The Boy with the Backwards Watch
sequel to I Am the Tower Around Which You Orbited
Disclaimer: I own no part of Gilmore Girls, and the only characters I own are the ones I create. I must ask that you don't take my original characters. Thanks.
Chapter One: Even in the Taillight
The air was salty all around me. The hood of my car beneath my ass was still hot, despite the fact that the car was dead. Luckily for me, it had died near an ocean. Someone had once told me that the ocean air made you calmer. Now, don't get me wrong, I was already calm, but whoever had told me this - they were right.
I pulled a cigarette out of the box in my pocket and stuck it between my lips. I found my lighter after patting around and flicked it on. The orange flame danced on the tip of the metal and I let it just dance there before flicking it back off. I took the cigarette out of my mouth and rolled it between my fingers. In the not-too-far-off distance, waves crashed onto sand, pushing the smell of salt air higher up the beach. Despite this, I just sat there, on the hood of my dead car, staring at the cigarette in my hand.
"Are you going to smoke that or mind-meld with it?"
I couldn't help but smile at myself. "Depends," I said aloud, even though the other end of the conversation was a couple hundred miles away and that particular conversation had happened almost a year prior. Maybe it was the heat from underneath the dead hood, or maybe it was the warmth of ocean air calm, but I could still feel her there. I fought the urge to beat myself up and fell back on the car. I closed my eyes and wondered if maybe it had gone differently, just maybe, I could really feel her there.
The sunset on the horizon was casting long shadows, making the water sparkle and shimmer. There was a couple off in the sand, holding each other and staring at that sunset. Instinctively, I looked away. However, for all I knew, they had a phone, so I might as well take a long walk to the dots of a couple and ask. Then again, they were a couple. They were enjoying each other's company. Plus, I was on an shoulder on the highway looking over the beach. It would take me a long time to get down there. Then I wondered aloud, "Why haven't any cars passed yet?"
Soon it was dark, and the metal below me had grown cold. I could still hear the waves crashing in the distance, I could still smell that salty breeze. The air was colder, less calm. It was bitter and biting. Not that I much minded. Blazing lights shattered my darkness, and I sat up. A car was moving down the highway, and pulled over right in front of my own car. As far as I could tell, a young woman was driving. I hopped up off the hood and she stepped out of her car.
Her hair fell past her shoulders in hot pink curls, ending in black tips. She wore a black and white checkered dress and matching Vans. "Hey, you got a phone?" she called from where she stood. I shook my head, but even caught in the taillights, I wasn't sure if she saw me. She took a couple steps closer and then stopped. "You're not going to rape me or anything, right?"
"What?" I asked, appalled.
"You're not going to ra..."
"I heard you. I'm just... shocked, I guess."
"Well, my friend Melissa once told me that there was this girl who stopped to help a guy on the highway, and he raped her."
"I won't even touch you, I promise."
"Okay, good," and a wave of relief washed over her face. She stepped into the light and I could see that her eyes were bloodshot. She was high. "I'm Star," she said, sticking out her hand. "Jess," I replied, taking it. She shook with childish vigour, and started laughing lightly. "That's a girl's name."
"Yeah, I know."
"Has anyone ever called you Jessica?"
"Lots of people." We stood in silence. "What kind of name is Star?"
"My parents were hippies."
"Ah," I said, and looked down at my feet. She walked over to my car and looked it up and down. I turned around and simply stared at her back. Spinning around (and causing me to jump), she said, "Your car's dead?" I nodded. She put a look of puzzlement on her face. "How long since it died?"
"Two hours, maybe three. I don't have a phone and your's was the only car I've seen since." She pulled her purse off her shoulder and opened it. It had a snapshot from Alice in Wonderland on it, and a keychain with a black tophat. She handed me a small silver phone. "Here," she said blankly, and sat back on the hood of my car.
After calling the operator and getting the name and number of a tow company and mechanic, Star had gotten up again and was surveying my car with interest. Then, she nodded to herself as I looked on and kicked the car hard. She didn't even wince. The headlights shot on and the engine rumbled. "All better," she said, and walked back to her car.
"Thanks," I said in amazement. She drove off before I remembered that I still had her phone. I stood in silence, in a pool of light from my car, listening to the waves crash on the beach. I got into the car, put her phone in the drink holder, and made sure that it was actually working before I drove off into the night. I sighed, took one lasting look at the dark body in the distance, and moved forward.
THE END of chapter one
Short chapter, I'll admit, but my computer crashed and I lost what I had originally written. Anyway, I think I like this better, despite it being a short chapter. Be prepared for some awesome weirdness of Jess's travels. Also, remember, the first chapter of Tower was really short also.
If you're just reading this now, go read "I am the Tower Around Which You Orbited," my premier work. A lot of people seem to like it, so... yeah.
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