IDLE TOWN, jess mariano

¹¹ever eat a pine tree?

「 chapter eleven 」
❝ I can't believe you would compare me to a caterpillar „

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"GET OUT," LUKE DEMANDED AS SOON AS the pair of teens tried to step into the diner. "I'm not letting you guys come in like that."

"How was your picnic with Lorelai?" Aries asked with a smirk on her face.

He huffed a breath but ignored her. "Stay outside, I'll grab towels."

Jess had taken off his soaking wet jacket and Aries had tied her hair into a bun. She would've taken off her jacket as well, but she was wearing a white shirt underneath and she didn't need to have that all wet and clinging to her skin.

They waited until Luke brought out two towels for them that they gratefully wrapped around their shoulders.

"You don't wanna know how we got like this?" Aries asked.

"Honestly? No," Luke stated bluntly. "Just go dry off; you're scaring my customers."

They nodded and waited for Luke to go back inside before they walked off and started mocking him. They walked to the gazebo and sat down on the bench.

"Wow, this seems like the perfect place to tell the story," Aries said as she swung her legs.

Jess just raised his eyebrows and she rolled her eyes in amusement at his lack of vocalization.

"Well, the place of the crime was actually in this gazebo," she started.

"Please tell me you didn't murder someone here and now I'm sitting where the corpse was," he said.

"Yeah, and you're my next victim," she deadpanned. "Anyway, we didn't intentionally commit a crime."

"So what did you do?"

She huffed a sigh impatiently. "I'm trying to explain."

"Go on."

"That's literally what I'm trying to do."

"You're sure we're not going to get caught?" Aries asked as Spencer pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his backpack.

He rolled his eyes and pulled out a lighter as well. "Relax, we're not doing anything illegal."

"We're right across from Doose's," she said in an urgent voice. "He'd love to bust us."

"We're just smoking. Speaking of." He pulled out a cigarette and lit it and started smoking it. He offered the box to her. "Want one?"

She shook her head in disdain. "No way. Where'd you get those anyway?"

"Addison," he answered, referring to his older sister.

She bit her lip nervously and nodded. "What if your parents find out?"

"Will you just relax? My parents won't care, they'll just think it's Addie," he said reassuringly and blew out smoke. "Besides, I brought stuff for you since I knew you probably wouldn't want to smoke."

He reached into his backpack and pulled out a bag of marshmallows, a box of graham crackers, and a fork. She chuckled as he put the items in between them and she tried not to cough at the strong smell of smoke.