Sweet Valley Twins #18, Center Of Attention
This is my first recap posted in 1bruce1 since 2007. I chose it for no particular reason other than that I found a copy at Goodwill the other day for 99 cents. I used to be able to buy books at that same Goodwill for 39 cents so it wasn't that great a deal. However, at least this community gives me a purpose for spending almost triple the price for my Sweet Valley. Yay 1bruce1!
You can (sort of) see a cover image here. My cover is a little different because it's pink (and the title word is spelled "center") but otherwise both covers are the same. Both feature Liz in her pleated mom-khakis, which make her look quite a bit ... heavier than Jessica. She's also wearing a wrinkled Guess Jeans t-shirt and her trusty barrettes. Jess is rocking stonewashed mom jeans and a blue polo, while Steven's shirt actually looks like something my brother wore when he was 14.
We begin with Jessica riding her bike home from the mall. She enters her Spanish-tiled home through the kitchen. Since it's the kitchen, naturally the first person she sees is Steven. Jess starts to gush to him about this beautiful sweater she saw at the Clothes Horse. Steven doesn't give a shiitake mushroom and he leaves before Jess can even tell him about the embroidered unicorn. Annoyed, Jess moves on the living room, where she overhears Liz and her mom talking. Liz is like, "Mom, I love the Sixers but someday I want to write great horse stories." Alice is like, "Elizabeth, you can do anything you set your mind to. You are golden and perfect." Jessica and I both roll our eyes.
We pause here for a thoughtful introduction to the twins, who according to the ghostie are the best of friends and "respect" each other, despite their many differences. Thanks, ghostie. Then Jessica bursts into the living room to tell Alice and Liz about the sweater. Liz respectfully asks if it's purple. Jess clarifies that it's a "pale, pale violet" with a white unicorn embroidered across the front (it sounds like something Dawn Weiner would wear). Jessica wants the sweater to make the other Unicorns jealous, but before she can bum some money from her mom, Alice says that she's tired and wants to take a nap. Jessica feels a little too hurt and snubbed by this. She goes off to pout, but then she decides to make a chocolate parfait to win her mother's affections (get therapy, Jess).
At dinner, Ned announces that he'll soon be going off on a business trip. He has to go to New York City to sue some chocolate company for stealing some other chocolate company's candy bar recipe. The plan is for Alice to go with him for the first week, while "Great-aunt Shirley" (who?) comes to watch the kids. Alice makes sure to add that she will only go if she can shake her nasty cold. Ned and Alice worry for a bit about how tired and sick Alice has been feeling, but Jessica barely notices. She's too busy thinking about her little parfait. When she finally brings it out to the table, the reactions are mixed. St. Liz says "Yum!", Steven groans that it will probably taste like mud, Ned smiles half-heartedly and takes a piece into his study, and poor sick Alice is too tired to even sample a bite.
That night, Jessica continues to feel neglected until St. Liz finally convinces her that Alice isn't ignoring her. Liz thinks something might seriously be wrong with Alice. This is their tanned, healthy mother, after all. She can pass for the twins' older sister! She's not supposed to be sick! Jess worries for the rest of the night until she finally falls into an uneasy sleep.
The next morning, though, Alice goes off to work bright and early. The twins figure she can't be all THAT sick. They go off to school in good spirits. On their way to SVMS, they almost get run over by a random bully named Dennis Cookman (foreshadowing for book 19...) who stole some other tertiary character's bike.
At school, the hot gossip that day revolves mostly around auditions for the upcoming school musical. The school will be putting on Carnival and all of the Unicorns want Jessica to play Lily. They fawn over Jessica for a few pages. It's sort of nauseating. Jess's only competition seems to be Dana Larson (Sweet Valley's one singer) who has short blonde hair and a "pointy" chin. Of course, Bruce Patman is a shoo-in for the male lead.
After school, Jessica heads to Madame André's dance studio for her ballet lesson. (I guess Liz quietly quit ballet after she stopped being teacher's pet, because there's no mention of her going along.) Mme. André tells Jess that Alice is too sick to pick her up after the lesson and she's supposed to ride home with Kerry Glenn. Jess worries all through class. She worries even more after Kerry says that her mom used to have the same symptoms as Alice. Until Mrs. Glenn discovered she was ... pregnant.
Jessica goes home to tell Liz and Steve that she thinks Alice is with child. They both laugh in her face. Much to everyone's relief, Alice overhears and she reassures everyone that she is not pregnant. Jess feels so happy about this news that she takes the moment to finally ask Alice about the unicorn sweater (which costs forty dollars, by the way.) Alice says she will pay for half but insists that Jessica save her allowance to pay for the rest. Jessica pouts. My heart weeps for her.
The next day, at school, there's more nonsense about the school musical. And Dennis Cookman. Later that night, the Wakefields are eating dinner when Ned announces that he'll be leaving for New York the next morning. Instead of Great-aunt Sally coming to babysit, Alice will stay behind with the kids. She's too tired and sick to go to New York. Everyone jokes about how they'll stay up late and watch videos when Ned is gone. Jessica laughs along, but inside, she wishes sadly that Ned didn't have to go away. 1.)Jessica, you're not Lila, and 2.)Wasn't Great-aunt Sally's name Shirley a couple of chapters ago? I hope the ghostie and editor made minimum on this.
A couple of days later, Jess is riding home again, practicing for the Carnival audition. She's bellowing a song from that other musical, Shout (the one Ned tried to ban her from in book 9). It goes, "Hey world, look at me, me, me! I'm gonna shout what I'm about for everyone to see!" I actually have a tune for this in my head but there's no way to convey it here. Darn. Anyway, Jessica worries that her voice isn't strong enough to beat Dana's. She then goes inside and soon finds herself with a much bigger concern. The phone is ringing, so Jess answers; it's a doctor's office calling for Alice. Jessica eavesdrops only to hear something about results of Alice's blood test! Oh, no! What blood test?!
Jessica runs to tell Elizabeth and Steven. They listen, but only after St. Liz lectures Jess about listening in on the extension. (Shut up, Liz.) Alice hangs up with the nurse and all three kids confront her. Alice admits that they found a lump on her neck. She says it's probably nothing, but she has to go in for a biopsy. The kids are shocked but they try to be brave for their mom.
After her big announcement, Alice is so exhausted that she has to go lie down. She asks the kids to make dinner and they agree. After she's gone, Liz and Steven are still wearing their brave faces, but Jessica suddenly gets all bossy and demands that Steven make the chicken casserole and salad. Not only that, Jess insists that Liz do the laundry and iron her red cotton blouse. Meanwhile Jessica will play nurse for Alice. Steven and Liz are pissed but they barely put up a fight. Instead, they doormat-ishly do their chores while Jessica fluffs Alice's pillows (and sings her that stupid "Hey, world" song). Jessica finally comes back downstairs and proceeds to smugly compile a list of chores for the week. Steven and Liz slave away.
This pattern continues for the next several days. Steven and Liz let Jess order them around while Jess milks it. Jessica also stays glued to Alice's side and even goes with her to one of her doctor's appointments. At the doctor, Jess panics because Alice is gone for 45 minutes. If Jessica knew anything about doctors, she'd know that Alice probably spent 40 of those minutes just staring at a white wall and waiting for Dr. Costa. Alice does eventually come out and she assures Jessica that nothing bad happened in the office. She just had to have some more tests. Alice even offers to take Jessica to the Dairi Burger for an ice cream soda. Jessica thinks of Steven and Liz, working hard at home, and her conscience of convenience bothers her for just a second. But she feels better after suggesting that they bring back some ice cream for Steven and Liz.
After dinner, Alice looks "pale and thin" but she feels well enough to thank her children for their help. She gives extra praise to Jessica for being such a great nurse. Steven and Liz look disgusted, but it's hard to feel much sympathy for them when they're letting Jess order them around. Plus, even though she's giving herself the cushy jobs, technically Jessica is helping by taking care of Alice. But why am I sticking up for Jessica? On to more important things.
Alice tells the kids that she got her test results back (that was fast) and they're inconclusive. She probably just has a virus, but there's a tiny chance she might have ... cancer. (Foreshadowing for Mandy Miller!) Jessica reacts with horror, and that night she cries herself to sleep as she imagines a life without her perfect mother.
Jessica goes to school the next day but she's too distracted to concentrate. She's supposed to make mashed potatoes in home room but she turns on her electric mixer before lowering it into the bowl. Mashed potatoes fly everywhere, and everyone laughs at Jess. Even Lila. After school, Jessica runs home to check on her mom. Alice is lying down, and Jessica thinks she looks pale and that her cheeks look "sunken." Of all the things to stick out from these books, I remember having somewhat of an obsession with "sunken cheeks" when I was young. I know it came from this. I was a weird kid.
Anyway, Ned calls and Jessica talks to him in a subdued voice. Later that night, Caroline Pearce calls. She's looking for Liz but Jess picks up. Jessica is still feeling sad and scared so she ends up confiding to Caroline about her mom. You know what will happen next...
Sure enough, the next day Liz goes to school and everyone acts surprised to see her. Amy, Olivia, and Sophia coo their sympathies. They are sooo sorry to hear about Liz's mom. They heard she might have pneumonia ... or leukemia. Liz doesn't know what they're talking about and tries to say that her mother only has a virus; but Sophia just says condescendingly, "Of course she does", and pats Elizabeth's arm. Liz spots Caroline and runs to confront her. Caroline acts all prissy and is like "Pardon me, I just thought you would want a little sympathy." This makes Elizabeth shake her head and walk away in dismay.
Meanwhile, Jessica's friends have heard the news and they're equally sympathetic. But unlike Liz, Jess loves the attention. She thinks she has the right to "share" her grief with her friends. Liz and Jess argue for a bit, but naturally Liz caves in after two minutes, as she figures Jess is "just worried" about their mother. They walk into school with their arm's around each other's waists.
Lunchtime rolls around. At the Unicorner, everyone fawns over Jess again, this time because of her sick mother. (Mandy really had these girls pegged.) Jessica drinks in the attention. When the subject of Carnival comes up, all of the Unicorns tell Jess how "brave" she would be to audition for the lead role. Jess pretends to be modest and says she'll give it some thought.
Why does half of this book take place at mealtime? The next scene is dinner, which Alice and the kids are eating upstairs in her room. Alice feels strong enough to joke about making the kids cook dinner even after she gets better. Steven and Elizabeth laugh, but a moment later they get all tense after Jessica starts ordering them to do the dishes. Steven finally decides to stand up for himself. He and Liz stomp back into their mother's room where Steven is like, "Mom, make Jessica work!" but suddenly Alice feels weak and sick again. Steven looks at her mussed-up blond hair, feels guilty and goes downstairs to do the dishes. (St. Liz helps him.)
Jessica, in the meantime, strains herself long enough to get Alice some ice cream. She then goes to her room to do homework, but she can't stop thinking about Carnival. Jess decides to ask Alice about it. In her mom's room, Jess observes for the million and thirty seventh time how "small and frail" Alice looks. But Alice is well enough to talk about Carnival and she encourages Jess to try out for the lead. Satisfied, Jessica returns to her room (but not before she gratuitously orders a small pizza with the family's emergency fund. Didn't she just eat dinner?)
The next morning, before school, Jessica tells the Unicorns that she definitely plans to audition for Lily. It's her mother's dying wish. The Unicorns are ecstatic by the nobleness of it all. They squeeze Jessica's hands and tell her how brave she is. Even kids like Sophia come up to congratulate Jess ... even completely random kids do! (Who is Virginia Walker? She's supposed to be the student council secretary. But I thought that was Elizabeth?)
Before we know it, it's time for Alice to get her test results. Elizabeth begins the day by crying out at her "thinking seat." Once that's done, she goes inside where she and Steven bicker with Jessica about Jess's recent bossiness. Steven and Liz don't care that much, though. They think Jess herself is starting to look pale and sick, and they encourage her to stay home from school. Jessica says no, she MUST be at school for the Carnival auditions. Jess and Liz both proceed to spend the school day crying (mostly Jess) and worrying about their mom. Finally, they call Alice from school and find out that she has ... a bad virus! How very Suzanne Devlin! She's not dying after all! Alice just needs a few weeks more of rest and then everything will be absolutely fine.
Jessica skips off to her Carnival auditions, eager to tell everyone the good news. But before she can announce anything, Dana Larson approaches Jess and tells her that she's going to drop out of the audition. Dana thinks it's the least she can do for poor, dying Alice Wakefield. Jessica can hardly believe it, until Mrs. MacDonald (the music teacher) comes over to confirm. Everyone agrees that Jessica "deserves" to play Lily. Jessica knows why they're offering her the role, but in true sociopath spirit, she doesn't care. She pretends her mom is still dying. Everyone claps for Jessica, who feigns meekness and accepts the role.
This turns out to be a very big day, as it's also the day that Ned comes home. He arrives with a big box of chocolate bars for Steven and the twins. Jess tells everyone that she got the lead in the musical. Everyone is happy and Ned decides to celebrate their streak of good fortune with a cake and ice cream. That seems a bit much with the candy bars, until I remember these are Wakefields (not Wallers).
Nighttime comes, and Jessica finds herself lying awake in bed. She thinks she should feel happier but her sliver of a conscience is still bothering her about the play. Jessica tells it to shut up and goes to sleep.
Now it's the weekend. The Wakefields eat a big family breakfast. In case you're wondering, Alice plans to buy Jess that unicorn sweater for taking "such good care of" her (shockingly, she's going to buy gifts for Steven and Liz, too). Jess should be glad about this but she's still worried about the musical. As if on cue, right after breakfast some girls from the play show up. It's Dana, Brooke Dennis, and Sandra Ferris (who's all awkward and gawky in some future book but not here). They've come to support Jess. Their timing is very bad, though, as the rest of the Wakefields are out back, laughing and shrieking (they're playing some game). Jess doesn't think they sound much like a family in distress. Jess silently wishes that either her family would be quiet, or that Dana and the others would go away.
But no such luck. Dana asks Jessica how Alice is doing. Jess forces a sad look and replies that Alice is "very weak." Her statement is met with an awkward silence. Dana then invites Jessica to a movie. Jess hedges. Her family members are still shrieking out back, but Dana and the others hardly seem to notice. Finally Jessica starts thinking about how sad and scared she was the previous week and how much better she feels now that she knows her mom is healthy. Jessica starts to confess ... and just in the nick of time. Liz runs inside giggling about the fake ice cube that Steven put in Ned's drink (with a fake fly in it!) Dana and the others give Jess WTF looks, and Jessica explains that Liz's giddiness is due to the fact that they "just found out" that Alice will be fine.
Dana and the others are thrilled to hear the news. Dana's even happier after Jess hands over the role of Lily. Jess says that now that Alice will live, Dana deserves the role. Um, shouldn't they just have an actual audition? What if Jess could sing better than Dana? What if Dana can't act? Whatever. Dana and the useless others go home happy. Liz proceeds to lecture Jess about using Alice to get her the role. Steven comes in and helps up the ante by demanding that Jess do his and Liz's chores for the rest of the weekend. Jess pouts, but in the end she doesn't care because ... you know. Alice Wakefield is healthy and that's all that matters.
The rest of Jessica's weekend is pretty terrible until Mrs. MacDonald calls. Someone dropped out of the musical and Mrs. MacDonald wants to offer Jessica her role. Once again, Jessica Wakefield has gotten her way. In the final chapter, Jess happily rides to school wearing her new unicorn sweater along with "a denim skirt, purple knee socks, and navy flats." Does that even go together? The rest of the book just consists of more foreshadowing for SVT #19. Dennis Cookman bullies Winston and sits on his chest. Winston feels like crying but he is too scared to tattle. By the way, Winston is described as "very quiet" in this book. I guess he doesn't become the class clown until after he graduates?
Until next time...
You can (sort of) see a cover image here. My cover is a little different because it's pink (and the title word is spelled "center") but otherwise both covers are the same. Both feature Liz in her pleated mom-khakis, which make her look quite a bit ... heavier than Jessica. She's also wearing a wrinkled Guess Jeans t-shirt and her trusty barrettes. Jess is rocking stonewashed mom jeans and a blue polo, while Steven's shirt actually looks like something my brother wore when he was 14.
We begin with Jessica riding her bike home from the mall. She enters her Spanish-tiled home through the kitchen. Since it's the kitchen, naturally the first person she sees is Steven. Jess starts to gush to him about this beautiful sweater she saw at the Clothes Horse. Steven doesn't give a shiitake mushroom and he leaves before Jess can even tell him about the embroidered unicorn. Annoyed, Jess moves on the living room, where she overhears Liz and her mom talking. Liz is like, "Mom, I love the Sixers but someday I want to write great horse stories." Alice is like, "Elizabeth, you can do anything you set your mind to. You are golden and perfect." Jessica and I both roll our eyes.
We pause here for a thoughtful introduction to the twins, who according to the ghostie are the best of friends and "respect" each other, despite their many differences. Thanks, ghostie. Then Jessica bursts into the living room to tell Alice and Liz about the sweater. Liz respectfully asks if it's purple. Jess clarifies that it's a "pale, pale violet" with a white unicorn embroidered across the front (it sounds like something Dawn Weiner would wear). Jessica wants the sweater to make the other Unicorns jealous, but before she can bum some money from her mom, Alice says that she's tired and wants to take a nap. Jessica feels a little too hurt and snubbed by this. She goes off to pout, but then she decides to make a chocolate parfait to win her mother's affections (get therapy, Jess).
At dinner, Ned announces that he'll soon be going off on a business trip. He has to go to New York City to sue some chocolate company for stealing some other chocolate company's candy bar recipe. The plan is for Alice to go with him for the first week, while "Great-aunt Shirley" (who?) comes to watch the kids. Alice makes sure to add that she will only go if she can shake her nasty cold. Ned and Alice worry for a bit about how tired and sick Alice has been feeling, but Jessica barely notices. She's too busy thinking about her little parfait. When she finally brings it out to the table, the reactions are mixed. St. Liz says "Yum!", Steven groans that it will probably taste like mud, Ned smiles half-heartedly and takes a piece into his study, and poor sick Alice is too tired to even sample a bite.
That night, Jessica continues to feel neglected until St. Liz finally convinces her that Alice isn't ignoring her. Liz thinks something might seriously be wrong with Alice. This is their tanned, healthy mother, after all. She can pass for the twins' older sister! She's not supposed to be sick! Jess worries for the rest of the night until she finally falls into an uneasy sleep.
The next morning, though, Alice goes off to work bright and early. The twins figure she can't be all THAT sick. They go off to school in good spirits. On their way to SVMS, they almost get run over by a random bully named Dennis Cookman (foreshadowing for book 19...) who stole some other tertiary character's bike.
At school, the hot gossip that day revolves mostly around auditions for the upcoming school musical. The school will be putting on Carnival and all of the Unicorns want Jessica to play Lily. They fawn over Jessica for a few pages. It's sort of nauseating. Jess's only competition seems to be Dana Larson (Sweet Valley's one singer) who has short blonde hair and a "pointy" chin. Of course, Bruce Patman is a shoo-in for the male lead.
After school, Jessica heads to Madame André's dance studio for her ballet lesson. (I guess Liz quietly quit ballet after she stopped being teacher's pet, because there's no mention of her going along.) Mme. André tells Jess that Alice is too sick to pick her up after the lesson and she's supposed to ride home with Kerry Glenn. Jess worries all through class. She worries even more after Kerry says that her mom used to have the same symptoms as Alice. Until Mrs. Glenn discovered she was ... pregnant.
Jessica goes home to tell Liz and Steve that she thinks Alice is with child. They both laugh in her face. Much to everyone's relief, Alice overhears and she reassures everyone that she is not pregnant. Jess feels so happy about this news that she takes the moment to finally ask Alice about the unicorn sweater (which costs forty dollars, by the way.) Alice says she will pay for half but insists that Jessica save her allowance to pay for the rest. Jessica pouts. My heart weeps for her.
The next day, at school, there's more nonsense about the school musical. And Dennis Cookman. Later that night, the Wakefields are eating dinner when Ned announces that he'll be leaving for New York the next morning. Instead of Great-aunt Sally coming to babysit, Alice will stay behind with the kids. She's too tired and sick to go to New York. Everyone jokes about how they'll stay up late and watch videos when Ned is gone. Jessica laughs along, but inside, she wishes sadly that Ned didn't have to go away. 1.)Jessica, you're not Lila, and 2.)Wasn't Great-aunt Sally's name Shirley a couple of chapters ago? I hope the ghostie and editor made minimum on this.
A couple of days later, Jess is riding home again, practicing for the Carnival audition. She's bellowing a song from that other musical, Shout (the one Ned tried to ban her from in book 9). It goes, "Hey world, look at me, me, me! I'm gonna shout what I'm about for everyone to see!" I actually have a tune for this in my head but there's no way to convey it here. Darn. Anyway, Jessica worries that her voice isn't strong enough to beat Dana's. She then goes inside and soon finds herself with a much bigger concern. The phone is ringing, so Jess answers; it's a doctor's office calling for Alice. Jessica eavesdrops only to hear something about results of Alice's blood test! Oh, no! What blood test?!
Jessica runs to tell Elizabeth and Steven. They listen, but only after St. Liz lectures Jess about listening in on the extension. (Shut up, Liz.) Alice hangs up with the nurse and all three kids confront her. Alice admits that they found a lump on her neck. She says it's probably nothing, but she has to go in for a biopsy. The kids are shocked but they try to be brave for their mom.
After her big announcement, Alice is so exhausted that she has to go lie down. She asks the kids to make dinner and they agree. After she's gone, Liz and Steven are still wearing their brave faces, but Jessica suddenly gets all bossy and demands that Steven make the chicken casserole and salad. Not only that, Jess insists that Liz do the laundry and iron her red cotton blouse. Meanwhile Jessica will play nurse for Alice. Steven and Liz are pissed but they barely put up a fight. Instead, they doormat-ishly do their chores while Jessica fluffs Alice's pillows (and sings her that stupid "Hey, world" song). Jessica finally comes back downstairs and proceeds to smugly compile a list of chores for the week. Steven and Liz slave away.
This pattern continues for the next several days. Steven and Liz let Jess order them around while Jess milks it. Jessica also stays glued to Alice's side and even goes with her to one of her doctor's appointments. At the doctor, Jess panics because Alice is gone for 45 minutes. If Jessica knew anything about doctors, she'd know that Alice probably spent 40 of those minutes just staring at a white wall and waiting for Dr. Costa. Alice does eventually come out and she assures Jessica that nothing bad happened in the office. She just had to have some more tests. Alice even offers to take Jessica to the Dairi Burger for an ice cream soda. Jessica thinks of Steven and Liz, working hard at home, and her conscience of convenience bothers her for just a second. But she feels better after suggesting that they bring back some ice cream for Steven and Liz.
After dinner, Alice looks "pale and thin" but she feels well enough to thank her children for their help. She gives extra praise to Jessica for being such a great nurse. Steven and Liz look disgusted, but it's hard to feel much sympathy for them when they're letting Jess order them around. Plus, even though she's giving herself the cushy jobs, technically Jessica is helping by taking care of Alice. But why am I sticking up for Jessica? On to more important things.
Alice tells the kids that she got her test results back (that was fast) and they're inconclusive. She probably just has a virus, but there's a tiny chance she might have ... cancer. (Foreshadowing for Mandy Miller!) Jessica reacts with horror, and that night she cries herself to sleep as she imagines a life without her perfect mother.
Jessica goes to school the next day but she's too distracted to concentrate. She's supposed to make mashed potatoes in home room but she turns on her electric mixer before lowering it into the bowl. Mashed potatoes fly everywhere, and everyone laughs at Jess. Even Lila. After school, Jessica runs home to check on her mom. Alice is lying down, and Jessica thinks she looks pale and that her cheeks look "sunken." Of all the things to stick out from these books, I remember having somewhat of an obsession with "sunken cheeks" when I was young. I know it came from this. I was a weird kid.
Anyway, Ned calls and Jessica talks to him in a subdued voice. Later that night, Caroline Pearce calls. She's looking for Liz but Jess picks up. Jessica is still feeling sad and scared so she ends up confiding to Caroline about her mom. You know what will happen next...
Sure enough, the next day Liz goes to school and everyone acts surprised to see her. Amy, Olivia, and Sophia coo their sympathies. They are sooo sorry to hear about Liz's mom. They heard she might have pneumonia ... or leukemia. Liz doesn't know what they're talking about and tries to say that her mother only has a virus; but Sophia just says condescendingly, "Of course she does", and pats Elizabeth's arm. Liz spots Caroline and runs to confront her. Caroline acts all prissy and is like "Pardon me, I just thought you would want a little sympathy." This makes Elizabeth shake her head and walk away in dismay.
Meanwhile, Jessica's friends have heard the news and they're equally sympathetic. But unlike Liz, Jess loves the attention. She thinks she has the right to "share" her grief with her friends. Liz and Jess argue for a bit, but naturally Liz caves in after two minutes, as she figures Jess is "just worried" about their mother. They walk into school with their arm's around each other's waists.
Lunchtime rolls around. At the Unicorner, everyone fawns over Jess again, this time because of her sick mother. (Mandy really had these girls pegged.) Jessica drinks in the attention. When the subject of Carnival comes up, all of the Unicorns tell Jess how "brave" she would be to audition for the lead role. Jess pretends to be modest and says she'll give it some thought.
Why does half of this book take place at mealtime? The next scene is dinner, which Alice and the kids are eating upstairs in her room. Alice feels strong enough to joke about making the kids cook dinner even after she gets better. Steven and Elizabeth laugh, but a moment later they get all tense after Jessica starts ordering them to do the dishes. Steven finally decides to stand up for himself. He and Liz stomp back into their mother's room where Steven is like, "Mom, make Jessica work!" but suddenly Alice feels weak and sick again. Steven looks at her mussed-up blond hair, feels guilty and goes downstairs to do the dishes. (St. Liz helps him.)
Jessica, in the meantime, strains herself long enough to get Alice some ice cream. She then goes to her room to do homework, but she can't stop thinking about Carnival. Jess decides to ask Alice about it. In her mom's room, Jess observes for the million and thirty seventh time how "small and frail" Alice looks. But Alice is well enough to talk about Carnival and she encourages Jess to try out for the lead. Satisfied, Jessica returns to her room (but not before she gratuitously orders a small pizza with the family's emergency fund. Didn't she just eat dinner?)
The next morning, before school, Jessica tells the Unicorns that she definitely plans to audition for Lily. It's her mother's dying wish. The Unicorns are ecstatic by the nobleness of it all. They squeeze Jessica's hands and tell her how brave she is. Even kids like Sophia come up to congratulate Jess ... even completely random kids do! (Who is Virginia Walker? She's supposed to be the student council secretary. But I thought that was Elizabeth?)
Before we know it, it's time for Alice to get her test results. Elizabeth begins the day by crying out at her "thinking seat." Once that's done, she goes inside where she and Steven bicker with Jessica about Jess's recent bossiness. Steven and Liz don't care that much, though. They think Jess herself is starting to look pale and sick, and they encourage her to stay home from school. Jessica says no, she MUST be at school for the Carnival auditions. Jess and Liz both proceed to spend the school day crying (mostly Jess) and worrying about their mom. Finally, they call Alice from school and find out that she has ... a bad virus! How very Suzanne Devlin! She's not dying after all! Alice just needs a few weeks more of rest and then everything will be absolutely fine.
Jessica skips off to her Carnival auditions, eager to tell everyone the good news. But before she can announce anything, Dana Larson approaches Jess and tells her that she's going to drop out of the audition. Dana thinks it's the least she can do for poor, dying Alice Wakefield. Jessica can hardly believe it, until Mrs. MacDonald (the music teacher) comes over to confirm. Everyone agrees that Jessica "deserves" to play Lily. Jessica knows why they're offering her the role, but in true sociopath spirit, she doesn't care. She pretends her mom is still dying. Everyone claps for Jessica, who feigns meekness and accepts the role.
This turns out to be a very big day, as it's also the day that Ned comes home. He arrives with a big box of chocolate bars for Steven and the twins. Jess tells everyone that she got the lead in the musical. Everyone is happy and Ned decides to celebrate their streak of good fortune with a cake and ice cream. That seems a bit much with the candy bars, until I remember these are Wakefields (not Wallers).
Nighttime comes, and Jessica finds herself lying awake in bed. She thinks she should feel happier but her sliver of a conscience is still bothering her about the play. Jessica tells it to shut up and goes to sleep.
Now it's the weekend. The Wakefields eat a big family breakfast. In case you're wondering, Alice plans to buy Jess that unicorn sweater for taking "such good care of" her (shockingly, she's going to buy gifts for Steven and Liz, too). Jess should be glad about this but she's still worried about the musical. As if on cue, right after breakfast some girls from the play show up. It's Dana, Brooke Dennis, and Sandra Ferris (who's all awkward and gawky in some future book but not here). They've come to support Jess. Their timing is very bad, though, as the rest of the Wakefields are out back, laughing and shrieking (they're playing some game). Jess doesn't think they sound much like a family in distress. Jess silently wishes that either her family would be quiet, or that Dana and the others would go away.
But no such luck. Dana asks Jessica how Alice is doing. Jess forces a sad look and replies that Alice is "very weak." Her statement is met with an awkward silence. Dana then invites Jessica to a movie. Jess hedges. Her family members are still shrieking out back, but Dana and the others hardly seem to notice. Finally Jessica starts thinking about how sad and scared she was the previous week and how much better she feels now that she knows her mom is healthy. Jessica starts to confess ... and just in the nick of time. Liz runs inside giggling about the fake ice cube that Steven put in Ned's drink (with a fake fly in it!) Dana and the others give Jess WTF looks, and Jessica explains that Liz's giddiness is due to the fact that they "just found out" that Alice will be fine.
Dana and the others are thrilled to hear the news. Dana's even happier after Jess hands over the role of Lily. Jess says that now that Alice will live, Dana deserves the role. Um, shouldn't they just have an actual audition? What if Jess could sing better than Dana? What if Dana can't act? Whatever. Dana and the useless others go home happy. Liz proceeds to lecture Jess about using Alice to get her the role. Steven comes in and helps up the ante by demanding that Jess do his and Liz's chores for the rest of the weekend. Jess pouts, but in the end she doesn't care because ... you know. Alice Wakefield is healthy and that's all that matters.
The rest of Jessica's weekend is pretty terrible until Mrs. MacDonald calls. Someone dropped out of the musical and Mrs. MacDonald wants to offer Jessica her role. Once again, Jessica Wakefield has gotten her way. In the final chapter, Jess happily rides to school wearing her new unicorn sweater along with "a denim skirt, purple knee socks, and navy flats." Does that even go together? The rest of the book just consists of more foreshadowing for SVT #19. Dennis Cookman bullies Winston and sits on his chest. Winston feels like crying but he is too scared to tattle. By the way, Winston is described as "very quiet" in this book. I guess he doesn't become the class clown until after he graduates?
Until next time...