"Fine-if that's the way you want it." Todd glowered darkly at her before spinning on his heel and stalking off.

Watching his stiffly held, muscular back retreating down the hallway, Elizabeth immediately felt a sharp pang of regret. She didn't really know why she'd said all those awful things to Todd. They weren't even true. She realized he'd only been trying to help. But where Jessica was concerned, it seemed everything had a way of getting turned hopelessly inside out. Including Elizabeth's own feelings.

She fought the urge to run after Todd. She'd probably just end up making things worse if she tried to apologize now. Swallowing against the tears in her throat, she made her decision. She would have to take the test for Jessica. She'd gone too far to back out now.

Eight.

"Maybe it's not as bad as you think," Enid offered sympathetically.

Elizabeth dabbed at her swollen, red eyes with a wet paper towel. "It's worse! I was so upset I could hardly think straight. I just know I flunked."

The second version of the test had probably been no harder than the one she'd taken earlier, even though the questions were worded differently. But as far as Elizabeth was concerned, it might have been written in Greek. The words swam about on the paper, blurred by her tears. No matter how hard she tried to concentrate, all she could think about was Todd and the closed expression on his face before he'd walked away.

She'd been the last one to hand her answers in. She vaguely remembered Mr. Sandalow, the second-period test monitor, calling out Jessica's name as she scurried from the classroom in tearful disgrace. Elizabeth had pretended not to hear so she wouldn't have to stop and explain. It was all so complicated by now that she wasn't sure she understood it herself.

"I've ruined everything!" she wailed.

"I'd say you had a little help," Enid noted. She didn't mention any names, but her meaning was clear.

They were in the girls' room, where Enid had found her after the test, crying her eyes out. Elizabeth stared with disgust at her ravaged reflection in the mirror. Her face was a funny blotchy pink, her eye makeup ran in muddy rivers down her cheeks.

"Look at me," she said sniffling. "I'm a mess."

Enid nodded gravely, handing her a fresh paper towel. "I won't argue with that."

"Thanks a lot!"

"Don't worry, you're still gorgeous. Just a little on the messy side right now. Rinse your face, and here"-she dug into her oversize canvas purse-"put on some lipstick and brush your hair. You'll feel better." She handed Elizabeth a comb and a small pot of strawberry lip gloss. "It's not the end of the world, you know."

"Maybe not, but it's the end of Todd and me. It's the end of my summer, too. If Jessica doesn't pass, it'll spoil everything."

"Seems like she should have been the one to think of that before she got you mixed up in all this. At least this way there's a chance she passed the test. She would've flunked for sure if you hadn't taken it for her."

"Somehow knowing that doesn't make me feel any better."

"Look," Enid said, "I was reading this article the other day where it said if you're depressed you should try to think about something really awful, like starving people in India or something, and then your own problem won't seem so humungous."

Elizabeth shot her friend a disgusted look. "Thanks a lot. Now I'm really miserable."

"Sorry. I was only trying to help."

"That's what Todd said." Her lips were quivering as she applied a thin coating of gloss.

"What did you do? Bite his head off?"

"Practically. Oh, Enid," she choked, "I really blew it! He'll never speak to me again. I just know it!"

"I wouldn't be too sure of that if I were you. He's pretty hung up on you, in case you haven't noticed lately."

"You weren't there. You didn't see the way he looked at me. Like I'd stabbed him, or something. It's all my fault...."

"Come on, you can't take all the blame." Enid's wide green eyes met hers in the mirror. "I won't say again whose fault I think it is. I don't want you to bite my head off, too. I may need it for the test on Macbeth I'm taking next period."

Elizabeth's laugh emerged as a hiccup. "Don't try to cheer me up. It won't work. I'm too depressed."

"Remember what you told me when I was so miserable about breaking up with Ronnie?"

Elizabeth shook her head.

"You said that if a guy really likes you, he won't let a misunderstanding get in the way. Not for long, anyway."

"I don't see how Todd could have misunderstood," Elizabeth replied brokenly. "I told him I'd rather go swimming with Jaws than go to the surfing championship with him."

"Uh-oh." Enid rolled her eyes. "You do have a way with words. I think you've been masquerading as Jessica a little too long. It's beginning to rub off."

Elizabeth groaned, and Enid patted her shoulder. "OK, OK, I was only kidding."

The bathroom door blew open, admitting a group of giggling sophomores, followed by Dana Larson, lead singer for The Droids, the band that was Sweet Valley High's contribution to the rock scene.

"What time's the funeral?" Dana asked dryly, taking in Elizabeth's sorry appearance and the mound of soggy paper towels on the sink.

Dana was in one of her usual outrageous getups: an oversize t-shirt over a red-striped miniskirt; purple tights; and black suede ankle boots. An enormous gold loop dangled from one pierced earlobe; the other sported a tiny silver star.

"Don't tell me." Peering into the mirror, she smoothed back a strand of her boyishly cut blond hair. "You had a fight with your boyfriend, right?"

"How did you guess?" Elizabeth asked.

"Men are the root of all our problems." Her expression held an air of profound knowledge. "They can lift us up to the clouds one minute, then plunge us into the pits the next. I know. I was hung up on this saxophonist once-I mean really gone on the guy."

"What happened with him?" Enid asked.

"Oh, let's just say we had a parting of the ways. He was more interested in playing around with other girls than with his saxophone," she replied and shrugged. "I was really better off without him. You're probably better off without what's-his-name, too."

Elizabeth moaned. The prospect of being without Todd made her feel positively queasy.

"I think I'm going to be sick," she said.

"You look a little green around the gills, Liz," commented Roger Collins, faculty adviser for the school paper. There was concern in his blue eyes. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Elizabeth nodded dumbly, unable to get any words past the frozen lump in her throat. She sat slumped at her typewriter in the roomy second-floor office of The Oracle, staring listlessly at the column she was in the midst of preparing.

A New Wrinkle on an Old Wave?

Reigning state surfing champion, Sonny Callahan, boasts he'll hold on to that title come Saturday, but local experts contend the "Chase" is far from won. Though our own Bill Chase has been mysteriously mum on the subject, his fans predict he'll be riding high into the sunset....

Mr. Collins bent his strawberry-blond head down to scan what she'd written. "Mmmm. Good stuff. How would you like to cover the story on Saturday?"

Elizabeth glanced up in surprise. "I thought John was doing it." John Pfeifer was the sports editor, so naturally she'd assumed ...

"John told me this morning that he won't be able to make it. They're holding a tennis tournament at the country club the same day. The Patmans are sponsoring it, and I gather Bruce will be playing."

"Naturally," Elizabeth put in.

"I guess you know Mr. Patman is chairman of the school board. He passed down the word that he'd be pretty upset if coverage of a legitimate sports event got preempted by a bunch of, quote, long-haired bums in seal suits, unquote." He grinned. "I wouldn't put that in writing, though, if I were you."

"Don't worry, I won't." Elizabeth had had enough experience with the Patmans, who considered themselves the feudal lords of Sweet Valley, to know better than to cross swords with them.

"Anyway," Mr. Collins continued, "if you want the assignment, it sounds like a good excuse to soak up some sun if nothing else. You game?"

Elizabeth didn't like the idea of going without Todd, but this was in the line of duty. Nothing, not even a broken heart, deserved more attention than her efforts as a journalist and writer. Besides, she didn't want to let Mr. Collins down. He was always there for her when she needed him. He was so sensible, so sincere-not to mention so handsome-Elizabeth could understand why he was the favorite faculty member of so many of the students at Sweet Valley High.

"All right. You can count on me," she said.

"Hey, are you sure you're OK?" Mr. Collins pressed. "You really do look pale. Why don't you let me give you a ride home? You look like you need to lie down."

"It's probably nothing," Elizabeth mumbled, unable to meet his gaze. "Maybe I just need some fresh air. Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll just walk."

She grabbed her books and started for the door, afraid that if she said any more, she would start blubbering again. On her way out she collided with Olivia Davidson, bearing the latest articles for The Oracle's arts page, of which she was editor. Immediately they were both caught in a blizzard of typewritten columns.

"Sorry, Liv!" Elizabeth squeaked, kneeling awkwardly to help Olivia retrieve the pages. "I-I guess I didn't see you."

"Hey, don't worry about it." Olivia grinned good-naturedly, her brown curls peeping out from underneath a vibrant purple scarf. "I was looking for a good excuse to drop the project anyway-pardon the pun. By the way," she chattered on as she picked up typewritten sheets, "I just saw Todd out in the hallway. He looked pretty down about something. In fact, if he was any more down, we'd have to get him a stretcher. What's with him, anyway?"

"We had a fight," Elizabeth confessed, and saying the words brought her to the verge of a fresh outbreak of tears.

"Oh, is that all? I thought maybe it was a nuclear holocaust from the way he was acting."

Olivia was big on things like antinuke rallies and organic food. She was always lecturing the newspaper staff-in a nice way-about eating too much refined stuff. Her lunches invariably consisted of things like whole-grain bread, meatless spreads, and alfalfa sprouts. She had a loony sense of humor, though, which Elizabeth enjoyed.

"It might as well be as far as we're concerned," she said.

"That bad, huh? I know what you mean. I had a fight with my boyfriend last week, and we're still not speaking." She sighed. "I guess I knew it was doomed from the beginning. How can I have a meaningful relationship with someone who believes in offshore drilling?"

Elizabeth retrieved the last article from the floor, handed it to Olivia, and fled. She liked Olivia, but she was in no mood to discuss nuclear holocausts and offshore drilling.

She was making her way across the front lawn when she spied a familiar figure in the distance. With a flash of sun-gold hair and a frantic wave, Jessica came bounding toward her.

Nine.

"I've never been so humiliated in my whole life!" Jessica shrieked. "You wouldn't believe what a creep Scott turned out to be. I wouldn't go out with him again if he was the last-" She stopped, her eyes widening as if seeing her sister for the first time.

"What are you doing in my outfit?" she asked.

"I-" Elizabeth opened her mouth to explain, but Jessica never gave her the chance.

Instantly she swooped down on her twin with a rib-crushing embrace, as if she'd just won the final round of The Price Is Right, and walked away with a Cadillac, a color TV, and an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii.

"Oh, Lizzie, I knew it! I just knew you'd find a way to fix it. You're the best, smartest sister in the whole wide world. I knew you'd find a way to fix it so I wouldn't flunk the test!"

"About the test, Jess-"

"Don't worry, I'll make it up to you somehow. You don't know what this means to me, Liz. I was so sure that goon Scott had ruined my entire summer. You practically saved my life!"

Suddenly Elizabeth didn't have the heart to tell her. She didn't even have the heart to be really mad at her anymore. Jessica would learn the bad news soon enough, when the test scores were posted. Until then Elizabeth could still hold on to the dim hope that maybe, by some miracle, she'd managed to pass the exam for both of them.

Jessica's face shone with happiness, every trace of her miserable ordeal at Scott's hands wiped away as if it had never happened. She didn't even seem to notice that Elizabeth didn't share her exuberance.

"What's with him?" Jessica wanted to know, a tiny frown puckering her brow as she directed her gaze at someone over her sister's shoulder. "If looks could kill, I'd say we were both on the critical list."

Elizabeth whirled about in alarm, just in time to see Todd scowling at them as he strode rigidly past. Her heart sank, even as her hand lifted automatically in a little half-wave that froze in midair when confronted by Todd's icy stare. She blinked back tears, ducking her head quickly so he wouldn't notice them.

"Did you two have a fight or something?" Jessica asked, but before Elizabeth could answer, Jessica's attention had been diverted by other, more important matters. "Hey, what time is it, anyway? I think I'm supposed to meet Cara and Lila to go over the new cheer we did in practice yesterday."

"But you missed all your classes," Elizabeth said. "What if you run into one of your teachers?"

"Never mind about them," Jessica said impatiently. "I'll just tell them I was sick or something. It's not exactly a lie." She let a tiny smile lift the corners of her mouth. "That Scott really did make me sick."

Jessica glared up at the school clock in disgust, as if it, too, had somehow conspired to cheat her. "Look, Liz, honey, I've got to run. I have to change into my cheerleader stuff. Take it easy, huh?" she called as she dashed off to the gym.

To Elizabeth, in her dismal state, it sounded as ridiculous as the captain of the Titanic telling its passengers not to get upset over a little thing like sinking. She'd just lost two of the most important things in her life: Todd and her own self-respect.

How on earth was she going to get them back?

She certainly couldn't count on Jessica's help. Dear, dependable Elizabeth had come through once again, saving her sister from disgrace and disaster. The fact that she'd quite possibly ruined her own life in the process wasn't going to cost Jessica a night's sleep.

"You're a celebrity!" Cara bubbled, rushing over to Jessica in the locker room just as she was zipping up the back of her pleated, blue-and-white cheerleader's costume.

"I am?" Jessica replied, arching her brow.

"I've been telling everyone how you showed Scott up at the party. You're practically the Scarlett O'Hara of Sweet Valley High!"

"What exactly have you been telling everyone?" Jessica asked innocently. "Just so I know you haven't left out any important details."