Enid bit her tongue to hold back the scathing remark she'd been about to make. "Some of those college parties can get pretty wild, from what I hear. Remember that pajama party my cousin told us about? Jessica probably just had too much to drink and passed out or something." She smiled-to herself, thinking of the miserable hangover Jessica would be suffering as a result.

"Maybe you're right." Elizabeth wouldn't have put such a thing past her sister. "I guess it doesn't really matter at this point. The only thing that worries me now is the test. What if Jess doesn't show up when it's her turn to take it?"

Enid shrugged. "That's her problem, if you ask me."

"Jessie's not really as tough as she seems," Elizabeth remarked doubtfully.

"Oh, she'll manage somehow. She always lands on her feet-no matter how much trouble she's gotten herself into."

Elizabeth looked so miserable that Enid couldn't resist putting an arm around her shoulders.

"The trouble is," Elizabeth went on, "I'm in this, too-whether I want to be or not. I promised Jessica I'd help." She gave a sheepish grin. "Well-sort of."

"I can imagine." Enid removed her chemistry notebook and a dog-eared copy of Macbeth from her locker.

"It's not just Jessica I'm thinking of, either," Elizabeth was quick to point out. "We planned on being tourist guides together. No matter how mad I get at Jess sometimes, it just wouldn't be the same without her. It's for me, too."

"I'm sure it'll work out," Enid told her, though secretly she had her doubts. "When's the test?"

"I'm taking mine right now, but Jessica's isn't scheduled until second period."

"That's an hour away. Don't worry. She's got plenty of time."

Elizabeth chewed her lip. "I'm not so sure-knowing Jessie. We have this joke in our family that the reason she was born four minutes later than me was because she forgot to put on her watch. Gosh, I don't think Jess even owns a watch."

"If the test is as important to her as it is to you, she'll find a way to get here on time," Enid said.

"I wish I could believe that," Elizabeth muttered, her words drowned by the deafening clang of the first bell.

She spent the next few minutes scouring the corridors for some trace of her twin. No one had seen her, though several people did double takes, mistaking Elizabeth for Jessica. Even Bruce Patman was fooled.

"Hey, babe," he called out loudly as she breezed past him, flashing her his famous heartbreaker smile. Some time back Jessica had met her match in gorgeous, arrogant Bruce, until their fiery romance had exploded. But that was old news by now, and recently he'd been trying to worm his way back into her good graces. "How about going out with me this Saturday night?"

"Not a chance," Elizabeth tossed back cheerfully. It was exactly what Jessica would have wanted her to say. For the first time that day, Elizabeth didn't mind playing her twin's double.

She spied Todd a short way down the corridor talking to Bill Chase and angled toward him.

"Liz?" he asked hesitantly.

Elizabeth grinned. "Yeah, it's me."

"Did I hear what I thought I heard? Was that Bruce Patman asking you out?" Todd demanded, breaking away from his conversation with Bill Chase to join her. "Talk to you later," he yelled after Bill, who was already shuffling off toward class. Turning back to Elizabeth, he threatened, "One of these days I'm going to annihilate that creep."

"Who-Bill?" Elizabeth asked distractedly.

"Naw, I meant Bruce. What was he doing asking you out, anyway?"

"Oh, that. Don't worry. He wasn't asking me out. He was asking Jessica."

"Well, there is something awfully 'Jessica' about you today," Todd said, a note of confusion in his voice.

No response.

Todd passed a hand in front of Elizabeth's eyes as if he'd caught her in a trance. "Are you sure you're feeling OK? You didn't get hit over the head or anything, did you?"

"That's one way of looking at it, I suppose," Elizabeth replied with a giggle.

"OK, be mysterious." He looked mysteriously happy about something himself, she thought. "Nothing could spoil the good mood I'm in today." He waited a beat, an irrepressible grin plastered across his face. "Aren't you even going to ask me why I'm in such a terrific mood?"

"Why are you in such a terrific mood, Todd?" Elizabeth asked dutifully.

"Because I finally have enough money to buy that Yamaha I was telling you about. Man, I can hardly wait." He closed his eyes in an expression of rapture. "I can almost feel the breeze whistling past my helmet now."

"That's-that's great, Todd."

For a minute Elizabeth's worries about Jessica were sidetracked by a brand-new dilemma. Her parents had absolutely forbidden her ever to ride on a motorcycle. It was one of their strictest rules. What was she going to tell Todd? She pushed it to the back of her mind for the present. He hadn't even gotten the motorcycle yet. She would cross that bridge when the time came.

"Hey," he asked her, coming to earth again, "are you really OK? You look a little spaced out. Is it that test you're worrying about?" He placed a concerned arm about her shoulders.

"Oh, Todd..." Burying her head against the welcome haven of his shoulder, she spilled out the entire story.

Todd grew silent, and Elizabeth could tell from the way he was looking at her that he disapproved. Finally he said in a quiet voice, "You shouldn't let Jessica get away with so much, Liz. She just uses you."

"I know I shouldn't, but she's my sister. I can't just stand by and do nothing."

"Look," Todd said, his face showing the strain of remaining neutral where Jessica was concerned, "there's no real harm done so far. And you've certainly done everything you could. Nobody, not even Jessica, could ask for more. So forget about her for now. Go take the test. I'm sure you'll pass with flying colors." He kissed her lightly on the mouth. He smelled faintly of toothpaste and the spicy aftershave he used.

"I guess there's not much else I can do." She kissed him back. "Thanks, Todd."

Smacking his lips with exaggerated relish, he replied, "Thank you-Jessica. You kiss almost as well as your sister."

Elizabeth tried to punch him, but laughing wickedly, he ducked out of the way.

By the time she reached the classroom where she was to take the test, Elizabeth had nearly succeeded in banishing her worries about Jessica. Still basking in the glow of Todd's love, she sailed through the test. A lot of the questions had been worded to be deliberately confusing, but Elizabeth had no trouble sorting them out. She was one of the first to hand her answers in to Miss Bascombe, the teacher monitoring the first-period test.

"There you are." Cara swooped down on her from out of nowhere as she was leaving the classroom. I've been looking absolutely everywhere for you, Jessica Wakefield."

She clutched Elizabeth's arm, lowering her voice to a shrill whisper. "You're not getting away from me until I've heard everything, I mean everything, about the party."

Elizabeth smiled sweetly, her blue-green eyes sparkling with mischief. "Gosh, Cara, I don't know where to begin...."

Seven.

Cara had Elizabeth's arm in a clinch that would have made a wrestler wince.

"I don't believe it." Her dark eyes were wide with incredulity. "You actually told Scott off in front of all his friends?"

"That's not all," Elizabeth continued in a conspiratorial tone. She was really beginning to enjoy this. It wasn't often her flair for storytelling was given such free rein. "Scott was acting like such a creep while we were rowing around the lake that I pushed him overboard."

"You didn't! With all his clothes on?"

"Every stitch."

"Jessica, you are evil." Cara beamed with undisguised admiration. "I'll bet he deserved it, too. Men can be such jerks sometimes. How did he act afterward?"

Elizabeth giggled. "Ever see that old movie, Creature from the Black Lagoon?"

Cara dissolved into gales of laughter. "Oh, I wish I'd been there. I'd give anything to have seen that!"

So would I, Elizabeth thought wickedly, as she conjured up a picture of Scott with algae dripping from his mustache. He had to be a good part of the reason Jessica hadn't come home last night.

Why hadn't Jessica listened to her when she warned her Scott was trouble? Elizabeth sighed. In Jessica's eyes that probably only made him more attractive.

Over Cara's shoulder she caught sight of Todd ambling toward them. She made a gesture with her hand to let him know she didn't want her cover blown. Todd winked knowingly and placed a finger to his lips in response. His brown eyes twinkled with suppressed amusement as he lazily looped an arm about Elizabeth's slender waist.

"Hiya, Jess. You know something? You're beginning to remind me more of your sister every day."

"Flattery will get you everywhere," Elizabeth purred, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

With an expression of puzzled delight on her face, Cara looked from one to the other. Everyone knew that Todd had once been a source of competition between the two sisters. Elizabeth figured the gossip would be bounding off the walls by the time she got to PE that afternoon. She coughed loudly to disguise the laughter that bubbled up in her throat.

Elizabeth could see that Cara was also dying to know more about the wild party at the lake but didn't want to pump her further in front of Todd.

Cara cast a meaningful look at her, reluctantly saying, "Well, I guess I'd better get going. I have a history quiz next period, and I haven't even glanced at last night's homework assignment."

Todd laughed. "Don't look at me. My knowledge of history is limited to what happened last week."

"I'm sure you'll knock 'em dead, Cara," Elizabeth responded.

"Bye, you two." Cara spotted Lila Fowler and was off like a shot, waving a bangled wrist. "Oh, Li-la..." she sang out.

Elizabeth giggled. "I'll bet one of Cara's ancestors was a town crier. What do you want to bet the whole school will be buzzing with the news by lunchtime?"

"What news is that?" asked Todd.

Briefly she told him the story she'd made up about Scott. "It'd serve him right if Jess had pushed him overboard," she said. "The first time I laid eyes on him, I knew he'd end up getting her in trouble."

"You make Jessica sound like an innocent bystander," Todd commented dryly. "I wonder what she was doing all the time Scott was leading her astray with his evil ways."

Elizabeth frowned, a note of annoyance creeping into her voice. "You don't have to be sarcastic about it." The strain of Jessica's absence was beginning to wear on her nerves.

"I take it Little Red Riding Hood hasn't shown up yet," Todd surmised.

"Not yet," Elizabeth replied defensively. She darted a nervous glance at the clock above the multi-use room. In keeping with her Jessica impersonation, she hadn't put on her wristwatch when she got dressed.

"There's nothing you can do about it one way or the other," he told her. "Why not forget it?"

Elizabeth chewed her lip and frowned up at the clock once again.

Todd knew that expression. He seized both of Elizabeth's hands, forcing her to meet his gaze. "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, don't, Liz. You can't take that test for Jessica. That would be the same as cheating. I know you-you wouldn't dream of cheating for yourself, so why do it for Jessica?"

"It wouldn't really be cheating," she defended weakly.

Nonetheless, she felt sick about what she was contemplating. There was a sour taste in the back of her mouth, and her head was starting to ache. It was like quicksand, she thought. The harder you tried to get out, the deeper you sank.

"What would you call it?" challenged Todd.

"Jess knows the answers. I'm sure she'd pass if she were here."

"That's just the point, don't you see? She isn't here. Come off it, Liz. When are you going to stop taking all the knocks for Jessica's irresponsibility? Do you really think she'd do the same for you?"

"That's unfair!" Elizabeth shot back, partly because she was tired and upset, partly because she knew, deep down, that he was right. She couldn't imagine Jessica doing all this for her if the situation had been reversed.

"You're just saying that because you don't like her," she accused. "You've never liked her."

Todd lifted an eyebrow in surprise. "I guess it should be obvious to you, of all people, why I'm not so crazy about your sister."

Back when Elizabeth and Todd were first getting together, Jessica had wanted him for herself. She had tried to stop her sister's blossoming romance, but for once her devious tricks had failed. In fact, all she had succeeded in doing was winning Todd's permanent distrust. He wouldn't easily forget the way she'd selfishly tried to manipulate his feelings-and Elizabeth's as well.

"In my opinion Jessica cares more about herself than anyone else," he added.

Elizabeth whirled on him, her eyes bright with angry, unshed tears. "Who asked you for your opinion, anyway?"

He touched her arm. "Look, I was only trying to-"

"I know what you were trying to do!" she cried, shaking his hand off. "You were trying to turn me against my own sister! I never thought you'd stoop so low, Todd Wilkins."

A dull flush crept up the sides of his neck. It was the first time they'd ever argued. He looked as if someone had delivered a karate chop to his stomach.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," he answered stiffly. "I was only trying to help, Liz. But I guess you just aren't interested in hearing the truth."

"The truth is you're jealous because I'm doing something for Jessica."

"Don't be an idiot!" Todd growled, losing his temper at last.

"So now I'm an idiot on top of being a cheat? Well, you're right about one thing," she said through clenched teeth. "Only an idiot would go out with you!"

Todd looked as if she'd slapped him. "I guess that means our date for Saturday is off," he said coldly.

Saturday was the day of the surfing championship, when half the school would turn out on the beach for an afternoon of wave-watching and sunshine and a giant barbecue after nightfall. Elizabeth wouldn't have dreamed of missing it. And until that moment she wouldn't have dreamed of going without Todd, either. The angry words tumbled out even before she was fully aware of what she was saying.

"I'd rather go swimming with Jaws!" she choked.