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Jess Mariano had mastered the art of hiding.
Somehow, after the explosive dinner at the Gilmore's a few nights prior, he had managed to successfully avoid everyone. Five days had passed, and the only people Jess saw were Luke, whom he lived with and couldn't escape from, and Roman, whom he would run into by the bridge and smoke with.
Because of his newfound talent for hiding, Jess had stupidly grown to believe that he was free. He had been living in Stars Hollow for about a week, and Luke had yet to mention school or how long his stay was supposed to last, which made him think he would be able to escape town and return to New York City the moment the clock struck midnight on his 18th birthday.
To no one's shock, he had been wrong.
On the third night of hiding, Luke walked into the apartment the Dane boys' still hadn't gotten used to sharing, holding a bag of what looked like school supplies in one hand and a backpack in the other. Jess's heart dropped as he heard the words "You start school on Monday." leave his uncle's mouth.
He wasn't free.
He wouldn't be able to go back home in a month.
So, Jess decided to do the one thing he had always known he was extremely great at—run. He grabbed his things and walked out of the apartment. He walked and walked, until somehow he reached the Gilmore's house.
As he stood near the house, his body filled with anger. Jess knew it had more likely been Lorelai Gilmore who told Luke to sign him into school, so Jess decided to do something stupid—for so many reasons.
He angrily walked towards what he knew was their neighbor's lawn and grabbed a gnome. Yes, a gnome. He stared at the ceramic figure for a second, hating how the short time he had spent in town was starting to affect him, before shoving it into his brand-new backpack and angrily storming off.
Reasons why that was stupid:
1. He was angry with the Lorelai, and the gnome clearly didn't belong to her.
2. Believe it or not, he had never stolen anything before.
3. What was he supposed to do with a fucking gnome?
4. He was trying to be rebellious by stealing a fucking ceramic statue used to decorate a garden for god's sake!
A few days later, on Monday morning, Jess stole for the second time. Was he doing it to prove himself—his mother—what him out of control really looked like? Maybe—yes; he just wouldn't admit it. Was he doing it so Luke would send him back to New York? Definitely.
