someone5, and any others who want this:
Rory Gilmore- Madison Armstrong
Jess Mariano– Tony Diarcci
Paris Gellar – Kris Moore
Madeline Lynn- Kayla Ashwitz
Louise Grant- Haley Jackson
Tristin Dugrey- Ian Cavalier
OnLoveInSadness: I actually meant 'hottest' as in most popular. I'm sorry I made you ill.
cinemagal: Don't worry, hon- this is going to be a literati.
Ready Freddy: You must have a crystal ball. I want to borrow it.
Sony31: Your review sounded like a cheer! Hoorah!
Everyone: I'm so happy that I got positive feedback... and I got lotsa it!
An additional note: In case I'm too subtle, Rory and Jess have never met. However, Luke is still related to Jess.
We got our character selection! No more reading stories because Jess is mentioned in the profile, only to find out that in this wacko's story Rory picks Dean over our diner boy. That happened once. I still have not recovered.
Rory's cell phone rang, playing a Muse song as she picked it up and flipped the cute model open.
"Yes?"
"Jess Mariano. Ever heard of him?"
"Nope. Should I have?"
"He's fresh from Oedipus off Broadway. He's incredibly talented, and very good-looking." Rory covered the mouthpiece with her hand, but not enough that Max couldn't hear her.
"Mom, look what you did. Max is batting for the other team now." Lorelai raised herself up and lifted her sunglasses from her stunning blue eyes and raised an eyebrow at her daughter before replacing the lenses and lying back down. Rory copied her mother, but kept the phone at her ear. She hated talking about her job when the sun was bright and the pool was blue and she and her mother were soaking up warm rays.
"Hilarious. Anyway, I want you to come to the studio next week and meet him, maybe run over some lines we're testing."
"Max, we finished filming the second season three weeks ago. You're going to run yourself into an early grave."
"I'd rather stress myself to death than go when I'm lounging around by a pool, getting nothing done. Which is most likely what you and your mother are doing now."
"Liar," she said guiltily as he laughed.
"I'll have someone call you. Have fun in the sun." They hung up and Rory settled back down.
"What'd he say?"
"He'd rather die of stressing himself out than kick the bucket while relaxing on a pool chair." Lorelai scoffed indignantly.
"This is why we couldn't be together. He doesn't appreciate the good things in life."
"Mom, if Luke were here now, would he be all for the catching of sunrays?"
"Nope. He'd be yammering on about sunscreen and skin cancer and responsibilities."
"This is nice, isn't it?"
"Very."
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
He debated calling Liz. She was his mother, and there would probably be a part of her that was proud of him. Granted, it would be a small part, but still it might be acknowledgeable.
More importantly, he'd get to rub it in her face. 'Hi Liz, this is Jess. Your son, the one you kicked out because your boyfriend didn't like him. What was his name? Adam? Yea, it was Adam who got me thrown out on my ass. How IS Adam? I'm betting you have no idea, because I know he left a few years ago. You sure do know how to pick the winners, don't you? I mean, first my fucking father who goes out to buy diapers, and I haven't seen him in twenty years. But I'm getting side-tracked, where was I? Yea, this is the little fucker you tossed out, and when your abusive boyfriend left you, begged to come back, and then when said son did come back and got into a little trouble with the truancy officers and the drug dogs, you gave up again. So I'm just calling to tell you that I'm gonna be on TV. Have a nice life. Oh, and I'm not buying you a car once I get really famous.' That'd go over nicely.
But calling her would mean he'd have to talk to her, and he hated talking to Liz. She was either in a bad mood, and would scream at him about everything that was wrong in his life. He hadn't graduated high-school. He was a recovered heroin addict at the age of twenty. His arrest tally topped hers. He'd never had a serious girlfriend. He was an actor, which was the most cop-out profession in the world. But that wasn't the case anymore. He could afford to move into a decent apartment with his prime-time salary.
If Liz wasn't in a bad mood, she'd be in a teary come-back-baby kind of mood. Begging him to come visit, wanting to talk about him as a child, professing an undying motherly devotion to him. He didn't know if he could stomach that.
Before he could talk himself out of it, he sighed and dialed the number. She still lived in the same apartment he'd grown up in, surprisingly. He moved pretty much biannually, bouncing around the five boroughs, hitting all the interesting neighborhoods.
"Elizabeth Danes." She sounded so formal. And he noticed her last name had changed back.
"Liz."
"Who is this?"
"Jess."
"Oh my GAWD, how are you?" She sounded thrilled. She was in a motherly mood.
"I'm fine. You?"
"I'm better than fine, honey. I met this new guy!"
"Yea. Look, I didn't call to talk about you."
"Sweetie, you wound me."
"Anyway, I got a really great job opportunity that I wanted to tell you about before you found out by yourself, because I know I'd never hear the end of it if that happened."
"What's your new job, puppy?" Liz went way overboard with the pet names when she was in motherly-mode.
"My name is Jess, you'd remember this if you had been sober when you gave birth to me. It's actually a pretty decent post, it's televised."
"Look at you baby, you're a star! I always knew you could do it- I'm so proud of you!"
"Liz, you burned each and every one of my belongings still in that apartment when I told you I was going into acting."
"I was surprised; you caught me off-guard."
"I've never been so surprised that I accidentally dumped my kid's stuff into the bathtub and took a lighter to it."
"I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you. I'll buy you new stuff!"
"That won't be necessary." Not only did Liz not have the money to replace the old possessions Jess didn't need nor want, she'd never come through if he wanted her to.
"Well, then at least let me get you some food."
"I actually do have some of that."
"I know, come to dinner with me!"
"Are you out of your mind? We haven't spoken, unless it was over the phone occasionally, for three years. I'd like to keep it that way."
"Remember Luke, my brother? He made you a bookshelf when you were six, seven, eight, somewhere around there."
"Vaguely. No dinner, no family."
"We haven't kept up with each other's lives too well, which is crazy because we live in the same city. So we decided to get together every month and he cooks and I provide the drinks, and we hang."
"Sounds like a blast."
"It is, it made me realize you can't let relationships go. Family is too important for that. So come with me next week, I really want you to!"
"Liz, don't give me shit about not letting relationships go- I called you."
"I was going to call you soon."
"When's the last time you called me?"
"Thanksgiving."
"Right, I'm surprised you can remember that far back. It is now April. You weren't going to call."
"Yes I was, and you can't prove I wasn't." He sighed. Dealing with his mother was like dealing with a five-year-old.
"Fine. You were going to call me when you were on your deathbed. I have to go."
"Don't go, let's chat! How's your life?"
"Peachy."
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
"Nope, and I'm not planning on it. Commitment blows."
"You'll meet someone, I'm sure of it."
"It's nice to hear that from the commitment queen of New York."
"Oh stop, TJ is different!"
"Right. I'm hanging up now."
"What show are you going to be on? I never asked."
"That's because you never showed any interest in my life unless it was costing you bail."
"Tell me, c'mon!"
"Jersey Girls." The ratings for the show canceled out the stupid name.
"I've caught that before, it's not the most interesting plot, but the girls are hot. Maybe you'll meet someone there."
"Why do I keep saying I'm going to hang up, but I don't? Why don't I learn?"
"Come visit Luke with me! We both miss you!"
"Sorry I can't. I'm busy."
"I didn't even tell you when it was, silly!"
"Well, my schedule looks pretty full for about the next year."
"We could coordinate- Luke won't care."
"Still busy. In fact, I'm so busy that this call has to end now."
"Give me your address and I'll swing by to pick you up on Sunday. Six. Don't make me wait."
"Liz, I said no."
"Wait, I think I have your address somewhere. Didn't you send me a Christmas Card?"
"It was not a Christmas Card, those are stupid and overrated. It was a quick note telling you to have a good commercial holiday, and I only sent it because I wanted to make you feel guilty for not sending me one."
"A quick note, huh? Oh, here it is! Thank God I'm a packrat, I still have all my Christmas Cards. Okay, I know where you live."
"Suddenly I'm very scared."
"Friday at six, I can't wait to see you!"
"Liz, no. We haven't been in the same room together in three years, for some pretty extreme reasons. You can't just out-of-the-blue invite me to go to your brother's for dinner. I have no desire to see you ever again, and once you think this through, you won't want to see me either. Bye." He hung up, feeling shitty. Liz always did that too him. The phone rang almost as soon as he had put it down, and he picked it up on instinct.
"Friday at six."
"You're like one of those inflatable toys that just keeps bouncing back, no matter how much you beat it."
"I don't want you to hate me."
"A. I do hate you. B. You hate me just as much. C. You wouldn't give a fuck how I felt about you if I hadn't told you about the whole Jersey Girls thing."
"I was going to invite you sooner or later."
"Tell you what. Hang up now, call me back in a few days if you still feel this way. By then, you'll have come to your senses, and you won't want to have anything to do with me."
"You're not going to move before I can call you back, are you?"
"The thought did cross my mind."
"Fine. But that phone line had better be connected, or else I'm coming over there to kick your ass, and drag you to Luke's anyway." They slammed down their phones at the same time.
A few hours later, Jess had cooled off from the invite handed to him by his mother, and was living it up in the epitome of bachelorhood. He was on the internet, researching Jersey Girls.
He knew what the show was about, and had seen bits and pieces whilst channel flipping. It had never been anything that could possibly hold his interest, but with him on it, maybe the show could upgrade to 'bearable'. So far, he'd read a plot-outline of the first two seasons, viewer's predictions of what was coming, and cast biographies. He was very interested in the lovely ladies, the Jersey Girls themselves. Remembering the few details he'd been privy too at the auditions, he brought up Google, and typed 'Rory Gilmore' into the box. All he knew about his character was his name was Tony, he was a loser, and he hooked up with Madison. After reading the plot description and discovering that Madison was the Jersey Girl least likely to end up with a loser named Tony, he wanted to learn more about his unlikely love interest.
He found a website totally dedicated to her, and he sat back to read the glowing screen adorned with a picture of Rory herself at the top, winking at a camera while attending a movie premiere. A tall boy with brown hair falling into his eyes stood by her, his arm around her waist.
"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore is the daughter of actress Lorelai Victoria Gilmore. The identity of her father is not known, but Rory has mentioned during several interviews his absence in her life, and the lack of contact they have. During the late eighties and early nineties, her mother starred in a one-season series called "Dance House", and held various roles in six motion pictures. Because the name Lorelai Gilmore was already a B-list household name, Lorelai Leigh Gilmore acts under her nickname, Rory Gilmore.
"Rory Gilmore was born in Hartford, Connecticut. She lived with her Mother and her Grandparents until, when Rory was three, Lorelai relocated the two to New York. She worked as a waitress by day and actress by night until her devotion paid off, and she was able to quit her day job and grace the silver screen. She continued her career until her eight-year old daughter began to win parts on and off Broadway, in commercials, on the runway, and as a guest star on popular TV sitcoms. Lorelai was faced with a decision: her career had taken off, but it didn't appear that she'd be winning Oscars anytime soon. Her daughter showed an aptitude for the business, having practically grown up in it. So the actress Loreali Gilmore faded into the woodwork, but still stayed behind the scenes for her daughter Rory Gilmore, who was quickly becoming a child prodigy. Rory was making enough money at the time to support the both of them, and Lorelai took the official job as Rory's manager and publicist, a role she still plays today.
"Lorelai claims she's never regretted giving up her career to help her daughter's, and her sacrifice has paid off. Today, you all know Rory Gilmore as the slinky vixen on Jersey Girls, Madison Armstrong. 20-year-old Gilmore says she's the complete opposite of a vixen in real life, but it's fun to pretend. 'Seriously, I'm so not this bad-girl persona everyone expects me to be, just because I play Madison. I love to read, I love to learn, and I love to hang out with friends and just chill. There's not much guy-stuff in my life.'
"Rory is currently single after the rocky split with her ex, model Dean Forester. Reasons for the breakup are unclear, but Rory says there's no hard feelings between the two. 'I'm the worst grudge-holder in the world. I'd rather go shoe-shopping with my mom than cry because my boyfriend doesn't love me anymore.'
"Rory went to public school her entire school career, something she says helped her win the role of a high-school teen. She graduated as valedictorian, and says she plans to go to college someday, and study screenplay writing. Until then, she's happy to shoe-shop with her mom."
Jess X-ed out of the site. He now knew the girl's life story. She wasn't bad looking; it'd be easy to win her heart onscreen. He wasn't interested in her any other way, however. He liked his women jaded. That way they never questioned him or his past.
Questions, comments, or concerns are always appreciated ;-)