SVH Senior Year #31: Stay or Go
I'm pretty new to the senior year series. I viewed the Earthquake as my end to SVH and never read past it. After reading the book, I've figured out the cover is Jeremy and he's the star of the A-plot for this book.
A-plot: Jessica and Jeremy: Jessica barges into Elizabeth's room and shows her a college catalog for SVU and tells her how they offer scholarships for cheerleading. Liz asks Jess if she wouldn't rather have a fresh start in college. New school, new identity, that sort of thing. Jess asks if that means Elizabeth will become a biker chick and Liz says she'll be a raving slut instead. I don't think that's any different than SVH, Liz. Jessica keeps reading and sees the dorms also have married suites which will be perfect in case she and Jeremy get married. Well, you do become a Mrs. but it won't be Mrs. Aames.
Jeremy is at home when his mom asks why he threw away his application to University of Arizona. He says he's decided to stay in California to stay near his family (and secretly to be near Jessica too). His mom reveals that their family is moving to Arizona near her sister so his dad can be healthier. They'll be moving in just a few weeks. He's angry but more than anything he is upset. To make matters worse, he tells no one and the next day at school the basketball coaches choose him as captain.
Jeremy breaks the news to his best friend Trent. Trent offers up an extra room until school ends. Jeremy is hopeful. Jeremy tells Jessica he's moving but not about Trent's offer. She's really upset but is very selfless about it. Is this the real Jessica Wakefield? Jeremy heads home and the family is talking about the move. His dad tries to cheer him up and Jeremy pretends he's okay with it. Jeremy brings up the idea living with Trent but his mom shoots him down even though his dad is considering it. Jeremy doesn't tell Trent about the rejection and just pretends like they're still deciding.
Jessica is shopping at the mall with Liz, Maria and Tia when they run into Trent. He lets it slip about his offer to let Jeremy move in with him, which of course makes Jessica upset. Jessica confronts Jeremy about this and he explains that he can't accept Trent's offer due to his family and Jessica feels guilty for thinking bad thoughts.
Jeremy's dad approaches him and tells him he knows how much Jessica means to him and all the milestones he'll miss and that he convinced Jeremy's mom to let Jeremy make the decision if he wants to stay or live with Trent. He's initially going with Trent but after spending time with his sisters he realizes it'll be a much tougher choice than he thought.
Trent throws a goodbye party for Jeremy. Everyone is there and loves him to death. He doesn't tell anyone he gets to choose to *stay or go* and he and Jessica decide to be long-distant-lovers and they tell each other "I love you." Awwwww.
After the game, Jeremy tells Jessica he's decided to stay in California. Hooray!
B-plot: Will and Ken: Will has brought half his closet to school to show off to his girlfriend Melissa. He's starting at The Tribune working for Ken's dad and fails at fashion. Melissa picks out an outfit for him. The next day, Ken is leading a football team discussion of their plan for the championship game. He's very pumped up and ready to go. Ken sucks it up at the real practice though and the team is mad at him. Coach basically tells him he doesn't deserve to be on the team and makes Ken believe that he'd prefer Will be out there.
At the same time, Will is starting at The Tribune and finds to his surprise he likes Mr. Matthews a lot (despite being jealous of Ken) and the feeling appears mutual. Mr. Matthews gives Will an assignment instead of just making him file papers. Will feels all happy and confident.
Ken comes home all emo from practice and is surprised to see his dad is actually home and they eat KFC together. Mr Matthews brings up how great Will was at work which makes Ken really jealous and resentful and he storms off. Ken goes to practice the next day and the coach says the scout for University of Michigan, Ken's top choice school, is on the phone for him. Scout says if Ken does well at the championship game on Friday, he'll get a scholarship to UofM. Ken is thrilled, of course. Will hears about the offer and i jealous because that scholarship was promised to him before he got hurt.
Will is at work again and really loves it. He is answering phones and gets one from the UofM scout for Mr. Matthews which makes him all suspicious. That night, Ken tells his dad about the scout and his dad is sort of excited and makes them root beer floats to celebrate. Don't get all wild and crazy there Mr. Matthews!
Will's at work yet again and Mr. Matthews trusts Will to file his personal files. Ooooh, I wonder what's here. Oh look, there's a letter from the scout to Mr. Matthews! Should Will read it or not? Please, this isn't a Choose Your Own Adventure. Of course Will reads it. The letter is really odd:
Dear Ed [Matthews],
I've made all the arrangements on my end in good faith. I'm trusting that you'll carry out your end of the bargain. Let's meet up at halftime at the championship game and seal the deal. Looking forward to it. --Hank [scout dude]
What does that even mean? Will assumes that this means Mr. Matthews bribed the scout to get Ken into UofM somehow. He calls Melissa to tell her about the potential bribe but it makes him rethink how inconclusive the note is while Mel is out for blood. He tells her to keep quiet, she's hesitant.
Ken goes out to dinner with Maria where he comments she's "the only one who new how to dress" which is supposed to be insulting her classmates but is really making me think back to Olivia. Nice move there slick. The date does him some good though and he starts feeling good for the game and excited about UofM.
The big game starts and Ken's dad is in the press box and the scout is there too. Ken passes to Todd for a touchdown and the game starts with SVH winning. Then Ken starts to fall apart on the field as the other team scores. At halftime, Will heads to give Mr. Matthews that stats for the paper but finds Mr. Matthews and the scout meeting just like in the letter. So of course he spies again. The scout is getting an assistant coaching job at SoCal with Mr. M's help in turn for Ken's scholarship and Will just thinking "scoop! scoop!"
32 seconds are left on the clock and SVH is losing 14-10. Ken doubts the play the coach is calling and plots a new play in his head. The ball is intercepted though but then Todd knocks the guy down, there's a fumble and SVH recovers running for a touchdown and winning the game. Ken is thrilled he won but feels bad for screwing up the play. Ken gets offered the scholarship. Hooray! Will decides not to out Ken's dad and the scout because it would just hurt Ken who didn't really do anything wrong. And it would also hurt Will's opportunities at The Tribune. However, Melissa decides she'll tell Ken all the dirt she knows to get back at him.
C-plot: Alanna and Conner: Alanna is at home trying not to cry over her breakup with Conner. She spies her dad's stocked liquor cabinet open despite the fact he was supposed to clear it out while she was in rehab. She ends up taking 2 drinks and then forces herself to puke it back up. The next day Alanna comes home from school and Conner is in her driveway. He apologizes and they're back together just like that.
Conner and Alanna are at the carnival. They run into some sort of drunken crowd and Conner calls them pathetic and after hesitating Alanna agrees. Conner thinks in the back of his mind that he's worried her delayed response means she has drank.
It's game night and Alanna gets into a fight with her parents. She wants to drink but calls Conner to save her. He's out though and she freaks. Alanna keeps hoping the MIA Conner will call her back. She's dying to drink, trying to choose between the phone and the booze. She chooses the booze and goes downstairs. Conner gets home and gets Alanna's upset message from Megan. He realizes how bad this could be and races to her. He shows up and he can tell she's been crying. He sees an alcohol container and Alanna denies drinking but Conner is still suspicious although he lets it slide and doesn't confront Alanna. She totally chugged half a scotch though. At the end, he finally admits to himself that he knows she's drinking.
So basically, this book was dull and boring and everyone in Sweet Valley is happy but the alcoholics. The end.