"You and Todd will be crawling all over each other right in front of me!"

"I promise not to embarrass you, Jess. Maybe we'll do a little hand-holding." Maybe a lot of hand-holding.

Now for step three.

Elizabeth picked up the glass of water that was on her dresser, and somehow it spilled all over Jessica's white blouse and blue miniskirt.

"How could you be so clumsy? Look what you've done!"

"Oh, Jess, I'm sorry. I don't know how in the world I could have done such a thing. Let me help you dry it off."

"There isn't time! Now what am I going to wear? There isn't another clean outfit in my closet." Jessica moaned.

"Well, since it was my fault," Elizabeth said, guilt and a spark of something else radiating from her eyes, "it's up to me to solve your problem."

"How?"

"I just pressed my best jeans today and my blue button-down shirt that you've been dying to borrow."

Jessica was stunned. "You're serious? You'd let me borrow that outfit?"

"Yes, but just this once."

Jessica made a quick change, then stood admiring her image in the mirror.

"Look at us, Liz. Do you see something funny?"

"No. You look terrific."

"I don't mean that, silly. Look again. If I didn't know which of us was me, I would swear you were me and I was you."

It took all of Elizabeth's ample supply of self-control to keep from bursting into laughter. It was like taking candy from a baby.

"You know, you're right, Jess. You look just like me."

"What is that horrendous noise?"

"It's just Todd's car. He's having a little muffler trouble. Let's go. I don't want to keep him waiting."

The two girls dashed out to Todd. Jessica missed the conspiratorial wink Elizabeth and Todd exchanged because she was too busy complaining about being seen in such a gross car.

By the time they drove to school, parked the car, and walked over to where the crowd was gathered, Elizabeth was ready to put step four of her plan into action.

The Droids were entertaining the crowd before the football rally started, and Dana Larson was belting out a number in true Droid fashion.

"Excuse me a minute, you guys. I have to see Dana about an article on the Droids. I'm going to try and catch her at the end of this number. Be right back." She hurried off into the crowd.

"I've got to go, too, Todd. I want to talk to Lila and Cara." She started off, but Todd grabbed her arm.

"Don't tell me you're deserting me, too, Jess. You can't leave me here all alone, friendless and unwanted," Todd teased with mock sadness. Then he gave Jessica his most charming grin.

"Oh, don't be silly, Todd. You know practically every single person here." She smiled up at him, the flirt in her unable to resist a good-looking guy's smile. She sighed. "You're a nut, Todd, but I'll stay until Liz gets back."

"Thanks, Jess. That will make Liz happy." I'll say it'll make her happy, he thought, smiling to himself.

Elizabeth made it over to the bandstand just as Dana finished her number and stepped down to the ground.

"Hey, Jess," Dana said, snapping her gum, "every time you wear that tuxedo outfit, you make the other fashion types around here look like they're wearing horse blankets."

"Thanks, Dana. It really is me, isn't it?" Elizabeth said, flashing a truly glorious Jessica Wakefield smile.

"Sure thing, Jess."

Elizabeth grinned to herself. It was working!

"Dana, I have the most sensational announcement for you to make about the 'Eyes and Ears' column."

It was a tradition that, every year, if the "Eyes and Ears" author was unmasked, the guilty party was thrown, fully clothed, into the school pool. Elizabeth couldn't remember any previous columnist escaping the students' playful punishment. Somebody always leaked the secret, at just about this point in the semester. Elizabeth suspected it was Mr. Collins and that her time was almost up. Well, this year, somebody else was going to spill the beans.

"I know who writes the column," Elizabeth said, imitating Jessica perfectly.

"Terrific, Jess. We have time for a little dunking before the rally starts. Who is it?"

"My sister. Liz is the author."

"And you're turning her in? What's the matter, you two have a fight?"

"No, no. It's just that sometimes she seems a little too good, you know? A little dunking won't hurt her."

"You're right. Besides, she's a good sport. Where is she?"

"Where else? Over there with Todd Wilkins, where she always is."

"OK! Let's tell the world the news." Dana jumped back onto the bandstand, grabbed the mike, and held up her hand for attention.

"Listen up, you guys! Have I got news for you! What do we do to the writer of the 'Eyes and Ears' column?"

"Dunk him!" the crowd roared.

"Well, go get her. It's Liz Wakefield-and she's standing right over there with Todd Wilkins!"

Everyone turned to look. Jessica stood rooted to the ground. "Oh, no, Todd, they think I'm Liz. Help me, Todd. Stop them!"

Smiling broadly, Todd stepped away from her.

"Rules are rules, Liz. She's all yours, guys."

Two linebackers got to her first. One took her arms, the other her legs. They headed for the pool, followed by a laughing crowd.

"No! No! No! I'm not Liz, you jerks! I'm Jessica!"

One of the guys laughed. "Give me a break, Liz. I saw your sexy sister talking to Dana at the bandstand. I think she's the one who turned you in."

"One! Two! Three!" Jessica was thrown screaming into the middle of the pool.

Elizabeth made it down to Todd's side at the pool in time to see a sputtering, incensed, and very wet Jessica surface.

Elizabeth grinned down at her sister triumphantly. "You were right, Jessie. You certainly did look like me today."

"You planned this!" she shrieked. "You planned this whole rotten, mean, contemptible trick! I'll never forgive you, not if I live to be a hundred and thirty-seven years-"

"Bye, Jess." Elizabeth and Todd strolled off, arm in arm.

After the rally, Elizabeth and Todd finally said good night-a long good night filled with kisses and sweet words, and still more kisses.

Elizabeth watched Todd drive off, then went in, closed the door, and leaned against it, sighing happily.

The sharp ring of the doorbell announced Enid's arrival. Elizabeth had invited her friend to come over after dinner and spend the night. Elizabeth opened the door. There stood her friend, tears streaming down her face.

"Enid! What's wrong?"

"Liz, I don't know what to do. Something terrible has happened. I can't even tell you, it's so awful. But I know Ronnie is going to hate me, and I could just die! I'm afraid I'm going to lose everything."

What is the dark mystery in Enid's past, and how does Jessica use it to her own advantage? Find out in Sweet Valley High #2, SECRETS.

Playing With Fire.

Pascal, Francine.

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.

"Well, if it isn't her royal highness herself." Todd Wilkins gently nudged Elizabeth Wakefield's shoulder and pointed toward the entrance to the school gymnasium.

Elizabeth peered into the crowd that had already assembled for the Sweet Valley High dance contest. She sighed with relief when she spotted the person Todd was talking about-her twin sister, Jessica. With the contest only minutes away, Elizabeth had begun to worry about Jessica, even though it wasn't the first time her twin had shown up late to an important event. Casting a concerned look back in her boyfriend's direction, Elizabeth murmured, "I wonder where Jessica was all this time."

"Really, Liz." Todd shook his head in mock exasperation. "You know Jessica always waits until everyone's gathered to make her grand entrance."

"You're exaggerating, Todd," Elizabeth replied defensively, although silently she admitted there was some truth to Todd's words. Jessica had always said that a party never really started until she got there, and this occasion appeared to be the perfect time to prove her point. Already a small crowd had begun to form around the popular blonde. "Anyway, so what if Jess likes to shine in the spotlight?" Elizabeth added. "She was elected fall queen, you know, and royalty's entitled to certain privileges. Besides, she's not hurting anyone, is she?"

"No-except maybe the king," Todd noted pointedly.

About six paces behind Jessica stood Winston Egbert, Sweet Valley High's fall king and Jessica's date for the evening. Elizabeth would have liked to say something to explain away her sister's lack of concern for Winston, but she held her tongue, refusing to get into yet another fight over Jessica. Her twin was the only sore spot in Elizabeth's relationship with Todd. He still hadn't forgiven Jessica for the time she'd made him think Elizabeth wasn't interested in him, and Elizabeth saw no point in making the situation worse.

Besides, Elizabeth was well aware just how unthrilled Jessica was at having to spend the evening with Winston, for Elizabeth had spent the better part of her afternoon listening to her sister moan and groan about it. According to school tradition, the fall queen was supposed to accompany the king to certain school-sponsored activities during the semester. There was no way Jessica could get out of it, short of giving up her crown-and all the glory that went with it. It wasn't that she didn't like Winston, she'd carefully explained to her twin sister. Who at Sweet Valley didn't? He was always smiling, always joking-something of a class clown-yet in his own way one of the more interesting boys in school. It was who he wasn't that bothered Jessica. He wasn't Bruce Patman, the boy she longed to be with, the boy she'd hoped to snag when she'd schemed to be elected queen. The fact that Bruce still eluded her was a constant source of torment to Jessica. She always got what she wanted, and she hadn't yet met a boy who could resist her for very long. She desperately hoped Bruce wasn't turning out to be the exception.

Jessica was getting impatient. She'd been secretly in love with Bruce for years. He was good-looking and charming-and his family was one of the most prominent and richest in Sweet Valley, which made him even more attractive to her. But Jessica's frustration had begun to mount almost immediately as she'd watched him go after nearly every girl on the A list at school.

Every girl, it seemed, but her.

Jessica was already chatting with Cara Walker and a few of her other Pi Beta Alpha sorority sisters by the time Winston reached her side. There was a look of admiration on his face.

Dressed in a bright blue, skin-hugging mini-dress and matching tights, Jessica was an eye-catching sight. The outfit accented her long, shapely legs and brought out the blue in her sparkling aquamarine eyes. Across the room, Elizabeth, in her stylish but more casual wheat-colored pants and tan, striped shirt, also eyed her twin with admiration. Blessed with the same all-American blond good looks, the sisters appeared as alike as identical twins possibly could, but Elizabeth sometimes envied what she felt was her sister's more dramatic flair.

The floor of the gym was dotted with couples keeping pace with the rhythmic beat of The Droids, whose frenetic tempo and catchy original tunes made them Sweet Valley High's most popular band. Dana Larson, the group's lead singer, was in the middle of their latest song, "I've Found Paradise." The lyrics told how her Eden would be complete only when she found the right boy to share it with. Elizabeth mused that with as many guys as there were hooked on Dana's miniskirted figure, exotically styled short blond hair, and tantalizing voice, the singer would have no trouble making that wish come true.

"Hey, Todd, do you know who that guy is?" Elizabeth asked. She pointed to a tall, lanky man in his early twenties standing at the back of the gym near the bleachers. He was dressed in red leather pants, with a matching skinny tie knotted loosely over his white shirt. He was staring intently at the stage and seemed absorbed in the music.

"Nah, never saw him before," Todd answered. "Maybe he's Ms. Dalton's new boyfriend."

"I doubt it. Since we've been here, he hasn't been near her. He's handsome enough for her, though."

Todd grinned. "I'm sure your reporter's instincts will sniff out the truth by the end of the evening. C'mon, let's wish Jess good luck on the contest. She's going to need it 'cause she's in for some tough competition."

"Oh, really? From whom?" Elizabeth asked.

Todd pointed to the ground. "These feet were born to dance. And my partner's not exactly clumsy, either. I heard somewhere that identical twins have identical talents."

"Jessica and I aren't identical in every way-as you should certainly know," Elizabeth said airily, shrugging off Todd's challenge. "Look, if we're going to see Jess, we'd better hurry. The contest will be starting anytime now."

Jessica lit up in a wide smile at the sight of her sister. "Hi, Liz," she said, beaming. "Having a good time?"

"Don't I always?" Elizabeth answered brightly. Then she turned to her sister's date. "You ready for the contest, Win?"

"Are you kidding?" He did a quick shuffle, nearly tripping over his gangly legs. "After tonight we go on to Dance Fever. Right, Jessica?"

Jessica, who had been scanning the room snapped back into the conversation at the sound of her name. "Oh, sure-whatever you say, Win." Turning to Elizabeth and Todd, she added, "By the way, you haven't seen Bruce Patman around, have you?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Todd replied. "Over by the bleachers, surrounded by the usual horde of girls dying to get near him. Why do you ask?"