"Sounds terrific. Too bad I won't be there to enjoy any of it."

"Why not?" Jessica looked positively offended.

"Well, actually, I'd sort of decided to throw my life away on something frivolous-like college."

"Can't you stop thinking about serious stuff for once? What's college compared to a fantastic opportunity like this?"

"Jess, you're acting as if the whole thing is already decided. Nothing's settled yet, remember?"

Jessica scowled at her. "How could I forget with my big sister constantly reminding me? Don't you have any faith in me?"

"I'm not putting you down, Jess. Honestly I'm not. I've seen you act, and I happen to think you're fantastic-onstage and off," she added, smiling.

"Very funny. But I'm telling you-this is a sure thing. I can feel it."

"I hope you're right, I really do. I just happen to be a firm believer in seeing things with my own eyes. Journalistic instinct, I guess."

"OK," Jessica said sulkily, "but if you ever decide to become Barbara Walters the Second, don't count on me to give you an interview. I may be too busy."

Mr. Jaworski, his plump cheeks pink with excitement, stuck his head behind the backstage curtain. "I've never seen anything like it! Every seat in the auditorium is sold-now they're buying standing room!"

"I guess word has gotten out," Jessica said. "They all know DeeDee's father and his producer friend are coming."

Jessica patted her hair, which had turned out perfectly in spite of her misgivings about Elizabeth's frame of mind. "Do I look OK? I really want to make a good impression on Mr. Gordon."

"Don't worry," Lila said, "you look fine."

"Fine?" Jessica couldn't conceal her disappointment. "That's it-just fine?"

"OK," Lila conceded with a laugh. "You look unbelievably, fantastically, awesomely ravishing."

"That's better."

Lila whirled about playfully. "Now it's your turn to tell me how ravishing I look."

"Gee, Lila," Jessica teased, "why don't you ask Roger? I'm sure he'd be happy to tell you how gorgeous you look."

They both glanced over at Roger Barrett, who was too busy helping with the scenery to notice.

"He probably dreams about you at night." Jessica closed her eyes and affected a breathy whisper. "Oh, Roger, darling, kiss me, kiss me...."

Lila laughed, "Stop it, Jess! I wouldn't speak to that creep even in his dreams, and you know it."

Just then Jessica spotted Bill with his arm around DeeDee. Now it was Lila's turn to tease.

"Looks like the competition has won out. Have you noticed how chummy those two have gotten lately?"

Jessica glanced over and shrugged. "So what?"

"I thought you wanted Bill to be your eternal slave."

"If he'd rather be with DeeDee, let him. She's more his type, anyway. The two of them can sit out in the water on their surfboards until they shrivel up like prunes for all I care."

Lila stared at her friend as if she'd suddenly started speaking a foreign language. "This doesn't sound like the Jessica Wakefield I know. Are you sure you didn't get hit over the head or something on the way over?"

"Let's just say I have more important things on my mind than what Bill and DeeDee are doing."

"Oh, I get it." Lila dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "More important, as in movie contract?"

Jessica only smiled mysteriously. Pretty soon it would all be out in the open, and then she could really celebrate. She couldn't wait to see the look on Elizabeth's face when the good news was announced. As far as Bill was concerned, Jessica found it only slightly annoying that he was paying more attention to DeeDee nowadays. Bill was nothing. Soon she would be dating rich movie stars who drove Jaguars and Maseratis. Guys like Bill would be lucky to get her autograph.

"Did you hear about DeeDee coming in third in the surfing championship this morning?" Lila asked.

"Yeah, Cara told me," Jessica replied disinterestedly. She was more absorbed in examining her nail polish.

"Bill was there. He got so excited for her he kissed her in front of everyone. I can't believe Bill would do a thing like that."

"Neither can I, but miracles have been known to happen."

Mr. Jaworski interrupted them to announce it was nearly curtain time. The entire backstage area was in a frenzy. The players were scurrying around, muttering their lines and trying not to bump into the stagehands, who were lugging around props and pieces of scenery. By contrast, Jessica felt fairly calm. Despite the butterflies in her stomach, she was confident DeeDee's father knew true talent when he saw it. She didn't have to try hard; it just shone through naturally.

"Break a leg, Bill," she offered with unusual expansiveness as they took their places onstage. She even felt a little sorry for him. It must be hard for poor Bill to act opposite someone with so much more talent than he.

"Thanks. You, too," he muttered, avoiding her eyes.

He'd been avoiding her a lot this past week, whenever they weren't rehearsing. Under any other circumstances, Jessica would have been livid, but now she was prepared to be forgiving. Even handsome Tom McKay had paled somewhat in comparison to the Warren Beatty types she would soon be linked with. Let Bill have DeeDee, she thought. Those two nerds deserved each other.

Then the curtain was going up, and the auditorium thundered with applause. The lights were hot against her face. Her heart was beating too fast, and her palms felt slippery. But the instant she opened her mouth to say her first lines, her panic was forgotten.

Jessica, the born actress, was in her element.

Elizabeth hugged her sister. "Oh, Jess, you were fantastic! I cried practically the whole way through! It's a good thing Mom brought extra tissues."

"I'll second that," Mr. Wakefield chimed in, stepping over to scoop Jessica into his arms. "Between the two of them, I was afraid they were going to flood the auditorium."

Mrs. Wakefield shot her husband a wry look. "I suppose you'd like us to believe you were sniffling for the last ten minutes because you're coming down with a cold?"

He grinned sheepishly. "I never argue a case when the deck is stacked against me. In this case, I concede. You were truly spellbinding, sweetheart."

"Especially that scene at the end," Elizabeth offered, "when you go looking for Bud and find out he's married to Angelina. It was so sad."

But obviously not for Bill and DeeDee, Elizabeth thought. DeeDee had played the small role of Angelina. It was ironic the way it had all turned out-both onstage and off.

The play had been a huge success. The audience had given Bill and Jessica a standing ovation when it was their turn to take a bow. Jessica just stood there glowing, as if she were used to receiving such adulation. When the stage manager trotted out to thrust a bouquet of roses into her arms, she blew a kiss to the audience. Elizabeth thought the cheers would never stop. She was proud of her sister. She really did hope everything would turn out the way Jessica wanted it to.

DeeDee's father, a tall man with a bushy, blond mustache, was wending his way toward them. He stopped briefly to congratulate Lois Waller, who had played a minor part. She couldn't hear what he was saying, though; there was too much noise. The backstage area had become a madhouse, with the cast members babbling in relief now that it was all over and their friends and family clustering around them to tell them how fantastic they were.

Mr. Gordon came up and shook Jessica's hand. "You gave a fine performance, dear. Keep up the good work."

Then he was gone, swallowed up by the crowd. Jessica blinked in astonishment. There was some kind of huge commotion going on over by Bill Chase. Mr. Gordon was pumping his hand, and Bill wore a dazed, happy look. DeeDee was hugging him. In a loud, excited voice, she cried, "I knew it! I just knew it had to be you!"

Jessica refused to believe it. There had to be some mistake. Everyone was congratulating Bill because they wanted to save him from disappointment when Mr. Gordon made the announcement it was her he'd picked. Of course, that had to be it....

Lila swooped down on her. "Can you believe it? Bill Chase a movie star? They should put it on 'That's Incredible!'"

But Jessica wasn't listening. She just stood there, gaping at the drama unfolding around Bill, a sense of outrage growing within her. It wasn't fair! She was a million times more talented than Bill. How could they do this to her? How could they- Elizabeth touched her sister's arm, jolting her back to reality. "I'm sorry, Jess. I really am."

Jessica turned on her, eyes glittering with unshed tears. "Say it, why don't you? Say 'I told you so.'"

"Look," Elizabeth said softly, "we all make mistakes. I'm not going to rub your nose in it."

Jessica's mouth narrowed to a hard line. "The only mistake I made was letting that DeeDee get her hooks into Bill. It's all her fault. She probably nagged her father into picking Bill. I'm positive I would have been his first choice if she hadn't gotten in the way."

Recognizing the look in her sister's eyes, Elizabeth said in a low voice, "Don't do it. Leave Bill alone. You've tortured him enough already. Let DeeDee have him now. She really loves him."

Jessica hadn't heard one word. She was already sailing off in Bill and DeeDee's direction, primed for attack.

She was momentarily detoured from her track, however, by Tom McKay, who had come backstage to see her. "You were great, Jess," he said.

Distracted, Jessica tried to smile. Her thoughts were no longer on Tom. "Oh, uh, thanks."

"Will you be ready to go soon?"

Damn! Jessica thought. In all the excitement she had forgotten she had invited Tom to go with her to the cast party. She had to get out of it somehow. "I don't know how much longer I'll have to hang around here. It may be awhile. Anyway, I can't drive over with you. I had to get here early, so I took the Fiat." She gave Bill her most brilliant smile. "Why don't you just go on ahead? I'll meet you over there."

Tom looked annoyed, but he shrugged and said, "OK. I'll see you there."

Giving Tom one last dazzling smile, Jessica headed toward Bill.

Thirteen.

"Congratulations, Bill," Jessica purred. "I just heard the news. It's a funny thing, but I had this feeling all along it was going to be you." She angled herself so that she stood between Bill and DeeDee. Her back was facing DeeDee.

"Thanks, Jessica," Bill said, acknowledging her congratulations with a solemn nod. "But I can't believe this. I never thought Mr. Gordon would single me out."

"Of course, you wouldn't think so. That would be conceited, and you're certainly not like that."

The funny part was, Jessica was actually starting to believe the flattery she was heaping on Bill. The edge had worn off her anger, and she was beginning to see him in a new light. He was actually much handsomer than she'd ever realized. Had his eyes always been so blue? She could imagine him blown up a hundred times on a movie screen. With his light blond hair, he could almost be a young Robert Redford.

Yes, Elizabeth was right. She'd tortured him long enough. Now she was playing for keeps. Glancing over her shoulder, she was gratified to see that DeeDee wore a very worried look.

Jessica hooked her arm through Bill's. "You deserved it-more than anybody. Your kind of talent doesn't come along every day." She was glad to see she still had the power to make Bill blush.

"Well, we'll see," he said cautiously. "Mr. Gordon is going to set me up for a couple of screen tests. Until then, nothing's for sure."

"Oh, I just know you'll be great. Someday you're going to be a big star. You might even have your own fan club here at Sweet Valley High."

Bill shifted uncomfortably at the thought of becoming famous. "Yeah, well, like I said, we'll see. Nothing's set. I want to finish school before I make any big decisions about the future."

"If your invitation is still open to take me to the party, we could talk about it some more then," Jessica cooed. "I'm simply dying to hear all about your plans. Also, while we're on the subject-what are you doing next Saturday? I thought maybe we could do something to celebrate your success."

Bill didn't say anything. He just stood there, gaping at Jessica in astonishment. He didn't notice when DeeDee slipped away, her eyes glistening with tears. Jessica did, though.

Serves her right, Jessica thought. If it hadn't been for DeeDee's interference, she would be having those screen tests instead of Bill.

"Jessica, I can't go to the party with you," Bill said. "I-" He looked around for DeeDee, but she'd disappeared.

Jessica plunged in, saying, "Never mind. I'll meet you there, OK? We can make all our plans then. See you!" She blew him a kiss before whirling off in the opposite direction.

The party was being held at Lila Fowler's estate. Jessica had planned to make a grand entrance-the soon-to-be-superstar. Riding on Bill's glory would be a poor substitute, but it would have to suffice for the moment.

Outside, she breezed past DeeDee, who was sitting on a bench near the darkened gym, her shoulders shaking with quiet sobs. Jessica felt a momentary twinge of pity, which she quickly brushed away.

DeeDee was only getting what she deserved, she reminded herself.

DeeDee didn't know how long she'd been sitting outside. She shivered. It was starting to get chilly, and she'd forgotten to bring a sweater. Oh, well, what difference did it make? Forgetting that it seldom dropped below fifty degrees in Sweet Valley this time of year, she decided she didn't care if she froze to death.

She should have known it was too good to have lasted with Bill. The only reason he'd paid so much attention to her this past week was because Jessica had been ignoring him. Now that Jessica had switched on the charm machine again, DeeDee didn't stand a chance. What had ever made her think she could compete with the dazzling Jessica Wakefield in the first place?

"I know how you feel," a quiet voice said.

Startled, DeeDee looked over to see that Roger Barrett had sat down next to her. Feeling embarrassed, she brushed her wet cheeks with the back of her hand.

"H-how do you know?" she asked.

Roger pulled a clean handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her. "I may be invisible to most of the kids, but that doesn't mean I'm blind. I've seen the way it is when you're with Bill. I guess you notice stuff like that when you're in the same position."

"What do you mean?" DeeDee stared at Roger in surprise. He'd always seemed so shy and secretive. She couldn't believe he was talking like this.

He shrugged. "Lila and me, in case you haven't already guessed. I know she'd probably laugh in my face if she knew how I felt about her. I'll bet you probably think I'm crazy, too."

"I don't think you're crazy, Roger."

"I guess that's why I'm telling you all this. When you're in the same position as someone, you understand how that person feels."

DeeDee let out a long breath. "For a while I thought I had a chance. I really had myself convinced he'd forgotten about Jessica. But who could forget about Jessica?"