"Now, just a minute," Elizabeth said, stepping forward. "Marianna West works for my father's law firm."

"Yeah? Where? On the couch, maybe?" Bruce sneered.

"You liar!"

Bruce laughed. "Sure! Your father spends all his time running around with a sexy woman, and you call that 'working for the firm.'"

"They're working together-to stop you," Elizabeth shouted.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Go put it in the paper!"

"Never mind that," Todd was saying, pushing his way to the front. "We're interested in saving the field. I think that's enough out of you," he told Bruce.

"OK," Ken shouted, climbing up onto the bleacher seats and addressing them all. "Are we giving up the field?"

"No!" came the roaring response.

"Are they putting up a factory?"

"No!"

"A garden?"

"No!"

"Come on, everybody," Jessica shouted. "The Gladiator cheer!"

She leaped down onto the track and led everybody in a Sweet Valley fight song.

Elizabeth frantically took notes, watching Todd from the corner of her eye.

This was the biggest story she had ever been given, but still Elizabeth kept hearing the hateful words Bruce Patman had flung out about her father and Marianna West.

Suddenly, as if seeing a missing puzzle piece falling into place, Elizabeth remembered the day the previous week when she'd accidentally walked into her parents' room while they were in the midst of an argument. Not an argument, really. They weren't shouting at each other or anything like that. It was more of a heated discussion. Her mother had seemed tense, and her father had worn an uncharacteristic frown.

She'd only caught the tail end of their conversation, but it had brought a sour taste to her mouth nevertheless.

"I never said my work was more important than yours," Ned Wakefield had argued in a voice straining to remain patient. "What I said was that it would be nice if we saw more of you...."

It might have been just a minor complaint. Their mother had been working longer hours than usual lately, due to a special design project she was involved in. But the incident bothered Elizabeth because her parents almost never argued. The thought of anything coming between them struck her like a sudden blow. What if the argument was just the tip of an iceberg named Marianna West? No, Elizabeth told herself, my imagination is running away with me again. It can't be true. It just can't.

Ten.

Elizabeth was almost finished taking notes and ready to head back to the Oracle office when it happened. There he was, suddenly, right in front of her, face to face, and there was no possibility of ignoring him.

"Hi, Todd."

"Liz," said Todd, his face lighting up. "Hey, isn't this something?"

"Yeah! I'm covering it for The Oracle."

"Wow, Liz, this is a big story. I always knew you'd be a great reporter."

"Really?"

"Sure."

Todd looked away then, as though remembering something, and fell silent.

"I was just heading back to school," Elizabeth said hopefully.

"Yeah? I'm going back, too."

They might have made up then and there, Elizabeth thought later, except that suddenly Jessica came running over.

"Todd!"

"Hi, Jess," he said.

"I want to talk to you. It's terribly important," she gushed.

"Oh-sure," Todd said.

Elizabeth walked away as quickly as she could. She thought she heard Todd call her, but she kept on going, across the campus to the Oracle office. It was the longest walk of her life.

Inside the office at last, Elizabeth sat at the typewriter and plunged into writing the story. It was like a doctor's prescription-it shut out all the pain and longing.

Write, she told herself. Keep on writing. Forget everything else.

Todd watched with a sense of loss as Elizabeth walked away. He'd had a precious moment when everything might have been set right, and he'd let it slip away.

Somebody was talking at him. It was Jessica Wakefield.

"Earth to Todd Wilkins," she was saying with a slight trace of irritation. He was such a hunk and just about the nicest guy at Sweet Valley High, but sometimes he seemed so dense!

"What did you say, Jessica?"

They were strolling along back toward the school again, and Jessica kept the pace leisurely. She wanted Todd to herself this time.

"Liz was sure in a hurry," he said.

"Yes," Jessica said slowly. "She's upset these days."

"I guess she would be," Todd said. "Living down a stunt like that isn't easy."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Jessica began. "It's just terrible, what's happening. What kids are saying."

"But it's all true, Jessica! I'd give anything to find out it wasn't."

"Oh, Todd," Jessica whimpered, and she ran a few steps to a bench on the lawn and collapsed onto it. Todd was beside her in a minute.

"What's the matter, Jessica?"

Jessica was crying with abandon, holding her face in her hands and sobbing. Her shoulders shook. She wouldn't look at him.

"Hey-Jess!"

Todd sat beside her and pulled her close, holding her against him as she cried. "Come on, now. It can't be that bad."

"Oh, Todd! I just can't stand it, what people are saying about Elizabeth. I love her more than anything in the world. I can't let her be treated like this."

Jessica looked up into Todd's concerned face, into his wonderfully tender brown eyes, and her heart fluttered.

"Todd, it could have happened to anyone! It's not fair! Why, it could have happened to me."

"Come on, Jessica. It didn't just happen. She knew what she was doing."

Jessica took a deep breath. "Todd, I can't let this go on. Elizabeth is my sister. I love her! Todd-it wasn't Elizabeth at Kelly's."

"It wasn't?"

"No. Todd, it was me!"

"What?"

"Yes. Me. My sister is not going to be blamed for this thing. It's not fair."

Jessica was totally amazed at what happened next. Todd Wilkins stared deeply into her eyes for a long moment, then slowly shook his head as though in wonder.

"I've never heard anything so noble," he finally said.

"What?"

"You'd take the blame for your sister? Jessica, I don't think I've ever known how truly special you are until this moment."

"But, Todd-"

Todd pulled her close, holding her tightly in his strong arms for what seemed an eternity. Then he gently kissed her. He didn't even hear the whistles and yells from the students who saw the whole thing, right in the center of the campus in the middle of the afternoon.

Jessica sat there, stunned. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that telling the truth could be so rewarding.

"Jessica, you're wonderful," Todd said.

"Todd, you're the greatest guy I've ever met, do you know that?"

"Listen! I'm taking you to the Phi Ep dance!"

"What?"

"That is, if you want to go with me."

"Want to? Oh, Todd!" And she was around his neck once more. "I want it more than anything in the world."

The first thing Elizabeth heard about as she left the Oracle office, was about the Big Love Scene between Todd and Jessica on the bench in the center of campus.

"Wow," Winston Egbert hooted, stopping Elizabeth as she came out of the school building. "The temperature went up about fifty degrees here a little while ago."

"What happened, Winston?"

"A certain beautiful cheerleader and a certain handsome basketball captain went into a clinch right out in front of the world, and the mercury soared!"

"Oh," said Elizabeth. Her heart ached.

"I thought Todd was going after you, but now I see it's Jessica. Boy, talk about showing your feelings in public."

"Why are you so surprised, Winston? You of all people. You've been in love with Jessica since fifth grade. She's fantastic, and you know it."

"Oh, I know she is, but so are you!"

"Oh, well..."

"Who are you going to the dance with?"

"Good question, Winston."

They walked down the steps. There, at the foot, Bruce Patman was gliding up to them in his black Porsche.

"Well, well, well," Bruce said to Elizabeth. "If it isn't Roadhouse Rhoda."

Elizabeth froze.

"Listen, I never thought you were such a fast number until now. But from what I hear, I've decided you're my type. I'd like to take you to the dance."

"Is that so?" Elizabeth snapped.

"Sure. I can't stand most of these wimpy girls. We can put in an appearance at the dance, then head for someplace where we can have some real fun."

All the pent-up fury suddenly burst from her. All the anguish and the hurt and the pain caused by the snickering and whispering and innuendos spilled out.