It was hot. The summer was just as predicted: dry, crusty, with sun beating down on the earth like a waxy lamp. Cece peered from under her black shades and stared at Jess, who was sitting lazily near the pool, her tiny toes dipped under the water. Jess sighed and returned Cece's glance, both communicating a sigh of frustration. Jess impatiently sipped her iced tea (with a lemon wedge on the side, just how she liked it) and played with the strings of her red polka-dot bikini. Her attention was on a spider crawling up the side of the pool. Aggravated, she inched farther up the chalky pavement, her skin burning pink.

Cece rolled her eyes. "Are you afraid of the spider, Jess?"

Jess shook her head. She would not give into Cece. Reluctantly, she forced her slim body into the water gradually, shrieking as the freezing water made its way up to her stomach. Gritting her teeth, she stared at Cece, her wide blue eyes twinkling equally with fear and triumph. "See?" she pointed out, rolling her toes, trying not to chip the polish. Her lips broke into a huge, parted smile and she gestured her position, a feet's radius from the crawly creature.

Shaking her head, Cece helped herself to a lemon roll, which was sitting in a pile on her fancy china plate.

Jess yawned and stared at the bug, squinting. Her eyes attached to the place where its legs stuck to the edge. Then, out of nowhere, the spider detached itself and spun into the water, moving in the current. Jess's eyes suddenly looked like they were going to pop out of her head as the little insect got closer to her. Screaming, she jumped violently out of the water and scraped her knee, landing perfectly out of the spider's reach. "Ow," she whispered, wincing, her fingers smoothing over the dead skin that was lying in a thin flap.

Cece laughed. "You OK, Jess?"

"Fine, Cece," Jess grumbled, finally forcing herself to stand up. Why am I such an idiot? She thought, her fingers curling around the creamy roll, saliva bubbling in her mouth in order to get a bite. Truthfully, the real reason she went to hang out with Cece was to avoid Nick's new girlfriend, Amy. Amy seemed like Nick's type: blonde hair that framed her shoulders in wispy curls, gray eyes, and smooth, subtle skin that smelled like soap. She reminded Jess of Caroline, mostly. Nick's type was only obvious to her: pretty, not too girlish. Jess frowned at that last part, her white teeth slicing through the vanilla crème and fancy lemons. What was wrong with girly?

"She's a bitch," Cece said, reading her mind. Her attention went to a piece of sugar-free mint gum that she was trying to fish out of her purse. "Her face is so…plain, Jess. You could see her in a crowd and not even notice her."

Jess's stomach grumbled, and all a sudden she felt a sharp pang in her chest. She was so used to the model's reassuring words that sometimes they just went right through her. Jess would never admit it, but she felt a pang of jealousy for Cece. She could get any guy she wanted. She was perfect and funny and guys took her seriously, while every morning Jess woke up with burning eyes and greasy hair, made her way to the kitchen island, and somehow always ended up the butt of their jokes. She liked the way she was. Except…

She wanted Nick to like her, too.

Frowning, Jess plopped down on the white chair next to Cece's, her brown hair now a tangled mess tumbling down her shoulders. Her pale porcelain legs folded up underneath her into butterfly position, and she briefly tried to just focus on her surroundings. Summer. Warm sky. Pools. Girl time with Cece.

And in Jess's perfect world, kisses with Nick.

In a way, Nick had snuck up on her, made her feel there and then that it all came crashing down on her in one moment. She realized she wanted him when he came back. When he slid up against the door and grinned at her, making her insides melt. But when she spent the moving day trying to limn a tactic to confess to him, he showed up with the tall blonde girl he met at the convenience store. After that, Jess shut up her room, ate cupcakes, and watched Dirty Dancing for two days straight.

That had been two weeks ago. Now, Nick and Amy were doing overnight visits, eating breakfast together, and slowly… Nick started forgetting Jess existed. He was never around to get a drink with her, cook breakfast with her, or even watch the game with her, like he used to. Jess was never really interested in the game, though. She was more interested in the way her roommate slouched over on the plump couch, his dark colored eyes strained on the screen, blurting out cuss words now and then as the game went on. She liked that routine with him. She liked that he was there.

Now, it seemed, he didn't even have time to be her friend anymore.

Jess picked up her tote, gave Cece a small wave, and left, still just in her polka-dot two piece. She didn't care enough to change. In fact, she barely uttered a word as she made her way to her car, her lip biting repeatedly, sadness closing in on her and making it difficult to breathe. A distraction, she thought. I need a distraction. Her skinny fingers toyed with the sound system and once the radio was blasting at full beat, she could finally relax.