Impossible

Sweater Weather

Jessica was upset at both her best friends which was zero fun because that left her with no one to talk to about them. She was not that close enough to Eric or Tyler to tell them about how she was feeling. Mike always said he was too busy to hang out with her. And having to keep all the hurt inside of herself put her in a bad mood.

Everything felt too similar to middle school. Lauren had just moved to Forks and she was the shiny, new girl everyone wanted to get to know. Mike kept flirting with her and telling her she was the prettiest girl he ever saw. Angela became friends with her and invited her to have lunch with them.

Jessica hated Lauren. She was tall, skinny, and blonde. She was smart without having to try so much in their classes. She lived in a big house and could afford brand new jeans. And despite having everything, Lauren was mean.

She made fun of Jessica's height, how her voice would became shrill when she was excited or upset, and how she always had to answer every question in class. She saw all of Jessica's flaws and pointed them out to everyone for everyone to see. She flirted with Mike in front of Jessica and she would snub Jessica and talk only to Angela. And she did all of this with a too bright smile with perfect teeth and Jessica wanted desperately to punch her in the face.

Then Jessica's father died. Had a stroke and a heart attack while he was at work and he was gone within a day. Jessica waited in the hospital all night for him to wake up but he never did. And she didn't know what to do.

They had to bury him quickly before the ground was too frozen or he would be in a fridge at the funeral home till spring. She had to wear an old dress of her mother's that was too big as she watched the coffin being lowered to the ground. All her friends came and Angela held her hand throughout the whole thing. They were lingering in the cemetery when she saw Lauren coming over.

Rage broke through the cocoon of shock that had been wrapped around her and she came at Lauren, Angela following her.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded. "You weren't invited."

Lauren's blue eyes widened in shock. "I know. I just wanted to-"

"Pay your respects?" she scoffed. "Right. I don't need your mean girl bitchiness today. You can do what the fuck you want to me at school but not here and not today."

Angela tried reason with her. "Jess, I don't think that's why she's-"

Lauren cut her off. "I'm not here for that. I know I've been kind of an asshole to you but-"

"Understatement."

"-I'm sorry," The blonde continued. "I'm sorry for how I treated you and I'm sorry about your dad."

"Why? You didn't kill him."

There was silence.

They would never know who broke first but one of them smiled and then they were both laughing at the absurdity of it all. For once, Jessica didn't see Lauren's laugh as condescending. Lauren was just another girl who was in a new environment and was trying to find her footing and it wasn't like Jessica had been too kind to her as well. They'd both been mean to each other and decided they were enemies for no substantial reason.

"I'm sorry for being a butthole to you," Jessica said. "I thought you were trying to replace me with my friends."

Angela interjected. "That would never happen, Jess. We all love you."

"I don't want to replace anyone," Lauren explained. "I just want friends."

"You have friends. You're one of us now."