In The Forgotten Gilmore, Alessia Gilmore grapples with adolescence in Stars Hollow, a town where gossip flows as freely as coffee at Luke's Diner. Overshadowed by her mother Lorelai's bond with twin sister Rory, Alessia finds solace in her irrevere...
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Alessia trudged through the halls of Harvard, each step heavier than the last. Her mind was buzzing, replaying the scene she had just stumbled into. Riley. Beau. She wasn't angry, not exactly, but something inside her had cracked open. A raw, unsettling feeling that had less to do with them being together and more to do with the secret they had been keeping.
They didn't trust her with that part of their lives.
She pushed the thought aside, trying to make sense of her next move. Her car keys dangled in her hand, and for a split second, she considered making the drive to Logan's apartment at Yale. It would've been so easy-flee Harvard, flee her thoughts, bury herself in the safety of Logan's arms. But even that didn't feel right. She wasn't ready to explain all this to him, not yet. Not while her mind was still such a mess.
Her feet guided her instead back toward her dorm. It was automatic, like some quiet part of her knew that avoiding everything wouldn't help. The familiar halls stretched out in front of her as she got closer to the room she shared with Riley. The irony of going back to the space she shared with him wasn't lost on her, but she needed the familiarity. She needed her bed, her space.
The door clicked shut behind her, and the silence of the room wrapped around her like a blanket. Riley wouldn't be back for a while-he was still with Beau, and that thought alone felt like it created more distance between them. Alessia dropped her keys onto her desk and kicked off her shoes, collapsing onto her bed with a long exhale.
For a moment, she just lay there, staring at the ceiling, letting the stillness of the room settle over her. But the stillness didn't bring peace; it brought the storm brewing inside her closer to the surface. Everything hit her at once. Riley and Beau. Seeing Jess. The past she had tried so hard to bury, now forcing its way into her present.
Her breath caught in her throat as the memories of Jess flooded her mind-the betrayal she felt when he kissed Rory, the way she had told herself she'd never forgive him, but here she was, all these years later, still haunted by it. And seeing him today... he had looked different, older, sharper. Handsome in that way that made her want to scream because it reminded her of how much she had once cared.
Her chest tightened. She had Logan now. Logan, who was kind, attentive, and safe in a way Jess had never been. He was solid ground when everything else felt shaky. But that didn't stop the twisted knot of confusion that seeing Jess had created in her gut.
Alessia rolled onto her side, curling into herself, the thoughts spinning faster now. Then came the flash of Isabella. Her best friend from childhood to the end of high school. The one person who had known her better than anyone, who had seen all her layers and loved her anyway. The loss of Isabella had left a hole in Alessia's life that nothing-not her relationship with Logan, not her friendship with Riley-could fully fill.
Tears pricked at the edges of her eyes, but she blinked them away, angry at herself for letting it all get this far. She was supposed to be stronger than this, wasn't she? She had always prided herself on being tough, on not letting the mess of her past drag her down. But here she was, tangled in it all again.
Isabella. Jess. Riley and Beau.
Alessia felt the weight of all her unresolved grief, anger, and confusion press down on her. Her heart pounded in her chest as she pulled the blanket over her head, trying to block out the world. But it was no use. The memories were louder than ever, clawing their way to the surface.
She wished she could talk to Isabella. Isabella would've known exactly what to say, how to make her laugh even when everything felt broken. But she wasn't here, and Alessia felt her absence more keenly than ever.
Her phone buzzed on the nightstand, but she didn't reach for it. She knew it wasn't the distraction she needed. Instead, she let the room fall back into silence, hoping that maybe, in the quiet, she could start to make sense of everything.
But it wasn't quiet inside her mind. It never was.
