Liz Opens Her Big Mouth And Ruins Everything, or SVT#26, Taking Charge
Okay, so I was in a car accident two weekends ago and spent most of last week in bed. I thought that it would be the perfect time to read and recap some Sweet Valley, but I was so drugged up I didn’t read anything but the inside of my eyelids. But I’m like 92% better and planning a YA Party to celebrate my survival. I did manage to read SVT#26, Taking Charge before being thrown around the Beltway like a ragdoll.
On the cover, Liz is sporting a nice bitch face and looks like she’s ordering Patrick to his room, but instead of a room, it’s a boarded up church window. And it looks like Liz’s shirt is purple. And that scene never happens. Pat goes into that church on his own.
We open with Jess (yay!) wanting some food. Liz (boo-urns!) offers food to their guest, Patrick Morris. I’ve heard of this kid before. He’s smart. I think. He declines because he’s got to go home, but Jess convinces him to stay and then gets Liz to make them sandwiches (or “sammies” if you’re Rachael Ray. And if you are, stop reading this recap because I hate you, Ray!) Pat talks about how strict his parents have become lately and cites the following:
Gee, Pat. Maybe they’ve chosen those subjects because they are your worst! Jess thinks those rules are like punishments in her house. Girlfriend, like your parents ever involve themselves in your life long enough to punish you! And I would think that having Liz as a sister would be punishment enough. They talk about a science project in Jess and Pat’s class. She’s partnering with Lila, but they don’t know what they’re going to do yet. Steven comes in and starts to eat Liz’s sandwich. Ha! Sibling teasing ensues. Eh, been there, done that. PatMom calls and Pat runs home. Alice comes home and when Jess tells her about The Morris’ rules, she says, “I’m not going to judge the way other people run their families.” Oh, but your daughters will! Alice goes to take a nap. Lazy. Liz tells Jess that they shouldn’t gossip about Pat’s parents. Jessica leaves Liz to finish putting away groceries. Liz thinks of Pat and how she can save help him.
At school the next day, Jess and Lila discuss their project and what they’re their subject is going to be. Jess is mad that Lila hasn’t come up with one yet. Why can’t you, J? She sees Bruce and forgets all about science. She flirts with him and they talk about a concert a high school band is going to put on that weekend at Secca Lake. It’s a fundraiser for the library. Another one? The last book I recapped had a library fund-raiser. Jess wants to go to the concert with Bruce, but he’s playing it cool. The bell rings and she runs off to homeroom.
The homeroom teacher talks more about the concert and the band that will be playing is called The Wild Ones. I don’t know why that cracks me up, but it does. Jess daydreams about watching the concert with Bruce’s arm around her. And paper cups. After class, Liz tells Jessica that Pat wasn’t in school and they should drop his homework off at his house. Suuuuure, she really wants to get up in his family’s biz.
In science class, Lila has come up with their topic: rainbows. Better ask Tom McKay! Their teacher, Mr. Siegal, has decided that instead of letting them pick their own partners, they’re going to draw names. Jessica gets Winston and is bummed. Jess, the nerds are the best at science! Lila gets Ellen and they’re all giggly and happy about it. Winston decides that they’ll do their project on mold. Me too! I mean, I did a science project on mold when I was younger. I made mold grown on pieces of bread and my sister ate one of my pieces. But in her defense, she was 6! And she’ll probably kill me if she knew I just told you all that. Winston says that if they do a good job, they might get to go to the science fair. That’s enough to get Jessica onboard.
But she still complains to Liz as they go to Patrick’s house to give him homework. Pat answers the door. He doesn’t invite them in because it’s against the rules. No, not those rules. But he must not care about following them because he invites the girls in anyway. Liz gives him homework and Jessica tells him that his science project partner is Julie Porter. He hears his PatMom pull up (she'd been out with one of his younger brothers) and freaks. Jessica tries to go out the back, but Pat’s youngest brother, Joey the Toddler, grabs at her and tries to talk to her. She manages to get out of the house, but runs into PatMom, who mistakes her for Liz (who’d she’d just seen when she walked in the front door). PatMom asks for help bringing groceries in. As Jess helps, Liz sneaks out. Jess is relieved that the twins are both wearing their gym uniforms. Who the heck wears those outside of gym? And the uniforms are described as being “blouses with navy blue shorts." Blouses. For. Gym. Forget the library; the school needs money for decent gym uniforms!
On Friday, the kids have off because of a teacher’s conference. Jess is asking Liz for some worn out clothes. Winston is coming over to start their project and she thinks that if she looks raggedy, Winston won’t want to stay long. Liz caves and Steven makes fun of her. Ned asks the girls what they have planned for their day off. Jess is doing her science project and Liz is going to have a pool party. In a rare moment of good parenting Ned tells her that she and her friends can’t swim unless there’s an adult present. Steve says he’ll watch them until Alice comes home. I guess he just got certified or something. Ned makes Liz call Alice and ask permission, regardless. I’m proud of you, Ned. Jessica is mad that her sister is having a pool party while she’s going to be hanging out with mold and Winston.
When Winston comes over, Liz invites him to go swimming after he and Jess are done. The bread slices are going to have to be done at Casa Wakefield because Chez Egbert is being redecorated. I wonder if they hired Alice. They put the bread around the house and start observing it and then go swimming.
Outside at Liz’s Pool of Piousness, Pat and Julie are talking about their project which is on sound waves and music. Pat is thinking of trying out for the school band. He’s interested in the saxophone and was taught by his mentor, Bleeding Gums Murphy. He’s not sure his parents will let him be on the band though. The kids switch topics to the concert. Debbie Downer doesn’t think his parents will let him go to the concert, either. The doorbell rings and Jess answers it. Lila, Ellen, Aaron, and Bruce are there and invite themselves to swim in her pool. And that’s not a euphemism! Jess sort of lies and says that her parents aren’t home so they can’t. She really didn’t want them seeing her hang out with Winston. Ellen suggests they go to the mall instead. Jess is mad.
Once again, Jess is looking for clothes in Liz’s room. Only this time, it’s for The Wild Ones concert. She gives up and Liz tells her they’re going to stop at Pat’s before the concert because Amy is sick so Pat can take her ticket instead. PatMom answers the door and looks like she’s been crying. She tells the girls that Pat can’t go and shuts the door. Pat watches from an upstairs window. Jess thinks that he’s being held prisoner.
At the concert, Jess decides to put her blanket near Bruce, hoping he will notice and offer to sit with her since she’s alone. Instead he points out where the Unicorns are sitting. She goes over and sits with them. Foiled again.
During lunch, Pat asks Liz about the concert and she tells him it was amazing. Pat couldn’t go because his parents didn’t want to extend his curfew. Liz thinks “life at the Wakefield’s was so different.” Different does not equal better, brat. Pat leaves to go to a band meeting.
After school, Pat is standing at his locker, wondering if he should take his sax home. He’s afraid of what his parents will say about it. He strokes it. The sax, that is, but my mind totally went there. He leaves the sax in his locker and slams it shut. He needs to talk to PatMom and PatDad first.
Morris Penitentiary. PatDad is a construction worker. You know what that means in Sweet Valleyspeak. P-O-O-R! Pat tells his younger brother, Brian to be well behaved at dinner and to keep Joey under control too. He doesn’t want PatMom and PatDad to be mad when he tells them about band. They are against it anyway. The lessons will cost too much money, saxophones are too expensive, and band practice will take away valuable study time. He stomps up to his room and yells at his little brother who followed him up there. Aww, poor little brother. He has to show his parents that he can be on band and not let his grade drop. And it involves help from the twins. Of course. Everything involves the twins.
The next morning, Patrick tells the twins about his fight with his parents. He asks if he can hide his sax in their house so he can practice without his parents knowing. Saint Liz is astonished that he would go against their wishes, but Pat and Jess talk her into it. Liz tells Jess that she’s not sure they should get involved. HA! Liz, you so funny when you pretend you aren’t a nosey busybody. Jess complains that Liz is always telling her to do more good things for people and helping Pat out is a good thing, but then she (Liz) gets mad when Jess actually does what Liz wants her to do. She tells her, “There’s absolutely no satisfying you.” It’s true, Jess.
Steven is getting irritated by Pat’s sax and Jess’s mold. He wonders why Pat isn’t practicing at his own house. The twins go to the Sax Shed and check on Kenny G and Winston comes over to observe the mold. He wants Jess to start doing some work for their project and come up with a way to present the mold and to write up all the notes that he had taken. She gets mad, but can’t argue because she knows she hasn’t done jack. She spends the weekend wrapping up the bread and writing up the report.
On Monday, Steve, Patrick, and Winston are in the Wakefield’s Spanish styled kitchen, discussing football and Pat’s band chances. Everyone kisses his butt and tells him he’s going to make the band.
Mr. Siegal is looking at everyone’s project. He really likes Jess and Winston’s mold project. When I turned my mold project in, I told my teacher what my sister did. I didn’t think he believed me, so I made my mom write a note so he wouldn’t think I was a lying liar who lies. Jess is starting to treat Winston like a friend and it’s making her feel strange. Strange down there, Jess?
Pat is at the band tryouts and nails the audish. His friends congratulate him, but he’s nervous about what PatMom and PatDad will react. When he goes home, his dad is there. I smell a pink slip. He tells them and they explode. PatDad channels Mufasa from The Lion King and says, “You deliberately disobeyed me.” Much yelling ensues. Patrick runs upstairs and thinks about how he hates his parents. Welcome to the club.
After school on Tuesday, Mr. Siegal is talking to Jess and Winston about their project. Jess thinks that it’s to tell them they’re going to the science fair and had already told everyone about it. So, I’m not surprised when Mr. Siegal tells them that they’re not going to the science fair, but there is a Science Day at the public library that weekend and he’s chosen their project to be an exhibit. And Pat and Julie’s sound waves project was chosen too, but who cares. Jess is bummed. It also means that she can’t go to the SVMS football game since they’re both on Saturday. Jess tells Winston that she’ll come to the library after halftime to help him show off their project. She goes home and her family is proud of her. Liz even agrees to go to Science Day after the game and then tells Jess about Patrick’s blow out with his parents over the band. Didn’t she say that they shouldn’t gossip? She’s giving Caroline Pierce a run for the money.
Before the football game, Patrick goes over to Casa Wakefield and mopes. He doesn’t want to go to the game. He just wants to bitch and moan about band, I guess. Julie and Ken show up and Pat whines some more. He starts to cry and run away. Not like that, I hope. I recapped a Todd runaway not too long ago and I’m so over runaways. Lila calls and tells Jess that Bruce is having a party after the game and The Wild Ones will be there. Jess decides to just not show up at all to Science Day. The football game is exciting and seeing the band makes Jess think of Pat. Along the way to Bruce Manor, she passes the library and feels a little guilty.
The party, she sucks. There’s no food and only warm soda and Bruce is a terrible host and worse, The Wild Ones aren’t going to show up. It seems like the “party” was really just friends hanging out at Bruce’s. Jess decides to leave and go to Science Day instead. As she leaves, Crunch knocks her down while playing football. He probably thought she was Liz and wanted to show her a preview of things to come. She gets dirty and has to go home and change. At home, Liz tells her that Patrick’s disappeared. Dammit!
Liz tells Ned and Alice that PatParents are looking for Pat and the twins tell them everything about the strict rules and the secret saxophone practice. Winston comes over to yell at Jessica, but gets enlisted in calling friends to see if they had seen Pat. Ken thinks he saw him at the game, emo-ing it up with some trees. Jess tries to explain to Winston why she didn’t show up, saying that she wanted to help him overcome his shyness, but he doesn’t buy it.
Later that night, the police pull up to Casa Wakefield and PatParents are with him. They’ve gotten the SVPD involved? Good luck ever seeing your kid again, folks! The twins tell all and PatParents feel terrible. Steven wants to go look for Pat, but Ned tells him it’s too late and they can go in the morning. But Liz can’t sleep. She's thinking of Pat and how sad PatMom looked. Jess is up too and in a nine moment, she crawls into bed with Liz and they worry together.
Liz wakes up early the next morning and decides to help with the search. Ned tells her to check the neighborhood. She’s eating breakfast and hears something outside. She runs out and finds an envelope with a note in it. The note says to stop looking for Patrick for there will be trouble. She shows it to Jessica and they think he’s been kidnapped. They show it to Alice, who calls the police. The police think it’s a fake since no ransom is being asked. The twins go search the neighborhood for Pat. They run into Winston. Patrick is in Winston’s basement.
He HAD runaway. He wanted to runaway to the Wakefield’s, but when the police showed up, he went to Winston’s instead. He was going to a house like, a few blocks from his own home? Another kid who can’t run away properly. Winston admits that he was the one who left the note. The twins want to see Patrick so they go over to Winston’s house, but Pat’s not there! Actually, he was just getting out of the shower. Liz tells him that PatParents are very worried about him. He doesn’t care. Liz takes the tough love approach and tells him to get real. He has no money. Where is he going to go? Jess offers up their tool shed. Liz gives up.
The twins go home and PatParents are there again. Liz blurts out where Pat is and everyone freaks. Jess is mad. Everyone heads over to Winston’s house, but he’s runway from there and gone to an old dilapidated church. He refuses to come out of the church and yells at them from an upstairs window. The fire department shows up and Pat freaks out and runs away from the window. Then a crash is heard. He’s trapped between two floors. PatDad goes in to save him and there’s much floor breaking and heroic-ness and PatDad saves Pat! I bet Liz is like, “But that’s my job!” Pat knows that Liz told, but he’s glad she opened her big mouth.
At PatHouse, the family is making up and they tell him the truth: PatDad lost his job. They want to make sure that Pat gets good grades and gets into a good college so he can get a good job and blah blah blah. They apologize for not listening to him about music and allow him to be in the band.
At Casa Wakefield, Jess convinces Ned and Alice to not punish them about Pat, but then they bust her for not being at Science Day. And my copy is missing pages 103 and 104. I had originally thought that I was just drugged up and not reading clearly.
There’s something about Jessica being teased by Bruce and Winston sticks up for her. They make up. Jess and Winston, that is. And then a lead up to SVT# 27, Teamwork. Sorry, but that title sounds L-A-M-E!
On the cover, Liz is sporting a nice bitch face and looks like she’s ordering Patrick to his room, but instead of a room, it’s a boarded up church window. And it looks like Liz’s shirt is purple. And that scene never happens. Pat goes into that church on his own.
We open with Jess (yay!) wanting some food. Liz (boo-urns!) offers food to their guest, Patrick Morris. I’ve heard of this kid before. He’s smart. I think. He declines because he’s got to go home, but Jess convinces him to stay and then gets Liz to make them sandwiches (or “sammies” if you’re Rachael Ray. And if you are, stop reading this recap because I hate you, Ray!) Pat talks about how strict his parents have become lately and cites the following:
- They don’t trust Pat
- They’ve cut his allowance in half
- No phone after 6 pm
- One 1 friend over at a time
- He has to do 3 hours of homework every night (or if he doesn’t have enough homework for 3 hours, he has to read a book and not just any book, but math or science, which are his worst subjects.)
Gee, Pat. Maybe they’ve chosen those subjects because they are your worst! Jess thinks those rules are like punishments in her house. Girlfriend, like your parents ever involve themselves in your life long enough to punish you! And I would think that having Liz as a sister would be punishment enough. They talk about a science project in Jess and Pat’s class. She’s partnering with Lila, but they don’t know what they’re going to do yet. Steven comes in and starts to eat Liz’s sandwich. Ha! Sibling teasing ensues. Eh, been there, done that. PatMom calls and Pat runs home. Alice comes home and when Jess tells her about The Morris’ rules, she says, “I’m not going to judge the way other people run their families.” Oh, but your daughters will! Alice goes to take a nap. Lazy. Liz tells Jess that they shouldn’t gossip about Pat’s parents. Jessica leaves Liz to finish putting away groceries. Liz thinks of Pat and how she can save help him.
At school the next day, Jess and Lila discuss their project and what they’re their subject is going to be. Jess is mad that Lila hasn’t come up with one yet. Why can’t you, J? She sees Bruce and forgets all about science. She flirts with him and they talk about a concert a high school band is going to put on that weekend at Secca Lake. It’s a fundraiser for the library. Another one? The last book I recapped had a library fund-raiser. Jess wants to go to the concert with Bruce, but he’s playing it cool. The bell rings and she runs off to homeroom.
The homeroom teacher talks more about the concert and the band that will be playing is called The Wild Ones. I don’t know why that cracks me up, but it does. Jess daydreams about watching the concert with Bruce’s arm around her. And paper cups. After class, Liz tells Jessica that Pat wasn’t in school and they should drop his homework off at his house. Suuuuure, she really wants to get up in his family’s biz.
In science class, Lila has come up with their topic: rainbows. Better ask Tom McKay! Their teacher, Mr. Siegal, has decided that instead of letting them pick their own partners, they’re going to draw names. Jessica gets Winston and is bummed. Jess, the nerds are the best at science! Lila gets Ellen and they’re all giggly and happy about it. Winston decides that they’ll do their project on mold. Me too! I mean, I did a science project on mold when I was younger. I made mold grown on pieces of bread and my sister ate one of my pieces. But in her defense, she was 6! And she’ll probably kill me if she knew I just told you all that. Winston says that if they do a good job, they might get to go to the science fair. That’s enough to get Jessica onboard.
But she still complains to Liz as they go to Patrick’s house to give him homework. Pat answers the door. He doesn’t invite them in because it’s against the rules. No, not those rules. But he must not care about following them because he invites the girls in anyway. Liz gives him homework and Jessica tells him that his science project partner is Julie Porter. He hears his PatMom pull up (she'd been out with one of his younger brothers) and freaks. Jessica tries to go out the back, but Pat’s youngest brother, Joey the Toddler, grabs at her and tries to talk to her. She manages to get out of the house, but runs into PatMom, who mistakes her for Liz (who’d she’d just seen when she walked in the front door). PatMom asks for help bringing groceries in. As Jess helps, Liz sneaks out. Jess is relieved that the twins are both wearing their gym uniforms. Who the heck wears those outside of gym? And the uniforms are described as being “blouses with navy blue shorts." Blouses. For. Gym. Forget the library; the school needs money for decent gym uniforms!
On Friday, the kids have off because of a teacher’s conference. Jess is asking Liz for some worn out clothes. Winston is coming over to start their project and she thinks that if she looks raggedy, Winston won’t want to stay long. Liz caves and Steven makes fun of her. Ned asks the girls what they have planned for their day off. Jess is doing her science project and Liz is going to have a pool party. In a rare moment of good parenting Ned tells her that she and her friends can’t swim unless there’s an adult present. Steve says he’ll watch them until Alice comes home. I guess he just got certified or something. Ned makes Liz call Alice and ask permission, regardless. I’m proud of you, Ned. Jessica is mad that her sister is having a pool party while she’s going to be hanging out with mold and Winston.
When Winston comes over, Liz invites him to go swimming after he and Jess are done. The bread slices are going to have to be done at Casa Wakefield because Chez Egbert is being redecorated. I wonder if they hired Alice. They put the bread around the house and start observing it and then go swimming.
Outside at Liz’s Pool of Piousness, Pat and Julie are talking about their project which is on sound waves and music. Pat is thinking of trying out for the school band. He’s interested in the saxophone and was taught by his mentor, Bleeding Gums Murphy. He’s not sure his parents will let him be on the band though. The kids switch topics to the concert. Debbie Downer doesn’t think his parents will let him go to the concert, either. The doorbell rings and Jess answers it. Lila, Ellen, Aaron, and Bruce are there and invite themselves to swim in her pool. And that’s not a euphemism! Jess sort of lies and says that her parents aren’t home so they can’t. She really didn’t want them seeing her hang out with Winston. Ellen suggests they go to the mall instead. Jess is mad.
Once again, Jess is looking for clothes in Liz’s room. Only this time, it’s for The Wild Ones concert. She gives up and Liz tells her they’re going to stop at Pat’s before the concert because Amy is sick so Pat can take her ticket instead. PatMom answers the door and looks like she’s been crying. She tells the girls that Pat can’t go and shuts the door. Pat watches from an upstairs window. Jess thinks that he’s being held prisoner.
At the concert, Jess decides to put her blanket near Bruce, hoping he will notice and offer to sit with her since she’s alone. Instead he points out where the Unicorns are sitting. She goes over and sits with them. Foiled again.
During lunch, Pat asks Liz about the concert and she tells him it was amazing. Pat couldn’t go because his parents didn’t want to extend his curfew. Liz thinks “life at the Wakefield’s was so different.” Different does not equal better, brat. Pat leaves to go to a band meeting.
After school, Pat is standing at his locker, wondering if he should take his sax home. He’s afraid of what his parents will say about it. He strokes it. The sax, that is, but my mind totally went there. He leaves the sax in his locker and slams it shut. He needs to talk to PatMom and PatDad first.
Morris Penitentiary. PatDad is a construction worker. You know what that means in Sweet Valleyspeak. P-O-O-R! Pat tells his younger brother, Brian to be well behaved at dinner and to keep Joey under control too. He doesn’t want PatMom and PatDad to be mad when he tells them about band. They are against it anyway. The lessons will cost too much money, saxophones are too expensive, and band practice will take away valuable study time. He stomps up to his room and yells at his little brother who followed him up there. Aww, poor little brother. He has to show his parents that he can be on band and not let his grade drop. And it involves help from the twins. Of course. Everything involves the twins.
The next morning, Patrick tells the twins about his fight with his parents. He asks if he can hide his sax in their house so he can practice without his parents knowing. Saint Liz is astonished that he would go against their wishes, but Pat and Jess talk her into it. Liz tells Jess that she’s not sure they should get involved. HA! Liz, you so funny when you pretend you aren’t a nosey busybody. Jess complains that Liz is always telling her to do more good things for people and helping Pat out is a good thing, but then she (Liz) gets mad when Jess actually does what Liz wants her to do. She tells her, “There’s absolutely no satisfying you.” It’s true, Jess.
Steven is getting irritated by Pat’s sax and Jess’s mold. He wonders why Pat isn’t practicing at his own house. The twins go to the Sax Shed and check on Kenny G and Winston comes over to observe the mold. He wants Jess to start doing some work for their project and come up with a way to present the mold and to write up all the notes that he had taken. She gets mad, but can’t argue because she knows she hasn’t done jack. She spends the weekend wrapping up the bread and writing up the report.
On Monday, Steve, Patrick, and Winston are in the Wakefield’s Spanish styled kitchen, discussing football and Pat’s band chances. Everyone kisses his butt and tells him he’s going to make the band.
Mr. Siegal is looking at everyone’s project. He really likes Jess and Winston’s mold project. When I turned my mold project in, I told my teacher what my sister did. I didn’t think he believed me, so I made my mom write a note so he wouldn’t think I was a lying liar who lies. Jess is starting to treat Winston like a friend and it’s making her feel strange. Strange down there, Jess?
Pat is at the band tryouts and nails the audish. His friends congratulate him, but he’s nervous about what PatMom and PatDad will react. When he goes home, his dad is there. I smell a pink slip. He tells them and they explode. PatDad channels Mufasa from The Lion King and says, “You deliberately disobeyed me.” Much yelling ensues. Patrick runs upstairs and thinks about how he hates his parents. Welcome to the club.
After school on Tuesday, Mr. Siegal is talking to Jess and Winston about their project. Jess thinks that it’s to tell them they’re going to the science fair and had already told everyone about it. So, I’m not surprised when Mr. Siegal tells them that they’re not going to the science fair, but there is a Science Day at the public library that weekend and he’s chosen their project to be an exhibit. And Pat and Julie’s sound waves project was chosen too, but who cares. Jess is bummed. It also means that she can’t go to the SVMS football game since they’re both on Saturday. Jess tells Winston that she’ll come to the library after halftime to help him show off their project. She goes home and her family is proud of her. Liz even agrees to go to Science Day after the game and then tells Jess about Patrick’s blow out with his parents over the band. Didn’t she say that they shouldn’t gossip? She’s giving Caroline Pierce a run for the money.
Before the football game, Patrick goes over to Casa Wakefield and mopes. He doesn’t want to go to the game. He just wants to bitch and moan about band, I guess. Julie and Ken show up and Pat whines some more. He starts to cry and run away. Not like that, I hope. I recapped a Todd runaway not too long ago and I’m so over runaways. Lila calls and tells Jess that Bruce is having a party after the game and The Wild Ones will be there. Jess decides to just not show up at all to Science Day. The football game is exciting and seeing the band makes Jess think of Pat. Along the way to Bruce Manor, she passes the library and feels a little guilty.
The party, she sucks. There’s no food and only warm soda and Bruce is a terrible host and worse, The Wild Ones aren’t going to show up. It seems like the “party” was really just friends hanging out at Bruce’s. Jess decides to leave and go to Science Day instead. As she leaves, Crunch knocks her down while playing football. He probably thought she was Liz and wanted to show her a preview of things to come. She gets dirty and has to go home and change. At home, Liz tells her that Patrick’s disappeared. Dammit!
Liz tells Ned and Alice that PatParents are looking for Pat and the twins tell them everything about the strict rules and the secret saxophone practice. Winston comes over to yell at Jessica, but gets enlisted in calling friends to see if they had seen Pat. Ken thinks he saw him at the game, emo-ing it up with some trees. Jess tries to explain to Winston why she didn’t show up, saying that she wanted to help him overcome his shyness, but he doesn’t buy it.
Later that night, the police pull up to Casa Wakefield and PatParents are with him. They’ve gotten the SVPD involved? Good luck ever seeing your kid again, folks! The twins tell all and PatParents feel terrible. Steven wants to go look for Pat, but Ned tells him it’s too late and they can go in the morning. But Liz can’t sleep. She's thinking of Pat and how sad PatMom looked. Jess is up too and in a nine moment, she crawls into bed with Liz and they worry together.
Liz wakes up early the next morning and decides to help with the search. Ned tells her to check the neighborhood. She’s eating breakfast and hears something outside. She runs out and finds an envelope with a note in it. The note says to stop looking for Patrick for there will be trouble. She shows it to Jessica and they think he’s been kidnapped. They show it to Alice, who calls the police. The police think it’s a fake since no ransom is being asked. The twins go search the neighborhood for Pat. They run into Winston. Patrick is in Winston’s basement.
He HAD runaway. He wanted to runaway to the Wakefield’s, but when the police showed up, he went to Winston’s instead. He was going to a house like, a few blocks from his own home? Another kid who can’t run away properly. Winston admits that he was the one who left the note. The twins want to see Patrick so they go over to Winston’s house, but Pat’s not there! Actually, he was just getting out of the shower. Liz tells him that PatParents are very worried about him. He doesn’t care. Liz takes the tough love approach and tells him to get real. He has no money. Where is he going to go? Jess offers up their tool shed. Liz gives up.
The twins go home and PatParents are there again. Liz blurts out where Pat is and everyone freaks. Jess is mad. Everyone heads over to Winston’s house, but he’s runway from there and gone to an old dilapidated church. He refuses to come out of the church and yells at them from an upstairs window. The fire department shows up and Pat freaks out and runs away from the window. Then a crash is heard. He’s trapped between two floors. PatDad goes in to save him and there’s much floor breaking and heroic-ness and PatDad saves Pat! I bet Liz is like, “But that’s my job!” Pat knows that Liz told, but he’s glad she opened her big mouth.
At PatHouse, the family is making up and they tell him the truth: PatDad lost his job. They want to make sure that Pat gets good grades and gets into a good college so he can get a good job and blah blah blah. They apologize for not listening to him about music and allow him to be in the band.
At Casa Wakefield, Jess convinces Ned and Alice to not punish them about Pat, but then they bust her for not being at Science Day. And my copy is missing pages 103 and 104. I had originally thought that I was just drugged up and not reading clearly.
There’s something about Jessica being teased by Bruce and Winston sticks up for her. They make up. Jess and Winston, that is. And then a lead up to SVT# 27, Teamwork. Sorry, but that title sounds L-A-M-E!