Chapter 5 : How Do I Deal

Rory bit her lip. This boy wasn't going to let up until she told him exactly where she lived. She didn't really want to tell him, though. But then again, she already told him she lived in Connecticut. Hm...

She finally decided to just flat out lie. How could he prove she didn't really live there, anyway?

CoffeeJunkie02: okay, fine. I live in Mystic.

NYer02: oh, okay. you're right, that's nowhere near me.

CoffeeJunkie02: your turn

NYer02: my turn...I live in north CT.

CoffeeJunkie02: oh. what city?

NYer02: you've probably never heard of it. Listen, I have to go now, can I talk to you later?

CoffeeJunkie02: oh, yeah. talk to you later.

Rory watched him sign off and his name disappear from her buddy list. She sighed, making small circles on the screen with her mouse. Now what was there to do?

Jess signed offline. He hurried downstairs and picked up the phone, dialing Rory's number. Busy.

His hand shook as he placed the receiver back on the hook. Was he talking to Rory online? It seemed highly unlikely. But then again...an 'Oliver Twist' chatroom, lives in Connecticut, the accidental cheating on her boyfriend...It all added up. The only thing that threw him was that she said she lived in Mystic.

Jess grabbed the phone again and was just about to dial, when Luke passed by him.

"Coffee," he called over his shoulder.

Jess nodded, picking up the coffeepot. As soon as Luke disappeared into the kitchen, he set it back down and went over to the phone. He dialed Rory's number again and she picked up on the second ring. He hung up and grabbed the coffeepot again.

He went around the diner, offering coffee, but he kept glancing back at the phone every few seconds. He thought about it some more, and now he was almost positive Rory was 'CoffeeJunkie02'. Even the screen name sounded like her. He decided to get her screen name from her and see once and for all.

He again went back over to the phone, picked it up, and dialed Rory's familiar digits.

She answered on the second ring again. "Hello?" she asked, almost annoyed.

"Hey."

"Oh, Jess it's you. Um...what's up?" she asked nervously.

Oh...He had forgotten about the weird tension between them because he had kissed her.

"Nothing. I'm just online, and--"

"How can you be online and on the phone at the same time?"

"Uh, we have Roadrunner."

"Oh, right," Rory replied. "Go on."

"Anyway, I found this website and I wanted to send it to you, but I realized you never game me your e-mail." Did that sound obvious?

"Oh. Uh, it's CoffeeJunkie02."

Jess's breath caught in his throat and his face broke out into a big grin. "That's on AOL?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. I'll send you the website. Um, talk to you later, okay?"

"Sure...bye Jess."

Jess said bye and hung up the phone. He turned around and was face to face with Luke. He fell back a step.

"What are you doing? Who was that--Rory?"

"Sorry, geez. I gave everyone coffee," Jess answered, ignoring Luke's second question entirely. He stepped around him and ran up the stairs to the apartment. Everyone in the diner looked up at the loud noise his shoes made. Luke sighed, walking over to take someone's order.

Rory hung up the phone just as Lorelai walked into her room.

"Hey sweets," she greeted.

"God! You scared me. When'd you get home?"

"Forty seconds ago. Who was that?"

"Oh. Uh--"

"Dean?"

Should I lie? Rory wondered. After a split-second of thought, she replied, "Jess."

Lorelai raised an eyebrow. "Jess?" She said it as if it disgusted her just to say his name.

"Yeah. He wanted to know my screen name," Rory said defensively.

"Why?"

"So he could e-mail me."

"Why?"

"Because I'm fun to talk to?" Rory guessed, half-joking.

"Did you give it to him?"

"No, I told him no and to stop stalking me," Rory replied sarcastically.

Lorelai frowned. "Sorry."

Rory grinned. "Yeah, he was acting kind of weird. Said there was some website he wanted to send me."

"Maybe it's a porn site."

Rory's face scrunched up. "Gross."

"I wouldn't put it past him to--"

"Mom."

"--because I bet he would do something like--"

"Oh, huh?"

"Can we drop it?"

Lorelai appeared to think about it. "I guess," she relented.

"Good."

Jess signed back online, glancing at his buddy list when it popped up. No one was on. He opened a new e-mail and started typing.

 SEND MESSAGE

Rory smiled, reading her e-mail from NYer02. She hit reply.

 SEND MESSAGE