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Ethan/Somebody Nobody/The Batman
Gem, Liam’s girlfriend, is a blonde and conventionally beautiful queen bee at Wood Valley who immediately takes to bullying Jessie. She wears tiny dresses that show off her perfect body and breasts that Jessie suspects are the work of plastic surgery. Her father happens to be one of the school’s major donors, which means that even though everything Gem does violates Wood Valley’s no-tolerance policy toward bullying, she always gets away with it. Along with her best friend and sidekick, Crystal, Gem sets out to make Jessie’s life miserable. At first, their bullying centers around Jessie’s uncool fashion choices, but after a fateful encounter at a party, the tenor changes. Gem is dating Liam—and according to Dri, is an entirely different (and nice) person around him—but she takes major offense when, at the party, Liam seems more interested in talking to Jessie than in talking to her. Knowing she’ll suffer no recourse for her actions, Gem begins to physically bully Jessie in addition to doubling down on her verbal abuse, and she begins to carry out more assaults in front of teachers. Gem only begins to lose her power over Jessie when Liam finally sees how mean she is and breaks up with her—and when Theo starts to stand up for Jessie. Theo shares with Jessie that Gem has been awful and has been using offensive slurs to bully people since she was little. Without the rest of the student body standing idly by, Gem becomes much less of a threat to Jessie (though it’s still implied that she’ll never face consequences from the school administration for anything she’s done). Though Agnes offers insight into Gem’s troubled family life at one point, Jessie refuses to excuse Gem’s bad behavior just because her home life, like that of many kids at Wood Valley, is troubled.
Gem Quotes in Tell Me Three Things
The Tell Me Three Things quotes below are all either spoken by Gem or refer to Gem. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 7
Quotes
“You know how it is. Mean girls get mean in seventh grade and they stay that way until your ten-year reunion, when they want to be best friends again. At least, that’s what my mom says.”
“It’s funny how high school is high school everywhere,” I say, and smile at Dri. Try not to feel uncomfortable at the mention of moms, like it didn’t set off an invisible flare in my chest. “I mean, this place is completely different than where I come from, but in some ways it’s exactly the same.”
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Chapter 21
Quotes
And at least one mystery has been solved: Gem can do or say whatever she wants because her dad pays off the administration. I guess that’s what a little tax fraud buys you.
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Chapter 28
Quotes
“I think he’s Liam.”
“No way,” I say.
“It explains why he would dump Gem for you.”
I smile at Scar but not because any part of me hopes SN is Liam. [...]
“You’ve been listening,” I say, and feel so grateful she’s still my friend, that she will be, hopefully forever.
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Get the entire Tell Me Three Things LitChart as a printable PDF.
Gem Quotes in Tell Me Three Things
The Tell Me Three Things quotes below are all either spoken by Gem or refer to Gem. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 7
Quotes
“You know how it is. Mean girls get mean in seventh grade and they stay that way until your ten-year reunion, when they want to be best friends again. At least, that’s what my mom says.”
“It’s funny how high school is high school everywhere,” I say, and smile at Dri. Try not to feel uncomfortable at the mention of moms, like it didn’t set off an invisible flare in my chest. “I mean, this place is completely different than where I come from, but in some ways it’s exactly the same.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21
Quotes
And at least one mystery has been solved: Gem can do or say whatever she wants because her dad pays off the administration. I guess that’s what a little tax fraud buys you.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 28
Quotes
“I think he’s Liam.”
“No way,” I say.
“It explains why he would dump Gem for you.”
I smile at Scar but not because any part of me hopes SN is Liam. [...]
“You’ve been listening,” I say, and feel so grateful she’s still my friend, that she will be, hopefully forever.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
