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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Pascal Letter
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Other books in the Sweet Valley High series
A special bonus
Also by Francine Pascal
Copyright
Dear Reader,
The minute I came up with the idea of Sweet Valley High, now thirty years ago, I knew it was perfect. But I knew it needed something else. And that something else was girl power. Unlike the Sleeping Beauty version of romance novels, where the heroine has to wait for the wake-up kiss, in my series the girls would drive the action. And there would be two of them; the good and the bad in all of us.
After that all I needed were the stories. With my three daughters and my own teenage years to draw on, I had endless possibilities. I started with a bible where I developed the characters, the school, and the town, and then began writing the stories for first twelve books, and then twelve more and more and more until I had written 144 stories. And then with the help of other writers, they became the 144 books of the Sweet Valley High series, which more than 100 million fans have loved.
And now it’s all back as e-books for a whole new generation of teenagers who want to lose themselves in the world of Sweet Valley, the fantasy of the eighties, and the best high school no one ever went to.
And for the grown women who want to look back at the love of their high school lives and revel in the nostalgia of life with the most incredible twins, read away.
Sincerely,
Francine Pascal
One
“I still can’t believe you got permission to take the Spider to school today,” Jessica Wakefield said, opening the passenger side of the red Fiat convertible. “How’d you do it?”
“Um, I told Mom it was a—a special occasion,” her twin sister Elizabeth stammered, sliding in behind the wheel.
Jessica turned the rearview mirror to her side and checked her makeup. She had run late this morning and had dashed out of the Wakefields’ split-level house without performing her usual ritual before the bathroom mirror. Not that she really needed it. Tan, blond, with a model-sized waist and a clear, satin-smooth complexion, both she and her identical twin were among the best-looking students at Sweet Valley High.
“What special occasion?” Jessica asked, rummaging in her large leather shoulder bag for her makeup kit.
As Jessica brushed a little more color onto her sun-kissed cheeks, Elizabeth nervously tried to think of something to say. She didn’t want to talk about the real reason she was driving to school that day. Jessica would find out soon enough.
“Oh, the reopening of the Dairi Burger,” Elizabeth finally blurted out, surprised that she hadn’t thought of it before. She returned the mirror to its proper position. “I’m running low this week on information for ‘Eyes and Ears,’” she said, referring to the gossip column she wrote for the school newspaper. “I figure everyone’s going to be there, so there should be plenty to write about.”
Jessica eyed her sister with skepticism. There was something in Elizabeth’s voice that made Jessica suspect that her twin was being less than honest with her. “I’d hardly call the reopening of that grease pit the event of the century. Besides, I’d think you’d have all the info you could use from the surfing championship that Bill Chase won.” As she talked, Jessica held a pocket mirror in one hand and combed out her shoulder-length hair with the other.
“That was last week, remember?”
Jessica groaned as she put away her comb and reached for her lipstick. “Please don’t remind me,” she said, the memory of the case of poison oak that had kept her home still fresh in her mind. Where did Elizabeth find the time to get ready? she wondered. Her hair tied back with a blue ribbon, dressed in jeans, blue oxford shirt, and dark blue blazer, Elizabeth looked as fresh and attractive as could be. But then, Jessica reflected, Elizabeth didn’t bother with much makeup, using only a tiny hint of blush and mascara.
Jessica sighed. She rolled down her window to catch some of the early-morning breeze. Although it was only eight o’clock, the air was already warming under the bright sun. It was going to be another gorgeous day in Sweet Valley. “Hey, Liz,” Jessica said excitedly, “let’s take down the top.”
“No!” Elizabeth answered a bit too sharply.
“Why not?”
“It’s just not a good idea,” Elizabeth said with uncharacteristic edginess.
“Sounds like I touched a raw nerve,” Jessica noted. “What’s with you this morning? Here it is a beautiful day, and we’ve got the car and—” Jessica stopped herself. “Hey, why do we have the car?”
“I told you—to go to the Dairi Burger.”
“No, no, I mean what happened to Todd?” she asked. “How come you’re not going to the Dairi Burger with him?”
“How do you know I’m not?” Elizabeth asked.
Jessica pressed on. “He’s got his own set of wheels, doesn’t he? Or are you playing chauffeur for the day?”
“No, it’s nothing like that.”
“Then what is it, Liz?” Jessica insisted. “Will you please tell me what’s going on?”
Elizabeth waited until she reached the stop sign at the corner before answering. “Todd’s not driving his car anymore.”
“He what—?” Jessica said before remembering. “You mean he finally bought that motorcycle he’s been talking about?”
Elizabeth nodded. “He was supposed to get it Friday, but there was some delay, so he picked it up last night. He’s driving it to school today.”
“I should have known,” Jessica said, not bothering to hide her dislike for Elizabeth’s boyfriend. The two had been at odds with each other ever since Todd had rejected Jessica for her sister. “I really don’t believe that guy,” she continued. “Here he is, claiming to love you so much, yet he goes off and gets that awful machine when he knows that you can’t—”
Elizabeth quickly cut her sister off. “He doesn’t know,” she said quietly.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I didn’t tell him yet,” Elizabeth admitted. “He thinks I’m as excited about the bike as he is.”
“How could you?” Jessica was shocked at her sister’s deception. Not that fibbing was a foreign concept to her—Jessica had often stretched the truth when it served her purposes—but that Elizabeth had felt the need to be less than forthright truly puzzled her. Elizabeth was the most honest and straightforward person she knew. Jessica would have expected her to be especially up-front on this issue, a subject that had been discussed at length in the Wakefield household and one on which Jessica herself had very strong opinions. Motorcycles were nothing but death machines as far as Jessica was concerned, and she would have been perfectly happy if every single one were banned from the universe. She was sure Elizabeth felt the same way—at least she had been until right then. Was love blinding her sister’s good sense?
“I mean, after Rexy, how can you even consider getting near one of those things?” Jessica asked.
“I’m not, Jess. I have no intention of ever riding on that motorcycle. And I hate the thought of Todd
on it, too. But how could I tell him that? He’s been fantasizing about this bike for years. I couldn’t bear the thought of shattering his dream.”
“But you wouldn’t mind if he shattered his body? Come on, Lizzie, be sensible!”
Ordinarily Elizabeth would have chuckled at Jessica’s advice. After all, she’d told Jessica to be sensible more times than she cared to count. But this time she knew Jessica had a point.
Their cousin Rexy Wakefield had been a bright, handsome boy who had everything in the world going for him. Then, three years ago, a few days after his sixteenth birthday, he bought himself a motorcycle, despite his parents’ objections. The following day he was killed in a head-on collision with a station wagon. His death was a blow to all of them, particularly to Jessica, who’d adored Rexy almost as much as she did Steven, her older brother. Afterward, their parents made them swear they’d never ride on a motorcycle. It was a rule they all obeyed, one of the few that Jessica obeyed willingly.
When Todd first mentioned getting a motorcycle, Elizabeth had dismissed it as just talk. But as his bank account grew and his talk continued, Elizabeth had come to understand how serious he was. She knew it was time to tell Todd about Rexy and her inability to share his dream. But she couldn’t. He’d taken her silence as merely fear of the unknown and had assured her that the first time she got on the bike with him, all her fears would disappear.
If Elizabeth had been a different kind of person, not only would she have spoken up sooner, she would have begged Todd not to buy the motorcycle in the first place. But she felt strongly that she didn’t have the right to impose her own restrictions on Todd—though if she had done so, she would certainly be sleeping better at night. Even at this very moment she was filled with worry over whether he’d get to school safely.
“Look, Jess,” Elizabeth told her twin after much thought, “Todd’s bike is just something I’m going to have to learn to accept.”
“And ride with him?” Jessica asked, her blue-green eyes wide in amazement.
“Of course not!” Elizabeth exclaimed. “One has nothing to do with the other.”
“Oh, no?” Jessica shot back. “Don’t be a fool, Liz. Look at the reality. That bike has a backseat. What are you going to tell him when he asks you to ride with him?”
“He already did. He wanted to pick me up this morning.”
“And how did you get out of that?”
“I told him I felt a cold coming on, and it wouldn’t be a good idea to expose myself to the wind.”
“So that’s why you didn’t want to put the top down. Great.” Jessica shook her thick blond mane. “That’s fine for today, Liz, but what are you going to tell him tomorrow—or the next day?”
Elizabeth hit the steering wheel in frustration. “Look, I know I’ve got to tell him the truth. I’m just afraid of what he might say.”
Seeing her sister’s distress, Jessica decided to back down. She put her hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder and said, “Liz, Todd may not be my most favorite person in the world, but I know he cares for you enough not to let the bike interfere with your relationship.”
“I’m not so sure, Jess.…”
“You can’t put it off, Liz,” Jessica warned, her voice growing harder. “The more excuses you make to Todd, the more he’s going to think something’s wrong. He might as well know the truth now, before he starts to think it’s him you’re turned off to.”
Her sister hadn’t said anything that Elizabeth hadn’t thought about before, but hearing it so plainly made her realize what she had to do. She was just about to say so when Jessica added, “Of course, I can’t see why you’d want to continue a relationship with a motorcycle maniac—especially when there are so many great guys around who drive cars.”
“Like Danny and his Trans-Am?” Elizabeth asked. Danny Stauffer was a boy that Jessica had just started to go out with.
“Exactly. You said yourself how handsome and terrific he is. Maybe this is just the excuse you need to check out your options.”
Elizabeth smiled ruefully. She knew Jessica had a hard time understanding just how much she loved Todd. Her sister hadn’t yet experienced such a deep and caring relationship with any of her many boyfriends. But in her own way Jessica had gotten her to see how important it was to tell Todd the truth. Jessica was right, Elizabeth concluded. If Todd loved her, he would understand.
Todd hadn’t yet arrived when Elizabeth pulled into the Sweet Valley High parking lot. But as soon as she stepped out of the car, she spotted Enid Rollins, her best friend, getting off the school bus. Enid held a thick stack of books close to her side and walked along slowly, her round face slightly lowered, as scores of carefree kids flew right by her.
Elizabeth had often wished that others could see what a bright and witty person Enid was, but it was a side that the normally reserved brunette revealed to only a handful of people. Perhaps it was because she was the youngest junior in the class. She had skipped a grade when she was in elementary school and, as a result, had been subjected to much teasing by her older classmates. Elizabeth was one of the few people she confided in, as was Enid’s boyfriend, George Warren, a freshman at Sweet Valley College.
Elizabeth waved to get her attention. “Enid!”
Jessica looked at her sister with undisguised pity. Elizabeth was the type of person who never gave up on a lost cause, and Jessica felt that Enid was a prime example. For the life of her she couldn’t figure out what the two of them had in common.
Enid brightened a bit when she saw Elizabeth. “Hi, Liz,” she said, pointedly ignoring Jessica. “I’ve got to talk to you.”
The two friends had spent the better part of the previous day’s gym class going over the dilemma with Todd, and Elizabeth hoped Enid wouldn’t bring it up again this morning. She was all talked out.
She needn’t have worried. “You won’t believe the number my mom pulled on me this morning,” Enid said dejectedly. “I was on my way out of the house when she told me I’ve got to rush home right after school and address invitations to my party!”
“What for?” Jessica asked incredulously. “You’ve already invited half the school!”
“I know,” Enid said, “but Mom’s insistent. She said a special occasion like my sixteenth birthday deserves special treatment. So she went out and got these incredibly fancy engraved invitations. Can you believe it?”
“For your silly little party?” Jessica wondered.
Enid’s face turned beet red. She never quite knew how to answer one of Jessica’s put-downs.
This time Elizabeth came to her rescue. “If it’s so silly, Jess, how come you’re going?”
“Oh, never mind,” Jessica said, looking ahead toward the white columns that flanked the entrance to the massive brick building. “I think I see Cara up there. I’ve got to talk to her. See you later, Liz.”
As Jessica dashed off to her own best friend, Enid stuck her tongue out at her, making sure Elizabeth didn’t notice.
“Well, I think the invitations are a nice idea,” Elizabeth said. “They show how much your mother cares for you.”
“I’d rather be spending my time at the Dairi Burger,” Enid grumbled.
Elizabeth’s response was drowned out by the roar of a motorcycle engine. Todd’s motorcycle. Her stomach churned as a mixture of emotions rushed through her. She was glad he’d made it to school safely, but his arrival also meant that she’d come to the moment of truth. She had to tell him she couldn’t ride with him.
It was going to be difficult. If possible, Todd was even more attractive than ever that morning, cutting a sexy, self-assured pose astride his shiny black bike. He was wearing a soft leather jacket, which hugged his long, trim body, and a black full-faced helmet, which he now took off to reveal his tousled head of dark brown hair and the biggest smile Elizabeth had seen on his face for ages.
“Well, how do you like it?” he asked, directing his gaze at his girlfriend. “A Yamaha 750 Virago. It’s a beauty, isn’t it?”
“It sure is,” Max said, caressing one of the handlebars. “Pretty powerful, huh?”
Todd proudly patted the teardrop-shaped gas tank. “It’s as much as I’ll ever need,” he answered.
“Very impressive, Wilkins,” said Guy. “I suppose you’ll be going everywhere on that from now on.”
“As long as it doesn’t rain, this is where you’ll find me.”
“Boy, are you going to have fun, Liz,” said Guy, turning to face her.
Elizabeth nodded absently, her gaze now focused on something else, a hot-pink helmet attached to the side of the bike. Her helmet, she presumed, another wave of dread washing over her. Telling Todd the truth was going to be very hard.
“Well, Liz,” Todd repeated, “what do you think of it? Want to take a little spin before the bell rings?”
“I can’t, Todd,” she answered, hastily checking her watch. “I just remembered, I’m supposed to meet Mr. Collins in the Oracle office before first period. Got to run. See you.” She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Then she turned to her best friend. “I’ll talk to you later, Enid.”
Two
Elizabeth was the first person out of her math class after the bell rang. She had to find Todd and explain why she had run from him earlier in the morning. She had to tell him before it was too late. Jessica was right. Putting it off might be fatal to their relationship.
Fatal. Elizabeth cringed at the word. Ever since Rexy’s death, the words fatal and motorcycle were synonymous to her. Rationally, she knew that was silly—she saw lots of cyclists riding safely down the streets of Sweet Valley every day. Yet that emotional reaction was hard to shake. She couldn’t quite get it out of her mind that all people who rode motorcycles were flirting with death. But she knew she had to stop feeling that way. For Todd’s sake.
Where was Todd? She didn’t find him on the cafeteria line, nor was he joking around with his basketball buddies on the outdoor patio. Despairingly, Elizabeth approached the table occupied by several of Jessica’s friends.
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