Elizabeth and Jessica were walking across the front lawn of Sweet Valley High when Jessica spotted Enid Rollins.

"Liz, there's Enid waving at you."

"So?"

"So, if you want to stop and talk to her, I'll see you later."

Elizabeth shrugged irritably. "Enid Rollins is a drag, Jess, and you know it. You always told me to drop her."

Stumped for an answer, Jessica decided it was safer to change the subject. "How's Todd these days? I haven't seen much of him around the house."

"You'd know the answer to that better than I would. I've seen you talking to him often enough, Jess."

Jessica scrambled in her mind for a safe subject. "Ready for today's French test?"

"I plan to have a headache that period," Elizabeth said flatly. "I can always make it up later."

"But, Liz-"

"Don't bug me, Jess. Oh, there's Lila Fowler near the columns. I want to talk to her about tonight's Pi Beta Alpha meeting." Jessica watched her sister dash right past Enid without so much as a nod.

She felt like screaming. Her sister had never cared much about the sorority before. She'd joined only because Jessica had begged and pleaded with her. Now Elizabeth couldn't wait for the next meeting.

"What a joke," Jessica mumbled. "And I'm the one who's president of that dumb sorority."

"Who are you talking to, Jess?"

Jessica focused on the figure in front of her. "Oh, hello, Enid."

"Are you all right? You look funny."

"Well, I'm feeling a little funny," she snapped. "What do you want?"

"I want to talk to you about Liz."

"You and the rest of the world," Jessica said, under her breath.

"What?"

"Spit it out, Enid. The first bell's about to ring."

"I was just wondering if Liz has said anything to you about me. It seems like she avoids me at school, and she's never around when I call her. Is she mad at me about something?"

"Not that I know of." Jessica wondered why she didn't tell Enid the truth. Elizabeth didn't want to have anything to do with her. Jessica would have enjoyed telling her to get lost a month ago. For some reason, she felt sympathy for Enid now.

The two girls walked across the lawn in silence for a few moments. As they approached the columns, Jessica said, "I'm sure Liz isn't mad at you, Enid. We're going to the Dairi Burger after school. Why don't you meet us?"

"Hey, thanks, Jess! I'll be there!"

Jessica couldn't understand why she had said that. She certainly didn't care about Enid Rollins's feelings, did she?

If Jessica was enrolled in the "Worrying About Elizabeth" course, Todd was, too. He followed Elizabeth as she hurried under the Romanesque clock and into school. He was close behind when she headed for the bulletin board, and he saw her smile at Ken Matthews. He tried to remember how long it had been since she'd smiled at him in that way. He wished he could hear what they were saying, but with the mob of kids coming into school and going to their lockers, it was impossible.

"Hi, Ken!" said a bubbly Elizabeth.

"Hi, Liz."

"What's new, All-American?"

Ken blushed attractively. "Not much."

"Is that so?" said Elizabeth. "What about the basketball game on Friday? You going?"

Ken looked at her in surprise. "Sure." Everyone knew he never missed a sports event.

"Wish I were going," she said.

"Aren't you?"

"Nobody's asked me," said Elizabeth, her blue-green eyes flashing a seductive glance at him.

"But I thought you always went to see Todd play."

Elizabeth tossed her head and looked annoyed. "That's ancient history."

"Oh," said Ken. He shuffled his feet and looked at the bulletin board and then at the floor.

Elizabeth was still standing very close to Ken when Susan Stewart came down the hall. Practically the whole student body knew that Ken and the pretty redhead had become a twosome lately. Susan spotted them together and walked over quickly.

"Hi, honey," Ken said to Susan as she walked up.

"Hi, Ken," she said, darting a murderous look at Elizabeth.

"Well, see you soon," Elizabeth cooed, then walked off, swaying her hips provocatively. She tried to avoid Todd by turning into the stairwell, but he called to her.

"Liz!"

"Hi, Todd," she said coolly.

"You coming to the game on Friday?"

Elizabeth looked away. "Well, I don't know, Todd. I haven't decided. Listen, I've really got to run. Got to go see Mrs. Green."

"The guidance counselor?" asked Todd.

"Yeah. She's gotten on my case something awful. I've got to tell her to buzz off. See you."

Todd watched her walk away toward Sylvia Green's office and felt more worried than ever.

Mrs. Green watched as Elizabeth came in and sat before her. The guidance counselor was on the alert for signs of change in the former honor student and Oracle star reporter. Disturbing reports had been coming in from Elizabeth's teachers.

"Hi," said Elizabeth brightly, looking cheerful.

"Hello, Elizabeth. All recovered, I understand?"

Elizabeth smiled. "I'm better than ever," she said.

"Well," said Mrs. Green. "That's good."

The guidance counselor opened a file before her on her desk and studied it. "I called you in to talk about some of the work you missed."

It was completely unfair, Elizabeth had complained to Jessica. Those crazy teachers actually expected her to make up all the work she'd missed while she was in the hospital, even though it hadn't been her fault she'd been absent. If she did all that homework and those term papers, she'd turn into a drudge. She wouldn't be able to go out at all except on weekends for a month. Out of the question, she had told her sister.

"Yes, ma'am." Elizabeth smiled at the guidance counselor.

"I understand you haven't made up any of the work yet."

"I've been busy."

"I realize that, but I'm afraid you're going to have to make some sacrifices to catch up."

Elizabeth said, "Oh, I know. I'll get to it. I'm just having dizzy spells sometimes."

"Dizzy spells?" Mrs. Green looked at her with concern.

"Yes ma'am. Sometimes I think I'm going to black out."

Mrs. Green studied her. "Maybe you should go back to your doctor?"

"Oh, no," said Elizabeth. "He said I'll be fine. As long as I don't overextend myself. With too many projects." She smiled innocently.

"Well, all right," said Mrs. Green. "It doesn't really matter how soon you do the missed schoolwork. As soon as you feel better. But it must be made up."

"Yes ma'am," Elizabeth said obediently.

Winston Egbert was surprised when Elizabeth slid into a chair beside him in the cafeteria. They had always been friends, especially after he'd taken her to a dance and confessed how crazy he was about Jessica. Of course, Jessica hadn't given him a second glance. Still, Winston had always been grateful to Elizabeth for listening to him that night. But lately, he'd been so busy with Mandy he hadn't talked much to Elizabeth since the accident.

"Hi, Win," she bubbled.

"Hi," he said.

"Before you ask, I'm all better from my vacation in the hospital," said Elizabeth.

"I can see that," said Winston. "I saw you at your pool party."

"I hope I didn't disappoint everybody," she said coquettishly. "I know I looked hopelessly dreadful that night."

"Huh?" said Winston. "Hey, you looked better than Miss America."

"Thanks, you're sweet," she said, picking at a chicken sandwich. "If I were capable of feeling happy, your overly kind words would do it."

"What's the matter?" Winston asked.

Elizabeth sighed deeply.

"Liz?"

"Nothing." A deeper, even more mournful sigh.

"You can tell me, Liz. We're buddies, remember?" Winston Egbert was now a helpless mass of sympathy. "I'd do anything for you, Liz, you know that."

"They expect me to make up hundreds of pages of work I missed and do five hundred term papers, and it makes me so sick I could scream," she said.

"Hey, that's hard."

"If only I didn't have that terrible, long history term paper on the Punic Wars, maybe I could do the rest," said Elizabeth.

"Yeah, that was a tough one," agreed Winston.

"I heard you got an A-plus."

"Yep," said Winston. "Took me two weeks every night. Actually, the wars between Ancient Rome and Carthage are fascinating."

Elizabeth smiled. "I'll bet," she said, and unleashed another painful sigh. "I'm afraid I'll just flunk, that's all."

"Listen, you could do a great paper, Liz. I know you could."

"Sure. If I had the time. But I have so much other work. And I get such horrible headaches. The accident, you know?" A tear rolled down her cheek.

"Listen, I kept a copy of mine."

"Really?"

"If it would help, you could look it over and get my sources. That would cut down on the time."

"Maybe if I just ... changed it around some?"

"I thought you liked Roman history."

"Oh, I do. But I don't want to have a relapse."

Winston brought Elizabeth his term paper that afternoon in the Oracle office. She later turned it in as her own after rewriting a few sentences and paragraphs.