It all started when Jess caught Pam staring at her during lunch.

Pam tried covering it up in the most obvious way possible: with eyes opened wide in shock, she gasped quickly and quietly, just loud enough for Jess to hear a couple tables over. Her head jolted forward, and her whole back froze hunching over a bologna slice with cheese. Call her crazy, but Jess could have sworn the girl was blushing before shying away.

This wasn't something she expected from Pam; usually, whenever they got too close, Pam was all too eager to push her away. But to see her like this? She wasn't sure what to make of it. She had a few ideas, but she didn't want to jump to any conclusions.

Jess looked around at all her friends sitting next to her: Babs, Diana, Zee, Kara, and Karen, none of whom seemed to like Pam all that much – "seemed" being the operative word.

"Hey," she said to them, "what do you guys think of Pam?"

"NO," they all said together.

"W-wait, what?"

"Jess," said Zee, "it's obvious: you're going to get us talking about what we don't like about her so you can dispute it and try and get us to see that girl in a better light, all so you can get our permission to worm your way into her nonexistent social life."

Jess sputtered. "Wha— that's— I mean... okay. First of all: 'nonexistant?' Seriously? She's obviously sitting with other people, that's a huge step up from before!"

Babs scoffed. "Uh, yeah, and have you seen who she's with? Selina Kyle and that cheerleading psycho, Carol? And Harleen's amazing, but I was under the impression you guys didn't like her all that much!"

"Yeah!" added Karen. "And Doris and Leslie are with her too – they're always so mean!"

"Pam's... kind of a lost cause," Kara said soft-yet-frankly. "She's so far into not having help, she doesn't even want it at this point."

"W-well," Jess tried to reason, "that's all the more reason to make her not a lost cause!"

"You literally don't know what a lost cause is, do you?"

Jess crossed her arms. "I don't know what you guys are so up-in-arms about when I just asked a simple question! Diana, you haven't said a thing, back me up here!"

"Sister Jessica, as much as it pains me to betray these feelings of yours, I feel it is in your best interests to stay away from this girl. To share such affection and get nothing in return so consistently as you have in the past... it is a draining and potentially dangerous path you tread."

"Oh, you're one to talk, 'Future Mrs. Trevor'."

"YOU WILL TAKE THAT BACK THIS VERY INSTANT OR I SHALL MAKE YOU 'THE LATE MISS CRUZ'!"

Diana looked ready to start a fistfight before Zee stuck her hands between them and motioned to push them back. "Whoa, whoa! Girls! Can we please drop this and get on with our lunches, already?"

They agreed, albeit begrudgingly so; still, as Jess poked around her vegetarian options, she hadn't changed her mind a bit. She was stubborn like that, and she knew it; then again, so was Pam.

Jess was at home that evening when the phone rang. She was upstairs working on homework and one of her moms was home anyways, so she let her get it... at first.

Soon, the door to Jess room opened, and in came Mom with the phone, her hand up against the receiver.

"Do you know any Isleys?" she asked.

" 'Isley'?" Jess gasped with excitement. "Is it Pam?"

Instead of answering, Mom only held out the phone for Jess to take. Once she did...

"Hello?" Jess spoke into the phone. "Pam?"

"Uh, no," spoke a grown woman on the line, "this is Mrs. Isley, actually."

"Oh!" As disappointing as it was for it to not be Pam, it was certainly a surprise – she'd never even considered her parents, let alone met them. "Hi! Uh, what can I do for you?"

"This is Jessica, right? Jessica Cruz?" There was a hint of desperation in Mrs. Isley's voice.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good, good. A-and you're friends with Pammy, right? Pam Isley, Metropolis High?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Jess knew, of course, that Pam and her weren't all that close, but she thought they were friends nonetheless; even more so, now that Pam's own mother had said it.

"Oh. Ooooh, good. Good, good, good..." She said it like it was an unparalleled relief. Was Pam really so lonely that her own mother had to make sure she was real?

Mrs. Isley continued: "I'm so sorry to call like this, I just didn't know where else to turn."

"What do you mean? What for?"

Mom was still standing in the doorway, staring anxiously as the conversation began to unfold. Jessica signalled her to step out, to give her some privacy and whatnot. She knew her own mom had a right to be worried, but this was just between her and a friend – by proxy, anyways. So Mom left to go back to work on her novel, making it just her daughter and an almost total stranger on the line.

"How's she eating?" asked Mrs. Isley.

"I never really paid that close attention to it, to tell the truth." Ironic, considering how close to her she'd tried getting, but it was the truth.

"Is she eating any greens? Fruit, vegetables, things like that?"

"I..." Jess racked her brains for any moment she could recall where Pam ate anything the color green, and mold didn't count; and yet, the more she thought about it, Pam actively seemed to avoid those things anywhere she could. She could easily assume Pam wasn't as health-conscious as her, but she never considered how bad it was. "...actually, no."

Mrs. Isley sighed. "It's been like that for a while now. This city – Gotham, that is – it's not a healthy place to grow up in. We thought it would do her some good when she said she'd move out on her own, so long as she still goes to school, keeps up her grades, things like that, but..." Mrs. Isley trailed off. Rather than sounding distracted, it was as if she was too pained to continue.

"But what?"

"...since she moved out, she's kind of put herself in a box. She doesn't write, doesn't call, doesn't answer any of our messages, and even when we came to her apartment, she didn't really, well... respond."

"Respond?"

"A lot of 'yes'es and nods, not very much talking on her part. But she did mention having a friend: one 'Jessica Cruz'. She wouldn't say much about it – heck, we even had to dig up your phone number from the school's registry."

"So, you want me to get her to talk to you?"

"Not even! We just want someone looking out for her health, is all – make sure she eats some vegetables now and again, some fruits and beans, something other than what she usually eats. Do you think you can do that for us? As her friend?"

'Her friend.' Those were the words that sealed the deal, that gave Jess the push she needed to agree wholeheartedly – she would have done it without those words, obviously, but hearing those words being said by Pamela's own mother gave her a sense of pride that swelled within her and warmed her very being.

There was something else inside of her, something compelling her more than ever now that she knew Pam, her family included, needed her help: duty. This was no ordinary mission, no battle with a giant monster from beyond the stars. This was much greater than that – a friend needed her help.

Jess smiled. "Mrs. Isley, you came to the right person!"