"She's not exactly the invisible type," Roger agreed. "But maybe it's, you know, one of those passing things."

"Maybe," DeeDee said, a bitter note creeping into her voice. "But I'm not going to sit around and wait for anybody. I have my pride."

Roger nodded sympathetically, and she had the feeling he really did understand. DeeDee sat straight, squaring her shoulders. She blew her nose into the tissue that was balled up in her fist.

"Are you going to the party?" she asked him.

"I-I wasn't planning to."

"Why not?"

He paused, staring off into the darkness. Finally he confessed, "I don't have a ride."

"You can ride with me."

"You're going?"

She smiled weakly. "I wasn't planning to, either-until just a minute ago. But I can't go around hiding my head every time something doesn't work out the way I want it to."

Roger remained hesitant. "I don't know, DeeDee. I feel like such a nothing around Lila. I'm sure nobody wants me there."

"Don't be silly, Roger." DeeDee gave him an unsteady smile as she pushed herself to her feet. "Besides, they say misery loves company. Let's see if it's true."

Fourteen.

"Forget it, Jess, I'm not going to that party." Elizabeth was sitting on her bed, writing in her journal.

"Come on, Lizzie," Jessica cajoled. "You know I never have as much fun when you're not there. Besides, I need you."

"Why don't you get Tom to take you?"

Jessica didn't want to admit that she'd called her date with Tom off at the last minute-now that she had her sights set on Bill.

"Tom and I are finished," she confessed with a little hitch in her voice. Well, at least it would be true after that night. "And I should think you'd have a little more sympathy for me after what I've been through." She sniffled once for effect.

"I know how disappointed you are," Elizabeth said, softening. "But look at it this way-you don't have to give up acting just because you lost out on one opportunity. There are bound to be other ones if you keep at it."

"Easy for you to say. You're the one with all the talent," Jessica replied hopelessly.

"Well, I certainly don't expect my first book to be a best seller! I'll be lucky just to get it published. Besides, if you weren't talented, Mr. Jaworski would never have cast you in the lead in the first place."

"He probably did only because he felt sorry for me."

"Come off it, Jess. Don't make me laugh."

"I can't believe how selfish you're being, Liz," Jessica exploded. "Don't you care one bit about my feelings? How do you expect me to face everyone alone after the way I've been humiliated?" Her eyes brimmed with tears.

Elizabeth relented with a sigh. She rose to place a consoling arm about her sister's shoulders. "I do understand. Honestly I do. But I just can't bear the thought of seeing Todd there."

"What's one crummy boyfriend compared to a whole Hollywood career down the tubes?"

"I know it doesn't sound like much to you, but I really loved Todd. I still do, if you want to know the truth."

"Even after what he did to you?"

"I know it sounds weird, but I guess love is like that."

"Well, even so, you can't go on avoiding him forever. How much longer do you think you can stay home sick from school?"

"That's not fair," Elizabeth protested. "I really was sick this week."

True, she thought, it might have been brought on partly by her misery over Todd, but she had been running a low-grade fever. She still felt a little sick to her stomach, too-especially when she thought about Todd and Patsy.

Nonetheless, she recognized the truth in what Jessica was saying. She couldn't go on avoiding Todd forever the way she'd done this week, simply ducking his calls by having her mother say she was too ill to come to the phone. And if Todd and Patsy were in love with each other, she'd better start getting used to the idea, no matter how much it hurt.

"You're not sick anymore," Jessica pointed out impatiently.

"Oh, all right. I'll go." Elizabeth gave a long sigh. Once again, she was bailing her twin out. Once at the party, Elizabeth was sure Jessica would forget all about her, leaving her to deal with Todd alone.

She stood and shook a fist at her sister. "You really owe me one for this, Jess!"

Jessica wore her most angelic expression. "Why, Liz, you sound as if I ask for favors all the time."

Elizabeth gave an exasperated groan. She loved her sister better than anyone, but there were times when she could have cheerfully tossed her into a tank of man-eating sharks.

The Fowler mansion was enormous. Elizabeth couldn't help thinking, as they pulled up in front of it, that three houses the size of the Wakefields' own comfortable split-level could have easily fit into this impressive building.

A uniformed maid ushered the twins into a huge living room carpeted ankle-deep in champagne-colored shag. The party was already in full swing. A bunch of kids were dancing. Elizabeth felt a stab of jealousy as she watched a couple with their arms twined about each other's waist. She and Todd had once danced that way, oblivious to the rest of the world.

"Hi, Liz, I didn't know you were coming!" a girl's voice chirped.

Elizabeth swiveled about, neatly spilling the root beer Jessica had thrust into her hand before rushing off. Patsy! She looked stunning in a low-cut halter-top jumpsuit made of some shimmery, peach-colored fabric.

"Uh, hi," Elizabeth muttered, wishing the floor would open up to swallow her.

"Have you seen Todd?" Patsy asked, seemingly oblivious to Elizabeth's torture. "He said he was going out to get something from his car. I just thought you might have run into him on your way in."

Elizabeth couldn't believe it. How could anyone be so insensitive? Tears stung her eyes. It had been a mistake to come here after all. Right now, all she wanted to do was escape.

"Excuse me." She pushed past Patsy, heading back toward the front door.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Jessica, sitting next to Bill on the couch, working her spell on him. Elizabeth knew she should tell her sister she was leaving, but she didn't think that in her present state she could handle another argument. Besides, knowing her sister, Jessica would have at least a dozen ride offers by the end of the evening.

Outside, Elizabeth stood on the porch and closed her eyes, letting the cool night air wash over her flushed face. Tears spilled out from under her lids. She would never be able to get used to it. She would never be able to look at Todd and Patsy without feeling as if she'd been stabbed in the heart.

Suddenly she jumped as a pair of strong arms closed around her from behind, trapping her arms against her sides.

"It's no use trying to escape." Todd's voice was husky against her ear. "I'm not letting you loose until you tell me what's going on. Liz, are you trying to break up with me or what?"

Elizabeth wrenched about to face him. "Me-trying to break up with you?" she choked. "Is that supposed to be some kind of sick joke?"

Todd wasn't smiling. "All I know is that you've been running away from me every time I try to get near you. You didn't return any of my calls this week. I don't understand it, Liz. I feel I've suddenly developed a contagious disease or something."

"You're wasting your time," Elizabeth said coldly. "I know all about you and Patsy."

"Patsy?" Todd looked confused. "What about Patsy and me?"

Elizabeth tried to yank away, but Todd had her firmly in his grasp. In frustration she blurted, "I was looking for you after school one day, and I saw you at your locker with-with your arms around her! And don't you dare deny it!"

"I'm not going to," said Todd quietly. "It's true."

Elizabeth was sobbing openly now. Todd's face had dissolved into a wavery blur. "I h-have to go now, Todd. P-please let me g-go."

"Nothing doing. Not until you've heard the rest of it."

"Please, Todd..." Elizabeth struggled weakly against him. "I don't want to hear any more."

"Will you just listen? Patsy was really upset that day. She'd just gotten a letter from her boyfriend in France telling her he'd met someone else. She was really broken up about it, so I put my arms around her to comfort her."

"That's it?" Elizabeth wanted to believe him, she really did.

"That's it. I told you once before, Liz, but I guess you weren't listening. Patsy and I are just friends. You're the one I love." His arms dropped from her waist. "Now, if you still want to run away, I'm not going to try to stop you."

Elizabeth looked hard into his face, at the sincerity shining from his brown eyes. And she knew he was telling the truth. She'd been wrong to doubt him, terribly wrong.

"I don't know what to say," she whispered. "I feel like such a dope."

He smiled crookedly. "Lucky for you I happen to have a soft spot for dopes."

"Oh, Todd..."

She snuggled against his chest, breathing in the clean, starchy scent of his freshly ironed shirt. It felt so good to be in his arms. The tears continued to spill down her cheeks, but now they were tears of happiness.

"Hey." Todd tipped her chin up to meet his gaze. His eyes were dark and liquid with emotion. "Don't cry. There's a penalty for crying, you know."

"Oh, yeah? What is it?"

"This." He leaned down and kissed her, setting loose a flurry of warm sensations in her. "And there's more where that came from if you don't watch it."

Elizabeth's laugh ended up a hiccup. "What's the punishment for saying 'I love you'?"

"Oh, that's really heavy-duty. Possible life imprisonment."

He kissed her again, more firmly this time. Elizabeth felt herself melting against him.

"I surrender," she murmured happily.

Fifteen.

Jessica snuggled closer to Bill on the couch. He seemed strangely ill at ease, she thought. Maybe it was just the effect of her nearness. She smiled at the knowledge that she hadn't lost her power over him.

"I was thinking about our little celebration," she cooed, sliding her arm through his. "Let's make it a barbecue at the beach. The beach is so romantic, don't you think?"

"Jessica, I-"

But Jessica barreled on. "That way you can start teaching me how to surf. Oh, won't that be neat? When I heard how you coached DeeDee into winning third place in the championship, I was really impressed."

"About DeeDee-"

"Oh, you don't have to explain, Bill. I know she's wild about you, poor thing. But, who could blame her? I'll bet there are a million girls who'd like to be with you."

She shot him a coy upward glance through the dark fringe of her lashes. She was practically sitting on his lap. Now she let her head rest daintily against his shoulder, her golden hair spilling down his arm.

Bill stood up so suddenly that Jessica's head was jerked back against the couch. Ginger ale sloshed over the brim of the paper cup he'd been drinking from, sprinkling her bare arm with ice-cold droplets. He was staring past her, a glazed expression on his face. Jessica followed his gaze over to the front door, where DeeDee had just walked in with Roger Barrett.

He probably feels guilty about dumping her, Jessica thought. Too bad. Now that Bill was almost a movie star, she wasn't about to let DeeDee get her net around him again. Not that she really had anything to worry about. No one in his right mind would want DeeDee Gordon when he could have Jessica Wakefield.

"DeeDee!" Bill cried, rushing over to meet her. "What happened? I thought you were coming to the party with me."

DeeDee's cheeks flushed pink, but her smile never wavered. "I could see you were busy," she replied. "I figured you and Jessica would want to be alone to make plans for your celebration on Saturday."

"That was really sweet of you, DeeDee," Jessica drawled, rising from the couch and walking over to stand beside Bill.

Ignoring Jessica, Bill grabbed DeeDee's elbow as she moved to turn away. "Wait a minute. I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding here." He glanced over at Jessica. "I've been trying to tell you, I can't make it on Saturday."

"Oh, no problem. We can just as easily do it Sunday. In fact, that might even be better."

"Sunday is out, too." He put his arm around DeeDee, pulling her close as he stared into her eyes. "Same with the weekend after that. You see, Jessica, I'm going to be pretty tied up from now on."

Tied up? Jessica couldn't believe what she was hearing. It wasn't possible! He was telling her he'd rather be with DeeDee.

DeeDee was gazing back at Bill with an ecstatic expression that made Jessica want to throw up. What a nerd! For that matter, Bill was a nerd, too. Those two deserved each other. How could she ever have been so blind as to think she could be in love with Bill? Ugh!

Nevertheless, Jessica couldn't fight the blush that was climbing up the sides of her face. It spread over her cheeks with a throbbing heat. She could feel her ears burning. It was rare for her to blush, but when it happened, it was a major Technicolor event.