"Me neither."

They were both grinning. A soft breeze nudged a lock of hair over Todd's eye. She reached up and brushed it back.

"You're a mess," he said, digging into his pocket and handing her a crumpled tissue.

"Todd?"

"Yeah?"

"I really can't believe I said all those awful things to you."

"Yeah, well, maybe I deserved some of them. Even if I'm not too crazy about your sister, I should've kept my mouth shut. I'm not too crazy about my own sister half the time, but I'd probably waste someone else for badmouthing her."

"I'm not wild about Jessica myself at the moment, if you want to know the truth," Elizabeth confessed.

"I figured that's how it would come down. I saw the test scores. Well, congratulations-at least one of you passed."

"Thanks," Elizabeth said sullenly.

"That bad, huh?"

"She was pretty upset. She really blew up."

"Must run in the family."

He cupped his hands about her face, tipping it up to meet his gaze.

"You were right, Todd," Elizabeth said. "I never should have cheated on that test. I knew it was wrong. That's why I got so angry when you told me off."

"Sure it was wrong, but you did it for the right reasons. You were only trying to protect Jessica. She's your sister, and you love her, no matter what."

"Love does funny things to people."

"Yeah, I happen to have firsthand knowledge of that." He kissed her softly on the forehead, following it with another kiss on the tip of her nose before finally arriving at her mouth.

"What kind of kiss do you call that?" Elizabeth asked when she'd caught her breath.

"A connect-the-dots kiss," he breathed.

"Mmmm, nice."

"This is a shut-up-and-enjoy-it kiss," he continued, brushing his lips against hers.

Wrapped in Todd's arms, surrounded by his clean, warm scent, Elizabeth almost forgot she'd ever been miserable. She snuggled her head against his shoulder, feeling the lean hardness of his muscles beneath his sweat shirt.

"I love you," she murmured.

"Some truce, huh?"

"More like out-and-out surrender."

"On both sides," he was quick to add. "Liz?"

"What?"

"I love you, too."

"I know. Shut up and kiss me, silly."

Todd needed no further invitation.

Twelve.

Elizabeth felt as if she were floating two feet off the ground as she and Todd strolled hand in hand back toward the school building. In her blissful fog, she didn't notice they were being pursued until someone snatched her arm from behind, plummeting her abruptly back to earth.

"Liz! Didn't you hear me calling you?" Jessica gasped, out of breath from running. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes shining with excitement.

Elizabeth stared at her in bewilderment. She was familiar with Jessica's quicksilver mood changes, but this was unbelievable. She felt as if she were on a roller coaster whenever she was around her sister.

"Well?" Elizabeth eyed her with stony coolness. "What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?" She glanced toward Todd, who was eyeing Jessica with suspicion. "I haven't got all day."

"Oh, come off it, Liz," Jessica wheedled. "Don't be like that. Look, I'm sorry I blew up at you. I didn't mean it. You know how I get sometimes."

"Do I ever!"

"I said I was sorry. You don't have to get nasty."

"Is that what you ran after me for?" Elizabeth asked impatiently. "To tell me you're sorry?"

"Uh, well, not exactly. Oh, Liz, you'll never guess!" She grabbed her sister by the shoulders, swinging her around. "They're going to give me another chance on the test! Mr. Sandalow called me in and told me he could see how sick I was on Monday and figured that was the reason I did so badly."

Elizabeth felt her anger draining. "Gosh! That's great, Jess." Funny, she thought, how things had a way of working out.

"Great? It's unbelievably fantastic! Isn't it fantastic, Todd?" Jessica gave him a broad smile.

"Fantastic," he echoed, with slightly less enthusiasm.

"I'm really happy for you, Jess," Elizabeth said, hugging her sister back. "And I forgive you-even if you don't really deserve it."

"Oh, you know I never mean any of the things I say when I get mad. It's just my way of letting off steam. Honestly, I never really thought you were jealous about Scott."

"Scott who?" Todd asked, frowning.

"Nobody, silly," Elizabeth reassured him, turning back to Jessica with a scowl. "You'd better quit while you're ahead, or you're really going to get me in trouble this time."

Jessica grinned. "My lips are sealed, dear sister."

"I hope your brain isn't. Remember, you haven't passed the test yet. You still have to study."

"Yes, sir." Jessica directed a mock salute at her twin.

"I think all this reconciliation calls for a celebration," put in Todd. "How does a double-decker mocha almond chip at Casey's sound? My treat."

"Great!" Elizabeth responded.

"Sounds delicious," Jessica chimed in enthusiastically. "I'm starved. I've hardly eaten anything today. Not to mention last night-"

"Gee, it's too bad you can't come with us," Todd interrupted, feigning disappointment. But Elizabeth noted the mischievous sparkle in his eyes. "But then I know how it is when you've got a lot of studying to do. Life is full of sacrifices."

Elizabeth giggled. "We'll bring you back something," she promised. "If it doesn't melt on the way."

"Thanks a lot, you two." Jessica glowered at them. She knew when she'd been out maneuvered.

"Don't mention it!" Elizabeth sang out over her shoulder as she sailed off on Todd's arm.

Thirteen.

The beach was packed by the time Todd and Elizabeth arrived on Saturday. Fortunately, Enid and George had saved them a place near the water where the view was relatively unobstructed. They threaded their way toward the ocean through a jungle of splashy-bright beach towels, toasting bodies, and Styrofoam coolers.

It was another perfect, sunny day. The salty air smelled of suntan lotion and surfboard wax, and there was just enough of a breeze to keep everyone from getting too hot. Farther down the beach a game of volleyball was in progress. Elizabeth watched as a slender girl in cutoffs took a nose dive into the sand after a spiked ball.

"I thought you were never going to get here," Enid greeted as they plopped down beside her and George on the old chenille bedspread they were using as a beach blanket.

"Thanks for holding some space for us. Looks like you've been here quite a while," Elizabeth noted, as she took in the hot-pink color of Enid's formerly pale thighs. "If you don't put some suntan lotion on, you're going to look like a poached salmon pretty soon."

Enid sighed, rolling onto her stomach. "The price one pays for beauty. Can't you see I'm working on getting a tan?"

"More like getting crispy-fried," joked George, earning a dirty look from Enid over the rims of her sunglasses.

Todd stared out over the waves that rolled in offshore in nearly perfect four-foot green swells. He whistled in appreciation.

"Man, couldn't be better. Those waves are definitely made to order."

The judging hadn't started yet, but a number of wetsuited competitors bobbed beyond the swells, sometimes paddling in to take a wave as it curled into a crest. Elizabeth spotted Sonny Callahan down the beach, near the lifeguard station. The blond sun god didn't look the least bit worried as he straddled his board, waxing it with slow circular strokes while carrying on a conversation with an animated-looking Lila Fowler. Lila, in her metallic-blue one-piece, her wavy light-brown hair done up in French braids, was practically draped over his board as she feigned a keen interest in surfing.

"Anyone seen Bill?" Elizabeth wanted to know.

"Not a hair of his hide," replied Enid, who was busy smoothing her legs with lotion.

"I think that's supposed to be 'neither hide nor hair,'" George corrected, slapping her shoulder playfully.

"Ouch! OK. No, I haven't seen Bill, come to think of it."

"No one has," George added.

"Do you think he'll show?" Sniffing a scoop in the works, Elizabeth dug into her oversize straw beach bag for the pad and pencil she always carried.

Enid shrugged. "Who knows? Bill's always been kind of a loner. He probably didn't tell anyone what he's up to."

"Maybe you were right, Enid." Elizabeth giggled. "Maybe he's really a double agent wanted by the FBI."

"The wet suit is only one of his many disguises, folks," George said in a stage-whisper. "Used mainly to smuggle secret information to enemy submarines."

The four of them giggled at the idea.

"He'd better turn up soon," Todd remarked. "They're going to start the contest any minute."

The judges occupied the lifeguard station, the highest vantage point on the beach. As Elizabeth shaded her eyes to look up, one of the judges, the owner of a local surf shop, raised a megaphone to his lips to announce that any competitor who didn't have a number by twelve o'clock would be disqualified.

Sonny Callahan strolled leisurely over to receive his number, then proceeded to suit up, bronze muscles rippling under Lila's adoring gaze.

George glanced at his watch. "Three minutes. Maybe he got kidnapped by a band of crazed pirates."

"Very likely," Enid scoffed. "One thing's for sure-if Bill doesn't show, he'll never live it down."

The crowd waited in suspense, heads craning for any sign of Bill Chase. Elizabeth had all but given up on him when a ripple of applause started up at the far end of the beach by the parking lot, working its way toward her as it grew to a deafening cheer. The sea of bodies parted, and she caught sight of Bill trotting toward the lifeguard station, a gleaming new surfboard tucked under one arm.

"Finally!" Todd breathed. "I was beginning to wonder if my board would ever have a crack at those waves."

"Your board?" Elizabeth piped.

Todd grinned at her. "My parents gave it to me on my last birthday, but I never got a chance to use it more than once or twice, so I sold it to Bill. He wanted an O'Neill, but he couldn't afford to buy a new one. That's how I got the rest of the money I needed for the Yamaha."

Elizabeth recalled seeing Todd and Bill huddled together in the corridor at school the week before, and it suddenly made sense. That was when Todd had told her he was getting the motorcycle.

"That still doesn't explain why he was missing for practically an entire week," said Enid.

"He swore me to secrecy-otherwise I would've told sooner. He cut school so he could practice on the new board."

"Look at him go!" George roared as Bill crouched into the first wave. He was just a hairbreadth behind Sonny.

To those watching from a distance, Bill seemed one with board and water, cutting a zigzag through the glassy curl as effortlessly as an ice skater doing figure eights. Sonny was good, too, but if Elizabeth had been a judge, she would have awarded more points to Bill for that wave.

Bill and Sonny remained neck and neck for the next couple of hours. There was no denying that Sonny was fast and clean, but in Elizabeth's opinion Bill had the better style.

He danced through the waves with a lightness and balance that even Fred Astaire would have envied, she scribbled in her notebook.