Chapter Text
Jessica Stanley was obsessed with perfection. Flawlessness had been drilled into her from a very young age by none other than her lovely mother. When Jessica slipped and fell in the park as a baby, most mothers would have run over to their child and comforted them. But Jessica's mom simply watched from where she was standing with other parents. When Jessica ran over to her mom, tears in her eyes, snot running down her nose, her mother handed her a handkerchief and told her that Jessica must not lose her dignity here in public. Appearances mattered, she said, later as she was bandaging up Jessica's scrape that night. When Jessica had entered middle school, her mother had sternly told her that grades mattered now. Jessica was supposed to be at the top. For people in the middle were never remembered, and the students with below-average grades were the bottom feeders. When Jessica was bullied in middle school, her mother had given her gossip about their mothers. Information was currency in Forks, she said. If Jessica did not have information, she must make information. Jessica must be well-dressed, dignified, smart, and observant. That was the mark of power, knowing things that could ruin others' lives. Jessica's mother would sit up with Jessica as she studied late into the night for exams, and would never let her eat junk food.
Her father? Now he was a different story. The yin to her mother's yang. He was the one who would comfort Jessica when she cried or sneaked into their room at night when scared. He would agree that information mattered, but holding the possible ruin of others in your hands and choosing not to do so was the mark of strength. Always be kind, he would insist. Appearances mattered, yes, but what truly mattered was what a person had in their heart. Care about others' opinions.
And Jessica's brothers? Joe and John, they were called, and were older than her by two years. Mischievous and teasing, they were to a fault, pulling pranks on their little sister and making her cry with remarks about how she was adopted, but they always defended her. Jessica later learned that her brothers had beaten up boys in middle school who had tried to spread rumors about her.
Jessica loved her father.
She loved her mother.
She loved her family, her older brothers.
And she was going to make them proud.
And so she put on appearances in middle school, became popular, and began to get stellar grades.
She was suffocating
But there was one person around whom Jessica could fully relax.
Angie. Angela Weber.
Angela was the antithesis of everything Jessica had been taught to be. She was shy, hunched in on herself, was quiet.
But she was smart. Kind. So, so kind. And a good listener. Once Angela got comfortable around Jessica, Jessica learned that Angela had a wicked sense of humor. It was inevitable that Jessica and Angela would become best friends. Sleepovers galore. Angie and Jess. Jess and Angie. Two peas in a pod.
And then, high school came.