"Jess, I want you to help in the diner this afternoon", said Luke as
Jess started up the stairs to their apartment.
"But you have that boy! You don't need my help. Just get him to work longer hours!" Jess shouted as he dashed up the stairs.
"Jess, get down here now!" Luke screamed with rage building up inside him.
"What Uncle Luke?"
"Jess, you want to live here and see Rory, you are expected to do your part. You don't, I send you back to New York and I tell Rory's mom the truth about how much time you've been spending together. Got it?" Luke threatened.
"Wow! Fine but I still don't know why you need me".
"You could be some help rather than getting yourself in trouble. Why don't you show Tristan around town, I think he's new here? He seems like a nice guy, why don't you get to know him?" said Luke, trying to prevent Jess from making the same mistakes he did.
He remembered when he was in high school how he had been friendless and alone. He barely knew anyone his age because he would have to go home and work at the store. The only customers were people his dad's age but occasionally some boy his age would drop by on an errand and he would try to talk to them but by the next day at school, they didn't remember him. That was the way he had floated through school.
That afternoon when Jess was working, he didn't see the new boy, Tristan. While clearing off tables, he noticed Rory and Tristan walking in together. From across the room, it looked like Tristan was flirting with her. He knew he should probably go over and see how she was feeling but if he was going to let her be, he wasn't going to break it now. If this boy Tristan wanted her, Jess was going to let him for the time being. He was sick and tired of fighting for her attention and trying to keep her away from the other boys who wanted her too. He had driven away Dean but it took a long time and he didn't want to hurt this boy too though he did look extremely preppy and dumb but if Rory wanted that, she could have it.
Jess was paying so much attention to Tristan and Rory that he dropped all the plates he was carrying. He saw everyone look at him. He glanced up at Rory looking at him and he could see the pain she felt just being around him. It hurt him too but he had hurt her enough and he couldn't stand to give her any more pain. He rushed to clean everything before Luke came out of the kitchen.
Jess glanced up just as Tristan reached to grab Rory's hand. He sees her say something and Tristan lets go of her hand. She must still have feelings for me, Jess thinks. He smiles and goes back to his work.
Going into the kitchen, Jess finds Luke sitting there trying to fix the coffee machine.
"Luke, let me do it. I know how to. I've fixed it before", says Jess.
Luke gets up and leaves while Jess sits down to fix it. When Jess is reassembling it after fixing it, Luke pops his head in.
"Jess, some girl is here. She says she knows you from New York City and is an ex-girlfriend of yours. I'll finish that while you go figure out who she is".
Jess walks out to find Laura, an old friend sitting at one of the tables near Rory and Tristan. While walking over to her, he tries to figure out what to say. They hadn't seen each other since they broke up a month before Jess was sent to live with Luke here.
"Jess! I was hoping you'd be here! Your mom told me you had moved here to live with your uncle. I needed to get away from New York City and my parents so I decided to come visit you. You want to show me around town?", asked Laura.
"Um, I have to work now. Hang around and my shift will be over in twenty minutes", said Jess.
"Jess is following orders from someone else?! Wow!", said a surprised Laura.
Rory glanced over at Laura and Jess, barely listening to Tristan's babble about the teachers and subjects at military school. She couldn't help but feel jealous. Why was Jess ignoring her today? she wondered.
"Mary, are you listening?" Tristan asked, finally noticing that Rory's eyes were fixed on Jess.
"Yeah. You were talking about math class and how you hate your teacher", said Rory, still glancing over at Jess and that girl.
"That was five minutes ago, Mary".
"Stop calling me Mary!" yelled Rory as she stood up.
Tristan watched her walk out. 'Great job, Tristan. You really screwed things up this time. She likes Jess, deal with it' said Tristan muttering to himself under his breath.
He wanted to go chase after her but didn't dare. He would only get himself into more trouble. After all this time without her, he would fight for her. He wished this Jess was nobody to her but he could see that he wasn't. He'd just have to make Rory fall for him and forget Jess. He sat still sipping his coffee, planning how to get Rory to fall for him. He only had another month before he had to go back to school. He was going to win her over, no matter what.
Note: Please review! I won't be able to write much more over the next two weeks but I will try. Thank you for reviewing and reading!
"But you have that boy! You don't need my help. Just get him to work longer hours!" Jess shouted as he dashed up the stairs.
"Jess, get down here now!" Luke screamed with rage building up inside him.
"What Uncle Luke?"
"Jess, you want to live here and see Rory, you are expected to do your part. You don't, I send you back to New York and I tell Rory's mom the truth about how much time you've been spending together. Got it?" Luke threatened.
"Wow! Fine but I still don't know why you need me".
"You could be some help rather than getting yourself in trouble. Why don't you show Tristan around town, I think he's new here? He seems like a nice guy, why don't you get to know him?" said Luke, trying to prevent Jess from making the same mistakes he did.
He remembered when he was in high school how he had been friendless and alone. He barely knew anyone his age because he would have to go home and work at the store. The only customers were people his dad's age but occasionally some boy his age would drop by on an errand and he would try to talk to them but by the next day at school, they didn't remember him. That was the way he had floated through school.
That afternoon when Jess was working, he didn't see the new boy, Tristan. While clearing off tables, he noticed Rory and Tristan walking in together. From across the room, it looked like Tristan was flirting with her. He knew he should probably go over and see how she was feeling but if he was going to let her be, he wasn't going to break it now. If this boy Tristan wanted her, Jess was going to let him for the time being. He was sick and tired of fighting for her attention and trying to keep her away from the other boys who wanted her too. He had driven away Dean but it took a long time and he didn't want to hurt this boy too though he did look extremely preppy and dumb but if Rory wanted that, she could have it.
Jess was paying so much attention to Tristan and Rory that he dropped all the plates he was carrying. He saw everyone look at him. He glanced up at Rory looking at him and he could see the pain she felt just being around him. It hurt him too but he had hurt her enough and he couldn't stand to give her any more pain. He rushed to clean everything before Luke came out of the kitchen.
Jess glanced up just as Tristan reached to grab Rory's hand. He sees her say something and Tristan lets go of her hand. She must still have feelings for me, Jess thinks. He smiles and goes back to his work.
Going into the kitchen, Jess finds Luke sitting there trying to fix the coffee machine.
"Luke, let me do it. I know how to. I've fixed it before", says Jess.
Luke gets up and leaves while Jess sits down to fix it. When Jess is reassembling it after fixing it, Luke pops his head in.
"Jess, some girl is here. She says she knows you from New York City and is an ex-girlfriend of yours. I'll finish that while you go figure out who she is".
Jess walks out to find Laura, an old friend sitting at one of the tables near Rory and Tristan. While walking over to her, he tries to figure out what to say. They hadn't seen each other since they broke up a month before Jess was sent to live with Luke here.
"Jess! I was hoping you'd be here! Your mom told me you had moved here to live with your uncle. I needed to get away from New York City and my parents so I decided to come visit you. You want to show me around town?", asked Laura.
"Um, I have to work now. Hang around and my shift will be over in twenty minutes", said Jess.
"Jess is following orders from someone else?! Wow!", said a surprised Laura.
Rory glanced over at Laura and Jess, barely listening to Tristan's babble about the teachers and subjects at military school. She couldn't help but feel jealous. Why was Jess ignoring her today? she wondered.
"Mary, are you listening?" Tristan asked, finally noticing that Rory's eyes were fixed on Jess.
"Yeah. You were talking about math class and how you hate your teacher", said Rory, still glancing over at Jess and that girl.
"That was five minutes ago, Mary".
"Stop calling me Mary!" yelled Rory as she stood up.
Tristan watched her walk out. 'Great job, Tristan. You really screwed things up this time. She likes Jess, deal with it' said Tristan muttering to himself under his breath.
He wanted to go chase after her but didn't dare. He would only get himself into more trouble. After all this time without her, he would fight for her. He wished this Jess was nobody to her but he could see that he wasn't. He'd just have to make Rory fall for him and forget Jess. He sat still sipping his coffee, planning how to get Rory to fall for him. He only had another month before he had to go back to school. He was going to win her over, no matter what.
Note: Please review! I won't be able to write much more over the next two weeks but I will try. Thank you for reviewing and reading!