Time elapsed in this book: 3 weeks
Length of their junior year: 3 years, 1 month, 1 week
Jessica’s love interest: A.J. Morgan
Entertainment rating: 6/10
The cover looks straight out of an awkward junior high or high school dance. I think it’s supposed to be a romantic moment between Jess and A.J. Morgan, he’s just staring down at her. What’s up with that?! I have to assume his arms are wrapped around her waist off-cover, but it doesn’t feel romantic to me.
Was I the only one who always found A.J. kinda boring? I don’t know if this is because he tamed Jessica’s more exciting/wild side or if it’s because he never really exhibited much personality. Either way… he’s a giant yawn.
Jess doesn’t agree with my thoughts about A.J. being dull and is convinced she’s in love with him. He doesn’t like flirtatious girls, so she’s a different person for him. At the beach, she acts serious and quiet, even inviting him to leave early so they can study at the library, where she reads him some poems. Later, they go to the Dairi Burger and when he asks why she looks so serious, Jess says she was thinking about how terrible it would be if a nuclear war broke out.
Jess invites A.J. to a Save the Whales meeting. I’m a bit disappointed they don’t note who else attends this (aside from someone named Monica Bishop, who Jess thinks takes herself too seriously). I need to know who’s involved now that Todd’s not there to save the whales himself! He did, after all, do a project about Save the Whales and then later, when Jess flippantly asked him who cared about whales, he gallantly let that comment slide even though he cared about them! Todd caring about whales is a detail that always stuck with me. No wonder I was swooning over him as a kid!
Liz encourages Jess to be herself with A.J., but Jess says he wouldn’t like that version of her. She makes Liz promise to not say anything and then asks her to read a terrible, depressing poem she’s written for him. Lila is also displeased by the change in Jessica.
Before a class picnic at Secca Lake, Jess and A.J. go hiking and birdwatching. Jess gets hot, sweaty, and has a bunch of bug bites but doesn’t want to show how much she hates the experience. When they take a break and sit down to chat, Jess tells A.J. she gets sad thinking about world hunger and that she might join the Peace Corps. A.J. looks at her kind of oddly. Jess doesn’t know what she did wrong, but eventually he says she’s special and they go to the picnic.
At the picnic, Lila announces that Nadine, the designer who does all the clothes they buy at Lisette’s, is having a fashion show to find a girl who embodies her image. The winner gets a custom designed wardrobe from Nadine! This is 100% not believable to me as an adult, but I don’t care. It’s awesome. Jess desperately wants to enter but doesn’t think she can do so without ruining her new image in front of A.J.
A.J. and Jess go to the beach. A.J. thinks about how he likes Jess but doesn’t feel like he can flirt or tease her because she might get offended; she’s so serious that he thinks she’s kind of boring. Just then, there’s a commotion in the surf! They spot someone in the water, so A.J. swims over and rescues the girl! She introduces herself as Pamela Janson and says A.J. saved her life. Jess immediately pegs her as a girl who likes to chase other girls’ boyfriends, likely because she sees herself in Pamela.
Later, Pamela calls A.J. to thank him and asks him to come over so she can return his towel and because her parents want to thank him. He shows up to find Pamela in a skimpy, clingy white sundress. Her parents aren’t there. They’re not even in town. Who would have guessed?! (Jessica. She would have guessed!) Pamela offers him wine and asks if he wants to relax in the hot tub with her. A.J. gets all flustered. She invites him to a dance at Whitehead Academy, where she goes to school. A.J. says he’ll let her know in a few days. He is so spineless. Accept the invite or say no!
A.J. tells Jess about this encounter, and Jess is furious. She cries while confiding in Liz later. Liz tells her that Pamela is no match for the real Jessica Wakefield, but Jess says she can’t be her real self now because A.J. would think it’s weird. Liz suggests that Jess sign up for the fashion show Lila mentioned. Liz thinks that if Jess wins, A.J. would be proud of her. Jess agrees.
On Saturday, Jess goes to the mall with Lila and Amy. Who do they run into at Lisette’s? Pamela! Lila and Amy hate her immediately. For Pamela’s benefit, Lila loudly says to Amy, “I was talking to A.J. Morgan the other day. He said he met a girl on the beach with an ego the size of Utah, and a rear end to match!” I’m not saying body shaming is cool, but the way Lila cuts people down with her words is truly a thing of beauty. Both Jess and Pamela sign up for the fashion show.
Jess and A.J. go on a double date with Liz and Jeffrey. Anytime A.J. says he likes something, Jess instantly agrees. She has zero opinions of her own. Afterward, Liz asks Jess why she’s so spineless and weak around A.J. Jess is upset her new personality isn’t working its magic on A.J. but doesn’t know what to do.
The day of the fashion show arrives, and Jess is determined to win! Lila and Amy help Jess backstage and quickly realize that Pamela has done something to every single one of Jessica’s outfits. Pamela snagged the hem on the first outfit, so Jess dances up and down the runway without turning around so no one sees the damage. She ruined the zippers on another, so Jess improvises with a belt and makes the outfit look like it’s meant to have openings. The only outfit of Jessica’s that Pamela hasn’t sabotaged is the swimsuit and coverup. Jess changes… and then Pamela “accidentally” spills water all over it! Jess tells Pamela she’s done pretending to be nice and that even after Pamela tried to ruin her outfits, she still looked better than Pamela! Jess says she knows she acted like a pushover but that she hopes everyone hears about what Pamela tried to do.
Jess turns around and realizes that the curtain was open so everyone saw her confrontation with Pamela. Nadine says she’s seen enough to crown a winner: Jessica knows what she wants and goes for it, so of course Jessica wins the contest. The audience starts chanting her name! Believable? No. Did I love it? Of course!
Jess explains everything to A.J. She admits she’s usually more like Pamela and says she didn’t think he’d like her if she was her real self. A.J. kind of just accepts it, so Jess takes him to Miller’s Point to make out.
Next up: Will Jade Wu win the dance lead in the school’s variety show?