SVH07-Dear Sister (5 page)

"Calm down, Cara," Jessica said, then sighed. Usually she liked Cara telling her how terrific she was, but tonight she had other things on her mind.

"What I was trying to say was that I've never seen
Liz
in action. She's always friendly, but not
this
friendly. I thought she only had eyes for Todd, but tonight she's breaking all records for flirting."

Jessica hardly knew what to say, she was so angry. "My sister is not a flirt!"

"OK, OK. But she certainly seems different."

"She is not," Jessica snapped angrily. "She's been under a lot of tension lately, but she is
not
different. She's exactly the same."

Jessica walked away from Cara, trying to convince

herself that what she had said was the truth. But she was afraid it wasn't.

Cara Walker had unwittingly suggested what was bothering Jessica most. She had been circling around it all evening, feeling it, but unwilling to say or even think it.

Elizabeth had somehow turned into her, Jessica! She was even out-Jessica-ing her. It couldn't happen. It must not be allowed to happen.

If she's Jessica
,
she agonized,
then who am I?

She chased the confusing thoughts out of her mind by hurrying around and taking care of the party. She became a demon at work, getting ice cubes, cleaning tables, mopping spilled sodas. Keeping busy helped a lot. Still, every time she passed Elizabeth, she was startled all over again to see the lively, glowing face of her sister lighting up the party.

By the end of the party, everyone was looking at Jessica and Elizabeth and whispering. Everyone knew something was wrong.

Everyone, that is, except Elizabeth. She chattered on brilliantly and unknowingly until the last.

What seemed to Jessica like a million years later, the party finally ended. When the last person had left, she closed the front door and turned to her sister. "Liz," she said. "I want to talk to you."

Elizabeth's eyes fluttered. "Jessie, is my face flushed?"

"What?"

"I guess it's nothing. I seem to have the most horrible headache coming on."

Jessica felt alarm growing inside her. She wondered if Elizabeth was having a relapse. "What's the matter, Lizzie?" she asked quickly.

"It's probably nothing. I just feel a little woozy."

"Oh, please, go lie down," said Jessica.

"Well, maybe I'd better--if you don't mind," said Elizabeth, and the next moment she shot up the stairs two at a time.

Jessica hurried around the pool and the patio, cleaning things up.
I
hope she's all
right, she thought.

It wasn't until she was almost finished that Jessica realized she had done
all
the work for the party. She had set up, dashed around like a servant all evening, and then cleaned everything afterward.

The only thing Elizabeth had done was decide to have the party.

Stop it
,
she told herself. Elizabeth would have done the same thing for her. She was just tired.

Sure,
said another inner voice.
She
was really a decrepit wreck when she hopped up the stairs like a little rabbit about two seconds after saying she had a splitting headache. Every time there'd been work

to do that day, Elizabeth had developed a sudden problem.

Jessica understood all these tricks well enough because she had used every one of them time and again on her sister.

And then she froze. The same frightening sensation swept through her. "Is it possible? Has Elizabeth turned into me?"

Five

Jessica let herself in through the back door, relieved to be home. It had been one crazy day--all of it bad. She'd be lucky to get a decent grade on her English test, but that wasn't what was really upsetting her. Being unprepared for a test was not unusual for her. But it was for Elizabeth, and Jessica was sure her sister hadn't cracked a book all week.

"How could she have time for studying when she's on the phone with guys most of the time?" she asked herself aloud. "Then of course there has to be time for manicures, pedicures, doing her hair--" She stopped herself in midsentence and glanced around the empty kitchen.

"I'm talking to myself," she said in amazement. "I'm coming so unglued that I am actually talking to myself." She poured a tall glass of orange

juice. "What I should be doing is talking to somebody else about Liz. But who?"

Todd? No, he was still at basketball practice. Their parents? They hadn't seen Elizabeth in action at the pool party the week before, and besides, Jessica didn't want to worry them.

Steven! she thought, reaching for the wall phone. Big brother to the rescue, right? Wrong. Jessica hung up the phone without dialing her brother's number at the university.

What in the world would she say to him? "Hey, Steve, Liz is flirting with every good-looking guy in Sweet Valley. Do something about it." She groaned. He'd just accuse her of being jealous. So would anyone else, for that matter.

But Jessica knew jealousy wasn't the problem. There was no longer any doubt in her mind. Elizabeth had changed.
It's my fault
,
Jessica admitted.
I was thoughtless
and selfish the night of Enid's party, and because of that, Elizabeth got hurt, spent all that time in the hospital, and now this. And not just at Enid's. I was always selfish. I acted just like--Elizabeth's acting now!

Just then Elizabeth slammed the back door, stomped across the floor, scuffing its shiny surface with her boot heels, and tossed her books on the table. "What an absolutely gruesome day!" she said, frowning fiercely.

Jessica stared at her, fascinated.

"If all you're going to do is stare at me, take your face someplace else!"

"I didn't mean to stare, Liz. I was just--"

"Staring!"

"Look, I don't mean to butt in, but I really think you ought to slow down a bit."

"Slow down? You've got to be kidding. You've been telling me for years that I've been hanging out with kids so dull that you need No-Doz just to be in the same room with them. You were right, Jess. From now on, thanks to you, I'm living in the fast lane!" Elizabeth dashed out of the room. "Got to change," she called over her shoulder.

"Did you hear that, Dr. Frankenstein?" Jessica muttered. "You're not the only one who created a monster."

"Thanks, honey. You can take the salad in." Alice Wakefield smiled at Elizabeth's retreating back and turned to Jessica.

"Isn't it wonderful to have Liz at home again?"

"Yeah, sure, Mom," Jessica answered.

Talk at the dinner table that night was light. Alice Wakefield asked the girls how things were at school.

"Just fine," Elizabeth said in a soft voice.

Jessica nearly choked on a cherry tomato.

"Jessica, are you all right?" Her father began pounding her on her back.

"Yeah, I suppose," she finally croaked. Privately, she thought she'd never be all right again.

Everyone knew Elizabeth was in trouble at school. Everyone except her parents, that is.

Jessica was still thinking about her sister when Ned Wakefield dropped the bombshell.

"The Percys are going to be in Europe for a few weeks for some kind of computer conference, and we're going to have some houseguests," he said brightly. Alice Wakefield nodded in agreement.

The Percys? Jessica frowned. Weren't they the ones with--

"The Percys' twelve-year-old twin girls are going to stay with us while their parents are away," her father said. "Won't that be fun?"

An openmouthed Jessica stared at her father.

"Fun?" Elizabeth sputtered. "A broken leg would be more fun than baby-sitting those two little twerps."

Alice Wakefield gave her daughter a look of surprise. "Elizabeth, I hardly expected--"

"Hey, Liz," Jessica jumped in quickly. "It won't be so bad. Like having kid sisters in a way. We'll let them do all our chores."

"Jessica!"

"Kidding, Mom. Just kidding, honest."

"That's my girl." Ned Wakefield beamed.

Jessica didn't know whether to laugh or scream. She certainly didn't want those two little brats around. But she'd pulled a perfect Elizabeth by sticking up for them.

Finally, Elizabeth said, "If Jess can cope with them, I guess I can, too."

The Wakefield parents exchanged proud smiles.

"You girls always come through for us," Alice said. "To show my appreciation, I'll clean up the kitchen tonight. Why don't you girls get an early start on your homework while your father goes over to the Percys' to pick up the twins?"

Half an hour later, Elizabeth and Jessica came back downstairs to meet the Percy twins. Although the Percys were friends of their parents, Elizabeth and Jessica had never met them. The twins were fragile, dark-haired girls with large brown eyes set in small, solemn faces. They were wearing identical gray jumpers and long-sleeved white blouses, and they were clutching identical black flute cases.

Jessica took one look at them and decided to move to San Francisco at the earliest possible moment. She plastered a smile on her face and said, "Hi." She had to strain her ears to hear them answer softly, in unison, "Hello."

Elizabeth muttered something that sounded like "Hello," then excused herself, muttering something else that sounded like "Homework."

As soon as the Percy twins were settled in Steven's room, Ned and Alice Wakefield left for an evening of bridge.

While the twins were unpacking, Jessica finally got a moment alone with Elizabeth. "Liz, I

know this is going to be a real bummer. But we can handle it, right?"
Liz, please
say right!

"You've got to be kidding, Jess." Elizabeth's eyes flashed with anger. "Can you believe those two? And their names, Jean and Joan. Their parents must be real morons."

"We
can
do it, Liz," Jessica insisted. "Remember what you've always told me? When we work together, we can do anything."

"I said that?"

"Sure."
She must have said it
,
Jessica thought. It sounded just like something Elizabeth would have said--once.

"OK, Jess, we'll work together, I guess."

Jessica hugged her in relief. "Terrific, Liz. Did I tell you about my absolutely sensational plans for tonight? I'm giving Danny Stauffer a second chance. He's taking me to the drive-in!"

"What's playing?"

"Who cares? Did I ever tell you about the front seat in Danny's car? It slides back and reclines and--and I probably don't have to draw you a picture, do I?"

"No, Jess, pictures aren't necessary. Have fun," she added, going into her room.

Happy and relieved, Jessica went to get ready for what she knew was going to be a memorable evening. She would have been anything but happy if she'd known what was going on in Elizabeth's room.

As Jessica changed into black pants and a

low-cut blouse, Elizabeth was slipping into a new miniskirt even shorter than the green one that hung in her closet. Fifteen minutes later she checked herself out in the full-length mirror. Her blue-green eyes glowed sexily, emphasized by perfect makeup. Her long, sun-streaked blond hair swung gracefully around her shoulders.

"Not bad, Liz," she said aloud. "Not bad at all."

As she stepped out into the hall, she carefully stepped over the extra-long phone cord. Jessica -had carried the hallway phone into her room, and Elizabeth could hear Jessica saying, "Ohhhh, Danny, do you really think we could do
that?"
Her voice was very breathy.

Elizabeth went down the hall to Steven's room and stuck her head in the doorway. The quiet Percy twins had finished unpacking and were sitting on the bed.

"Hi, kids, how are you doing?"

"Fine," they said in unison.

"Great. I thought my mom might be in here, but I guess she's downstairs."

"She went out," Jean said.

"With your father to play bridge," Joan added.

"Darn! I forgot all about that."

"Are you going to stay with us?"

"Me? No!" Softening her voice a little, she explained. "I have a date. And so does Jess," she added in a whisper.

Jean and Joan looked at each other with a

combination of confusion and panic. Were they going to be left alone their first night in a strange house?

"Hey, don't worry. We'll think of something. Come on." Without a word the Percy twins followed Elizabeth into the hall and down the stairs into the living room.

"Look, kids, Jess is going to the movies tonight. Do you like drive-ins?"

Joan and Jean nodded solemnly.

"She won't mind if you tag along with her, OK?"

More nods.

Elizabeth started for the front door, then stopped. "One more thing. Tell Jessica I'm really sorry and that I'll make it up to her." As she went out the door, she said, "Tell Jess that something vitally important came up."

Six

Jessica hummed as she put the finishing touches on her makeup. She added a bit more blusher and lip gloss and then looked critically at her face in the mirror. The twenty minutes she had spent doing her eyes had been worth it.

She checked the way her black pants and red blouse showed off her slender figure. "Good thing you lost those two pounds, Jess," she told herself. "Dan wouldn't want to put his arms around a blimpo."

Then she grabbed her purse and sailed out of the room. As she went past Elizabeth's room, Jessica felt a twinge of guilt. She shouldn't be sticking Elizabeth with the twins, she thought. But it had been so long since she'd had any fun. She'd make it up to her sister, she promised silently.

Jean and Joan Percy were sitting in the living room, just where Elizabeth had left them. As soon as she saw them, Jessica lost her happy smile and almost lost her temper. What in the world were those two little creeps doing in the living room when she had a date coming? They were definitely
not
part of the image she wanted to present to Danny.