SVH11-Too Good To Be True (10 page)

On the other hand, Suzanne could be completely

innocent. Elizabeth was aware of the fact that her writer's imagination did tend to get out of hand on occasion. Like the night she thought their house was being burglarized, and it was only Jessica trying to sneak in through the window after curfew. Elizabeth could still remember how furious her sister had been when the police arrived.

How would she feel accusing Suzanne of stealing--and worse--if it weren't true? Elizabeth wondered miserably. Awful, that's how. Suzanne had been so nice. The possibility that she'd been faking it was almost unimaginable.

Elizabeth groaned. This was turning into more and more of a nightmare. And the harder she tried to untangle it, the worse it got. If only she could talk to someone besides Todd about it. But her parents had gone out and wouldn't be home until much later. Steven had gone over to Tricia's to try and talk to her about his own tangled-up situation. In the past, she had always gone to Mr. Collins, but...

'Todd," she said, "would you mind taking a short detour?"

"Where to?"

"Mr. Collins's house. I think it's about time we heard his side of the story firsthand." Todd grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."

***

The man who opened the door in response to Elizabeth's knock was a pale shadow of the Roger Collins she knew. A stubble of beard darkened his jaw. He looked as if he hadn't slept in days. Elizabeth felt a sharp stab of sympathy, held in check by the memory of Suzanne's tearstained face.

"Uh--is it OK if we come in?" she asked hesitantly. "I really need to talk to you."

"Of course you can come in, Liz ... Todd." At least he
sounded
like the same old Mr. Collins.

Elizabeth sat down stiffly on the edge of a chair. Todd and Mr. Collins remained standing. They were both waiting for her to say something, but she felt as if a chunk of concrete were blocking her throat.

"H-how are you?" she finally stammered. The answer to that question was obvious, but she couldn't quite get herself to say anything else.

Mr. Collins shrugged noncommitally. "I've had better days."

"You're not sick, are you?" Elizabeth asked. "You don't look very good."

"I'm sick about what happened, if that's what you mean," he said wearily.

Was he admitting that he was guilty? she wondered. Then she remembered the necklace.

If Suzanne had lied about that, she could lie about anything. Elizabeth felt hopelessly confused. She looked at Mr. Collins's blue eyes, and he met her gaze. She read sadness in his expression, and fatigue and hurt. "Mr. Collins," she, finally blurted out, "is what Suzy said you did true?"

Her face was flaming with embarrassment. If a trapdoor had appeared magically at her feet at that moment, she would gladly have dropped through it.

"What do you think?" Mr. Collins asked quietly, his eyes still steady as they held hers.

Suddenly Elizabeth knew what the truth was. She knew in her heart that Mr. Collins hadn't tried to seduce Suzanne. How could she ever have thought so in the first place? Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she shook her head in answer to her own question.

"I guess I never really believed it. Not deep down. I just couldn't see why Suzanne would lie about a thing like that. I thought she was my friend. I should have known better."

"Suzanne is a very mixed-up young lady," Mr. Collins said. "I think maybe in her own twisted way she did want to be your friend."

Elizabeth shook her head in denial. "No friend of mine would have lied to me the way she did. And stolen from me. Not to mention what she's

been doing to you! And to think I was actually sympathetic toward her! Oh, Mr. Collins, I'm so sorry about everything. Can you ever forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive, Liz. I'm not angry with you. If you want to know the truth, I'm not even angry with Suzanne anymore. Oh, I was plenty mad at first. But now I mostly feel sorry for her. She must have wanted attention very badly to do what she did."

Elizabeth rose abruptly. "Well,
I
don't feel one bit sorry for her! I feel like I've been stabbed in the back. How could I have been so blind?"

She could see it all so clearly now. She remembered the time Suzanne had almost drowned, or pretended to, forcing Mr. Collins to save her. Probably what she had really wanted was to be close to him, to make him notice her. The reason she was angry enough at Mr. Collins to make him lose his job was that he
hadn't
noticed her.

"You weren't being, blind, Elizabeth, just trusting," Mr. Collins said. "There's a big difference. Don't stop trusting people, even if they do disappoint you once in a while. Believe me, Liz, in the end you won't be the loser.'

Elizabeth went up to him and kissed his stubbled cheek. "Thanks for being so understanding," she said. "But you can be sure of

one thing. Suzanne won't get away with this. I'll make certain of that."

"What are you going to do?" Todd asked.

Elizabeth sighed. "I don't know. But I'll think of something."

Fifteen

"Forget it, Egbert," Aaron Dallas growled. "You've already cut in twice. At least let us finish this one dance in peace."

Suzanne giggled as a defeated Winston slunk off toward the row of chairs that had been pushed back against the wall to make room for dancing. Against the other wall was a white-clothed buffet table spread with plates of tiny sandwiches and hors d'oeuvres. In the middle stood a huge cake with "Happy Birthday, Lila!" written on it. Pink and white streamers fluttered from the ceiling amid balloons that had Lila's name on them. Obviously the wealthy Mr. Fowler had spared no expense for his daughter's birthday celebration.

"Poor Winston," Suzanne murmured in Aaron's ear. "I think you hurt his feelings."

The truth was she was glad to be rid of him. The big goon had been following her around all evening. She could hardly turn around without tripping over him.

"Oh, Win can take it. Besides, I don't want to share you with him. I could get used to the idea of just you and me."

"You keep forgetting. I'm leaving tomorrow."

Aaron affected a stricken look that was half genuine. "Life around here won't be the same when you're gone, Suzy. You're going to leave a lot of broken hearts behind."

Suzanne's giggles erupted into bubbly laughter. "You'd make a wonderful actor, Aaron."

"Yeah, I've always thought so. If I don't get to play pro soccer, maybe I'll try out for
Superman Fourteen
in about ten years."

"Oh, you'd be just
perfect
as Superman," Suzanne purred, giving his muscular biceps an admiring squeeze. "Better than Christopher Reeve any day."

She gloated inwardly at the glazed look that came over Aaron's face.
One snap of my fingers and I could make you fall in love with me,
she thought. It wasn't an unpleasant thought. She was enjoying all this attention. It almost made up for the way Mr. Collins had treated her.

Almost, but not quite. The only thing that would make her totally happy was to stick around long enough to see Roger Collins get kicked out of Sweet Valley High.

Spotting Elizabeth and Todd as they breezed in through the door, Suzanne waved. Todd looked especially handsome in a blue pin-striped sport jacket. Too bad she was leaving the next day, she thought. It might have been fun to see what she could do with Todd. He was obviously devoted to Elizabeth, but she was accustomed to such challenges. Yes, Todd would be fun. Maybe next year she could switch places with Elizabeth instead of Jessica.

Elizabeth was walking toward her, and Suzanne noticed she wasn't smiling. Then she noticed something else--Elizabeth was wearing the necklace!
So the nosy little sneak went through my suitcase.
She was annoyed, but not terribly worried. She'd think of some excuse to pacify her. Elizabeth was so naive she'd believe almost anything.

"Suzanne, I'd like to talk to you." Elizabeth cast a meaningful glance at Aaron. "In private."

"Of course, Liz. Excuse me, Aaron." Suzanne winked at her date as she linked elbows with Elizabeth. She felt Elizabeth stiffen, but she didn't relax her hold. "You know how it is. Girl talk. I'll be right back before you know it."

Elizabeth steered her into the coatroom, which was empty. She shook off Suzanne's arm and stood facing her. "I found my necklace, Suzanne. In your suitcase."

Suzanne widened her eyes in an expression of surprised innocence. "I wonder how it could've gotten in there. Oh, Liz, you--you don't think I took it, do you?"

"How else did it get there?"

"I can't imagine, unless.... Let me see, I was wearing my blue sweater that day you lost it, wasn't I? Yes, I'm sure I was. It must have gotten caught on my sleeve or something. I just didn't notice it when I put my sweater back in my suitcase."

"Couldn't you come up with something better than that?" Elizabeth asked coldly.

Suzanne winced as if she'd been struck. She concentrated on making herself cry. A single tear rolled from her eye to trickle down her cheek.

"I can't believe you're acting this way, Liz! I thought we were friends."

"So did I," Elizabeth said. "But I don't think you know the first thing about friendship. Mr. Collins was right You're the biggest loser of all."

Suzanne's eyes narrowed murderously. The mention of that name instantly made her forget

all her pretenses. "Mr. Collins! What did that lecherous creep tell you? That I was the one who tried to seduce him?" She uttered a dry laugh. "OK, so what if it's true?
He
wanted it as much as I did. He would've done something about it, too, if he weren't such a saint."

"Thanks for telling the truth at last," Elizabeth replied frostily. "Now I'm going to make sure everyone else knows it."

Elizabeth started to walk away, but Suzanne grabbed her by the shoulder. Her long fingernails dug into Elizabeth's skin.

"OK, so now you know," Suzanne hissed. "But who's going to believe you? It's your word against mine. You're the one who's going to look like the liar when I get finished, Miss Good-as-Gold Elizabeth Wakefield!"

Elizabeth wrenched free. "You can deny it all you want. That's not going to stop me. I'm not going to let you get away with ruining Mr. Collins."

Suzanne gave a harsh laugh. "Go ahead then. Try to save your precious Mr. Collins if you think you're so smart. But let me warn you about something first: By the time I get through with you, what happened to Mr. Collins will seem like nothing in comparison!"

Elizabeth turned pale, but she didn't back down. Slowly she turned around and walked

away. Suzanne watched her like a cat, contemplating her strategy before she pounced. This was one battle she didn't intend to lose.

She thought back on the past two weeks with Elizabeth until she remembered something Elizabeth had told her in confidence. A plan formed in her mind. She'd need a little help, though. Suddenly she spotted Cara walking toward her, heading for the restroom. Suzanne smiled. Yes, Cara would be perfect.

"I'm worried about Liz," Suzanne confided to Cara after she'd cornered her in the bathroom. "Have you noticed anything different about her?"

"Different?" Cara echoed.

"What I mean is, have you noticed her acting sort of strange for the past couple of days?"

"I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"Well... Liz told me about the time she was recovering from that motorcycle accident she was in. Do you remember how she was acting then?"

"Do I ever! She was even wilder than Jessica. I guess you don't know how Jessica can be, but--well, it was like Liz had turned into someone else." She clapped a hand over her open mouth. "Oh, God, do you think it could be happening all over again?"

"I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but yesterday she hit her head against the

side of the pool when we were swimming. She really cracked it hard, too. And ever since then ..." Suzanne bit her lip in mock consternation. "You promise you won't spread this around? I wouldn't want Liz to be hurt. I love her just like a sister."

"You can trust me," Cara promised. "I won't tell a soul."

"It's so strange. All of a sudden she doesn't seem like the person I've gotten so friendly with this vacation. She's--"

"Go on," urged Cara, her eyes wide as Frisbees by now.

"Well, she's been
really
weird about this Mr. Collins business. Ever since she hit her head, she's been acting suspicious of me--as if she thinks
I'm
the one who went after Mr. Collins instead of the other way around."

"It sounds so crazy. Poor Liz! What are you going to do about it?"

"Please don't tell anyone," Suzanne pleaded. "I think it would be best if I talked to her parents first. It's just that I had to tell somebody or I'd burst. And I had a feeling I could trust you, Cara."

"Oh, don't worry, my lips are sealed," Cara assured her.

"Thanks, I knew I could count on you. The

main thing is finding a way to help Liz." Suzanne sighed. "I just hope it isn't too late."

this was too much for Cara. It was all too apparent from her wide-eyed expression that Suzanne's insinuations had conjured up images of men in white coats carrying Elizabeth off in a straitjacket. Suzanne bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing out loud.

As the two girls were walking back to the party, Cara spotted a familiar face. "Uh, excuse me," she said. "I wanted to go wish Lila a happy birthday."

Moments later Cara and Lila were huddled together by the refreshment table, whispering furiously to each other. A feeling of triumph swelled inside Suzanne. Another fifteen minutes, she thought, and everyone there would think that Elizabeth was going off the deep end.

Sixteen

Caroline Pearce grabbed Enid as she was making her way toward the refreshment table.

"What's going on with Elizabeth?" she asked conspiratorially. "Lila just told me she heard that something's wrong with her. Is it true?"