He laid the column in front of her. The item about Susan Stewart and "K.M." was outlined in red.

"Why should everybody else have fun because of my column, and not me?" she pouted.

"Then it's true?"

"Well ... I wrote the item. I really can't help it if Ken Matthews likes me, can I?"

"That's not the point, Elizabeth, and you know it. It's about something called ethics. Something called integrity. You used to understand those words. Not only did you write a self-serving item, but it's not even true. Is it?"

Elizabeth squirmed in her seat.

"Is it true?"

"I don't know every guy Susan runs around with."

"Uh-huh. I thought you and I were never going to dish each other applesauce."

Elizabeth began to cry. "I didn't do anything wrong, Mr. Collins! It's terrible and mean of you to say I did."

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth, truly I am. I hope you can get yourself straightened out. I know you're in trouble with your grades, too."

"I explained that."

"Yes, you did. But until you can explain why you used your column to slander somebody with an item you knew was a lie, I'm afraid I'm going to have to do without you on The Oracle."

Elizabeth's eyes widened with surprise. "You're firing me?"

"I'm sorry."

Elizabeth stood up. She glared at him, then tossed her head. "Who cares?" she said. "I thought you were my friend, but I can see I was wrong."

"I am your friend, Elizabeth. You're a fine writer, and I want to help you. I hope whatever is wrong can be cleared up. Until then-"

"Don't hold your breath waiting for me to come back," Elizabeth said haughtily, and sailed out the door.

When Elizabeth got home that afternoon, she saw a white-faced Jessica sitting ramrod straight at the kitchen table with their mother and father, all of them looking as grim as the Supreme Court.

"What's up?" Elizabeth asked.

"Elizabeth, I hardly know what to say to you." Her mother's voice was filled with disappointment. "I never thought a daughter of ours would use another person's term paper and turn it in as her own."

"What?" said Elizabeth, a bright pink flush coloring her face and neck.

"Mrs. Green, your guidance counselor, called us," her father said. "She's very worried about you."

"We're all worried about you," said Alice Wakefield. Then she turned to Jessica.

"Jessica, why didn't you tell us what was going on? You must have known."

"But I didn't!" Jessica cried. At least not about the paper, she wanted to tell them. And the other stuff ... well, she hadn't wanted to worry them. She had thought she could handle it on her own, somehow.

Jessica Wakefield felt the world crashing down on her head.

Nine.

"Jessica, are you going to drive us to the flute auditions on Saturday?"

The voice startled Jessica. She whirled around, mascara wand in her hand, to see Jean-or was it Joan?-standing in her doorway.

"Did you ever hear of knocking?" she snapped. "It has to do with a little thing called privacy! The whole world has been picking on me, but I thought I was safe in my own room!" She turned back to the mirror.

"You thought you could come in here and make my life miserable, didn't you? You and everyone else in Sweet Valley." Her parents, Todd, and nearly all the girls in school were after her to do something about Elizabeth's behavior, and she had no idea of how to cope with it.

When she looked back toward the doorway, it was empty. Great, she thought, just great. Now she guessed she was supposed to feel guilty about being nasty to the twin on top of everything else. Jessica felt that if she didn't talk to somebody sympathetic pretty soon, she would fall apart.

After school that afternoon, she stood in the hall outside the Oracle office, hoping Mr. Collins wasn't busy. She knew Elizabeth had gone to him with problems in the past, and since this was a problem about Elizabeth ... well, why not?

She pushed the door open and was relieved to see Roger Collins alone in the room. He looked up and smiled at her.

"Liz, I'm glad you stopped by. I felt-"

"Mr. Collins, I'm sorry, but I'm not Liz."

"Jessica? Hey, forgive me. I keep mixing the two of you up these days," he said, moving from his chair to sit on the edge of the desk.

"I'm the one with the worry lines," she said, slumping into a chair.

"And your worries are about your sister, right?"

"Thank goodness you know what I'm talking about, Mr. Collins!" Finally, Jessica felt she had an adult ally. No wonder Elizabeth came to him with problems.

"I can't reinstate her on The Oracle, Jessica, not after what she did."

"That's not why I'm here," she said, on the verge of tears.

"Jessica, how can I help?"

"I don't know!" she wailed, unable to hold back the tears. Covering her face with her hands, she began sobbing.

Roger Collins put a comforting arm around Jessica's shoulders, letting her enjoy the release of crying for a few minutes. Then he put a crisp white handkerchief in her hand, patted her shoulder gently, and asked, "Feeling better?"

Sniffling as she dried her tears, Jessica nodded.

"Good. Now tell me what this is all about."

"It's about Liz, what else? Haven't you noticed a difference in her, Mr. Collins?"

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, the teacher admitted, "Well, her attitude toward The Oracle is certainly different."

"See!" She knew she had come to the right person.

"But unfortunately, Jessica, I don't have any solutions. Elizabeth has changed, and not for the better, but she doesn't seem to realize it."

Jessica felt as if her last hope had vanished.

"What can we do?" she wailed.

"Right now, I don't know. But at least I'm aware of the problem, and I'll be keeping a close watch on Elizabeth. I know you will be, too. Jessica, be patient. You're Elizabeth's best chance."

Jessica was mulling over her conversation with Mr. Collins when she spotted a long-faced Todd Wilkins sitting on the front steps of the Wakefield house. That could only mean more bad news about Elizabeth.

"What's up, Todd?" she asked, dropping down next to him on the steps.

"Nothing good, Jess. I thought I'd try and talk to Liz, but she's not home, so I decided to hang around and wait." He heaved a big sigh. "Maybe the world will come to an end and put me out of my misery."

Jessica rolled her eyes skyward. "And they say I exaggerate! Don't look so down, Todd. Everything's going to work out. It has to," she said, in an effort to cheer him up.

"How, Jess?" he asked in despair.

"We've got to keep cool. I just came from talking to Mr. Collins, and-"

"You went to see Mr. Collins?"

"Yes. Why the look of surprise?"

"It just seems so ironic, that's all. I know Liz has gone to him lots of times for advice. He must have been absolutely stunned to find you coming to him."

"Stunned? What do you mean by that, Todd?"

"Well, I mean, he's used to talking to his star reporter, not a..." Todd's voice trailed off as he saw the anger on Jessica's face.

"You're implying that a mere cheerleader isn't capable of an intelligent conversation! You're picking on me, and I don't need it, Todd! Everyone is on my case these days. You know, just about none of the girls at school will talk to me without complaining about Liz trying to steal their guys."

She saw Todd wince at that and put her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry, Todd. I shouldn't have said that."

"Why not? It's the truth." He stood, running his fingers through his brown hair in frustration. "I'm probably the only guy in Sweet Valley who leaves Elizabeth cold."

"I'm no better off than you are, Todd. Do you know how many guys come up to me asking me to put in a good word for them with Liz? It's disgusting. They treat me like a buddy-me, Jessica Wakefield, a buddy!" Her outrage mingled with Todd's despair as they both paced on the front steps.

"Did you talk to Mr. Collins about Liz and me?" Todd asked.

"No, I didn't," Jessica confessed guiltily. "I guess I was too busy talking about Liz and me."

"It doesn't matter. He may be a wonderful teacher, Jess, but I don't see how he can help."

"I don't know. But he said-"

The end of Jessica's sentence was drowned out by the roar of an approaching motorcycle.

Jessica and Todd turned and saw a bike with two riders coming at them fast. They stood there amazed as Elizabeth zoomed up the Wakefields' driveway and screeched to a halt. She whipped off her helmet, allowing her long blond hair to fall in graceful waves around her face.

"How did I do, Max?" Elizabeth asked as she turned to grin at her passenger, Max Dellon, lead guitarist of Sweet Valley High's favorite rock band, The Droids.

"You are definitely something else, Liz. Like wild, you know? You are the fastest girl biker I've ever seen! Hey, Jess, how about this sister of yours?"

Usually Jessica liked Max. He was a good guitarist and was the perfect image of a rock musician. But at that moment she was furious.

"Girl biker? Elizabeth Wakefield, I'm going to tell Mom and Dad, and they'll send you away to a convent for the rest of your life!" Jessica raged.

"Liz, I've got to talk to you," Todd insisted, taking hold of her arm.

Elizabeth jerked her arm free and stood looking at her sister and Todd.

"You two are not being a whole lot of fun."

Jessica opened her mouth to protest, but her twin had already turned away.

"Don't disappear, Max. I'll be right out," Elizabeth said.

Stunned and shaking, Jessica and Todd watched her dash into the house.

Ten.

Panic was written all over Jessica's beautiful face as she turned to Todd.

"Todd, you've got to stop her!" Jessica whispered. "You can't let her go out with Max."

"How am I supposed to stop her?" he whispered back. "Besides, Max is a nice person-a little off the wall sometimes, but basically a good guy. Unlike some of your sister's recent dates."

"I don't mean just Max. I mean you can't let her go out with anybody," Jessica insisted.

"Jess, I don't want her going out with other guys, you know that. But I don't own her. I can't tell her who to see." Pain and frustration seemed to be the only emotions left in the world for Todd. It was clear to everyone, including him, that Elizabeth Wakefield was through with him. Then why do I keep hanging in there? he asked himself a dozen times a day. The answer was always the same-because he loved her. He loved the real Elizabeth, and somehow he had to help her become that person again.