the town and the city (j. mariano)

CHAPTER 8

It was noon during Mandy's Sunday shift when Kirk entered Luke's looking more confused than he normally did.

"Mandy, why do you have a letter from a military school in Maryland?" he asked.

Mandy took the letter cautiously. "Not that it's your business, but it's from a... friend." Jess scoffed from behind the counter, knowing exactly who had sent it. The girl's cheeks flushed slightly when she started to read the letter, and her coworker grew more curious about the letter's contents. "Thank you, Kirk," she said, waving the man away. He'd clearly been trying to read over her shoulder.

"Let me guess, new asshole boyfriend?" Jess mocked, aggressively shutting the cash register.

"None of your business, and he's not my boyfriend." Mandy sat to finish reading the letter but was interrupted when it was taken from her hands. She immediately tried to get it back, but Jess held it out of reach. The two fought for control of the paper until Jess had the marvelous idea to sprint upstairs to the apartment and lock her out.

"Jess, give it back," Mandy warned. "It's not yours. If you don't give it back in three seconds I'll steal a pair of your underwear and send it to Principal Howard with a love note."

"She is attractive for a seventy-year-old woman," he joked, opening the door. However, his joking voice didn't match the sneer on his face. "Seems like lover boy wants some advice."

Mandy grabbed the letter from his hands and stormed down the stairs to a table to continue reading.

Dear Lady Mandy,

You wanted respectful and chivalrous, so here's my attempt at that. Military school is exactly what I thought it'd be like, but for some reason I like it. The structure was intimidating at first, but it became bearable. There's lots of guys like me here, which is a good and bad thing. Good, because I have people to relate to. Bad, because I don't think I want to be that kind of guy anymore. The kind of guy that is "too much of an asshole to do the bare minimum." And maybe this is a lot for a first letter, but I don't think you'd mind. Something tells me that you'll be a good influence on me while I'm here, especially when I'm around a bunch of "macho" guys who all think they're better than each other.

I don't need much advice, trust me I get that enough from the instructors. I just want to learn about how you see the world. Get a different perspective. It's like there's a singular mind here, and I need an escape from that.

I hope Rory doesn't miss me too much.

Sincerely,

Sir Tristan

Mandy couldn't help but scoff at the boy's audacity, specifically with the last line. He was doing fine up until then and she was initially impressed with his candor. And then, when he mentioned Rory, he threw it all down the drain.

"So, when are you going to respond to the pompous asshole?" Jess mocked as he obnoxiously wiped the table Mandy sat at.

"You know what, Jess? Just be quiet," the girl snapped, finally losing her cool. "You had no right to take that letter and read it."

"Why not? He took you from your shift and I had to pick up the slack. I might as well get to see what for." 

Mandy knew that Jess was just trying to wind her up, but she let out a scoff. "Like you'd know anything about privacy anyway. As always, you're just putting your nose where you don't belong."

"As always?" Jess echoed. "Tell me, princess, what else have I done so far?"

"You won't leave me alone at school, no matter how many times I try to get you to leave me alone. You always ask about Rory, even though you know she's dating my cousin. You drive Luke nuts for no reason other than your own personal entertainment." The diner had gone nearly silent, but neither of the teens noticed. "Honestly, you're just a disrespectful, pompous ass!"

"Am I? You have me all figured out, don't you? Well, maybe you should look in the mirror," Jess snapped. "You're prissy, judgmental, and you hold grudges tighter than you hold onto Luke's money for dear life."

Luke finally stormed in from the kitchen. "That is enough from you two! Upstairs, now." He herded his two employees up the stairs and sat them down. "Does someone want to tell me what's happening?" Both started to accuse the other at the same time, and Luke rubbed his face in contempt. "I don't know what's happening, but I know it can't happen downstairs. You aren't coming back down until you figure it out." With that, he stormed out the door, leaving the two baffled teens in his wake. 

"I don't hold on to Luke's money for dear life," Mandy quietly said, breaking the silence. 

Jess sighed and turned to face her. "Why do you hate it when I try and talk to you at school?"

"Can you really blame me? Every time you see me it feels like you're making a joke and I'm the punchline. If there's anything I hate Jess, it's being teased." She turned away as his face fell. 

"Why would you ever think that?" When she didn't respond, he kept going, this time walking until he was in her line of vision again. "Why would you be a punchline to me?"

"Because it's happened before, Jess," she snapped. "I guess it's just a fun game boys like to play."

For the first time since he'd moved to Stars Hollow, Jess finally felt as if he understood even a sliver of the enigma that was Mandy Forster. "Mandy, I talk to you in school because you're one of the only people I know. There aren't many people I like in this town, but I find you the most bearable."

"Despite my judgmental, prissy ways?" she scoffed. 

"Hey, you started that one. I was the pompous ass first," he replied. "Where did that even come from?"

"The night when you went to the Gilmore's."

"You mean one of my first nights in a new town where I knew nobody after being abandoned by my mom?" Mandy's face dropped as she realized he was right. "Look, you might be bearable, but you really need to get better at this judging people without context thing."

"You made generalizations about me too," she reminded him. "Does 'little miss perfect' with my 'perfect little family' in my 'perfect little town' ring a bell?"

"I didn't think that was a big deal," Jess admitted, confused out of his mind. 

"Maybe not to you, but my life is far from perfect, Jess. I want out of here just as much as you do." Both of them were surprised at her words. Mandy had never admitted that to anyone, and Jess had thought that she'd live and die in Stars Hollow. 

"I didn't know that," he said. "What if we started over? Blank slate, no judgments, and no grudges."

"I'd like that," she replied with a smile. "Hi, I'm Mandy Forester."

"Jess Mariano. Want to go back downstairs?" 

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lina speaks!

i'm so sorry this has taken so long omg

these past few months have been unbelievably busy, but here you go! we're going to enter into a little bit of a rough draft of a friendship!!

let me know how you like it :) i promise i'll do my best to update more regularly!!