I don't own Gilmore Girls, everyone knows that, so it doesn't really need to be told, but I will say it anyway. Just a bit of info about this story; it's Jess's POV, he is writing it down as a book he is writing. It is a Future Lit. Review if the spirit moves you.
1)
I don't know what they were expecting from me, the whole lot of them, did they think that I could just change, mold myself into a perfect replica that represents the picturesque spirit of the town? I got thrown in here with out even one consideration for myself and I was the one expected to conform. I don't even understand the place. I mean, I'm from New York. How could I be comfortable here? In a place where the down town consists of only one block, you think I'm kidding? I'm not. The place makes me sick. Everywhere you look there are smiling faces, and parents walking around hand in hand with their child in a matching outfit singing or something. There was only one thing here making me stay.
Seriously, it's like the town is in a bubble. Nothing in the world can affect it. That's not entirely true; when I arrived fresh off the bus from New York I gave them all a real shock. I was something the town had never seen before, I wasn't like any of them, and I think it scared them. This was just ammunition for me. The descriptions you here of me are some what true. I mean they only see the part of me I allow them to see. So some of the things you hear my not be very flattering, but what else can you expect from people who don't take the time to get to know you, and who you could care less about knowing.
This probably does not make much sense to you. I wouldn't know what I was talking about either if I didn't already know what I was talking about. Do you understand that? Let me start at the beginning. Not the very beginning, you're not going to hear all about my childhood or anything like that, nothing much happened anyway. My dad ran out on me when I was a kid and my mum is a complete nut job. She's crazy I swear. I have no siblings, which is better, I guess. I wouldn't want them to have to suffer through what I did. Endless boyfriends that left my mum with nothing. Usually no TV or money. Somehow though she managed to stay optimistic that she would find the right one. She isn't that bad of a mum really, I was, am, just a lousy son I guess. But how many times could you put up with your TV being stolen before you retaliated? It took me once and that was enough.
I suppose if I went to a psychoanalyst or something they would tell me that I am the way I am because of lack of love. I never felt loved so how could I ever return the gesture? That's not true though, I loved, love, but that part comes later. What I wanted to tell you was (I guess you can say) the beginning of my new life.
I can't pin point exactly when everything started to go wrong, it was a long time ago. But about two years ago I met some people through friends and started to get into some pretty serious shit. It started off with some drugs, just doing them, then I started selling them, and then I got into theft. It was nothing to bad; I mean I didn't steal a car or anything like that. I became very familiar with the local police station, and they with me. It was after my 10th arrest that my mum decided that she was going to send me away to live with her brother, who lives in this godforsaken town. He's not a bad guy, just a bit clueless maybe. Anyway the night before my mother kicked me out, on account of what I am about to tell you, I had been out at this little restaurant we used to hang at. It was a Mexican food joint, and the owners were known by me and my friends to give us a little something extra with our meals. New York can be a pretty tough place, especially the neighborhood where I lived. Anyone I hung out with always had a knife or something on them, just in case. So that night we were just sitting around eating, I remember what I had, it was a burrito, but you could not have had one this good, man what I would give for one of those right now. Looking back on it, it probably would have been smarter to buy the drugs after we ate, but hindsight is always 20/20. In the middle of eating the place got raided. Guess the cops had been on to it. Everyone was searched, I wasn't carrying anything, but everyone I was with was so I got taken in too. I can't remember what they called it, it was association or something, plus I was a regular with the cops so it didn't hurt to bring me in.
My mother didn't even come to get me she told me to come home in the morning. I spent the night in jail. It wasn't too bad, the food was decent enough. There was this one cop too who wasn't a bad guy, he was pretty nice really. I could tell he really cared about his job, really wanted to make a difference. Every time I was in he would talk to me, ask what I thought I was accomplishing and all that. See I am pretty intelligent if I try. But school has always bored me, if I actually showed up for class I could probably get A's. He said I read more than any person he knows. And it's true but it doesn't mean anything really. Just because I read does not mean that I have a chance of redeeming myself in any one else's eyes. Jerry was that cops name, and he sent me home that morning for the last time. I kinda miss him; we had a few good chats. That's sorta pathetic, to miss the asshole that busted you and kept you in jail. I wonder how he's doing though.
2)
When my mum told me she was sending me to my uncles I didn't even say anything, just walked out of the apartment. I knew a couple of places that served to minors and I went out to get totally drunk, just to piss her off some more. I went to this one bar, Victory, the bartender, Al, was alright, he was nice enough to never card me, but you could tell that he thought that he was nice enough to never card you. And that's annoying, when the guy knows he is being nice. I had had a couple of beers when I saw this girl I used to go around with. We never really dated, but she was easy, and I figured it wouldn't hurt to go talk to her. I didn't know the next time I would get laid, considering where I was headed. She saw me approaching and she put on her sexiest face, she knew what I wanted, and I knew that she was going to mess with me before I got it.
When I reached her she cupped my chin in her hands and said "Jess, baby, you look like hell."
I smiled and replied "yeah, well spending the night in jail does that to you." I was trying to get her to feel a bit sorry for me.
"So I hear, maybe it'll do you some good huh? What are you doing here drinking all alone?"
"I'm not alone"
"No?"
"Nah, I'm with you."
"Mmm"
There was a silence where she just stared at me. I decided to tell her I got kicked out. "I'm leaving tomorrow."
"Where ya going?"
"Mum's sending me to live with my uncle, see if he can straighten me out" I said with a bitter laugh.
"You're kidding?"
"Nope"
"Shit"
"Let me buy you a drink" I had grown tired of the game, and wanted to get on with it. "Gonna try and get me drunk?"
"Nah, you don't need to be drunk"
"Now that's no way to get a girl"
"You didn't used to care"
"Maybe I've changed"
"Not likely, people never change, no matter how much people like to believe they do"
"You're one helluva depressing guy to be around you know"
"So?"
"Nothing, just you are... how bout that drink?"
I smiled because I knew that I had got her. "What ever you want"
"Rum and Coke – Diet Coke"
I got her the drink and a whiskey for my self. We went through a few more rounds before I managed to get her into a stall in the bathroom.
When I got home my mother was waiting up for me that was the first time she had ever done that. I could barley even stand up. I think that was the first time I had ever seen any sign of worry in her eyes, but that quickly changed to anger when she saw I was drunk. She didn't say anything to me just walked back to her room and slammed the door. I spent half the night puking before passing out on the bathroom floor. I woke up to my mum kicking me, not like beating me, just nudging me hard with her foot to wake me. She told me I had one hour until I had to be on the bus to Stars Hollow. That's the name of the town my uncle lives in by the way. Just saying it makes me want to puke again. I spent three hours on a bus to be greeted by my uncle. One look at his face told me that he was about as happy with the situation as I was. I had met this man maybe five times in my life, and now I was expected to live with him. I didn't see how it was going to work.
He showed me his place; he lived in a tiny two bedroom apartment over his store. He owns this diner. Surprisingly there are a number of food establishments in this place. I have never really seen so many in a small town, usually there is only one place that people go to eat, but there is a whole bunch here, and some of them kinda remind me of New York. There is his diner, a pizza place that looks exactly like one that was a block away from my apartment in the city, a bakery. Oh and Al's Pancake World, where he doesn't sell pancakes.
But you should see the rest of the town. It is this tiny little place, where everybody seems to know everyone else's business. It has the strangest layout I have ever seen. The down town core is one block. There is a gazebo in the middle of the town square. Only it's not a square, it's a triangle. No kidding, who ever heard of a town square being a triangle? Luke, my uncle, had told me to go look around the place, so that's what I was doing when I noticed the absurd position. When standing in the gazebo you can see all the shops. They are along the three main roads that run through town. If you start at the top of the triangle you have Luke's. Next to him there is a flower shop, then an antique store, then the book store, then the post office. I made a mental note to check out the book store the next day. On the opposite side there is the grocers, the video store, another antique store (this one for all things china) then there is the little bakery. Finally at the base of the triangle there is Al's. Next to it there is yet another antique store and another next to it, then the pizza parlor. Just in the down town alone there are four antique places, and since being here I have found three others scattered about the neighborhoods. Honestly how many does this town need?
In the gazebo there is this big sign that say's "Buy a Brick". It is some fundraiser to help preserve Stars Hollow's water front. Where the hell the water front front was I didn't know. If you buy a brick you get to put your name or some slogan on it, and they put them along this pathway through the triangle and you can have people walk all over you. Isn't that a great idea? Several phrases came to mind when I thought about what I would put on a brick, none of course that are appropriate for this fairy tale town.
I walked around a bit more, just to see what the rest of the place looked like. I found the water front. It's this big pond, or little man made lake, I don't know which to call it. Anyway I didn't see why they thought they had to preserve it, it looked fine the way it was. There are plenty of trees around it, and all those pussy willows or whatever they are called all along the edge, maybe that's what they don't like. I don't know. Like I said before I don't understand this place. I walked around the lake and found this bench underneath a massive oak tree. It didn't look like anyone ever sat there though because it was covered in leaves and dirt and stuff. I brushed all that off, and sat down, taking a book out of my back pocket. There is always a book there. This time it was 'The Importance of Being Earnest' Oscar Wilde. I had read it like five times before, but the way I see it there is no harm in re-reading books, there may be something you missed the first time. I read until it was too dark that I could no longer make out the words. The strangest thing happened to me then. As I put down the book I suddenly couldn't remember where I was. I thought I was back in New York, in Central Park, where I used to read on this little bench, and it wasn't until I got up and tried to find the path to leave, and saw there wasn't one, that I remembered. That's one depressing feeling.
3)
When I got back to Luke's the sign on the door said closed, but he was standing at the counter serving two female customers coffee. When I walked they all turned to look at me, and immediately I was struck with the beauty of the two women. They looked so similar that they could have been sisters, but the one on the left was clearly older, maybe a few years younger than Luke. I looked at the younger of the two out of the corner of my eye, and tried not to smile. She must have been the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, but more than that, she must have been one of the most innocent girls too. She had long dark brown hair, fair skin with a few freckles on her nose, and her eyes, they were the first thing I noticed. Bright blue, like the colour of sapphires. I could have stared into them forever. Luke said something and I focused my attention back on him.
"Where have you been?"
"You sent me out to look around the place"
"Yeah but that takes like five minutes, you've been gone three hours"
"I was reading, lost track of time" I started to head upstairs but he stopped me.
"Where are you going?"
I looked at him like it was obvious, "Upstairs."
"Hold on a second"
"Why"
He looked at me, exasperation written all over his face, he gestured at the two women while he said "So you can be introduced to Lorelia and Rory"
I walked back over, and the older of the two held out her hand, and I took it.
"Hi! I'm Lorelia; this is my daughter, Rory"
Rory looked shyly at me, and again I had to refrain from smirking. Luke was saying something, I heard Jess and nephew.
"Hi." I held her gaze until she blushed and averted her eyes.
I turned to Luke, "can I go upstairs now?' He gave me an annoyed look and said I could.
As I went over to the stairs I looked back and caught Rory staring at me, this time I smirked, and she blushed again and quickly turned her attention back to her mother and Luke.
Now I know what you are thinking. It's cliché to have a girl in the story, and it is even worse that she happens to be the most beautiful I had ever seen. But it is the truth. And I bet you know where I am going with her right? Yes, she is going to be the girl that changes my life. But I like that. It is like one of those cheesy romance novels. Big city boy meets small town girl, they fall madly in love and live happily ever after. Not quite in my story. It takes a long time for the falling in love part to happen. Well for her at least. Or for her to admit it. See there was this pesky little thing in the way; her boyfriend. Ah, you think there it is; the love triangle, more cliché than you originally thought right? Yeah, well, sorry about that. But the good thing is, I'm not going to focus on her just yet, see it is not like the second I met her I did this complete one eighty and stopped being an ass. I never fully stopped being an ass, it is in my personality, I just toned it down a bit around her. So if I am not going to focus on her yet, why mention her so soon? Just so you know she is there. She is always there."So, I'm always there huh?" I looked up into her brilliant blue eyes, and replied "Unfortunately, yes." She playfully slapped my arm, and then rested her head on my shoulders. As she entwined her fingers in with mine I let myself release a sigh of contentment. Yes, she is always there.
