SVT #56 The Wakefields Strike It Rich
I can’t decide how misleading this title is; the Wakefields do NOT “strike it rich”, but for teenagers they have a bit more money than usual. Steven decides to use this money to pursue a girl who he knows nothing about and doesn’t like him, because she is pretty. The cover shows Steven and a twin with money raining down upon them. There’s only one twin, because if you’ve seen one twin, you’ve seen them all.
Aunt Helen is coming to visit, but the twins don’t want to go home because they’ll be made to clean the house, despite having done it a few days ago as punishment. They go to Casey’s, which I was insanely jealous of as a youngster. It was a shop that sold only ice cream! A number of Unicorns come with them, including Brooke, who only a few books ago declared that she didn’t want to be a Unicorn because she found them to be shallow, superficial and manipulative. Clearly she changed her mind. Nobody can resist the power of the Unicorns!
Also, after this moment she’s never mentioned again.
Steven is at Casey’s with a group of friends too, although he’s spending his time staring at a blonde girl named Jill. Janet’s brother Joe likes Jill too. Why all the J names? Joe is telling a hilarious story. Everyone laughs, especially Jill. Joe and Jill talk about a tv show - Steven tries to join in, but just makes a fool of himself. He blames Joe, for being cooler, funnier and more attractive than Steven. He decides the best course of action is to spend time with Jill without Joe being around, so she can see how great he is. He decides to take her out on a date. Oh, Steven. She’s Just Not That Into You.
The girls eat their sundaes. Each sundae cost two dollars each. Now I’m definitely jealous of Casey’s. They decide to leave a tip too. Jessica doesn’t have $2.50, only fifty cents. Wow, she really is broke. Lila chastises her for not looking after her money, but lets her borrow some. Jessica says if she had money, she’d be more generous to her friends. Yeah, right.
Back at home, Aunt Helen arrives, with a broken arm. She gives each of the Wakefield siblings $100, just because. Mr Wakefield suggests they each put it in a savings account to gain interest before college. Adding on interest… that should earn them each about two lectures. Elizabeth wants to buy a camera. Jessica plans to spend it, in some way.
Steven and Jill share English class. Jill only transferred to Sweet Valley a few weeks ago, which is why she’s never been mentioned before. Steven says hi to Jill, but she only smiles in response. Instead of taking this as a hint, Steven sees that as proof that he needs to take her out on a date, so she’ll know how great he is. Before Steven leaves college, he’ll have stood outside some girl’s apartment in the rain, calling and hanging up High Fidelity-style.
At lunch Jessica tells the Unicorns about her money. Lila chastises her for carrying that much money around but Jessica is prepared - she’s put it in her shoe. Janet reminds Jessica that she said she’d be generous to her friends, so Jessica invites everyone to Casey’s after school. All that ice cream can’t be good for Jessica’s perfect size 6 figure.
Elizabeth and Amy go to the mall - Elizabeth buys the new book by her favourite author, mystery writer Amanda Howard. She doesn’t normally buy hardbacks, but she makes the exception because Amanda Howard will be coming to the mall to sign books. Man, Elizabeth manages to suck the fun out of everything. Amy sees a copy of Johnny Buck: The Unauthorised Biography and they spend forever laughing at the hair in his yearbook picture. He has a perm. She buys both books.
They see Steven looking in the window of Precious Stones, a jewellery store so generic it may as well be called Jewellery Shop. They provided all the jewellery for Tale of Love. They creep up behind him and mock. Elizabeth feels bad for any girl who gets jewellery chosen by Steven. This is true - remember the plastic green necklace and bracelets his mother had in Mademoiselle Jessica? Any jewellery which can be used in an elaborate practical joke isn’t good quality.
The Unicorns shop. Kimberley wants a bracelet - Jessica buys it for her. It’s a whole four dollars. Ellen finds a poster of CoCo, a singer who is also Brooke’s mother. Jessica buys that for her too.
Steven has been hovering around the mall until he knew the twins were gone. He goes back to the jewellery shop, and is met by a snooty sales assistant. Oh, it’s just like Pretty Woman! Not knowing the value of anything, Steven asks for the diamond earrings in the window - $375 dollars. He settles on a pair of gold studs for $28. He’d have been better off going to Valley Fashions and buying something pretty but cheap. By the way, pierced earrings can’t be returned. I’m sure that won’t be important!
The Wakefields meet back at base camp. They explain their exciting days to Aunt Helen, who seems to have no existence outside them. Elizabeth offers to go see Amanda Howard with Aunt Helen, but Aunt Helen doesn’t want to be in a crowd which might bump her cast. Helen is vague about how her accident occurred.
The twins harass Steven about the Precious Stones incident. They totally know he’s in love with Jill. Jessica says if she had $100 dollars, she’d take a girl she likes out on a super-special date. Steven listens, because he’s a moron. He would have been better off going to his dad for some man-to-man advice. Or getting a clue.
Steven writes down what he plans to say to Jill, and recites it over and over. Oh, this is embarrassing. She doesn’t give a damn, and he’d totally wound up over her. Jessica has stuck a helpful magazine article under his door, with a post-it saying “Read This!” It’s an awful article about some girl’s dream date which involves a fancy restaurant, flowers, jewellery and dancing. There is no way this was written by a teenage girl. This was written by a debutante, circa 1923. Steven argues that if one girl liked it, then another girl definitely will! Oh, Steven. Did we learn nothing from Nicholas Morrow’s dating show disaster.
He calls her. Attempts a stupid joke about English homework. Her: “We didn’t have English homework.” Ouch. He asks and her answer is… “I guess that would be OK.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement. Tellingly, he worries that she didn’t know who he was. But then he remembers she knew they take English together. Phew!
Jessica buys ice cream for everyone again. The boy serving is repulsed to see her take money out of her shoe. He offers to put her change into her shoe if she passes it to him. Lila tells her not to buy people stuff, because everyone will forget she bought them things. Lila knows. She’s seen things. Tamara wants some lame print-on t-shirts. I bet the Unicorns get matching ones.
Steven is sitting next to Jill at the Dairi Burger. Not as good as it sounds, because he’s surrounded by all their friends, and everyone is laughing at Joe because he’s so funny. Joe buys Jill some fries for no reason. Joe 10, Steven, -2. Steven orders fries for everyone else at the table, and gets Jill some ketchup. He squirts on her arm. Oh, Steven.
Predictably, Jessica has managed to spend $85 without realising. Not only does this mean she only has $15 left, but more importantly, Lila was right! She plans to get her money back somehow, but realises the earrings she bought (the only thing she bought for herself) are pierced, and therefore non-refundable. Bummer.
Steven talks to Jill about their date. She’s totally forgotten, but covers up. She only becomes interested when he mentions picking her up, and she thinks he has a car. Being fourteen, he doesn’t. Steven, being a clod, thinks this: Our date is going to be great. There’s nothing to worry about at all!
Jessica evades all attempts by the Unicorns to get her shopping. Lila knows.
Steven has bought Jill a corsage. This is going to end so horribly I don’t want to read it. Jessica picks out his clothes, which is vaguely sweet. He has to borrow a tie from his dad, which makes me want to dote on everyone involved. They’re all so young! Anyway, Jessica chooses a navy blazer, tan trousers, brown loafers and a striped tie. Seems relatively ok, for a fourteen-year-old. Whatever happened to meeting at informal bowling parties? Jessica wangles $10 out of Steven for helping him.
Steven leaves. He’s taking her to Jacqueline’s a posh restaurant. When your mum comments on it, you know its super-swank. Anyway, he picks up Jill, she looks great, he jabs her with the corsage. FAIL.
The maitre d’ does his job, but Steven hates him because he didn’t give them menus. Jill, being Of The World, knows that isn’t supposed to happen. Steven says next year he’s going to take French. Jill is massively unimpressed, like any right-minded girl would be. Steven freaks out, because taking a girl to an expensive restaurant turns out to be surprisingly expensive. Thankfully Jill orders the cassoulet, which isn’t too expensive. Steven orders the same, because he doesn’t understand words. It seems this is because Steven knows nothing about the place, choosing it because it had a big advert in the phone book. Oh, Steven.
Jill mentions she loves dancing, especially square dancing. Inevitably, they dance and Steven steps on her foot. But the rest of the evening goes well, until Steven gets the check. An entire fifty dollars! If only he hadn’t given $10 to Jessica, or bought the crappy over priced jewellery or the corsage! He only has $45. Jill at least realizes the place is expensive, and asks him if he has an after-school job. He gives her the earrings, but she likes the box more than the earrings. Because she already has the earrings, and is wearing them. Burn!
He bites the bullet, and asks Jill if she has any money. Really, $5 and cab fare is a bargain date. And if Steven had invited someone who actually liked him, then splitting the check wouldn’t be awful at all.
Steven comes home, predictably unhappy. He blames Jessica.
At the mall with the Unicorns, Jessica feels the pressure to pay for their crappy jewellery. She doesn’t. Awfully, the Unicorns DO want to get t-shirts made. Ellen wants to get unicorn appliqués on them. Are these girls seven? Tamara wants purple, with their names on the back. Both sound awful. Lila sympathises, but Jessica spins it like she enjoyed sharing the wealth, rather than spending Friday night plotting ways to get her money back.
Elizabeth, being kind, lets Jessica go halves on a photo frame for Aunt Helen, and then pays for an awful blouse Jessica saw earlier - in return she’ll get an almost new sweater of Jessica’s. They go to Casey’s AGAIN. Mandy and the other Unicorns have bought Jessica some earrings she was looking at earlier, as a thank you for her shopping spree. And Lila pays for her sundae.
Steven goes round to Jill’s house, to drop off the money he borrowed from her. Can it really be that much? If she was any kind of decent person she’d let it go. He did pay for 90% of dinner, plus earrings, plus flowers, plus cab fare there. But instead of quietly dropping it off like he’d imagined, her mother invites him in and calls Jill. She is incredibly noncommittal in all of her responses. But at least she turns down the offer of another date, rather than leading him on.
Of course, the next book is about Steven trying to woo her back. ARGH.
B Plot
Reading a murder mystery has gone to Elizabeth’s head, and now she thinks there’s a real-life mystery going on in her house! To be fair, this is Sweet Valley, so anything is possible. It seems Elizabeth is easily suggestible. Thank God she only wants to solve kidnappings and murders, rather than commit them.
Elizabeth goes downstairs and overhears Aunt Helen talking to her lawyer dad. She’s worried about having to go to court, but Ned reassures her that she’s got an excellent lawyer. The people who might be suing Aunt Helen are unpleasant and referred to as “sharks”. Would that make her legal team the Jets? Would the depositions be in song?
Aunt Helen gets an overnight delivery package/ parcel. One of those big UPS style envelopes. She won’t open it in front of people.
Elizabeth gets her book signed by Amanda Howard. Elizabeth asks her where she gets her ideas from - Amanda tells her mysteries happen all the time, people just don’t notice them. Oh, don’t encourage her.
Elizabeth overhears someone crying in her house. No, it’s not Steven, realising what a fool he is, but rather Aunt Helen. She’s crying because her favourite character on Days of Turmoil has been killed. Nurse Lloyd was shot by gangsters because she witnessed a murder. Elizabeth presses on the letter again, because she’s such a busybody.
She consults with Amy. They think the letter was a threat or something. Are threats usually sent by UPS? I thought they were usually sent via brick through window. Vulgar, but dependable. Obviously, her arm was broken by thugs.
Elizabeth asks Aunt Helen if she’s ok, and if she was getting away from anything. Helen gives the perfectly logical response that the trip has been planned for months. Helen blames Elizabeth staying awake until 2am finishing her book - she saw her light on. Helen admits she couldn’t sleep. Elizabeth sees this as more proof something bad is going on. Jeez Elizabeth, stay out of adult business.
Amy thinks Aunt Helen is a spy. No. Elizabeth gets Aunt Helen to go upstairs and help her choose her dress for yet another dance. Meanwhile, Amy goes through her suitcase. Ok, that is crossing a line! Or at least an attempted crossing - her suitcase was locked, showing once more that something is up with Aunt Helen, or at least that Aunt Helen knows her relatives are horrible interfering busybodies. Amy suggests looking in her purse, but Elizabeth says that would “feel funny”. Amy does, and finds a picture of a man in a suit, who they assume is after Aunt Helen, because I would certainly keep a picture of my pursuer in my hand luggage.
Elizabeth talks to Jess about her concerns. Jess thinks she’s strange as hell, because she is. She goes to stay at Amy’s house for the night - they rent Don’t Talk, because it was the only film left in the shop. It’s a mob flick, so they immediately think that Aunt Helen saw the mafia commit a murder - like her soap character - and she’s on the lam. Because that’s where you’d go. Sweet Valley. To the Wakefields house. And that’s where Amy and Elizabeth go right now, because they must protect Aunt Helen from the mob! Who are coming… right now?
Elizabeth bursts into the living room to save Helen. The family are predictably bemused. Here’s the actual story: Helen broke her arm in a car accident. Her insurance company are refusing to pay, because they claim they didn’t receive her last check. If they don’t pay, there would be problems because there was $2000 worth of damage. So she thought this was the perfect time to hand out $300. Apparently she was so happy she was ok she wanted to spread her happiness. And the man in the picture was her “friend” Thomas, who doesn’t like smiling for pictures.
Elizabeth does not learn a lesson about confusing reality and fiction.
Aunt Helen is coming to visit, but the twins don’t want to go home because they’ll be made to clean the house, despite having done it a few days ago as punishment. They go to Casey’s, which I was insanely jealous of as a youngster. It was a shop that sold only ice cream! A number of Unicorns come with them, including Brooke, who only a few books ago declared that she didn’t want to be a Unicorn because she found them to be shallow, superficial and manipulative. Clearly she changed her mind. Nobody can resist the power of the Unicorns!
Also, after this moment she’s never mentioned again.
Steven is at Casey’s with a group of friends too, although he’s spending his time staring at a blonde girl named Jill. Janet’s brother Joe likes Jill too. Why all the J names? Joe is telling a hilarious story. Everyone laughs, especially Jill. Joe and Jill talk about a tv show - Steven tries to join in, but just makes a fool of himself. He blames Joe, for being cooler, funnier and more attractive than Steven. He decides the best course of action is to spend time with Jill without Joe being around, so she can see how great he is. He decides to take her out on a date. Oh, Steven. She’s Just Not That Into You.
The girls eat their sundaes. Each sundae cost two dollars each. Now I’m definitely jealous of Casey’s. They decide to leave a tip too. Jessica doesn’t have $2.50, only fifty cents. Wow, she really is broke. Lila chastises her for not looking after her money, but lets her borrow some. Jessica says if she had money, she’d be more generous to her friends. Yeah, right.
Back at home, Aunt Helen arrives, with a broken arm. She gives each of the Wakefield siblings $100, just because. Mr Wakefield suggests they each put it in a savings account to gain interest before college. Adding on interest… that should earn them each about two lectures. Elizabeth wants to buy a camera. Jessica plans to spend it, in some way.
Steven and Jill share English class. Jill only transferred to Sweet Valley a few weeks ago, which is why she’s never been mentioned before. Steven says hi to Jill, but she only smiles in response. Instead of taking this as a hint, Steven sees that as proof that he needs to take her out on a date, so she’ll know how great he is. Before Steven leaves college, he’ll have stood outside some girl’s apartment in the rain, calling and hanging up High Fidelity-style.
At lunch Jessica tells the Unicorns about her money. Lila chastises her for carrying that much money around but Jessica is prepared - she’s put it in her shoe. Janet reminds Jessica that she said she’d be generous to her friends, so Jessica invites everyone to Casey’s after school. All that ice cream can’t be good for Jessica’s perfect size 6 figure.
Elizabeth and Amy go to the mall - Elizabeth buys the new book by her favourite author, mystery writer Amanda Howard. She doesn’t normally buy hardbacks, but she makes the exception because Amanda Howard will be coming to the mall to sign books. Man, Elizabeth manages to suck the fun out of everything. Amy sees a copy of Johnny Buck: The Unauthorised Biography and they spend forever laughing at the hair in his yearbook picture. He has a perm. She buys both books.
They see Steven looking in the window of Precious Stones, a jewellery store so generic it may as well be called Jewellery Shop. They provided all the jewellery for Tale of Love. They creep up behind him and mock. Elizabeth feels bad for any girl who gets jewellery chosen by Steven. This is true - remember the plastic green necklace and bracelets his mother had in Mademoiselle Jessica? Any jewellery which can be used in an elaborate practical joke isn’t good quality.
The Unicorns shop. Kimberley wants a bracelet - Jessica buys it for her. It’s a whole four dollars. Ellen finds a poster of CoCo, a singer who is also Brooke’s mother. Jessica buys that for her too.
Steven has been hovering around the mall until he knew the twins were gone. He goes back to the jewellery shop, and is met by a snooty sales assistant. Oh, it’s just like Pretty Woman! Not knowing the value of anything, Steven asks for the diamond earrings in the window - $375 dollars. He settles on a pair of gold studs for $28. He’d have been better off going to Valley Fashions and buying something pretty but cheap. By the way, pierced earrings can’t be returned. I’m sure that won’t be important!
The Wakefields meet back at base camp. They explain their exciting days to Aunt Helen, who seems to have no existence outside them. Elizabeth offers to go see Amanda Howard with Aunt Helen, but Aunt Helen doesn’t want to be in a crowd which might bump her cast. Helen is vague about how her accident occurred.
The twins harass Steven about the Precious Stones incident. They totally know he’s in love with Jill. Jessica says if she had $100 dollars, she’d take a girl she likes out on a super-special date. Steven listens, because he’s a moron. He would have been better off going to his dad for some man-to-man advice. Or getting a clue.
Steven writes down what he plans to say to Jill, and recites it over and over. Oh, this is embarrassing. She doesn’t give a damn, and he’d totally wound up over her. Jessica has stuck a helpful magazine article under his door, with a post-it saying “Read This!” It’s an awful article about some girl’s dream date which involves a fancy restaurant, flowers, jewellery and dancing. There is no way this was written by a teenage girl. This was written by a debutante, circa 1923. Steven argues that if one girl liked it, then another girl definitely will! Oh, Steven. Did we learn nothing from Nicholas Morrow’s dating show disaster.
He calls her. Attempts a stupid joke about English homework. Her: “We didn’t have English homework.” Ouch. He asks and her answer is… “I guess that would be OK.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement. Tellingly, he worries that she didn’t know who he was. But then he remembers she knew they take English together. Phew!
Jessica buys ice cream for everyone again. The boy serving is repulsed to see her take money out of her shoe. He offers to put her change into her shoe if she passes it to him. Lila tells her not to buy people stuff, because everyone will forget she bought them things. Lila knows. She’s seen things. Tamara wants some lame print-on t-shirts. I bet the Unicorns get matching ones.
Steven is sitting next to Jill at the Dairi Burger. Not as good as it sounds, because he’s surrounded by all their friends, and everyone is laughing at Joe because he’s so funny. Joe buys Jill some fries for no reason. Joe 10, Steven, -2. Steven orders fries for everyone else at the table, and gets Jill some ketchup. He squirts on her arm. Oh, Steven.
Predictably, Jessica has managed to spend $85 without realising. Not only does this mean she only has $15 left, but more importantly, Lila was right! She plans to get her money back somehow, but realises the earrings she bought (the only thing she bought for herself) are pierced, and therefore non-refundable. Bummer.
Steven talks to Jill about their date. She’s totally forgotten, but covers up. She only becomes interested when he mentions picking her up, and she thinks he has a car. Being fourteen, he doesn’t. Steven, being a clod, thinks this: Our date is going to be great. There’s nothing to worry about at all!
Jessica evades all attempts by the Unicorns to get her shopping. Lila knows.
Steven has bought Jill a corsage. This is going to end so horribly I don’t want to read it. Jessica picks out his clothes, which is vaguely sweet. He has to borrow a tie from his dad, which makes me want to dote on everyone involved. They’re all so young! Anyway, Jessica chooses a navy blazer, tan trousers, brown loafers and a striped tie. Seems relatively ok, for a fourteen-year-old. Whatever happened to meeting at informal bowling parties? Jessica wangles $10 out of Steven for helping him.
Steven leaves. He’s taking her to Jacqueline’s a posh restaurant. When your mum comments on it, you know its super-swank. Anyway, he picks up Jill, she looks great, he jabs her with the corsage. FAIL.
The maitre d’ does his job, but Steven hates him because he didn’t give them menus. Jill, being Of The World, knows that isn’t supposed to happen. Steven says next year he’s going to take French. Jill is massively unimpressed, like any right-minded girl would be. Steven freaks out, because taking a girl to an expensive restaurant turns out to be surprisingly expensive. Thankfully Jill orders the cassoulet, which isn’t too expensive. Steven orders the same, because he doesn’t understand words. It seems this is because Steven knows nothing about the place, choosing it because it had a big advert in the phone book. Oh, Steven.
Jill mentions she loves dancing, especially square dancing. Inevitably, they dance and Steven steps on her foot. But the rest of the evening goes well, until Steven gets the check. An entire fifty dollars! If only he hadn’t given $10 to Jessica, or bought the crappy over priced jewellery or the corsage! He only has $45. Jill at least realizes the place is expensive, and asks him if he has an after-school job. He gives her the earrings, but she likes the box more than the earrings. Because she already has the earrings, and is wearing them. Burn!
He bites the bullet, and asks Jill if she has any money. Really, $5 and cab fare is a bargain date. And if Steven had invited someone who actually liked him, then splitting the check wouldn’t be awful at all.
Steven comes home, predictably unhappy. He blames Jessica.
At the mall with the Unicorns, Jessica feels the pressure to pay for their crappy jewellery. She doesn’t. Awfully, the Unicorns DO want to get t-shirts made. Ellen wants to get unicorn appliqués on them. Are these girls seven? Tamara wants purple, with their names on the back. Both sound awful. Lila sympathises, but Jessica spins it like she enjoyed sharing the wealth, rather than spending Friday night plotting ways to get her money back.
Elizabeth, being kind, lets Jessica go halves on a photo frame for Aunt Helen, and then pays for an awful blouse Jessica saw earlier - in return she’ll get an almost new sweater of Jessica’s. They go to Casey’s AGAIN. Mandy and the other Unicorns have bought Jessica some earrings she was looking at earlier, as a thank you for her shopping spree. And Lila pays for her sundae.
Steven goes round to Jill’s house, to drop off the money he borrowed from her. Can it really be that much? If she was any kind of decent person she’d let it go. He did pay for 90% of dinner, plus earrings, plus flowers, plus cab fare there. But instead of quietly dropping it off like he’d imagined, her mother invites him in and calls Jill. She is incredibly noncommittal in all of her responses. But at least she turns down the offer of another date, rather than leading him on.
Of course, the next book is about Steven trying to woo her back. ARGH.
B Plot
Reading a murder mystery has gone to Elizabeth’s head, and now she thinks there’s a real-life mystery going on in her house! To be fair, this is Sweet Valley, so anything is possible. It seems Elizabeth is easily suggestible. Thank God she only wants to solve kidnappings and murders, rather than commit them.
Elizabeth goes downstairs and overhears Aunt Helen talking to her lawyer dad. She’s worried about having to go to court, but Ned reassures her that she’s got an excellent lawyer. The people who might be suing Aunt Helen are unpleasant and referred to as “sharks”. Would that make her legal team the Jets? Would the depositions be in song?
Aunt Helen gets an overnight delivery package/ parcel. One of those big UPS style envelopes. She won’t open it in front of people.
Elizabeth gets her book signed by Amanda Howard. Elizabeth asks her where she gets her ideas from - Amanda tells her mysteries happen all the time, people just don’t notice them. Oh, don’t encourage her.
Elizabeth overhears someone crying in her house. No, it’s not Steven, realising what a fool he is, but rather Aunt Helen. She’s crying because her favourite character on Days of Turmoil has been killed. Nurse Lloyd was shot by gangsters because she witnessed a murder. Elizabeth presses on the letter again, because she’s such a busybody.
She consults with Amy. They think the letter was a threat or something. Are threats usually sent by UPS? I thought they were usually sent via brick through window. Vulgar, but dependable. Obviously, her arm was broken by thugs.
Elizabeth asks Aunt Helen if she’s ok, and if she was getting away from anything. Helen gives the perfectly logical response that the trip has been planned for months. Helen blames Elizabeth staying awake until 2am finishing her book - she saw her light on. Helen admits she couldn’t sleep. Elizabeth sees this as more proof something bad is going on. Jeez Elizabeth, stay out of adult business.
Amy thinks Aunt Helen is a spy. No. Elizabeth gets Aunt Helen to go upstairs and help her choose her dress for yet another dance. Meanwhile, Amy goes through her suitcase. Ok, that is crossing a line! Or at least an attempted crossing - her suitcase was locked, showing once more that something is up with Aunt Helen, or at least that Aunt Helen knows her relatives are horrible interfering busybodies. Amy suggests looking in her purse, but Elizabeth says that would “feel funny”. Amy does, and finds a picture of a man in a suit, who they assume is after Aunt Helen, because I would certainly keep a picture of my pursuer in my hand luggage.
Elizabeth talks to Jess about her concerns. Jess thinks she’s strange as hell, because she is. She goes to stay at Amy’s house for the night - they rent Don’t Talk, because it was the only film left in the shop. It’s a mob flick, so they immediately think that Aunt Helen saw the mafia commit a murder - like her soap character - and she’s on the lam. Because that’s where you’d go. Sweet Valley. To the Wakefields house. And that’s where Amy and Elizabeth go right now, because they must protect Aunt Helen from the mob! Who are coming… right now?
Elizabeth bursts into the living room to save Helen. The family are predictably bemused. Here’s the actual story: Helen broke her arm in a car accident. Her insurance company are refusing to pay, because they claim they didn’t receive her last check. If they don’t pay, there would be problems because there was $2000 worth of damage. So she thought this was the perfect time to hand out $300. Apparently she was so happy she was ok she wanted to spread her happiness. And the man in the picture was her “friend” Thomas, who doesn’t like smiling for pictures.
Elizabeth does not learn a lesson about confusing reality and fiction.