Title: NY State of Mind
Author: Doublemint Mystique
Rating: PG
Summary: AU. 16-year-old city girl Rory meets private-schooler Jess when she's forced to move to Stars Hollow.
Pairing: R/J
Comments: celticrockstar@bolt.com
Disclaimer: I own the story, nothing else.
Chapter Two
The bell rang, and the two girls instinctively bolted to the door. It had been five days, and the moving company still hadn't come with their stuff. Even though they had gone to Hartford to buy some clothes, they were still anxious to put on their own, worn-in-just-the-right-spot jeans and shoes.
Lorelai opened the door, and saw two large trucks parked in the driveway. "It's here!" she squealed.
"Hello, uh..." Lorelai started speaking to the burly man in front of her, and then paused, searching for a name tag of some sort.
"Chet," he contributed, and handed her a clipboard. "Now, if you'll just sign here," he said, pointing to the bottom of the first page.
"Ok, Chet," Lorelai wrote out her signature with a flourish. As an afterthought, she said, "What exactly did I just sign?"
"Just a piece of paper stating that you received your belongings," he replied, taking the clipboard back.
"And what about the mix-up--" she began, and he cut her off.
"You know, they just tell us where to go, and we go..." he said, looking for a scapegoat. "But you haven't been charged for the extra mileage".
"I was told we wouldn't have to pay for..." she protested, and then shook her head. "You know what? Don't worry about it. Just start bringing in those boxes!"
"Yes, ma'am," Chet answered, and then gave a whistle. On cue, three other men emerged from the trucks, and began to transport each box into the foyer.
********
A while later, all of the furniture and cartons had been unloaded from the trucks, and Lorelai and Rory were left with piles and piles of cardboard surrounding them.
"Where do we start?" Rory asked, looking around at the heaps of brown cubes.
"Uh, scissors, scissors," Lorelai repeated as she romped through the house.
"You mean these things?" Rory yelled out to the air as she pulled them from a drawer.
"Those must be them," Lorelai said when she returned, and held out her palm.
"Uh-uh. You can't be trusted with sharp objects when there are shoes involved. I'll handle all things pointy, OK?"
"Fine," Lorelai answered. "Just hurry up! Open this box first," she continued, pointing her perfectly manicured finger in the direction of a box that had "Lorelai's Shoes: Black, Red and Brown".
"OK, OK," Rory muttered, as she opened the scissors and cut open the packing tape. Lorelai ripped open the box to find her favorite black pumps sitting right on top of the pile. Grabbing them, she kicked off her brand new fuzzy slippers and put the shoes on.
"Oh, they're so *beautiful*," she exclaimed, staring at the shoes in admiration.
"Uh, ok," Rory said, and moved toward the next box. "My turn," she split the brown packaging on the "Rory's Books: Author's A-J" carton.
For the remainder of the afternoon, and into the evening, box after box was opened and half unpacked. Books and clothes were strewn across their expansive living room, and anything feathery you could possibly think of was hanging over the cardboard edges.
"Well, now that we've gotten that settled, it's time to think about--" Lorelai started.
"Don't even say it," Rory intervened at the same time that Lorelai finished her sentence with the word "school".
"Oh, come on Ror, the new school year starts in nine days. I've already registered you in Stars Hollow High".
"Stars Hollow High? How original," Rory snickered.
"How about we'll talk about school later. For now, I want to go change and then grab a bite to eat. We're running low on food in the fridge," Lorelai said.
"'We're running low on food'...something I never thought I'd hear you say," Rory shot back, smiling.
"Yes, well, our dear friend Sookie--"
"Don't you mean Sookie!" Rory said the final word with emphasis.
Lorelai laughed, "Yes, Sookie! did a good job of filling our kitchen, but all good things must come to an end."
********
Forty-five minutes later, both girls had emerged from their bedrooms, completely revamped from head to toe. Lorelai's hair had been curled, and she adorned a crimson suede skirt and a city-sophisticate black top. Rory, on the other hand, had taken the slightly more casual route. A messy ponytail sat atop her head, a summery tank top and studded jeans completed the look.
"You wearing that to a dinner in this town? Where are we going?" Rory asked her mom.
"What, too much?" Lorelai answered, making her way into the kitchen and pulling a phone book from one of the drawers.
"Look under 'Chinese food'," Lorelai said as she settled back into her chair and tossed the yellow book in Rory's direction.
Rory scanned a few pages, and came to the section. "Here we go," she said. "The first one listed here is Al's Pancake World."
"Al's Pancake World? No, I said Chinese food. You know, rice, chopsticks, cute little white cartons?"
"Yeah, here it says that Al's has "The Best Egg Fu Yung in Stars Hollow". Wow, I'll bet they cater to a full house every night with that kind of slogan." Rory said sarcastically.
"Uh, I don't like the idea of eating sweet-n-sour chicken in a restaurant that houses a waffle maker..." Lorelai trailed off.
Rory looked over the rest of the page, "That's the only place that serves Chinese food in Stars Hollow."
"Ok, well, then Al's it is."
********
The pair was walking through the main part of town some time later. They were going home after a meal at Al's (which, in case anyone wants to know, really does have the best egg fu yung), and they passed a cute little place smack dab in the center of Stars Hollow.
"Luke's Diner. Good Food." Lorelai said, reading the words posted in yellow on the diner's window.
"Oh, I'm so proud. Look at you, reading words with more than one syllable," Rory responded. "Let's check it out."
"But we just ate."
"Lorelai Gilmore, refusing food? Are you sick? Tired?"
"Hungry," the elder answered, and made her way to the door.
They walked in, and a homey little jingle announced their entrance. The diner was small but well kept, and they found a seat in the corner.
A scruffy man wearing a backwards baseball cap walked over with two shiny menus.
"Wow, Stars Hollow has it's own fashion plate," Lorelai commented on his faded red flannel shirt.
"You're new here," was his reply.
"You're observant too," Lorelai answered. "How'd you know?"
"Just a guess," he said. "I'm Luke Danes".
"Luke? As in, the Luke of Luke's Diner?" Rory asked.
"The one and only."
"Wow, you're practically royalty in this town, aren't you?" Lorelai teased.
"Heh. Far from it. Anyone looked down upon in Taylor's Doosey's eyes isn't anything higher than a lowly servant."
"Taylor..."
"Doosey," Luke finished the sentence. "You'll find out who he is within no time. No, I'm just the town's coffee supplier."
"Coffee supplier? Wow, that's *better* than royalty." Lorelai said.
"Can we have some?" Rory asked, perusing over the rest of the menu. "And a double cheeseburger."
"Two double cheeseburgers," Lorelai contributed.
"Do you want the coffee small, medium--"
"Venti size, if possible." Lorelai interrupted.
"Oh, we have some cultured coffee drinkers here, eh? How about an extra large?"
"Extra large would be fine, thank you."
"Ok, two extra large coffees and double cheeseburgers." Luke wrote the order down on his pad, and walked away.
********
Several minutes later, a young boy approached the table with their order. He looked about Rory's age, and when he saw who he was serving, he greeted them with a large smile.
"Two coffees," he said, putting the large mugs on the table, "and two cheeseburgers."
"Thank you," Rory said, giving the teenager a long look. Looking a little embarrassed, he walked away from the two girls.
"I hope all the guys in Stars Hollow look like that," she said to her mother. "This hick town might not be so bad after all."
"Maybe not..." Lorelai said, fixing her stare on Luke Danes, who was busy arguing with a skinny man demanding that his peanut butter and jelly sandwich be cut into triangles.
********
After an hour or so, the girls had filled themselves to the brim with coffee refills, and were ready to head back to the mansion they called their home.
The boy came over the Gilmore's table, and asked, "Another refill?"
"Uh, no, but thanks anyway...um..." Lorelai began.
"My name's Jess," he filled in for her.
"Jess. Cool." Rory said, testing the name on her tongue. She liked it.
Jess turned slightly pink at the tips of his ears. "Thanks," he said, and made a boldly un-Jess move in continuing with "And you would be..."
"Rory, and this is my mom, Lorelai." she said.
Jess returned the compliments, and then, left without words, started to turn and leave the table.
"Wait!" Rory said, not letting him get a chance to run away too fast. "I've been looking for someone to show me around the town. You know, sort of a 'personal tour guide'. Would you be willing to take the job?"
"Sure," Jess said, trying to be as nonchalant about it as possible. "When?"
"Right now?" Rory asked.
"Uh, yeah, I guess," he smiled at her, and she smiled back. "Uncle Luke!"
Luke looked up from the cash register and raised his eyebrows in acknowledgment.
"I'm gonna show Rory around Stars Hollow, ok?" After receiving a nod, he turned towards Rory. "Let's go," he said, heading towards the door.
"See ya later," she said to her mom, who nodded as well.
Lorelai stood up, pulled some bills from her purse, and walked to the counter. Placing the money on the counter, she looked up, and her eyes met with Luke's.
"Thanks, coffee boy," she said to him, winking.
"No problem..." he started, and when he realized she never offered her name, he finished with "mystery woman".
"Lorelai," she spoke up, prolonging the conversation.
"Huh?" Luke answered, confused at the three syllables she'd offered him.
"Lorelai, that's my name."
"Oh, sorry 'bout that. It's pretty," he complimented, obviously embarrassed.
"Thanks," she said, and started walking away. After a few steps, she made an about face, and said, "I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of each other, Luke Danes."
With that, she left the diner, leaving Luke to goggle at her departing silhouette in the shadows of the dimming sun.
A/N: Thanks to all of you who reviewed my first chapter. I listened to some of your suggestions, and hopefully I addressed them to your liking. Next chapter will go a little more into Jess, his personality, and how he ends up with Luke.
Author: Doublemint Mystique
Rating: PG
Summary: AU. 16-year-old city girl Rory meets private-schooler Jess when she's forced to move to Stars Hollow.
Pairing: R/J
Comments: celticrockstar@bolt.com
Disclaimer: I own the story, nothing else.
Chapter Two
The bell rang, and the two girls instinctively bolted to the door. It had been five days, and the moving company still hadn't come with their stuff. Even though they had gone to Hartford to buy some clothes, they were still anxious to put on their own, worn-in-just-the-right-spot jeans and shoes.
Lorelai opened the door, and saw two large trucks parked in the driveway. "It's here!" she squealed.
"Hello, uh..." Lorelai started speaking to the burly man in front of her, and then paused, searching for a name tag of some sort.
"Chet," he contributed, and handed her a clipboard. "Now, if you'll just sign here," he said, pointing to the bottom of the first page.
"Ok, Chet," Lorelai wrote out her signature with a flourish. As an afterthought, she said, "What exactly did I just sign?"
"Just a piece of paper stating that you received your belongings," he replied, taking the clipboard back.
"And what about the mix-up--" she began, and he cut her off.
"You know, they just tell us where to go, and we go..." he said, looking for a scapegoat. "But you haven't been charged for the extra mileage".
"I was told we wouldn't have to pay for..." she protested, and then shook her head. "You know what? Don't worry about it. Just start bringing in those boxes!"
"Yes, ma'am," Chet answered, and then gave a whistle. On cue, three other men emerged from the trucks, and began to transport each box into the foyer.
********
A while later, all of the furniture and cartons had been unloaded from the trucks, and Lorelai and Rory were left with piles and piles of cardboard surrounding them.
"Where do we start?" Rory asked, looking around at the heaps of brown cubes.
"Uh, scissors, scissors," Lorelai repeated as she romped through the house.
"You mean these things?" Rory yelled out to the air as she pulled them from a drawer.
"Those must be them," Lorelai said when she returned, and held out her palm.
"Uh-uh. You can't be trusted with sharp objects when there are shoes involved. I'll handle all things pointy, OK?"
"Fine," Lorelai answered. "Just hurry up! Open this box first," she continued, pointing her perfectly manicured finger in the direction of a box that had "Lorelai's Shoes: Black, Red and Brown".
"OK, OK," Rory muttered, as she opened the scissors and cut open the packing tape. Lorelai ripped open the box to find her favorite black pumps sitting right on top of the pile. Grabbing them, she kicked off her brand new fuzzy slippers and put the shoes on.
"Oh, they're so *beautiful*," she exclaimed, staring at the shoes in admiration.
"Uh, ok," Rory said, and moved toward the next box. "My turn," she split the brown packaging on the "Rory's Books: Author's A-J" carton.
For the remainder of the afternoon, and into the evening, box after box was opened and half unpacked. Books and clothes were strewn across their expansive living room, and anything feathery you could possibly think of was hanging over the cardboard edges.
"Well, now that we've gotten that settled, it's time to think about--" Lorelai started.
"Don't even say it," Rory intervened at the same time that Lorelai finished her sentence with the word "school".
"Oh, come on Ror, the new school year starts in nine days. I've already registered you in Stars Hollow High".
"Stars Hollow High? How original," Rory snickered.
"How about we'll talk about school later. For now, I want to go change and then grab a bite to eat. We're running low on food in the fridge," Lorelai said.
"'We're running low on food'...something I never thought I'd hear you say," Rory shot back, smiling.
"Yes, well, our dear friend Sookie--"
"Don't you mean Sookie!" Rory said the final word with emphasis.
Lorelai laughed, "Yes, Sookie! did a good job of filling our kitchen, but all good things must come to an end."
********
Forty-five minutes later, both girls had emerged from their bedrooms, completely revamped from head to toe. Lorelai's hair had been curled, and she adorned a crimson suede skirt and a city-sophisticate black top. Rory, on the other hand, had taken the slightly more casual route. A messy ponytail sat atop her head, a summery tank top and studded jeans completed the look.
"You wearing that to a dinner in this town? Where are we going?" Rory asked her mom.
"What, too much?" Lorelai answered, making her way into the kitchen and pulling a phone book from one of the drawers.
"Look under 'Chinese food'," Lorelai said as she settled back into her chair and tossed the yellow book in Rory's direction.
Rory scanned a few pages, and came to the section. "Here we go," she said. "The first one listed here is Al's Pancake World."
"Al's Pancake World? No, I said Chinese food. You know, rice, chopsticks, cute little white cartons?"
"Yeah, here it says that Al's has "The Best Egg Fu Yung in Stars Hollow". Wow, I'll bet they cater to a full house every night with that kind of slogan." Rory said sarcastically.
"Uh, I don't like the idea of eating sweet-n-sour chicken in a restaurant that houses a waffle maker..." Lorelai trailed off.
Rory looked over the rest of the page, "That's the only place that serves Chinese food in Stars Hollow."
"Ok, well, then Al's it is."
********
The pair was walking through the main part of town some time later. They were going home after a meal at Al's (which, in case anyone wants to know, really does have the best egg fu yung), and they passed a cute little place smack dab in the center of Stars Hollow.
"Luke's Diner. Good Food." Lorelai said, reading the words posted in yellow on the diner's window.
"Oh, I'm so proud. Look at you, reading words with more than one syllable," Rory responded. "Let's check it out."
"But we just ate."
"Lorelai Gilmore, refusing food? Are you sick? Tired?"
"Hungry," the elder answered, and made her way to the door.
They walked in, and a homey little jingle announced their entrance. The diner was small but well kept, and they found a seat in the corner.
A scruffy man wearing a backwards baseball cap walked over with two shiny menus.
"Wow, Stars Hollow has it's own fashion plate," Lorelai commented on his faded red flannel shirt.
"You're new here," was his reply.
"You're observant too," Lorelai answered. "How'd you know?"
"Just a guess," he said. "I'm Luke Danes".
"Luke? As in, the Luke of Luke's Diner?" Rory asked.
"The one and only."
"Wow, you're practically royalty in this town, aren't you?" Lorelai teased.
"Heh. Far from it. Anyone looked down upon in Taylor's Doosey's eyes isn't anything higher than a lowly servant."
"Taylor..."
"Doosey," Luke finished the sentence. "You'll find out who he is within no time. No, I'm just the town's coffee supplier."
"Coffee supplier? Wow, that's *better* than royalty." Lorelai said.
"Can we have some?" Rory asked, perusing over the rest of the menu. "And a double cheeseburger."
"Two double cheeseburgers," Lorelai contributed.
"Do you want the coffee small, medium--"
"Venti size, if possible." Lorelai interrupted.
"Oh, we have some cultured coffee drinkers here, eh? How about an extra large?"
"Extra large would be fine, thank you."
"Ok, two extra large coffees and double cheeseburgers." Luke wrote the order down on his pad, and walked away.
********
Several minutes later, a young boy approached the table with their order. He looked about Rory's age, and when he saw who he was serving, he greeted them with a large smile.
"Two coffees," he said, putting the large mugs on the table, "and two cheeseburgers."
"Thank you," Rory said, giving the teenager a long look. Looking a little embarrassed, he walked away from the two girls.
"I hope all the guys in Stars Hollow look like that," she said to her mother. "This hick town might not be so bad after all."
"Maybe not..." Lorelai said, fixing her stare on Luke Danes, who was busy arguing with a skinny man demanding that his peanut butter and jelly sandwich be cut into triangles.
********
After an hour or so, the girls had filled themselves to the brim with coffee refills, and were ready to head back to the mansion they called their home.
The boy came over the Gilmore's table, and asked, "Another refill?"
"Uh, no, but thanks anyway...um..." Lorelai began.
"My name's Jess," he filled in for her.
"Jess. Cool." Rory said, testing the name on her tongue. She liked it.
Jess turned slightly pink at the tips of his ears. "Thanks," he said, and made a boldly un-Jess move in continuing with "And you would be..."
"Rory, and this is my mom, Lorelai." she said.
Jess returned the compliments, and then, left without words, started to turn and leave the table.
"Wait!" Rory said, not letting him get a chance to run away too fast. "I've been looking for someone to show me around the town. You know, sort of a 'personal tour guide'. Would you be willing to take the job?"
"Sure," Jess said, trying to be as nonchalant about it as possible. "When?"
"Right now?" Rory asked.
"Uh, yeah, I guess," he smiled at her, and she smiled back. "Uncle Luke!"
Luke looked up from the cash register and raised his eyebrows in acknowledgment.
"I'm gonna show Rory around Stars Hollow, ok?" After receiving a nod, he turned towards Rory. "Let's go," he said, heading towards the door.
"See ya later," she said to her mom, who nodded as well.
Lorelai stood up, pulled some bills from her purse, and walked to the counter. Placing the money on the counter, she looked up, and her eyes met with Luke's.
"Thanks, coffee boy," she said to him, winking.
"No problem..." he started, and when he realized she never offered her name, he finished with "mystery woman".
"Lorelai," she spoke up, prolonging the conversation.
"Huh?" Luke answered, confused at the three syllables she'd offered him.
"Lorelai, that's my name."
"Oh, sorry 'bout that. It's pretty," he complimented, obviously embarrassed.
"Thanks," she said, and started walking away. After a few steps, she made an about face, and said, "I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of each other, Luke Danes."
With that, she left the diner, leaving Luke to goggle at her departing silhouette in the shadows of the dimming sun.
A/N: Thanks to all of you who reviewed my first chapter. I listened to some of your suggestions, and hopefully I addressed them to your liking. Next chapter will go a little more into Jess, his personality, and how he ends up with Luke.