Jessica was slumped comfortably on the ground, her back against a bumpy tree trunk as she watched the flickering bonfire. The warm, drowsy haze that she'd been feeling earlier when it had just been Clair and her at the cave, was back again.
That wasn't surprising. She was onto her fourth beer, each one more delicious than the one before it.
Nothing tastes better than being able to push all the problems out of your head for a couple of hours, she told herself sleepily. She could remember having some kind of argument with her mother, but it felt like it had happened weeks ago.
Was that only today? What were we fighting about? Probably nothing important.
The crowd had started to splinter into smaller groups, as well as couples. She looked over at Clair, who was sitting in the lap of her latest conquest, a football player named Simon Blair.
Jessica had to admit that Simon was a good looking guy, with striking pale blue eyes. He was also the wide receiver on Abbot Springs High's football team. Football makes a guy popular by default, doesn't it?
She mulled snide thoughts about Simon for a while, sipping her beer. She knew Clair was only after him for his looks. She'd probably toss him aside in a few weeks, if her past behaviour was any indication.
Just as well, Jessica thought. Because I'm pretty sure Simon's also one of the dumbest students at school. Behind those pretty eyes there's… nothing at all. Just a few lonely brain cells floating around in a vast empty space.
She'd always been prejudiced against high school footballers. Partly because she found the sport dull.
But mostly because her absent father had been a local high school football hero himself.
That was all before he'd decided to flee the town like a coward, of course. A coward who hadn't even bothered sticking around for the birth of his own child.
Jessica knew his name. Michael Archer. Her mother had told her his name, though not much else about him.
She knew however, that her birth was the result of a fling between Abbot Springs High School's beloved quarterback and a wannabe prom queen.
How very cliche, right? Pure Americana, and not in a great way.
And Michael probably didn't think he'd owed Mom anything because he hadn't even been her boyfriend, Jessica thought peevishly. He'd actually been her best friend's boyfriend.
What the hell had Mom been thinking back then? Clair have our fights once in a while but we'd never dream of ever stealing a guy from one another. That's the bitchiest thing you can do to a friend.
Presumably, the enigmatic Georgia Carpenter hadn't been thrilled either. To discover that not only was her very best friend sleeping with her boyfriend, but had also gotten herself knocked up.
Michael had left Abbot Springs, never to return. So presumably had Georgia. The only one left behind had been Suzanne Heath, stuck with her reputation as a man stealer and her fatherless baby.
I guess Mom's punishment for being a shitty friend had been to end up trapped in purgatory. If purgatory had dust storms and tumbleweeds.
And here we still are.
Clair's sultry laugh cut through Jessica's thoughts and brought her back to the present day. She was still on Simon's lap, taking swigs from a bottle of cheap wine he was sharing with her.
Jessica could hear Simon's voice as he drunkenly babbled about his plans after graduation. He had a football scholarship to a university in Arizona. The more she listened to his slurred words, the more she wanted to throw a can of beer at his head.
The guy can barely add two numbers together, but he still gets to escape, she brooded. Meanwhile I'm stuck here, because I committed the crime of having no money.
Why do things have to be so unfair?
I'm not asking for a miracle, I just want the chance to make something out of myself. Is that such a big ask?
Jessica looked at the scattering of teenagers in front of her, with critical eyes. There were one or two couples kissing. One of the boys was passed out drunk on his back and snoring. A few other boys had popped the hood of one of the parked cars and were arguing noisily about something to do with the engine.
These are my peers, she thought. My social group. I've known most of them since kindergarten. Some of them I can even call my friends.
But the only person here I genuinely care about is Clair. And the feeling's mutual.
Jessica knew she was liked well enough. She was considered pretty and popular. Boys looked at her with interest and girls looked at her with jealousy, but usually weren't stupid enough to say anything to her face. None of them dared to be outright nasty to Clair's McKinley's best friend.
But it was all superficial. That was the cold, hard truth of high school life.
Deep down, no one's actually going to give two shits what happens to me, or what my future looks like. Half the kids I can see here won't even be around anymore after September.
And those that end up staying in Abbot Springs for whatever reason, aren't people I really want to spend time with.
Jessica put down her now empty beer can. Maybe I should stop drinking, she thought with a sleepy sigh. I'm not going to solve any major problems right now, so why bother ruining a perfectly nice night?
Clair's always saying I think too deeply for my own good when I'm drunk. She's probably right.
She leaned her head back against the tree trunk and closed her eyes.
The peace and quiet lasted all of two seconds.
"Hey Jess. You alright there? Or do you need someone to tuck some blankets around you?"
Jessica's eyes popped open and it was on the tip of her tongue to make some snarky comeback.
She quickly swallowed her words when she realised who'd said them.