Two-Boy Weekend (Sweet Valley High Book 54)

by Francine Pascal

  "Did you hear a scream?" one of them asked her.

  She stopped and fought for breath. "Back there," she gasped, waving her hand. "My sister will tell you what happened."

  "Right." They took off toward the parking lot.

  Jessica watched them for a moment, then headed for the entrance. She only hoped she wasn't too late for what she had to do.

  As she slipped inside she saw A.J. still at the microphone, reading his essay. She started squeezing her way to the front of the audience while he spoke.

  "So in the years between now and 2000," he read, "the greatest advances we should work for should be social, not technological. We don't need a space-age, futuristic world, because the one we live in is so great. But we do need a new way of living together, of working and cooperating so that all the good things we have can never be lost or damaged. And I hope to be one of those people who bring those changes to Sweet Valley in the years to come."

  There was a hushed silence as he finished, and then the crowd burst into loud, enthusiastic applause. Jessica looked up at him with shining eyes. But her heart was full. Hearing A.J.'s familiar voice filled her with a deep, aching sadness.

  "Well, I think I speak for all of us when I say that was a wonderful, inspiring piece," Mr. McKormick said, advancing to the microphone again. He held out his hand, and A.J. shook it. "Thank you very, very much."

  The applause doubled, and A.J. lowered his head, blushing. He caught sight of Jessica at the front of the crowd, and his eyes lit up with relief. As Mr. McKormick launched into another speech, A.J. beckoned to Jessica.

  Her eyes stinging, Jessica shook her head. A puzzled frown crossed A.J.'s face. He leaned down from the podium. "What's wrong?"

  "I—" Jessica's throat closed up, and A.J.'s face became a blur through her tears.

  "Jessica?"

  "A.J., I-I don't—"

  Abruptly A.J. stood up and looked at Mr. McKormick. The master of ceremonies smiled and nodded. "I just have a few more folks to thank, A.J. Don't get impatient, now."

  A ripple of friendly laughter went through the crowd at McKormick's teasing words. But Jessica and A.J. were oblivious of it. A.J. jumped down from the podium and steered Jessica away by the elbow. When they reached a secluded doorway they stopped.

  "What's wrong? Where did you go?" A.J. asked, searching her eyes.

  Jessica pressed one hand against her chin to keep it from trembling. "I can't take the crown, A.J.," she whispered. "I don't deserve it."

  "What?" A.J.'s voice was raw with shock. "Why not? What are you talking about?"

  Fighting tears, Jessica shook her head. She knew how deeply hurt he would be if she told him about Christopher. She had to tell him soon, but not during his moment of glory. That would be too cruel. "I did something stupid and mean that made me realize I can't—"

  "What do you mean? I don't understand!" A.J. looked distraught, his brown eyes wide.

  For a moment Jessica was too overcome to say anything else. Just minutes earlier, in the parking lot, she had realized the truth. She never would have gone out with Christopher in the first place if her relationship with A.J. was solid. She knew she couldn't pretend any longer, but she couldn't believe how much it hurt to accept the truth. She thought her heart was splitting open when she looked at A.J.'s face.

  "Are we breaking up?" he asked in a disbelieving whisper. The look in her eyes gave him the answer. An expression of pain crossed his face. "Why?"

  "Because—A.J., I like you so much!" Jessica choked. "But I can't handle a relationship with one boy! I just can't! I'm not ready for it."

  In the beginning, Jessica had thought she would love A.J. forever. Her affection for him had been so deep, so overwhelming, so exciting. But for the past few weeks, she had cared more about what the relationship could give her than about A.J. And that was wrong. A.J. was too sensitive and caring a person for her to lie to him anymore.

  "I just can't do it," she repeated. She wiped her tears and looked at him. "I'm really sorry, A.J. I didn't know I would feel this way."

  A.J. looked as if he might cry, too, but he managed a painful smile. "I know. I guess—I always thought I was too boring for you. . . ."

  "No! That's not it, honest," Jessica said in a pleading tone. She glanced over her shoulder. People were looking their way curiously from time to time while Mr. McKormick spoke. With an angry frown, Jessica turned her back on them.

  "Honest," she went on. She put one hand on his arm. "You're the nicest, smartest, and most terrific boy I've ever known. But I'm just not ready to commit myself to one guy." Her voice was bitter and sad.

  A.J. let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "I won't try to argue. If you really want to break up, I understand."

  "I do," she whispered, the tears starting up again. "I'm so sorry."

  With a faint smile, A.J. asked, "Would you do something for me, though?"

  "What?"

  "Take the crown. Yes," he insisted when she started to protest. "It would mean a lot to me. There isn't anyone else I'd rather give it to tonight." When she still didn't answer, he lowered his voice, "Please. For what we had, Jessica. For the past."

  Jessica knew her heart was breaking. No boy had ever meant so much to her before. And it was over. But she tried to be brave and cheerful for A.J.'s sake. "OK," she whispered, meeting his gaze. "For what we had."

  A.J. kissed her softly, then took her hand. "Come on."

  "And now it's time for the moment we've all been waiting for," Mr. McKormick finally announced. One of the Samaritans stepped forward with a shiny crown just as A.J. led Jessica back up to the podium. Grinning, Mr. McKormick took it and placed it on A.J.'s head. "Congratulations."

  Jessica could see A.J. say "Thank you," but the applause drowned out the sound. Her heart was aching with a painful mixture of pride and affection, loneliness and regret.

  "And now you have the honor of choosing the young lady who will share that crown with you," Mr. McKormick said into the microphone. With a sidelong smile at Jessica, he added, "I guess I don't have to ask which lucky girl it's going to be!"

  A.J. held out his hand to Jessica. Trying not to cry, Jessica nodded.

  "And your name is . . . ?"

  Jessica thought she would burst into tears again if she opened her mouth. She kept her eyes on the floor, wishing for the ceremony to be over.

  "Jessica Wakefield," A.J. supplied.

  "Ladies and gentlemen"—Mr. McKormick beckoned to the woman holding the second, smaller crown—"A.J. has chosen his queen for the Citizens' Day Ball. Let's give her a big hand, everyone. Miss Jessica Wakefield."

  To the sound of applause, A.J. took the crown and settled it carefully on Jessica's head. Then the lights went down, and a single spotlight isolated them from everyone else. Hand in hand, Jessica and A.J. stepped down from the podium and onto the dance floor. The music started up, and they began dancing in each other's arms.

  "I'll never forget you," A.J. whispered, his lips near her ear.

  Because everyone was watching, Jessica was still trying to keep from crying. But two tears slipped down her cheeks as she squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her face against his shoulder.

  "I'll never forget you, either," she echoed. "Never."

  At one in the morning Jessica and Elizabeth were sitting in their nightgowns on Elizabeth's bed. Jessica had her arms wrapped around her knees, an expression of deep melancholy on her face. They had not been able to talk earlier about the incident with Christopher because their parents were at the ball, and they didn't want to upset them. But as soon as they got home, they went over the evening's events.

  "So then what happened?" Jessica asked with a sigh.

  Elizabeth formed a mental picture of the scene in the parking lot. She told Jessica that the police had come, and she had had to answer a lot of questions. But Christopher had willingly answered everything they wanted to know, and surprised them all by asking for his own psychiatrist. It turned out he was a deeply troubled young man, un
dergoing therapy.

  "Then they took him away," Elizabeth said. "I guess he'll get the help he needs."

  "I can't believe I could be so dumb," Jessica muttered with deep self-reproach.

  "Hey. It's not your fault. There was no way for you to know." Elizabeth yawned and gave her sister a tender smile. "And I'm really sorry about A.J. and you. Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

  A painful expression flitted across Jessica's face as she shook her head. "No—not right now," she said softly. "Maybe some other time."

  Elizabeth nodded in sympathy. She knew Jessica had cared something more for A.J. than for any other boy. It must have hurt so much for her to admit their relationship was over, and to be strong enough to refuse the crown.

  But A.J. asked her to wear it anyway, Elizabeth mused. He's really a great guy.

  "Well, I think I'm going to bed," Elizabeth announced. It had been a long, exhausting night. She put one arm across Jessica's shoulders. "See you tomorrow, little sister."

  Jessica looked up and smiled. "Right. See you tomorrow, big sister. I love you, you know that."

  "I know," Elizabeth said, her eyes shining. "It goes double for me."

  After school on Tuesday, Jessica, Cara, and Amy walked to the locker room together to change for cheerleading practice. Jessica was still feeling subdued from the weekend.

  "So, you know the Varsity Club dance is coming up," Amy mentioned as they started changing. Her gray eyes rested on Jessica for a moment. "Do you think you're going to go?"

  Jessica kicked off her flats and frowned. A week ago she would have said yes. But now that she and A.J. had broken up, she didn't know what her plans were. '"I don't know," she said softly. "Maybe."

  "Well, I was just wondering . . ." Amy and Cara exchanged a look.

  Brooding, Jessica changed into her cheerleading uniform and let her gaze roam around the locker room. The girls on the basketball team were changing for practice, too, and the room was noisy with laughter and the clanging of locker doors.

  "Everyone in the jock crowd is going," Cara added. "And it's the same weekend as the last girls' basketball playoff game, so we'll have to go there to cheer and then get to the dance."

  "It is?" Jessica looked up at her friends. Then she turned around to survey the basketball players. Off in the corner, Shelley Novak was tying her sneakers. "If they win it, Shelley will have to go, don't you think?"

  Amy and Cara followed her look. Shelley Novak was the star basketball player, but she was also notoriously shy. Mostly it was because of her height. She towered above almost everyone else in the junior class. It was obvious that she felt self-conscious about being so tall, even though that was one of the reasons she was such a good basketball player. All of the cheerleaders had speculated at some time or another about whether Shelley would ever go out with a boy. As far as they knew, she had never had a date.

  "Yeah," Amy mused. She lowered her voice, and a malicious glint lit her eyes. "But who'd ask her? She's such a beanpole."

  Cara giggled, and Jessica nodded slowly. "Why don't you ask her if she's going?" she suggested airily.

  "No! You ask her," Amy scoffed.

  Jessica shrugged. Maybe it was time to stop feeling sorry for herself and start to take an interest in things again. She straddled the bench and called across the locker room to Shelley.

  "Shelley? Hi," she went on, smiling, when Shelley looked up. "Hey, are you going to the Varsity Club dance?" Behind her, Amy and Cara stifled shocked giggles.

  A slow blush crept over Shelley's face. "I—I doubt it," she replied. Her eyes went past Jessica to Amy and Cara, then back to Jessica. She moved her shoulders self-consciously and lowered her head.

  "Oh, just asking."

  "You're terrible!" Amy hissed delightedly when Jessica turned back to them.

  "What? I just asked her an innocent question, that's all," Jessica insisted. She stretched her arms over her head. Then she grinned devilishly. "But I bet she does go."

  Amy snorted. "Come on. Give me a break. She never goes to any dances. And no boy is ever going to ask her—no guy likes to dance with a girl who's taller than he is."

  "Some guys like tall girls," Jessica said. Her eyes danced with mischief. "I bet she goes."

  Cara and Amy looked at each other and shook their heads solemnly. "OK," Amy said, trying to sound grave and regretful. "This is one bet you're going to lose."

  Will Shelley Novak have a date for the big dance? Find out in Sweet Valley High #55, PERFECT SHOT.