Problem was, Jessica's friends didn't really get it when she complained about her mother. They all liked Suzanne and would just say Jessica was lucky to have such a young, cool mother.
Clair especially seemed to find it hilarious whenever any of their clique were sleeping over at the Heath's house. Suzanne would make some flimsy excuse to talk to her daughter's friends for what felt like hours. Every single time. She'd sit cross legged on the bed in her pyjamas as is she were one of the high school girls.
Jessica mostly found her mother's antics embarrassing.
She'd always felt like Suzanne was trying too hard to act like her friend instead of her mom. A friend who always seemed to be in some kind of weird popularity competition with her.
Maybe it was a way for her mother to cling to her youth.
To pretend she was still a well liked teenager, full of grand ideas and with the world before her as her oyster.
So that she didn't have to face the reality: a single parent who was drawing closer to forty and struggled financially.
The grand ideas of her youth all wiped out by grim reality and the world's oyster narrowing down to a single place. Trapping her in a bland little desert town.
No wonder her mother was dead set on remaining forever seventeen in her own mind.
"…have you decided when you want to go dress shopping?" Suzanne's voice cut through Jessica's thoughts.
"Not yet. It depends on what weekend Mr McKinley is free to drive us to Carson City." Jessica mumbled, picking at her food.
"It's a smart choice to go to the city to look for dresses. You're never going to have a shot at the crown wearing some polyester rag with sequins that you'd find at one of the local malls."
Jessica nodded sullenly but stayed quiet, feeling like they'd had this same conversation over and over again as well.
Since the start of the goddamn school year, she thought resentfully. I don't know what Mom's going to do when I don't end up as Prom Queen. She'll probably lose her fucking mind from disappointment. Even though I've told her repeatedly I'm not going to win and that I don't even care about the stupid vote.
I've been nominated for Senior Prom Court. That should be good enough for her.
Jessica almost laughed out loud at her own logic.
Of course being in Prom Court wasn't going to be enough. Not for Suzanne Heath's daughter.
Not when Suzanne had been considered one of the town's most beautiful girls back in her heyday, part of a little circle of the prettiest and most popular girls in her high school.
And for all that, Suzanne herself had only been runner up for the crown. Not the Prom Queen.
The crown back then had gone to another girl, to Suzanne's best friend who'd been named Georgia Carpenter.
So if her own mother, with her looks and her popularity and everything else going for her hadn't nabbed the crown, why the fuck did she think Jessica was going to win it?
Jessica turned her attention back to her mother, who was still droning on about all things prom.
"…definitely not a short dress. Long dresses are far more sophisticated. And ideally in emerald green, to complement your eyes." Suzanne pinched her face into a little grimace. "You'll go without your glasses for prom, won't you? You won't go looking like…that, right?"
"Like what?" Jessica pushed her plate away, suddenly not hungry. "Looking like your disappointingly long sighted daughter? The one who stumbles around nearly blind as a bat without glasses?"
Suzanne flashed her hurt look. "Well, I just thought you could go without the glasses for one night. You're a pretty girl, Jessie. Your eyes are your best feature. Yet you're always hiding behind those glasses. If you really put some effort into your looks, you could be an absolute knockout."
"I don't think glasses are going to be the difference on the night, Mom."
"But what if they are? In a tight race, every little detail counts." Suzanne insisted. "You have to put your best foot forward if you want that crown."
"Yeah well, I couldn't give a flying fuck about that crown. That's your hang up, not mine." Jessica whispered under her breath.
"What did you say, honey? I didn't quite hear you."
"I said that I don't hide behind my glasses. I need them for school, unless you want me to fail every single class. And have you ever stopped and asked yourself what happens after prom? Ignoring for a moment whether I win or lose?"
"Of course you can win! You just have to-"
"Mom!" Jessica threw her fork down and it clattered noisily against her plate. Both women startled at the sound. "Let's say I win. Or I don't. It's only one night, Mom! One night! I still have to live the rest of my life after that, so who cares? You really think some plastic crown is going to change my future? Would winning have changed your life, or would you still have ended up stuck in Abbot Springs, lamenting your lost youth?"
Suzanne narrowed her eyes, vibrant green eyes that she'd passed down to her daughter. "I don't appreciate your tone, young lady."
"And I don't appreciate you making a big deal about something I don't really care about! If you're so desperate for a do over so you can be queen for a night, then you go get yourself nominated for Prom Court. Just leave me out of it!" Jessica pushed her chair back from the scuffed kitchen countertop and stomped down the short hallway to her room.
"Jessica! You don't just walk away from your mother like that! We're having a conversation. Get your butt back here this instant!"
"Whatever, Mom." Jessica slammed her bedroom door shut as hard as she could, knowing how much the sound annoyed her mother.
She locked the door for good measure.