𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 | gilmore girls

𝟬𝟮

Now she was back with her hair a little lighter and skin tanner from the sun, more muscle build from the nonstop soccer training, and a secret tattoo. Ivy just wanted her sister to forget everything that happened before Sookie's wedding.

Lorelai had stopped on the corner by Luke's but didn't dare go in. That was a sore spot for her, but Ivy couldn't help but look inside at Luke taking an order right by the window in his usual plaid with a blue backward hat. Her eyes wandered past him only to see Jess behind the counter and a girl with a bleach-blond bob across from him. Jess looked over her shoulder directly at Ivy and his eyes rounded a little at the sight of her. She leaned over the counter to kiss him and Ivy looked away just as Lorelai began walking before she could see it happen.

Ivy didn't care. It wasn't like she and Jess had something. Rory and he did. Sure she didn't know that he ever came back after everything happened and she didn't expect anyone to break the news, especially to her. She had been working at Luke's for a while before Jess came to town, and when he did he became her coworker. They coexisted for a while together, butting heads constantly.

Jess wasn't just a new guy in town. He came in and wreaked havoc all over her small town and screwed with her sister's head just because Ivy refused to let him get close enough to even get into hers. She didn't want him back, she wanted him out of her life and her sister's because when Jess was around he didn't bring anything good with him.

Lorelai and Ivy had run into Jackson and Sookie, but Ivy struggled to be present in the conversation. Her eyes kept wandering to the music shop.

"I'll be back," She told her mom.

Lorelai nodded. "Okay honey just be back at the house in time for dinner I'm ordering in Al's and we can talk more."

Ivy sent a small smile before heading to the music shop. It was one of the new ones in this prehistoric town, but an enjoyable one. Guitars were hung on the wall, a full drum set in the back, rows of records lined up in alphabetical order, and there was even a box of pins at checkout for a couple of cents.

She always wanted to be good at something musical. The guitar mostly but she never got around to it and her mom never had the money for lessons. Soccer was free -- at first. It was a community thing, something fun for the kids to do. It stuck with Ivy, but not so much with anyone else she grew up doing it with.

Ivy rounded the corner to the next aisle when she saw two tall boys overlooking the guitars and the picks. She recognized the one with khakis and a baggier burgundy shirt as Dean but couldn't quite tell who the other was.

Her steps became lighter as she tried to revert to her previous aisle without being seen but froze when she heard her name being called by Dean.

"Hey! ... Dean," Ivy turned to face him and his friend -- who she now recognized as Axel -- with a fake smile. "How are you?"

Dean tilted his head slightly at her with suspicion but played along. "I'm doing good," He answered with a smile. "I heard from Lorelai that you went to Yale for the summer."

"Yale?" Axel's eyes widened. "Did you graduate early, Gilmore?" He teased and that got a real smile out of Ivy.

She sighed. "I wish, but no, I was there for a soccer program that they do with seniors."

"Ah, scouting." He tutted.

Dean cut in with a guitar pick spinning in between his fingers. "Rory comes back tomorrow, right?" Ivy nodded, her arms crossing. "Why don't we all hang out and catch up."

Ivy didn't miss the way Axel's eye twitched slightly. They weren't strangers but they weren't each other's favorite person at the moment. She never had a good reputation with any of the boys that went to Stars Hollow High.