part0007

"Slow down, Jess!" Elizabeth said as she braced her hand against the glove compartment of the twins' Jeep on Monday morning. "You're going to have an accident if you don't stop driving like a lunatic."

"Stop worrying so much. It's bad for your health," Jessica said as she whirled around a corner. "You know I'm an expert driver."

"Since when have you been in such a hurry to get to school?" Usually Elizabeth had to force her sister to get out of bed, but that morning Jessica was the first one up. "What are you so excited about? Algebra class?"

"Yeah, right." Jessica laughed. "You know I live for algebra." She stopped at a red light and reapplied her matte pink lipstick in the rearview mirror.

"So what is the big rush for?"

"I'm just anxious to get to school because I know everyone's going to still be buzzing about the awesome job we cheerleaders did on Friday, thanks to me, of course," Jessica said excitedly, flooring the gas pedal when the light turned green. "And second of all, I'm looking forward to seeing Ken."

Elizabeth looked out the window at the houses and trees that were whizzing past, so Jessica wouldn't be able to see the pained expression on her face. She wished she could tell her sister what she was feeling, but that was impossible. She couldn't tell her, because Jessica didn't know that she had had a fling with Ken when Todd had moved to Vermont for a brief period earlier that year. Nobody in the entire world knew except Elizabeth and Ken.

Todd and Ken were best friends, and when Todd was away, he had asked Ken to keep an eye on Elizabeth. They had spent a lot of time together, and at first they were just good friends. After all, they had known each other forever. They could talk for hours on end about anything, and they had so much in common.

But eventually they realized that their feelings for each other were more than just friendly. Elizabeth had tried to push away her romantic feelings, out of loyalty to Todd, but soon she was overcome by her attraction to Ken. When he had finally kissed her, she hadn't been able to resist him, and they dated on the sly for a couple of weeks.

Finally, though, they had decided to end the relationship before anyone—namely, Todd—got hurt. The guilt they had felt over deceiving him was destroying them both, and they knew it couldn't go on. When Todd had come back to Sweet Valley, their relationship had already been over for a long time, and she and Ken had gone back to the way they had always been, just friends. They promised each other never to tell anyone about what had happened while Todd was gone. But because they'd broken off the relationship so quickly—before it had had a chance to cool down naturally—it hadn't really come to a natural end, and now Elizabeth was worried. Maybe I still have feelings for Ken , Elizabeth thought as she looked over at her sister's radiant face.

Elizabeth knew better than anyone how horrible it had been for Jessica when Jeremy had turned out to be nothing more than a callous criminal, and she wanted to be happy about her sister's new romantic interest—but why did it have to be Ken? The idea of the two of them together drove Elizabeth crazy. Maybe that kiss they shared on the beach was a fluke , Elizabeth hoped. Maybe it will all blow over . . . .

Where is everyone? Jessica wondered as she stood by her locker later that morning. She had been taking her time hanging out in the hallway before going to her first class, wanting to give people a chance to shower her with praise about Friday's game. Normally, her friends swarmed around her on Mondays before first period, eager to talk about the weekend, but nobody seemed to be around. That's strange , she thought as she brushed her hair before the little mirror that hung on the inside of her locker door.

That morning when she'd gotten dressed, she'd been thinking of Ken and had wanted to look her very best for him. She'd decided on her favorite—faded blue jeans and her blue-and-gold gauzy blouse that looked as if it were from the sixties. For a minute she had wondered if it was her style, but then she'd decided that since she'd seen blouses like it in all the fashion magazines, it was just right. Besides, blue was a great color on her, and she knew she looked beautiful.

She couldn't wait to see Ken again after they'd kissed on Friday night. All weekend she'd played that moment in the moonlight over and over in her head. Just when she'd been about to give up on romance and guys, she mused, Ken had come along with his gorgeous smile and had swept her away.

Just then she heard a buzz of voices down the hallway. She looked toward the commotion and caught a glimpse of Ken at the end of the hall. He was standing in a big crowd of people who were swarming around someone or something. At that moment Lila spotted Jessica and, breaking free from the crowd, met her at her locker. "Did you see her yet?"

"Did I see who yet?" Jessica asked, flipping her hair over her head and then letting it fall back into place to give it more volume. Now that she'd spotted Ken, she wanted to look as good as possible.

"Heather Mallone," Lila said, pointing down the hall to the crowd of people. "That girl at the Dairi Burger on Friday who caused such a big hoopla with the guys."

"What about her?" Jessica said, slamming her locker door. She knew she wasn't going to like whatever Lila was about to tell her, and she already felt the great mood she'd been in that morning start to fade away.

"Well, that's her down there," Lila said. "She just moved to Sweet Valley, and she's a student here now. You should see the way the guys are flirting their heads off with her."

"And that's headline news?" Jessica said, trying to sound casual.

"Well," Lila said. "I have a feeling she's going to be pretty popular, judging from the reaction she's getting after being here just a few minutes."

"Whoop-dee-doo," Jessica said, twirling her finger in the air. "Let's call the local television station and tell them the big scoop—a new girl has arrived in Sweet Valley. I mean, who cares?"

"I do. She seems like someone we might want to know. She seems like our type. Oh, and by the way," Lila added casually, looking closely at Jessica, "I think I heard her saying something about being a big deal on her old cheerleading squad."

Jessica knew her best friend well enough to know that Lila was just trying to get a rise out of her.

"As I said in the Dairi Burger," Jessica replied, doing her best to smile, "I don't see what the fuss is about. 'Big deal' is a relative term, and besides, she's probably got some major personality flaw."

"How can you possibly know that?" Lila asked as she adjusted the tight purple minidress she was wearing. "You haven't even met her yet. I think I just might detect a note of jealousy."

"Be real," Jessica said, rolling her eyes. "I can tell things about people from just looking at them." And major personality flaw or not, I can tell that I don't like anything about this girl , Jessica thought, mad that for the second time in a row this Heather Mallone had stolen her thunder.

"Here she comes," Lila said.

Jessica turned to watch Heather and a sea of people walk down the hall toward her. She scanned the crowd for Ken, but he wasn't there. Her heart sank for a moment, and then her gaze landed on Heather, who was beaming at her with what Jessica knew was a phony smile.

"Lila, you know Heather, right?" Annie asked.

"Well, we just met a little while ago in the parking lot," Lila said, extending her hand to meet Heather's. "But we weren't properly introduced. I'm Lila Fowler."

"Hi, I'm Heather Mallone. Thanks again for letting me have that parking space."

"No problem," Lila said. "That's a great car you have, by the way. It's totally cool."

Jessica couldn't believe how Lila was kissing up to her. And she let her have her parking space?

"Thanks," Heather said. "I'd be happy to take you riding in it sometime. I'm still unfamiliar with Sweet Valley, and I could use a good tour guide."

"That would be great," Lila said.

I'll be your tour guide , Jessica thought, I'll show you the way right out of town .

"This is Jessica Wakefield," Lila said, pushing Jessica forward.

"Hi, Jessica," Heather said, smiling that same syrupy smile as she extended her hand to Jessica. "What an adorable little blouse you're wearing. It's so, uh . . . retro."

"Retro?" Jessica repeated, not knowing exactly what Heather meant, but pretty sure it wasn't a compliment. I knew I wasn't going to like this person , Jessica thought as she scrutinized the girl standing in front of her.

Heather had long blond hair that was wavy and curly and hung in layers around her face. She had big blue eyes and a dainty little nose, and as much as Jessica hated to admit it to herself—she was beautiful. She was wearing skintight designer blue jeans that showed off a muscular but thin figure, and a white silk blouse that looked tailored and elegant. She had on expensive-looking black loafers with no socks. And her jewelry, which consisted of gold earrings, a gold bracelet, and a gold choker, were from a line Jessica recognized from one of the most exclusive jewelry catalogs she'd seen at Lila's house.

Jessica suddenly knew what Lila had meant when she'd said that Heather was "our type." She really meant that Heather was her type, as in super-rich! Lila herself was the richest girl in Sweet Valley. Although Jessica loved to hang out in the sprawling mansion where she lived with her parents, she couldn't help being jealous of all her money and her ability to buy whatever she wanted whenever she wanted it.

"Yeah, you know, 'retro,' like from the sixties," Heather explained authoritatively. "That look is very trendy these days."

Jessica looked at Lila, then at Annie in disbelief. She was waiting for them to acknowledge the fact that Heather was insulting her, but nobody else seemed to notice. Not only is she a fake, but she's condescending and rude , Jessica thought.

"Excuse me, but I have to get to class," Jessica said as she turned and stormed off. In just a few minutes Jessica's mood had taken a nosedive, and it was all because of one person: Heather Mallone. The less I see of that girl, the better , Jessica thought as she walked down the hall, leaving behind Heather and her group of adoring fans.

"Can you believe what a phony that new girl is?" Jessica asked her group of friends at the lunch table later that day. "I couldn't believe how rude she was to me this morning."

"Oh, please, Jessica," Lila said. "She was perfectly nice. In fact, I think I'm going to like her a lot."

Jessica's mouth dropped open incredulously. "She totally trashed my blouse this morning in front of everyone. You were standing right there when she did it."

"I think you're being paranoid," Lila said as she poured two packets of sugar into her iced tea. "She was complimenting you."

"Excuse me, but since when is 'trendy' considered a compliment?" Jessica asked. She couldn't believe that her best friend didn't even see how awful Heather was.

"Hey, guys," Annie said brightly as she set down her tray at the table. "Look who's joining us for lunch."

Jessica looked up from her plate of fettuccine Alfredo and almost dropped her fork. Heather plopped herself down at their table and sat directly across from Jessica. She had that same fake smile plastered on her face that she'd had that morning. My lunch is ruined , Jessica thought.

"So how do you like Sweet Valley High so far?" Amy asked. "Are you finding your way around OK?"

"It's fabulous," Heather said. "Everyone's so nice and friendly here."

"Especially the guys," Annie said, giggling. "You should see the way every male in this school has offered to show Heather around. She already had five guys ask her out for this weekend."

Jessica's dislike for Heather was mounting with every minute.

"I have to say, though, that the guys seem pretty immature here," Heather said.

This is just too much , Jessica thought. Now she's insulting the guys in our school! Jessica looked around the table to see if anyone else was bothered by Heather's rude comment, but nobody even seemed to notice.

"You're right about that," Lila agreed. "They're totally unsophisticated. Look at that table over there by the window. Every single day those guys are over there playing paper football. Talk about childish."

Jessica looked over at Aaron Dallas, Ronnie Edwards, and the other guys Lila was referring to. They did look pretty ridiculous the way they were so engrossed in their game, making a lot of silly cheering noises over a little piece of paper being flicked from one end of the table to the other. Still, they were Sweet Valley guys, and she suddenly felt very loyal to them.

Everyone burst out laughing at Lila's observation, except Jessica. How can Lila agree with her like that? she wondered. What a traitor. She's just agreeing with Heather because she thinks she's cool, and rich .

"That pasta you're eating is loaded with fat," Heather said, pointing to Jessica's plate.

"So?" Jessica said, looking up from her lunch defensively.

"Fat clogs up your arteries and causes heart attacks. I've completely eliminated fat from my diet. If I ate like that, I'd never be able to fit into my jeans."

"Well, I can understand that, judging from the kind of jeans you like to wear," Jessica said, trying to make her voice light.

"What do you mean?" Heather asked.

"Oh, I just mean that you obviously like to wear your jeans really, really tight," Jessica said. "I'm surprised you can even walk in them. How long does it take you to put them on in the morning? I'd imagine you'd have to have a crew of people pulling them up for you."

Jessica looked around the table expecting to see her friends giggle in agreement, but everyone just stared at Jessica as if she had leprosy or something.

Heather smiled at Jessica, ignoring her comments. "I just don't know any girls my age who eat food like that anymore. Everyone I know watches their weight."

She looked at Heather's plate, which was full of carrot and celery sticks and some tuna without a trace of mayonnaise. "Well, I guess I'm just one of those lucky people who don't have to worry about their weight," Jessica said, wrapping a huge helping of fettuccine around her fork. "I don't believe in depriving myself of anything."

"You do have a great figure, Heather," Maria gushed. "You look like you exercise a lot."

"I guess you could say I'm pretty athletic," Heather said as she chomped on a carrot stick. "I jog five miles every morning before school, and I play a lot of squash and tennis. Oh, and I'm an avid skier."

"Really? Where do you go?" Lila asked.

"Aspen, naturally, and every Christmas my family goes to Gstaad," Heather said, as if everyone knew where she was talking about.

"I love Gstaad," Lila said, "especially the boutiques there."

"Shtad?" Jessica asked. "It sounds like some kind of sausage or something."

Lila and Heather looked at each other and laughed.

"It's a very exclusive ski resort in Switzerland," Heather explained as if she were talking to a child.

"Don't you remember when my dad and I went there a few years ago?" Lila asked, sipping from her iced tea. "I'm sure I sent you a postcard."

"Gee, I guess I forgot. I'll have to go home and dust off my collection of postcards from Lila's travels," Jessica said sarcastically, furious that Lila was siding with Heather.

"Well, I can't imagine doing as much exercise as you do, Heather," Amy said. "You must be exhausted at the end of every day."

"It helps keep me in shape for cheerleading," Heather said before chomping on a carrot stick.

"Heather was just telling me that the cheerleading squad at her old school were the state champions of Nevada for seven years," Annie gushed. "And she was the captain!"

"Wow, that's great," Maria said. "You must be a really wonderful cheerleader."

"I understand that you're one of the captains of the squad here," Heather said to Jessica. "What kind of stuff are you into?"

"Well, I make up most of the cheers myself, but sometimes I use Cheerleading magazine for inspiration," Jessica said, proud that she had the vision as a captain to keep up with the latest moves. "You should have seen us on Friday. We were awesome." Jessica waited for her friends to agree with her, but nobody did. They were all too focused on Heather.

"Cheerleading magazine?" Heather laughed. "That's so dated . If I were you, Jessica, I wouldn't waste my money on a subscription. Don't you watch VTV? Hip-hop's the latest thing in cheerleading," Heather said knowingly.

"I guess our cheers would seem pretty boring to you," Robin said. "They're not that exciting, nothing like VTV."

Not that exciting! Jessica was mortified. She had worked on those cheers for weeks, and now her very own cocaptain was putting them down in front of this awful, show-off Heather! Just when she thought she wasn't going to be able to take it anymore, Jessica saw that Ken was walking toward their table.

"Who's that? I noticed him this morning. He's one of the cutest guys I've seen all day," Heather said, sitting up and running ran her fingers through her hair.

"That's Ken Matthews," Lila said, looking warily at Jessica. "He's the quarterback of the football team, and he threw the winning pass on Friday."

If he's coming over here to talk to Heather I'm going to have to throw my fettuccine in her face , Jessica thought as she watched Ken's gaze closely to see if he was checking Heather out. To her delight he didn't even glance at Heather. Instead, he walked right over to Jessica and leaned down to her from behind her chair.

"Hey, Jessica, do you want to come over and sit with me?" Ken asked timidly but sweetly.

"I'd love to eat lunch with you, Ken," Jessica said loudly as she stood up and picked up her tray.

To Jessica's dismay Heather and Jessica's friends barely even noticed that Jessica was leaving the table with Ken. Heather was going on about how great her cheerleaders were at her old school.

"I really had a good time on Friday night," Ken said to Jessica, putting his tray down at an empty table. "I hope that you weren't too embarrassed when everyone saw us kissing like that."

"I had a great time too," Jessica said. "And I wasn't embarrassed at all."

Jessica looked back over at her table of friends and was pleased to see that finally she was getting some attention. They were all obviously talking about her and Ken, because they kept looking in Jessica's direction. Most important, Heather was watching them with particular interest.

Ken looked down at his plate and moved his fettucine around nervously. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of silence, Ken spoke.

"Jessica, I was wondering if you'd consider going out with me on Friday night," he said, avoiding eye contact with her. "I mean, if you don't want to, that's fine too. I just thought it might be fun, you know, to do something together."