SVH05-All Night Long (8 page)

"Defensive? Sounds more like he went ballistic," Enid said, leaning into the mirror to apply some lip gloss. "It's one thing to think those things about Jessica, but to throw them in your face like that?"

"I know. But he's right on some level," Elizabeth

said, looking down at her bare toenails in Jessica's expensive sandals. "I do let her walk all over me and get practically zilch in return."

"All you guys need is some time to cool off," Enid told her, screwing the top back on her pot of gloss. "You're already feeling more levelheaded, right? He probably is too. Just give him a little time and then you guys can talk it all out."

"You think?" Elizabeth asked hopefully.

Enid dropped her gloss back into her bag and zipped it closed. "Do you remember what you told me when I was so miserable about breaking up with Ronnie?" she asked, turning to Elizabeth.

"No. But it was probably stupid," Elizabeth said wryly.

"It so wasn't. You said that if a guy
really
likes you, he won't let a misunderstanding get in the way. Not for long, anyway."

"Yeah, but this was no misunderstanding. We were both very clear about how we felt," Elizabeth replied. Her eyes filled, but she refused to let herself cry again.

"Yeah, but the thing is, you were talking about how you feel about Jessica," Enid said, touching

Elizabeth's arm. "Not how you feel about each other."

At this thought, Elizabeth felt a flutter of hope. She was about to respond when the bathroom door flung open, admitting a group of giggling sophomores followed by Dana Larson, lead singer of Valley of Death, SVH's resident emo-rock band.

"Damn. What time's the funeral and can I come?" Dana asked, taking one look at Elizabeth and Enid. She walked over to the mirror and checked out her outfit from the side. In her usual homage to punk style, she was wearing a huge black sweater, purple leggings, and pink vinyl combat boots. Her dark hair, as always, half covered her face and her heavily lined eyes.

"No funeral," Elizabeth replied, wadding up some of the wet paper towels she had left around the sink, and tossing them in the garbage can.

"Unless you can have a relationship funeral."

"It's been done. Usually involves a voodoo doll and a whole lot of incense," Dana said matter-of-factly. "You and Wilkins terminal?"

"We're not totally sure on that," Enid said before Elizabeth could start crying all over again.

Dana glanced at Elizabeth's blotchy face and snorted as if to say "Yeah, right."

"Guys suck," she said, applying some red lipstick. She put her finger in her mouth and then pulled it out to keep the color from transferring to her teeth.

"Take my ex, for example. We'll call him Loserman, since he no longer deserves a real name."

Elizabeth and Enid exchanged amused looks.

"Dude was a saxophonist in this cheesy swing band and I was like a zombie for him, even though he walked around in a zoot suit half the time," Dana said, rolling her eyes.

"So what happened?" Enid asked.

"Turned out he was more interested in playing around with other girls than with playing his saxophone," Dana said flatly. "Believe me, I am better off without Loserman." She adjusted the bangle bracelets on her wrist. "And you're probably better off without Mr. Too Tall, too," she added to Elizabeth. "It's so much more gratifying to be independent, you know?
Alone."

Elizabeth's stomach clenched at the prospect of being without Todd.

"What happened?" Dana asked, wide-eyed. "You just went color free."

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Elizabeth said, suddenly recalling in vivid detail the huge helpings of pancakes she'd downed that morning.

She turned and slammed her way into one of the stalls.

***

"You okay, Liz?" Mr. Collins, the advisor for the Oracle Web site, asked, joining Elizabeth at her desk. "You look a little green. And usually that's a metaphor, but I think you actually
are
a little green."

Somehow, Elizabeth had managed to get through the entire school day and was now hiding out in the Oracle office. After hours of avoiding Todd in the halls and fretting over Jessica, who had never shown up, she had thought that getting a little writing done might be a good elixir for her crappy day. Unfortunately, she had yet to type one word. She looked up at her concerned mentor, and his blue eyes studied her face.

"I'll be all right," she said. "Just had a bad day."

"Well, I have an assignment that might cheer you up," he said, leaning back against the chair next to

hers. There was a smile on his handsome face, and he really did look hopeful that he was about to deliver some welcome news.

"Really?" Elizabeth sat up a bit straighter. It might be nice to have a new assignment to immerse herself in. Something good and distracting.

"How would you like to cover the surfing competition this weekend?" Mr. Collins suggested.

"I would love to!" Elizabeth replied, perking up considerably. "I even already have an angle in mind," she added, thinking of the Will Chase-Sonny Callahan rivalry. "But what about John?"

John Pfeiffer was the sports editor for The Oracle and usually covered events like this one.

Mr. Collins gave Elizabeth a wry smile. "John told me this morning that he won't be able to make it. They're holding a tennis tournament at the country club the same day, which the Patmans are sponsoring. Bruce is, of course, the top seed."

"Of course," Elizabeth said, rolling her eyes.

"Mr. Patman, in his capacity as chairman of the school board, passed down the word that he would be pretty upset if coverage of a legitimate sporting event was preempted by a bunch of, quote, longhaired stoners in seal suits, unquote."

"Did you get that on the record?" Elizabeth asked hungrily.

"Unfortunately, no." Mr. Collins stood and pushed up the already rolled sleeves of his oxford shirt. "But you gotta love that guy for the unapologetic Mr. Monopoly attitude. The man knows who he is and sticks with it."

Elizabeth snorted a laugh.

"Anyway, if you want the assignment, it's yours," Mr. Collins said with a smile. "If nothing else, it's the perfect excuse to spend your entire Saturday at the beach."

"True," Elizabeth said.

"So, are you in?"

Elizabeth took a deep breath, her heart feeling heavy. She and Todd were supposed to go to the competition together-pack a picnic, cheer for Will, hang out all day. The idea of going there alone and potentially bumping into him made her insides squirm, but what was she going to do? Refuse a great assignment and let Mr. Collins down in the process? Not likely. She wasn't about to let guy trouble get in the way of her job.

"All right. I'm in," she told Mr. Collins with a

resolute nod. "I'll start the preliminary interviews this afternoon."

"Good." He started to go, but paused when Elizabeth looked back at her blank screen and sighed. "Are you sure you're okay? I could give you a ride home if you need one."

"No. It's all right," Elizabeth mumbled, avoiding his gaze. "I have my car. Maybe I'll just drive home with the top down. I could probably use some air."

"Good idea. Go home and rest. You can start on the surfing thing tomorrow," Mr. Collins said.

Elizabeth finally gave in and admitted to herself that she wasn't going to be getting any work done. She gathered her books and started for the door, wondering if she would find Jessica at home, or a legion of police cars delivering the news that something awful had happened. On her way through the door, she was so distracted she collided with Olivia Davidson, who was carrying a huge stack of notebooks-all of which ended up on the floor.

"I'm so sorry!" Elizabeth blurted out, crouching to the floor to help Olivia gather her things. "I didn't even see you there."

"No worries!" Olivia grinned good-naturedly, her

brown curls peeping out from underneath a vibrant purple scarf. "I'm supposed to be reviewing all the new recycled-paper notebooks for my column, so you've just helped me test how well they hold up to wear and tear."

"Well, glad I could help, then," Elizabeth said, forcing a smile. She handed a few notebooks over and they both stood.

"I just saw Todd on his way to football practice. He barely even looked at me when I said hi," Olivia said as she straightened the stack of books.

"Everything okay with him?"

Elizabeth swallowed hard. "We had a fight."

Instantly, her eyes stung with tears. Just saying the words upset her all over again. She really had to get a grip.

"Oh, is that all?" Olivia said, waving a hand.

"You guys will work it out in no time."

"Do you really think so?" Elizabeth asked, willing to grab on to any slim thread of hope.

"Please," Olivia replied. "Todd is one of the very few enlightened and evolved guys at this school. I know it's gonna be fine. But if you want, I can read your cards for you. I just learned how from my

aunt out in Colorado, and I think I'm getting really good at it."

Olivia had always been into a green lifestyle, and lately she had started to dabble in new age stuff as well. She always had some colorful crystal or another around her neck, and apparently tarot cards were a new obsession.

"Thanks anyway," Elizabeth replied. "I kind of just want to get home."

"Okay! Well, if you change your mind, let me know. I keep the cards with me at all times, so I can do your reading at lunch tomorrow if you want," Olivia offered, patting her brown hemp bag.

"Thanks. See you later, Liv."

Elizabeth slipped past her friend into the hall and trudged slowly toward the lobby. She was glad that both Olivia and Enid had such positive views of her relationship, but she couldn't seem to muster up the same kind of confidence.

Maybe if I at
least knew that Jessica was okay, she thought, checking her cell for messages,
then I could concentrate on how to fix the situation with Todd.

There was nothing on her phone but a bolstering text from Enid. What if Jessica still wasn't home?

What was Elizabeth supposed to tell her parents if Jessica never showed for dinner? With another sigh, Elizabeth shoved through the front doors of SVH, out into the bright California sunshine, thinking that this day was never going to end. That was when she saw her sister bounding toward her, blond hair shimmering in the sun, with enough energy to put a golden retriever puppy to shame.

***

CHAPTER
9

"Jessica! Thank God you're all-"

"Omigosh, Liz. The whole thing was so utterly humiliating I could die," Jessica gushed, pulling her sister over to one of the benches that lined the front walk. "You wouldn't believe what a jerk Scott turned out to be. I blocked his e-mail
and
deleted all his numbers from my cell. If he ever tries to call me again, he's going to be so--"

Jessica stopped talking abruptly and her eyes widened.

"What are you doing in my dress?" she demanded.

"And my new sandals! I'm gone one morning and you take that as a free pass to raid my closet?"

Elizabeth looked down at her lap. She was so exhausted and disoriented she had forgotten she was wearing Jessica's clothes.

"Oh, I-"

Suddenly, Jessica's expression morphed from irritated to excited. "You pretended to be me, didn't you?" she exclaimed, cutting Elizabeth off. She grabbed Liz up in a hug and crushed her so hard Liz was sure she heard a rib crack. "I knew it! I knew you'd find a way to fix everything! You are the best sister in the entire state of California. Have I ever told you that?"

"Not recently," Elizabeth replied with a wan smile.

"So you took the test for me?" Jessica said, her blue-green eyes twinkling. "How brill! You ace everything. We are going to have
so
much fun next summer!"

Elizabeth was finding it hard to breathe in the face of all Jessica's exuberance. "Jess, about the test-"

"Oh, don't worry. I'll make it up to you somehow,"

Jessica said, waving a hand. "You don't know what this means to me, Liz. I was so sure that Scott had ruined our entire summer. But of course you wouldn't let that happen."

Exhausted, Elizabeth felt her shoulders slump. Suddenly, she found that she didn't have the heart to tell Jessica what had happened that day. Not about Todd or the fact that she had half wept her way through Jessica's test-none of it. She was just relieved that Jessica was home safe and sound and that she could finally go back to her room and curl up under the covers to wallow. Besides, the test scores would be posted soon enough. Until then, Elizabeth would hold on to the dim hope that somehow, by some miracle, she had managed to pass the exam for both of them.

"So, who else did you fool?" Jessica asked, crossing her legs and turning toward Elizabeth with interest. "Did Cara think you were me? I bet she did, right? Right? She is so totally oblivious."

Elizabeth was trying to think of a way to wrangle herself out of this high-energy inquisition when Jessica's grin suddenly turned into a frown. Her eyes darted past Elizabeth and her brows knit.

"What's up with him?" she asked with a sneer.

Elizabeth turned to find Todd, dressed in his practice football uniform, trudging past them toward the parking lot. He had been scowling at Jessica, but the moment his eyes caught Liz's, he turned and looked pointedly away. Without a word to either of them, he just kept walking. Elizabeth felt like he was taking her heart with him.

"He must've forgotten something in his car," she muttered. "He's probably in a rush to get back to practice."

"Uh, okay. But he could at least wave," Jessica said.

"I don't want to talk about this," Elizabeth, standing, told her sister. "Let's go home."

"Wait. Liz, is something going on with you and Todd?" Jessica asked with concern.

"Sort of. Not really." Elizabeth hedged. "Seriously, can we please just talk about this later? I want to go home."

"Okay, fine," Jessica said with a shrug. "You go. I have cheerleading practice."