SVH04-Power Play (2 page)

"Robin, I'm sure it will all work out," she blurted, realizing as she spoke that she sounded just the way her mother did when things were definitely
not
going to work out.

Robin brightened at this. "You think so, Liz? I mean, I do think I know why Jessica hasn't put my name up. I bet she thinks it would be pushy--not really fair, you know, to nominate her best friend."

Elizabeth stared at Robin, completely amazed at how blind she was to Jessica's true character. Her twin was many things. A great dancer, a terrific cheerleader, a sensational surfer--but fair? Jessica could turn on the devastating charm when she wanted something, but going out of her way to do the "right" thing or to be "fair" just wasn't her style.

"Robin, is PBA so important to you?"

"Oh, yes, Liz, it is! I was just thinking--maybe you could remind Jessica?"

Elizabeth studied Robin Wilson's pleading face. It would do no good to "remind" Jessica, Elizabeth knew. Because her sister had told Elizabeth over and over again that Robin definitely did
not
fit the picture of the typical slim and pretty Pi Beta. Jessica would never nominate Robin, no matter how many times she might have promised. Yet Robin was a really nice girl, Elizabeth thought, and certainly smarter than most of the sorority members. PBA could use a new image--even if its members didn't think so.

"Robin, there's a meeting the day after tomorrow. Instead of reminding Jessica, why don't I put your name up?"

"You,
Liz? You'd do that for me?"

Elizabeth laughed. "Sure. But, Robin, please don't think PBA is the answer to every--"

"Liz, you're wonderful, every bit as wonderful as your sister!" Robin interrupted, clearly in a world of her own. "Can I use your phone to call my mother? She'll be so excited. Maybe she'll even take me shopping this afternoon. The kids in PBA have such great clothes--I'd just die if I embarrassed them."

The rush of words continued, but Elizabeth

tuned it out while showing Robin to the wall phone in the kitchen.

I
did the right thing,
she told herself as she walked back into the living room.
Why should Robin be kept out of PBA because she's a little overweight? All right, a lot overweight.
She heaved a sigh. She knew her sister would be upset. In fact, Elizabeth was sure Jessica would fly into one of her four-color, full-stereo rages.

Where
was
Jessica anyway? Probably at the mall with Lila Fowler. From Elizabeth's viewpoint that kind of afternoon would be as much fun as a month in the dentist's chair. Lila was the daughter of the wealthiest man in Sweet Valley, George Fowler, and both daughter and father were the town's biggest snobs. They lived in an elegant mansion in the expensive hill section of Sweet Valley. Jessica was forever envious of the Fowlers' money and house--that is, when she wasn't being envious of the money and house Bruce Patman's family had. Elizabeth thought that the feud between the old- money Patmans and the new-money Fowlers was really very silly, but not Jessica. New or old, money was never silly to her.

Elizabeth preferred their split-level house in the valley. Actually, she thought everything about Sweet Valley was terrific, especially the gently rolling hills, the quaint downtown area,

and the beach, which was only fifteen minutes from their house.

Robin burst back into the room, all aflutter. "My mom is soooooo excited!" She always told me that being best friends with the Wakefield twins could be great for me," she gushed. Searching through her bag, she found another candy bar and began unwrapping it.

Elizabeth sighed inwardly.
Now what have I done?

Robin was suddenly hugging and kissing her in an explosion of enthusiasm and happiness. It was too much for Elizabeth, who laughed and returned the hug, thinking that if the prospect of joining the Pi Betas could make someone so happy, she just might ask the whole junior class to pledge.

Letting go of Elizabeth, Robin held out her chocolate bar. "You want a bite?" she offered.

"No, thanks, Robin."

Robin Wilson stood there beaming, her eyes filled with happiness. "If there's nothing I can do for you, I think I'll hurry home. Mom's taking me shopping."

"Robin, you really don't have to--"

But Robin was already at the door. She yanked it open, almost toppling Jessica, who was just about to walk in.

"Jessica!" Robin shrieked. Elizabeth watched

her sister shrink in distaste as the ecstatic Robin reached out to hug her.

"Hi, Robin." Jessica's total lack of enthusiasm was painfully obvious--but not to Robin.

"Omigod, Jessica, I'm soooo excited! Your sister is as wonderful as you are! Mom's taking me shopping! Got to go!"

And Robin bounced away, leaving Jessica standing there flabbergasted.

"What in the world was that?"

Elizabeth broke into helpless laughter.

"Why was that fat wimp pawing at me and gushing all over the place?" Jessica demanded.

"I'll tell you, Jess. But first, you tell me where you've been. And don't tell me you were out getting books and picking up the dry cleaning, since your best friend Robin Wilson did that for you."

"My best friend?"

"She
thinks so."

"Well, she's all right, sometimes. It
is
nice to have someone to help you out."

"Run errands for you. Lick your boots."

"Liz Wakefield, you know perfectly well I only use leather cream on my boots."

It was pure Jessica. Elizabeth was the writer, but when Jessica needed to wiggle out of an unpleasant conversation, she had quite a way

with words. But Elizabeth wasn't letting her get away with it--not this time.

"Where were you that you couldn't help clean the house? And where'd you get that new bit of loot?"

Jessica acted mystified. "You mean this?" She touched the lovely sapphire-blue silk scarf knotted around her neck.

"Yes,
this.
Where did you get it?"

"Lila Fowler gave it to me."

"You were with Lila again. Is that what was so important?"

"Lila Fowler happens to be the class act of Sweet Valley High, Liz, and you know it. Her aunt sent her the scarf from New York, but Lila said it isn't her best color, so she gave it to me."

Elizabeth shook her head in wonder. The scarf was really beautiful, and obviously quite expensive.
Do the rich always share the wealth like this?
she wondered.

She looked at Jessica, standing there smiling from ear to ear.

"Jess, I don't begrudge you a new scarf, but I don't appreciate being left here alone to do all the cleaning. Not to mention entertaining
your
best friend."

Jessica rolled her beautiful eyes heavenward. "Robin can get carried away four hundred and

thirty-seven times a day, you know? What was she babbling about, anyway?"

"Oh, nothing much, really. Apparently you're so busy all the time you don't remember how much Robin wants to pledge Pi Beta."

"Oh, that." Jessica sighed. "I keep forgetting."

"Uh-huh. And this is her last chance."

"It is?" Innocence and Jessica Wakefield were one and the same.

"So," Elizabeth pushed on, "knowing you were going to put her up sooner or later anyway, / promised to sponsor her for membership at the next meeting."

Jessica's mouth dropped open. "You promised her
what?
Are you crazy?"

Now Elizabeth was all innocence. You don't live with Jessica Wakefield for sixteen years without learning something.

"Gee, Jess, what do you mean?"

"That--that tub of lard in Pi Beta Alpha?"

"But, Jess," Elizabeth said slyly, "she's your best friend. She told me so."

"That has nothing to do with it. There's a problem of--image."

But Elizabeth was not about to be outmaneuvered. "Image? That doesn't seem to bother you when she carries your books and cleaning for you."

"I like to be kind to everybody, Elizabeth,"

Jessica cooed. "You know that. But pledging Pi Beta? Well, look--you know Robin's only interested in studying. She's taking about thirty- seven extra courses. I'm just not sure PBA is right for her."

Anyone who didn't know Jessica as well as Elizabeth did would have been totally convinced that Robin's welfare was her first and only concern.

But Elizabeth wasn't buying. "Well, I think it is," she said calmly. "I've never seen anyone as happy as Robin was when I told her I'd sponsor her."

If Elizabeth was calm, Jessica was anything but. By now she had given up even trying to appear reasonable. She was beside herself with rage and frustration.

"Boy, now I have
really
seen everything!" she wailed. "How can my own sister--my identical twin, no less--be so totally, hopelessly
idiotic?"

Elizabeth let out a breath. "I gather I've done something wrong."

"That
is the understatement of the week," Jessica agreed sarcastically. "Robin Wilson in the Pi Betas? With
us?
With Lila Fowler? One look at that shape and they'll be calling us the Pi
Butterball
Alphas! Oh, really, Liz, are you completely absent from this universe?"

"It's only a silly sorority," Elizabeth reasoned.

"Only a
--" This was too much. Jessica was speechless.

Elizabeth sighed. "Jessica, for heaven's sake, don't come unglued. I've promised, and that's that. Robin Wilson's going to be a Pi Beta."

"Oh, is she?"

What was going on here? Elizabeth looked searchingly at Jessica for some answer, but Jesica wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Look," Elizabeth said at last, "if I sponsor Robin and you're the president of Pi Beta Alpha-- a
nd
her best friend--she's in."

Jessica's only response was to toss her head and stomp out of the room and up the stairs. It wasn't until the instant before she slammed the door to her room that Elizabeth thought she heard a faint reply.

"We'll see about that."

Two

"The meeting will now come to order."

Jessica looked around the room at the members of PBA--chatting, checking their faces in compact mirrors, brushing their hair, and, in general, not paying attention to her. If there was one thing Jessica couldn't bear, it was people
not
paying attention to her.

In her best snap-to-it-or-else voice, she repeated, "The meeting will
now
come to order!"

Noting that her sister wasn't there yet, Jessica decided to have the shortest meeting in PBA history and avoid the problem of Robin Wilson.

"I know there isn't any old business, and

nobody took minutes at the last meeting, so there isn't anything to be read. And everybody knows we have thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents in the treasury, so there's no need for a treasurer's report. Sooooo, if no one has any new business, we can--"

"Did I hear someone mention new business?" interrupted a slightly out of breath Elizabeth, coming into the room. "Sorry to be late. I got hung up at the newspaper office."

Everyone but Jessica was surprised to see Elizabeth at a meeting. It had been ages. The other members knew that PBA wasn't crucial to Elizabeth, but most of them didn't resent her. She was smart, a big deal on the paper, and generally good for the PBA image. She was also, of course, the president's twin sister.

And speaking of the president, she seemed very anxious to end the meeting.

"Liz, you are very late, and we are almost ready to adjourn," Jessica began stiffly.

"But didn't I just hear you call for new business?" Elizabeth said sweetly, shooting her twin a warning look that clearly said,
Don't even try it.

Jessica got the message. "Well, if you have something totally and absolutely important to bring up, I guess you can," she said reluctantly.

Elizabeth turned to the group. "I do have

something important to bring up. I would like to nominate someone for membership in Pi Beta Alpha, someone who is a friend of mine and a
good
friend of my sister's--Robin Wilson."

Total silence greeted Elizabeth's announcement. And then--pandemonium.

"Robin Wilson--one of
us?"

"She's that--pudgy one, isn't she?"

"Liz put her name up, so she must think it's OK."

"You sure she's not kidding?"

Tight-lipped and stormy-eyed, Jessica let the stream of chatter go on for a few more minutes, then called the meeting to order again.

"Is there anyone who objects to Robin Wilson being nominated for Pi Beta Alpha?" she asked. The answer was a foregone conclusion. No one dared to object to a friend of the Wakefield twins. And Jessica didn't dare say how she really felt. For one thing, Elizabeth would blast her. And if Robin ever found out, that would mark the end of her days as Jessica's handmaiden.

After the meeting broke up, Jessica, sparks flying from her blue-green eyes, walked over to her sister. "Are you proud of yourself now, Little Miss Do-a-Good-Deed-Every-Day?"

Elizabeth cringed at the anger in her sister's voice.

"Look, Jess, it's not the end of the world. She'll be a terrific addition to PBA!"

"Prove it!" Jessica snapped.

"Robin is nice, she's sweet, and she's very smart."

"And she's surrounded by two tons of fat!"

"Two tons, Jess?" Elizabeth smiled in spite of herself. "Really, how could a girl as nice as Robin possibly hurt the grand and glorious image of PBA?"

Jessica's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You're being sarcastic, aren't you? It's really a very unattractive trait, Elizabeth. And if I were you, I wouldn't get too smug too soon."

This time it was Elizabeth's turn to be suspicious. "Just what is that crack supposed to mean, Jessica?"

"Oh, nothing at all, sister dear," said Jessica airily. "You do remember, don't you, that Pi Beta Alpha pledges have to perform certain--uh, tasks before they can be voted on for full membership?"

"Jessica Wakefield, I'm warning you."