Playing With Fire (9 page)

“When you reminded me of the makeup lesson I promised you, I couldn't say no,” Jessica told her, failing to add that Bruce had broken their date that night because of family obligations.

Jessica pulled Robin's hair back from her face. Despite herself she admired the girl's clear complexion and fine bone structure. If Robin lost some weight, she might not be bad-looking, Jessica realized. For a moment she groped for a tactful way of expressing her observation to Robin, then decided to let it pass.

“I was surprised you still wanted to do it,” Robin was saying. “I mean, with all the time you've been spending with Bruce lately.”

“We can't be together
all
the time. I told Bruce I simply couldn't abandon my friends. Besides, I owe this to you for helping me with my history.”

“Oh, that was no problem, and if you need more help with anything, just let me know.”

“I'll keep that in mind,” Jessica said. She finished dabbing Autumn Smoke eye shadow on Robin's lids. “What do you think?”

“Nice,” Robin murmured. Her eyes, however, were locked on the tiny teddy bear with the Pi Beta Alpha T-shirt sitting on the edge of the vanity. Impulsively she picked it up. “He's cute. Does he have a name?”

“Bartholomew.”

Robin sighed. “I wish I had one.”

Jessica shrugged. “It's just a teddy.”

“No, it's a PBA teddy. I'd love to be in the sorority. What do you have to do to join?”

Jessica stared hard at Robin's reflection in the mirror.
The girl can't seriously believe anyone would want a butterball like her as a sorority sister,
Jessica thought. “Sorry, Robin, membership's closed for the year,” she told her.

“Really? That's not what Lila Fowler said. I overheard her at lunch the other day rating potential pledges.”

Jessica was ready to stuff her cotton balls into Lila's mouth. “Oh, that's right,” she quickly corrected herself. “I've been so caught up in other things I forgot all about the next rush.” She carelessly tossed aside the cotton she'd used to wipe the powder off Robin's nose. “It's not so important to me anymore.”

“How can you say that? PBA is the most important club around school. I'd do anything to get in.”

“Anything, Robin?” A thought flashed through Jessica's mind. Robin's overwhelming desire to get into PBA might be used to her own advantage. Remembering her several household chores, Jessica smiled serenely at Robin. “By the way, how's your cooking?”

“Not bad. I'm pretty good with casseroles and stews.”

“Great. See, I want to surprise Bruce with a home-cooked meal sometime, but I'm a terrible cook. Maybe you can come over tomorrow night and show me how to prepare something? Of course, you can stay and eat with us, too.”

“I'd love to help,” Robin said eagerly.

Jessica smacked her forehead. “Oh, I just remembered. Bruce wants me to go over to his place for a little while after school. But I shouldn't be there too long. Liz will be here, though, and she'll let you in if I'm not back yet.” Jessica smiled to herself, admiring her own cleverness. She had no intention of returning home until right before dinnertime. It would be just perfect to find a hot meal waiting on the table when she arrived.

“That's OK. What will you and Bruce be doing?”

Jessica looked into the mirror and smiled. “That's our secret,” she said. “Something special that no one but the two of us can share.”

*   *   *

As the weeks went by, Bruce began to come up with more and more reasons why he couldn't see Jessica. His nights were increasingly taken up with important dinners with his father or with school projects that simply had to get done if he had any hope of graduating.

Or so he told Jessica.

Jessica began to realize he was slipping away, so she did all she could to make herself available for him whenever he wanted. At home she sat and waited for the occasional call saying that he was free and ready to share a few hours with her. Most of the time the calls never came, but when they did, Jessica dropped whatever she was doing to be with Bruce.

Their dates almost always consisted of drives to the beach. Jessica loved those times alone with him, but she also longed to do things with the rest of her friends. She hardly ever socialized with them anymore. But whenever she mentioned this to Bruce, he'd scoff at her. “What do you need other people for?” he'd always tell her. “You've got me.”

It was Jessica's desire to get more involved with the school scene that caused her first actual fight with Bruce. She was all prepared to go to a sorority dance when Bruce offhandedly informed her that he planned to spend the evening working on his car with a few of his university buddies.

“But you can't do that!” Jessica cried.

“You telling me how to run my life, babe?” he growled at her.

Jessica quickly retreated. “Oh, no, Bruce. I mean, I didn't know you'd made other plans. I just assumed we were going.”

“I told you before—never assume anything with me.”

“But you knew I wanted to go, Bruce.”

“I told you I've got other plans.”

“Can't you break them?” she pleaded.

“Nobody tells me what to do, Jessica,” he said angrily. “And I don't feel like going to a stupid dance.”

“So I'll go without you,” she said, the old Jessica surfacing for a fleeting instant.

His eyes bored into her. “You do that, baby, and you just see whose arms you won't be in next Saturday night.”

Jessica didn't say another word. The meaning of his threat was clear. Unwilling to risk losing him, she obediently stayed home.

*   *   *

Jessica had grown accustomed to rearranging her life to suit Bruce, but as the days passed she decided to do something to fill those idle hours without him. The following Saturday, when Bruce told her he had to pick up his grandmother from the airport and spend the day with her, she decided to accept a baby-sitting job for Mr. Collins's son, Teddy. Mr. Collins, who was divorced, was so delighted to have his son's favorite baby-sitter back that he didn't mind her special request to have Teddy stay at her house while he ran his errands. Jessica invited Robin to join her. There was always the possibility that Bruce might call, and even Jessica was responsible enough not to leave a six-year-old alone in a strange house. Robin would be her backup in case she had to go.

Jessica found the afternoon insufferable. Teddy was cranky—he had a cold—and was constantly demanding that she entertain him. And Robin was starting to get demanding herself, continually throwing not-so-subtle hints about wanting to join the sorority. Jessica was grateful when Bruce called at three-thirty. He wanted to see her in fifteen minutes.

“I've got an emergency, Robin,” she said, white-faced, after she hung up. “It's Bruce. His grandmother arrived, but she suddenly got sick, and he's a wreck about it. He'd really like me to be with him. Do you mind staying here with Teddy until Mr. Collins gets back?”

Robin minded, but she was afraid to lose what she considered to be Jessica's friendship. “Sure, I'll stay,” she said good-naturedly.

Bruce drove Jessica to the Dairi Burger. “A little food always helps when you have some bad news,” he said, ordering a cheeseburger and fries for her.

“What is it?” Jessica asked, alarmed.
It must be about his grandmother,
she thought. But Bruce never mentioned his grandmother. Instead, he looked at her sheepishly. “It's about tomorrow. I'm going to have to cancel our date. I'm afraid Dad made plans without telling me. He's throwing a cocktail party for some of his major clients, and he's ordered me to be there and play the obedient son.” Bruce made it sound like a fate worse than death. He kissed her forehead lightly. “I'd rather spend the day with you, but when Dad calls, there's no denying him.”

Having looked forward to the picnic she'd planned, Jessica was disappointed. She sincerely felt the day alone with him, up in the secluded forestland, was just what was needed to give their relationship new life. But she also saw a way to salvage the day for the two of them. “Tomorrow doesn't have to be a drag for you,” she hinted.

“What do you mean?”

“You wouldn't be bored if I was there with you,” Jessica said, slipping her arms around his waist.

Bruce pushed her aside. “No, baby,” he hedged uncomfortably. “You wouldn't enjoy it.”

“Why not?” she asked. The more she thought about the idea, the more she liked it. “I'd love to go to one of your father's parties.”

“Tomorrow's not the right time,” Bruce said, turning away.

“Why not? Your dad said I was always welcome at your house.” Jessica could hear herself pleading, and she hated herself for it. But she was desperate to be with him.

“I said no, Jessica,” Bruce insisted angrily. “Forget it.”

“Please don't be mad at me, Bruce,” Jessica begged in a soft little-girl voice. “I just want to be with you. Don't you understand that?” Tears were brimming just behind her eyelids.

“Sure, baby, sure,” he said. “I want to be with you, too.” Slowly he lowered his lips until they rested firmly on hers. “Tomorrow may be out, but in the meantime,” he breathed, stroking her hair, “there's still the rest of today…”

Ten

Elizabeth ran into the newspaper office a few days later and grabbed a copy of the latest
Oracle
from the stacks that covered the two front tables. It always excited her to see the newspaper as soon as it came in. Finding an empty seat in the busy office, she sat down and began to skim the front page.

But she couldn't resist the temptation to look over her own “Eyes and Ears” column first. Her mouth dropped open in shock, however, after she turned the page and spotted an item she had never written. The words jumped out at her as if they were printed in red ink: “And of course our heartiest congrats to Sweet Valley's own Bruce Patman, who took first prize in last Sunday's Sun Desert Road Rally.…”

Elizabeth was distraught. It was infuriating that someone had tampered with her column, but she was more upset by the item itself. She was positive Jessica had told her that Bruce had spent that day with his parents. Either somebody was playing a joke on Bruce—or he had lied to Jessica.

She had to find out the truth. She asked around, but no one in the office at the time knew anything about the item, and the one person who was sure to know—the editor, Penny Ayala—was home sick with the flu.

That night Elizabeth decided to ask Jessica if she knew what had happened.

“Oh, I know all about that.” Jessica tossed her head lightly. “Bruce lent his car to Paul Sherwood, and he was the one who won the rally. Somebody on the newspaper just got their facts mixed up.”

“And put them into my column?” Elizabeth looked skeptically at her sister.

“I don't know anything about that,” Jessica insisted. “All I know is that Bruce definitely wasn't at the rally. He was home with his parents.”

Elizabeth looked sadly at her sister. Jessica was a marvelous actress, but even
she
couldn't mask the uncertainty she had to be feeling about Bruce's story. Her attitude made Elizabeth all the more certain that Bruce wasn't playing straight with her twin. “Are you sure he was there, Jess?”

“Why would he lie?” Jessica questioned, ignoring the hundreds of times
she'd
stretched the truth to protect herself. “And if it turned out he
was
at that rally, so what? It would just mean his plans changed. I can't know
everything
he does. I don't have a leash on him, you know.”

“I know,” Elizabeth said gently, “but sometimes I think he's got one around you.”

“That's garbage!”

“Is it?” Elizabeth challenged, not caring that she was losing control. “What about the way he reacted to your wanting to go to that sorority dance?”

“He was just feeling jealous. I think he was afraid for me to go on my own. He doesn't want to lose me, and I had no right to make the entire situation so difficult for him.”

“Come on, Jessica, you had
every
right to go. Stop making excuses for him. Besides, he'd made other plans that night. What were you supposed to do, sit home and count the dots on your wallpaper?”

“If that's what he wanted me to do, yes,” Jessica said stubbornly.

Elizabeth shook her head and sighed. “I don't know what's happened to you, Jess. Don't you see how ridiculous that is?”

“Nothing Bruce wants is ridiculous,” Jessica countered. “You don't understand how it is to be really in love with someone. I'm willing to make whatever sacrifices I have to in order to please Bruce. Are you going to tell me you don't ever go out of your way for Todd?”

“I do,” Elizabeth responded. “I do, but not at the expense of my own life. Believe me, I know you really care about Bruce, but you can't just give up everything else because of it.”

“I'll give up what I think I should,” Jessica replied stiffly.

“He may not be worth it,” Elizabeth said sadly.

“Well, it's not for you to decide.” Jessica's expression hardened. “You just let me be the judge of that, big sister.”

*   *   *

Jessica met Robin by her locker after school the following day. “I know it's short notice,” she said in a hushed voice, “but I have a feeling you're going to like what I have to tell you. After doing a lot of thinking, I've decided you'd be a perfect candidate for PBA.”

Robin's eyes sparkled with happiness. “Jessica, that's terrific!” She made a move to wrap her arms around her friend, but Jessica grabbed her by the wrists and stopped her.

“Not so fast, dear. You see, there's a catch. Some of the girls in the sorority don't think you're ready for us yet. Of course,
I
told them they were mistaken, but they insisted on a little test to prove your worthiness. If I were you, I'd be insulted and forget the whole thing, but I guess you'll have to make up your own mind.”