SVH #2 - Secrets
Sweet Valley High #2 - Secrets, or, The One Where Everybody Has A Story To Tell.
Would you believe there's absolutely NO mentioning of the "perfect size 6" in this book! It must be too early, and the ghost writer didn't find it necessary yet. However, we did get told both that Elizabeth is 4 minutes older AND that they were given identical necklaces for their 16th birthday, so not all is lost.
Yet another(!) dance is coming up at Sweet Valley High (seriously, does anybody know how many books don't include a dance of some sort?). Jessica and Enid (Enid? What the... that sounds rather out of character for her. But I forget. It's only book 2. She doesn't have a character yet) are both up for "Queen". Bruce and Winston (Again, WHAT?) are up for "King". Jessica has not yet realized what an ass Bruce really is, and is desperately trying to catch his attention, as she's certain he'll fall hard for her the minute he 'discovers' her.
However, though Jessica is sure she'll be made queen, she wants to make absolutely certain, and as Enid's boyfriend, Ronnie is in charge of the voting, she's concerned that he'll convince everybody to vote for Enid instead of her! (What does she think he'll do, rig the election?) What to do...
Meanwhile Enid is busy pouring her heart out to Liz. She has a terrible secret in her past and is afraid that once Ronnie finds out, he'll drop her like a hot potato. Eh, sweetie? If a boyfriend will dump you for something that happened in your past, you're better off without him. In general Ronnie sounds awfully possessive and jealous, so I really don't understand why Enid would want to be with him in the first place!
Turns out Enid used to be a wild girl, who drank, did drugs and even had a police record! Her back-then boyfriend, George apparently had a bad influence on her, because once he was sent off to boarding school, Enid cleaned up and became the boring nice girl we know now. She still exchanges letters with George though (something Ronnie Must Never Know) and is becoming really worried now that George is coming back to town because now Ronnie might find out and be pissed off! He sounds like a grade A boyfriend, doesn't he? Enid has brought some of George's letters along to show to Liz, and naturally accidentally drops one in Liz' room. No prizes to anybody for guessing what happens next...
Yup, Jess finds it and immediately realizes that this is the perfect way to a) get Enid back for wanting to be Liz' friend rather than her friend. b) make Enid so mad at Liz they'll no longer be friends, and Jess will get Liz back. c) break up Enid and Ronnie so she can suck up to Ronnie and become queen of the ball, have Bruce become king and fall madly in love with her!
Since it's Sweet Valley, Jess' plan works only too well. Ronnie is more than willing to believe the worst about Enid and won't let her voice a word of defence for herself. She, in turn, immediately reasons that since she and Liz were the only two to know about the letters, Liz must have betrayed her. Despite them being best friends, she is more than willing to believe the worst about Liz and won't let her voice a word of defence for herself (now where have I heard that before...). Jessica is thrilled! She manages to convince Ronnie to take her to the dance, and is convinced all will go according to plan.
And so it would... but Liz isn't as slow as she always seems to be. The day of the dance she goes to clean up her room (what? Isn't it always spotless?) and finds one of George's letters under her bed!!! Lost letter + information mysteriously revealed = Jessica! Instead of confronting her right away, Liz plans an evil revenge...
Meanwhile Enid has decided to put on a brave face and go to the dance alone. Go Enid! She's getting herself ready when somebody calls at the door. "Ronnie?!" Enid exclaims hopefully. "No," her mother replies. "But I don't think you'll be disappointed," and she opens the door to reveal George! Hmm... if it had been my mother, she would have been a tad more concerned to see me back with such a wild boy again... unless of course Enid has shared the letters from George with her, so she too knows that he has cleaned up...
Enid jumps into Georges arms and they kiss... That was quick! Even for Sweet Valley. But hey, if she's happy... They go to the dance together, and Enid even feels gracious enough to apologize to Liz and they make up. Yay :-D Enid&Liz=OTP!
Like everybody assumed, Jessica is made queen of the ball, but to her horror WINSTON is made king!!! Jessica wails to Cara who wonders, "But Jess, everybody knows you have a thing for Winston. We thought we were doing you a favour!" Woah, Jess is pissed! She can only think of ONE person who'd be evil enough to spread such a rumour and runs to Liz, "How DARE you try to ruin my life like that?!" "Oh, you mean like you did to Enid?". Suddenly Jess most of all resembles a deflated balloon. In return for NOT spilling the beans of what Jess did (which, she realizes, even Lila would be appalled to hear), Liz makes her promise to not only accept having Winston as her king, but act happy about it, and give him a kiss for the photograph. When Liz is evil, she is EVIL!
But all's well that ends well... even for Jess. As Bruce leaves he gives her a sly smile leading Jessica to hope she may get him yet. Is she right? We'll see in #3: Playing With Fire.
Would you believe there's absolutely NO mentioning of the "perfect size 6" in this book! It must be too early, and the ghost writer didn't find it necessary yet. However, we did get told both that Elizabeth is 4 minutes older AND that they were given identical necklaces for their 16th birthday, so not all is lost.
Yet another(!) dance is coming up at Sweet Valley High (seriously, does anybody know how many books don't include a dance of some sort?). Jessica and Enid (Enid? What the... that sounds rather out of character for her. But I forget. It's only book 2. She doesn't have a character yet) are both up for "Queen". Bruce and Winston (Again, WHAT?) are up for "King". Jessica has not yet realized what an ass Bruce really is, and is desperately trying to catch his attention, as she's certain he'll fall hard for her the minute he 'discovers' her.
However, though Jessica is sure she'll be made queen, she wants to make absolutely certain, and as Enid's boyfriend, Ronnie is in charge of the voting, she's concerned that he'll convince everybody to vote for Enid instead of her! (What does she think he'll do, rig the election?) What to do...
Meanwhile Enid is busy pouring her heart out to Liz. She has a terrible secret in her past and is afraid that once Ronnie finds out, he'll drop her like a hot potato. Eh, sweetie? If a boyfriend will dump you for something that happened in your past, you're better off without him. In general Ronnie sounds awfully possessive and jealous, so I really don't understand why Enid would want to be with him in the first place!
Turns out Enid used to be a wild girl, who drank, did drugs and even had a police record! Her back-then boyfriend, George apparently had a bad influence on her, because once he was sent off to boarding school, Enid cleaned up and became the boring nice girl we know now. She still exchanges letters with George though (something Ronnie Must Never Know) and is becoming really worried now that George is coming back to town because now Ronnie might find out and be pissed off! He sounds like a grade A boyfriend, doesn't he? Enid has brought some of George's letters along to show to Liz, and naturally accidentally drops one in Liz' room. No prizes to anybody for guessing what happens next...
Yup, Jess finds it and immediately realizes that this is the perfect way to a) get Enid back for wanting to be Liz' friend rather than her friend. b) make Enid so mad at Liz they'll no longer be friends, and Jess will get Liz back. c) break up Enid and Ronnie so she can suck up to Ronnie and become queen of the ball, have Bruce become king and fall madly in love with her!
Since it's Sweet Valley, Jess' plan works only too well. Ronnie is more than willing to believe the worst about Enid and won't let her voice a word of defence for herself. She, in turn, immediately reasons that since she and Liz were the only two to know about the letters, Liz must have betrayed her. Despite them being best friends, she is more than willing to believe the worst about Liz and won't let her voice a word of defence for herself (now where have I heard that before...). Jessica is thrilled! She manages to convince Ronnie to take her to the dance, and is convinced all will go according to plan.
And so it would... but Liz isn't as slow as she always seems to be. The day of the dance she goes to clean up her room (what? Isn't it always spotless?) and finds one of George's letters under her bed!!! Lost letter + information mysteriously revealed = Jessica! Instead of confronting her right away, Liz plans an evil revenge...
Meanwhile Enid has decided to put on a brave face and go to the dance alone. Go Enid! She's getting herself ready when somebody calls at the door. "Ronnie?!" Enid exclaims hopefully. "No," her mother replies. "But I don't think you'll be disappointed," and she opens the door to reveal George! Hmm... if it had been my mother, she would have been a tad more concerned to see me back with such a wild boy again... unless of course Enid has shared the letters from George with her, so she too knows that he has cleaned up...
Enid jumps into Georges arms and they kiss... That was quick! Even for Sweet Valley. But hey, if she's happy... They go to the dance together, and Enid even feels gracious enough to apologize to Liz and they make up. Yay :-D Enid&Liz=OTP!
Like everybody assumed, Jessica is made queen of the ball, but to her horror WINSTON is made king!!! Jessica wails to Cara who wonders, "But Jess, everybody knows you have a thing for Winston. We thought we were doing you a favour!" Woah, Jess is pissed! She can only think of ONE person who'd be evil enough to spread such a rumour and runs to Liz, "How DARE you try to ruin my life like that?!" "Oh, you mean like you did to Enid?". Suddenly Jess most of all resembles a deflated balloon. In return for NOT spilling the beans of what Jess did (which, she realizes, even Lila would be appalled to hear), Liz makes her promise to not only accept having Winston as her king, but act happy about it, and give him a kiss for the photograph. When Liz is evil, she is EVIL!
But all's well that ends well... even for Jess. As Bruce leaves he gives her a sly smile leading Jessica to hope she may get him yet. Is she right? We'll see in #3: Playing With Fire.