rory, and she was apparently allergic to the metal and her nose swelled up and she had to go to the emergency room.

Richard’s secretary calls Lorelai to arrange a lunch. At lunch, Richard tells Lorelai that on the day she was born, he went out and made a real estate investment in her name. That property has been sold and all the investors get a check. Richard gives Lorelai a check for $75,000. At Friday night dinner, Lorelai gives the money to Emily to repay her and Richard for Chilton. Emily is angry because she thinks it means Lorelai and Rory won’t be coming over anymore. Lorelai mentions that Richard gave her the money, and he gets upset because he didn’t want Emily to know about it. Everyone starts yelling at each other and the Girls leave. When they get back to Stars Hollow, Rory kind of yells at Lorelai for giving Emily the money that way. Lorelai is pissed. She borrowed money and she paid it back. Rory understands and apologizes. The Girls go to Lorelai’s birthday party.

Emily: I saw an open can of cream of mushroom soup. Nothing good can come of that.

Also in this episode: For Lorelai’s birthday, Rory gets the pizza parlor to make a huge pizza.

Other notes: I hate Bruce McCulloch (Tobin).

• Original Air Date: April 22, 2003
• Where Kirk Works: Kirk works at the pizza parlor and gets cheese burns all over him during a trial run of the big pizza.

Categories: Season 3
Tags: College, Jess, Lorelai-Emily fight, Luke-Nicole, Paris

Posted on February 22, 2010