SVH Senior Year #23: Falling Apart
This one was a little harder to separate into A plot, B plot, etc. A lot of it kind of interconnects, which is unusual for a Senior Year novel. There was enough going on, though, that I didn't want to put it all together in one lumped summary, so, if it feels like there's a hole in one of the plotlines, it'll likely make more sense if you read on.
The A Plot:
After Elizabeth's pseudo date with Evan, she's been avoiding his calls. She's confused and not sure what to say to him. She's so desperate to avoid talking to him that when Steven passes her the phone and takes off before she can ask him to lie and tell Evan she's out, she pretends to be Jessica. And oh noes, the guilt sets in! Because how could she impersonate her twin sister? Apparently she's forgotten all the many previous times they've switched places or pretended to be each other.
After about the fifth call Liz tries to duck, Jessica calls her on it. Elizabeth makes some lame excuse about homework, and Jess says "That's a good excuse. At least, it would have been a year ago." Hee! It's so true, Elizabeth has spent nearly all of Senior Year angsting over boys. Jessica also calls out Liz's lame claims that she and Evan are just friends, since if it were true, there's no reason for Elizabeth to be dodging his calls. Jess reminds Elizabeth that despite Conner having left town, he's still supposed to be her boyfriend. Which, uh, pot? Kettle? Black? Whatever. Liz proceeds to angst about this some more, because that's what Senior Year is all about. Apparently Jessica is also ticked that Liz chose Evan of all people, since she dated him for about two minutes earlier in the year, and she thought they had grown out of the whole stealing each other's boyfriends phase. But if that's true... why am I even bothering to recap these books for people?
Finally, Evan catches up to Elizabeth at school, and it's not as awkward as she'd been thinking it would be, although she feels guilty even talking to him when Conner's not around. Evan listens to her worries about Conner's alcoholism and disappearance, and tries to convince her it's not her fault. Give it up, Evan, she's rather fond of her martyr complex. Elizabeth is at the end of her rope with Conner; she still loves him, but she doesn't think she can handle his issues anymore, and figures it makes her the worst person in the world. Evan makes her laugh, though, and she agrees to meet up with him after school.
Elizabeth and Evan have a lot of fun together, and though she thinks maybe spending time with someone as laid back as him might be exactly what she needs about now. But there's still Jessica and Conner to consider. Oh, the woes of an aqua-eyed high school blonde! Jessica, of course, sees Evan drop Liz off at home and storms off.
Conner finally comes back to town (see B plot) and the two of them decide it's best for everyone if they take a break. Evan doesn't waste any time; he immediately asks Liz to the homecoming dance. Despite the guilt gnawing at her, Elizabeth agrees, and is pleasantly surprised to note that Evan actually looks happy she said yes. As opposed to Conner, who is evidently a robot and never shows emotion, good or bad. If that's true, I don't know what Conner she's been talking to; the one I've been reading about is Emo McAngstypants.
Apparently Elizabeth and Jessica haven't been speaking to each other for a good long while at this point. I totally didn't notice until the narration mentioned it. Evidently the ghostwriter missed the memo about "show, don't tell." Elizabeth approaches Jess and says how much she hates it when they aren't talking (doesn't this happen in, like, every other Sweet Valley book for one reason or another?). She explains to Jess just how hard life has been lately, and Evan's been very supportive. Jessica manages to admit she's noticed how tough Elizabeth has found it to manage lately without rolling her eyes, which is more than I'd be able to do. She even manages to concede that Evan is a very sympathetic listener. The warm fuzzy moment is killed, however, when Elizabeth mentions Evan's taking her to the homecoming dance. Jessica was planning to ask Evan to go as a friend; she's a cheerleader! She can't go without a date! Once again, the two aren't speaking to each other. It's a good thing they've matured past the antics they pulled when they were sixteen.
At the homecoming dance, Elizabeth is having a really good time with Evan. He's so passionate, and enthusiastic, and mellow... I want to know how he can be simultaneously enthusiastic and mellow. It's uncomplicated, a direct contrast to the time she spent with Conner, and it feels natural. As the last dance of homecoming draws to a close, Elizabeth kisses Evan, and this time, she doesn't flip out. (I'll bet a bunch of other people will, though.)
The B Plot:
It kind of irked me that this was the B plot, actually, because it was more important than Liz angsting over her two boy problem. Conner is still staying at his dad's place, and ironically, he finds the freedom his dad gives him grating. All he's wanted of late is for everyone to just leave him alone to do whatever he wants to, and his dad definitely fits the bill. The difference is that his dad couldn't care less about Conner, and can't even bothered to hang out with his son, whom he hasn't seen in years. On the upside, he lets Conner drink as much as he wants. Which Conner then proceeds to do, until dad brings home his cheap bimbo girlfriend. To escape, Conner drives off to a bar. Kid's only 17, but nobody bothers to card him. Seems Red Bluff is akin to Sweet Valley in that respect. Conner gets good and stinking drunk, and starts a fight in the bar, prompting the bartender to call his dad. I want to know how the bartender knew who to call, since Conner's only been in Red Bluff a couple of days. And if he knew who Conner's dad was, wouldn't he have known the kid was underaged? Gotta stop trying to make sense of this, it's making my head hurt. Anyway, Conner passes out as soon as his dad shows up. He doesn't wake up until much later... in a hospital bed! Seems he drank enough to give himself alcohol poisoning, and could have killed himself. As Conner is digesting this information, his dad requests the kid go home, as in back to his mother's place. Nice, caring role model for you there. All this puts things into perspective for Conner. He calls him mom, announces he's coming home and checking himself into rehab. When he gets home, his mom and his sister are all supportive, hugging and overjoyed to see him in such good condition. He's checking into rehab the next day, but first he stops by to see a couple of his friends and apologize for the recent way he's treated them. He tells Liz it might be best to take a break, since he's not sure how long he'll be in rehab, and gets a good, supportive session with Tia. He even sends Andy an e-mail, apologizing for being a crappy friend while Andy's been having a rough time with coming out. Because a cyber "sorry I treated you like dirt" note totally makes up for it.
The C Plot:
Jessica is stressing out over homecoming; she's on the committee, and the committee members keep dropping out. First Elizabeth bails, then Maria. Then Tia announces she's dropping homecoming so she can spend the night at home with Andy, who is still a bit socially insecure. I mean, it's kind of rough for him to try to bring a date. Jessica talks them into coming, and the three of them wind up going as a group. And now that I've reduced that plotline to less than half a dozen sentences, I kind of wonder how it managed to last so many pages...
The D Plot:
Things aren't working out so well between Jeremy and Jade. They recently discovered they're in different places in the relationship; she's getting quite serious about him, while he's just dating for fun. To save face, Jade tries to play off the romantic card she gave him, which just leaves Jeremy totally confused about the mixed signals she's giving him. Not wanting him to feel bad for her, she invites him to homecoming, then virtually ignores him to dance with other guys. Jeremy comes to the conclusion that this isn't going to work out, that they're just too different... and besides, the one he really wants is Jessica. Of course it is. Nobody in Sweet Valley lasts long without dating a Wakefield.
The E Plot:
Not much to this, but since I think it'll become important later, I thought I'd stick it in here at the end. Ever since Melissa broke down on Ken, they've grown into a comfortable friendship. Will is still hiding out at home, not seeing or talking to anyone at school, so Melissa has decided to move on... and she's got her sights set on Ken, since he's the new star quarterback. Melissa has a promising future as a social climber. Ken has no idea what's going on, and figures since neither of them has a homecoming date, they should go together. Melissa is thrilled her evil scheme is falling into place. She lacks maniacal laughter, though. She should really work on that. I mean, she has all the other cliché villain-type qualities...
The A Plot:
After Elizabeth's pseudo date with Evan, she's been avoiding his calls. She's confused and not sure what to say to him. She's so desperate to avoid talking to him that when Steven passes her the phone and takes off before she can ask him to lie and tell Evan she's out, she pretends to be Jessica. And oh noes, the guilt sets in! Because how could she impersonate her twin sister? Apparently she's forgotten all the many previous times they've switched places or pretended to be each other.
After about the fifth call Liz tries to duck, Jessica calls her on it. Elizabeth makes some lame excuse about homework, and Jess says "That's a good excuse. At least, it would have been a year ago." Hee! It's so true, Elizabeth has spent nearly all of Senior Year angsting over boys. Jessica also calls out Liz's lame claims that she and Evan are just friends, since if it were true, there's no reason for Elizabeth to be dodging his calls. Jess reminds Elizabeth that despite Conner having left town, he's still supposed to be her boyfriend. Which, uh, pot? Kettle? Black? Whatever. Liz proceeds to angst about this some more, because that's what Senior Year is all about. Apparently Jessica is also ticked that Liz chose Evan of all people, since she dated him for about two minutes earlier in the year, and she thought they had grown out of the whole stealing each other's boyfriends phase. But if that's true... why am I even bothering to recap these books for people?
Finally, Evan catches up to Elizabeth at school, and it's not as awkward as she'd been thinking it would be, although she feels guilty even talking to him when Conner's not around. Evan listens to her worries about Conner's alcoholism and disappearance, and tries to convince her it's not her fault. Give it up, Evan, she's rather fond of her martyr complex. Elizabeth is at the end of her rope with Conner; she still loves him, but she doesn't think she can handle his issues anymore, and figures it makes her the worst person in the world. Evan makes her laugh, though, and she agrees to meet up with him after school.
Elizabeth and Evan have a lot of fun together, and though she thinks maybe spending time with someone as laid back as him might be exactly what she needs about now. But there's still Jessica and Conner to consider. Oh, the woes of an aqua-eyed high school blonde! Jessica, of course, sees Evan drop Liz off at home and storms off.
Conner finally comes back to town (see B plot) and the two of them decide it's best for everyone if they take a break. Evan doesn't waste any time; he immediately asks Liz to the homecoming dance. Despite the guilt gnawing at her, Elizabeth agrees, and is pleasantly surprised to note that Evan actually looks happy she said yes. As opposed to Conner, who is evidently a robot and never shows emotion, good or bad. If that's true, I don't know what Conner she's been talking to; the one I've been reading about is Emo McAngstypants.
Apparently Elizabeth and Jessica haven't been speaking to each other for a good long while at this point. I totally didn't notice until the narration mentioned it. Evidently the ghostwriter missed the memo about "show, don't tell." Elizabeth approaches Jess and says how much she hates it when they aren't talking (doesn't this happen in, like, every other Sweet Valley book for one reason or another?). She explains to Jess just how hard life has been lately, and Evan's been very supportive. Jessica manages to admit she's noticed how tough Elizabeth has found it to manage lately without rolling her eyes, which is more than I'd be able to do. She even manages to concede that Evan is a very sympathetic listener. The warm fuzzy moment is killed, however, when Elizabeth mentions Evan's taking her to the homecoming dance. Jessica was planning to ask Evan to go as a friend; she's a cheerleader! She can't go without a date! Once again, the two aren't speaking to each other. It's a good thing they've matured past the antics they pulled when they were sixteen.
At the homecoming dance, Elizabeth is having a really good time with Evan. He's so passionate, and enthusiastic, and mellow... I want to know how he can be simultaneously enthusiastic and mellow. It's uncomplicated, a direct contrast to the time she spent with Conner, and it feels natural. As the last dance of homecoming draws to a close, Elizabeth kisses Evan, and this time, she doesn't flip out. (I'll bet a bunch of other people will, though.)
The B Plot:
It kind of irked me that this was the B plot, actually, because it was more important than Liz angsting over her two boy problem. Conner is still staying at his dad's place, and ironically, he finds the freedom his dad gives him grating. All he's wanted of late is for everyone to just leave him alone to do whatever he wants to, and his dad definitely fits the bill. The difference is that his dad couldn't care less about Conner, and can't even bothered to hang out with his son, whom he hasn't seen in years. On the upside, he lets Conner drink as much as he wants. Which Conner then proceeds to do, until dad brings home his cheap bimbo girlfriend. To escape, Conner drives off to a bar. Kid's only 17, but nobody bothers to card him. Seems Red Bluff is akin to Sweet Valley in that respect. Conner gets good and stinking drunk, and starts a fight in the bar, prompting the bartender to call his dad. I want to know how the bartender knew who to call, since Conner's only been in Red Bluff a couple of days. And if he knew who Conner's dad was, wouldn't he have known the kid was underaged? Gotta stop trying to make sense of this, it's making my head hurt. Anyway, Conner passes out as soon as his dad shows up. He doesn't wake up until much later... in a hospital bed! Seems he drank enough to give himself alcohol poisoning, and could have killed himself. As Conner is digesting this information, his dad requests the kid go home, as in back to his mother's place. Nice, caring role model for you there. All this puts things into perspective for Conner. He calls him mom, announces he's coming home and checking himself into rehab. When he gets home, his mom and his sister are all supportive, hugging and overjoyed to see him in such good condition. He's checking into rehab the next day, but first he stops by to see a couple of his friends and apologize for the recent way he's treated them. He tells Liz it might be best to take a break, since he's not sure how long he'll be in rehab, and gets a good, supportive session with Tia. He even sends Andy an e-mail, apologizing for being a crappy friend while Andy's been having a rough time with coming out. Because a cyber "sorry I treated you like dirt" note totally makes up for it.
The C Plot:
Jessica is stressing out over homecoming; she's on the committee, and the committee members keep dropping out. First Elizabeth bails, then Maria. Then Tia announces she's dropping homecoming so she can spend the night at home with Andy, who is still a bit socially insecure. I mean, it's kind of rough for him to try to bring a date. Jessica talks them into coming, and the three of them wind up going as a group. And now that I've reduced that plotline to less than half a dozen sentences, I kind of wonder how it managed to last so many pages...
The D Plot:
Things aren't working out so well between Jeremy and Jade. They recently discovered they're in different places in the relationship; she's getting quite serious about him, while he's just dating for fun. To save face, Jade tries to play off the romantic card she gave him, which just leaves Jeremy totally confused about the mixed signals she's giving him. Not wanting him to feel bad for her, she invites him to homecoming, then virtually ignores him to dance with other guys. Jeremy comes to the conclusion that this isn't going to work out, that they're just too different... and besides, the one he really wants is Jessica. Of course it is. Nobody in Sweet Valley lasts long without dating a Wakefield.
The E Plot:
Not much to this, but since I think it'll become important later, I thought I'd stick it in here at the end. Ever since Melissa broke down on Ken, they've grown into a comfortable friendship. Will is still hiding out at home, not seeing or talking to anyone at school, so Melissa has decided to move on... and she's got her sights set on Ken, since he's the new star quarterback. Melissa has a promising future as a social climber. Ken has no idea what's going on, and figures since neither of them has a homecoming date, they should go together. Melissa is thrilled her evil scheme is falling into place. She lacks maniacal laughter, though. She should really work on that. I mean, she has all the other cliché villain-type qualities...