Chapter 3

Rory froze. How the fuck did he find out about that? "Wha-what?" She

gaped at his smirking face.

"Dean. The jolly green giant. Why'd you sleep with him?" His face

showed anger and hurt and mock curiosity.

Rory grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the back corner where they

could talk quietly. She turned to face him and glared at him.

"Oh, there's the withering glare. You're right, that might hurt me. So

why don't you put it away and tell me the truth."

Rory laughed, but it came out as more of a bark. "The truth! That's

rich, coming from you! The truth." She paced, acting as if she was deep

in thought. "Maybe I was lonely. My dreams have changed Jess, maybe I

want to be a home wrecker now. You wouldn't know, you haven't been

around." She sneered.

Jess' eyes widened comically. That wasn't a curve ball, but Rory had

never had that tone. That "I'm better than you and I know it," tone.

Instantly, he knew its source; Logan. The new boyfriend.

"So you decided that you wanted the oaf for yourself, wife be damned

and you took him? Or did you lose it because he was the only one who

would take you? Or did you think that he'd leave his wife for you?" When

her eyes widened, he knew he'd hit the mark. "You thought he'd leave her

for you, didn't you? You thought one good lay and he'd forget her and

you would live happily ever after." He laughed. "Not all guys will leave

their girl for you, Rory. I'm one of the few."

Rory had backed herself into a corner, literally. Tears ran down her

face, and the anger was building in her eyes. "What, so now I'm not good

enough? So what if I lost my innocence to Dean? Why do you care,

anyway. You left! You gave up any right to be angry or hurt when you left me!

You made me wait Jess! A part of me will always be waiting for you to

grow up! My 17 year old self will always wait! But I'm not 17 anymore. I

have a date, someone who I'm seeing. I have a life, I'm in college. And

you expect me to just drop to my knees and apologize? My life is not up

for scrutiny."

Jess opened his mouth to protest, but Rory cut him off. "No! I saw the

way you looked at my friends. They're from society, but they are my

friends. I don't want to hear what you have to say! So just go away! Leave

me be!"

Rory pushed past him and went back to Logan. Jess watched as she cried

into his arms, and he scanned the club, obviously looking for Jess.

Quickly, Jess faded into the background, unable to escape from the sick

feeling in his gut that told him he might have just lost the one girl he

loved.

"I'm not seventeen anymore, either," he muttered to himself as he left

the club. A thought paraded into his mind, one that made it past the

anger he felt at Dean, at Logan, at Rory, and at himself. "I'll prove it,

too."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Thought you were gonna be gone all night," Luke said as Jess walked

into the diner. Luke was sitting at one of the tables with his tiny TV

watching baseball, of course.

"What about you, what happened to your date?" Jess asked, but instantly

regretted it when he saw the look in Luke's eyes. He knew that if he

looked in a mirror he'd see the exact same look on his own face.

"How was the concert?" Luke asked, returning his eyes to the TV.

"It was good, Hep Alien was great and Three Days Grace...," he trailed

off. He'd left while Three Days Grace was still setting up. He had

heard the first song starting as he left he club, but he hadn't turned

back. "Three Days Grace was Three Days Grace."

"Makes sense," Luke said, taking a swig of beer.

"Can I have one?"

"No."

"Oh, so it's okay to offer me Founders Day Punch, a drink that could

probably kill me, but I can't have a beer now?"

"Just go to bed, Jess."

He did. Not a word of protest. No weird aggravated sounds. He just went

up stairs. Luke stared at the space Jess had been occupying, and

glanced at his beer. He set the bottle down and pushed it away from him.