A.N Welcome to chapter 4 lovelies, I've had a cup of coffee and a pb&j sandwich I am ready to rock. I hope you've liked the story so far. I don't have a whole lot of idea on where I want it to go I mean it has to kind of follow the story line. This chapter has a whole lot of Jess and Chrystal in it. I'm thinking that there needs to be a little drama soon so in later chapters I'm going to bring Christopher into the picture, I'm thinking along the lines of the car crash? But per usual I do not own any of the G.G characters I only own my Occ.
Polyvore link for this chapter: chapter/set?id=204882103
Chapter 4: Run Away, Little Gilmore
The Stars Hollow Used Book Fair was just around the corner, and in my world that meant comfortable shoes, crisp autumn air, and stacks upon stacks of 5cent pocket-sized editions of my favorite must-reads. Yes, for me, The Stars Hollow Used Book Fair was a harbinger of fall.
The distinctive smell of aged paperbacks would once again fill the air. Fall would begin to settle in. Various reds and oranges and yellows and greens would litter the streets. No matter how many outrageous carnivals and celebrations Stars Hollow may have put together in the past, the book festival was by far its greatest accomplishment.
I had one tradition in particular in relation to the Book Fair when I visited. I would shower at night so as to be clean and fresh in the morning. I would hop noiselessly out of bed at 6AM the Saturday of the book fair so as not to wake my mom and Rory, who normally joined me later at the fair, and I would put on a previously put-together outfit and walk to Luke's.
The sun had only just begun to rise in the sky by the time I had made it out door, so the sky was coated in a thick, pale grey mist that was able to sufficiently light my way. I hoped that the brilliant autumn blue would peek through in good time, but I did not occupy myself too much with this dilemma.
I was alone on the streets, for everyone in Stars Hollow was either just waking up or still in bed, but I did not feel lonely. The familiar town enveloped me much like a dear friend would in a hug and I graciously returned the gesture by letting my feet carry me to the gazebo before I reached my final destination.
I sat for a while with my hands on my knees so that I could lean comfortably forward and take in the scenery. The trees with their leaves, the leaves with their ever changing pigments—I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath through my nostrils. The cool crisp air filled my lungs and I let it out with a content sigh. I suddenly felt alive and fresh in a way that even coffee could not make me feel. It was a feeling of rebirth.
With a spring in my step and a happy countenance, I headed from the gazebo towards Luke's.
"Morning Luke" I greeted pleasantly as I half skipped over to the counter.
"Its times like these that I truly doubt that you are your mothers daughter"
"Coffee?" I grinned.
Luke sighed, "And then I say to myself, 'What the hell, are you crazy? Of course she's Lorelai's daughter. She looks exactly like Rory and they practically inhale coffee"
I just smiled in response to Luke's opposition to us Gilmore girls' caffeine intake. He was probably right, after all, but it was still comical to witness how worked up he could get over something so seemingly unimportant as the amount of caffeine a few girls consumed on a daily basis.
As Luke set my mug before mem the phone began to ring. He simply grunted in response to the disturbance and, after four sonorous 'brrrriiiings' Luke picked up.
At the same time, a thud was heard from the upstairs. I assumed that Jess had been woken by the early telephone call and fallen out of bed. Luke heard the overhead noise as well and asked me if I'd be willing to go see what the 'ruckus' was about. Not wanting Luke to have to cut his conversation short—Luke really needed to invest in some good cordless phone—I slid past the curtain and up the stairs I went.
I knocked on the apartment door twice.
"It's open" He called sleepily and annoyed.
"Huh" was his response at seeing that it was a very awake me at his door and not, well, a very annoyed and gruff Luke.
"Yeah, Luke was… and the phone, and then there was a noise, so I just kind of came…here" I babbled, slightly flustered at the sight of Jess in such a state as he was.
He had only just woken up, after all, and it looked as though he was only just pulling on his pants as I entered. I contemplated my words after I had said them. Sometimes I truly doubted that my sanity was any better than my mothers. Rambling incoherently was her forte.
"Okay" He nodded sagely.
He turned around and walked into the kitchen, permitting me entrance further into the apartment. In those five seconds he spent getting form the doorway to the kitchen, I continued to take in his appearance.
His hair had that just-out-of-bed look that people strove for but no one could ever really achieve unless they had truly just gotten out of bed. His hair was a little longer than it generally appeared in public, and I wondered if this change was due to growth or the fact that there was, at present, no hair gel keeping it up.
I decided that I liked this softer look better than the usual gel spikes. It suited him well; it marked him as a sort of nonchalant and James Dean-eque. He was wearing a dark gray Clash t-shirt and some black sweat pants, and he yawned as he reached for a red bull over the fridge.
"Want one" He offered.
"No, I've got a cup of coffee waiting for me downstairs"
He raised an eyebrow, "Since when has that stopped you?"
"That is an excellent observation" I conceded as I entered the kitchen section of the apartment and reached for the beverage.
"So, why are you even here so early? Isn't it some sort of legal offense for anyone related to your mother to wake up before noon on a Saturday?"
I shrugged, "I try to live on the edge, but only when sufficiently motivated"
"I see. And what might be today's impetus?"
"The seven-and-a-half-th annual Star's Hollow Book Fair" I announced like a commercial spokesperson.
"Interesting"
I nodded, "Yeah, the half-th is a bit strange. Last time I visited Taylor said they didn't move on to the eighth because-"
"No, I mean it's interesting. The book fair" He said cutting off my ramble.
"Oh, well…yeah, it's great if you're…into that sort of thing"
"Aren't you into that sort of thing?"
I chuckled, "Well, yeah, I am. But not many other people, besides my sister, read very much, or at least in the same capacity as us"
Jess just nodded and made a quick round trip to his temporary bed-raft. I stared at him in confusion until he returned, Howl in hand.
"Oh, I have that, you know. I could've lent it to you"
"This is yours" Jess shrugged.
I narrowed me eyes at him, "Excuse me?"
"Relax. I just borrowed it. Left a couple notes in the margins"
I flipped through, mesmerized by the overwhelming addition of tiny black print covering each page.
"You have girly hand writing" I teased.
He rolled his eyes, "Thanks"
I frowned, "You've read this before?" I asked.
"About forty times"
I stared up at him in disbelief, "I thought you said you didn't read much" I accused.
"Well…what is much?"
I scoffed, "Apparently we're equating 'much' with Avogadro's number"
"You're gonna have to explain that one in detail, Miss Gilmore. I'm just not picking up on the humor in that reference"
"Good bye, Dodger" I said turning to walk out the door.
"And here I thought you were just coming up here to see me get dressed" He called after me, "Oliver Twist!" He added.
I smiled to myself and walked downstairs, I slumped into my seat at the counter just as Luke set my cup of coffee back down at my place.
"I heated it up for you. It was getting cold. By the way, what took you so long?"
"That miscreant nephew of yours and I were just having a chat about the technical definition of the word 'much'"
"Interesting" Luke grunted.
I narrowed my eyes, "De ja vu"
"I won't ask"
Jess emerged from behind the curtain just as I was finishing off my second cup of coffee. He had left his hair as it was upstairs, much to my delight, swapped his sweats for some loose fitting jeans, and thrown on a dark brown jacket and placed a copy of, A Separate Peace, in his back pocket.
"Shall we go see what barn-raising shindigs this town can cook up? I think we should get going before Kirk eats all the books" He mused.
"Don't worry, that doesn't start until noon"
Jess lifted his eyebrows questioningly.
"Hey, would I lie about books?"
"Yes, you would" he replied.
I scoffed, "Prove it"
"You still didn't answer my question"
"The first rhetorical question, or the most recent?"
"When are we going?" Jess repeated.
"Well it starts at 8, so…"I glanced at the clock on the wall, "After I eat my pancakes"
"Oh, we all know just how much I love watching you eat" Jess snorted.
I smirked at him, "You should love it I'm gorgeous" I teased.
Jess rolled his eyes and muttered something to himself that I didn't hear.
"Luke, could you throw in some chocolate chips?" I called, disregarding everything that Jess was saying.
Jingle jingle
Dean and Rory walked into the diner hand in hand, an inquisitive expression on their faces at the sight of me and Jess exchanging such frequent pleasantries. Dean was in the same three classes as Jess and I and as far as I knew Dean and Rory had yet to hear Jess say more than 'huh' on any one occasion.
"Hey guys" I forced enthusiastically. I was a little perplexed at Rory and her boyfriend here at Luke's at 7:15 in the morning on a Saturday.
"Hey" Rory said drinking some of my coffee. Dean smiled at me and I cringed, he was weirdly protective over me at school, especially when it came to Jess and it bothered me.
"What are you guys doing here?" I asked.
"Well the book thing is today to I said I would join you and Rory and suggested maybe we could watch some movies afterward" Dean beamed at the fact that he had thought up that brilliant plan by himself.
"Aww, how thoughtful" Jess cooed from behind the counter.
Dean just gave him an annoyed and intimidating 'Don't go there look' while Rory looked at me hopefully.
"Oh well…that's great and all except I kind of already made plans with Jess" I said awkwardly.
Rory shrugged and said "Okay" as Dean barked "What?" annoyance clearly laced with disappointment in his voice.
I shied away from him and Rory shot him a look of confusion.
"Not that I have to explain myself to you or anything, Dean" I started, emphasizing the annoyance in my voice, " But Jess is the only other person besides Rory that reads in pretty much the same capacity as me and I figured he would probably enjoy himself at the book fair, so I'm taking him"
Dean's nostrils flared and he shot a glare at Jess before forcing a smile on his face, "Okay well maybe we'll catch you later Chrystal" He mumbled before he and Rory exited the diner, Rory shot me a small smile and a thumbs up before leaving.
I groaned and turned back to Jess who was glaring at Dean as he walked away with my sister, "Is that guy always such a creep?" He asked.
I shrugged and started eating my pancakes.
At 7:55 I was polishing off my third cup of coffee and there was nothing left of my pancakes but syrupy crumbs and chocolaty residue, Jess and I left the diner and walked leisurely to the town square. In just five minutes, Gypsy would open the register and Taylor would take off all the tarps that had shielded the books from public view overnight.
I felt a rush of excitement comparable to the feeling a kid gets on Christmas morning when his or her parents are still in bed: that itch to open the presents immediately, the complete disregard of whatever consequences he or she may have to face once the parents wake up to find that half of the presents have already been opened.
At 7:59 I checked the clock on my cell phone for a 3rd time, Jess started laughing at my antics.
"What's so funny?" I huffed.
"You. You've checked your phone like three times in the last three minutes. Sixty seconds won't kill you, you know"
"I know. I know. I guess I'm just really excited about the book buying that's about to take place. Is it so wrong that I anticipate it so much?"
"Not wrong, per say, but very amusing nonetheless"
I scowled, "Well I'm glad you find my shortcomings comical"
"Your welcome"
"Ooh, ooh! Here he comes!" I said as Taylor approached the gazebo.
"Ladies and Gentlemen" Taylor began.
"Lady and gentleman" Jess muttered.
I elbowed him softly and shot him a warning look; he just smirked back at me.
"Welcome to the seven-and-a half-th annual Star's Hollow Used Book Fair. In just a moment Kirk will assist me as I unveil each of this year's major book selections"
"That's right" Kirk began, "In just a few moment, Stars Hollow, the whole world, really, will lay witness to the great unveiling of the greatest treasure known to man: Books. I'm talking volumes of paper printed with words, words printed in ink, all of them containing information—"
"All right, all right. Enough with the invocation, Kirk. Let's just get these tarps off" Miss Patty interjected from her seat on one of the gazebo's benches.
Jess and I stood in amused anticipation. Kirk had started to lift the tarps with a pair of oversized tweezers, trying his absolute hardest not to ruin the displays underneath.
"Oh honestly" Taylor muttered as he tore the tweezers from Kirks grasp and lifted the tarp masterly from the display.
"But you said to be careful!"
"I told you specifically not to rip the tarps off but to take care. I did not tell you to be so meticulous"
Kirk just flashed an offended glare at Taylor and stomped off in the direction of his mother's house.
"Is this town always so exciting?" Jess scoffed.
I giggled, "Only when Kirk is involved apparently, which is basically always"
It was noon and I was already exhausted from the extensive book buying. I had found a few gems so far: A pocket-sized Inherit the Wind, a pleasantly unmarked copy of Howl, an Emma, a modern-English translation of The Canterbury Tales, and The Giver, a book which I considered a modern classic.
"I got something for you" Jess said as he snuck up behind me in the Astronomy section, the years exciting new addition to the used book fair.
"Ooh presents!"
I looked at him expectantly; when he returned my look expressionlessly I gave him my best puppy dog face and hoped he would cave.
"Huh. You're gonna keep doing that innocent staring thing until I give you the book, aren't you?"
I just nodded triumphantly, He sighed in mock upset and handed me a book of Emily Dickinson poems.
I grinned, "Oh my God, Jess! I love it! Thank you really" I said as I grabbed him into a tight embrace.
I pulled back and stared affectionately at the leather-bound book.
"Wanna grab some lunch?" I inquired, still mesmerized by the volume in my hands.
"If you don't mind Luke's"
"Luke's is perfect" I agreed "So besides my amazing gift, did you get anything good?"
"Yeah, actually. The first I'm not letting you borrow until I'm done—"
"Yes, you are. Continue"
"No, I'm not. It's the collection of short stories by this guy, Simon Rich. The Ant Farm"
"I want" I pouted.
He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, and I want a million dollars"
"No fun"
"And I got Slaughterhouse 5 and Farewell to Arms, both of which I already own, but I left them at Liz's place and she wouldn't know where to find them to ship them"
"Wait. You actually enjoy Hemingway?" I asked.
"Yeah, I saw you reading a book of his short stories when we first met; you're probably the only person I know who likes him. You know, Ernest only has lovely things to say about you"
I stopped walking and tilted my head in hopes of seeing him more clearly. Noticing that I was no longer walking in step with him, Jess paused too and turned to face me.
"Why are you only nice to me?" I questioned quietly.
"What?" he retorted, obviously feeling cornered.
"I mean, you come here, to this town, you don't seem to care about anyone or anything, and you get in fights at school—"
"How do you know about the fights?"
"Lane told me about one of them, you obviously have no intentions of making a nice-guy reputation for yourself or of being a nice guy, for that matter, and then you're totally nice to me. Really nice, I don't get it"
"I guess…You wouldn't hurt me" He stated flatly.
The words stung in an unusual way. I could taste the sincerity in what he had said. It was tangible. I could see that Jess had been hurt badly by the people who had been in his life before. More importantly, Jess had chosen to make this fact known to me. What was most interesting to me, however, was the tone he used to convey this information. It told me that I shouldn't ask questions or let him know that I knew what he obviously had wanted me to know. It didn't make the situation awkward or uncomfortable, but it bonded us, gave us a ground on which to build a relationship. A weird, confusing and totally undefined relationship.
"You wouldn't hurt me either" I pointed out in the same manner.
I smiled to myself as I began to walk forward catching up with Jess and signaling him to continue to the diner.
Around 4 o'clock I was exhausted and headed home, Rory, Dean and my mom were having a movie marathon. I decided to join them, sitting on the couch with my mom.
Halfway through Better off Dead, my mind slowly drifted back to Jess, I had come to a new understanding with him about his past and his present. We had this real and extremely confusing relationship—one based on silent companionship and understanding.