realist ━━ jess mariano

28| to have and have not

HER PARENTS DROPPED HER OFF AT STARS HOLLOW, where the summer season was nearing its end as the leaves turned a bright yellow. It was still sunny and warm enough for them to host their final summer carnivals, such as the summer fair she saw on her car ride as she passed the gazebo. When she reached home, she had help taking her luggage inside and was finally greeted by Rory and Lorelai.

     Rory had a different internship over the summer, but arrived much sooner than Rosie. "You're home!"

     "Did you miss me?"

"Don't ever go away again!" Lorelai groaned as she pulled her into a tight embrace. "I'm serious, both of you!"

Rosie rushed to the old coffee machine on the kitchen counter and moaned. "God, I've missed you." She said, inserting a capsule and placing a mug underneath it. "So," She turned back to the two. "What did I miss?"

"Thanks to our daily hour calls, nothing."

"Come on, something must've happened!"

"I'm serious, I caught you up on all the good gossip last night!" She recalled the latest update in her sister's situation with Christopher, where he told her his girlfriend is pregnant the day he promised her they were going to start a new life together.

     Rosie took the mug of coffee and sat around the kitchen table. "What about that summer fair at the Gazebo? You didn't happen to mention that at our night calls."

"Do you really want to hear about Taylor banning the elementary kid's lemonade stands when he found a seed in his drink, then unbanning it when the parents had a protest at the fair, then banned it again because—"

"I take it back, it would kill me to hear more of this." She stopped her instantly, turning to Rory. "We could just experience it in real-time, you know? Get those churros you were talking about."

     She grabbed her purse, then stopped in her place when she realised she was still wearing sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt. "Actually, I should probably change before we go."

      Grabbing her suitcase, she dragged it into her room and unpacked. She changed into a long white sundress that hugged her waist fittingly. It was something a little more extravagant than the casual outfits she would usually wear, but she figured she wanted to look nice today, taking advantage of the summer season while it was still here.

     When she stepped out of her room, she saw the other two Gilmores waiting by the door. "You look nice."

     "Thanks." She smiled, flattening her hand through her dress.

      When they walked to the gazebo, Lorelai suggested they take a shortcut she recently discovered. Rosie insisted that it was unnecessary as the gazebo was only a five minute walk away, but she didn't budge. "See?" Lorelai said when they walked past a bush. "Three minutes faster. I also found a way to get to Al's Pancake World that shaves a good forty seconds off our normal route."

    She spat out a leaf that got in her mouth when they walked through the bushes. "You were really bored when we were gone, weren't you?"

     "You have no idea."

     They reached the summer fair, walking past the colourful balloons and marching band. Rosie's eyes lingered around the crowd in search of Jess, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Okay, so, what do you two want to do? Cheese sticks, hot dogs, cotton candy or do we mix it up a little and start with the cotton candy and end with the cheese sticks?" She asked, noticing Rosie's distracted look. "Looking for Kayla?"

       "What?" Rosie snapped her head back to her sister. "Oh, yeah. She said she would be here." She lied, knowing Kayla was spending the weekend at her cousin's house in another town.

      Rory looked at her knowingly, changing the topic for her sake. "Oh look, Taylor." She approached him. "Hey, Taylor, is this where the mosh pit starts?"

     "Hello Lorelai, Rory— oh, welcome back, Rosie." He greeted the three. "So, what do you think of the band?"

     She turned to the band dinging Under the Boardwalk and gave her nod of approval. "Very ambient."

     "They're smokin'" Lorelai said sardonically.

     "I do not care for that sarcastic tone, Lorelai." Taylor said bitterly.

     "What? I was just being nice here."

      Their bickering muffled in her head as she looked around the gazebo, only one person in her mind. When her eyes landed on Jess, leaning against a tree with a book in his hand, she smiled. She tucked her hair behind her ears and turned to Rory. "I'll be back in a minute."

     "Actually, Rosie, wait—"

      Before Rory could keep talking, Rosie blinked at the sight of a blonde girl approaching Jess and greeting him with a tight embrace. When she squinted her eyes at her, she recognised her to be Shane, a junior at their school. She was confused, at first, until Shane's lips met Jess's and they started to make out in the middle of the fair.

      Oh god no. Her lips parted in surprise, turning to Rory with a blank expression. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" Rory said, pulling her away from Lorelai.

      "What was—" She pointed at Jess, utterly confused. "What the hell!"

      "I was going to tell you—"

      "Well, why didn't you!"

      "I only saw them together yesterday!" She said in her defence. "But, apparently, they've been together a while. Honestly, I thought you were over him, since you never sent a letter. I thought you wanted to forget about him."

       The letter. Rosie couldn't help but feel partly at fault for that aspect. Still, he probably would've already been with Shane by the time she sent the letter. Frustrated, she got out her flip-phone.

      "What are you doing?"

      "Calling Jake." She said simply.
    
      "Jake's in boarding school!"

       Not only that, but she forgot she had deleted his number. "Fine, what's the name of that guy I had a crush on sophomore year? Brian? Billy?"

      "Brandon? I think he's gay, Rosie." Rory grabbed her phone from her hands and placed both hands on her shoulders. "Rosie, stop." She said calmingly. "Don't do this to yourself, do you really want to go back to the great debacle of freshman year when you found out that guy you liked, Peyton, was dating someone else?"

      She thought back to that phase freshman year when she spent a month crying over Nicholas Sparks books and eating pints of mint chocolate chip ice-cream. It was the first and last time she ever caused such a scene over a boy. "No." She said begrudgingly. 

       "Exactly. Because you ending up miserable and pre-diabetic." She said. "So what are you going to do instead?"

      "Keep calm and carry on." She said miserably.

       "Good." She said.

       She cracked a small smile. "Thanks."