WHEN TAYLOR CALLED FOR AN EMERGENCY TOWN MEETING on a Sunday afternoon, Rosie expected it to actually be an emergency. Pipe leaks, amber alert, state order to reindustrialize Stars Hollow, or anything of the sort. What she did not expect was for it to be about a mere retirement, although she came to the conclusion that she should've known better than to expect an actual emergency.

"It seems like the right thing to do." Miss Patty agreed.

"I concur." Taylor nodded, gesturing his gavel around the crowded town hall. "When one gazes at Stars Hollow, one can easily overlook a vital component of it's beauty and that's a humble yet spunky twinkle light. Harry's house of twinkle lights has been an integral part of this town for twenty years, so it's only right that we honour his retirement. So I hereby designate next Tuesday Harry the twinkle light man day."

Lorelai leaned in to murmur to the girls; "And yet he didn't approve on my monthly Lorelai holiday. Talk about double standards."

The door opened as Luke and Jess stepped into the town hall. "Late again, are we?" Taylor chastised the two. "I hope you work on your punctuality, I banged the meeting awhile ago."

"Dirty."

"Some of us have stores to run, Taylor, you can't call for an abrupt town meeting." Luke shot back as he made his way to the row the Gilmore's were, scooting his way in.

Jess sat between his uncle and Rosie, scoffing as he sat down. "Don't want to be here, do you?" Rosie observed.

"No," He replied lowly, eying his uncle as he said; "but apparently I need to work on my likability."

Knowing him, Rosie knew he would've gotten out of being coerced into a town meeting if he wanted to, so she figured he didn't mind attending it. It was a distinct contrast from a few weeks go, once he first arrived to town and had a town meeting held about him, and now was welcomed into a town meeting. She glanced at him once more, and figured she was witnessing Jess Mariano warming up to Stars Hollow, whether he'd admit it or not.

"Can't disagree." Lorelai mumbled inaudibly.

"I'm going to take advantage of this unexpected pause in our proceedings to confirm with Miss Patty about the next item on our agenda." Taylor clarified. He then turned to the council members beside him, and the town hall loudened as they broke into conversation to take advantage of the pause.

Luke turned to Lorelai from the other end of the row. "What did we miss?"

"Tuesday is officially Harry the twinkle light man day." She explicated. "Oh, and Kirk's going to pitch his new business idea for any minute know."

"Fascinating." Jess exclaimed, pressing his back farther into the chair, his face taut.

   "Looks like he's yearning for the council's approbation." Rosie agreed, eying the paper in her hands as she spoke. "Blasphemy." She added. The two newcomers, lost, only stared at her peculiarly.

"You think he'll be sad if Taylor declines?" Rory pitched in. "Like last month, when he got denied a privilege card and didn't show up to town meeting for three weeks."

    "He'll be perplexed, bemused, crestfallen – a plethora of woeful emotions." Rosie said ruefully.

    Jess eyed her imperceptibly. "Someone opened a dictionary." He retorted.

Rosie dismissed his comment, and Taylor went back to continuing the council meeting. Her attention was split between the paper in her hand and the actual meeting, listening in to Kirk pitch his new business idea and being dismissed by Taylor, who wants to stick to the agenda and discuss a townsfolk monthly appreciation board. "And I think it'll only be fitting that I be the first one, too." Taylor said sheepishly.

"I don't get it." Jess groaned impatiently.

    Rosie inched closer in her seat to him, their arms touching when she whispered an explanation. "He's arrogating himself the ascendancy to appoint himself as man of the month."

   Jess shifted in his seat to face her. "Seriously, what is with the big words, did James Joyce rise from his grave and possess you?" He inquired. "Or was it Herman Melville?"

   She rolled her eyes at the reference. "I have a verbal vocabulary quiz tomorrow— i'm practising." She held up her sheet of vocabulary words to show him.

    "I can help." He offered. "What? I'm not an honour student, but I know a thing or two about vocabulary." Hesitatingly, she handed him the folded sheet of paper. Jess unfolded it and cleared his throat before quizzing her. "First word; capitulate."

    "Surrender under agreed conditions."

    "Next one; dearth."

    "Uh.." She stammered. "Use it in a sentence."

     Jess gaped at the paper and signed, conjuring up a sentence from the word and saying; "How about; this towns meeting will be the dearth of me."

    "You see, I have a feeling that's not what it means." She grasped the paper from his hands, reading over the actual definition of the word. Lack of, scarcity. She looked up at him once she recalled that his makeup exam would be the following morning. "Hey, did you revise for the test?"

"Depends, did you give Nirvana a second chance?"

"I did, actually." She nodded, watching him lean in in anticipation. "I liked it. I guess I may have been wrong about it being an hour of noise." She admitted, seeing him smile in triumph. "So; did you revise?"

"Well, I will now."

Luke pulled Jess back to his seat once their murmuring transcended into a normal tone, audible enough for them to become a distraction in the meeting. "— and that is why we don't allow juveniles in town meetings!" Taylor concluded by clapping his gavel on the podium.

"Hey, I prefer the term young adult!" Rosie frowned, crossing her arms as she leaned her back against the chair.

"Well," Jess clapped his hand on Luke's knees. "You heard the man, so I should–"

"But I will allow it just this once!" Taylor agreed, earning a groan from Jess as he got pulled back into his seat. "So, back to Kirk— i'm sorry, but I don't see how that is achievable."

Their voice muffled in her mind when she turned her focus on Jess. "Does you being here mean you're officially part of the town?" She inquired. She supposed any conversation with him would be more amusing than the town debating Kirk's unattainable business idea. "Or are you still going to treat it as a transitionary, montage and it's over period?"

"I am not part of this town."

"But you participated in the basket auction." She recalled. "Then you took part in the sexually suggestive movie posters debate and got everyone to overcome a town controversy by creating a liberty and anti-censorship movement." Rosie was curious just how far she could redeem his rebellious acts until he starts questioning if it was for the greater good.

"Alright, switching out American Beauty for Bambi is not taking part in overcoming a town controversy."

"But you facilitated the movement, and now you're in a town meeting." Rosie rose an eyebrow. "Next thing you know, you'll be planting trees with us on Earth Day."

"Maybe I can knock over a liquor store while everyone else plants those stupid trees."

Rosie glanced over at Taylor, who glared persistently at the two, and lowered her tone as she continued the conversation. "You know, maybe you'll be the next Stars Hollow resident of the month."

"I'd change my name to Holden Caulfield and move across the country."

  She locked eyes with him for a moment, offering a teasing grin. "Don't threaten me with a good time, Mariano."

"Are you sure you'd want that, though?" Jess stared at her knowingly. "This town would be a bore without me."

"You know what, you're right." She bobbed her head. "I'm more concerned on what will happen if you don't leave town. If you stay here long enough, who knows what unimaginable things might occur– we could end up being friends, and that's just beyond me."

"That won't happen."

Rosie closed the space between their knees when she leaned forward. "Oh, i'd love to here why that is."

"I'm upset enough as I am, i'm not a masochist."

    "Funny." She rolled her eyes. "You can try, but it's obvious you don't hate me."

    "Not hate, I believe the word i'm looking for is," He grabbed the paper from her hands and read off the sheet; "Incandescent."

    "No, incandescent is passionate, furiously strong emotion. Much like how you'd describe your Kirk's current state." She glanced towards the fir Kirk was throwing to Taylor. "You, my friend, are looking for the word choleric."

    "No, I think incandescent sounds about right." Jess shrugged a shoulder as he glanced at the paper. He looked up, his gaze lingering at hers. "So," He cleared his throat. "Why don't you just study tonight?"

    She took the paper from his hands. "I'm a busy woman, I have plans tonight." Jess responded with an exaggerated nod, raising his eyebrows up briefly.

"Did you get the book?" Jess shifted his gaze to the wall instead of facing her this time. He said it in a low tone, as if the book he left for her was their secret.

"Fifty pages in." Rosie shifted in her seat when he brought this up. "You know i'm in AP English Lit. and you don't have to write in footnotes to explain every other passage in the book, right?"

He shrugged. "I'm a creature of habit."

"Meeting adjourned!" Taylor explained after a heated argument with Kirk, then proceeded to pull Ms. Patty out of the town hall. Rosie glanced at her sister with a curious look on her face, but she seemed to match her lost attitude.

Rosie stood from her seat, gathering her paper and pager. She considered cancelling her plans for a moment. To spend the day finishing the book she was lending from Jess, seeing as she was intrigued by his notes in the margins. But no— there was a party she was keen on attending tonight.