Tears filled Elizabeth’s eyes. “Tell me everything,” she said grimly.
In a low, hesitant voice punctuated by occasional hiccups, Suzanne told the story. “He seemed different when he came home,” she said. “Like maybe he’d been drinking. Only he wasn’t acting really drunk, just, well … friendlier somehow. He asked me if I wanted some wine, and when I told him I was too young to drink, he said—he said I seemed pretty grown-up to him. Then the next thing I knew he was kissing me—and trying to unbutton my blouse. I was so scared. I didn’t know what to do. I ended up running all the way over here.”
Elizabeth was so stunned she could hardly think straight. “It just doesn’t sound like Mr. Collins. I’ve never known him to act that way.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“It’s not that I don’t believe you.…” Elizabeth was confused. “It’s just that—well, couldn’t you have been mistaken?”
Suzanne shook her head. “No. It was no mistake. Look, he even tore my blouse when I was trying to get away.”
Elizabeth thought of all the times she’d gone to Mr. Collins when she was in trouble or needed advice, all the times he’d helped her. He always knew how to lead her to the right decision without actually telling her what to do. He was almost like a big brother or a favorite uncle in so many ways. Hearing Suzanne’s story was like having a nightmare. The worst kind of nightmare—the kind a person couldn’t wake up from.
“We have to tell someone,” she said. “My parents. They’ll know what to do.”
Suzanne grew panicky. She clutched Elizabeth’s arm. “What if they think it’s all my fault? That I led him on? That’s what he’ll say.”
Elizabeth hugged Suzanne. “How could they think anything so terrible about you? You’re the sweetest person in the whole world! My parents know what you’re like.”
Suzanne clung to Elizabeth as if she were drowning. “I’m so scared, Liz! Nothing like this has ever happened to me. If Pete knew, he’d be so upset. He’d probably kill Mr. Collins.”
Tears were streaming down Elizabeth’s cheeks. Her own image of Mr. Collins kept bumping up against the one Suzanne had painted of him. It was like trying to put together one jigsaw puzzle with pieces from another. Part of her still didn’t want to believe it was true. How could Mr. Collins be capable of such a hideous thing? But the evidence was all there—Suzanne’s hysteria, the torn blouse.…
As Elizabeth went down the hall to wake her parents, she could hardly stand up. Her knees felt weak and trembly. She knew that as soon as this got out, it would cost Mr. Collins his job, maybe even ruin his life. A tiny nagging voice inside her asked, What if it isn’t true?
But how could she doubt that dear, sweet Suzanne was telling the truth?
Twelve
“I still can’t believe it.” Todd shook his head as he started his car. “Mr. Collins just doesn’t seem the type to go around attacking innocent girls. It doesn’t make sense.”
“I know,” Elizabeth said miserably, shifting around in the passenger seat so she was facing him. “It’s exactly how I feel, too. But I guess we just have to accept it.”
The last two days—since the scandal about Mr. Collins had broken over Sweet Valley like a tidal wave—seemed like the longest of Elizabeth’s life. She couldn’t sleep, and her stomach was one gigantic knot.
It began with her father going to see Mr. Cooper, the principal, who quickly notified the members of the school board. After that the news spread like wildfire. Practically everybody in Sweet Valley was buzzing about what Mr. Collins had done to Suzanne. It was the scandal of the century, thought Elizabeth. Even worse than the time everyone had thought Ms. Dalton, her French teacher, was having an affair with Ken Matthews. At least then it had only been rumor. This was fact. There was going to be an inquiry, but that was just a formality. The truth was, things looked pretty grim for Mr. Collins.
The part Elizabeth hated the most was that so many people actually seemed glad about it. Mr. Collins had always been popular with the students, but some parents viewed his teaching methods as too liberal. Now they were happy to have a good excuse to get rid of him.
Elizabeth was among those who would be sorry to see him go. Even knowing he’d done a terrible thing, she couldn’t bring herself to hate him. In fact, every time she thought about his leaving, she felt sick. She was glad Todd felt the same way. At least she wasn’t the only one who was torn.
“What’s Mr. Collins got to say about all this?” Todd wanted to know. “Has anyone asked him?”
“Dad talked to him the night it happened. According to him, Mr. Collins seemed pretty upset. But he said he wasn’t going to go around publicly denying it because people were still going to believe what they wanted even though it wasn’t true.”
“Sounds like something Mr. Collins would say.”
They were on their way over to Cara’s to meet some of the other kids from school and pool their resources for Lila’s birthday present. Elizabeth wasn’t thrilled over the prospect of going to Lila’s party that evening, but she supposed there was no getting out of it without appearing rude. Besides, Suzanne had agreed to go with Aaron Dallas, and the two couples were planning on spending some time together at the party. After the ordeal Suzanne had been through, Elizabeth wanted her last night in Sweet Valley to be fun.
Todd suddenly smacked the steering wheel with the heel of his hand. “What if Mr. Collins is telling the truth? What if Suzy imagined the whole thing?”
“I wish it were true,” Elizabeth said. “But, Todd, you didn’t see her. She was so upset she could hardly talk. I practically had to pry the story out of her. Besides, why would anyone make up an awful thing like that?”
“You’re right.” Todd made a left turn onto Cara’s street. “It would be crazy to want to get a nice guy like Mr. Collins fired for no reason.”
* * *
The group that was gathered on Cara’s back patio was divided into two factions: the get-Mr. Collins-fired bunch versus the ones who were loyal to him, no matter what.
“I don’t care what anyone says,” spoke frizzy-haired Olivia Davidson, her blue eyes flashing with indignation. “I don’t believe Mr. Collins would do something like that.”
Olivia worked on the paper, too, and was devoted to the handsome young faculty adviser. She shared his liberal views and hated injustice just as much as he did.
“Well, I believe it,” said Cara, who was passing out sodas. “I’ve always thought he was the lecherous type. I’ve caught him looking at me more than once. Besides, he gave me a D on my last English essay.”
Todd and Elizabeth exchanged looks. Cara was one of the biggest gossips in school, as well as being Jessica’s best friend. She was probably responsible for the rumor spreading as quickly as it had.
Perhaps recalling his own experience at being the center of rumors, Ken spoke up in Mr. Collins’s defense. “Aw c’mon, Cara, you think every guy is looking at you. Anyway, if Mr. C was so hot for you, why’d he give you a D?”
Cara glared at him, but she had no real comeback. Elizabeth couldn’t suppress a tiny smile. It wasn’t often that Cara was struck speechless.
“I don’t think someone should be hanged before all the evidence is heard,” said John Pfeifer, sports editor for The Oracle. “I’m not saying he didn’t do it. I’m just saying we should hear his side, too.”
“I’m with John,” Enid agreed. She, too, had suffered at the hands of gossips once upon a time when an ugly episode from her past was exposed by Jessica.
“Not me. The whole thing is just too disgusting for words,” Caroline Pearce pronounced, giving her carrot-red hair a prim toss. “I mean, to think a maniac has been on the loose at Sweet Valley High all this time and no one even suspected!”
Tom McKay snickered. Obviously the idea of Mr. Collins as a maniac struck him as funny.
“I don’t think it’s a laughing matter,” said Winston, shooting Tom a black look. Everyone turned to stare at him. Winston har
dly ever stopped kidding around; so on the rare occasions when he got serious, people took notice. “Poor Suzy! Think of how she must have felt. Wow, I wish I’d been there to protect her!”
“Yeah, Mr. Collins would’ve died laughing,” Cara whispered to Caroline.
Elizabeth couldn’t help feeling sorry for Winston. Except for a few short, happy months with Mandy Farmer, he was always falling in love with girls who were unattainable.
“Well, whatever happened, it must have been horrible for sure,” said John Pfeifer.
Elizabeth sighed. “I wish there was some way of making it up to her. I know it sounds dumb, but I can’t help feeling sort of responsible. After all, if Todd and I hadn’t gone to the game that night, I would have been baby-sitting for Teddy and none of this would have happened.”
Winston brightened. “I’ve got it! Why don’t we use part of the money we collected for Lila’s present to buy Suzy something really neat? You know, sort of a going-away present.”
“Hey, that’s not a bad idea,” Ken chimed in. “Lila’s so rich anyway, we don’t need to get her anything very expensive.”
“I love it!” Elizabeth cried. “I know exactly the thing to get her, too. We were out shopping yesterday, and she saw this blouse she really liked. It would be perfect for her.”
Even those who still doubted that Mr. Collins had done anything wrong were enthusiastic about the idea. Driving home with Todd, Elizabeth felt better than she had the past two days. Maybe she could even manage to have a good time that night in spite of her depression over Mr. Collins.
On impulse, she decided she would also use the money she’d begun saving toward replacing her lost lavaliere on a pretty scarf she’d seen that would go with the blouse for Suzanne. After all, look at the time Suzanne had spent helping her search for her necklace! It was the very least she could do, Elizabeth thought.
Thirteen
“How do I look?” Suzanne asked as she stood before the full-length mirror in Elizabeth’s room.
“Too gorgeous for words,” Elizabeth pronounced. “You’d better watch out, Suzy. You may start a riot in that dress.”
Suzanne smiled. “Pete gave me this dress last Christmas. Wasn’t that sweet? It’s a Halston—it must have cost a fortune. I’m always telling him he shouldn’t spend so much on me.”
“Well, in my opinion it’s worth every penny. On you, at least.” Elizabeth wasn’t so sure how she would look in something as elegant as the off-the-shoulder white satiny dress Suzanne was wearing. She’d probably look like a high school junior masquerading as Princess Diana. On Suzanne it was naturally chic.
Suzanne laughed, bending down to adjust the straps on her cream-colored high-heeled sandals. “Oh, Liz, you could probably make a hippo feel like Christie Brinkley.”
It was good to see Suzanne in such a happy mood, Elizabeth thought. Ever since the night at Mr. Collins’s, she had seemed so withdrawn. Now her eyes sparkled, and the paleness was gone from her cheeks. Dressing up for the party had done wonders for her.
As for herself, Elizabeth had chosen a slightly simpler outfit for the occasion. Looking in the mirror, though, she decided she didn’t look too bad. She was wearing her favorite velvet skirt and a high-necked, lace Victorian blouse. Suzanne had helped her fix her hair in a fancy french braid, into which she’d tucked a sprig of fragrant honeysuckle.
“You look as if you belong on one of those old-fashioned Valentine’s Day cards,” Suzanne commented. “Todd’s going to flip when he sees you.”
“Thanks, Suzy. I just hope Dad doesn’t insist on taking our picture out by the pool the way he did the last time we got all dressed up. Actually, it was sort of funny. Jessica was so busy hamming it up for the camera, she didn’t watch where she was going and ended up falling into the water. It was her own fault, but boy, was she mad!”
Suzanne sighed. “It must be fun having a sister.”
“You wouldn’t say that if you knew Jessica. I mean, I love her dearly, but she can be a real pain in the neck sometimes.”
Suzanne cast Elizabeth a shy look. “I know this is going to sound incredibly corny, but these past couple of weeks you’ve been so fantastic about everything, Liz—well, I can’t help thinking of you as sort of a sister. I hope you don’t mind.”
“How could I mind?” Tears of emotion filled Elizabeth’s eyes.
What a fool, thought Suzanne. Elizabeth was almost too easy to trick. The same with her whole family. Look at how they’d swallowed that story about Mr. Collins. All she had had to do was mess her hair up, rip her blouse a little, add a few tears—and presto. Oh, it was too juicy for words! It was all she could do to keep from laughing in their faces.
As far as Roger Collins went, well, he was only getting what he deserved. It would serve him right to get fired after the way he’d treated her.
I showed him, she gloated to herself. No one can ignore Suzanne Devlin and get away with it!
“You know, Suzy,” Elizabeth continued, “I’m going to miss you like crazy when you leave.”
“You’re the sweetest girl in the whole world!” Suzanne gushed.
“The second sweetest,” Elizabeth amended laughingly.
The doorbell chimed downstairs.
“That’s got to be Aaron,” Elizabeth said with a glance at her clock. It was exactly eight. “Todd is always at least fifteen minutes late. Lateness is like a religion with him.”
Suzanne inspected her reflection one last time. Then she dabbed on some perfume and grabbed the lacy shawl that she’d dropped on Elizabeth’s bed. As she was dashing out of the room, she stopped to give Elizabeth a peck on the cheek.
“Thanks, Liz.”
“For what?”
“For being my friend. For helping me make sure that creep Mr. Collins got what he deserved.”
Suzanne frowned, and for an instant she no longer seemed beautiful to Elizabeth. Her lovely eyes narrowed into mean slits. Hatred twisted her mouth into an ugly grimace. Then the moment passed, and Suzanne looked her old sweet, smiling self again. Elizabeth blinked. She must have imagined it. Suzanne could never be ugly.
As soon as Suzanne had left, Elizabeth fished the gift-wrapped box out from the back of her closet, where she’d placed it after she’d gotten home from shopping in the afternoon. Suzanne’s suitcase lay partially open on Jessica’s bed. On the spur of the moment, Elizabeth decided to put the present inside it. That way Suzanne would find it the next morning when she finished packing. She smiled to herself, imagining how surprised Suzanne would be.
She was rearranging some things inside the suitcase to make more room when something glinted up at her from the folds of a skirt. Elizabeth fished it out. Her lavaliere! What was it doing in Suzanne’s suitcase?
Her stomach did a slow cartwheel of disbelief. There was no possible way her necklace could have gotten into this suitcase unless Suzanne had put it there.
But why? Why would Suzanne want to take her necklace? It didn’t make any sense at all.
There had to be some other explanation, thought Elizabeth. A perfectly normal explanation. She would ask Suzanne about it when she got to the party. But right then she couldn’t imagine what it might be. What if Suzanne really had meant to steal the necklace? What if …
She heard Todd’s car in the driveway. With trembling fingers, she hastily fastened the lavaliere about her neck and hurried down to meet him.
Fourteen
“You seem so quiet,” Todd remarked, reaching out and squeezing Elizabeth’s hand. “Is anything wrong?”
“I’m not sure,” she answered thoughtfully. “Remember I told you I’d lost my lavaliere?”
“Yeah, I remember. You were really upset about it.”
“Well, I found it.”
“That’s great! Where was it?”
“In Suzy’s suitcase.”
Todd looked confused. “How did it get there?”
“That’s the part I’m not sure about. Todd, how else could it have gotten in there unl
ess she put it there?” She shook her head. “But it’s absolutely crazy. Why would she do a thing like that unless she meant to—” She couldn’t finish the sentence.
“Steal it?” Todd supplied. He frowned. “You’re right. It’s crazy. I can’t imagine Suzy doing anything like that. But that’s how we felt about Mr. Collins, remember?”
“How could I forget? Oh, Todd, I’m so mixed up! And I’m starting to get the funniest feeling.…”
“Yeah, me too. Gives me goose bumps.”
Absentmindedly Elizabeth fingered her lavaliere. “Suppose, just suppose Suzy did take my necklace. Would that mean she lied about Mr. Collins too?”
“I thought you said there was no way she could have lied.”
“I thought so, but—well, now I’m not so sure.” Elizabeth buried her face in her hands. “Oh, no, what am I saying? That Suzy ripped her own blouse to make us think Mr. Collins attacked her? Why would anyone do such a hideous thing?”
“Maybe,” Todd said slowly, “we’ve been looking too hard for a reason. What if there was no reason? Remember that book we all had to read in tenth-grade English—East of Eden? There was that beautiful girl, Cathy, who everyone thought was so sweet and wonderful.”
Elizabeth shivered as if caught in a sudden draft. She remembered the book well. It was one of her favorites.
“And underneath Cathy was really rotten to the core,” she finished for Todd. She wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to stop her shivering. “But that was just a book. If someone was really like that, you’d know, wouldn’t you?”
“Maybe not. Some people can be pretty good fakers. What about the time before Bill Chase and DeeDee Gordon got together, when your sister pretended to be you so that Bill would fall in love with her? And she was so convincing that Bill actually bought her act?”
Elizabeth bit her lip. “But that was just Jessica. She’s never done anything really bad.”
“No comment,” said Todd, staring straight ahead as he angled the car up the steep road leading to the country club, where Lila’s party was being held.
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