POKING NORMALCY IN THE BACKSIDE

By Oregano

                Lorelai walked into the Diner the next day with a feeling of nervousness.  This was going to be weird.  It had been a few weeks since Rory had gone, and it gave her a chance to get to know Jess better.  Now, he was like Lorelai’s annoying little brother.  Of course, that would make him Rory’s uncle and that would also make Luke hers.  It was way too weird, so she stopped thinking about it for a while.

                The door gave its jingling announcement and let Lorelai in.  She made her way to the counter and waited.  Jess ambled over with his little smirk-face and gave her a mug.

                “Hey,” he greeted casually as he poured her some coffee.

                “Hi, Jess.”

                Lorelai was about to speak, but the door interrupted them and made that familiar sound.  Jess looked at that direction and Lorelai noticed his face light up.  Hmm.  Not good. 

                She turned and saw the new girl.  Lorelai’s eyes followed her as she sauntered over to the other end of the counter.  Jess walked over to her and set the coffee pot down. 

                Lorelai’s eyes then narrowed as she surveyed the scene.

                The girl suddenly grabbed Jess by the shirt and kissed him from her side of the counter.

                It was official.  Jess had found himself a girlfriend.

                Lorelai sat on a bench reading a newspaper beside Lane Kim, Rory’s best friend, who was sipping iced tea from a straw.  At least it looked like that.  Actually, Lorelai’s paper had an interestingly large hole in the middle; Lane’s iced tea had settled at the bottom of the cup; and the bench in which they sat was, funnily enough, right in front of the Auto Shop which, even funnier, was where the new girl worked.

                Jess may be Lorelai’s pretend-brother, but Rory was her real-daughter.  She counted more.  This would break Rory’s heart.  Lorelai wasn’t sure how observing (not stalking, that was illegal) the new girl around was going to help, but hey; it was summer, the Inn wasn’t very busy, and she was getting pretty bored.

                “Her name is Shane,” Lane murmured, “and she has a lot of piercings.  My mom would have a heart attack if she saw where.”

                “Ooh.  She’s an artist,” Lorelai said, sounding very much like the Wicked Witch Of the West.  Now, she and Lane sat behind the gazebo, playing an unprogressive game of chess.  Shane, their victim, was sprawled on the grass, sketching into a sketch pad.

                “She’s pretty good.”

                “In a weird, Dark Horse Comics kind of way.”

                They saw Jess walk over to Shane with his smirk and his hands in his pockets.  The two of them immediately snapped their attention to the chess pieces.  From Lorelai’s peripheral vision, she saw Jess sit beside Shane and give her a kiss.

                “Who’s controlling the white guys again?” Lane asked, confused.