Things That Should Be, But Aren't
Jessie wants to be a lesbian. She wants to, because it fits. Jessie can't stand the attitudes of all the men she knows. Jessie believes in revolutionary feminism. Jessie thinks she should be a lesbian, but she's not. She loves Slater. It makes her kind of sick, because, deep down, she knows that she loves him, not in spite of his failings and prejudices, but because of them. She loves being treated like something delicate and soft, because everyone else sees her as a raw-edged, dangerous thing.
Well, almost everyone.
Lisa loves Jessie. Lisa takes her shopping when she feels low and makes her try on dresses that make her shoulders look big and Lisa lies and tells Jessie she looks like an Amazon princess. Lisa is the real princess. If Kelly is the quintessential girl next door, then Lisa is the ultimate exotic beauty. Still, Jessie criticizes her every move as somehow perpetuating the male gaze.
Lisa shouldn't have kissed Jessie. That didn't make any sense.
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"I thought you liked boys," Jessie protested.
"I do."
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Lisa never asked if Jessie liked girls. She assumed, and why wouldn't she? Jessie should be a lesbian. She just isn't. Jessie just loves her best friend enough to kiss her back. She just goes through the motions and thinks of Slater. She's sure that Slater thinks of her, too.