And I ran so far away...
Leaving Home
August 1987
Can Jessica find a way to stop Elizabeth from leaving Sweet Valley?
Separate Ways...
Elizabeth Wakefield has always dreamed of visiting the beautiful mountains of Switzerland, so she's thrilled when she has a chance to attend an exclusive Swiss boarding school. As much as she loves Sweet Valley, Elizabeth is positive the romantic, snow-covered Swiss countryside would provide the perfect inspiration for her writing.
The thought of losing her sister has Elizabeth's identical twin, Jessica, in a panic! How would she survive without her very best friend in the world? Jessica just can't let Elizabeth go, so she devises a plan to make sure her twin won't leave Sweet Valley. Will Jessica's scheme to keep Elizabeth home work-or will it end up driving her away forever?
Ah, the one where Liz wants to flee the country. Simply put, after Regina continues to go on and on about how loverly Switzerland is, Liz develops a crush on an entire country, and suddenly it's her biggest dream to live in the land of neutrality, staring at the Alps, and writing what we'll be told is fantastic fiction, but in reality will be the stuff of SVH novels. There's some babble about how Tender is the Night is also fueling Liz's desire to move far, far away, but it's mentioned once this book and then dropped.
Anyway, Lizzie can only go if she wins this convenient scholarship, which Jessica is convinced she's a shoo-in for. "Wanted: saintly, conservative, perfect girl who does what adults say with little question. Delusions of grandeur a bonus." See? Liz!
So Liz sets up the interviews and is all La-La-La happy about moving. Which presents the migraine of the story. She's SO intent on her desire to move away that she brushes away all other concerns. When Jess doesn't do backflips at the thought of being twin-less, Liz doesn't get it. She doesn't try to get it. She just ignores Jessica. Fair enough. Family is easier to deal with that way and not as many people will bitchslap you for it. Enid isn't jumping through hoops either, and Liz tears her a new one for it. Um, nice? She's your best friend. One day you wake up and decide you want to move across the world from her, blathering on and on about how inspired you'll be, never saying a damn thing about how much you'll miss anyone, and you want her to be thrilled? Right, right. Cuz Enid's a saint. Considering the way she's taken things from Jess/Liz over the series, as well as how well she rolled over for George/Robin, or Jeffrey/Liz, I guess I can understand the misunderstanding.
Then there's Jeffrey. Jeffrey tries to be a little sympathetic, a little understanding, but after awhile he flat out asks why he should be thrilled that his girlfriend cannot seem to get away from him fast enough.
Liz: But Jeffrey, I'll only be gone all summer and all of senior year! That's nothing! We BELONG together! *dreams of European boys secretly*
Jeffrey: ....are you serious? You don't see a problem with that?
Liz: What's an entire country, an ocean, and a smidge more of another continent between two friends? Of course we'll last! We're DESTINED! *still dreaming of yummy accented boys*
Jeffrey: Cuz that worked out so well for you and Todd, eh?
Liz: That's totally different! He and I had been dating for what felt like centuries, practically since diapers! You and I, we've been dating for like, two minutes. Naturally ours is the more rock solid relationship. God, it's like you don't want me to go or something.
Jeffrey: No, no. If you don't go, who'll bring back the yummy Euro boys?
Yeah, because her logic makes tons of sense. And yes, Jeffrey does play the Todd card and Liz is still an idiot. It hurts. Oh, god, does it hurt. Anyway, Liz aces her interviews, but Steven and Jessica plot to destroy their sister's chances at actually winning. Steven comes home, gives no reason, decides shaving is for losers, and blathers on about how freakishly close the Wakefields are. How they cannot possibly function without one another in the immediate vicinity. Ned and Alice inadvertently help by showing up late. We're not sure if Mr. Sterne will take pity on Liz and decide to get her out of the nuthouse faster to preserve her saintliness or if maybe the job's already been done... but it doesn't matter since Jessica dresses up like Liz the next day and hits on anything male, including Mr. Sterne. He flips the hell out and is ready to say no scholarship for you, missy, but is torn because on paper, she's perfect. Liz rips her siblings new ones and then they go and apologize to Mr. Sterne, explaining it all away. He comes back, says Liz is perfect, and she should pack her bags because she's totally in.
Time for the minor D-story going on. Enid and Jeffrey have been browbeaten into submission and decide to make Liz a scrapbook [Enid's ahead of the trends, baby] as a "don't leave!/don't forget us!" present. Only Liz thinks Jeffrey and Enid are cheating on her and instead of talking to either one of them, as her mother suggests she should, Liz just runs around shrieking, "SWITZERLAND!" Anyway, Enid and Jeffrey show up just after Liz has been offered her dream, Liz realizes she's been a fool, and turns down the scholarship, muttering something about magic being where you find it, and no place on earth is more magical than Sweet Valley.
Liz, had you gone to Switzerland, you might have saved Sam's life and you sure as hell wouldn't have been targeted by Margo. Shoulda fled the country when you had the chance.
Our side story comes courtesy of Winston. Winston plays the lottery and is convinced he's going to win. He shows off his ticket and throws a party at his house for the calling off the lotto numbers. While shopping for last minute snacks, Winston manages to mix up his coat with an older man's coat. In that man's coat is a lottery ticket, and it happens to win. Winston is amazed and feels horribly guilty because the old man obviously needs the money more than Winston does. But when Winston finds out the old guy didn't even keep up with the numbers, and thus didn't know he'd won, he begins to wonder if he should really give the money back. I do have to wonder if maybe the guy had won the week before or something because hello! What's the point of a lottery ticket if you don't keep track of the numbers? Bah. Anyway, Win tries to buy his guilt away by using the magic interest to buy the old man's granddaughter a doll. Doesn't work. Winston gives the money back, although he spends the entire time keeping this secret to himself. Congrats, Win. You're the only character around who hasn't immediately spilled their secrets just to get more screen time.
Trivial Pursuit:
Quote this:
"Haven't you always said how important it is for us to spend time together, Liz? I'd like to know how much time we're going to get to spend together when you're off somewhere wearing lederhosen and yodeling and chasing goats." - Jess has interesting ideas of how Switzerland will be. p 8
"Don't keep us in suspense, Winston," Lila said, looking temporarily interested. "Do you have some rich relatively who's deathly ill or something?"
"Nice thought, Lila," Winston said cheerfully. "I hate to disappoint you, but all my relatives are perfectly healthy." He waved the ticket triumphantly. "It just so happens that my father bought me this ticket. And my father is an astonishingly lucky guy. He managed to get me for a son, right?"
"I'm sure he thanks his lucky star every day," Lila said sarcastically. - Dude, Lila/Winston. Love? p14/15
Elizabeth was certain that deep down Jeffrey really felt the same way she did about the Interlochen School. She was sure he really wanted what was best for her. It occurred to her that she might have made a mistake by now emphasizing how much the year abroad meant to her. From then on she would be sure to talk about the school and the writing program much more often. She could show Jeffrey all the brochures she had received and emphasize how much the program meant to her.- Yeah, Liz, that's just how to win over your boyfriend when trying to run as far away as humanly possible. She's the smart one? Really? p21
"I think it would be a little creepy being able to buy anything you wanted."
"Does that mean we can't buy any cheese puffs?" Maria/Winston, p 24
Winston's mouth dropped open.
"Egbert! That's you!" Bruce yelled, jumping to his feet and snatching the ticket from Winston's hand. "God, he's really done it!" he cried to the rest of the room. "I can't believe it. The odds must've been a million to one!"
Within seconds the entire room was in turmoil. Mr. and Mrs. Egbert looked stunned. Lila and Jessica were squealing and trying to get a look at the ticket. Maria was pale, her brown eyes wide, staring at Winston as if he were someone she had never seen before. Regina and Bruce hugged each other, then Winston, then each other again. Roger and Olivia were cheering loudly, and Nicholas kept slapping Winston on the back. - That's how you win twenty-five thousand dollars, bitches. p31
"You think he'll want to ask you questions about me?"
"Who knows? I'd be happy to tell him anything he wants to know." Jeffrey laughed. "I can personally attest to all sorts of qualities. Elizabeth Wakefield is the softest, the sexiest, the most romantic girl I've ever been in love with," he said.
"Jeffrey! You can't say things like that," Elizabeth exclaimed.
"Trust me," Jeffrey said dryly. "If anyone asks about you, Liz, I'll just hand them a resume listing all the prizes you've ever won."
"That won't do either," Elizabeth said. - Liz proves that her sense of humor is greatly exaggerated. Also, am I the only one who takes note that Jeffrey doesn't exclude the possibility of having been in love with say, I dunno, a guy. p 55/56
"It sounds to me like you don't want me to bring up your drug habit. Or your wild behavior with older men. Or-" - Enid love. p 58
"Listen, Liz, I don't know what this guy is going to be like, but I'm sure he really wants to get know you-and he won't be trying to snoop around digging up peculiar information from your friends. But if he asks me about anything like that, I'll just tell him the truth." She gave Elizabeth a quick hug. "You're the world's most generous, loving friend. And I've always admired everything you do and say." - Sweet and yet also disturbing. Well played, Rollins. Well played. Liz will snap with the whole, "Don't go overboard!" thing, but dude. Your best friend is willing to overlook all the times you've asked her to throw herself under the bus so your twisted twin [or you] can come out on top. Shut it and accept that you cannot rule the universe. p59
"Have you asked Enid what it's all about?" Mrs. Wakefield said. "Maybe she really does need help with photography."
"I haven't asked her," Elizabeth admitted. "I don't want to put her on the spot when it's obvious what's going on."
"You mean you don't want to burden yourself with anything like the facts," Mrs. Wakefield said dryly." - Score, Alice. p85
"Love," Jessica declared passionately, "does not recognize the word appropriate, Mr. Sterne." - moments after declaring that 'Liz' has been in love with him ever since she first knew him. p116
"I did not sneak," Jessica retorted hotly. "I may have pretended to be you, but I never sneaked!" - Because when you stand accused of sabotaging your twin sister's chances at boarding school, you should really debate whether you were sneaking around or not. p 122
"You have heard of my valor," Winston declared with mock ceremony. "You see, Maria, my reputation precedes me." He grinned. "From no on, consider me the Moral King of Sweet Valley High. For a modest fee I'll be happy to offer counsel on the thorniest questions. First there was Socrates-then Plato-and now Winston Egbert." p144
A lot of people give this book crap for having Liz back out at the last second. I can see that. As a kid I was torn between wanting to send her off and follow her adventures overseas and wanting her to stay home because, DUH, Sweet Valley was perfect. Why would you want to leave? As I've grown up, I wish they'd done a mixture. Sent Liz away, had her realize that she wasn't cut out for being away from home [see SVU] just yet, and then send her back. Maybe this is because I knew a few people who did that. Seemed perfectly suited to following one path, tried, and then failed, only to come back and start again. Plus, SVH + boarding school = Caitlin gold!
Anyway, I have a thing for this book. I used to spend an awful lot of time carting this one around, but I don't know why. I'd kill for someone artistically awesome enough to make Liz's scrapbook, but the book itself is kinda boring, and Liz is really, really, REALLY annoying. I do like that anytime I started to think something bitchy, Jeffrey would say it.
August 1987
Can Jessica find a way to stop Elizabeth from leaving Sweet Valley?
Separate Ways...
Elizabeth Wakefield has always dreamed of visiting the beautiful mountains of Switzerland, so she's thrilled when she has a chance to attend an exclusive Swiss boarding school. As much as she loves Sweet Valley, Elizabeth is positive the romantic, snow-covered Swiss countryside would provide the perfect inspiration for her writing.
The thought of losing her sister has Elizabeth's identical twin, Jessica, in a panic! How would she survive without her very best friend in the world? Jessica just can't let Elizabeth go, so she devises a plan to make sure her twin won't leave Sweet Valley. Will Jessica's scheme to keep Elizabeth home work-or will it end up driving her away forever?
Ah, the one where Liz wants to flee the country. Simply put, after Regina continues to go on and on about how loverly Switzerland is, Liz develops a crush on an entire country, and suddenly it's her biggest dream to live in the land of neutrality, staring at the Alps, and writing what we'll be told is fantastic fiction, but in reality will be the stuff of SVH novels. There's some babble about how Tender is the Night is also fueling Liz's desire to move far, far away, but it's mentioned once this book and then dropped.
Anyway, Lizzie can only go if she wins this convenient scholarship, which Jessica is convinced she's a shoo-in for. "Wanted: saintly, conservative, perfect girl who does what adults say with little question. Delusions of grandeur a bonus." See? Liz!
So Liz sets up the interviews and is all La-La-La happy about moving. Which presents the migraine of the story. She's SO intent on her desire to move away that she brushes away all other concerns. When Jess doesn't do backflips at the thought of being twin-less, Liz doesn't get it. She doesn't try to get it. She just ignores Jessica. Fair enough. Family is easier to deal with that way and not as many people will bitchslap you for it. Enid isn't jumping through hoops either, and Liz tears her a new one for it. Um, nice? She's your best friend. One day you wake up and decide you want to move across the world from her, blathering on and on about how inspired you'll be, never saying a damn thing about how much you'll miss anyone, and you want her to be thrilled? Right, right. Cuz Enid's a saint. Considering the way she's taken things from Jess/Liz over the series, as well as how well she rolled over for George/Robin, or Jeffrey/Liz, I guess I can understand the misunderstanding.
Then there's Jeffrey. Jeffrey tries to be a little sympathetic, a little understanding, but after awhile he flat out asks why he should be thrilled that his girlfriend cannot seem to get away from him fast enough.
Liz: But Jeffrey, I'll only be gone all summer and all of senior year! That's nothing! We BELONG together! *dreams of European boys secretly*
Jeffrey: ....are you serious? You don't see a problem with that?
Liz: What's an entire country, an ocean, and a smidge more of another continent between two friends? Of course we'll last! We're DESTINED! *still dreaming of yummy accented boys*
Jeffrey: Cuz that worked out so well for you and Todd, eh?
Liz: That's totally different! He and I had been dating for what felt like centuries, practically since diapers! You and I, we've been dating for like, two minutes. Naturally ours is the more rock solid relationship. God, it's like you don't want me to go or something.
Jeffrey: No, no. If you don't go, who'll bring back the yummy Euro boys?
Yeah, because her logic makes tons of sense. And yes, Jeffrey does play the Todd card and Liz is still an idiot. It hurts. Oh, god, does it hurt. Anyway, Liz aces her interviews, but Steven and Jessica plot to destroy their sister's chances at actually winning. Steven comes home, gives no reason, decides shaving is for losers, and blathers on about how freakishly close the Wakefields are. How they cannot possibly function without one another in the immediate vicinity. Ned and Alice inadvertently help by showing up late. We're not sure if Mr. Sterne will take pity on Liz and decide to get her out of the nuthouse faster to preserve her saintliness or if maybe the job's already been done... but it doesn't matter since Jessica dresses up like Liz the next day and hits on anything male, including Mr. Sterne. He flips the hell out and is ready to say no scholarship for you, missy, but is torn because on paper, she's perfect. Liz rips her siblings new ones and then they go and apologize to Mr. Sterne, explaining it all away. He comes back, says Liz is perfect, and she should pack her bags because she's totally in.
Time for the minor D-story going on. Enid and Jeffrey have been browbeaten into submission and decide to make Liz a scrapbook [Enid's ahead of the trends, baby] as a "don't leave!/don't forget us!" present. Only Liz thinks Jeffrey and Enid are cheating on her and instead of talking to either one of them, as her mother suggests she should, Liz just runs around shrieking, "SWITZERLAND!" Anyway, Enid and Jeffrey show up just after Liz has been offered her dream, Liz realizes she's been a fool, and turns down the scholarship, muttering something about magic being where you find it, and no place on earth is more magical than Sweet Valley.
Liz, had you gone to Switzerland, you might have saved Sam's life and you sure as hell wouldn't have been targeted by Margo. Shoulda fled the country when you had the chance.
Our side story comes courtesy of Winston. Winston plays the lottery and is convinced he's going to win. He shows off his ticket and throws a party at his house for the calling off the lotto numbers. While shopping for last minute snacks, Winston manages to mix up his coat with an older man's coat. In that man's coat is a lottery ticket, and it happens to win. Winston is amazed and feels horribly guilty because the old man obviously needs the money more than Winston does. But when Winston finds out the old guy didn't even keep up with the numbers, and thus didn't know he'd won, he begins to wonder if he should really give the money back. I do have to wonder if maybe the guy had won the week before or something because hello! What's the point of a lottery ticket if you don't keep track of the numbers? Bah. Anyway, Win tries to buy his guilt away by using the magic interest to buy the old man's granddaughter a doll. Doesn't work. Winston gives the money back, although he spends the entire time keeping this secret to himself. Congrats, Win. You're the only character around who hasn't immediately spilled their secrets just to get more screen time.
Trivial Pursuit:
- The artwork credit goes to Keith Birdsong this time.
- Randy Lloyd, a senior, lends Jessica his binoculars which she then uses to ogle cute guys on the beach. Classy, Wakefield.
- Regina's tales of the Swiss as well as F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is The Night combine to create the monster that is Switzerland-Or-Bust Liz. Maybe this is why Regina had to die?
- Liz wants to join the Interlochen's creative writing program which would run from the summer straight through her senior year.
- Mr. Hummel is the headmaster at the Interlochen School.
- Enid calls him Mr. Himmel and Liz promptly has a cow.
- San Farando, a town between SV and SVC, is 25 miles north of Sweet Valley. The Wakefields meet in San Farando when Steven can't travel the extra 25 miles to see his family, so they compromise at Pedro's a Mexican restaurant in SF.
- Jeffrey's birthday is July 12. Happy belated birthday, Jeffy.
- Winston's real ticket begins with the numbers 712. The winning ticket is 965811.
- Liz doesn't see how Todd going away "forever" until they can meet up in college is any different from her leaving for the summer between junior and senior year straight on through til the following summer. Once more, I wonder if maybe Liz isn't the stupid twin after all?
- Drake's is an upscale convenience store that has never been mentioned before and will never be mentioned again.
- The Saved By The Bell Syndrome mentioned elsewhere is never more obvious [well, up til this point in the series, anyway] as it is during Winston's Get Rich Quick party. The party includes Winston, Maria Santelli, Jessica and Elizabeth, Jeffrey, Lila, Enid [Maria forgot her. Rude!], Bruce, Regina, Olivia, Roger, and Nicholas Morrow. Um, why the hell would these people hang out with Winston? You could argue that the twins could pull this guest list off, but otherwise, no, this is just the mix of people we know and might remember, if only from the nine billion other parties thrown over the course of the series.
- Skye Morrow wants to give Regina a Corvette for her birthday. Nice.
- Lisa is the little girl Winston and Maria see at Drake's. She's seven and is desperately trying to con cookies out of her grandfather, but he can't afford them. Later we learn she's dying to go to horse riding camp over the summer.
- Winston runs to get peanuts, but he's taken his coat off and it gets mixed up with Lisa's grandfather's coat and thus the mix up of lotto tickets is born.
- Enid has a thing for almond mocha ice cream.
- Ollie Perold, the "famous" DJ, calls out the lottery numbers.
- The Margaret Sterne Memorial Prize is named after MS who studied at the Interlochen in the 1950's, but died prematurely due to a terminal illness. She was a gifted writer from California and in her memory, the family makes girls, 15-17, from California, jump through moral hoops of fire to earn the right for three months of writing workshops over the summer and then nine months during the school year. Sounds... painful, actually.
- Liz decides that Mr. Collins and Ms. Dalton would both be good choices to write her recommendations. Jess predicts the entire faculty of SVH would probably fight one another for the honor.
- Our ghostwriter for the evening spends a lot of time discussing flashback things [Liz and Skye's charity work, Liz's Elizabeth Barrett Browning play] and yet still can't manage to remember that Tom McKay is blond.
- Liz narrows her three written pieces down to "something from the Oracle", her Elizabeth Barrett Browning play, and a new short story she's been working on.
- Patrick Sterne is guy to impress from Sterne family. He's Ned's age, with a high, "slightly thin" voice, and is a big stick in the mud. But he does drive a steel gray Mercedes Benz.
- No one would enter the Hershey Bar without a "passport to chaos." I...love it, actually. <3
- Nadia DeMann is one of the best writing teachers in the world. Her name would inspire boys of all ages [and some of us girls] to laugh... and die.
- Jack Oliver lives on 15 Fenno Street. His daughter's name is Karen, and Jack has the same sort of coat Winston does. Jack is also ready for sainthood as he doesn't seem at all upset that Winston took his own sweet time giving back his lotto winnings. Maybe he's just surprised Winston would do such a thing. Can't blame him for that.
- For those keeping track of The Droids musical catalog, they play "Something Sure" this book.
- Winston pretends to be Jason Armstrong, doing a story on lottery tickets and what would happen if someone, say, I dunno, turned in a winning ticket that wasn't their own. Answer: Not a damn thing.
- Robin Royce is the department manager at the lottery office. Whatever that means.
- Lila brings sushi to school for lunch. There's mention of a cucumber role, and I wonder, does no one in this world know the difference between a role and a roll?
- Jeffrey sticks a note explaining his absence in Elizabeth's locker, but a bunch of sophomore boys toss the note in the trash. Um, Liz? Why do the sophomore boys dislike you?
- Winston gets the interest money from the lottery winnings [his parents put the money in a trust for him until he turns 18] and that averages to about $50 a week. He spends one week's earnings on a ballerina doll for Lisa.
- Liz fashion: "She was wearing a new velvet ribbon in her blond ponytail, a plaid jumper, and a Victorian lace blouse that looked old fashioned and pretty."
- She's also wearing the pearl pin Jeffrey bought her, but she won't actually talk to the poor guy.
- Kirk Anderson is a new transfer student with jet black hair, blue eyes, and a fantastic build. Naturally he's also tall and plays tennis, and he's such a jerk that Jessica doesn't even try and date him. He's from San Diego, just like Patrick Sterne. It's a small world after all.
- Alice says that it's easy for one partner in a relationship to take the other for granted. Hmm. Foreshadowing the Regina/Bruce split, or her own troubles with Ned?
- Liz meets Patrick Sterne at noon in San Diego. Then he'll drive them back to Palisades where Liz has an interview with Ms. Crawford, the alumna. Then they'll all troop over to casa de Wakefield and shit will hit the fan when Steven's unshaven and freakishly dependent, Jessica's doing her best hooker impression, there's a motorcycle in the driveway, and neither parent makes it home on time. Niiiiiiiiiice.
- Randy's cousin Tim lent Jessica use of his motorcycle as a prop.
- Alice says, "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing," which explains so very much.
- Randy, Neil Freemount, and Tom McKay all help Jessica ruin Elizabeth's plans.
- Operation: Sabotage Switzerland Scheme.
- Rosemary is Chrome Dome's secretary.
- Steve interrupts Elizabeth's interview when he calls and pretends to be John Simmons.
- Someone actually utters the phrase, "Liz is all that matters."
Quote this:
"Haven't you always said how important it is for us to spend time together, Liz? I'd like to know how much time we're going to get to spend together when you're off somewhere wearing lederhosen and yodeling and chasing goats." - Jess has interesting ideas of how Switzerland will be. p 8
"Don't keep us in suspense, Winston," Lila said, looking temporarily interested. "Do you have some rich relatively who's deathly ill or something?"
"Nice thought, Lila," Winston said cheerfully. "I hate to disappoint you, but all my relatives are perfectly healthy." He waved the ticket triumphantly. "It just so happens that my father bought me this ticket. And my father is an astonishingly lucky guy. He managed to get me for a son, right?"
"I'm sure he thanks his lucky star every day," Lila said sarcastically. - Dude, Lila/Winston. Love? p14/15
Elizabeth was certain that deep down Jeffrey really felt the same way she did about the Interlochen School. She was sure he really wanted what was best for her. It occurred to her that she might have made a mistake by now emphasizing how much the year abroad meant to her. From then on she would be sure to talk about the school and the writing program much more often. She could show Jeffrey all the brochures she had received and emphasize how much the program meant to her.- Yeah, Liz, that's just how to win over your boyfriend when trying to run as far away as humanly possible. She's the smart one? Really? p21
"I think it would be a little creepy being able to buy anything you wanted."
"Does that mean we can't buy any cheese puffs?" Maria/Winston, p 24
Winston's mouth dropped open.
"Egbert! That's you!" Bruce yelled, jumping to his feet and snatching the ticket from Winston's hand. "God, he's really done it!" he cried to the rest of the room. "I can't believe it. The odds must've been a million to one!"
Within seconds the entire room was in turmoil. Mr. and Mrs. Egbert looked stunned. Lila and Jessica were squealing and trying to get a look at the ticket. Maria was pale, her brown eyes wide, staring at Winston as if he were someone she had never seen before. Regina and Bruce hugged each other, then Winston, then each other again. Roger and Olivia were cheering loudly, and Nicholas kept slapping Winston on the back. - That's how you win twenty-five thousand dollars, bitches. p31
"You think he'll want to ask you questions about me?"
"Who knows? I'd be happy to tell him anything he wants to know." Jeffrey laughed. "I can personally attest to all sorts of qualities. Elizabeth Wakefield is the softest, the sexiest, the most romantic girl I've ever been in love with," he said.
"Jeffrey! You can't say things like that," Elizabeth exclaimed.
"Trust me," Jeffrey said dryly. "If anyone asks about you, Liz, I'll just hand them a resume listing all the prizes you've ever won."
"That won't do either," Elizabeth said. - Liz proves that her sense of humor is greatly exaggerated. Also, am I the only one who takes note that Jeffrey doesn't exclude the possibility of having been in love with say, I dunno, a guy. p 55/56
"It sounds to me like you don't want me to bring up your drug habit. Or your wild behavior with older men. Or-" - Enid love. p 58
"Listen, Liz, I don't know what this guy is going to be like, but I'm sure he really wants to get know you-and he won't be trying to snoop around digging up peculiar information from your friends. But if he asks me about anything like that, I'll just tell him the truth." She gave Elizabeth a quick hug. "You're the world's most generous, loving friend. And I've always admired everything you do and say." - Sweet and yet also disturbing. Well played, Rollins. Well played. Liz will snap with the whole, "Don't go overboard!" thing, but dude. Your best friend is willing to overlook all the times you've asked her to throw herself under the bus so your twisted twin [or you] can come out on top. Shut it and accept that you cannot rule the universe. p59
"Have you asked Enid what it's all about?" Mrs. Wakefield said. "Maybe she really does need help with photography."
"I haven't asked her," Elizabeth admitted. "I don't want to put her on the spot when it's obvious what's going on."
"You mean you don't want to burden yourself with anything like the facts," Mrs. Wakefield said dryly." - Score, Alice. p85
"Love," Jessica declared passionately, "does not recognize the word appropriate, Mr. Sterne." - moments after declaring that 'Liz' has been in love with him ever since she first knew him. p116
"I did not sneak," Jessica retorted hotly. "I may have pretended to be you, but I never sneaked!" - Because when you stand accused of sabotaging your twin sister's chances at boarding school, you should really debate whether you were sneaking around or not. p 122
"You have heard of my valor," Winston declared with mock ceremony. "You see, Maria, my reputation precedes me." He grinned. "From no on, consider me the Moral King of Sweet Valley High. For a modest fee I'll be happy to offer counsel on the thorniest questions. First there was Socrates-then Plato-and now Winston Egbert." p144
A lot of people give this book crap for having Liz back out at the last second. I can see that. As a kid I was torn between wanting to send her off and follow her adventures overseas and wanting her to stay home because, DUH, Sweet Valley was perfect. Why would you want to leave? As I've grown up, I wish they'd done a mixture. Sent Liz away, had her realize that she wasn't cut out for being away from home [see SVU] just yet, and then send her back. Maybe this is because I knew a few people who did that. Seemed perfectly suited to following one path, tried, and then failed, only to come back and start again. Plus, SVH + boarding school = Caitlin gold!
Anyway, I have a thing for this book. I used to spend an awful lot of time carting this one around, but I don't know why. I'd kill for someone artistically awesome enough to make Liz's scrapbook, but the book itself is kinda boring, and Liz is really, really, REALLY annoying. I do like that anytime I started to think something bitchy, Jeffrey would say it.