A/N: Dean does not exist. YAH! Anyway, this is the first night that Jess came to SH, the only difference is that Luke and Jess did not go to the dinner at the Gilmore's. See if anyone can catch the Seinfeld reference in this.
The apartment was dead silent. Not a single sound. There was no car alarm or police siren, no baby crying or music blaring from the next-door neighbor's. No screaming or fighting. No gunshots followed by a random dog bark. Nothing. He could not sleep with the silence. Not one thing in this town was normal. He felt like he was in the fiery flames of hell.
Now most people, regular people, would find this town quaint. They would look at it as awfully cute with its small town charm. Jess found it anything but cute. He had tossed and turned the whole night trying to get at least a wink of sleep, but nothing came. Back in New York, he could fall asleep anywhere. He was known for crashing in buddies' houses, falling asleep on abandoned buses, anywhere away from home. Away from his mother to be more specific, she didn't know how to handle him. The only thing she knew how to handle was break-ups, more accurately, being dumped. She really knew how to pick 'em. She didn't do the usual routine for a mother. She didn't wallow with movies and tons of junk food, she just drank. She wasn't exactly an alcoholic, she just drank a lot. And she didn't know how to handle Jess.
Nobody really did. He had a few friends, one or two close ones. Had countless girlfriends, but none of them were mentionable. He had gone to school, sometimes. When there was nothing else to do. He was smart, no doubt about it, because of all the books he read. He had covered most of the books in all of the bookstores near his house. He learned from what he read, and felt the public school system was a waste of time. He would go to a couple classes, find out what they were studying, read a book on it, go in to take the test, ace it, and so on. He had a perfect system. And he knew that system was not going to work in the lovely town of Stars Hallow.
The flimsy air mattress could barely contain his weight, and he could feel the bed preparing to pop. He decided to get into a comfortable position and then stop moving. Thoughts rushed through his head. He got out of bed and grabbed The Painted Word by Tom Wolfe and went out to find a decent place in town to sit and read. He silently closed the door and quickly walked down the steps into the deserted diner. He shoved his book into his pocket and surveyed the town from the window. There was the gazebo, but that was too dark. So he turned the knob gently and went out in search of a place to sit. He saw a bridge and decided to take that route. He grabbed a cigarette from his jacket pocket and began to play with it as he walked, his head down the whole way. As he reached the center of the bridge, he noticed another figure sitting on the bridge, engrossed in a book.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't know anyone else was out here," he spoke quietly, barely above a whisper.
She looked up in surprise. Her beauty stunned Jess; she had the most gorgeous blue eyes, and the face of an angel, so innocent. But he masked the astonishment on his face with his usual stone-cold look.
"It's okay," she said loudly.
"Whatcha reading?" he inquired, trying to see the title. She held it up, The Painted Word. Funny how things happen like that.
A slight smile tugged on his lips as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out the exact same book. She laughed, a sweet laugh that remained in the air.
"Small world, huh." The girl said.
"Yep. Jess Mariano." He introduced himself finally.
"Rory Gilmore. Or Lorelai Gilmore actually. I was named after my mom. She thought that if guys named kids after them, then girls should be able to do it too. So everyone just calls me Rory." She finished her small speech with a breath.
"Huh."
"You talk a lot don't you," Rory deadpanned.
"Almost as much as you."
She smiled a sweet smile. He sat down next to her on the bridge stuffing both of his hands in his jacket pocket to keep warm.
"So what do you think?" she asked quietly
"I don't really get modern art, but I like Tom Wolfe, so I think it is well written." He responded knowing she was talking about the book.
"Me too. My mom used to say she was going to be a modern artist because she could paint a red dot and then sell it to the MOMA."
He smiled at her words. She obviously liked to talk, and she loved her mother. She let her emotions show on her face and she loved reading. He was good at reading people.
"Why are you here?" she wondered aloud.
"Couldn't sleep," he told her, not offended by her comment.
"No, I mean in Stars Hallow. I know almost everyone, but I don't know you." She explained
"My mom sent me here from New York. To Luke. To Stars Hallow." He sounded angry and he knew it.
"Listen Jess, it's getting late and I have school tomorrow. I better go." She was being evasive; he could hear it in her voice.
She got up and made started walking away as Jess called a goodbye to her.
"Bye Jess, oh and just so you know, Stars Hallow isn't as bad you think." And then she made her way back to her house.
Maybe it isn't Jess thought.
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Rory awoke feeling tired. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand removing the sleeps that had formed under her eyes. She hit her alarm clock and remembered school. She got out of bed slowly, stretching lazily like a cat. The events of last night came flooding back into her memory. Curly brown hair, deep brown eyes, leather jacket, cigarettes, Tom Wolfe. She liked this guy, but ignored the feeling and put on her Chilton uniform. She smoothed her hair back into a ponytail and stuffed as many books she could into her bag. And then stepped outside to the smell of coffee.
"Morning Mom," Lorelai was sitting there writing on a sheet of paper.
"Whatcha writing?" she asked as she grabbed a cup of coffee.
"To do list," she said smiling up at her daughter.
"How long have I been asleep? What year is this?" Rory mocked.
"Ha. You are hilarious. I want Luke's." she said getting up from her seat. Rory followed behind her. On their way to Luke's the two argued about how she always made to do lists.
"Therefore, I am allowed to make To Do List's even if I usually don't. I am just trying to be more organized. You should be congratulating me." They entered the diner and looked around the room searching for a table. They silently agreed on the counter.
"What do you want?" Luke asked gruffly
"Why so jolly?" Lorelai asked sarcastically.
"The place is packed and Jess is still sleeping. He agreed to help, well I don't know if it was an agreement it was more of a grunt. Grunt and then back to his book. He doesn't talk much." Luke ranted.
"He's probably tired," Rory spoke after Luke finished.
"How do you know?" Lorelai inquired
"Well last night, I couldn't sleep so I went out to the bridge to read. And apparently Jess couldn't sleep either, and we were both reading the same book. So we just talked for a while. Then I left, but he stayed for I don't know how." She declared.
"Wow. Small word." She stated.
"Nope. Small town." She ate her donut quietly and then waved goodbye to Luke and her mom as she went to catch her bus.
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Rory was supposed to be taking notes. She was supposed to be listening to the lecture. She was supposed to be thinking about the Franklin. Not about Jess. His words last night kept flashing through her head.
She had never had a boyfriend. Boys had liked her. But she only knew that because they had pulled her hair and pushed her around on the playground.
He was cute, and she couldn't get his face out of her brain.
"Miss Gilmore, is there something you would like to share with us?" Mrs. Feldman asked me.
"Oh sorry, nothing." She responded nervously.
She could feel eighteen eyes on her. Paris eyes were glaring. Madeline's eyes were blank as usual. This was going to be a long day.
A/N: I guess you could call this my version of the second season, but I don't like to call it that. I'll say again that Dean does not exist. His parents decided not to have sex that evening or something like that. I LOVE REVIEWS!