Story: Wildflowers
Author: LitJJAiken
Summary: AU Literati with Trory undertones. Rory Hayden is sent to boarding school; Jess, Tristan, and others await her.
Rating: PG-13
Chapter Title: You Don't Know How It Feels
Disclaimer: I'm sick of these things. We all know no one posting fics on this site owns or is affiliated with Gilmore Girls , and that includes me. And I could never write the genius lyrics to Tom Petty's "You Don't Know How It Feels."
A/N: Okay, I've been an awful updater. Again. But I swear that will change now that school's out. I solemnly swear to have the next chapter up next week. So . . . please stick with this even though the first few chapters have come slowly.
Loz, Lauren, Katherine, Helen, and Summer -- y'all know you're the greatest by now. Joan, you're included in that list and you get your own sentence for being a great beta. And to Angeleyez as well, 'cause you're so supportive of my fics.
"People come, people go
Some grow young, some grow cold . . .
I woke up in between
A memory and a dream . . ."
A couple hours later, Rory continued to walk leisurely down the sidewalk of campus. She paused every now and then to examine a building or to watch people joking and playing around. Since it was Saturday, most of the students seemed to just be hanging out together. It was just like her old school, Chilton, except at Chilton students could go down to a restaurant or a store on a moment's whim. They weren't confined to the campus.
As she continued her walk, she stopped near a bench. On the bench was a boy whose back was the only part of him Rory could see. He had curly black hair and appeared to be of medium height. But what she noticed before she even glanced at his hair was that he held a book in his hand. She felt pulled toward the bench.
Rory walked past him indiscreetly, trying to peek at the title of the book he was reading. The Godfather .
"I love that book," she thought out loud. The boy looked up. Rory saw clearly why he would be reading The Godfather . His features strongly suggested Italian ancestry.
"You do?" he asked. His voice was smooth but sexy at the same time.
"Yeah, it's one of my favorites," she admitted. "I don't tell many people that, it seems to detract from the image of me only reading 'great literature.'"
"And what do you and the people around you consider to be great literature?"
"Oh, you know. Jane Austen. Vladimir Nabokov. Charles Dickens," Rory recited. "Your standard, overanalyzed, over-studied great literature." She moved closer to the bench. "What do you consider to be great literature?"
He asked, "Why do you assume that I even read a lot? Just because the first time you meet me I'm reading . . ."
"If you didn't love reading, why would you be sitting here reading on a beautiful Saturday afternoon? There's plenty of other things you could be doing. You could be talking to people, playing football, doing homework --"
He interrupted her. "First, I'm not exactly a social butterfly. Second, I'm most definitely not an athlete. Third, I couldn't care less about school. I'm here because my parents paid for that building you see over there to be built." He pointed across the street to a large building that Rory assumed was used for classes. No one was going in or out of it.
"Well, then I guess your only other alternative is reading," Rory said. They sat for a moment. "What's your name?"
"Jess Mariano," he answered, looking straight ahead. Yep, definitely Italian.
"Nice name," she said. She waited for him to ask her name, but he didn't. "I'm Rory Hayden. I'm new here."
"Congratulations," he muttered. He looked as though he really just wanted to sit and read, but Rory persisted. She might actually be able to connect with someone at this school. She loved to sit and talk books with people, and maybe he would be someone she could do that with. No matter how much he denied it, she could tell he was an avid reader by the way he had seemed so engrossed in his book.
"So you don't like school at all?" she asked. Jess finally turned and looked at her. It was the first time he had really looked at her. Rory saw his face transform a bit. It seemed to soften and his eyes got . . . intense. She felt her own eyes widen for a split second, and then they got normal again.
"It's just not for me. Why, you a straight-A student?" he asked, still a little gruffly. "First in your class at your old school?"
"Straight A's, yes," Rory admitted. "First in the class, no. That honor goes to Paris Geller, the most neurotic, obsessive sixteen-year-old you could ever imagine. She deserves to be number one. I work hard, but I could never imagine working that hard."
"They're just grades," Jess said. "Why do you care so much?"
"College," she answered automatically. "Do you not plan on attending?"
"Nope," he answered. "I'm only at this private school because I'm forced to be here. If it were up to me, I'd be in a public school in the heart of New York City. As soon as I turn eighteen, I'm out of here."
"Before you even graduate?" Rory asked incredulously. "Why go through all this just to bail at the last minute?"
He shrugged. "If I have the option to leave, why stay for a longer period of time just to complete something that has no meaning for me? I really don't care about school. I think I can get along without it."
"What exactly do you plan to do without a high school diploma?" Rory asked curiously.
He shrugged. "I'll be a professional reader."
She giggled. "Like an editor?"
"No, like a professional reader." He had a small smirk on his face, but other than that he looked completely serious. "What, you think I couldn't find a job in that field?"
Rory giggled. Wow. Giggled. She didn't think she had done that in months, and she surely hadn't expected to do much of it while at Burke Academy. "I don't know, I guess if you search hard enough you can find anything."
Jess smirked again. "An optimist, I see."
"No, don't get the wrong idea. I'm completely pessimistic. I was just trying to say something to make you feel better about the fact that without a high school diploma, there's not a whole lot you can do," Rory said.
He nodded. "I prefer hearing things straight up, if you don't mind."
Rory nodded as well. "I'll remember that."
He simply looked at her. She averted her eyes after a moment. There was something about him that was so intense. Rory realized it was his eyes. His eyes were boring into hers, and even though she had just met him a few minutes ago and he wasn't the most friendly person she had ever encountered, she felt as though those eyes were windows straight into his soul. They were brown pools with more depth than she had ever seen in such a small space in her life. Yet she didn't really understand what was going on in them.
"Well," she stammered. "I should probably go back. I've been gone for a couple of hours now, and I told my roommate I'd be back to go eat with her."
"Okay," Jess said. God, that voice of his.
"Um, I guess I'll see you around then," Rory said. She stood up. "It was nice talking to you."
He simply nodded. Somehow she knew that meant the feeling was mutual, and she smiled.
"Bye, then." Rory turned and began walking in the opposite direction. She heard him say the same to her.
There was something about Jess Mariano that Rory intuitively liked. She hoped she would see him around campus again. With that thought, she smiled to herself and continued back to her dorm room to meet Cassie for dinner.
