One

“What do you think? Do I look sophisticated enough for Scott?” Jessica Wakefield stood poised before the full-length mirror in her twin sister’s bedroom, chin thrown back, her lovely features arranged in a languid pout.

Elizabeth glanced up from the note pad she was scribbling on. “Brooke Shields you’re not. Besides, why do you care what Scott thinks?” Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You’re not thinking of going to that party at the lake? Not after Mom—”

Jessica whirled on her twin, cutting her dead with a look of defiance. “Who says she has to know? You’ve heard the old saying—what you don’t know won’t hurt you.”

Her eyes, which normally hovered somewhere between blue and green, and could go either way depending on her mood, glittered pure emerald fire.

“And just how do you plan on getting away with it? Mom’s not exactly blind, you know.” Elizabeth noticed the corners of Jessica’s mouth turning up—the mouth that was a carbon copy of her own but capable of oh-so-much-more mischief. “Uh-oh. Forget I even asked. I don’t think I want to know the answer. Just remember—whatever it is, don’t include me.”

Jessica’s smile deepened into one of pure innocence. Her eyes looked blue now, as blue as a baby’s. She went back to admiring her reflection, scooping her sun-streaked blond hair up on top of her head as she struck a new femme fatale pose.

“I haven’t the vaguest idea what you’re talking about,” she drawled. “I’m spending the day with Cara.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Since when does Cara have a mustache and drive a red Firebird? Come on, Jess, who do you think you’re kidding? You can’t keep a thing like this a secret. Besides, I think Mom’s right. Scott is too old for you.”

If first impressions counted for anything—and Elizabeth happened to think they did—then Scott’s age wasn’t the only black mark against him. She remembered the insolent way he’d looked her up and down when Jessica had introduced her to him the previous week. There had been a dumb, leering smile on his face when he’d made the old joke about them being “double the fun.” Elizabeth had nearly gagged. When he peeled away from the curb in his tomato-red Firebird, he’d left a squiggly trail of skid marks in his wake. Elizabeth had thought college boys were supposed to be above that kind of thing, but apparently she was wrong.

And so was Jessica. But it wouldn’t be the first time.

Elizabeth sighed. She was only four minutes older than her twin, but sometimes she felt it was more like four years. Jessica had a habit of attracting trouble the way a magnet attracts metal shavings. And more often than not, big sister Elizabeth was the one she turned to to bail her out when the water got a little too deep. The problem was that no matter how much Elizabeth protested, Jessica knew her sister would always end up helping her out. And she unhesitatingly took advantage of that whenever she thought she could.

Only this time it wouldn’t work, Elizabeth told herself resolutely. For emphasis, she even wrote in black felt pen under the notes she’d been scribbling for her “Eyes and Ears” column, which appeared weekly in Sweet Valley High’s newspaper, The Oracle: “May a band of wild pygmies hang me by the thumbs if I let Jess get me involved in this.”

She sighed again. Jessica had turned away from the mirror and was busy rummaging through Elizabeth’s bureau drawers. The twins were the same size—a perfect six—and Elizabeth didn’t really mind when Jessica borrowed her clothes. She just wished that, for once, she would get them back in the same condition in which they’d gone out. More often than not, she ended up having to fish them out from under Jessica’s bed or from the crumpled heap at the back of her closet, which Jessica kiddingly referred to as the “compost pile.”

“This halter top would look really sexy with my red shorts,” Jessica said, holding up a scrap of lacy white cloth as she smiled sweetly at her twin. “You don’t mind, do you, Lizzie?”

“I wouldn’t want to look too sexy around Scott if I were you,” Elizabeth warned darkly. “It might be like waving a red cape in front of a bull.”

With a toss of her sun-streaked mane, Jessica flopped onto the bed beside her sister, scattering the articles Elizabeth had been proofreading for The Oracle.

“What’s wrong with sex appeal?” she demanded, arching an eyebrow. “Actually, if you want to know the truth, you could use a little more of it yourself. Not that you’re not gorgeous.” Jessica laughed and fluttered her eyelashes at the sister who was her mirror image.

“Naturally.” Elizabeth giggled.

“You just need to play it up more. You know, like in all those ads where the mousy secretary lets her hair down and undoes the top button of her blouse, and suddenly everyone in the office notices what a knockout she is.”

With a dubious expression, Elizabeth fingered her ponytail. “If letting my hair down means attracting guys like Scott, forget it. I’d rather be mousy.”

She’d been invited to the party at the lake along with Jessica, but Elizabeth had been relieved when their mother had vetoed the idea. Scott and his friends were all older than the kids they usually hung around with. Jessica said that Scott was eighteen, but Elizabeth suspected she’d conveniently shaved a year or two from his real age in order to convince their parents he wasn’t too old for her.

Anyhow, it wasn’t the age difference that bothered her so much as the reputation Scott’s gang had. Elizabeth had heard stories about the wild parties held at some of the college dormitories. Her best friend Enid’s older cousin had even been to one. It was a kind of grown-up pajama party, she’d reported, with everyone wearing nightshirts and nightgowns, and the floor strewn with mattresses for them to sit on instead of chairs. According to Enid’s cousin, things had gotten pretty far out of hand, especially with all the drinking that was going on.

A beach party at the lake in the daytime sounded innocent by comparison, but with that crowd it seemed as if almost anything could happen, Elizabeth mused.

Jessica, however, wasn’t going to let her sister’s doubts ruin her good time. “OK by me if you want to sit around for the rest of your life,” she snapped. “I’m not going to let it stop me from having fun. I’m sixteen, not sixty like some people I know,” she added with a pointed look at her twin.

“Even if it means possibly getting caught and being grounded for the next five thousand years?” Elizabeth asked.

“What could go wrong? I’ve got the perfect alibi. Cara’s family is driving up the coast for the day, and they invited me to go with them. It’s all arranged. Ask Mom.”

“She believed you?”

Jessica switched on her innocent smile once again. “Why shouldn’t she? Is this the face of a liar?”

“Yes!” replied Elizabeth without hesitation.

“I didn’t really lie.” Jessica stuck out her lower lip in an exaggerated pout. “I just rearranged the truth a little. I told Mom Cara had invited me to go along. I didn’t exactly say I was going.”

Elizabeth snorted. “Save it for the judge at your trial. I’ve never heard anything so pathetic in my whole life.”

Jessica was clearly annoyed. “You know something?” Her eyes flashed with scorn. “I think you’re jealous.”

“Jealous over Scott? You’ve got to be kidding! He’s definitely not my type. Come to think of it, I don’t think he’s your type, either.”

“And just what is that supposed to mean?”

“It means I think he’s too old for you, for one thing.”

“He’s the same age as Steve,” Jessica pointed out, referring to their brother.

“I don’t think Steve would want a girl to sneak around behind her parents’ back to go out with him.”

“You don’t even know Scott!”

“That’s just the point. Neither do you. What if things get out of hand up at the lake? How will you get home? None of those kids are your friends.”

“I can take care of myself,” Jessica announced sullenly.

“The way you took care of yourself with Bruce?” Elizabeth reminded her.

Handsome, popular Bruce Patman. Jessica had really been hung up on him for a while. And he had used her without regard for anyone’s feelings but his own. Fortunately, Jessica had gotten the last laugh. But Elizabeth wasn’t sure she’d be so lucky with someone older and more experienced like Scott.

“Bruce has nothing to do with this. Besides,” Jessica rationalized, “I never really liked him anyway.”

Elizabeth knew differently, but she decided not to argue. She tried another tack. “What about the test, then? How do you expect to pass it when you’ve been out partying the whole day before?”

The test for the tourist guide license was scheduled for the day after the party. If the twins passed, they would be able to earn extra money over their summer vacation giving tours of Sweet Valley’s beautiful coastline and its other scenic attractions. This was something both girls had been planning for a long time, and Elizabeth knew it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun without Jessica.

“I’ll take care of the test, if you promise not to tell Mom,” Jessica bargained, shrewdly detecting a chink in Elizabeth’s armor.

“I’m not promising anything. If she asks me, I’m not going to lie.”

Jessica leaped from the bed, facing Elizabeth squarely, hands planted on her hips. “Some friend you are!”

Unfazed, Elizabeth replied dryly, “I’m probably the best friend you’ve got, Jess. You just don’t know it.”

Jessica cast her a withering look. “Don’t do me any favors. Just don’t come running to me someday if you ever need my help.” Abruptly she burst into tears. “I thought sisters were supposed to stick up for each other,” she choked.

Elizabeth caught her lower lip between her teeth. Maybe she had been too harsh. “Jess…”

But Jessica had already done an about-face. She strode out of the room, and Elizabeth flinched as the door slammed shut behind her.

*   *   *

“Why let it bug you?” questioned Enid Rollins, Elizabeth’s closest friend. “You’re not doing anything wrong.”

It was Sunday, and they’d stopped at the Dairi Burger for a bite to eat on their way to the beach. Elizabeth had ordered her favorite, a hot dog dripping with chili, but she could only pick at it. Her mind was on Jessica roaring up to the lake in a red Firebird.

“I haven’t done anything wrong yet,” she amended. “I just hope my mom doesn’t get suspicious and ask me for the truth.”

“So? If she does, tell her.” Enid fixed her big green eyes firmly on her friend.

There was no love lost between Enid and Jessica—not after the low-down, rotten trick Jessica had pulled that had just about cost Enid her reputation. Even though it had all worked out, Enid would never count Jessica as a friend. In her opinion, it would be like asking a boa constrictor to dinner.

Elizabeth sighed. “It’s not that simple. She is my sister, after all. I wouldn’t want to see her get into any trouble.”

Enid couldn’t help but wonder what Jessica would have done if their roles had been reversed. She refrained from saying anything; Elizabeth could be touchy on the subject of her twin.

“Look,” said Enid, forking in a mouthful of coleslaw. “You’re here to have fun—so have fun. Let Jessica worry about Jessica.” She tossed her dark hair with finality.

The beach was fairly crowded by the time they arrived, shortly past noon. Elizabeth and Enid spread their towels near the lifeguard station, which would provide a few patches of shade from the scorching sun. A lean yet muscular boy with seal-brown hair materialized just as Elizabeth was unscrewing the cap from a tube of suntan lotion.

“Turn around and I’ll get your back,” he ordered, snatching the tube from her hands before she could protest.

“Todd!” she laughed, submitting to a vigorous rubdown at her boyfriend’s enthusiastic hands. Her heart beat a little faster at his nearness.

Playfully he dabbed a spot of lotion on the end of her nose and rubbed it in gently, his brown eyes regarding her with unconcealed affection.

“Where’s Jessica?” he asked.

“Uh…” For a moment Elizabeth was at a loss for words. She knew Todd disapproved when she covered up for her sister.

“Cara,” Enid put in hastily. “She’s with Cara.” Mentally she shook her fist at Jessica for putting Elizabeth on the spot.

Elizabeth pretended a sudden fascination with the waves breaking offshore in perfect blue-green formation. Just beyond the surf line, an antlike cluster of wetsuited, black shapes was paddling into the next swell. As the wave crested, one of them broke away from the others, swooping ahead into the curl with the grace of a dolphin.

“He’s good,” Elizabeth remarked, shading her eyes. “Whoever he is.”

“That’s Sonny Callahan,” Todd answered. “And you’re right, he is good. He came in first at last year’s state surfing championship. I hear he’s competing this year, too.”

“Does Bill know?” Enid asked.

To Bill Chase, surfing was practically more important than breathing. He’d gone all out to train for the championship. The regionals were only a week away. Bill was good; they all knew that. But was he good enough to beat Sonny?

“What do you think?” They all followed Todd’s gaze as he looked toward a lone towheaded figure perched on a rock at the end of the jetty, staring out to sea.

“Poor Bill,” said Elizabeth. “He must really be depressed if he’s not in the water on a day like this.”

Actually, it was almost impossible to tell what Bill was thinking, most of the time. He stayed pretty much to himself, and at school he didn’t belong to any particular group. Elizabeth thought he was probably just shy, but Jessica liked to believe he was some kind of mystery man. Elizabeth remembered the time her sister had invited him to a Sadie Hawkins dance, as if she were bestowing some great honor on him. When he turned her down, Jessica’s rage had nearly blown the roof off. Someday she was going to turn the tables on him, she had sworn. Someday—

“Hey,” Todd’s voice interrupted Elizabeth’s reverie. “Isn’t that Cara?” They watched a pretty brunette in a pink bikini making her way down the beach. “I thought you said she was with Jessica.”

Elizabeth’s heart sank into her sandals. What was Cara doing here? Had Jessica invented the entire story about Cara’s family driving up the coast?

Pretending she was going to get a drink of water, Elizabeth caught up with Cara and asked her what had happened. Cara explained that last-minute car trouble had forced her father to abandon their plans for the day.

“What about Jessica?” Elizabeth worried aloud. “What if she gets found out?”

“Jessica’s a big girl.” Cara peered at her through a pair of sunglasses shaded the exact pink of her bikini. “She can take care of herself.”

“I hope so,” Elizabeth muttered.

But if that was true, why did she have this gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach that this time dear Jessica was definitely in over her adorable but careless little head?