Do you remember the time I knew a girl from Mars?
I don't know if you knew that
Oh we'd stay up late playing cards
Henri Winterman cigars.
Rory sat in the living room, staring blankly at the TV. Devin walked in and stopped, tilting his head, "Rory?"
She didn't glance up, "Hmm?"
"What are you doing?"
"Shhh." she held a finger to her mouth, but still didn't tear her gaze away from the screen.
Devin walked over to the couch and looked at the television as well. He stepped back, his fingers twitching, "You're watching The Power Rangers." she nodded, although he didn't think she was listening. "The Power Rangers, Rory."
She nodded, "Thanks. I'm not sure I would've figured it out if you hadn't told me."
"Your sarcasm it noted. And why are you watching The Power Rangers?"
"We used to love to watch this show."
"Yeah, we did."
"They've changed it a lot."
He sat down beside her, looking at the screen, "Yeah they have."
"It sucks."
"Yeah, it does."
She shook her head, "We should sue. We should get pitch forks and knives and torture them slowly. They've ruined a staple of my childhood. I am now scarred for life and I'll be forced to cry in a corner every night. Look at this, what ever happened to Might Morphing Power Rangers?" Devin laughed, and Rory hit him in the arm, "Don't laugh at my pain."
"Sorry, I just think it's funny hearing your nostalgia about your childhood that was...oh man, all of eight years ago."
"Hey! I am mourning the loss of a classic. You just don't appreciate fine television."
He held his hands up in surrender, "Hey, I loved that show just as much as you did, but you have to admit that the acting was horrible. And the special effects were horrible. And the story line was horrible..."
"Devin, you're just making it worse." she whined, burying her face into the throw pillow of the couch. He laughed, picking up the remote and switching the channel. She sat up, "Hey, I was watching that."
"You were just complaining about how much it sucks."
"So? I was still watching it." she took the remote back and her brother just gave her a look. "What? It's prime mocking material." Devin just rolled his eyes and leaned back onto the couch, watching Power Rangers.
LATER THAT NIGHT
Lorelai closed the door behind her as she got home from work. "Augh. Okay I officially hate Michel. I swear to god, I am going to make a chocolate cake and shove it down his throat, just so I can watch him scream and then throw up because his fragile stomach can't handle so much sugar." she threw her keys on the table in the foyer.
"Mom, you don't know how to make a chocolate cake." Rory called from the living room.
She stopped, biting the inside of her cheek, "Huh, I don't, do I? Well that's okay, because I can just ask Sookie to do it. She knows how to make cake."
Vicky walked into the foyer, "What did Michel do this time?"
Lorelai sighed, "There was a little girl running through the lobby, so Michel started chasing her and tried to spray her with bug repellant. He told me that he thought she was an abnormally large bumble bee because her parents dressed her in a hideous black and yellow striped dress. Which yes, it was hideous, and no, there is no way in this world or the next that he could possibly have mistaken her for one. We gave them a free bottle of champagne and let them stay free for a night." she shook her head, walking into the living room, "I swear I almost killed..." she trailed off, looking at Rory and Devin, who were still sitting on the couch, staring at the TV.
"Power Rangers marathon." Devin explained before she could say anything.
Lorelai nodded, deciding that it might be best to just not ask any questions. "So, I have something to shoot at the three of you."
Vicky picked up the remote and turned off the TV. Her two siblings let out short bursts of protests, but with a look from her, they both fell silent. "Go ahead."
Their mother smiled, "Do you guys have any plans tomorrow?"
Rory sighed, flopping onto her back, stretching her legs across Devin's lap, "What day is tomorrow?"
"Saturday." her mother answered.
"As shocking as it may seem, I believe that I have a free schedule tomorrow."
"Devin?"
"Yeah, me too."
"Vicky?"
"I think I was going to go to a movie with Summer, but not until later. Why?"
"How do you guys feel about making a little extra cash? You could work at the inn for a few hours, look around the town."
"Sure." Devin snatched the remote from his sister and turned the television on.
"Yeah. Thanks." Rory looked over at the screen.
"I'll talk to Summer, but yeah, I'm pretty sure that I can."
"Okay, good. We'll leave at nine-ish in the morning and you can work until whenever." she stood up, "But I'm dead on my feet, so I'm gonna go to bed." she hugged each of them, "Night."
NEXT MORNING
Rory buried her faced deeper into the pillow as her alarm went off. It was that stupid pig one she'd insisted on buying when they went to the mall, just to see the look of horror on Vicky's face when she walked out with it. Although when they'd gotten home her mom had claimed that it wasn't fair that she didn't get one too.
She pulled the pillow from under her head and nailed the screaming clock. It flew off the table and sailed seven feet before smashing to the ground. It made a strange whining noise before falling silent. Rory smiled to herself and curled into a ball and was almost back to sleep when her door opened and in came Vicky. Rory let out something between a cry and a groan, tunneling deeper into her mattress and praying that her sister would suddenly forget where she was and go away.
"Rory?"
"Mmm."
"We're leaving in like, half an hour, okay?"
Rory nodded, stretching her legs before pushing the cover off of her upper body. "Thanks Vicky."
Twenty minuted later, Rory walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, her hair pulled back into a loose ponytail as she grabbed a coffee mug and filled it. "You're not wearing that, are you"
Vicky asked.
She turned to look at her sister, who was wearing long jeans, shoes with a four inch sole, and a sheer white shirt with a pink thank top on underneath, with her hair curled at the bottom. And then she glanced down at her own ensemble: black Dickies that were too long for her, but her shoes kept them from getting holes in the bottom, a white wife beater, and a faded jean jacket that fit her perfectly. "Yes, I was planning on it."
"You can't wear that to work at the inn."
"Why not?"
"Because you're supposed to dress nicely."
Rory took a sip of her coffee, it wasn't going to be her last this morning, "It's fine."
"You look like you crawled out of a garage band concert-" Rory rolled her eyes, "-you need to go change."
"Actually, I think I'll go check on Devin." she turned to leave the kitchen.
"Rory-" her sister called after her.
"Checking on Devin!" she called back, wondering where her mother kept the Asprin. She climbed the stairs and knocked on her brother's door. He pulled it open quickly, and she could tell he'd just gotten out of bed. His eyes were blurry and his hair was sticking out everywhere, but he was dressed. He had on light blue jeans and a sightly tight black shirt that said 'The Clash 1984 World Tour' on the front, and there were cities and dates on the back.
He shuffled his hair in his hand quickly, "Hey."
"Hey. I'm dying, and don't let Vicky see you. She'll spaz out and make you change into a collared shirt." Devin grimaced and opened his mouth to reply, but they heard their mother call them from downstairs.
HALF AN HOUR LATER
Lorelai parked in front of a diner and killed the engine. She nodded to the building, "This is Luke's. Best coffee in the world." she smiled at Rory, who jumped out of the car and walked up the steps, followed closely by Devin.
"Did you take the money to repair the bridge?" a man in a flannel shirt and backwards baseball cap was talking heatedly at a teenage boy with dark hair behind the counter who was wearing black pants and a red Dead Kennedys shirt.
He shrugged, and the small twitch of his lips gave away his amusement, "I did nothing, uncle Luke. Nothing. I'm just an innocent boy-"
"Did you set off the fire alarm during that assembly?"
He sighed shaking his head, "It's not my fault. They just make those handles so bright and pretty...I couldn't help myself."
"Did you steal all the baseballs from your school?"
"I never removed them from the campus, so no, I didn't steal them. The team should just try looking a little harder."
"Did you take the money donated to repair the bridge?"
"Is it my fault that Taylor has a personal vendetta against me?"
"Jess." he warned.
"Luke." he mocked.
Luke pointed a finger at him, "You will return the money, put the balls back, and apologize for pulling the alarm."
"But I didn't do anything wrong."
Lorelai sat at the counter, "Hey."
Luke looked up, "Oh, hey." he spotted the three teenagers with her, "Hi." he'd met Vicky, but didn't know the other two.
"Oh Luke, this is my son Devin, and my other daughter, Rory. You two, this is my friend Luke and his nephew Jess."
Rory nodded, looking around the diner, "Hi." she and Devin said it in unison.
Jess looked between them, "Hey."
"Do you guys want anything?" Lorelai asked.
"Coffee." Rory said quickly.
Devin nodded, "Me too."
"So three coffees to go?" Luke asked, and gave Jess a look, who simply shrugged and grabbed the pot.
"You want anything, Vicky?" her mother asked.
Vicky shook her head, "No, I'm good." her cell phone started to ring, and she rolled her eyes, smiling as Luke pointed to the no cell phones sign. "Oh, hey Tristan." she said in a sing song voice as she opened the door and stepped out into the street.
Rory closed her eyes, swallowing hard. She opened her eyes to see Devin looking down at her, his eyebrows raised. She blew out a long breath. Jess held out a Styrofoam cup with a lid, "Happy birthday."
She smiled, "Thanks."
The boy held the next one out to Devin, and Luke handed a third one to Lorelai. Rory leaned against the counter, taking a long drink when a tall boy in a green apron that said 'Doose's Market' across the front came in. Jess's lip quirked and Luke gave him a warning scowl. Jess snorted lightly, "I promise to talk slowly and use small words."
"Don't start anything." Luke said quietly, and Jess smirked, pulling a wiping cloth out of his back pocket.
The tall boy rolled his eyes when he saw Jess, "I'm here for Taylor."
Jess held his hands up innocently, "I didn't say anything." he smiled lightly, "Nice apron, by the way. It's a great color for you."
The boy just shook his head, the muscles in his jaw clenching as he turned to Luke, "Taylor wants to talk to you."
"I'm working."
"It's about business."
"Well then maybe I just don't want to talk to him."
"It's about the bridge money." he shot a glance at Jess who started wiping off the counter.
Luke gave Dean a look that suggested he get off the drugs, "That isn't about business. How is that business?"
"He said it was because he owns the land the bridge is on. And he wants to talk to you because the money went missing when Jess was in the store."
Jess turned to him, a disgusted look on his face, "I was buying glue to fix a bookcase in the apartment."
"Whatever Jess, I was working that day. You bought one thing of glue. That's not enough to fix a bookcase."
He shook his head, talking as if Dean were a child who was being told not to touch the stove, "It was enough to fix the bookcase hanging on the wall-" he nodded to the stairs, "-you can go look at it if you really want to."
Dean shook his head, looking offended, "Whatever. My boss wanted me to come and tell you to go see him, and I did. So now I'm leaving." he glanced at Rory before walking out.
"Come again." Jess called as the door opened. Dean stopped for a split second, but then continued walking. Jess shook his head, grinning as he started wiping the counter again.
Rory smiled, tilting her head as she watched him. She definitely wouldn't mind getting to know him better. Lorelai glanced at the clock, "We should go. By now Sookie's probably burned down the kitchen and Michel has probably poisoned several guests, while only god knows what Rune's done." she took out some money, dropping it on the table and standing up, "Hell, what does Rune do? What do I even pay him for anymore?" she started to walk towards the door, "I mean, all he does it stick his fingers in things and complain that I don't pay him enough when I shouldn't be paying him anything at all." she opened the door, "Bye Luke."
He looked up from the pad of paper in his hands, "Bye."
Jess looked up at Rory, smiling lightly. She smiled back before walking out after Vicky. Devin's eyebrows rose and he followed her out, shaking his head.
DRAGONFLY
Rory sat on one of the stools in the kitchen, drinking another cup of coffee and watching the staff make lunch. Sookie was talking about the produce man, Jackson. Rory had noticed that she talked about him a lot, but didn't say anything about it. "-but then he brought in grapes from California, and I couldn't use those, so I had to call him and have him bring me a whole new crop--oh!" Rory jumped, looking up, and Sookie pulled her hand up, the spatula flying away and hitting a man in the head who was holding a large tray of fruit. He staggered and fell, causing all the fruit to smash to the ground. She looked over at him, sighing, "You should be more careful,
Mason." she turned back to Rory, smiling, "I have an idea."
"Yeah?" she planted her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her palms.
"We should have a dinner."
"A dinner?"
"Yeah, you know, you, your mom, Vicky and Devin, me, maybe Jackson and Luke. It could be fun. Hey, Luke could even bring Jess."
Rory nodded, "Sounds like fun."
"Yeah, and Vicky could bring her boyfriend. We could go to my house, or yours might be better since the kitchen is so much bigger..." Rory tuned her out as she continued rambling about it. This could definitely get interesting.
NEXT NIGHT
Sookie was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner, and Jackson was in the kitchen making sure Sookie didn't burn it down. Rory sat in the living room, her legs crossed as her mom followed Michel around the bottom floor of the house, he was trying to get away from her, but she just kept talking about how much weight he was going to gain tonight. He had somehow warranted an invite, but Rory couldn't figure out how. Luke had called twenty minutes ago saying that they'd gotten mixed up with the time, but would be there soon. Tristan and Vicky were on the love seat, the blonde boy looking all too comfortable in his dark jeans and a polo shirt. Vicky had her legs crossed, the jean skirt making them look even longer than they were. The doorbell rang and Luke and Jess were escorted in by Lorelai. Jess's jeans were worn and he had on a long-sleeved black oxford shirt with the sleeves rolled up to a few inches below his elbow. But Rory found that it looked more like a nice-misunderstood-rebellion thing than dressy.
"Sorry about being late, Lorelai. We got mixed up with what time we were supposed to be here." he shot Jess a look. His nephew shrugged and looked up at Rory, who tilted her head. She looked down, suddenly self conscious. Jess took in her light jeans and black off-the-shoulder shirt with a white wife beater on under it. A shadow of a smile grabbed the corners of Jess's lips as he turned away form her and followed Luke into the living room.
He sat on one of the unoccupied recliners, "Hey." it was directed more to Rory and Devin since he found Vicky annoying, but he wasn't rude enough to ignore her when she returned the greeting. He looked around the room, and Devin didn't miss the way Tristan looked Jess over, probably because of the way he'd looked Rory over when he walked in. Tristan was no doubt sizing him up. He only had to look at his sisters to know that they didn't notice it. Possibly it was a guy thing that women couldn't pick up on. He also didn't miss the way that Rory glanced at Jess. "Where's the bathroom?" he asked, looking at them.
Rory stood up, "It's this way." Devin saw Tristan's jaw clench as Rory stood up so suddenly. Jess didn't even look at Tristan, but stood as well and followed her. He'd just met Rory and Devin yesterday, but he already liked them...and he felt kind of bad for abandoning Devin, but he forgot it as he passed an open door. He stopped, which cause Rory to halt as well. She turned, walking slowly into the library after him. He touched the spine of one of the books lightly and looked over at Rory, who was watching him. "You read much?" she asked.
He glanced back at the bookcase, "Not really." he walked to the window, "Does this thing open?"
"Yeah. You just push the little lever to the left and push up-"
Jess pushed and there was a clicking sound. He laid his palms on the glass and pushed up. It slid open and he looked over at her, "Shall we?"
Rory looked between him and the window, "Shall we what?"
"Ditch."
"Ditch?"
"Yes."
"And do what? This is residential Hartford. There's nothing to do. Unless of course you want to go skinny dipping in old man Reinny's pool, but it's October, so I'm not so sure that would be a good idea."
Jess nodded, "No, but it does have potential."
She smiled, "Yeah."
"So, are we going?"
Rory bit her lip, "I would say yes, but see, out there it's just cold, and in here there's food."
"You want to stay for the food?"
She shrugged, putting a hand on her stomach, "Kind of. It'll be good food trust me."
"I don't even know you."
Rory tilted her head, "But don't I look trustworthy?"
He nodded, "Maybe."
"Then come on, I'll bail with you next time." she turned to leave the library.
Jess's head cocked back. He closed and locked the window before following her out. "Next time?"
Rory smiled at him, "Yes. Next time we're dragged into a dinner, I promise I will sneak out with you."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
He smiled lightly, looking down at her, he just couldn't figure her out, "I'm going to hold you to that."
She looked up at him, nodding, "Okay."
Though she never told me her name
I still love you the girl from Mars