Jess Mariano: a Biography

Chapter One - The Roads of New York

BEFORE I START: Sorry for any spelling mistakes/ grammar mistakes, I try my best to make it perfect but it may not be. This story is basically about Jess before he goes to Stars Hollow and then after, so he can have the happy ending he deserves. I freaking love Jess Mariano. Anyways, enjoy!!
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The main road was, as usual, heaving. Jess Mariano stood, waiting for the trail of cars to slow, so he could cross the busy New York road.

It soon became obvious that he would be there a while so Jess found a nearby bench, sat himself down, and waited, watching the cars and bikes and buses that passed.

He looked at the small paper bag next to him. He had just gone grocery shopping, with the little money he and his mother had.

Jess was 16, so had a small part-time job at a nearby cafe. His mother didn't work, so they had very little income, what with taxes and his mother spending most of it on poker and alcohol. After a few months of his new job, Jess worked out that they would have exactly $17 extra to spend on groceries a week. So far this was going okay, but occasionally his mother, Liz, would go out during the day, when she wasn't passed out on the sofa, or had a new boyfriend over, and spend those $17 on more alcohol or cigarettes.

Eventually he figured the traffic wasn't going to slow down any time soon. He pulled out his tattered pack of playing cards Liz gave him years ago, when she was actually a decent mother.

Jess practiced the no-look one-handed shuffle his mother taught him when he was only 9 or 10 years old. He was fairly successful at it by now, so the cards glided smoothly through his hands. Usually. He must have been stressed or something today, because the cards just wouldn't cooperate. He pushed them harder together until they exploded in a burst, like a firework.

Jess quickly picked up the cards, angrily shoving them in his pocket. He stood, waiting for someone to let him cross the road. Eventually, a small camper van slowed to a stop to let him cross.

As he was walking down Main Street, he saw someone angrily shouting into a pay phone.

"I don't care that you're really busy, he needs to go!" said Liz into the phone. "Whatever, I'm sure he can work in that diner of yours."

Jess had no idea who his mother was speaking to. His grandparents were dead and his mother only had one sibling, whom she never spoke to. He set his grocery bag on the floor and went closer.

"Look, Luke, I can't do this anymore! He gets into trouble and won't do anything I tell him! I've had enough," Liz was saying.

That's when Jess realized she was talking about him. And the person on the other end was in fact Liz's brother. Luke. He wondered what his mother and Luke were talking about. Probably shipping him off to military school or something.

Jess wasn't sure if he should confront Liz, or go home and forget about it. He decided that the latter was probably the safer option. Liz already seemed annoyed, no need to further anger her by admitting he was listening to her conversation.

He picked up his shopping bag and started walking, straight past Liz. He was just passing her, as he felt the bag lighten in his hand, and saw all his groceries spill out onto the floor, some blowing onto the road. Jess watched as a lorry ran over it all, exploding the milk and crisps, easily crushing the iceberg lettuce and flattening the already slightly smushed bread.

He ran and picked up the remaining items that fortunately didn't land on the road. He struggled to hold everything in his arms, losing the butter and tomatoes as he walked.

Jess turned to see his mother silently watching him, then she shrugged and went back to her phone call. He actually hoped she was sending him to military school. At least then he would get decent meals and not have to worry about Liz wasting all their money.

When Jess eventually got home, he found the apartment to look even worse than how he left it. It always did when he left Liz alone.

He put the groceries away and began to tidy, picking up clothes and emptying bottles and crisp packets. He cleaned up a patch of vomit and what he suspected was probably vodka. There was a pair of glasses on the table. Neither he nor Liz wore glasses, so he figured they belonged to her boyfriend, Jake, who probably wasn't her boyfriend anymore, as they usually broke up with her after seeing the state of their apartment. Or when they found out about Jess.

After making the sitting room looked vaguely livable, Jess decided to make some toast, before realizing the bread he bought had been destroyed. He searched the cupboard and found some stale bread at the bottom. The expiry date was for a few months ago. He decided to just have some crisps instead.

He took them into his room, the only clean place in their whole apartment. He sat on his bed and stared at the blank TV, which he couldn't watch because a TV license cost too much. So did the TV, but one of Liz's boyfriends had given it to them.

Jess looked around at his bedroom, which he tried hard to make look homely. He had some slightly ripped (they were second hand) posters. One featured the front cover of a David Bowie album and the other one was the night sky, with the constellations marked out. He had a single bed with plain black bed sheets, and a grey bean bag at the at the foot of the bed. The bed itself was very old, it had been in the apartment when they bought it, so it was probably going to fall apart soon. The carpet used to be white, but was now a dull grey, due to the dust and lack of a vacuum cleaner. There was also a bookshelf that covered one whole wall, with books piled up next to it and under his bed too. Liz kept saying she'd buy him another shelf, but they both knew that wasn't happening any time soon.

He picked up the book that he was reading - Ulysses by James Joyce, one of his favorite books, and read until Liz got home.