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I knew Jess was phony from the minute Bella meets her. You could tell she was saying stuff behind her back

carmabelle wrote:ok i see your point but i still think she was over reacting just i little.

Yes, she was. I think she had a tendency to do that.

Here are some of Jessica's thoughts from Midnight Sun:


"Of course she's already crushing on the Cullens. Fat lot of good it will do her," Jessica went on. "She's really not even pretty. I don't know why Eric is staring so much... or Mike."

"Everyone's looking at me today too," Jessica thought smugly. "Isn't it lucky Bella had two classes with me... I'll bet Mike will want to ask me what she's..."

After Bella's asking about Edward: "Oh, good luck, idiot!"

The rest of the context from Midnight Sun makes it clear that Jess is glomming onto Bella because she thinks it will make her more popular and get Mike to notice her. She really doesn't particularly like Bella.

^You say (maybe not you, but others from the Bella Swan thread) that it's alright for Bella to hate Forks and her schoolmates, because she just moved here and she is an angsty teenager.

It's fine if she gives everyone stereotypical judgements (Eric the over helpful chess-club type, Jessica the social ladder climber, Angela the shy girl), but Jessica can't act like a normal teenager?

Haha, this might sound kind of strange, but I felt like Jessica was victimized. She's just acting like another teenage girl, like Bella. Remember when Bella found out about Tanya? She suddenly became jealous.

moon sidhe wrote: "Of course she's already crushing on the Cullens. Fat lot of good it will do her," Jessica went on. "She's really not even pretty. I don't know why Eric is staring so much... or Mike."

Jessica, I'm guessing, was pretty popular before Bella showed up. She's obviously liked Mike for quite a while, and now this girl who hates everyone shows up, doesn't even have much interest in anything, but is welcomed with wide arms, shoving Jessica aside and out of the spotlight.
I'd imagine she would be fairly jealous.

"Everyone's looking at me today too," Jessica thought smugly. "Isn't it lucky Bella had two classes with me... I'll bet Mike will want to ask me what she's..."

And now she's found a way to keep herself beside the spotlight at all times.

After Bella's asking about Edward: "Oh, good luck, idiot!"

Yeah, that was rude. But can you honestly say you don't have a friend you're jealous of sometimes? Maybe it's a highschool thing, but I have a friend who always gets the boy's attention because she's pretty, but whenever it's just us girls, she just can't stop complaining about anything.

What I mean is, Jessica is jealous. It's a perfectly normal emotion. Edward has it. Bella has it. Edward even threatens Tyler in a way, because he is jealous. At least Jessica keeps it in her head. Outside, she's perfectly kind.

In the end, Jessica is the one who is ditched by Bella. Despite all her outward kindness, she's the one who gets shafted.

I agree that people shouldn't be castigated for normal reactions. There's nothing wrong with feeling jealousy for sure. But it's more than that with Jessica, she's particularly mean spirited about it, and she's using Bella for social gain.

Is it really wrong of her?
Edward's reading her mind, but what does that change? If Jessica begins acting rudely towards Bella on the outside, then yes that's horrible. However, after Port Angeles, Jessica acts like just another teenage girl. Despite the angry, violent thoughts that might be going on in her head, she sits down with Bella and giggles over Edward. She asks questions about the waitress, she reassures Bella that Edward is only interested in her.

She's acting like a good friend. If her thoughts are angered, fine. As long as she doesn't act out on them, it doesn't matter what's going on in her head.

Jessica always seems to be nice to Bella. She goes out of her way to be nice. She doesn't *need* to listen to Bella talk about Edward; after all, she had liked him once, too, and he didn't give her the time of day.
She does, though.

She also goes out to the movies with zombie-Bella even though she'd been completely ignored for months on months as Bella spent all her time with Edward. She goes out to the movies and Bella leaves halfway through.
They're on their way to eat and Bella stops in front of a group of large men.
That is potentially dangerous to the both of them. No wonder Jessica doesn't like Bella anymore. No wonder she's rude throughout Eclipse. I would be, too.

Still, though. At graduation, Jessica makes up. She's nice. She's always been a good friend. Bella has never valued her friendship, though.

I agree that people shouldn't be castigated for normal reactions. There's nothing wrong with feeling jealousy for sure. But it's more than that with Jessica, she's particularly mean spirited about it, and she's using Bella for social gain.

I agree. People can take into account normal jealousy, they recognize it and understand it. However, when the jealousy is fueled by selfish personal gain and cruel intentions, then it becomes something stronger. It begans to define the person, as I believe it did with Jessica.

I think Jessica is quite two faced. She's nice to Bella's face, all the while thinking nasty thoughts about her and using her. That's not something I can forgive in a person, no matter how nice to my face they are. The fundamental difference of opinion here, seems to be that you're ok with it as long as the person is nice to your face, whereas I'm not. I think we can leave it at that.

Yes, I think eventually it comes down to the questioning of the character herself. Rather, the author than the actually story.

Which, of course, we could never do. Blasphemous, that is.

Do you think Jessica was made out to be a completely bad person? Just like Angela was made out to be wholly kind?

Amivera wrote:Do you think Jessica was made out to be a completely bad person? Just like Angela was made out to be wholly kind?

Interesting thought... I don't think she was a completely bad person. I mean, James was beyond the pale for example. He was clearly evil and sadistic. As for Jessica, I think she was kind of a "mean girl," but in a pretty tame way.