pink angora sweater.
"Ruined!" Jessica shrieked. "It's ruined for good!"
Mrs. Wakefield sighed as she handed her daughter the sponge. "Well, in that case, I suppose we could always have it for dinner, since that was the last tomato."
In a rage Jessica fled upstairs. She headed straight for Elizabeth's room and flung herself down on the bed. She preferred her sister's
room to her own since it was always much neater. The Hershey Bar was what she called her room, due to its chocolate-colored walls. And it looked, in Elizabeth's immortal words, "like a cross between a mud-wrestling pit and the bargain table at K-Mart."
It wasn't fair, Jessica fumed. Elizabeth was going to the dance with Todd Wilkins. Even Enid had a date--with Ronnie Edwards, who was so blinded by love that as head of the dance committee, he'd probably swing a million votes her way. Ignoring the fact that she could have had her pick from any one of half a dozen boys if she'd wanted, Jessica refused to be consoled.
Then, out of the corner of one wet eye, she glimpsed a piece of paper sticking out from under the bed. It looked like a letter. Being naturally curious--and having absolutely zero scruples when it came to reading other people's mail--she snatched it up.
"Dear Enid," she read with a sudden, voracious interest. "Been so down lately. I can't seem to get my head on straight the way you have. I can't stop thinking about the past and trying to figure out how it all snowballed so quickly. It's like the time we took all those bennies, and before we knew it we were cooking along in the GTO doing eighty or ninety...."
A smile crept slowly across Jessica's features as a plan shaped itself in her mind. She folded
the letter, tucking it carefully into the back pocket of her jeans. She would have to put it back, of course, before Elizabeth discovered it was missing, but that was no problem.
Whistling under her breath, Jessica started back downstairs, heading for her father's den, where he kept a small Xerox machine for copying legal documents.
Four
"What is it with Ronnie and Enid?" Todd asked. "Are they having some kind of a fight?"
Todd and Elizabeth spoke in hushed tones while waiting for Ronnie and Enid to return to their seats with the popcorn. The two couples often double-dated, and the Valley Cinema was a favorite hangout. They'd always had a good time together in the past, but that night Elizabeth, too, noticed that something was off.
"Ronnie does seem to be acting strange," she admitted.
She didn't want him to know how truly worried she was for Enid, worried that somehow Ronnie might have found out her secret. She'd promised Enid she wouldn't tell, and that meant Todd, too, even though he was her boy
friend and she felt closer to him than anyone else.
Elizabeth looked over at Todd, more grateful than ever that he was hers--despite all the devious plots Jessica had cooked up in the beginning to keep them apart. Jessica had wanted him for herself, and Elizabeth could certainly see why. Todd was one of the best-looking boys at Sweet Valley High, besides being its hottest basketball star. He was tall and lean, with brown hair that curled down over his forehead and the kind of deep, coffee-colored eyes you could drown in. But the best thing about him was that he didn't give a darn whether he was popular or not. He was friendly with whomever he wanted to be friendly with, and he avoided people he considered snobs, no matter how popular they might be. In that way he and Elizabeth were alike. And she knew that she could tell him anything that was bothering her and he would have understood.
"Did you notice he didn't hold her hand during the movie?" Todd noted, giving Elizabeth's hand a reassuring squeeze. "Seemed kind of funny, since he's usually all over her."
She nodded. "Poor Enid. She really looked upset."
"I just hope Ronnie's not on one of his jealousy trips again. Remember the time he got mad at her for talking to that
"Ruined!" Jessica shrieked. "It's ruined for good!"
Mrs. Wakefield sighed as she handed her daughter the sponge. "Well, in that case, I suppose we could always have it for dinner, since that was the last tomato."
In a rage Jessica fled upstairs. She headed straight for Elizabeth's room and flung herself down on the bed. She preferred her sister's
room to her own since it was always much neater. The Hershey Bar was what she called her room, due to its chocolate-colored walls. And it looked, in Elizabeth's immortal words, "like a cross between a mud-wrestling pit and the bargain table at K-Mart."
It wasn't fair, Jessica fumed. Elizabeth was going to the dance with Todd Wilkins. Even Enid had a date--with Ronnie Edwards, who was so blinded by love that as head of the dance committee, he'd probably swing a million votes her way. Ignoring the fact that she could have had her pick from any one of half a dozen boys if she'd wanted, Jessica refused to be consoled.
Then, out of the corner of one wet eye, she glimpsed a piece of paper sticking out from under the bed. It looked like a letter. Being naturally curious--and having absolutely zero scruples when it came to reading other people's mail--she snatched it up.
"Dear Enid," she read with a sudden, voracious interest. "Been so down lately. I can't seem to get my head on straight the way you have. I can't stop thinking about the past and trying to figure out how it all snowballed so quickly. It's like the time we took all those bennies, and before we knew it we were cooking along in the GTO doing eighty or ninety...."
A smile crept slowly across Jessica's features as a plan shaped itself in her mind. She folded
the letter, tucking it carefully into the back pocket of her jeans. She would have to put it back, of course, before Elizabeth discovered it was missing, but that was no problem.
Whistling under her breath, Jessica started back downstairs, heading for her father's den, where he kept a small Xerox machine for copying legal documents.
Four
"What is it with Ronnie and Enid?" Todd asked. "Are they having some kind of a fight?"
Todd and Elizabeth spoke in hushed tones while waiting for Ronnie and Enid to return to their seats with the popcorn. The two couples often double-dated, and the Valley Cinema was a favorite hangout. They'd always had a good time together in the past, but that night Elizabeth, too, noticed that something was off.
"Ronnie does seem to be acting strange," she admitted.
She didn't want him to know how truly worried she was for Enid, worried that somehow Ronnie might have found out her secret. She'd promised Enid she wouldn't tell, and that meant Todd, too, even though he was her boy
friend and she felt closer to him than anyone else.
Elizabeth looked over at Todd, more grateful than ever that he was hers--despite all the devious plots Jessica had cooked up in the beginning to keep them apart. Jessica had wanted him for herself, and Elizabeth could certainly see why. Todd was one of the best-looking boys at Sweet Valley High, besides being its hottest basketball star. He was tall and lean, with brown hair that curled down over his forehead and the kind of deep, coffee-colored eyes you could drown in. But the best thing about him was that he didn't give a darn whether he was popular or not. He was friendly with whomever he wanted to be friendly with, and he avoided people he considered snobs, no matter how popular they might be. In that way he and Elizabeth were alike. And she knew that she could tell him anything that was bothering her and he would have understood.
"Did you notice he didn't hold her hand during the movie?" Todd noted, giving Elizabeth's hand a reassuring squeeze. "Seemed kind of funny, since he's usually all over her."
She nodded. "Poor Enid. She really looked upset."
"I just hope Ronnie's not on one of his jealousy trips again. Remember the time he got mad at her for talking to that
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