Author's Note: Hey, guys, welcome to my first fanfiction for Gilmore Girls and my first story on this site in more than five years! So, after watching the show, especially seasons 2 and 3, I decided that Jess Mariano deserves better, and be warned, if you are a hardcore Literati fan, this story is not for you, as it is not very kind to Rory Gilmore. Enjoy!

Jess looked through the many tape cassettes in the classic rock aisle of his favorite record store, trying desperately to clear his mind away from what happened to him these past few months, not because of his mother's wedding, not because of his reconciliation with his uncle Luke.

Jess sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair with fatigue. He felt so stupid. He felt like such a loser after he asked his ex-girlfriend Rory to come be with him here in New York. Not even all the self help books he read would help him get Rory back. The damage was done, she rejected him and went on back to Dean, the first one, after all the dumb shit he did to her. After all, he was there with her down at the dorms at Yale.

He felt so lost, he didn't have a job, he had nobody to lean on; his Uncle Luke and his newlywed mother were both in Stars Hollow, his deadbeat of a dad was all the way in California, Rory wanted nothing to do with him. He just scrounged up some money he earned from his time at Walmart to land a crummy apartment uptown. Considering that it was summertime, his Puerto Rican neighbors would be blasting music all day and night.

Jess huffed as he decided not to get anything all together. What was the point if he wouldn't hear anything from his tape player anyway? The brassy salsa music would drown it all out. As he began to walk out of the record store, for some reason he stopped to see a girl not much older than him by the window bobbing her head, humming, and rocking out to "When I Come Around" by Green Day.

She was just as tall as he was, wore a jean jacket over her black and white striped shirt that cover her every curve, along with her tight blue jeans, and white Nikes. Some of her wavy raven hair was pulled up in a messy high ponytail while the rest was loose. Jess almost felt his prior feelings woosh out of him. After all, he was just a guy.

The girl turned to see Jess standing there. She smiled apologetically as she took off the headset.

"You were gonna use this?" the girl asked. Jess noticed a Southern twang in her voice.

"Oh, no, I was just leaving," Jess replied, gesturing to the door. "I see you're catching your life to that song, it must be pretty good."

The girl giggled a little. "It's Green Day, from their album 'Dookie' back in '94. It's old, but I'm on a Green Day kick."

Jess smiled a little. "It's a really good album, you've got good taste."

The girl smiled that same infectious smile. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, I'll leave you to it."

"Alright, see ya!"

Jess turned to see the girl continuing to rock out to Green Day. He smiled a little as he made his way to the subway to go home. He had a odd feeling. He had no idea why he couldn't stop thinking about that girl in the record store. He felt his feelings of Rory slowly dissipate from his mind.

That night, Jess was proven right about his Puerto Rican neighbors. He couldn't hear Alex Trebek give the clues on "Jeopardy" on his small TV set, due to the blasting sounds of Celia Cruz. Annoyed, Jess groaned as he got up from his makeshift bed, a mattress on the floor, to walk over to the kitchen to see what leftover takeout he can eat. He sighed to see that there were only scraps of Orange Chicken and fried rice he ordered a couple days ago.

"Guess, I'm gonna eat out today," Jess said to himself, closing the small refrigerator.

Jess gathered his belongings; his wallet, his cell phone, and a good book. He put on his most comfortable outfit, tucked his book in the back pocket of his jeans, and took off for the nearby Chinese Restaurant, where he can hear himself think.

As Jess walked towards the exit of the rundown apartment complex, he felt himself bump into a hard object.

"Oh, my God, I'm so sorry, are you okay?" a girl's voice asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm alright, no harm done," Jess replied absentmindedly, dusting himself off.

Much to his surprise, he bumped into the same girl from the record store earlier today. Their eyes locked on each other for a moment, none of them speaking one word.

Jess cocked his left eyebrow. "Fancy seeing you here."

The girl crossed his arms. "Likewise, record store boy."

Jess licked his lips as he saw her in her new outfit, a white crystal embroidered tank top and black jeans. Her dark hair was pulled back into a slick bun, with the same red lipstick on.

"So you live around here?" he asked.

"No, I'm just visiting my cousin and her family, we're celebrating her finishing nursing school."

"Oh, that explains the loud music."

The girl let out a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, my mom's side of the family goes all out."

Jess nodded and smiled knowingly. He then glanced at the CD copy of the album "London Calling" by The Clash in the girl's handbag.

"You're a Clash fan, I see," he commented.

"Oh," the girl looked down at her bag. "It's for my cousin, she wanted this album so bad, she's a big Clash fan, it's a present for her."

"Ah, okay."

A sly smile graced her soft features. "I have the vinyl copy at home."

She winked at Jess, making him smirk and nod.

"Well, I won't keep you waiting," Jess said, as he saw that it was getting dark. "Have a good party."

"Thanks, see you around!" she smiled.

"See ya." Jess waved goodbye to the girl.

As Jess walked away, he heard the girl call out to him.

"Nice book! Ernest Hemingway's great!"

Jess turned to see the girl grin, wave goodbye and make her way to her family's apartment. He turned pink at the gesture as he bit his lip. He walked out of the apartment on his way to the Chinese Restaurant.

A/N: Hope you've enjoyed!