Bill had certainly wasted no time getting together with Elizabeth, he thought unhappily. He watched as they strolled down the beach out of sight.
“Bill,” Jessica said softly, tilting her head back, “I’m so glad you asked me out tonight.”
“Really, Liz?” He knew he had never been happier in his life.
“Really, Bill. I’ve always thought you were a wonderful guy.” And you never appreciated it, Jessica told him silently.
Stopping on the moonlit beach, they looked deep into one another’s eyes. Bill put gentle hands on Jessica’s shoulders, drawing her close enough for a kiss. She moved even closer, putting her arms around him and kissing him back.
“Oh, Liz, I can’t keep it in any longer. I love you. I think I’ve always loved you!” Bill declared.
Jessica pulled back a little and smiled a secret, knowing smile. “No, Bill, you love my sister. I’m certain you do.”
“No, Liz, no,” he said, hugging her. “Jessica may be your sister, but I don’t even like her.”
“I think you do,” Jessica insisted.
“It would be impossible,” Bill said. “Let’s not argue about something so crazy.” He tucked her arm under his and walked on. “There’s a spot down here where the moonlight looks like pure magic on the waves.”
Jessica just smiled and let herself be led along.
* * *
Elizabeth lay on the large bed, overwhelmed with an unfamiliar sensation. Suddenly she was frightened. But she shouldn’t be. This was what she wanted to do, wasn’t it? Bruce, she thought, that was it. She knew she needed Bruce to make her feel good again, but he was gone.
“Bruce,” she called. “Bruce!” He’d said something about going downstairs. Maybe she should do something about her hair and makeup before he got back, she thought.
She got up from the bed and was groping through the darkness of the room for the door when she bumped against a chair. Desperately she tried to keep from falling, but her foot was tangled in a throw rug. She fell to the floor, slamming her head against a heavy wooden table.
Elizabeth lay on the floor stunned, strange lights and noises whirling through her head. She was in a dark room somewhere.
What is this place? she wondered. How did I get here?
She sat up, managed to get to her feet, and realized she was in her bedroom. She sat on the bed, shaking her head to clear it.
“Did I buy a bigger bed?” she mumbled.
She glanced around, trying to recognize the contours and shapes and shadows, and then she realized she was not on her own bed or in her own bedroom.
She was still in the hospital, she decided. But that wasn’t right either.
Finally Elizabeth stood shakily and took tentative steps toward a dark square that must be the door. Beside it, her fingers touched something. A light switch. She pushed it up, and light flooded the room.
“Oh,” she gasped, looking around. She’d never been in this room before and had no idea how she’d gotten there.
Then there came another sound. Footsteps. Somebody was coming up the stairs. The sound got louder. Someone was coming toward the room. Elizabeth shrank back, terrified of learning who it could be.
Suddenly, in the doorway stood a person she had never expected to see. “Bruce!” she gasped.
Bruce lounged arrogantly in the doorway, a bottle of wine in one hand, two glasses in the other.
“Miss me, baby?”
“What are you doing here?” she asked faintly.
“What?”
“Where am I? How did I get here?”
Bruce smiled. “Playing games, huh? Here. Have a slug of this and you’ll be fine.”
Bruce held out the bottle and glasses. He poured wine into them as Elizabeth watched in astonishment. Had she come here with Bruce Patman?
“How did I get here?”
Bruce leered at her. “You got lucky, Liz.”
“I don’t know what happened, but I want to go home,” she said.
“Home? After you got me out here and teased me? Hey, Liz, come on.”
“Why are you talking like that?” Elizabeth asked, feeling panic inside.
“I’m not in the mood for questions, Liz,” he said, putting the wineglasses on a table and walking closer to her.
Elizabeth backed away, looking at him with a combination of revulsion and terror.
“You’ve been coming on to me all week. Don’t deny it!” Bruce sneered.
“I haven’t! I couldn’t. And you haven’t answered my questions. Where are we? Did you bring me here?”
“I didn’t bring you here. You came willingly. And you know it’s my folks’ beach house.”
Elizabeth looked around, cocking her ear for any other sound.
“Where are the other kids? Who else is here?”
“Listen, you little tease, get off it! You wanted to be alone. Don’t give me this Little Miss Innocent routine.”
Elizabeth sank down on the bed in despair and confusion. Tears sprang to her eyes. How could she have let such a thing happen? She looked at Bruce.
“You brought me here against my will somehow,” she accused. “You know I don’t like you.”
Bruce’s heart sank at the words and at the look he saw in Elizabeth’s eyes. There was that old, steady contempt he used to see every time he looked at Elizabeth Wakefield.
“Not interested in fun and games anymore, huh? Or was that all an act? It’s not very nice to set a guy up, Liz,” he said menacingly.
Elizabeth knew she had to get out of there. She lurched toward the door, trying to get past him, but he blocked her way.
“Where are you going?” he asked angrily.
“Let me out of here!”
“Oh, no, you don’t. You’re going to give me what I want, what you promised.”
“I didn’t promise. I couldn’t have! Get out of my way.”
Bruce grabbed her and pulled her close. He tried to kiss her, but she turned her face away and pushed with all her strength against his shoulders, trying to free herself. Roughly he seized her wrists, and she was helpless.
“I’ve got real strong hands, Liz,” he said. “From tennis, see? Now, you listen to me. You give me what I want, or I’ll tell this whole thing all over school. You want that? What would all your friends think of you then?”
He forced her closer, and with one hand he held her head and kissed her again. Then suddenly he gave a cry of pain and let her go. “Ahhhhh! You bit me!” he wailed, holding his lower lip.
Elizabeth leaped past him to the door, then turned to glare back at him. Bruce Patman was whimpering and holding his lip, in no mood to cause any more trouble.
“I never really knew what a coward you were until now,” she cried. “Is that what all your big love stories are about, Patman? Taking advantage of girls who either don’t know what they’re doing or are too drunk to care? I don’t know anybody lower than you are at this minute. And, listen, you want to tell this story all over? Go ahead! Because I’ve got one to tell, too, and you won’t look very good in it. You’re a coward, Bruce Patman!”
Elizabeth ran, finding her way down the stairs, through the front hall and out onto the porch. She kept running until she felt sand beneath her feet. It was wonderful to know who she was and where she was again. A brilliant moon sailed through the dark sky, and she wanted to yell, “Hi, there, you old moon!” She wanted to thank the stars for still shining. The sound of the surf crashing on the beach was a symphony.
The lights of the beach club shimmered ahead of her. She raced toward them like a homing pigeon. She’d find people there, but more important, she’d find a telephone.
Elizabeth took the wooden steps two at a time, almost tripping at the top, but strong arms saved her from falling. She looked up and her eyes met Todd’s.
“Todd! Oh, Todd, I’ve never been so glad to see anybody in my entire life!” she said, collapsing against him.
Todd was, to say the least, startled.
“What—?”
“Todd, help me!” she implored.
Todd stepped back a little, his hands on her shoulders, and looked for a moment into Elizabeth’s eyes. Those beautiful sea-colored eyes were the ones he knew, the tearstained face was the one he loved.
“It’s you, Liz,” he cried. “It’s really you!” He pulled her into the warm safety of his arms.
Elizabeth shuddered and held on for dear life. “Oh, Todd, I don’t understand what’s happened.”
“It’s all right, Liz. Everything’s all right.” Todd held her closely, stroking her hair with a comforting hand. “You don’t have anything to worry about now. You’re safe, Liz. You’re safe.”
“I didn’t know how I was going to get away from him. I don’t know how he got me into that awful place.”
“Don’t worry about it. You haven’t been yourself for so long.” He looked into her eyes again anxiously. “You are back to being Elizabeth, aren’t you?”
“Todd, of course. Who else would I be?”
“Never mind. There’ll be time enough to talk about that later. But if Bill Chase did anything … I mean, he’s supposed to be my friend. I can’t tell you how jealous I was when I saw you on the beach with him.”
“Who?”
“It’s all right. I saw you with Bill. But that doesn’t matter as long as you’re back.”
“But I wasn’t with Bill Chase. It was Bruce Patman. How I could have spent a second with him is beyond me.”
“But I saw you two on the beach together. If you were with Bruce, who’s with Bill?”
They looked at each other, and the same name popped out.
“Jessica!”
Todd laughed with relief. “How do you like that? It was only Jessica.”
Elizabeth shook her head, trying to straighten out her thoughts. Jessica with Bill Chase?
“What’s the matter?” Todd asked.
“Bad news,” Elizabeth said.
“You mean he’s up to no good?”
Elizabeth shook her head sadly. “I’m afraid it’s Jess who’s up to no good. Bill Chase turned her down one time, and she’s always sworn to get even with him if she ever got the chance.”
“Well, it’s probably nothing serious,” Todd said. “I’m just so happy to have you back!” He grabbed her and held on, his powerful hands gripping her trembling body tightly against his. Elizabeth felt herself overflowing with love and appreciation for this strong, safe boy who held her with such passion.
“Todd,” she breathed, and her mouth was on his in a deep, long kiss that she wished would last forever.
* * *
Bill and Jessica had reached that special sand dune he had mentioned, and now they stood in the moonlight, locked in each other’s arms.
“Look at me and tell me again,” Jessica told him.
“I love you.”
“And not my sister?”
“No, never. I couldn’t possibly love anyone but you.”
“What’s so special about me, Bill?”
“Your smile, your warmth, the sound of your voice, the touch of your lips, the feel of you in my arms. I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.”
Jessica smiled. “Then you do love Jessica Wakefield, Bill, because that’s who I am!”
Is Bill Chase caught in Jessica’s trap? Find out in Sweet Valley High #8, HEARTBREAKER.
Also by Francine Pascal
SERIES
Sweet Valley High
Sweet Valley Twins
Sweet Valley Kids
Fearless
NOVELS
Save Johanna
If Wishes Were Horses (La Villa)
My First Love and Other Disasters
Hanging Out with Cici
NON-FICTION
The Strange Case of Patty Hearst
DEAR SISTER. Copyright 1984 by Francine Pascal. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
Sweet Valley ® is a registered trademark of Francine Pascal
ISBN 1-250-03053-6
EAN 978-1-250-03053-5
First published in the United States by Bantam Books.
First U.S. Edition: April 1984
eISBN 9781250030535
First eBook edition: November 2012
Dear Sister Page 10
