every step you take, I'll be watching you
Jun. 7th, 2010 10:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_oracleTwo Boy Weekend
April 1989
Has Jessica found someone new?
Love gone wrong...
Jessica Wakefield doesn't know how she'll survive a long weekend without her steady boyfriend, A. J. Morgan. But when she meets Christopher, a mysterious, good-looking boy, her lonely weekend turns into one of the most romantic times of her life. Jessica knows she'll have to stop seeing Christopher when A.J. returns, but in the meantime, she's going to enjoy herself.
Then, what started out as fun turns into a nightmare. Christopher refuses to leave Jessica alone. He calls her every night, then begins following her. Jessica is terrified that A.J. will find out and break off their relationship. Has Jessica gotten herself in too deep this time?
There are two types of people in the world.Jessicas and Elizabeths. Those who mourn the loss of A.J./Jessica and those who don't. That latter group can be further broken down into subgroups, including those who don't care, those who thought the whole thing was a farce, and those who have no idea who A.J. Morgan is. (Where you been, guys?)
I fall squarely in the "A.J.! Noooo, don't go!" camp. I blame the fact that I was seven when this book came out. Which meant I was probably eight when I read it. And to an eight year old, this is a Big Freakin' Deal. This also means any hope of me being impartial when it comes to this book flew out the window, oh, say, twenty years back.
Let's skip straight to the good stuff. A.J. and Jessica have been on shaky ground for the last couple of books, but since this is Jessica's first "real" relationship, she still has no idea what to do about it. She's not Liz, so she can't just talk her relationship to death. She's the proactive twin (those of you who just imagined her in an ad hawking an acne system have my sympathy. Crap, got me, too!) so she has to actively work to sabotage her relationship. But how, oh how can we do this while still making Jessica seem vaguely sympathetic?
I know! We'll have A.J. go to Texas for his grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary. Jessica subsequently throws a massive bitchfit about his going away (How dare he miss Ken Matthews' party! His PARTY, dammit!) and then spends the remaining time she has with him sulking. I've done a similar trick so I can't really fault her for this one, especially when she acknowledges that it's dumb but that she just can't help it.
A.J. leaves with promises of being back early Sunday afternoon, and Jessica proceeds to spend the rest of the week making everyone else's lives miserable. Amy, Lila, and Cara are a bit tired of putting up with this crap by Friday, so they decide to coerce her into going to the beach with them after school.
I still don't know why since they don't actively try and cheer her up and mostly they just kind of bitch about her to her face. Jessica heads out to the water to escape their ignoring her Very Real and Very Important Pain. She thinks that it would serve them right if an undertow dragged her out to Hawaii or something and isn't it rude that they aren't even asking how she's coping without her boyfriend? I mean really. Those selfish cows.
When she returns from the watery depths of the Pacific, her friends decide it's time for some DB action. Jessica declines, fully expecting her trio of friends to attempt to talk her into going with them. They don't. I believe Amy would be so dense, and that Lila would just plain be tired of the attitude, but Cara's awfully clueless this go round for some reason. The girls leave Jessica behind and Jess spends the rest of the afternoon staring out into the ocean. She fixates on a surfer until she realizes just how long she's been sitting on the beach, alone. When she starts to leave, Mysterious Surfer Dude emerges from the water and starts chatting. He's incredibly cute and it doesn't take long for him to ask Jessica out.
To give her some credit, Jessica is a bit torn at this. On the one hand, she rationalizes that she's allowed to make new friends, guys included, and there's nothing wrong in getting dinner with a friend. On the other hand, given the way she feels when she's with Christopher, she knows full well that this is actually a date.
Yeah, it doesn't take long for the shoulder devil to win this debate. Jess hurries home to get ready for her not!date with Christopher. While she's trying to shower and get prettiful, Liz keeps popping into the bathroom looking for stuff. When she asks why Jess is getting so made-up, Jess tells her she made a new friend, Chris, and that they're going out to dinner. Liz assumes that Chris is a girl and encourages Jessica to bring Chris to Ken's party later. Jess says she'll think about it and then promptly runs away.
It doesn't take long for Jessica and Chris to hit it off, and I'm still not sure whether Jessica kisses Christopher first or what, but the damage is done. The combination of having someone so good looking fawning over her and the forbidden nature of their weekend romance is sending Jessica's mind into a tailspin. The pair arrange to meet in Pacific Shores the following day. Jess is feeling more than a tad bit guilty over sneaking around on A.J., but not so guilty that she blows Chris off Saturday morning. They wander around the town so that Chris can surprise her with roses and a small stuffed sea lion. The next day they agree to meet at the beach before noon. Jessica's heart breaks a little as she tells Chris that she can't see him anymore. When he asks why, she confesses she has a boyfriend and that this could never be more than a fling. She attempts to soften the blow by saying, "Maybe one day..." but Chris believes it's better to leave things at a complete end. He actually takes this all very, very well. But since this is only page 47, you know something bad is going to happen.
A.J. comes home later that afternoon and for the rest of the book Jessica acts like a complete spaz which I don't understand. Jessica is a master liar. How is it that she can't keep her cool around A.J. at all? Are we supposed to figure that she's just so overcome with guilt that she's unable to use her most valuable skill to date around him?
Then the phone calls start. Christopher has changed his mind and he wants to be friends with Jessica. Given how badly Jess is handling just being around A.J. there's no way in hell she could handle having Chris in her life at the moment. She tells him no and hangs up. Yeah, that doesn't stop him. He keeps calling and appears around Sweet Valley enough to freak Jessica out completely and convince her friends (and sister) that she's lost her damn mind, what with all the shrieking and dropping things and not really paying attention without an obvious reason as to why.
Thing is, because Christopher doesn't really know Jessica, he also doesn't know she has an identical twin, so when he sees Elizabeth around town, he thinks Jessica is further blowing him off. I wonder how this could go horribly, horribly wrong...
Christopher ups the crazy ante by showing up to give A.J.'s car a test drive, because by some twist of fate A.J. is selling his car. When he arrives at A.J.'s house, Jessica is there, but instead of busting her right then and there, he pretends to have never met Jessica. He pretends to be in a real hurry so when A.J. gets another call about the car, A.J. tells Jessica to ride in the car with Christopher because it's not like Chris is going to kidnap Jessica or anything, right? Oh, A.J....
While out on the test drive, Christopher drives like a maniac. He threatens to tell A.J. unless Jessica goes out with him on Saturday night. Jess refuses at first because that's the Citizen's Day Ball and dude, she is going to be QUEEN, dammit. He appears to play chicken with a building until Jessica caves. Jessica has no intention of actually going out with him but she still doesn't know what to do.
Uh, you call the cops, Jessica. That little carjacking was enough to at least tell your parents. But wait! You'd have to confess to A.J. and that might mean he would break up with you and you wouldn't get to be the center of attention at the ball and this just cannot be!
Instead she eventually confesses to Elizabeth who doesn't tell Jessica to tell their parents or the cops, despite the fact that hello! Christopher is obviously unhinged. Hell, Jessica even makes a comment that this whole being stalked by a psycho is not cool and Liz comes back with, "He's not a psycho, Jess." Really? Because I think anyone who shows up outside the fast food joint you're at, takes down your boyfriend's phone number, sets up an appointment to see boyfriend's car, then takes you for a death ride while trying to blackmail you into a date is grounds for a certificate of insanity, Liz. The boy needs help.
What do I know? I've only read this book ten times.
Liz keeps pressuring Jessica to tell A.J. which will get rid of the hold Christopher thinks he has over Jessica. (This is your advice, Lizzie? Not tell A.J. and the parentals and maybe the cops? You are so not the smart one anymore.) Jessica refuses because she doesn't want to lose her chance at the crown. Liz is a bit taken aback that Jessica would really say that aloud instead of at least pretending that A.J. was worth more than the crown he offers her sociopathic twin. Oh, Lizzie...
The best part of this is that Jessica then realizes what a bitch she sounds like and mentally justifies it by saying that if she told A.J. before the Ball, not only would it cost her the crown, it would shake A.J. so badly that it would ruin his night. Most impressive is how logical this sounds. Oi!
The night of the Ball, Jess waits for Christopher to call. When he does, she convinces him she's coming down with strep throat or something. He gives in entirely too easily, again, but Jessica is convinced this has less to do with him not believing her and more to do with her superior acting skills. Liz must secretly hope this guy takes Jessica DOWN because she doesn't really try to point out how stupid this is beyond a brief, "That was a little too easy, huh? comment.
At the ball, Jessica is more than a little antsy for her coronation. When Liz and Jeffrey head outside to dance on the terrace, Chris appears and cuts in. Liz lets him and then shoots Jeffrey "it's okay, pay no attention to the psycho whose arms I'm currently in" looks and Jeffrey is a bit confused. Can't blame the boy. Unlike Todd, he hasn't really been around for any of the crazy murderous boys who come in and out of the twins' lives. He's always out of town when they show up during his run.
For reasons beyond my belief, Liz agrees to go with Christopher when he tires of dancing. She says it's so that Jessica can have her moment in the sun but no one can be that dumb, can they? Apparently they can, because she disappears shortly thereafter. Jeffrey goes in to talk to Jessica who immediately realizes what's happened. Chris appeared and mistook Elizabeth for her and Liz let the nut job think what he wanted because Elizabeth is the Patron Saint of Stupid.
Knowing the creepy feeling Chris has been giving off since he decided they should be together FOREVER, Jessica debates the merits of immediately going after her twin or waiting the approximate five minutes until she's crowned. If she waits, A.J. will make her his queen and might never need to know about Chris. Of course, who the hell knows what Chris will do to Liz in the meantime. On the other hand, really, who knows if Chris is doing anything more than talking Elizabeth's ear off?
Jessica chooses her crown over her twin.
Which means that Chris tricks/drags Liz to his car, prompting her to flashback to when Carl kidnapped her many, many moons ago. She starts to cry and freak out, which makes me actually want to protect her. Poor Lizzie. See what happens when you do something stupid? When Liz considers screaming and running for safety, Christopher unveils a knife and begins his creepy ranting about how none of this would have happened if she'd only loved him as much as he loved her. Chris ties her wrists up and shoves her in the trunk of his car and about the time this happens...
A.J. is called up to the stage to read his essay. Jessica is gripped by the feeling that her twin is in serious danger (you think?) and runs out of the building with Jeffrey in search of Liz. Listening only to her twin-sense, she runs to the parking lot and sees Christopher's VW convertible. She runs out in front of his car, and because Chris is insane, he thinks she's somehow escaped from the trunk only to run... right in front of the one person she'd probably be trying to get away from. When Chris tries to round Jessica up, Jeffrey kicks his ass. Jessica takes Christopher's keys and lets Liz out of the trunk where the two marvel at how almost like a miracle this is. I'm pretty sure that this qualifies, guys.
Liz encourages Jessica to head back to hear the end of A.J.'s essay and take her rightful place in the spotlight. Seriously.
Ain't making this up.
Promise.
On a stack of first editions, people.
Anyway, Jessica does, but when she hears the end of A.J.'s essay she realizes that such a nice guy deserves far better than she's capable of giving him anytime soon. When A.J. catches sight of how upset Jessica is, he hops off the stage to see if there's anything he can do to help. For a moment Jessica tries to hold onto her news, but ultimately A.J. figures out that she's breaking up with him without him really knowing why. When he asks, she tells him that she's not able to commit herself to one guy, no matter how amazing he is. ( I might be taking certain liberties with the specific wording, but you know, the boy is having his shining moment ruined, so cut me some slack.) She never does confess to having cheated on him, so A.J. I guess just thinks her timing blows. He asks her to be his queen for one night, for the past... and my little heart breaks just a tad.
Then we lead up to Shelley Novak taking center stage in the next book. Amy bets that no one will invite her to whatever dance because Shelley is taller than all the guys and no guy would want to date anyone taller than he is. Jessica probably realizes that there's at least one guy who wouldn't mind if his eye level was, y'know, boob height thus giving him a legitimate reason to never make eye contact, so she bets that Shelley will have a date. Sure, yeah, I'm still in the spotlight at the ball sniffling, guys.
We'll miss you, A.J.
Trivia:
Quotable Sweet Valley:
"Yes, ma'am. And we're leaving Wednesday-" - I love that AJ just called his girlfriend ma'am. p6
"Let's see if they have any tables outside," he suggested, his eyes lingering on her. "I'm getting hungry."
For some reason, his words sent a shiver up Jessica's spine. Everything he said sounded seductive and thrilling. - Anyone else want to take this the wrong way, or is it just me? p 31
Elizabeth sat across from her twin, feeling slightly hurt. Sometimes she wished Jessica would be a little more enthusiastic about the things she cared about. - I ♥ Liz at times like this. p53
More than anything else, she wanted to confide in her twin. Elizabeth was always so reasonable. Nothing like this would happen to her in a million years, but she could help if anyone could. - Oh, Jessica. Liz is just as much a cheater as you are, only she hides it. p 75
Finally Jessica's sobs died down. She sniffed miserably into Elizabeth's shoulder. "I'm such a total jerk," she cried. "I'm the stupidest fool in the universe. I can't believe I did something so mean and-and sneaky!"
"What did you do now, Jess?" - Price.Less! p96
"It's hard to stay cool when a psycho's after you."
"He's not a psycho, Jess." - Liz, I'd say the guy stalking you and your sister, calling her at all hours of the day, and taking her for an unsolicited joyride where it was implied that he would crash the motherfucking car if she didn't agree to go out with him qualified as a psycho. p 107
It seemed almost a miracle that she had found her twin. - Almost? In the midst of a huge party you get the psychic heebie jeebies and run through a country club, bypassing all the various places this guy could have taken Elizabeth, and manage to find him in the parking lot JUST as he's leaving and you call this an almost miracle? What, does a statue need to cry blood before it's declared an honest-to-dog Miracle? :P p135
God, I suck. It's taken me a year to get from introducing AJ to getting rid of him. Still, at least a few of you have stuck around and for that, the peasants (me) rejoice.
As for TBW, it's one of those you should probably read, although I hesitate to call it a classic in terms of SVH, because you could really just tell yourself that Jess cheats, doesn't exactly get caught, and then breaks up with AJ when she realizes that she's not good enough for him. On the other hand, if you don't read the back of the book and you haven't been spoiled (because this is 1989 and you're not going to flip to the end of the book because you're a Liz-type), the fact that the book is presented so wildly different from what you actually get? Is a nice bit of whiplash. You go in expecting the one where Jess and AJ break up and you get a psychotic surfer dude who kidnaps Liz and threatens her with a knife!
Still, AJ's a sweetheart and the fact that Elizabeth refuses to see what a psychopath she and her twin are dealing with are both definite reasons to give this book a whirl. Also? I have a serious soft spot for the Liz/Jessica scenes as they get ready for their nights out, or when Jess is trying to confess and can't bring herself to actually speak the words aloud. Whichever ghosty wrote this is one of the ones I like.
April 1989
Has Jessica found someone new?
Love gone wrong...
Jessica Wakefield doesn't know how she'll survive a long weekend without her steady boyfriend, A. J. Morgan. But when she meets Christopher, a mysterious, good-looking boy, her lonely weekend turns into one of the most romantic times of her life. Jessica knows she'll have to stop seeing Christopher when A.J. returns, but in the meantime, she's going to enjoy herself.
Then, what started out as fun turns into a nightmare. Christopher refuses to leave Jessica alone. He calls her every night, then begins following her. Jessica is terrified that A.J. will find out and break off their relationship. Has Jessica gotten herself in too deep this time?
There are two types of people in the world.
I fall squarely in the "A.J.! Noooo, don't go!" camp. I blame the fact that I was seven when this book came out. Which meant I was probably eight when I read it. And to an eight year old, this is a Big Freakin' Deal. This also means any hope of me being impartial when it comes to this book flew out the window, oh, say, twenty years back.
Let's skip straight to the good stuff. A.J. and Jessica have been on shaky ground for the last couple of books, but since this is Jessica's first "real" relationship, she still has no idea what to do about it. She's not Liz, so she can't just talk her relationship to death. She's the proactive twin (those of you who just imagined her in an ad hawking an acne system have my sympathy. Crap, got me, too!) so she has to actively work to sabotage her relationship. But how, oh how can we do this while still making Jessica seem vaguely sympathetic?
I know! We'll have A.J. go to Texas for his grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary. Jessica subsequently throws a massive bitchfit about his going away (How dare he miss Ken Matthews' party! His PARTY, dammit!) and then spends the remaining time she has with him sulking. I've done a similar trick so I can't really fault her for this one, especially when she acknowledges that it's dumb but that she just can't help it.
A.J. leaves with promises of being back early Sunday afternoon, and Jessica proceeds to spend the rest of the week making everyone else's lives miserable. Amy, Lila, and Cara are a bit tired of putting up with this crap by Friday, so they decide to coerce her into going to the beach with them after school.
I still don't know why since they don't actively try and cheer her up and mostly they just kind of bitch about her to her face. Jessica heads out to the water to escape their ignoring her Very Real and Very Important Pain. She thinks that it would serve them right if an undertow dragged her out to Hawaii or something and isn't it rude that they aren't even asking how she's coping without her boyfriend? I mean really. Those selfish cows.
When she returns from the watery depths of the Pacific, her friends decide it's time for some DB action. Jessica declines, fully expecting her trio of friends to attempt to talk her into going with them. They don't. I believe Amy would be so dense, and that Lila would just plain be tired of the attitude, but Cara's awfully clueless this go round for some reason. The girls leave Jessica behind and Jess spends the rest of the afternoon staring out into the ocean. She fixates on a surfer until she realizes just how long she's been sitting on the beach, alone. When she starts to leave, Mysterious Surfer Dude emerges from the water and starts chatting. He's incredibly cute and it doesn't take long for him to ask Jessica out.
To give her some credit, Jessica is a bit torn at this. On the one hand, she rationalizes that she's allowed to make new friends, guys included, and there's nothing wrong in getting dinner with a friend. On the other hand, given the way she feels when she's with Christopher, she knows full well that this is actually a date.
Yeah, it doesn't take long for the shoulder devil to win this debate. Jess hurries home to get ready for her not!date with Christopher. While she's trying to shower and get prettiful, Liz keeps popping into the bathroom looking for stuff. When she asks why Jess is getting so made-up, Jess tells her she made a new friend, Chris, and that they're going out to dinner. Liz assumes that Chris is a girl and encourages Jessica to bring Chris to Ken's party later. Jess says she'll think about it and then promptly runs away.
It doesn't take long for Jessica and Chris to hit it off, and I'm still not sure whether Jessica kisses Christopher first or what, but the damage is done. The combination of having someone so good looking fawning over her and the forbidden nature of their weekend romance is sending Jessica's mind into a tailspin. The pair arrange to meet in Pacific Shores the following day. Jess is feeling more than a tad bit guilty over sneaking around on A.J., but not so guilty that she blows Chris off Saturday morning. They wander around the town so that Chris can surprise her with roses and a small stuffed sea lion. The next day they agree to meet at the beach before noon. Jessica's heart breaks a little as she tells Chris that she can't see him anymore. When he asks why, she confesses she has a boyfriend and that this could never be more than a fling. She attempts to soften the blow by saying, "Maybe one day..." but Chris believes it's better to leave things at a complete end. He actually takes this all very, very well. But since this is only page 47, you know something bad is going to happen.
A.J. comes home later that afternoon and for the rest of the book Jessica acts like a complete spaz which I don't understand. Jessica is a master liar. How is it that she can't keep her cool around A.J. at all? Are we supposed to figure that she's just so overcome with guilt that she's unable to use her most valuable skill to date around him?
Then the phone calls start. Christopher has changed his mind and he wants to be friends with Jessica. Given how badly Jess is handling just being around A.J. there's no way in hell she could handle having Chris in her life at the moment. She tells him no and hangs up. Yeah, that doesn't stop him. He keeps calling and appears around Sweet Valley enough to freak Jessica out completely and convince her friends (and sister) that she's lost her damn mind, what with all the shrieking and dropping things and not really paying attention without an obvious reason as to why.
Thing is, because Christopher doesn't really know Jessica, he also doesn't know she has an identical twin, so when he sees Elizabeth around town, he thinks Jessica is further blowing him off. I wonder how this could go horribly, horribly wrong...
Christopher ups the crazy ante by showing up to give A.J.'s car a test drive, because by some twist of fate A.J. is selling his car. When he arrives at A.J.'s house, Jessica is there, but instead of busting her right then and there, he pretends to have never met Jessica. He pretends to be in a real hurry so when A.J. gets another call about the car, A.J. tells Jessica to ride in the car with Christopher because it's not like Chris is going to kidnap Jessica or anything, right? Oh, A.J....
While out on the test drive, Christopher drives like a maniac. He threatens to tell A.J. unless Jessica goes out with him on Saturday night. Jess refuses at first because that's the Citizen's Day Ball and dude, she is going to be QUEEN, dammit. He appears to play chicken with a building until Jessica caves. Jessica has no intention of actually going out with him but she still doesn't know what to do.
Uh, you call the cops, Jessica. That little carjacking was enough to at least tell your parents. But wait! You'd have to confess to A.J. and that might mean he would break up with you and you wouldn't get to be the center of attention at the ball and this just cannot be!
Instead she eventually confesses to Elizabeth who doesn't tell Jessica to tell their parents or the cops, despite the fact that hello! Christopher is obviously unhinged. Hell, Jessica even makes a comment that this whole being stalked by a psycho is not cool and Liz comes back with, "He's not a psycho, Jess." Really? Because I think anyone who shows up outside the fast food joint you're at, takes down your boyfriend's phone number, sets up an appointment to see boyfriend's car, then takes you for a death ride while trying to blackmail you into a date is grounds for a certificate of insanity, Liz. The boy needs help.
What do I know? I've only read this book ten times.
Liz keeps pressuring Jessica to tell A.J. which will get rid of the hold Christopher thinks he has over Jessica. (This is your advice, Lizzie? Not tell A.J. and the parentals and maybe the cops? You are so not the smart one anymore.) Jessica refuses because she doesn't want to lose her chance at the crown. Liz is a bit taken aback that Jessica would really say that aloud instead of at least pretending that A.J. was worth more than the crown he offers her sociopathic twin. Oh, Lizzie...
The best part of this is that Jessica then realizes what a bitch she sounds like and mentally justifies it by saying that if she told A.J. before the Ball, not only would it cost her the crown, it would shake A.J. so badly that it would ruin his night. Most impressive is how logical this sounds. Oi!
The night of the Ball, Jess waits for Christopher to call. When he does, she convinces him she's coming down with strep throat or something. He gives in entirely too easily, again, but Jessica is convinced this has less to do with him not believing her and more to do with her superior acting skills. Liz must secretly hope this guy takes Jessica DOWN because she doesn't really try to point out how stupid this is beyond a brief, "That was a little too easy, huh? comment.
At the ball, Jessica is more than a little antsy for her coronation. When Liz and Jeffrey head outside to dance on the terrace, Chris appears and cuts in. Liz lets him and then shoots Jeffrey "it's okay, pay no attention to the psycho whose arms I'm currently in" looks and Jeffrey is a bit confused. Can't blame the boy. Unlike Todd, he hasn't really been around for any of the crazy murderous boys who come in and out of the twins' lives. He's always out of town when they show up during his run.
For reasons beyond my belief, Liz agrees to go with Christopher when he tires of dancing. She says it's so that Jessica can have her moment in the sun but no one can be that dumb, can they? Apparently they can, because she disappears shortly thereafter. Jeffrey goes in to talk to Jessica who immediately realizes what's happened. Chris appeared and mistook Elizabeth for her and Liz let the nut job think what he wanted because Elizabeth is the Patron Saint of Stupid.
Knowing the creepy feeling Chris has been giving off since he decided they should be together FOREVER, Jessica debates the merits of immediately going after her twin or waiting the approximate five minutes until she's crowned. If she waits, A.J. will make her his queen and might never need to know about Chris. Of course, who the hell knows what Chris will do to Liz in the meantime. On the other hand, really, who knows if Chris is doing anything more than talking Elizabeth's ear off?
Jessica chooses her crown over her twin.
Which means that Chris tricks/drags Liz to his car, prompting her to flashback to when Carl kidnapped her many, many moons ago. She starts to cry and freak out, which makes me actually want to protect her. Poor Lizzie. See what happens when you do something stupid? When Liz considers screaming and running for safety, Christopher unveils a knife and begins his creepy ranting about how none of this would have happened if she'd only loved him as much as he loved her. Chris ties her wrists up and shoves her in the trunk of his car and about the time this happens...
A.J. is called up to the stage to read his essay. Jessica is gripped by the feeling that her twin is in serious danger (you think?) and runs out of the building with Jeffrey in search of Liz. Listening only to her twin-sense, she runs to the parking lot and sees Christopher's VW convertible. She runs out in front of his car, and because Chris is insane, he thinks she's somehow escaped from the trunk only to run... right in front of the one person she'd probably be trying to get away from. When Chris tries to round Jessica up, Jeffrey kicks his ass. Jessica takes Christopher's keys and lets Liz out of the trunk where the two marvel at how almost like a miracle this is. I'm pretty sure that this qualifies, guys.
Liz encourages Jessica to head back to hear the end of A.J.'s essay and take her rightful place in the spotlight. Seriously.
Ain't making this up.
Promise.
On a stack of first editions, people.
Anyway, Jessica does, but when she hears the end of A.J.'s essay she realizes that such a nice guy deserves far better than she's capable of giving him anytime soon. When A.J. catches sight of how upset Jessica is, he hops off the stage to see if there's anything he can do to help. For a moment Jessica tries to hold onto her news, but ultimately A.J. figures out that she's breaking up with him without him really knowing why. When he asks, she tells him that she's not able to commit herself to one guy, no matter how amazing he is. ( I might be taking certain liberties with the specific wording, but you know, the boy is having his shining moment ruined, so cut me some slack.) She never does confess to having cheated on him, so A.J. I guess just thinks her timing blows. He asks her to be his queen for one night, for the past... and my little heart breaks just a tad.
Then we lead up to Shelley Novak taking center stage in the next book. Amy bets that no one will invite her to whatever dance because Shelley is taller than all the guys and no guy would want to date anyone taller than he is. Jessica probably realizes that there's at least one guy who wouldn't mind if his eye level was, y'know, boob height thus giving him a legitimate reason to never make eye contact, so she bets that Shelley will have a date. Sure, yeah, I'm still in the spotlight at the ball sniffling, guys.
We'll miss you, A.J.
Trivia:
- Liz's recorder flirtation is still mentioned as of TBW, as it's listed as one of the ways Liz is different from Jessica.
- Elizabeth didn't even enter the essay contest, so anyone who was hoping this meant Liz was bested by AJ is out of luck. (Curses!)
- She was too busy with the Big Sister/Little Sister program. Which is a bit odd since I thought Enid was doing a good chunk of the actual work behind the scenes...
- Citizen's Day Ball is hosted by the Samaritans out at the SV Country Club.
- A.J.'s grandparents live in Dallas and are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on Friday. AJ's parents are leaving Wednesday so that the family reunion won't be as rushed.
- That same Friday night is Ken's party and Jess is pissed that she's going to miss it because going without AJ feels wrong.
- AJ and Jess always go to the DB after school and then chat on the phone at night.
- Jess is a little bored by this routine.
- AJ will be back in SV Sunday at 1pm.
- Have I mentioned that I love ♥ Lila using an old, worn oriental rug as her beach blanket? Because I do.
- Jess uses a big red beach towel. Red does not surprise me. How about you?
- Christopher has dark, curly hair, green eyes, and a VW convertible. Jess gives his surfing a B-.
- When stretching the truth about 'Chris' to Liz, Jessica says he lives in Pacific Shores and lets Liz believe that Chris is a girl.
- Jess and Chris have their first date at Casa Sur and then drive down the beach to Sea Otter Point.
- The next day they meet at 10pm in front of a cafe in Pacific Shores, which is known for its planetarium which apparently also houses an aquarium.
- Chris initially buys Jessica a single red rose, then when she loves it, runs back and buys her the rest of the roses being sold at the time. He also buys her a stuffed sea lion pup souvenir.
- After AJ returns from Texas, Liz thinks his accent has gotten thicker. The urge to drawl is so strong right now, you have no idea.
- AJ is selling his six year old Toyota, though he's not sure what he'll get to replace it. His starting price is $1,500.
- Chris sends Jessica an impressive bouquet of flowers that she palms off on Cara when AJ catches her with them. Jess says that Steve asked her to give them to Cara.
- AJ mentions he'd like to receive flowers sometime.
- Aaron is interested in AJ's car.
- Apparently no one has ever offered to buy Kim Edgars, Elizabeth's Little Sister, a book before. Liz puts in a good word for Johnny Tremain and Kim thinks that means that's the book she has to get.
- At the Citizen's Day Ball there's a mix of SVH students, their parents, "important" citizens, local celebrities as well as the Mayor. Really? None of the other local high schools are important enough to be invited to this shindig? No wonder things get so dicey in SY when the schools mingle.
- Other notable guests include Jeremy Frank, Skye and Kurt Morrow, and Lila's father.
- The Coronation starts at 8pm.
- Paul McKormick is the president of the Samaritans.
- When Chris is leading Elizabeth away from the country club towards the parking lot, she starts to flashback to her kidnapping in #12/13 and I cheer for continuity.
Quotable Sweet Valley:
"Yes, ma'am. And we're leaving Wednesday-" - I love that AJ just called his girlfriend ma'am. p6
"Let's see if they have any tables outside," he suggested, his eyes lingering on her. "I'm getting hungry."
For some reason, his words sent a shiver up Jessica's spine. Everything he said sounded seductive and thrilling. - Anyone else want to take this the wrong way, or is it just me? p 31
Elizabeth sat across from her twin, feeling slightly hurt. Sometimes she wished Jessica would be a little more enthusiastic about the things she cared about. - I ♥ Liz at times like this. p53
More than anything else, she wanted to confide in her twin. Elizabeth was always so reasonable. Nothing like this would happen to her in a million years, but she could help if anyone could. - Oh, Jessica. Liz is just as much a cheater as you are, only she hides it. p 75
"What did you do now, Jess?" - Price.Less! p96
"It's hard to stay cool when a psycho's after you."
"He's not a psycho, Jess." - Liz, I'd say the guy stalking you and your sister, calling her at all hours of the day, and taking her for an unsolicited joyride where it was implied that he would crash the motherfucking car if she didn't agree to go out with him qualified as a psycho. p 107
It seemed almost a miracle that she had found her twin. - Almost? In the midst of a huge party you get the psychic heebie jeebies and run through a country club, bypassing all the various places this guy could have taken Elizabeth, and manage to find him in the parking lot JUST as he's leaving and you call this an almost miracle? What, does a statue need to cry blood before it's declared an honest-to-dog Miracle? :P p135
God, I suck. It's taken me a year to get from introducing AJ to getting rid of him. Still, at least a few of you have stuck around and for that, the peasants (me) rejoice.
As for TBW, it's one of those you should probably read, although I hesitate to call it a classic in terms of SVH, because you could really just tell yourself that Jess cheats, doesn't exactly get caught, and then breaks up with AJ when she realizes that she's not good enough for him. On the other hand, if you don't read the back of the book and you haven't been spoiled (because this is 1989 and you're not going to flip to the end of the book because you're a Liz-type), the fact that the book is presented so wildly different from what you actually get? Is a nice bit of whiplash. You go in expecting the one where Jess and AJ break up and you get a psychotic surfer dude who kidnaps Liz and threatens her with a knife!
Still, AJ's a sweetheart and the fact that Elizabeth refuses to see what a psychopath she and her twin are dealing with are both definite reasons to give this book a whirl. Also? I have a serious soft spot for the Liz/Jessica scenes as they get ready for their nights out, or when Jess is trying to confess and can't bring herself to actually speak the words aloud. Whichever ghosty wrote this is one of the ones I like.
