Elizabeth's Secret Diary Vol II - Part Two (and Three)
OK, apologies that this took so long. Our internet decided to die a week ago so I have to do this at the library. This is an even worse excuse, but I left my book next to the window and it got rained on heavily. It's still readable though. (It's so sad that libraries no longer stock SV books except for Junior High and Senior Year.) And for those who are interested - I'm past 40,000 words for my NaNoWriMo (you have to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November - it doesn't have to be good, you just have to get it all out and you can edit it later, and so I'm writing a Sweet Valley book - I'm doing it more for the personal challenge which is why it doesn't matter that my idea is copyright), so slightly behind but I should be able to get it done.
Part 2:
So we are now up to the book whose cover I made my user icon from - SVH #61 Boy Trouble. On the cover Elizabeth is feeling sorry for Patty who doesn't have ocean eyes and spun-gold hair - in fact this link is a far better summary than I could do.
Elizabeth is starting a new newspaper column called “Personal Profiles”. In her own words: My first “victim” is Patty Gilbert . . . Patty is a senior and one of the best dancers in the school. Patty is also the best friend of DeeDee Gordon, who is dating Bill Chase. Is DeeDee a senior too because I thought Bill Chase was a junior? Hmm I'll have to look that up sometime. DeeDee is wearing a handpainted T-shirt that they are going crazy over (Elizabeth's words) and will be selling them at the crafts fair this weekend. Patty is over sitting with Dana Larson and the Droids (maybe its normal for seniors in SVH to hang out with the juniors *cough Bruce*). However Patty is distracted by the fact that her boyfriend Jim Hollis is coming home this weekend from college for the first time in a month. Elizabeth considers herself an expert on long-distance romances.
Patty comes over to visit Elizabeth that weekend and is so upset that they skip the interview. She found out her sister Jana was coming home from San Francisco that weekend, but was unable to get in contact with Jim to change their plans so that she could see both of them. Jim apparently blew up when he arrived and accused Patty of putting her sister before him. And Patty said silly jealous things like, “Where were you when I tried to call?” (Ah, the healthiness of SV relationships: it's ok to rage out and demand a girl not see her family, and you should always be waiting by the phone because if you - god forbid - leave your house then you must be cheating!) And they broke up (I can't help seeing that as not such a bad thing for Patty). The next night Patty went to the movies with DeeDee and Bill and Bill's friend Craig. And Jim was there, with a date. (Never mind that it could be equally as logically construed that Patty was there as Craig's date - seeing a movie with a member of the opposite sex? It must be a date, guys and girls cannot be friends.)
Patty tries to talk to Jana about her problems but Jana is only interested in planning her upcoming wedding. They have an argument which results in Patty saying she doesn't want to be the maid of honor anymore (hmm, its a bit unfair to pull out so close to the date, I mean, changing wedding plans is not exactly cheap or simple).
DeeDee was silly enough to let Jessica mind her stall for a while at the Crafts Fair. A guy named Vincent approached and was interested in selling her shirts at his shop. Because he was extremely good looking, Jessica pretended to be the artist and set up an appointment to bring over some of the shirts. However, the shirts completely sold out so Jessica was left with no examples to bring to Vincent, so she decided to paint her own. In Elizabeth's own words: Jessica is the only person in Southern California who is a more atrocious artist than I am. I am a little bit disappointed in Elizabeth here, she could tell DeeDee about Vincent and give DeeDee the opportunity to further her business, but instead she's going to watch in amusement as Jessica fails in front of Vincent and then shake her blond head sanctimoniously.
Jessica tells Elizabeth that Jim's cousin came up from LA for the weekend and was also at the Crafts Fair. Super-sleuth Elizabeth deduces that this must be the girl Patty saw him with (why she didn't give Patty a nice rational lecture earlier such as: “just because you saw him with a girl at the movies, doesn't mean they had to be dating, just like you were at the movies with Craig”). She tells Patty who tries to call Jim to apologise but he's not answering her calls. And Elizabeth says that she always thought he was such a nice guy! (Um, no, he's not if he's going to blow up about Patty wanting to see her sister.)
Jessica's shirts were so horrendous compared to the first lot Vincent saw, that she ended up telling him that DeeDee was the real artist. So lucky for DeeDee Vincent made an appointment with her instead.
Patty made up with Jana when she saw her sister in her wedding gown. Jana tracked down Jim, found out he'd been on a two-week geology field course (Geology rocks, you know?) and invited him to her wedding. Patty and Jim make up.
Elizabeth sees the perfect dress at the mall while shopping with Jessica, but its out of her budget. Then Jessica spies a computer dating service for teens. She grabs them two forms and drags Elizabeth into a booth. Elizabeth refuses to participate, but Jessica explains that they are both for her. She wants to attract a different type of guy, so she invents two completely different alter egos: Daniella Fromage (an intellectual who liked foreign films, modern poetry, French cusine and world travel) and Magenta Galaxy (a wild rocker who was into fast cars, loud music and wild clothes). Jessica explains that she couldn't decide whether she wanted a sophisticated, cultured guy or a wild, daring type.
Jessica starts learning about her new interests from Suzanne Hanlon and Dana Larson. Elizabeth secretly thinks that there is some method to her madness, but decides to lecture her twin for the hell of it on how she's making a mistake. Elizabeth writes a poem about how good she is, but I prefer her when she's not trying to impress me so I'm deliberately skipping over it. Elizabeth interrupts a “deluxe make-out session” with Todd to confess to him that she wants to do something different, like Jessica. Elizabeth, for a moment, actually says something deep: Don't you ever feel as if you work so hard to live up to everybody's expectations - to your own expectations - that you lose touch with who you could become? Todd just laughs at her.
Elizabeth does something she considers wild and crazy - getting her hair permed. Jessica also helped her buy the dress, but Elizabeth knows she'll be called in to return the favour sooner or later. She bumps into Jeffrey and they have a deep and meaningful conversation about the significance of her hairstyle change.
Jessica has been dating two different guys - doing cultural activities with Pierre and having a wild and crazy time with Brett. However somehow she managed to double-book herself, so she solved it by organising to meet them in two different sections of the same restaurant. Her plan is to be in two places at once in the restaurant with Elizabeth's help. They both wore black leotards and a black skirt, Jessica curled her hair and they both had a temporary streak of blue in the hair (for Daniella it would be hidden under a black beret). Daniella's outfit consisted of a gray cropped jacket and expensive elegant watch, Magenta was going to wear multicoloured bracelets and a necklace of fluorescent fish. Every fifteen minutes they would meet in the bathroom and swap accessories, so that Jessica could spend time with both her dates. Elizabeth thinks that Pierre is snobby, and Brett barely has anything to say. She also starts to realise that neither Pierre nor Brett know much about their respective interests. Of course after a while the twins start screwing up (going out as Magenta while still wearing one of Daniella's accessories), and finally Elizabeth tells Pierre that he's a fake. The date ends soon after.
In an unbelieveable coincidence (and by that I mean, Ghostwriter, try harder to make your ending less contrived) the next day Pierre and Brett both turn up at the Wakefield's house at the same time as Suzanne and Dana arrive to pick up the stuff Jessica borrowed. The truth comes out - both of them were trying to be different from who they really were in order to meet a different kind of girl. Pierre's real name is Pete, and he has lots in common with Dana. And Brett got along with Suzanne from the moment he met her. What annoys me as well is that by the ending of every Sweet Valley book, everyone must be in a relationship.
Elizabeth decides to take a risk by trying something athletic, and sees surfing lessons advertised at the Moon Beach Surf Club. When she arrives, it turns out that a boy named Sean was just boasting to his friends how he could teach anyone how to surf in less than a month well enough to win a big competition. He offers Elizabeth free lessons three times a week if she'll help him win his bet.
Elizabeth is pretty busy so this means cancelling on Todd, so she lies and says she's going to be busy with a Marine Biology Project at Moon Beach for the next month. Sean is also pretty flirty, but a girl named Laurie (who doesn't surf) gives her the impression that he's spoken for so she doesn't worry about it. Elizabeth starts to love surfing, and starts telling her friends to be sure to come to Moon Beach at the end of the month to see her “marine biology project”. They agree because they heard there will be a big surfing competition happening that day.
Sean gives her a little surfboard charm and tries to kiss her. Elizabeth asks him about Laurie, and he says they're just friends. Elizabeth tells him about Todd, and realised that Laurie wants to be more than friends with Sean. She also sees a girl who looks like Laurie trying to teach herself how to surf. Liz decides to go surfing after a storm, even though Sean thinks it might be risky. She wipes out, gets a concussion and almost drowns but Sean saves her and gives her mouth to mouth (good thing this isn't a Saga or Legacy story, or else those two are meant to be). Sean drives her home and Todd sees him dropping her off and is jealous and they argue.
Liz goes for a drive to look at the ocean, and bumps into Jeffrey, who is a good listener when she tells him her secret about learning to surf. At the surfing competition, Liz's name is announced as a competitor. Everyone is shocked, but then starts cheering. Liz rides almost perfectly until the end, where she deliberately wipes out. After her go, Laurie's name is called and Laurie has a perfect ride, winning the competition. Sean sees Laurie as someone he wants to date for the first time. Everyone is proud of Elizabeth, even if she did humiliate herself slightly, and only Bill Chase can tell that she screwed it up deliberately.
Tricia Martin doppelganger alert! A girl named Andrea at the Unique Boutique looks exactly like Steven's girlfriend who died of leukaemia. Steven asks her out and starts breaking dates with his current girlfriend Cara. Steven expects Andrea to behave exactly like Tricia because they both liked walking on the beach. Cara asks Liz what's going on, but Liz can't tell her that her brother is two-timing her because she promised Steven she wouldn't. The Wakefield parents are also arguing because Alice is working too much on a big exciting project, and Steven decides he wants to take up hang-gliding. Liz and Todd have issues because she sees her parents' marriage starting to fail (and she writes a haiku about it - she also talks as though haiku poetry is something she's only just learned about). Cara finds out about Andrea and tells Steven that he's being unfair to both of them. Steven calls her possessive and breaks up with her. Liz, of course, plans to lecture Steven when he gets home from his hang-gliding lesson but ...
Steven is in hospital! His hang-glider crashed. He recovers (and doesn't become heroically blind) and Liz and Jess plot to get him back together with Cara. Jessica tells Steven she saw Andrea at the movies with another guy, and Steven (hypocritical Wakefield) confronts her about it. Andrea said that they never agreed to not date other people, which is fair enough. She also said that he never bothered to get to know who she was, and was always trying to make her into Tricia. Then Andrea leaves and Cara arrives, and they talk and get back together. I haven't read the book (I will read the recap though) so I would like to know just what Steven said that made his two-timing OK enough for Cara to take him back, unless the dead girlfriend excuse always works as a Get Out of Jail Free card.
Part 3:
Maria Santelli's dad is running for Mayor. Mr Santelli is then accused of receiving bribes, and unless he can clear his name there's no way he'll be able to win the election. Mr Wakefield is going to use his mad lawyer skillz to defend Mr Santelli at his trial. Jessica starts calling something called the “teen party line” to distract herself from their parents arguing. Elizabeth tells Todd she doesn't think she ever wants to get married, even to him, because of what's happening with her parents. Todd is trying to be supportive by downplaying her parental problems (for him, a good punch usually solves everything).
Elizabeth goes “all out” trying to make a happy family meal . . . of spaghetti. However her dad is depressed because the judge threw out Mr Santelli's case without a ruling, meaning his name will never be cleared. Mr Santelli decides to drop out of the race. Elizabeth bumps into Jeffrey at the library, who notices she's unhappy and wonders if its Todd. Elizabeth explains that its her parents and Jeffrey is more understanding than Todd. Elizabeth wants to kiss him, and wonders what her life would be like if Todd hadn't returned from Vermont.
Elizabeth writes a soppy poem inspired by Jeffrey. As usual, I can't bring myself to write it out, so I will just say it includes phrases such as “the night the stars sang” and “my heart swelled like the tide”.
Bruce Patman's father has apparently asked Mr Wakefield to run for mayor. (Obviously Hank doesn't have any dislike for Ned despite the fact that Ned took his fiance away from him.) Ned delays about telling Alice.
The annual family trip to Lake Tahoe is coming up this weekend. Jessica is going to suffer withdrawal symptoms from the teen party line on the phone. The vacation can't be shifted to a less busy time (even though they're probably known about it for months) of course, so Alice feels her work project is going to suffer if she has no contact with it for a weekend (she is the head designer).
Liz interferes by telling Alice's work that they have to convince her to come. As soon as they know about the vacation, they are against it and want to tell her the opposite. Liz finally concedes to give them the number of the cabin they're staying at. Mr Wakefield has been very strict about the fact that there will be no contact with the outside world this weekend.
On the weekend Jessica accidentally lets slip that she knows Ned is running for mayor. Alice is hurt that he never even discussed it with her, even though she thinks its a bad idea. Then Alice receives an “urgent” call from work, even though no one is meant to know their contact number. Ned doesn't believe her that she didn't give them the number. Alice says she's going to go back to the office. Ned says that if she does, she's walking out on the family. Alice asks if he's threatening her, then turns and goes back to Sweet Valley. When they get home, Ned organises to move out.
Liz feels like she's the cause of her parents breaking up, even though her mother says she forgives her. Todd tells her she's stupid for feeling guilty over it. She then goes and talks to Jeffrey who is a better listener. After listening he tells her that her giving the number was not the cause. Her dad decided to give an ultimatum, and Alice decided to leave. Elizabeth then kisses Jeffrey then pulls away saying “we can't” and drives home. (From a psychology perspective, Liz is sabotaging her relationship with Todd because she sees a break up as inevitable and it will hurt less now.)
Then the phone bill arrives - three hundred dollars worth of calls. The sad thing is that back then that would have been shocking, whereas today there are kids with no sense of reality who rack up $500 mobile bills without even blinking.
Todd and Elizabeth break up. Elizabeth tries to distract herself with Jessica-style dating, refusing to become serious about anyone ever again. However the novelty wears off for her after the second date. Then Jessica and Steven confront Elizabeth. Jessica hypocritically tells Elizabeth (in PG words) that she's acting like a slut and getting a bad rep. Then Jessica yells at Elizabeth for giving out the phone number, and Steven (who didn't know) is surprised because of the strict family rule about no outside contact allowed.
Elizabeth writes her family a letter telling them that she's sorry and she's safe and then goes to stay with Enid (and is smart enough to leave Enid's phone of the hook so they can't try to contact her). Liz finally goes home, and everyone is happy to have her back. Her dad explains that his separation with Alice was temporary, and that they're trying to work things out.
Jessica hatches a simple but brilliant plan to get Liz and Todd back together. Steven drives Liz to Secca Lake, only for them to see Jessica (dressed identical to Liz that day) apologising to Todd and telling him that she still loves him and that she wants to get back together with him. Todd says he still loves her and is happy to get back together with her. Then Jessica says that she needs to get something from the car, and finds Liz and Steven. They hand Liz a rose and push her in the direction of Todd. Ah, how everything works out when you stop letting pride get in the way.
Elizabeth still has confused feelings for Jeffrey. Jeffrey however tells her to meet him at Miller's Point in an hour. If she doesn't turn up, he'll have his answer and he'll never bother her again, but he can't handle all this yes-but-no stuff that Elizabeth's putting him through.
Liz finally arrives at Miller's Point ten minutes late. They have a confusing conversation, then kiss, and then Elizabeth runs away. Liz and Jess focus on helping their dad with his mayoral campaign. Jess keeps trying to find her parents new love interests (including setting up Alice with Mr Collins - he'll love it that she looks like Liz's older sister!), whereas Liz tries to set up “accidental” meetings between her parents. Liz tries to call off the affair with Jeffrey, then she feels lonely and after Todd can't see her she calls Jeffrey over.
Ah, the crazy memorable scene that most people find enjoyable to read but I just find it painful. Jeffrey climbs up to her window with a rose and quotes Shakespeare, and they start kissing. Then they suddenly stop to hear Todd throwing pebbles at her window (he felt bad about not being able to see her earlier). Elizabeth manages to convince Jeffrey to hide in the closet, even though he thinks Todd should see the truth. Todd appears at her window (Jeffrey hidden just in time) and climbs into her bedroom. He sees the rose and asks about it, and Liz says her dad gave it to him. She thanks him for coming over and tries to make excuses as to why he should leave. He starts to kiss her, but then Jessica starts knocking on the door and asking why its locked.
Liz freaks out, imagining the scandal if Jessica discovered Todd on her bed and Jeffrey in her closet. She manages to convince Todd to leave. Then Jeffrey emerges, understandably angry, but agrees to leave after Todd's car drives off.
Maria finds out that a man named Mr Knapp who's working on Ned's campaign is the one who framed her father and is planning to do the same to destroy Ned's reputation. They decide to break into his office to find the evidence and almost get caught. They told Ned about it, who felt like he couldn't trust anyone. Elizabeth suggested their mother, and he headed home to talk to Alice. Alice suggested Ned talk to his friend, Detective Cabrini, but Ned said he couldn't because the evidence was inadmissable in court (I guess because they committed the crime of break-in to get it). So then Alice helped him come up with a plan. Mr Wakefield in his speech in front of Town Hall the next day announced that he and Peter Santelli had both been exploited. Mr Knapp tried to make a run for it which was intercepted by detective Cabrini. Ned announced he was stepping down and wanted Mr Santelli to run instead. The Wakefield parents kiss and make-up and Ned moves back in. Oh yeah, and Mr Santelli wins.
Part 2:
So we are now up to the book whose cover I made my user icon from - SVH #61 Boy Trouble. On the cover Elizabeth is feeling sorry for Patty who doesn't have ocean eyes and spun-gold hair - in fact this link is a far better summary than I could do.
Elizabeth is starting a new newspaper column called “Personal Profiles”. In her own words: My first “victim” is Patty Gilbert . . . Patty is a senior and one of the best dancers in the school. Patty is also the best friend of DeeDee Gordon, who is dating Bill Chase. Is DeeDee a senior too because I thought Bill Chase was a junior? Hmm I'll have to look that up sometime. DeeDee is wearing a handpainted T-shirt that they are going crazy over (Elizabeth's words) and will be selling them at the crafts fair this weekend. Patty is over sitting with Dana Larson and the Droids (maybe its normal for seniors in SVH to hang out with the juniors *cough Bruce*). However Patty is distracted by the fact that her boyfriend Jim Hollis is coming home this weekend from college for the first time in a month. Elizabeth considers herself an expert on long-distance romances.
Patty comes over to visit Elizabeth that weekend and is so upset that they skip the interview. She found out her sister Jana was coming home from San Francisco that weekend, but was unable to get in contact with Jim to change their plans so that she could see both of them. Jim apparently blew up when he arrived and accused Patty of putting her sister before him. And Patty said silly jealous things like, “Where were you when I tried to call?” (Ah, the healthiness of SV relationships: it's ok to rage out and demand a girl not see her family, and you should always be waiting by the phone because if you - god forbid - leave your house then you must be cheating!) And they broke up (I can't help seeing that as not such a bad thing for Patty). The next night Patty went to the movies with DeeDee and Bill and Bill's friend Craig. And Jim was there, with a date. (Never mind that it could be equally as logically construed that Patty was there as Craig's date - seeing a movie with a member of the opposite sex? It must be a date, guys and girls cannot be friends.)
Patty tries to talk to Jana about her problems but Jana is only interested in planning her upcoming wedding. They have an argument which results in Patty saying she doesn't want to be the maid of honor anymore (hmm, its a bit unfair to pull out so close to the date, I mean, changing wedding plans is not exactly cheap or simple).
DeeDee was silly enough to let Jessica mind her stall for a while at the Crafts Fair. A guy named Vincent approached and was interested in selling her shirts at his shop. Because he was extremely good looking, Jessica pretended to be the artist and set up an appointment to bring over some of the shirts. However, the shirts completely sold out so Jessica was left with no examples to bring to Vincent, so she decided to paint her own. In Elizabeth's own words: Jessica is the only person in Southern California who is a more atrocious artist than I am. I am a little bit disappointed in Elizabeth here, she could tell DeeDee about Vincent and give DeeDee the opportunity to further her business, but instead she's going to watch in amusement as Jessica fails in front of Vincent and then shake her blond head sanctimoniously.
Jessica tells Elizabeth that Jim's cousin came up from LA for the weekend and was also at the Crafts Fair. Super-sleuth Elizabeth deduces that this must be the girl Patty saw him with (why she didn't give Patty a nice rational lecture earlier such as: “just because you saw him with a girl at the movies, doesn't mean they had to be dating, just like you were at the movies with Craig”). She tells Patty who tries to call Jim to apologise but he's not answering her calls. And Elizabeth says that she always thought he was such a nice guy! (Um, no, he's not if he's going to blow up about Patty wanting to see her sister.)
Jessica's shirts were so horrendous compared to the first lot Vincent saw, that she ended up telling him that DeeDee was the real artist. So lucky for DeeDee Vincent made an appointment with her instead.
Patty made up with Jana when she saw her sister in her wedding gown. Jana tracked down Jim, found out he'd been on a two-week geology field course (Geology rocks, you know?) and invited him to her wedding. Patty and Jim make up.
Elizabeth sees the perfect dress at the mall while shopping with Jessica, but its out of her budget. Then Jessica spies a computer dating service for teens. She grabs them two forms and drags Elizabeth into a booth. Elizabeth refuses to participate, but Jessica explains that they are both for her. She wants to attract a different type of guy, so she invents two completely different alter egos: Daniella Fromage (an intellectual who liked foreign films, modern poetry, French cusine and world travel) and Magenta Galaxy (a wild rocker who was into fast cars, loud music and wild clothes). Jessica explains that she couldn't decide whether she wanted a sophisticated, cultured guy or a wild, daring type.
Jessica starts learning about her new interests from Suzanne Hanlon and Dana Larson. Elizabeth secretly thinks that there is some method to her madness, but decides to lecture her twin for the hell of it on how she's making a mistake. Elizabeth writes a poem about how good she is, but I prefer her when she's not trying to impress me so I'm deliberately skipping over it. Elizabeth interrupts a “deluxe make-out session” with Todd to confess to him that she wants to do something different, like Jessica. Elizabeth, for a moment, actually says something deep: Don't you ever feel as if you work so hard to live up to everybody's expectations - to your own expectations - that you lose touch with who you could become? Todd just laughs at her.
Elizabeth does something she considers wild and crazy - getting her hair permed. Jessica also helped her buy the dress, but Elizabeth knows she'll be called in to return the favour sooner or later. She bumps into Jeffrey and they have a deep and meaningful conversation about the significance of her hairstyle change.
Jessica has been dating two different guys - doing cultural activities with Pierre and having a wild and crazy time with Brett. However somehow she managed to double-book herself, so she solved it by organising to meet them in two different sections of the same restaurant. Her plan is to be in two places at once in the restaurant with Elizabeth's help. They both wore black leotards and a black skirt, Jessica curled her hair and they both had a temporary streak of blue in the hair (for Daniella it would be hidden under a black beret). Daniella's outfit consisted of a gray cropped jacket and expensive elegant watch, Magenta was going to wear multicoloured bracelets and a necklace of fluorescent fish. Every fifteen minutes they would meet in the bathroom and swap accessories, so that Jessica could spend time with both her dates. Elizabeth thinks that Pierre is snobby, and Brett barely has anything to say. She also starts to realise that neither Pierre nor Brett know much about their respective interests. Of course after a while the twins start screwing up (going out as Magenta while still wearing one of Daniella's accessories), and finally Elizabeth tells Pierre that he's a fake. The date ends soon after.
In an unbelieveable coincidence (and by that I mean, Ghostwriter, try harder to make your ending less contrived) the next day Pierre and Brett both turn up at the Wakefield's house at the same time as Suzanne and Dana arrive to pick up the stuff Jessica borrowed. The truth comes out - both of them were trying to be different from who they really were in order to meet a different kind of girl. Pierre's real name is Pete, and he has lots in common with Dana. And Brett got along with Suzanne from the moment he met her. What annoys me as well is that by the ending of every Sweet Valley book, everyone must be in a relationship.
Elizabeth decides to take a risk by trying something athletic, and sees surfing lessons advertised at the Moon Beach Surf Club. When she arrives, it turns out that a boy named Sean was just boasting to his friends how he could teach anyone how to surf in less than a month well enough to win a big competition. He offers Elizabeth free lessons three times a week if she'll help him win his bet.
Elizabeth is pretty busy so this means cancelling on Todd, so she lies and says she's going to be busy with a Marine Biology Project at Moon Beach for the next month. Sean is also pretty flirty, but a girl named Laurie (who doesn't surf) gives her the impression that he's spoken for so she doesn't worry about it. Elizabeth starts to love surfing, and starts telling her friends to be sure to come to Moon Beach at the end of the month to see her “marine biology project”. They agree because they heard there will be a big surfing competition happening that day.
Sean gives her a little surfboard charm and tries to kiss her. Elizabeth asks him about Laurie, and he says they're just friends. Elizabeth tells him about Todd, and realised that Laurie wants to be more than friends with Sean. She also sees a girl who looks like Laurie trying to teach herself how to surf. Liz decides to go surfing after a storm, even though Sean thinks it might be risky. She wipes out, gets a concussion and almost drowns but Sean saves her and gives her mouth to mouth (good thing this isn't a Saga or Legacy story, or else those two are meant to be). Sean drives her home and Todd sees him dropping her off and is jealous and they argue.
Liz goes for a drive to look at the ocean, and bumps into Jeffrey, who is a good listener when she tells him her secret about learning to surf. At the surfing competition, Liz's name is announced as a competitor. Everyone is shocked, but then starts cheering. Liz rides almost perfectly until the end, where she deliberately wipes out. After her go, Laurie's name is called and Laurie has a perfect ride, winning the competition. Sean sees Laurie as someone he wants to date for the first time. Everyone is proud of Elizabeth, even if she did humiliate herself slightly, and only Bill Chase can tell that she screwed it up deliberately.
Tricia Martin doppelganger alert! A girl named Andrea at the Unique Boutique looks exactly like Steven's girlfriend who died of leukaemia. Steven asks her out and starts breaking dates with his current girlfriend Cara. Steven expects Andrea to behave exactly like Tricia because they both liked walking on the beach. Cara asks Liz what's going on, but Liz can't tell her that her brother is two-timing her because she promised Steven she wouldn't. The Wakefield parents are also arguing because Alice is working too much on a big exciting project, and Steven decides he wants to take up hang-gliding. Liz and Todd have issues because she sees her parents' marriage starting to fail (and she writes a haiku about it - she also talks as though haiku poetry is something she's only just learned about). Cara finds out about Andrea and tells Steven that he's being unfair to both of them. Steven calls her possessive and breaks up with her. Liz, of course, plans to lecture Steven when he gets home from his hang-gliding lesson but ...
Steven is in hospital! His hang-glider crashed. He recovers (and doesn't become heroically blind) and Liz and Jess plot to get him back together with Cara. Jessica tells Steven she saw Andrea at the movies with another guy, and Steven (hypocritical Wakefield) confronts her about it. Andrea said that they never agreed to not date other people, which is fair enough. She also said that he never bothered to get to know who she was, and was always trying to make her into Tricia. Then Andrea leaves and Cara arrives, and they talk and get back together. I haven't read the book (I will read the recap though) so I would like to know just what Steven said that made his two-timing OK enough for Cara to take him back, unless the dead girlfriend excuse always works as a Get Out of Jail Free card.
Part 3:
Maria Santelli's dad is running for Mayor. Mr Santelli is then accused of receiving bribes, and unless he can clear his name there's no way he'll be able to win the election. Mr Wakefield is going to use his mad lawyer skillz to defend Mr Santelli at his trial. Jessica starts calling something called the “teen party line” to distract herself from their parents arguing. Elizabeth tells Todd she doesn't think she ever wants to get married, even to him, because of what's happening with her parents. Todd is trying to be supportive by downplaying her parental problems (for him, a good punch usually solves everything).
Elizabeth goes “all out” trying to make a happy family meal . . . of spaghetti. However her dad is depressed because the judge threw out Mr Santelli's case without a ruling, meaning his name will never be cleared. Mr Santelli decides to drop out of the race. Elizabeth bumps into Jeffrey at the library, who notices she's unhappy and wonders if its Todd. Elizabeth explains that its her parents and Jeffrey is more understanding than Todd. Elizabeth wants to kiss him, and wonders what her life would be like if Todd hadn't returned from Vermont.
Elizabeth writes a soppy poem inspired by Jeffrey. As usual, I can't bring myself to write it out, so I will just say it includes phrases such as “the night the stars sang” and “my heart swelled like the tide”.
Bruce Patman's father has apparently asked Mr Wakefield to run for mayor. (Obviously Hank doesn't have any dislike for Ned despite the fact that Ned took his fiance away from him.) Ned delays about telling Alice.
The annual family trip to Lake Tahoe is coming up this weekend. Jessica is going to suffer withdrawal symptoms from the teen party line on the phone. The vacation can't be shifted to a less busy time (even though they're probably known about it for months) of course, so Alice feels her work project is going to suffer if she has no contact with it for a weekend (she is the head designer).
Liz interferes by telling Alice's work that they have to convince her to come. As soon as they know about the vacation, they are against it and want to tell her the opposite. Liz finally concedes to give them the number of the cabin they're staying at. Mr Wakefield has been very strict about the fact that there will be no contact with the outside world this weekend.
On the weekend Jessica accidentally lets slip that she knows Ned is running for mayor. Alice is hurt that he never even discussed it with her, even though she thinks its a bad idea. Then Alice receives an “urgent” call from work, even though no one is meant to know their contact number. Ned doesn't believe her that she didn't give them the number. Alice says she's going to go back to the office. Ned says that if she does, she's walking out on the family. Alice asks if he's threatening her, then turns and goes back to Sweet Valley. When they get home, Ned organises to move out.
Liz feels like she's the cause of her parents breaking up, even though her mother says she forgives her. Todd tells her she's stupid for feeling guilty over it. She then goes and talks to Jeffrey who is a better listener. After listening he tells her that her giving the number was not the cause. Her dad decided to give an ultimatum, and Alice decided to leave. Elizabeth then kisses Jeffrey then pulls away saying “we can't” and drives home. (From a psychology perspective, Liz is sabotaging her relationship with Todd because she sees a break up as inevitable and it will hurt less now.)
Then the phone bill arrives - three hundred dollars worth of calls. The sad thing is that back then that would have been shocking, whereas today there are kids with no sense of reality who rack up $500 mobile bills without even blinking.
Todd and Elizabeth break up. Elizabeth tries to distract herself with Jessica-style dating, refusing to become serious about anyone ever again. However the novelty wears off for her after the second date. Then Jessica and Steven confront Elizabeth. Jessica hypocritically tells Elizabeth (in PG words) that she's acting like a slut and getting a bad rep. Then Jessica yells at Elizabeth for giving out the phone number, and Steven (who didn't know) is surprised because of the strict family rule about no outside contact allowed.
Elizabeth writes her family a letter telling them that she's sorry and she's safe and then goes to stay with Enid (and is smart enough to leave Enid's phone of the hook so they can't try to contact her). Liz finally goes home, and everyone is happy to have her back. Her dad explains that his separation with Alice was temporary, and that they're trying to work things out.
Jessica hatches a simple but brilliant plan to get Liz and Todd back together. Steven drives Liz to Secca Lake, only for them to see Jessica (dressed identical to Liz that day) apologising to Todd and telling him that she still loves him and that she wants to get back together with him. Todd says he still loves her and is happy to get back together with her. Then Jessica says that she needs to get something from the car, and finds Liz and Steven. They hand Liz a rose and push her in the direction of Todd. Ah, how everything works out when you stop letting pride get in the way.
Elizabeth still has confused feelings for Jeffrey. Jeffrey however tells her to meet him at Miller's Point in an hour. If she doesn't turn up, he'll have his answer and he'll never bother her again, but he can't handle all this yes-but-no stuff that Elizabeth's putting him through.
Liz finally arrives at Miller's Point ten minutes late. They have a confusing conversation, then kiss, and then Elizabeth runs away. Liz and Jess focus on helping their dad with his mayoral campaign. Jess keeps trying to find her parents new love interests (including setting up Alice with Mr Collins - he'll love it that she looks like Liz's older sister!), whereas Liz tries to set up “accidental” meetings between her parents. Liz tries to call off the affair with Jeffrey, then she feels lonely and after Todd can't see her she calls Jeffrey over.
Ah, the crazy memorable scene that most people find enjoyable to read but I just find it painful. Jeffrey climbs up to her window with a rose and quotes Shakespeare, and they start kissing. Then they suddenly stop to hear Todd throwing pebbles at her window (he felt bad about not being able to see her earlier). Elizabeth manages to convince Jeffrey to hide in the closet, even though he thinks Todd should see the truth. Todd appears at her window (Jeffrey hidden just in time) and climbs into her bedroom. He sees the rose and asks about it, and Liz says her dad gave it to him. She thanks him for coming over and tries to make excuses as to why he should leave. He starts to kiss her, but then Jessica starts knocking on the door and asking why its locked.
Liz freaks out, imagining the scandal if Jessica discovered Todd on her bed and Jeffrey in her closet. She manages to convince Todd to leave. Then Jeffrey emerges, understandably angry, but agrees to leave after Todd's car drives off.
Maria finds out that a man named Mr Knapp who's working on Ned's campaign is the one who framed her father and is planning to do the same to destroy Ned's reputation. They decide to break into his office to find the evidence and almost get caught. They told Ned about it, who felt like he couldn't trust anyone. Elizabeth suggested their mother, and he headed home to talk to Alice. Alice suggested Ned talk to his friend, Detective Cabrini, but Ned said he couldn't because the evidence was inadmissable in court (I guess because they committed the crime of break-in to get it). So then Alice helped him come up with a plan. Mr Wakefield in his speech in front of Town Hall the next day announced that he and Peter Santelli had both been exploited. Mr Knapp tried to make a run for it which was intercepted by detective Cabrini. Ned announced he was stepping down and wanted Mr Santelli to run instead. The Wakefield parents kiss and make-up and Ned moves back in. Oh yeah, and Mr Santelli wins.