Sony31- You always have so many nice things to say about me. Thanks you: -) :glomps:
Everyone- In less than a week, my movers are going to be here and they're going to pack up my dear computer. Thus, it will be at least a month before I can continue this story. I hope to get another chapter up in the next few days, but either way please don't forget me in my solitude! There will be more.
Rory put her arm around Madeline and waved. The entire cast was attending a movie premiere as a treat arranged by Max for good behavior, and the four starlets themselves were the main course for the photographers and muckrakers shouting at them. Rory felt kind of bad- they were overshadowing the movie's own actors. But a sharp "Smile!" from Paris cleared her head, and she grinned from in-between Paris and Madeline, with Louise on Madeline's other side. The four may have been inseparable on television, but they weren't that close in real life. Louise and Madeline were the only two who had a semblance of the friendship they shared on Jersey Girls. Rory was at least sort of close to both of them- Louise made for a good partying or shopping buddy when her mom wasn't up for it, and Madeline (thought not the sharpest tool in the shed) was Rory's on-set pal. They'd often sit on the side and talk during scenes which featured neither of them.
Paris was a different story. Each successful show has a deeply felt ill-will towards one cast member- it's practically an unofficial rule. Paris was the black sheep of Jersey Girls. Uptight and practical, she was the complete opposite of her artsy, floaty, unpredictable character, Kris. Rory was the only one who could stand her, and that was after two years of working together. But she still got on her nerves at times.
Among others, Max, Lorelai, Tristin, and Jess stood farther behind them, letting the foursome shine. Tristin and Jess weren't best friends by a long shot, but they tolerated each other. They had to, sharing a trailer and all. They never went out of their way to see each other off set, but they'd had some civil conversations on. Right now, they were both fidgety, wanting to get inside as soon as possible.
While virtually ignored by the paparazzi, the hordes of teenage fans being restrained by the police eventually spotted him and began screaming, pointing, and…crying?
"What's going on?" he asked Tristin in confusion. The blonde man actually grinned and laughed, leaving Jess to wonder if he should feel insulted. Lorelai provided the commentary for Tristin's actions.
"You're not a nobody anymore, Jess. Get used to it." Momentarily stunned, Jess could just stand there, until Max nodded to Paris, Louise, Madeline, and Rory. The four went in separate directions, Rory magnetically pulled towards her mother. Max hummed and nodded.
"It looks like your character is getting a relatively good reaction from the fan base." Jess continued standing and staring, not caring that he looked like an idiot. Rory saw his actions (or lack thereof) and took pity on him- how could she not? She herself had been the deer-caught-in-the-headlights two years ago when this thing had started. Pushing him forward lightly, she began leading him towards the doors of the theatre, where most of the two casts were disappearing into. Jess wasn't over the girls screaming "Tony!" "Jess!" yet.
Suddenly, the general atmosphere of their personal crowd changed. It was so obvious that even Jess felt it in his trance-like state. The attitude went from "Jess Mariano and Rory Gilmore!" to "Jessmarianoandrorygilmore!", and too late did Rory realize that she'd taken his hand in attempt to guide him away. Both stared at their loosely-held hands, and then looked up at each other as the cheer grew louder.
"Shit."
"My sentiments exactly."
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
"It will be great for publicity!"
"NO." The two people who argued about everything were united on this front.
"Max, I'm not pretending to date Jess."
"Likewise."
"Guys, people are already going to think you're going out anyway. In the words of a song, let's give 'em something to talk about." Max began to whistle the tune of the song, oblivious to the looks of loathing the two actors before him exchanged.
"We'll deny it, then. Tell people we're just friends."
"We're not even friends."
"But we won't go along with this, Max."
"What the lady said."
"I think I've got this situation under control, Jess. Thank you for your witty interjections, but they're not needed here." They began to banter back and forth, forgetting Max's presence. He slipped over to the side of the room where Lorelai looked on in amusement.
"Chemistry," he whispered. Lorelai looked at him with an eyebrow raised.
"Wha?"
"Rory and Jess. Light and dark. Circle and square. Opposites attract Lorelai." Catching his drift, she gaped at him.
"Max…are you saying we should get them together?"
"Perhaps."
"Incase you haven't noticed, they hate each other."
"Perhaps."
"You don't even care about them, do you? You just want your show to succeed."
"Lorelai, I have two letters for you: OC."
"Obsessive compulsive?"
"No, the show. Ever since it switched to Friday nights, we've been competing in the timeslot with them for the teenage demographic."
Lorelai decided now was not the time to tell Max that herself and Rory were blossoming into avid OC fans.
"We're loosing viewers, Lorelai! Slowly, they've been tapering away because of that brunette couple!"
"Seth and Summer?" If looks could kill… "Sorry. Continue."
"So we need a couple! Our show needs a couple that can represent it!"
"Max, this show has Ian and Haley."
"Everyone hates Ian after he broke the girls up."
"Well, you're the one who put that in the script."
"We need a NEW couple, a BETTER couple. Rory and Jess look really good together, that's why he got the job so easily! Normally you have to go through months of auditions, with different members of the cast, but he came in four times with the other hopefuls and we decided he was perfect."
"So wait, you let Jess on this show just because you thought he'd look cute standing next to Rory?" Lorelai was getting angry now, for two reasons. Firstly, because she hated Jess and now she was hearing that he didn't even have to go through a fair audition to get on set. Secondly, because Max was being an asshole to both her kid, and the punk.
"He might have made it anyway, he's got talent. But we were very specific in what we were looking for, and once we found it, we gave him the job and told him no one else was capable of doing it."
"So you lied to him?"
"So he wouldn't feel bad about getting in so smooth."
"Max…why would you do that?"
"I've already explained this Lorelai- their heights, skin tones, hair, eyes…all go together. The personalities that shine through to their characters attract. They make a good onscreen couple." Max was starting to get agitated at her constant need for explanation.
"So I've heard. But what's this suddenly about you wanting them to be a couple OFF screen?"
"The brunettes from The OC are together in real life!"
"So you think that forcing Rory and Jess to date is going to make more people watch your show."
"Possibly."
"Okay, you know what? I'm through with you. This actually makes sense now- this is why Rory didn't have to come in for readings during the summer, this is why you forced me to make her more comfortable around him, this, just, explains a lot."
"Lorelai, I'm a desperate man. I had to do something."
"I'd say you're desperate. This is insane." She turned to leave, but spun around wildly. "Tell me you're not doing this just to hurt Rory. Tell me you don't want to hurt my daughter, because I wouldn't MARRY YOU!" Her voice got louder and louder with each word, until she was choking out her screaming. Hot, angry tears formed in her eyes, but didn't fall yet. Rory and Jess looked over from their side of the room, startled.
"Max wanted your mom to marry him?"
"About a year ago."
"I thought she was with my uncle."
"Since a year ago." They looked back at the two people in the room who'd forgotten all about their presence.
"NO! I'd never intentionally hurt you or Rory!"
"Why should I believe you?" The tears started to free-fall now, and her volume wasn't getting any lower.
"Because you know me, Lorelai Victoria Gilmore."
"I don't think I do, Max Arturo Medina." She spun and sprinted out of the room. Rory followed.
Max and Jess stared at each other. Letting out a heavy sigh, Max walked out of the room, leaving Jess to stew in his own confusion.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Rory handed her mother a spoon as she climbed into bed with her, hugging a carton of Moose Tracks ice cream and another spoon.
"That bastard."
"Forget about it mom, you're not with that jerk anymore."
"The nerve of him to try to get you with someone we both despise."
"Max is a loner, so Jersey Girls is his baby. He'd do anything for it."
"No no, don't defend him. I'm so pissed off right now, I almost broke my showerhead just for the hell of it."
"I'm not defending him, I'm just saying that the show is his LIFE, and he can get pretty protective of it. If something comes up, like The OC steals our timeslot, he's gonna resort to drastic measures."
"What you're doing there? Defending him."
"Fine, maybe I am. But it's just because Max is the best director we could ever ask for."
"Rory, he recruited your mother to put the evil boy's sweater in your bed."
"Out of love. And didn't you tell me that it was your interpretation of his orders to do the sweater thing?"
"Uh, no," Lorelai responded guiltily. "Focus on the Max, here. He sucks."
"Unlike you, I don't think it was such a big deal. He likes both of us, so his aim wasn't to hurt us. I think you need to understand that his motives for this whole ordeal didn't have anything to do with spite."
"Whatever. Commercial, change the channel." Rory flipped away from Fox, and began to surf. She approached the number she knew Jersey Girls would be on, but she would skip it. After being there for the filming and seeing the final version with the crew, watching the episodes air was boring. But as she reached it, and saw Jess's badass grin lighting up the screen, she held her thumb.
The scene was him getting beat up in a locker room. Four boys, Ian included, held him to a bench and kicked out at him as he fiercely tried to defend himself.
Maybe Max was right. Jess knew what he was doing on stage or in front of a camera, but this was the wrong role for him. He wasn't a helpless nerd like the script called for. Below Tony's panicked face, Jess secretly smirked as he jerked back and forth, trying to twist away from the hits. And this was the first time Rory had noticed Jess shining through Tony.
"The OC's probably back by now," Lorelai commented, continuing to stuff her face with ice cream. Rory didn't seem to hear her, only watched as the scene shifted to her character walking down the hallway. Hearing banging and screaming from inside, she rolled her eyes. "Time for the pre-game ritual, I see."
Two jocks stumbled out of the locker room, laughing.
"Who's today's target?"
"Diarcci," one of them said, still laughing, as they walked away. She stared after them, before charging into the boy's locker room in a very Madison-like manor.
Rory hadn't even noticed the lack of Tony in Jess as she had flawlessly executed this scene several months back. She assertively ran in, slapping the first person she came across. It happened to be Ian.
"What the hell is your problem, he's new here! He doesn't know to avoid you asses on game days!" Her anger was enough to make all the football players look up, as she disgustedly pushed past them. Tony was breathing hard, shirtless and covered in ice cubes. She pulled him to his feet, and he scampered out. Following, she flipped the boys off. They couldn't actually show her middle finger on television, so they showed up to her wrist, and implied the rest.
"He isn't right for this role," Rory agreed, changing back to OC as the scene changed.
"He's gotta stick it out now, they've got him under contract for a minimum of two seasons."
"I don't think he can't pull it off, I just feel sorry that he's trapped in this role. So tell me again, for how long has he been trying to get Jess and I together?"
"I guess since the sweater incident- which may or may not have been my idea- but I have no idea when he got the notion in his head."
"Poor Max, he's gone off the deep end."
"I can't believe I'm madder than you are over this." Rory shrugged.
"I can see where he's coming from. I like The OC, but of course I want our show to do better. It's a school spirit kinda thing."
They returned to their ice cream and their traitorous guilty pleasure until Lorelai turned to her daughter.
"This is all in Max's head, right? You don't like Jess or anything."
"It's all in Max's head," Rory agreed, her eyes not leaving the screen.