SVU #21: For the Love of Ryan
On the cover, Liz is in the hat and Jess is in the really high shorts and Ryan is the lifeguard
Jessica gets out of the Jeep talking about how hot some guys were while Liz said she couldn't see the because she was too busy being a good driver. They head into the Victorian house they'll be renting for the summer while lifeguarding at the Sweet Valley shore. So far we know they'll be staying with Winston and Nina. Liz chooses her room and "settles in" by putting True Love Tom's photo on the nightstand. Jess comes upstairs and we hear all about how identical twins are identical (even wearing the same outfit!) but how they are so different (Liz has a ponytail and hat on, Jessica has on high heels and curled hair). Jessica has to take a room on the 3rd floor while Liz has one on the 2nd. Liz also says Tom will be visiting her from his Colorado internship one weekend. Crazy and a waste of money.
The girls and Winston head off with Nina to lifeguard orientation on the beach. We meet Wendy, who is also a 3rd floor house member and she and Winston hit it off right away. Wendy tells Winston that the evil South Beach Squad has already been chosen and Ryan Taylor will be the head of the Sweet Valley Squad, which they're all trying out for. During the initial orientation meeting, Liz and Jess both find Ryan really hot. Bad Liz talks during the meeting and gets in trouble. At the end of the meeting, Liz and Winston decide to jog back to the house but then Liz trips and makes an ass of herself. Jessica takes the time to chat with Ryan and he decides she's the good smart twin.
We find out back at the house that the 6th roommate is a guy from University of Chicago, Ben, who just so happened to have flirted with Jess on the beach and Jess lied to him and said Ryan was her boyfriend. Jess finds Ben cute enough but prefers Ryan so she is really mean to Ben. To get her back, he asks her about her boyfriend. Everyone in the house is surprised to hear about a boyfriend and Ben announces it's Ryan and Jess gets teased and Ben knows she lied.
Wendy and Winston (W&W) walk on the beach together looking at houses while Wendy says which celebrities live there. They agree to be buddies since his love, Denise, is away and she's permanently single. On their way to a Pedro Paloma (PP) concert, they find a hungry lost dog that they decide to keep and call her Paloma Perro.
The next day, Liz is awakened at 6:30 am by Jess showering, dressing and exercising. Liz is encouraged to join in but she realizes all of her time behind a computer has left her out of shape. The group meets for breakfast but the dog is barking and won't let them into the kitchen so to waste time, Ben flirts with Jess and she shoots him down.
At the beach we find out the group can't swim yet because the dog delayed their breakfast and they think they have to wait before swimming. I would ban them all from being lifeguards then and there. Liz volunteers she can swim because she didn't eat breakfast and Ryan singles her out and yells at her. Liz looks like an idiot to him and Nina won't help her because she thinks Liz is dumb too, and saving lives is more important than friendship. Nina chats with Ryan later and we learn a kid died last summer when he wasn't even on shift but he still felt guilty enough to drop out of school and just travel and work. He's very tense all the time too. I think he needs to get laid. I think Jessica thinks this too.
The tryout group does some in-and-outs on the beach and Jessica is the fastest, even faster than Ben. Liz is the slowest, even slower than Winston. The group breaks for lunch but Liz and Winston have to show up half an hour early for extra training. Liz cried to Nina about how unfair it is and Nina is honest with Liz about her attitude and skill and Liz gets all defensive and mean. Nina tells her to cool off and eat lunch. Also over lunch, W&W decide to earn some extra cash by offering a SV Shore celebrity home tour.
During the afternoon practice the group goes on a 3 mile run in the ocean. Liz is doing well but cuts her foot on a shell and Ryan makes her stop running but he's very nice and concerned about it. He tries to have her stay behind with a buddy but Liz protests so he lets her stay alone with just a whistle. As the group runs on, Liz decides to cool off in the ocean with a nice swim. While running, W&W spot their celeb idol, PP, and they're so excited about their upcoming tours. The group runs back on the sand instead of the ocean because the tide changed. I bet you can see where this is going. Liz is caught in a riptide and Ryan runs by just in time to save her..and to lecture her. As soon as she's safe he yells at her and tells her just how badly she screwed up. I don't blame him but he should have waited at least a minute so she could catch her breath.
Later that week, Winston starts to lead his tour of 20 or so sightseers to their celeb home stalking. The group peers into windows, steps on lawns, steals flowers and are chased by dogs while Winston keeps telling them to behave. After the tour, the police captain shuts the tour down permanently but Winston is still ahead $200.
That night, the group minus Elizabeth heads off to a local dance place. W&W dance together while Nina pairs off with Paul, a guy that she is suddenly more attracted to than her boyfriend Bryan, but she's well-behaved and lets Paul know she's off the market. But he says he's better and tries to win her over. Oh the couples of SV are always doomed. Speaking of doomed relationships, Liz is back at the house trying to reach Tom but he's at a party. Liz is all depressed and thinks he might be with another girl already. Because that's what Elizabeth Wakefield does the minute her boyfriends are away, she cheats. So of course her boy toys would do the same. Back at the dance, Jessica conned Ryan to show up and dance with her. He seems to be reciprocating her feelings but then he disappears. PP shows up and runs into Winston and asks Winston how much it would cost to remove his house from Winston's tour (even though the tour has been banned) and Winston agrees to remove it if PP will go out with Wendy, his adoring fangirl. PP finally grudgingly agrees. He asks Wendy out and after being awkward she gives him her phone number. Jessica mopes outside about Ryan and Ben joins her. Jessica pushes him away and he leaves. Then Ben's crazy ex, Rachel of the South Beach squad, shows up, tells Jess to stay away from Ben, then knocks her down and into the ocean.
Liz takes a walk on the beach and runs into Ryan. Liz goes off on some long dialogue about how she's usually so great and successful and how Ryan just as the wrong idea about her but he tells her right off that he doesn't want someone on the squad who is so full of themselves and their own self-importance that they think they can't screw up. Burn. He walks off and Liz heads off crying and wishing she had gone with True Love Tom to Colorado.
It's the day of the final lifeguard cut and the group is at the house when the phone rings. Liz hopes it's Tom, Winston hopes it's Denise, Nina hope it's Paul, (none of the lovers have called their significant other in SV yet) Jess hopes it's Ryan, Wendy hopes it's PP but instead it's just a wrong number. They head to the beach. Jess notices a person in the ocean struggling for help so she dives in and saves him. Ryan heads out to help and they get back to the beach safely. Ryan tells her she doesn't have to take the tests, she's proven herself to be a lifeguard. That's one spot filled.
During tryouts, Liz does pretty close to perfect on a mock-rescue but Winston has some trouble. His "victim" is safe on the buoy but Winston loses his group and the victim heads to shore without him. Wendy comforts him by saying his relays and CPR were all good.
Ryan has everyone stand up and listen as he reads off the list. Nina is on the squad, as she already knew. Wendy makes it too and Jess of course. Ben also makes it as do some others named Marcus, Paula and Kerry. There's several people and only one spot left. Elizabeth gets it along with a warning that any lifeguard can be fired if attitude or performance are bad. Winston is upset he didn't make the squad and wonders how he'll be able to pay rent. He walks off dismayed. The team gets their first day assignments. Jessica gets paired with Ryan while Liz and Wendy get put on dog pooper scooper duty. HAHA.
While on patrol, Liz and Wendy run into the snobby South Beach squad. They mock the girls until a hot dog stand worker tells SBS to knock it off. Hot dog guy ends up being Winston. A food fight ensues between W&W and the SBS while Liz tries to break it up. A whistle blows- it's Ryan, Jess, the police captain and the hot dog stand owner. This is trouble. Ryan chastizes Liz for being unable to keep Wendy under control. Now he's just being a jerk. Nina gives Liz a hard time too and Liz tells her how annoying she's being. Nina says Liz always excels but now she's just screwing up and asks why. Liz suddenly realizes that even though Ryan has attitude, she is so attracted to him and that's why she's messing up. This is the most preposterous part of the book and I can't take it. I think I need to go puke.
Winston is at the house unemployed and cleaning up when PP calls. He wants to take Wendy out for coffee but Winston tells PP that PP has to take her out to dinner and dancing instead. PP concedes. Wendy gets home and Winston tells her PP called about her date. She laments about missing a lifeguard BBQ that night so she and the squad convince Winston to go to the BBQ in her place.
At the bonfire, Paul and Nina flirt and they end up sharing a kiss. Cheater #1! Ben helps Jess fight off an unwelcome suitor by pretending to be her boyfriend. What a boring party. Luckily, Wendy and PP's date is better. He actually seems into her. He even kisses her before they make it to dinner, and a real kiss too. Wendy's a lucky girl. At the bonfire, the police captain (who is a little pervy, stalking all these young college kids) asks Liz to get more kerosene from the lifeguard station. Ryan is out of town so she agrees to go. Meanwhile, Rachel goes after Jess about Ben again so Jess storms off to find Ryan. At the station, Liz can't find the kerosene and Ryan comes out of the shower, startling her. He points out where is is but she's just checking out his hot, wet, almost naked body...which she sees every day on the beach without drooling. But instead, here they kiss. Cheater #2! At Wendy and PP's date, all is going well. Then he lets it slip that Winston kind of pushed him into asking her out but he's so glad because Wendy is beautiful and he's falling for her but Wendy has heard enough and she freaks out and heads home, presumably to kick Winston's ass. Jessica catches Ryan and Liz kissing, screams and runs home. Ryan and Liz agree to pretend the kiss never happened but Liz is in luv. She chases after Jess to set things right but Jess reaches Ben first. He confronts her about the passion between them and she says she'll never give up trying to get Ryan. Ben rightly calls her an idiot.
Back at the house, Ben is mad at both twins, Jess and Liz fight, W&W fight, the dog goes crazy and the house is in shambles. Nina comes home, calms them all down and makes them all agree at the very least to work together in peace. Then the toilet explodes. This will be a fun summer.