the_oracle

Memories
Dec 1986

Can Cara make Steven forget Tricia Martin?

Torn apart by love...

   The Wakefield twins' older brother, Steven, hasn't dated anyone since his girlfriend died of leukemia. He can't even look at another girl without thinking of his beloved Tricia.
   But Steven is drawn to Cara Walker. Sweet Valley's biggest flirt and gossip has changed. Her parents have divorced, and her father and brother have moved away. Cara understands the pain of losing someone.
   When Tricia's sister Betsy sees Steven and Cara dancing together at a party, she accuses Steven of forgetting about Tricia. Steven is torn by Betsy's bitter accusation. He can't deny his attraction to Cara. But how can he ever love another girl after Tricia?

  Memories is an odd book. It's billed as the Steven/Cara 'ship finally sets sail only to be slammed by that crackwhore Betsy Martin, but that actually happened in the last book. Seriously, first time we see Bets this go round, she's ready to apologize for bitching out poor Steven, but he's so firmly under his thundercloud of guilt that he won't hear of it. If you've never read this or any other freakin' SVH book past the one where Trish bites it, but you've seen all of S7 of Buffy, think of how Willow flips out when she falls for that crackwhore pesky Kennedy. No, Steven doesn't morph into Warren thus freaking out the Scoobies, but he does act sort of similarly. Tis freaky. You see, by falling for Cara [finally!] he's betraying Tricia's memory by moving on. By forgetting her in bits and pieces. He can't handle that, so he runs to the one person who can fill in his foggy memory better than anyone else, as well as his biggest and easiest source of guilt. Crackwhore Martin. People keep trying to convince us that Crackwhore wouldn't be so bitchy, but hello? She so would. Betsy has three "defining" characteristics. One, she's an artist. Just like everyone else in the Valley. Two, she's got a horrible reputation. Just like half the brunette's in SV. Three, she's an unrelenting bitch. So yeah, it's totally like her to make someone miserable to keep them under her thumb.
  Now, in a related sort of way, we must look at this from Cara's view. She's had a thing for Steven for ages, and just when it looks like the gods might smile upon her, it's not until her home life is in the shitter [Daddy moved to Chicago and took her little brother, remember?] And then there's the little matter of Steven being a total bastard to her at every turn. After he totally fucks up her birthday because he's too... stupid? ... to tell her that the place she picked was the scene of his last actual date with Tricia, she tells him to fuck off. Romantically he's just as unavailable as he's always been, if not more so because she will not [and cannot] compete with a ghost, particularly one Steve has so romanticized. I added that last bit, but you know she's thinking it. Steve's all but got the halo drawn on all of Tricia's pictures.

  To distract us from this, we have a real "wait, what the fuck?" two-fer concerning the twins. We'll go with Jessica's first as it has nothing to do with anything at all. Jess has decided that she's definitely meant for the movies, but instead of auditioning or something, she decides to stalk Winston because she overheard her mother talking to Winston's mother about a movie director relation. To Jessica's credit, he actually was supposed to show up for a mini reunion, only he was forced to cancel after a movie shoot ran long. So when Jess meets one of Mrs. Egbert's cousins, she assumes it's the director. It's not. It's a civil engineer, and while you might not see that exact twist coming, you know the moment he opens his mouth that he's not the director and that when Jess professes to love his job and wants to be in the biz as well and he's shocked, that he does something totally un-Jessica. Even as a kid I knew that much.
  The best part of this is how hard to get Winston is.
  Then we have Liz. To properly put this in perspective, this book begins the day AFTER the last one. Less than 24 hours, people! Todd's still in town, although he's pretty much a no-show for the book. At the beginning of the book, he's still very much Elizabeth's boyfriend, but about halfway through he's demoted to "ex-boyfriend" or "former boyfriend." Um, okay, I guess. Liz sees a Todd lookalike at the mall and then at school and then, with the help of Penny, she figures out he's on the Big Mesa volleyball team and his name is Michael Sellers. Liz is totally infatuated because he's freakishly similar to Todd. I'm thinking more so than when they switched actors on the TV show and expected us to go with it because it was a soap and soaps do that all the time. So, Liz wants to meet the clone because he might be just like Todd and then she can just replace her boyfriend with an almost perfect replica!

  And as other people have noted, no one calls her on this, despite the fact that the idiot doing this line of thinking is a twin and should therefor know how different two people can be even when they look IDENTICAL.
  So there's this volleyball match and I'm totally having Saved By The Bell flashbacks [their summer at the hotel or whatever, and Leah Remini was a cast member? I loved her then. So much love, so much makeup...] and to complement that, Liz is having Todd flashbacks because MS looks just like Todd! Eee! OMG! Whatever. As a result, she's the worst volleyball player, EVER. I'm thinking I might be better, and while I found v-ball to be the least evil of all sports, thinking me better than anyone at anything athletic is probably not a good sign. Mikey figures that Liz can't play for shit, so they target her and it works! They win! Then SVH wins! It's time for a tie-breaker! I've long since ceased to care! Of course the wonder-twins manage to fake out the other team despite Liz sucking so badly, and they win and it's all fabulous, and there's a dance afterward and Liz goes and meets Mikey there...
  And realizes he's more like Bruce than Todd, but without the fantastic over the top Patman flair. He's like Bruce-lite in Todd-lite form. So she blows him off to dance with Winston. And then Jess blows him off just to talk to Winston. So, so awesome.

  So, with that out of the way, we're back to Steve moping. Liz tires of it and takes matters into her own hands. She goes to Betsy and asks her to set her brother free because they're killing one another. Betsy looks at her like she's nuts for not wanting Steve to hold onto Tricia as hard as he can. Then Liz points out that for Betsy to go on with her life while still clinging to Tricia isn't a conflict of interest. For Steve to move on and have another relationship, he has to let go of Tricia and he can't do that without massive guilt on his own and Betsy, bitch, you ain't helping.

  What does Betsy do? She caves. Then somehow enlists the help of Teddy Collins who delivers two packages to Cara and Steven whose mother's "accidentally" set them up, and they're fantastic drawings of the other one. Which is Betsy's way of saying fine, have your own life, see if I care, Wakefield. Steve immediately falls all over Cara and she's too weak to resist and aww?

  The lead up for the next book is all about Emily Mayer and her family of woe. You'd think for book twenty five, they'd have outdone themselves, but I guess this is before we treated every multiple of five as a big deal, huh?


Trivia, baby:

• Begins the day after Lila's "it's a day ending in y" party.


• Tricia Martin was a robin in a third grade play. Woo?


• Sharon Egbert, for those keeping track of the parental names.


• Mr. Collins' English class is in room 103.


• Jess has English with Guy, Emily, Winston, and Lila.


• Winston and Jessica do their American author term project on F. Scott Fitzgerald. Lila goes with Hemingway because he's Mariel's grandfather. When she tries to get Jessica to buddy up with her, Jessica keeps thinking Li's saying "highway." Insert blond joke here.


• Michael Sellers is a football player as well as the captain of their charity volleyball team. He's also an ass.


• When Ned was a junior in college, his best friend died in a car accident. Ned named Steven for him.


• Whatever movie Liz was going to watch, Jess ruins by telling her the general poisoned everyone.


• Liz is willing to believe Crackwhore Martin can change, but Cara can't? She believed in Caroline for fuck's sake. What did Cara ever do to her? [Which is to say, Liz is against Cara/Steven and makes a big show of apologizing to Cara for basically thinking her brother could do better. Cara proves she's a lady by not backhanding Liz.]


• SVH's volleyball team: Ken [captain!], Jessica, Liz, Bruce [years of tennis make him good at this, apparently. Seriously, that's what we're told], Lila [who has her own v-ball court and defies gravity when she jumps. She's that awesome], and John Pfeifer who's good, but not swoon worthy.


• Bruce served first in the game. Liz sucked most.


• Artie Western is a senior at SVH, a friend of Steve's, and has a thing for Cara. Awkward!


• Marty Davis [graying blond, for those who like to know] and his wife Jane visit his cousin, Sharon Egbert, and Jess confuses Marty for the interesting cousin.


• Winston lives close enough to walk to the Dairi Burger, as Jessica does just this and you know she doesn't wear sensible shoes.


• Cara's birthday is sometime in the late winter, early spring, which is when I'm guessing this book takes place.


• Steven gives Cara a card that says, "happy birthday to someone nice." He gives her a mystery novel, luckily she really wanted to read it. See, Liz, Cara isn't so bad! She reads. Cara, I should add, does not give Steve a look for the lame card.


• Tricia's favorite song? "Always."


• Cara booked reservations for 7:30 at the Valley Inn. She and Steve had prime rib, tossed green salad, and baked potatoes. Yes, they had the same meal. Don't you know you get something different so you can nibble off his plate? For dessert they have cherry pie and ice cream. Steve doesn't think to do the whole HB song and cake thing until after dessert is delivered, and Cara says she wouldn't have liked the attention anyway. Where'd the real Cara go?


• Cara doesn't take French, or if she does she's taking Spanish as well, as she and Steve bond over what a witch Mrs. Ray is.


• "Strategies for Waste Disposal in L.A." Fascinating literature, eh, Jess?


• Phil Davis was the cousin Jess meant to suck up to and impress with her fabulosity. Next time, love!




• And one last one: Why the hell do we not hear about Steven going to a shrink? Given how much time he spends depressed over Trish, you'd think he'd have been shipped to at least one...

Quotes:
  "Sounds good, Dad," Jessica agreed, "but I've decided the stage isn't big enough for me."
  "Why?" Elizabeth giggled. "Are you planning on gaining a lot of weight?" - Liz is hi-larious. If you're really drunk. p10

  Michael Sellers was astonished. He simply couldn't figure it out. What was wrong with those Wakefield twins? And what did Winston have that he didn't? - A personality, Mikey. p78

"But remember Cara's got one advantage over Tricia. She's alive." - Jessica being cruel to be kind. p91



   I find the Steve/Cara storyline worrisome as it's weird that Steve's only interested in Cara when she's broken and vulnerable, although if I squint I can see why. I think Steve's an ass towards Cara and got off lightly, but I do feel bad for him in having to let go of Tricia, although I was raised in a family where you loved your lost true love until the day you died, hell the only person I knew who remarried was still painfully in love with their lost love, and she'd died some twenty odd years prior. So a few months might feel like forever, but it's not. However, in the interest of getting Steven to shut the hell up, I'm all for Cara fixing him.
  I still hate Betsy and wish daily for a certain Fiat to accidentally swerve into her, killing her instantly while Jessica must try to pretend she cares. Sigh.
  The Liz/Mike storyline is stupid, but obviously when we all thought Todd had a lobotomy later in the series or in SVU, it was because it wasn't Todd. It was Mikey. D'oh! On the plus side, lookit all the pretty, shiny covers. I'd gotten tired of just one or two alternatives. This one's chock full of alternate goodies. Score!

Promises
January 1985

Somehow, Jessica will get rid of Betsy!

Bad girl in town...

   Steven Wakefield is crushed when his girlfriend, Tricia, dies after a tragic illness. The only things that keep him going are the memory of their love and his promise to Tricia to take care of her sister, Betsy, after she's gone.
   Betsy Martin's wild exploits with drink, drugs, and boys have left her with the worst reputation in Sweet Valley. But when Steven takes her into the Wakefield home, Betsy makes a promise to change. And as her goodness grows, so does her love for Steven.
   Jessica, Steven's conniving younger sister, doesn't like this one bit. She makes a little promise of her own-to get Betsy out of the house and out of Steven's life... forever!


  G'ah, who had the raging hatred for the short haired brunettes in the Valley? First we have Easy Annie and now we've got Betsy Martin who actually cops to her escapades and says, yeah, they're true. Let's begin superficially, as that's how we left off before. Betsy there is one of the least lucky of the SVH characters in that she has to share a cover with Jessica [whom I love, cover art wise, for most of the earlier books] and that she's um, well, not Lila circa SVT/Unicorns club, but in the same alley. Which should, if they're both taking notes, be very, very dark. So no one can see you. At all. *cough*

  Like the last gazillion books or so, this one picks up pretty much right after the previous book. We're at the hospital, huddling around Tricia's death bed. That's right, folks, it's taken her how long to actually get here, and we're going to burn through it so fast it'll leave you spinning in your chair. It's all very touching and even Jessica sees the error of her ways, sort of, and tries to apologize, but Tricia doesn't see the need, what with Death tapping her foot gently. Really, in the grand scheme of things, Tricia doesn't need Jessica's apology. Given the way she snarked about Cara, she knows full well how much of a jerk Jessica is, and she's not going to worry about it in her final moments. Rock on?
  The rest of the Wakefields file out after their brief goodbye moments, leaving Steven and Tricia alone. That's right, there are no other Martins at this death-day party. Just Wakefields. Seriously, Tricia has NO friends. How in the hell... Sorry, tangent.
  Steve and Trish reminisce about their first date and it's killing Steve to watch the light slowly fade from Tricia's eyes, but before she checks out completely, she asks Steven to do her a favor. The infamous " 'I'd do anything...' 'Really? Anything?' '...damn...'" kind of moment. Tricia asks that Steve take care of her sister, Betsy. Steve isn't exactly sure how well that will work out, given what a wild child Betsy is. But it's Tricia's dying wish, so of course he'll say yes.
  A short time later, the Wakefields are leaving, seeing as Tricia has died, and as they're almost home free, Betsy bursts into the hospital and freaks out. "My sister! My siiissssssttteeeeerrr!" Yeah, where were you the hour or two it took Tricia to die? Uh huh, you were out getting drunk and smoking absolutely everything you could get your hands on. So shut the hell up, kay? [It isn't often I'm with Jessica on something, but I'm on her side for the disgust at this point. I know, I know, that says something HORRIBLE about me, but I'll just have to deal, I suppose.] She sobs and carries on when Steve tells her that it's too late, and Mr. and Mrs. Wakefield decide to take Betsy home with them. Betsy's in no shape to argue and away they go.
  Jessica is not pleased with this. Betsy Martin, in case you've been living under a rock, is a world class super tramp as well as a drugged out freak. Dunno, that just seems like something the bitchy crowd at SVH would say. To illustrate how much of a skank Betsy is, rumour has it that she recently spent some quality time up at Miller's Point with two boys at the same time, and they weren't playing a rousing game of cards. GASP! For those who like your giggles with a tiny dash of irony, later on Jessica will flit around the Beach Disco with two boys in tow and think nothing of it.
  In an attempt to either atone for her misdeeds, or maybe make sure she doesn't miss another important death again, Betsy vows to give up her wild ways. Jessica [and I] snort and mutter, "That'll be the day." Thing is, somehow she manages. Annie can't keep her thoughts away from boys long enough to ace ONE test, but Betsy quits cold-freakin-turkey. If you're at all skeptical, like me, you spend most of the book waiting for her to fall off the wagon. She doesn't. ... so please don't make the same mistake I keep making, which is to wait in vain. It's okay, I know. I know, we'll get through this together.

  Instead, she swaps one vice for another. Instead of the drinking, drugs, or sex with two boys at once, Betsy falls hard for Steven Wakefield. He pays attention to her, he's nice, and he's making absolutely no movement towards trying to sleep with her, and best of all, he loved Tricia. Which is why I wish they hadn't gone with the obvious "Betsy momentarily wants Steven but isn't thinking at all about how weird it would be to have her sister's leftovers, especially given how said sister left the relationship." Namely, a little guilt over wanting Steven. It would have been nice. Yes. I sit here and actively wish for pain on fictional characters.

  Blah, blah, blah. Liz decides that if Jessica is going to make Betsy feel unwanted, then she [Liz, remember?] will make Betsy feel at home. No, she doesn't get wildly drunk and wallow in self pity [like Mr. Martin, who is still missing at this point] but she does invite herself into Betsy's life and declares that Betsy is a fantastic artist. And, as far as we know, she is. We don't know much about Betsy, other than she's got self esteem issues, and really, I wouldn't mind if Jessica kicked her in the shins with pointy heels. Wait, my issues, not yours. Artist with an attitude problem, whether she's sober or not. There, that's what we know.
  Back at SVH, the universe decides that one corpse isn't enough, so Roger finds out that his mother has had a heart attack. He lets out a mournful wail and freaks out in the cafe, which is just awkward. We'll dwell here for a bit. Turns out Mama Barret needs some operation that can apparently only be done in Houston, so Roger is trying to find the money to fly Mama B out there. Thing is, if you'll remember from book nine, Roger is freakin' POOR. Like he can afford that, right? Mmhmm. The next thing you know, gossip has it that Mr. Patman has ponied up and is sending Mama B to Houston, and everyone wonders when the hell any of the Patmans grew a soul. When did that happen? Jessica and Lila compare stories on who can't talk to Bruce most [Lila because their families are rivals, so it kills me that it takes until SVU for them to get their Romeo/Juliet on, and Jessica because of her ill-fated 'ship that went down in flames] so Cara is elected spokeswoman. The wicked witches of SVH ask and Bruce points out that Mama B did work for Mr. P back in the day [Lila points out that it was waaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the day] and that it doesn't hurt to help out the little people every so often, isn't that right, Jessica?
  Jessica then decides that it's time someone around here finally got the trash taken out of the Wakefield study, and tries to properly hatch ways to get rid of Betsy. She looks through Betsy's stuff, swearing all the while [I think she uses the word damn more in this one scene than they do in the entire rest of the series. o_O ] and all she finds is a pillbox filled with aspirin, until she gets to Betsy's sketchbook. At the very end, after Jessica is impressed, she finds a picture of Steven. She flips out, because no book is complete without a Jessica tantrum and ensuing twisty logic.
  Elsewhere, Steven is trying to set Betsy up with his friend Jason. Jason happens to teach an art class, and Betsy is an artist, so it should all be good, right? Wrong. Every time Jason so much as looks at Betsy, she screams, "Stop picturing me doing sweaty naked things with you!"
  Okay, not literally, but close enough. She won't give the guy a chance and is an incredible bitch, sure that all he wants is to get her alone so they can make with the aforementioned sweaty stuff. Jason, meanwhile, seems like he's never gotten laid in his life and that he's okay with it, so long as he can bask in the glory that is Betsy's talent. In other words, he's a friggin' saint. Steve manages to help con Betsy into going to one of Jason's classes, but she comes home all in a funk. Why?
  Because Jason asked her for a date.
  Liz and I stare blankly. So...? Sure, he's a bit on the dorky side, but glasses can be super hot, so long as they aren't those ugly aviator cousin ones, y'know? Noooooooooo, Jason obviously just wants sex, god, can you be any more stupid? Liz points out that this just cannot be true, that he might actually be interested in a talented and pretty young woman. Betsy stalks off because obviously Liz cannot relate. While I get that the guys Betsy is used to hanging out with are only interested in her for various things, how many are friends of Steven's? How many are like Jason, because I'm thinking the answer to that is not many...

  Our C plot [I consider Roger the B, as it will take center stage next book] is Winston, the Starch King. Bruce and Todd bet on whether or not Win can eat four mini pizzas in four minutes. Um, yes, yes he can. Bruce has to pay for Todd and Liz at the Beach Disco, and this spurs Winston on. Apparently in the mid 80's the world record was to believed to have been eating 7 extra large pizzas in one sitting. I'm finding this a little difficult to believe, but whatever. The local news team is out in full force to cover Winston's daring eating escapade, and so is everyone at SVH. Poor Winston spent so much time 'practicing' that he's made himself ill. He makes it to six and a half pizzas, and then has to run off and puke. Woe, Starch King. Woe. Luckily the peasants still love him.

  Back to Jason and Betsy. He offers to ask his former teacher to look at Betsy's application to the Los Angeles Academy of Fine Arts talent search. In return-
  "Hot sweaty sex! I knew it!"
  SHUT UP, Betsy. Considering you've turned the guy down sixteen different times this morning, I really don't think he's going to ask you that in front of Steve or Elizabeth, okay? So chill. You may be experienced, but I'm betting Jason doesn't want whatever you might have, kay? She stalks off, sure that she'd lose anyway, and what's the point? She leaves her sketchbook, again. [it's why Jason popped over in the first place. After her last bitch fit after class, she left her book there, too. Way to take care of the one thing you're supposed to care about, skank.] Liz stops the boys from returning it to her and says Jason should turn it in as Betsy's application. It takes Steven a second to catch on, and all three giggle like school girls, so sure are they that Betsy will win.
  Steve goes back to school, although I swear it's been like, a week, since Tricia's death. Maybe two, if you blinked and missed 'em. Anyway, Betsy freaks out when her father shows up at the Wakefields, and Steven returns. His family points out that Betsy's attachment is hurting them both. Steve can't let himself grieve while forcing himself to be strong for Betsy, and Betsy is entirely too attached to Steve for her own good. Steve tells his parents that he has to take care of Betsy because he promised Tricia.
  Unfortunately, Jessica is spying, and once she hears this, she pretty much RUNS to tell Betsy. Betsy is crushed because she thought Steve was interested and that it was more than a charity case. Fraid not, honey. Trust me, the only person who actually wants what you're giving away is the one you won't let near you. Ain't that just the way?
  So Betsy packs up and calls her good time boys. Jessica then tells people a slightly *cough* skewed version of their encounter. Steve and Jason, both elated over Betsy's winning the talent search, head off to all the dives in the area, looking for Bets. They finally find her at the Shady Lady. A fight ensues between the good boys and the good ol' boys. Jason turns out to be a brown belt in karate, kicks some ass, and then Betsy's offering up her, um, services, but in a little less obvious way.
  Turns out that she's just had one drink and isn't enjoying her old ways, so she'll go home to take care of Papa until school starts in the fall. Jason, I gather, has a backstage pass to Betsy's home.
  The book ends with Roger's mother dying, and his true father revealed. Paul Patman, Bruce's father's richer brother! GASP!

  End scene.



Trivia:

• Wait, when did the Wakefields get a rust brown LTD? Where was I?


• Jessica got a speeding ticket on the way to Millers Point, too bad the boy she was in such a hurry to suck face with was Paul Sherwood who can't kiss worth a damn. Add him to the dead fish pile, kids.


• Betsy was allegedly up at MP with Charlie Cashman and Jim Sturbridge.


• The Wakefield study comes complete with a radio, red Oriental rug, and oh, yeah, Betsy Martin.


• Tricia died Monday, maybe early Tuesday morning [we're talking like 2am early], and she's buried two days later.


• Before she became ill, Tricia worked at a daycare center.


• Jessica thinks she's hit paydirt on her quest to find something illegal in Betsy's possessions, but the closest she comes is mistaking tiny little white pills for fun tiny little white pills. They have letters, too. B-A-Y-E-R. Fun!


• There's a brook behind Sweet Valley Elementary. Seems a bit unsafe, but what do I know? My elementary school was built so close to the marsh that for recess, a bunch of us would go on unofficial marsh walks. Not a great idea at high tide or on rainy days.


• For those who wondered, Dana is an alto.


• Neil Freemount is the newest guy at SVH, and he's cute. Tall, blond, and cute. We know this because Jessica's already got him hooked. Aw. How many new kids can one small school have in one year?


• Jason Stone is tall, thin, with curly black hair, brown eyes, and black tortoise shell glasses. He's an artist and teaches Saturday morning life drawing classes at Sweet Valley Community Center.


• Winston attempts to break the world record by eating 7 extra large pizzas from Guido's. KSVH was covering the 'story' with film at six o'clock.


• Who exactly is Tim Houseman, other than the recipients of a piss poor name and Dana's newest boytoy?


• Winning one of the three slots in the LA Academy of Fine Arts talent search means that Betsy won free tuition, room, and board.


• Steven's microeconomics professor is the cure for insomnia and as a result, not Steve's best subject.


• Elizabeth and Jessica share chem class and sit next to one another. I geek out at this because, hello, geek.


• Mrs. Rollins has a little blue hatchback.


• Frank DeLuna is the owner of Guidos.


• Jason is a brown belt in karate.


• Wait, when did the Wakefields start having a weekly family brunch?


• And also, since when does the school board have meetings early Sunday morning/afternoon? Since when does any school board do that? Is this one of those things we just don't do 'round here because it's the Bible Belt and all this time I've been missing out?

Quote-y:
  But Tricia kept right on smiling in the face of death and showed the courage of a female Luke Skywalker. - Jessica, honey? The female Luke would be Leia. p4
  "Honestly, I don't know why you get such a kick out of these verbal cat-and-mouse games." That's because you're an idiot, Liz. We know why Jess twists words. It's fun. p53

"Betsy, there's no need for apologies. It's been a rough time for both of us." A sad expression spread across Steven's handsome face. "Tricia was a very special human being." Steve, who the hell refers to the dead love of their life as a 'very special human being'? I could take, and understand, the use of the word 'person' but your way sounds like someone forgot to reword the book outline. LAME. And even Jessica agrees with me, what with her spying and all. p149



  Yes, I'm sure I played a big ol' game of 52 card pick up with various plot threads, but you get the idea. Personally, I don't like Betsy. I understand that her life is hard, and that she has issues which means she's skanky with a heart of gold, only... she's not. She's a complete bitch to Jason and anyone who isn't immediately doing anything for her, and we're not really given all that much to off-set it. Jessica is supposed to be our bitch, and she doesn't make it widely known that she's giving it away free. Which might make her a tease, but I wouldn't be Lysol-ing the toilet seat after each time she's been there. :P

  As to Tricia, for some reason it really bothers me that she seems to have no friends at all at school or anywhere else. Sure, we get a few people at the funeral, but for someone who was supposed to be this sweet girl, you'd think she'd have someone other than Steve in her life. Maybe what bugs me is that it's so sad, and probably not at all intentional. Did her family's trashy behaviour keep her from having any friends at all? Or did the writers just not think that with the exception of Caroline, almost everyone else at SVH has at least one sort of friend before they end up leaning on good old Elizabeth?
  Speaking of Elizabeth, the book repeatedly refers to her brief relationship glitch with Todd, but they use phrases such as "awful near break up was safely in the past." What past? Didn't that JUST happen? Like days ago? Seriously, the rest of the time the book is paced as if it's been a week, max, since Tricia's death, but anytime the Todd/Liz thing is brought up, it's as if months have passed. At the time of this little moment, I think it's the day AFTER Tricia's death. Which would mean Todd and Liz made up yesterday. *head desk* Either I missed something, or someone out there deserves a big kick in the kneecaps.
  Also, up until this most recent re-reading of Promises, I hadn't realized Betsy is Tricia's older sister. D'oh! I thought she was just one of the many SVH drop outs in the junior range. Don't I feel a bit silly...
  My absolute favorite bit? At the end where we gloss over Steven threatening to send Jessica to die in a desert and she fires back that Steve told Liz about the Betsy plan, and excluded her, because he loves Elizabeth more.

   Yes. Cover wise, the French one confounds me. Is the sluttified one supposed to be Betsy, and if so, when did she have time to dye her hair? Love the other, though. At least, in what little I can see. As to the funky colors above, really, there's the light blue one and then there's this bizarre aqua one that looks more blue than the aqua it is. And I should know, seeing as that's my copy and all. :P