"Now does she still look like she's 16?"
"No."
Jess is one of the most interesting people I have gotten to know over the years.
She's a character, I guess you can say.
Vegan, feminist, low-key hipster.
She will never fail to make you laugh,
simply because
she's always the one laughing.
Loud, rowdy, crazy basically describes her.
But let's back it up a little bit.
I love taking pictures, but I often find that I'm in too many photos, so I'm trying to switch that up. Instead of being in front of the lens, my New Year's Resolution is to be behind it, capturing the unique stories of others, while also practicing my photography skills.
So I decided that Jess could be my first model.
Of course, she agreed.
Meet Jess.
Jessica Rose Martinez has lived in NYC her whole life. Born and bred New Yorker, she cannot even imagine living elsewhere. In love with the city vibes, she often finds herself chilling downtown, shopping in Soho, eating vegan food in Greenwich Village, or hanging out at Washington Square.
Going to school in Long Island City, trips to Manhattan are very accessible and not difficult to do. She takes advantage of not having tons of homework and often explores the city with her friends from Academy of American Studies.
Although she is not one to take many pictures when she ventures the streets and unique spots of the expansive city, she is always willing to take them with me.
So this is us.
Me on the left. Jess on the right.
Two days ago, Jess was out with her friend at Urban Outfitters when he saw her Polaroid resting in her Herschel Backpack and said, "That's how I know you're going to Rachel's house."
Sure enough, he was right.
We had not seen each other in about three weeks, but that didn't really matter.
Jess has been in my life since we were about three years old, so I obviously have a lot to say about her.
Besides being a New Yorker, Jess is a funny, overdramatic, crazy teenager aspiring to be an actress. When people often meet her, they think she's older than her actual age, but as soon as they pass the awkward small conversation stage, they soon discover that she is a hyper, always-laughing, and delirious 16 year old, quite the opposite of how people view me. With my apparent rbf and calm and collected manner, Jess and I are polar opposites and people often think I'm older.
But yes, indeed, Jess is actually older than I am, even if it's only by several months.
Last night, we were at my aunt's house, and by the fire I was standing next to one of the guys as we both observed Jess laughing like a madman nearby. He looked at me, then Jess again, and let out a sigh.
"You see the thing is, with Jessica, she's just always laughing," I said.
And with an amused tone, he exclaimed, "Yeah! That's all I hear from her. Just laughing, no actual words."
And that basically sums up the impression that Jess leaves on people.
Jess gets about 18 hours of sleep a night.
Okay, so I guess I'm over exaggerating, but I can give you an example.
Two summers ago, we volunteered at a camp where we had to wake up at six every day. My cousins and I stayed up late, playing cards, but Jess knocked out at eight every night. So she's not really one to stay up late. And trust me, she's not a morning person either.
Jess is also the queen of Snapchat.
Or at least, she thinks she is. With 300 seconds worth of snap chats every day, Jess has become known among my family as being extremely persistent with her many singing videos, rants about how bored she is, or the dozen snaps of her cats. Although we have a 562 day streak on Snapchat (yes, we have been sending each other an endless array of pictures and videos for about a year now) even I skip over her snap chats sometimes.
But the thing is, she doesn't seem to get that sending 20 videos a day can be exhausting for some. Even my brother and his girlfriend blocked her on Snapchat as a joke, to which she responded, "But why?! I'm hilarious."
And that's another thing. Jess, no matter how insecure she feels at times, we all know, she knows, I know that she is completely in love with herself.
But these are all the unique things that make Jess who she is.
If you ever meet her, just make sure you're ready to handle her excessive amount of laughter, hugs, stories, and snap chats.
But I'm sure, you'll come around to love her.
Love, Rach.
Also, this is only the first of the "Meet XX" series. Many more to come. :)
