"You seem a little quiet," her father offered, not fooled by Jessica's act.
Jessica smiled. "I'm just tired, I guess."
Mr. Wakefield decided to let the matter drop. If Jessica was having problems, she would tell them about it when she wanted to. "Well," he said, getting up from the table, "I'm going to go see if I can interest your brother in a little tennis."
"That sounds good."
Their mother smiled brightly. "I could go for that myself. Want to make it doubles, Jessica?"
Jessica smiled halfheartedly. "No, I don't think so. Maybe later." She began clearing off the brunch dishes. "You can all go ahead. I'll take care of this."
Their mother and father got up from the table and left the room, but Elizabeth remained sitting, staring at her twin as she cleared off the table.
"What did you do last night after you left?" Elizabeth asked.
Jessica didn't look at Elizabeth. She just went to the sink and began rinsing the dishes. "Nothing. You know, we got something to eat, and then he took me home."
It was quiet in the kitchen for a second, and it was clear that Jessica didn't want to talk. But Elizabeth wasn't about to be put off by her sister's attitude. "What's he like?"
"Who?"
"Nicky."
Jessica didn't turn around. "He's OK. He's not as bad as everyone thinks he is. Really, he's just a little confused."
There was another awkward pause filled only by the sound of water rushing into the sink.
Elizabeth tried again. "Look, Jess, if you want the car, really, it's no problem for Todd to pick me up."
"Don't worry about it," Jessica snapped. "I'd probably just get into trouble with it."
"Why would you say something like that?" Elizabeth's concern showed in her voice, but it only succeeded in irritating Jessica further.
"Look, Liz." Jessica turned and faced her sister. "Can't you figure it out?"
"Figure out what?"
"Come on, Liz." Jessica was rolling now. "You're so perfect, can't you see that I'm just coming to the realization that nobody in this family wants me around?"
Elizabeth felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her. "That's just not true, Jess."
"Oh, no?" For a moment, Jessica was tempted to let loose all her pent-up feelings. But she caught herself. It wouldn't make any difference anyway. She could never make Elizabeth understand how she felt.
"I'm sorry, Liz." Jessica turned her attention to loading the dishwasher. "I just didn't get much sleep last night. I guess I'm a little jumpy."
Elizabeth watched her twin carefully as she busied herself with the dishes. She could see that Jessica wanted to drop the subject, and maybe it was for the better. Maybe Jessica was just in a bad mood, and it would pass.
"Want me to help?" Elizabeth asked as she picked up a rinsed plate.
"Sure."
Jessica nodded at her twin and smiled, but didn't say another word. There was an uncomfortable silence as the two girls finished the dishes.
Much as she tried to dismiss it, Elizabeth knew that something was bothering Jessica. Something important. She also knew that, for once, she couldn't get through to her twin to talk about it. And this time she didn't know what to do.
Five
"I think it's really serious this time, Steve," Elizabeth said on Monday afternoon as she and her brother walked in front of the bright shop windows that lined either side of the mall. "I've never seen her like this."
Elizabeth hadn't spoken about the incident in the kitchen to anyone. She hadn't even mentioned it to Todd the day before, even though he'd noticed she seemed preoccupied all day. She knew Todd wasn't Jessica's biggest fan, and she didn't feel she could confide in him about something this serious. She didn't even know how to bring it up to her parents. So Steven was the only one left.
"I think you're right, Liz," Steven agreed. Elizabeth noticed that for the first time since he'd been home, Steven seemed to be concerned about something other than his own problems. In spite of Steven and Jessica's bickering, Elizabeth knew he really cared about their sister.
"Maybe I should talk to her," Steven offered. "I feel sort of guilty about how I jumped on her about Cara's party."
"It's OK," Elizabeth comforted her brother.
Steven smiled sadly. "I've just had a lot on my mind lately. I don't know. I'm a little confused, but that didn't give me the right to attack Jessica like I did. She was trying to help."
Steven had been in a good mood all afternoon, and Elizabeth didn't want him to sink back down again. "You didn't know. Anyway, yes, I think it's a good idea for you to have a talk with her. Maybe she'll listen to you. I've tried to talk to her, but I just can't seem to say anything right."
Steven gave her a hug. "Don't worry about it," he said brightly. "Jess didn't mean all that stuff she said. It's just something she's going through right now."
Elizabeth nodded and smiled, even though she wasn't sure that what he had said was true.
"Hey," Steven said suddenly. "How would you react if a large hot-fudge sundae walked up to you right now and said hello?"
Elizabeth laughed. "Well, let's see. . . . I guess I'd say, 'Pleasure to eat you!' "
"Well, my girl"—Steve grabbed her hand and pulled her into Casey's, the ice-cream parlor in the mall—"let me introduce you to one right this minute."
They took a table near the front, and Steven handed his sister one of the menus that was on the table. As Elizabeth looked over the choices, her concern about Jessica let up a bit.
Good old Steve, she thought. He really knows how to get my mind off something.
Behind the counter, the waiter had his back turned to them. He appeared to be deep in thought as he polished a glass.
"Hello," Steven called to him.
Elizabeth smiled brightly when he turned, and she saw that the waiter was Ricky Capaldo.
Ricky returned the smile unenthusiastically. "Hi, Liz," he said, walking to their table.
Ricky was the manager of the Sweet Valley High cheerleading squad and was one of Elizabeth's favorite people. In spite of his shyness, his warm brown eyes always seemed to be friendly and smiling. He wasn't smiling now, though. Elizabeth hoped nothing was wrong between him and his girlfriend, Annie Whitman. It would be a shame if those two broke up, she thought to herself. Especially after all they'd been through together. Ricky had stuck by Annie when rumors about her bad reputation were circulating around Sweet Valley High. It was Ricky who had rushed Annie to the hospital after she attempted suicide, and Ricky who stayed by her bed constantly until she came out of her coma and was well again. They had been inseparable after that, and it was hard for Elizabeth to believe that anything could pull them apart.
She smiled brightly at him. "Hi, Ricky. I didn't know you worked here."
Ricky shrugged. "I just started last week."
Again Elizabeth noticed that Ricky seemed distracted and sad.
Elizabeth took a deep breath. "How's Annie?"
For the first time that afternoon, Ricky's face brightened, and Elizabeth saw a bit of the Ricky she knew from school. "Oh, she's fine. Really great."
"I didn't get to talk to you two at Cara's party the other night. What's she doing with her week off?"
"Just getting some sun, I think," Ricky replied.
Steven cleared his throat.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Elizabeth said. "I don't think you know my brother, Steve. Steve, this is Ricky Capaldo."
The two of them nodded and exchanged hellos. Ricky held his order pad up a little higher and tapped the point of a pencil against it. "So! What's it gonna be?"
Elizabeth bit her lip. "I don't know. I guess a hot-fudge sundae with double-fudge ice cream."
"Don't like chocolate much, do you?" Steven laughed. "What the heck, I'll have the same."
"Right." Ricky finished writing the order and brought it back to the counter.
"He seems like a nice guy," Steven said.
"He is," Elizabeth agreed. "He does
n't seem like himself today, though. Usually he's a lot friendlier." She watched Ricky as he took orders from the other tables. It did seem as if his mind was elsewhere.
"Well, maybe he just doesn't feel friendly today," Steven offered.
Ricky returned to the table a few minutes later with the two sundaes. "Here we are." He put them down with a flourish. "Paradise in a bowl."
Elizabeth's eyes bugged out at the sight of the heaping mounds of rich, dark ice cream, topped with steaming hot fudge and a dollop of whipped cream.
"I guess so," she replied. But a moment later, even the wonderful treat couldn't keep her worries about Jessica from returning.
Steven seemed able to read her mind. "Don't worry about Jess. I'll talk to her. Everything's going to be all right."
I hope so, Elizabeth thought, I sincerely hope so.
"Elizabeth Wakefield!" a friendly voice called. "Mind if we join you?"
Elizabeth glanced up in surprise, her spoon frozen halfway to her mouth. "Come on over!" she said enthusiastically, sliding over in the booth to make more room as Bill Chase and his girl friend DeeDee Gordon approached.
Elizabeth introduced the couple to Steven. "Bill's a champion surfer," Elizabeth said. "And DeeDee is a terrific artist."
As the couple sat down, Elizabeth reflected that her hasty introductions didn't really do either Bill or DeeDee justice. Bill was a tall, athletic blond whose surfing trophies had won him a spot in the junior class's hall of fame. More recently, he'd become increasingly involved in acting. In fact, he had his own agent—and dreams of taking up the theater as a career once he finished school.
DeeDee looked even more petite and cute than usual. Her brown hair was sleek and smooth, and her pale complexion was sprinkled with a light dusting of freckles. Elizabeth didn't know DeeDee very well, but she'd worked with her on a number of projects at school and had always found her a pleasure to be with. Sparkling, lighthearted, filled with ideas—that was DeeDee Gordon.
"Enid told me you're taking design courses at the Civic Center," Elizabeth said to DeeDee now, remembering how delighted Enid had been that the spunky brunette was finally getting professional instruction to develop a talent people had noticed for years. "How are you finding them? Are they useful?"
To her amazement, DeeDee turned bright red and looked down at the table. "I—uh, I decided not to continue taking the classes," she muttered, her face flaming.
Elizabeth felt completely confused. Obviously she had upset DeeDee, and she had no idea what she had said wrong.
Her discomfort increased as Bill turned on DeeDee, obviously hearing this piece of news for the first time. "What are you talking about?" he demanded, his handsome face darkening. "Dee, you've been talking about those courses for months! Why'd you decide to bag them now?"
Boy, Elizabeth thought, catching her brother's eye and shrugging at his quizzical expression, I sure keep striking out these days!
First Jessica had given Elizabeth the cold shoulder. And then Ricky Capaldo. And then she'd asked DeeDee Gordon a perfectly innocent question, and all hell had broken loose!
Elizabeth sighed and pushed her sundae away. Suddenly she didn't have quite the appetite for it she'd felt several minutes earlier.
"We'll talk about this later," Bill was saying under his breath to DeeDee. An unnatural smile on his face, he turned back to Elizabeth and Steven, obviously trying to make everything look normal again.
But Elizabeth could tell from the strained look on his face that something was really bugging him. And DeeDee, she thought sympathetically, looked absolutely miserable!
Elizabeth had enough on her mind right now as it was. But she couldn't help wondering what was going on with the couple.
It was kind of funny, she thought, pulling her sundae back and deciding to give it one more try. Enid had been convinced that Bill and DeeDee were one of the happiest couples she'd ever seen.
But from the way they were just glaring at each other, Elizabeth was not so sure!
Jessica pulled herself onto the diving board. She lay very still on her back and let the sun dry the drops of water that beaded on her legs and arms. The sun was hot, and the cool water of the Wakefield pool had felt wonderful.
Suddenly something blocked out the sun. She opened her eyes and saw her brother Steven standing over her.
"Hi," she said to him. "Finish shopping already?"
"Yeah." He smiled. "We were kind of surprised you didn't come along. Normally, nothing short of a broken leg can keep you from spending money."
Jessica laughed. "Well, I just didn't feel like it, I guess."
Steven sat down next to the board. "Mind if I sit here for a while? I think we need to talk."
Jessica pulled a towel over her eyes. "Oh? About what?"
"I just—I've noticed that something seems to be wrong between you and Liz," he said after a moment.
Jessica turned her head away slightly. "Nothing's wrong."
"Yeah. Well—it seems like you two aren't as close as you usually are." Steven waited for a reply, but Jessica was silent. "Of course, maybe it's none of my business."
"Maybe you're right," Jessica said.
Steven was taken aback. "Jessica—"
"What?"
"You really seem down lately. It's not like you."
Again Jessica said nothing. Steven began to get frustrated. "Talk to me, Jess. Look, I'm sorry about the way I snapped at you when you first mentioned Cara's party. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that, but, see, I haven't really been myself these last few weeks, and I thought you were trying to push Cara on me again."
Jessica sat up. The towel dropped to her lap.
"Did Elizabeth tell you to come out here and talk to me?"
"No," Steven lied.
Jessica gave her brother an icy stare.
"So what if she did?" he asked defensively. He felt himself getting annoyed with his sister, and he tried to fight the feeling.
"I knew it," Jessica muttered.
"Look, Jessica." Steven tried hard to keep what he was feeling out of his voice. "It's just that I've noticed you seem depressed lately, and you aren't talking to any of us."
"I thought that was what you wanted."
"Come on, Jess. I said I was sorry about the Cara thing. I just didn't understand what you were trying to do, and I got mad."
"You would never have gotten mad if Liz suggested it. If she had been trying to fix you up with somebody, you would have thought it was a great idea."
Steven's patience was at the breaking point. "Liz would never have tried something like that," he said, his voice rising angrily.
"See?" Jessica snapped. "There it is. That's how you really feel, isn't it?"
Steven felt the conversation slipping away from him, and he couldn't stop it. "Jess. I didn't want this to turn out this way."
"What did you want, Steve?" Jessica spat out. "Did you come out here to do some more missionary work on Jessica? Well, it isn't working!"
Steven stood up. "That isn't the way it is, Jess, and you know it."
"I may be a lot of things, Steve, but I'm not stupid." Jessica lay back down and covered her face again with the towel.
Steven stood looking at her silently for a moment. There was nothing else he could say. He felt awkward and stupid. He had come outside wanting to help Jessica, but she wasn't having it.
"Look, Jess," he finally said. "You're my sister, just as much as Elizabeth is, and I love you just as much as I love her. When you're ready to believe that, we'll talk again."
He waited for a moment, hoping for a reply. When Jessica said nothing, he walked away from the pool and went back into the house.
A moment later Jessica flung the towel off and dived into the pool, hot tears stinging her eyes. She swam underwater for as long as she could. It seemed like forever. At the other end of the pool, she lifted herself out of the water and dropped to her stomach on the warm grass. She lay there quietly and caught her breath.
She
knew she was being unfair to Steven. She knew she was saying all the wrong things even as the words were leaving her mouth. Why couldn't she just have accepted his offer of friendship? Why couldn't she make them see how she felt?
Maybe she could.
The whole problem, Jessica thought, was that her family thought Elizabeth was so much better than she was. But I can change. Maybe, if I could show them that I'm turning over a new leaf. . .
Jessica thought about ways of changing. She could start by cleaning up her room. No, she thought, frowning, she needed to show them something immediately. Even she had to admit that it would take a full day to get her room in order.
Well, she could at least make dinner. She briefly thought about her last attempt to surprise her family with dinner. She had tried an elaborate seafood salad but had succeeded only in making Elizabeth and her parents sick. Jessica shook her head and resolved to show them that she'd undergone some big changes since then.
With a determined look, she headed for the kitchen.
Alice Wakefield couldn't believe her eyes as she entered the kitchen.
Dinner was ready. There was a roast chicken waiting to be carved. Rice and vegetables were steaming on the stove, and presiding over the whole affair, from her point of command in front of the stove, was none other than Jessica.
Holding a wooden spoon in one hand, she turned to her mother and smiled. "Hi," she called brightly. "Dinner's almost ready, but you've got time for a glass of wine if you like."
Her mother was almost speechless. She put her purse and briefcase on the counter. "Sure. That would be nice."
Jessica walked over to the counter and poured her mother a glass of chilled white wine.
"I thought it was my turn to make dinner," Alice Wakefield said, walking over to inspect the chicken. She was trying to be as diplomatic as possible, but the memory of Jessica's last venture into the world of cooking was still vivid in her mind.
"It was," Jessica said, checking on the vegetables. "But I thought you might be tired after working all day."
Alice Wakefield looked around. She was in the right kitchen, and this was her daughter Jessica. "Did you make sure the chicken was completely thawed before putting it in the oven?"
Runaway Page 4
