literatiever: I'm really glad you liked the script. I got the idea to use that to either reflect or oppose the Rory/Jess situation. So there will be more of it.
mandraco: I looked up this Wiggles show you mentioned…and was extremely freaked out. Why do we give this stuff to little kids?
kessemm: Ah, but let us not forget the ballerina article.
Encarta: Thanks again!
For those of you who don't know, Encarta created the 'beginning' of Jersey Girls with the Devil in Jersey theme song I mentioned somewhere in the story and clips from Gilmore Girls of the quartet for me. She is so cool!
"What?"
Rory couldn't even respond, she was so surprised. Lorelai stepped forward and took the initiative for her.
"Are you sure?"
"Am I sure of what, Lorelai?"
"Are you sure this is the right guy, and the REAL right guy isn't at the bottom of the Delaware right now?"
"Yes, I'm quite sure…"
"Um, Max, can I talk to you alone for a second?" Bewildered, Max allowed himself to be pushed out of the trailer. Lorelai shot a warning glance at Jess before she closed the door.
"Lorelai, I have a million things to do, please make this quick."
"I don't want that guy anywhere near Rory."
"Why not?"
"They're already acquainted, and he was a jackass to her."
"How do they already know each other?"
"Long story involving a sink and a toolbox named Bert. We thought he was an extra or something, not Rory's leading honey."
"Well, I can't fire him just because you got off to a bad start. In fact, I can't fire anyone, because we start filming the day after tomorrow. So whatever is between you guys and him…suck it up." Lorelai huffed indignantly as Max headed off towards Paris Gellar's trailer.
Inside, neither Rory nor Jess was saying anything.
"So…" Never mind.
"So what? So you're sorry you were a pig to me that night?"
"So…we're working together."
"You're not going to apologize? I even gave you the lead-in. If you don't apologize to me now, you're even more the jerk."
"I don't even know why you're upset."
"Uh, because you were a complete loserpants to me at my apartment."
"I was kidding around."
"Well I didn't appreciate it."
"Fine. I'll make a mental note that you're overly sensitive, and I should be very careful about what I say around you, lest you start crying on me."
"Wow, what a winning personality."
"Look, we're working together. We're spending time together. We're pretending to fall for each other in front of millions of viewers ages 12-19. So even if we don't like each other, we have to come up with some sort of compromise."
"YOU don't like ME? What could I possibly have done to offend you in the thirty seconds I talked to you?"
"I hate overly-sensitive people. I was just joking around, geez."
"I don't care if you were joking around, you shouldn't have said it."
"Do you like horses?"
"Why?"
"Because you're beating this one to death."
"I'm sorry, but I think you owe me an apology."
"And I think you're seven years old. You really think that if I say 'sorry', we'll become best friends?"
"Listen, Jess. You're new here- this is my world. I've been here a lot longer than you, and if one of us goes, it's not me. You can show up here every day, and you can kiss up to Max, but I can make your time here hell. Watch me. I know everyone- half of them owe me favors. Your trailer mate, Tristin? Got in a fight with my ex-boyfriend because he made me cry. Max? Treats me like a daughter. My mom- don't even go there. You treat me like that again, they won't hesitate to cause you severe physical pain."
"Forgive me, highness, I didn't realize I was speaking to one so exalted."
"No. You didn't." They glared at each other until Lorelai came back in, saw the two, and looked quizzically back and forth.
"Stuck-up princess."
"Rude freshman."
"Wow. I can feel the chemistry," Lorelai quipped, wondering if the two would even be able to pull off looking like a couple.
"Apologize."
"Not after that condescending monologue."
"Fine, don't apologize. I don't care. Just get out, I need to get my hair done." Jess complied, closing the door almost forcibly enough to be called slamming, and walked away steaming.
Who the fuck did this chick think she was? He wasn't apologizing.
He turned and watched her walk out of the trailer with her mother, heading to wherever the crazy hair ladies worked. Then a thought occurred to him- maybe she wasn't bluffing back there with the whole hell thing. He really didn't want the entire crew against him…especially not on his first day.
So, groaning as he went against everything he stood for, he scribbled a note on a piece of scrap paper he bummed off a passing person, and wrote the simple words that might save his ass a lot of trouble.
"I'm sorry. Not that this changes anything."
When she found it an hour later, she read it, smiled then frowned, and tossed it into the wastebasket. He was still a jerk.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Rory frowned at Jess as she passed him in the hallway. She was frowning to begin with, but she intensified her expression as she passed him. His messenger bag slung across his white sweater, the garment contrasting wildly with the darkness of his hair, eyes, complexion, and expression. She wasn't sure whether it made him look ridiculously stupid, or ridiculously sexy. But regardless, she was not going to crumble and make nice. She was going to stay firm in her decision to avoid him at all costs. As they'd be swapping spit in a few weeks' time, this would prove harder than it at first sounded, but she could still mentally keep her distance.
She walked past the extras, heading for Madeline. Approaching her determinedly, she regarded the raven-haired girl as she opened a locker.
Reaching a manicured hand in front of her and over Kayla's shoulder, she slammed the small metal door shut. Kayla jumped, and twirled around angrily to meet her.
"Hey."
"Hey! You could have cut my hand off or something."
"Yea, bad. Anyway, I wanted to make sure we were both on the same page about this whole Kris-birthday-blowout thing."
"Whatever do you mean, Madison?"
"I mean that since we were ten, the four of us have had this tradition where on Kris's birthday, we go to Laser World, play a few rounds of laser tag, eat pepperoni pizza, clean out the stupid arcade, and then go to the mall. Since I'm not 'in' anymore, I'm guessing that I'm not invited, but I just wanted to make sure no one wanted me there before I made other plans."
"That'd be correct."
"Thank you for clarifying. I'll be going now." She turned to leave, and a stubbornly pained look that the other couldn't see came onto both of their faces.
As soon as Rory was off-camera, the scene continued between Kayla and Kris. Rory stood beside her mother, watching them interact as she tried not to look for Jess in the crowd. She'd developed a habit of scanning the room for him as soon as she entered, and then avoiding that area. He'd caught her gaze more than once, however, and she desperately didn't want to give whatever impression he might have gotten. She wasn't sure what that impression could be. But it was one she didn't want him to get.
She flipped open her script and read along as Kayla and Kris strolled down the hallway. In real life, they should have been in class. But in TV-land, they could walk around for hours, and never get a day's worth of detention.
Kayla: So…guess who tried to decapitate me at my locker today?
Kris: The Commodore?
Kayla: Okay, no more Pirates of the Caribbean for you.
Kris: Did I tell you I'm going to marry Orlando Bloom one day?
Kayla: Several times. Guess!
Kris: Um, I don't know.
Kayla: Madison.
Kris: You're kidding. She hasn't even looked at us for over a month.
Kayla: I know. It was SO weird. She just came out of nowhere, slammed my locker closed, and asked if she could make plans for your birthday.
Kris: What did you tell her?
Kayla: Uh, that she definitely wasn't tagging along with us.
Kris: Oh.
Kayla: What 'Oh'?
Kris: Nothing…but doesn't it feel weird to you to not have her around all the time?
Kayla: Hey, girlfriend. Whenever you start thinking like that remember- she went after Haley's guy. That's inexcusable.
Kris: Yea, but her issue is with Haley, not us.
Kayla: Kris, we're being supportive friends here.
Kris: We're supporting Haley, but we completely left Madison in the dust. And seeing how we've been best friends since fourth grade, doesn't it seem weird to suddenly be on the outs with her?
Kayla: Krissy, she dug her own grave. She might as well have burned our friendship bracelets- she completely betrayed one of us. And she doesn't get back in the group after that.
Kris: Not even for my birthday? (Kayla stops walking, forcing Kris to stop also)
Kayla: Tell me you're kidding. Tell me you're not cracking.
Kris: I'm not cracking, I just miss my other best friend. I never understood why Haley got back with Ian, but we can't talk to Madison.
Kayla: Because Ian is a stupid boy! Madison was the one who should have been thinking responsibly, but she didn't, so she's not coming to Laser World. End of discussion.
Kris: It's MY party.
Kayla: You invite her, Haley won't show. And know what? Neither will I. (Enter classroom)
"So much drama," Lorelai whispered to Rory, as the two politely clapped for Madeline and Paris.
"I know- they're so mean to each other at times. I'd never treat my friends like that."
"Rory, can I see you for a moment?" They turned towards the sound of the voice, Max, and nodded in greeting.
"Sure. What's up?" He took her arm and pulled her away from the group, heading towards an area that housed the latest additions to the collection of sets.
He led her into a small bedroom, and threw his arms out.
"What do you think?" The wallpaper was purple, the bed was a single, and the floor was immaculate. Various forms of surface space held books, CD's, strange knickknacks, and a globe. The sheets on the bed were blue and white, a computer perched upon the organized desk, and the only wall decorations were photographs of what were most likely family members.
"What's this supposed to be?"
"Tony's bedroom. We went for a really clean, really smart look, with a bit of Mama's boy thrown in the mix."
"Single bed?" She motioned towards the offending object, eyebrows raised.
"Right, Madison might not like that. But Tony's not that kind of guy."
"True. So, I think it looks great- very realistic. Why'd you want me to see it?"
"Well, it's been quite a process trying to pin down Tony's personality and show it like this. But we want to do some screen tests before we're 100 percent positive that this is what we want."
"Why do I need to do a screen test in Tony's room?"
"The first time it will be used is a Tony/Madison study session. The two of you have to look okay in it."
"Two of us?" Right on cue, Mr. Wonderful himself walked into the room. He already knew why he was there, so he quietly stood next to Rory, avoiding her eyes. Ridiculously stupid or ridiculously sexy…that damn eternal question.
"Okay, Rory you're fine, but Jess, you need to loose the sweater. What color shirt do you have on under it?"
"Black." He pulled the bottom of the sweater over his head, flexing his muscles and betraying a few inches of his tight stomach as the t-shirt rode up, and then fell back into place.
Terri from Wardrobe had obviously not sanctioned the article of clothing, because the front displayed a ghastly-looking, all-white face, and when Jess turned to toss his sweater onto the desk chair, "Misfits" was printed across the back. He shrugged at their stares.
"It didn't show, so I didn't change it." Max sighed, and nodded.
"It works for now. Terri can use the colors of this room to dress you guys later on, but for now, just go sit over there." Noticing for the first time two additional men in the room, one with a camera and one with a clipboard, Rory shook herself. What could she have been paying attention to that would have distracted her from their entry?
"On the bed," Max commanded, and Rory spun towards him.
"What?"
"It's in the center of the room, so it's the most logical place to do this." Poor Max was obviously clueless to Rory's hesitation. Sighing in frustration, she sat down on the bedspread, and was joined a second later.
"Act like you know each other," the man with the camera joked.
"We don't," Jess pointed out, to which he shrugged.
"I wanna go home, kid. Just sit next to the girl." Rory's stubbornness would have taken over and refused to get any closer at that moment, had Lorelai not walked into the room. Her sympathetic smile brought Rory back to reality, and she professionally scooted over until their knees touched.
"Smile." The pair plastered fake grins on their face, and waited for it to end.
"Jess, put your arm around her." He complied easily, only stiffening after he felt her shoulders become rigid.
"C'mon guys, relax. Just a few more- I think this is going to work."
Taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, Rory took the initiative to casually drape her arm around his waist, her hand resting casually on his kaki-covered hips. Smiling, Max nodded at her, and the camera clicked twelve more times.
"Okay, finis. That wasn't too bad, was it, guys?" Jess wordlessly stood up and left the set, running his hands through his deflated hair. Normally, he'd throw some gel in it, make it look like he'd just woken up. Not only did the Hair people here refuse to put gel in his hair, they left it curly and wayward. (A/N- Think A-Tisket, A-Tasket. Jess's hair is soooooooooooooo sexy.)
"Aren't you slick," Lorelai said, approaching Rory and wiggling her eyebrows.
"Shut up."
"Ooh, touched a nerve, eh?"
"I don't want to talk about it." She exited the room much like Jess had; silently.
"What was that all about?" Lorelai turned to Max's voice, shrugging.
"Rory and I had a little run-in with Jess several weeks ago. She really hates that kid, and of course, the little punk HAD to go and make it mutual."
"You guys told me about that. I just didn't realize it would make things so visibly forced."
"Just let them get a little more used to each other, and they'll pull off whatever's in the scripts." Max put his hands on his hips and groaned.
"Lorelai, we can't have this. This won't work if they get tense and shifty-eyed around each other."
"What do you want me to do, Max?"
"I don't know, talk to her or something." His voice rose with each word, until he sounded near-frantic. Frowning, Lorelai regarded the normally eye-of-the-storm-calm man.
"Max, calm down. We'll work something out."
"You'd better, for all our sake." He left her alone on the set, staring aghast at his retreating back.
"I'D better? When did this become my problem?"
"She's YOUR daughter, Lorelai," he called behind him as he turned a corner. Sticking her tongue in the direction he had headed, Lorelai's eyes fell on the sweater still lying on the chair. Sashaying over to it, she picked it up, thought for a second, folded it over her arm, and walked away.