Title: Non-Existent State of Mind
WARNING: This story contains spoilers.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I use in this story. They are property of Amy Sherman Palladino. I'm not making any money from this story.
Summary: Well, I'm not really sure where this story is going. I just know that it's going to be a Lit. I'm sort of creating as I go. Set after Ted Kopel's Big Night Out.
Rating: PG-13 for language
A/N: I am really trying to make this story good. I've read a lot of complaints about how the more recent stories aren't very good and they're true. So I'm going to make a humble attempt to bring the quality of stories to a higher level. Let me know whether it's working or not please! (Meaning REVIEW!!!)
Chapter One: The Blackest Years
**And when you're all alone don't forget me
Because when I'm all alone I wont forget you
When you're all alone don't forget me because I'm
On the wrong side of the tracks**
The darkness moved slowly, shadows dancing across her window-pane. Her blue eyes followed the lines of the book held tightly in her grasp. Soon it would be too dark to read. Soon she would have to move from the cocoon she'd made in her bed, but for now she was content to be immersed in another's life. There was something about reading that made everything else seem dull and boring. That was, everything except him.
Her normally bright eyes clouded over when she thought of Jess.
She thought about the town's former bad boy a lot. It wasn't like he was still in her heart, there was no place for him there anymore, but she couldn't keep his image out of her head. She had trouble forgetting the small things she'd once loved about him, like the way his hands felt in her hair. He could kiss like no other, and every time they had kissed, he'd taken her breath away. Or maybe she'd taken his.
The light had faded around Rory, and she carefully closed her book. She could feel the darkness creeping in, the monsters of her past coming out of hiding. She shook her head violently, her hair flying in beautiful agony through the air. The image of the small town through her window was enough to shake her out of the slightly euphoric trance she entered every time she left the world behind.
She looked around her room, which was almost completely filled with an absence of light. It had become less familiar and slightly stifling over the last few months, with the stuffed animals and posters she had on her walls. She felt that she belonged better in her dorm at Yale. If it weren't for her mother, she wouldn't ever leave the campus that she'd become accustomed to so quickly. Stars' Hollow had too many memories stored in its markets, benches, and bridges for her. It seemed that everywhere she went she had gone with either Jess or Dean on several occasions. Which made sense, it was a small town.
Somehow Rory had ended up alone in the house for three days. Though Lorelai's presence could be felt, her body was nowhere to be found. She was out of town at the moment, taking care of some design plans for the Inn. Rory decided that she'd drive back on Sunday night, so she could have some time alone before returning to her school work. The Christmas holidays had worn her out, and she felt like taking a breather.
Rory sighed and glanced at her alarm clock. The glaringly red numbers read 6:32. She pulled on a pair of pants and a t-shirt and walked to Luke's.
When she entered she couldn't help but notice how empty it was. Among the few diner patrons there, a buzz of tension was shooting through the air. She ordered a burger and fries to go from the new guy that was working there, whose name she couldn't quite remember, and took a seat at the counter. It only took her a few seconds to notice the complete silence enveloping the room. It was as if her entrance had caused the world to cease motion. As soon as her food came she left the diner. The frigid air sent shivers down her spine.
"I don't know what's fucking wrong with this town. I don't even wanna know. Fucking lunatics is what they are," She mumbled to herself.
It was now nearing twilight, and Rory lifted her chin towards the sky, looking for stars. She was searching for the brightest one to wish on when she ran right into someone walking the opposite direction.