the_oracle

Hard Choices
February 1988

Will Enid's life ever be the same?

No life of her own...

   Enid Rollins can hardly wait for her grandmother to come live with her and her mother. But when she arrives, Enid is dismayed that the kind, sprightly woman she remembered is now burdensome and demanding.
   Because Enid's mother works long hours and is often out with her boyfriend, Enid finds herself making all sorts of sacrifices to please her grandmother. She skips school events and even stands up her best friend Elizabeth Wakefield. Worst of all, she never has any time for her boyfriend, Hugh. It's beginning to look as if Enid may have to say goodbye to someone she loves.

   It just figures. Enid has fantastically awful luck. Let's look at the three books you could claim as hers, shall we?

Secrets: She's nowhere to be seen on the cover. She loses her boyfriend, the respect [if she had any?] of her peers at SVH when her drug addled past is revealed, fights with her best friend, believes herself to be stabbed in the back by said friend but in reality it was said friend's devious twin sister*, but she is given an exceptionally hot former bad boy boyfriend at the end.
* Twin sister essentially gets away with it unscathed. Attempts to extract vengeance and justice just result in wounding innocent bystander Winston.

Crash Landing!: Aforementioned Super Hot Former Bad Boy has been fooling around on Enid with former fat girl. FBB takes Enid up on promised flight, and plans to dump her immediately afterward. Instead, crashes plane and Enid paralyzes herself rescuing FBB and is reduced to invalid state of mind in the vain hope it'll guilt the FBB into sticking around. Gives FBB up and is even more Saintly than Saint Elizabeth.
   While plane crashes are hardly anyone's best look, and there's an ethereal glow, unfortunate 80's curly frizzy hair disaster distracts from Saint Liz's mustache... and Saint Liz should not be in this scene anyway.

Hard Choices: Finally escaped Saint Liz. Get alone time on cover. Channeling some serious Golden Girls Blanche, but without the spangled fashion and giant earrings. Rethink fashion choices and wait impatiently for better hair. Take solace in the knowledge that under the unfortunate hair, E is very pretty.
   Major storyline? Grandma from HELL.

Yes. Enid, she of the drug abuse and plane crashes comes back into our lives in a starring role, finally stepping out from behind Saint Elizabeth's robes. And what does she bring us this time?
A granny who, if she clung any closer would kill her remaining family members. But not an actual vampire as that'd be really, really interesting and we haven't hit that stage of fucked-up in the series yet. Oh, Enid...

Enid's grandfather died a few months ago, seriously off-camera, which is sort of understandable as we're in the midst of a C-list/B-list spotlight thing, so our time with Saint Liz has been limited, although you'd think someone would know that SL's best friend's grandfather died. It's a really small school after all. But no one knows. No one cares.
Typical.
   Enid and her mother invite Nana to stay with them and Nana agrees. So. Everyone's expecting a slightly more subdued version of cookie baking Nana of old, but instead they get Old Woman Who Complains A Lot.
Nana quickly begins making life miserable for all those involved, but she is helped along by Mrs. Rollins being an incredible nitwit. We're given the impression that Adele [Mrs. Rollins], Nana, and Enid all love one another, but when given a choice, Adele choses Richard, her boyfriend of six months, EVERY TIME. Which would be cool, but this book takes place over a time frame of maybe two weeks and some change. You'd think for a couple of weeks she could dial back the dates. I understand some of them are big deals, but when she's going out so often that Enid ALWAYS has to break her dates? There's a problem.
And yet, given the way Nana manipulates everything and everyone around her, and is so damn judgmental of everyone, it's not hard to see why Adele would run for the hills at every given opportunity.
But then she wonders why Enid is being so touchy.

Parents in the Valley are special. Sadly, this affliction is not just restricted to the Valley, as I know a few people just like that, but without Nana's insanity as an excuse.

   Nana's most annoying habit is saying that she doesn't want to be a burden just as she makes herself a burden.

Now that we've established that if you were ever struck by the desire to be Enid of all the SVH characters, now is certainly not the time you would chose to be her. Nope, nuh uh.
Because, as fun as this sounds, there's still more! Nana disapproves of Richard, which makes it easier to Enid to play into her feelings of resenting him for taking her mother away. So Nana and Enid can gang up on Adele. Fun for everyone but A, right? Wrong! Nana doesn't like Hugh either, so she and Adele can bond over that! Except... Adele had no problem with Hugh until Nana came to town.
   It still gets better. Enid and Hugh started out strong enough, but they've hit the end of their honeymoon period, which is a bit unfair considering Liz is still mooning over Jeffrey and those two have been together longer. Of course, Hugh and Enid have the added strain of going to different schools and haven't been going out long enough that his friends are her friends and vice versa. So when Nana begins to make it necessary for Enid to break quite a few dates, Hugh gets more than a bit pissy.
But things look up for the couple when Hugh invites Enid to go with him on a school sponsored camping trip. Enid's sure her mother will say yes [the fuck?] but after a chat with Nana, it's a no go. Hugh ain't happy because Enid couldn't get in touch with him before he'd left to pick her up.

Now, before things can explode, we have to take a moment for our B-story. Saint Liz decides to enter a documentary contest and hers will be about the wonderful town of Sweet Valley. Jeffrey will film it, Jessica will narrate/star, and Liz will write the script, and abuse the word "town" in the process. I... don't know what Enid was supposed to do, but she can't do much because Nana throws a hissy fit when she even thinks she's going to be alone. Oi. Anyway, Enid doesn't end up doing much of anything other than bringing the group down [woe!] but Liz still wants her to come to their big premiere night at the Wakefield's. Enid tells her mother about this in advance, invites Hugh, and is so hopeful for a night out that you know damn well she ain't getting it.
   Sure enough, Richard has invited Adele to a big deal dinner for the station. Some awards thing. Annnnnnnd Adele can't tell him no, because she feels bad for not having accepted his marriage proposal due to her mother driving them all insane. So... even when Nana shoots down the thought of the nice neighbor staying with her, Adele leaves Enid in the lurch. Actually runs out the door shouting, "Sorry!" over her shoulder.
   Hugh appears moments later and is not pleased to have his date broken, again. He and Enid get into a shrieking match and break up. Shaken by this, Enid wanders back and finds Nana who is acting as if nothing bad has happened, and bah, she didn't like Hugh anyway. Enid flips out, yells at Nana for not giving anyone a chance, for pretending to be this helpless old woman when that is NOT who Nana is, damn it, and oh yeah, the song of every teenage girl: "I hate you!"
And then Enid goes to the party, sits alone, and has no fun. When Liz finally asks what's wrong, Enid tells her, but she's worked herself into such a state that she's sure that Nana will have become ill [Nana threatened it all night] and Enid runs home to find...
Nana baking cookies.
   o_O
Nana apologizes for being sixteen different flavors of crazy and admits that she was so afraid of losing Enid and Adele that she clung to them like a psychotic ex-girlfriend so they couldn't leave. Or something. But it took Enid yelling at her for all the things she hated about herself for Nana to snap out of her stupidity.
Adele comes home and everything ends well. Nana moves back to Chicago with the promise of returning to the Valley one day. Enid and Hugh get back together. And... lord knows what happens to Richard and Adele, honestly.
It's a bit of a shame because Richard was nice to Enid's friends, although the man had a bit of a problem in recognizing his girlfriend should actually spend some time with her family while they were going through a bit of an upheaval. I'm just saying if he'd been thinking with the right head...

Anyway, the book ends with a bit of suspicion about Cara and Steve's relationship. Oh no! It's time for another Tricia Martin haunting, isn't it?

Crap!

Trivia:

Jess is going to meet Lila and Cara at the DB at 4:30. Liz tells her to pick her up at Enid's around 4:15. Jessica is actually on time. The world comes to a screeching halt, film at 11.

Enid moves into the attic so Nana can have her old room. I guess when her little brother was mysteriously abducted, the aliens took his room, too.

Nana and Gramps [the Langevins] lived in a rambling old house in Chicago.

Our ghosty feels the need to spell it out that Enid and her mother are just teasing Elizabeth and not really ganging up on her when Mrs. Rollins says Liz is a terrible influence on Enid. Draw your own conclusions.

Enid's new room doesn't have a bookcase or really any storage space. It also lacks a closet [as I gather most attics do. Ours, when I was growing up, had one], or wardrobe to hold Enid's clothes, so they have to make a clothesline for the hangers. Poor E.

By page eight, we realize Enid has some issues with her mother's boyfriend, Richard Cernak.

There was a "major problem with the typesetter" that week and Penny's just gotten the proofs for next week's edition Friday. Drama!

The DB is packed that Friday. You've got Enid, Elizabeth, Jessica, Cara, Lila, Penny, John Pfieffer and six members of the soccer team, as well as Sally and Dana Larson.

"Filmmaker Announces Showcase for Student Documentaries." The filmmaker in question is Jackson Croft, Susan's father.

Lila has been upgraded to one of Jessica's two best friends. For the most part in the SVH series, she's just been one of Jessica's friends, as Cara has held the Best Friend slot, usually all by herself. Go Lila?

Enid stayed behind while Mrs. Rollins went to pick Nana up at the airport. Enid added a few loving touches to the room she was giving away, like tiny lavender scented, heart shaped soaps for the bathroom, as well as a bouquet of flowers [freesias, baby's breath, carnations, and three white rosebuds] for the room itself. Nana immediately has them banished from the room due to pollen worries, hence the cover art.

Nana has green eyes, just like Enid.

Enid's house has a staircase with a landing, and yet they've only got two bedrooms? Rip. Off.

Enid's mother's name is Adele.

Adele invited her boyfriend over on the first night her mother [Nana, remember? Keep up!] got into town.

Richard and Nana do not hit it off. Should have waited for night two, Adele.

Jeffrey doesn't tell Liz to turn over because she's baking until she's already started to turn pink. I giggle at the smallest things, I know. Sue me.

Liz seems to believe that because Richard works at the television station [which one? Is it the one Mrs. Sutton works for?] Enid has developed an interest in television. Really? Because Enid seems to resent Richard more than anything...

Lila lent the camera, Jeffrey will be filming, Jessica's the narrator/star, Liz is doing the script, Winston ends up being the highlight, and Enid is there as the idea person. In theory. Too bad she's kind of busy with Cranky!Nana.

When Nana ignores Richard's questions, Enid worries that her grandmother is going deaf in her old age instead of wondering if maybe Nana is a bitch. This is after she'd already wondered why her grandmother, in her quest to 'not be a bother' yelled like she was being murdered when it turns out she was only concerned as to where exactly a casserole dish should go. Enid! I thought you were one of us.

Within minutes of meeting Nana, Richard needs a drink. Bourbon, no less.

Richard Cernak: attractive, even to Enid, with dark, wavy hair that's graying at the temples and a good tan due to a love of tennis. Dude, what is with the tennis love in this town? He's the program director at the TV station.

Nana's logic regarding Richard: He asks too many questions, he drinks like a fish [given that Adele's ex-husband is later reveled to be an alcoholic and Enid had her own drinking troubles, this one I'll grant her as a legitimate fear, although dude, he's drinking because you're a bitch], he orders Adele around, and when he runs away from the nut house as soon as dinner is done, Nana proclaims that he has no manners.

Big Mesa takes a camping trip out to the desert every year and this year's trip is scheduled a week after Nana arrives. Enid thinks her mother will let her go because there will be plenty of supervision and because Adele loves the desert, too.

Enid and Hugh both love reading, and on their date to Miller's Point [in the afternoon, no less] they took turns reading from a book of Edward Lear's poems.

You can see the Pacific Ocean from Miller's Point.

Hugh made plans to hang out with his friends on Sunday, even though Sundays are Enid/Hugh only time. Bad, Hugh. Bad!

Liz and Enid always pretend to inspect Jessica's outfits as if something were wrong with them, but this time Jessica refuses to fall for their trick.

They start filming right outside Ned's office building, which is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the town hall.

While filming, Winston followed Jessica around, complete with an arrow through his head. She didn't catch on until people had begun to stop and stare. Originally she thought they were admiring her. Ah, Jessie. Such low self esteem. :p

Filming began Wednesday.

The mayor is as big a camera hog as Jessica, if not more so.

Nana tries to convince Enid that Liz is bossy, that Liz, Jessica, and Jeffrey are bad influences, and that their documentary is a waste of time.

Adele and Richard have a date Wednesday evening.

Friday morning Adele tells Enid that she can't go on the camping trip with Hugh. Enid tries all afternoon to get in touch with him, but can't, so he shows up ready and excited to go. When she tells him she can't go and couldn't get in touch with him, partly because she had to take Nana to the library, he's a little ticked off.

Enid tries to talk to her mother about how unfair she's been, but Adele tells her that she's shared her opinions on the matter and the case is closed. Parents!

Saturday morning the twins hit the beach, with Prince Albert in tow. Yes, Prince jumps all over Jessica on camera.

There used to be an artist colony along the beaches of Sweet Valley.

The second week of filming would cover a town meeting, the annual dance festival [wha?], and an interview with Sweet Valley's oldest living resident.

Who proposes to someone right after their mother arrives to live with them AND makes it known how much mumsy hates 'em? Jesus, Richard. Save the popping the question until things have settled down a little. Apparently he asked Adele to marry him sometime over the weekend when Nana arrived. Bad, bad timing. Adele still hasn't answered, partly because Nana seems to LOATHE Richard.

Tuesday afternoon, the twins, Enid, and Jeffrey head off for the TV station to meet with and interview Jeremy Frank.

Enid overheard her mother trying to push back the proposal the night before, but doesn't confide in Liz about the problems Nana is causing.

The visitor's badges at the TV station are red.

When Richard offers use of the editing equipment, Enid doesn't exactly jump for joy. Liz asks why and Enid says she doesn't really like Richard and that he's offering to let them use the equipment as a way to get Enid to like him. Liz is puzzled and thinks that it doesn't make his offer any less generous. Yes. It does. If it weren't directly affecting Liz, she'd be all over the situation and pretty much pointing out how rude it was. See the ninety billion times she's done similar things thus far in the series.

Nana tries to wheedle Adele into offering up her bedroom by saying the traffic is too loud in Enid's old room. Adele refuses to play that game, so Enid throws her under the bus first. Nana then declines, but you know she's going to make another play for it.

Then Nana insults the freshly squeezed OJ to put Adele back in her place. I cheer, but only because I hate pulp in my OJ.

Ken won a pie eating contest the previous summer, somehow beating Winston.

Liz teases Enid about how quickly she can decimate a carton of ice cream, and Enid is not amused.

When Enid bursts into tears and flees the cafeteria, Liz follows. When Enid explains how miserable she is and tells Liz to go, Liz does. Liz? You go with your friend when she says she's falling apart.

The documentary includes The Droids. Naturally.

The Droids play Meltdown as their first song of the night.

Bruce claims that as a member of one of the founding families of SV, it's people are the best in the state.

In retaliation, Jess sticks her tongue out and crosses her eyes in an effort to make him mess up his interview.

Cara comes up with the idea of having a movie premiere the following Saturday night.

Jess wants the cheerleaders and their practice in the documentary, shooting on Tuesday. In return for Lila letting them use her camera, Jess promised to make sure Lila got some screen time.

In addition to the cheerleaders, Liz wants to shoot some footage of Secca Lake and attempt to film downtown SV from the back of the Fiat while the top's down.

Richard arranges for one of the station's editors, Emma Gold, to be around to help Liz and Jeffrey if they need it, perhaps realizing that sixteen year olds do not necessarily know everything in the world about editing. Logic in the Valley! Sound the alarms!

There's a broadcaster's dinner Saturday night, and Adele briefly makes a pitch for not making Enid stay home. She caves, though, when Nana nixes Mrs. Denise Cutler, the neighbor, coming to stay with her.

Enid and her mother both like to eat applesauce straight from the jar.

Nana wants to go to the senior center, finally, to see a movie, but of course it's the Saturday night Adele has her big date with Richard and Enid has the movie premiere.

Jeffrey kept the movie with him, otherwise Liz would have caved and let Jessica watch it before the big premiere. Sneaky.

Adele cancels on Mrs. Cutler but as she's dashing out the door with Richard, Nana says she's too ill to stay by herself and that Adele will just have to stay home. Adele tells Enid she's sorry and runs out the goddamned door. Minutes later, Hugh appears and this is the part I don't get. Enid can't go to the party. Hugh won't go because they're her friends and not his. Okay, fine. Why the hell doesn't Hugh just stay with Enid at her house then? It's not like Nana's actually sick. She's pretending that any second now she'll have a heart attack, not that she has the flu or something contagious.

The Wakefields rented a giant projection TV for the premiere.

Attending the premiere: Aaron Dallas, his girlfriend Heather Sanford, Bill and DeeDee, Lynn and Guy, Cara and Steven, Jessica, Liz, Lila, Enid, Jeffrey, Ned and Alice Wakefield, Winston and Maria, Ken, Olivia, and Abbie Richardson.

Abbie Richardson, in case you wondered, is a pretty brunette who used to be part of Jessica's and Lila's little clique in ninth grade. In tenth grade, Abbie started dating a guy from Palisades and stopped associating with our favorite popular girls.

Quotes:
Why couldn't she make a documentary about Sweet Valley? That was definitely something she was an expert on. - Truer words were never spoken or thought, Miss Busybody Wakefield. p 27

"Hi, Enid. It's me. Listen, I've got this great idea. Remember that article I read to you yesterday about that documentary contest?"
"I knew it," Enid said smugly. "Go on. What's it going to be?"
"How does 'This Is Sweet Valley' grab you?"
Enid was silent for a minute, considering. "You know," she said slowly, "that could be really good." - I like this one for two reasons. One- It sounds as if Enid actually has to think about how badly it could be botched and whether Liz is just full of herself, as possibly usual, before she answers. So, snarky! Two- It actually sounds like a conversation I'd have had with my friends, particularly the smug satisfaction of knowing someone better than they knew themselves. Okay, fine, I'm stretching a bit, I know. p33

   "Man, Enid's grandmother is a real pain," Jessica stated bluntly as she got into the Fiat.
   "Jessica!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "How can you say that?"
   "I don't know. I just can." - I love you, Jessica. I shouldn't, but I do. p56

"And make sure you always shoot her from her best side."
"How about I just shoot her period?" he offered, looking hopeful. - Liz/Jeffrey, about Jessica. Um, what has Jess really done to make Jeffrey loathe her? Todd I understand, but Jeffrey's gotten off awfully lite to harbor such notions. p 57

"Welcome to Sweet Valley, California," Jessica began smoothly. "It's a small town, a quiet town, and maybe a lot like your own hometown. But it has a life and character all its own..." - Liz? Your script needs work. I'm thinking that we should crash the premiere and take the "Town!" drinking game challenge. I'm thinking we'll all have to get new livers by sunup.

Enid nearly cried with frustration. It seemed as though every time her grandmother insisted she didn't want to be a bother, she was being the most difficult to get along with! -So true, it hurts. p103

It only took me half of forever to get around to posting this, huh? Yeah, well, problem is that re-reading this to pick up the trivia and quotes just never managed to work out all that well. I love Enid, I do. But why on earth does she get the crazy Grandma story? Really, come on. Maybe because she's just so nice to give up her room for an attic space. Who knows.
I always think that Enid is a candy striper at the hospital or something when I see this cover, although I know full well she's not. She just looks like she should be at the hospital, I guess. Meh.
The book is pretty standard as far as these things go, although if you like Winston cameos, you should enjoy him 'ruining' Jessica's camera time. Also, it's weird that unless Richard is talking to Adele, they always call him Richard Cernak. Like we'd forget a last name like that...