sweet emotion • jess mariano

| four

『 chapter four 』
04| small world, small town

"How is school?" deputy O'Neal asked with such exceeding integrity I almost swallowed my tongue.

Mom whacked him in the chest with her delicate hand, "Xander, honey, you can't just interrogate our daughter."

I nodded my head in a form of agreement, my school was none of their business. I didn't want to divulge the marker pen scribbled stalls or the pubescent drama contained in one building.

"Don't you just love your wife?" I stared at my mom awestruck.

Dad rolled his eyes and pointed to the hand twirling broccoli idly on my plate. "Eat your greens, sweat pea."

Family night out was a kind of tradition. There were some rare times when dad couldn't make it or mom was busy, but we always had a dinner at some point.

"Teddy, I'm ordering that new pecan desert. Split it with me?" mom wiped the corners of her mouth on the towel, she adored food but she could never finish it all. Besides, by the rate Xander was going he would have cholesterol problems before reaching the ripe age of 45.

Dad only seemed defeated, not willing to dispute over one desert. That and arguing was more of a lawyer's job description.

"I'll go order it, did you want a refill on the drinks?" I started rounding up their glasses as if I were the one working the joint.

The O'Neal's furrowed their eyebrows menacingly, "You're our daughter, you shouldn't have to wait on us. Especially since you don't work here."

Ignoring their comments, I proceeded to the bar where I set the cups down and found a grumpy looking Luke.

"What's got you frowning, Luke-y pooky?" my elbow wormed its way into his fleshy ribs. "Your new lodger got you down? Or has Lorelai rejected you?"

Bitter sourness staring me down seemed to be the response which I was ever so lucky to receive. "It's Jess. He's so-"

"Rude? Arrogant? Conceded? Non compliant? Over emotional? Tell me if I'm getting this right." I had no grounds to say what Jess Mariano was or wasn't, however I wasn't desensitised to teenagers.

Unlike Luke, he'd already been through his teen years and was so used to seeing them as memories he couldn't suspend himself into Jess' perspective. Maybe I was wrong, but Jess didn't seem to bad. He seemed alone. A little confused, too.

My boss seemed to rise at my sudden understanding, "How did you know?"

"I'm a teenager myself, Luke." I shrugged it off, "He'll be okay. He needs to adjust."

"Well, could you just make sure that he's settling in?" Luke adjusted the backwards baseball cap on his head, which only made him look like he was stuck in his own pre-pubescent uncool stage. "You do go to the same school as him."

I scoffed, not knowing where that had come from. Luke and I had a good relationship, he was the second father I never had and I was the child he had always wanted; if he had wanted kids to begin with. "You're asking me to look out for Jess, or check up on him?"

"Not exactly, I'm begging you to keep an eye on him. Keep him out of trouble, possibly?" without realising, my boss had crossed a line.

It was one thing to befriend his nephew, but who was I to lie to someone about why I would try so hard to be close to them? "Look, Jess doesn't  need anymore impermanence in his life. He needs stability. Not a liar."

"Do you not like my nephew?" Luke counter argued, firing back at me to distract from the fact that he was way in over his head.

He wasn't just asking me. He needed me.

"What? No. I barely know the kid."

Luke slapped his knee, taking the opportunity to press my shoulder briefly before passing by me to leave. "Good, then I trust I'll be seeing you and Jess together more often."

All I could do was sigh, sometimes I wondered if Jess had the right idea about Luke and I having some kind of domestic relationship. It sure felt like we were married; keeping the cafe in check, cleaning up his house, and now taking care of his nephew.

"What are you doing, Charlotte?" mom strutted over to me, her eyes scrutinising my palms which were pressed together in line with my chest.

"Praying that Lorelai realises she's in love with Luke," I peeked through my left eye, "Maybe then I won't feel like a middle aged married woman."

Mom whacked me around the head playfully, "Watch what you say when describing me."

✧

Waiting all day for an opportunity to speak to a boy was more or so, extremely Macy of me. In fact, it almost felt as if I had stepped into her shoes and was waiting to see if I could catch a glimpse of Dean.

Except Dean was the last boy on my mind. Especially with Jess Mariano around.

"Are you following me?" Jess was the one to approach me, leaving me completely startled that I had been caught.

I choked, riggling so quickly against the white bricked wall that I hit my head on it, "Me? No. How could I be following you with my back pressed against the wall?"

"You're either watching or following me, so which is it?" Jess folded his arms, his face set like concrete, expressing no emotion. "Did deputy O'Neal put you up to this? Am I being watched because of prejudice?"

I couldn't help but unsuccessfully suppress my giggle. It infuriated him to see me so amused, especially by his not so angelic reputation. That may have been tainted, yet his features seemed to be his salvation. "Actually, I wanted to befriend you. You don't know anyone here and I'm practically Luke's estranged daughter."

With a book in his hand, I knew Jess would understand me if I spoke naturally. I had a more well versed vocabulary than most, it made me self conscious when speaking sometimes.

Brown eyes darted over my stance, carefully studying the way I peeled myself off of the wall to rock back and forth on my heels. "What it sounds like is you want to hang out, either that or you're pitying my loneliness."

"I'm not." I said too quickly, shoving a brash smile upon my face when he sent me a suspicious look.

"Okay." he nodded, slowly, all caution away from the wind. "I'll catch you tonight then."

It was a statement. No question, no room for hesitation. Except, I was never too easily swayed. "I, uh, actually have work. So, I'll hang some other time."

With a brief smile, I strolled away, satisfied with my friendly performance. It felt wrong that I was only befriending Jess because Luke had begged me to; I could never deny Luke.

Despite how immoral I personally felt, I shoved that aside, hoping that Luke and his nephew's relationship would benefit from it.