All Night Long, chapter 7

“I've never been so humiliated in my whole life!" Jessica shrieked. "You wouldn't believe what a creep Scott turned out to be. I wouldn't go out with him again if he was the last-" She stopped, her eyes widening as if seeing her sister for the first time.

"What are you doing in my outfit?" she asked.

"I-" Elizabeth opened her mouth to explain, but Jessica never gave her the chance.

Instantly she swooped down on her twin with a rib-crushing embrace, as if she'd just won the final round of The Price Is Right, and walked away with a Cadillac, a color TV, and an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii.

"Oh, Lizzie, I knew it! I just knew you'd find a way to fix it. You're the best, smartest sister in the whole wide world. I knew you'd find a way to fix it so I wouldn't flunk the test!"

"About the test, Jess-"

"Don't worry, I'll make it up to you somehow. You don't know what this means to me, Liz. I was so sure that goon Scott had ruined my entire summer. You practically saved my life!"

Suddenly Elizabeth didn't have the heart to tell her. She didn't even have the heart to be really mad at her anymore. Jessica would learn the bad news soon enough, when the test scores were posted. Until then Elizabeth could still hold on to the dim hope that maybe, by some miracle, she'd managed to pass the exam for both of them.

Jessica's face shone with happiness, every trace of her miserable ordeal at Scott's hands wiped away as if it had never happened. She didn't even seem to notice that Elizabeth didn't share her exuberance.

"What's with him?" Jessica wanted to know, a tiny frown puckering her brow as she directed her gaze at someone over her sister's shoulder. "If looks could kill, I'd say we were both on the critical list."

Elizabeth whirled about in alarm, just in time to see Todd scowling at them as he strode rigidly past. Her heart sank, even as her hand lifted automatically in a little half-wave that froze in midair when confronted by Todd's icy stare. She blinked back tears, ducking her head quickly so he wouldn't notice them.

"Did you two have a fight or something?" Jessica asked, but before Elizabeth could answer, Jessica's attention had been diverted by other, more important matters. "Hey, what time is it, anyway? I think I'm supposed to meet Cara and Lila to go over the new cheer we did in practice yesterday."

"But you missed all your classes," Elizabeth said. "What if you run into one of your teachers?"

"Never mind about them," Jessica said impatiently. "I'll just tell them I was sick or something. It's not exactly a lie." She let a tiny smile lift the corners of her mouth. "That Scott really did make me sick."

Jessica glared up at the school clock in disgust, as if it, too, had somehow conspired to cheat her. "Look, Liz, honey, I've got to run. I have to change into my cheerleader stuff. Take it easy, huh?" she called as she dashed off to the gym.

To Elizabeth, in her dismal state, it sounded as ridiculous as the captain of the Titanic telling its passengers not to get upset over a little thing like sinking. She'd just lost two of the most important things in her life: Todd and her own self-respect.

How on earth was she going to get them back?

She certainly couldn't count on Jessica's help. Dear, dependable Elizabeth had come through once again, saving her sister from disgrace and disaster. The fact that she'd quite possibly ruined her own life in the process wasn't going to cost Jessica a night's sleep.

"You're a celebrity!" Cara bubbled, rushing over to Jessica in the locker room just as she was zipping up the back of her pleated, blue-and-white cheerleader's costume.

"I am?" Jessica replied, arching her brow.

"I've been telling everyone how you showed Scott up at the party. You're practically the Scarlett O'Hara of Sweet Valley High!"

"What exactly have you been telling everyone?" Jessica asked innocently. "Just so I know you haven't left out any important details."

“Don't worry," Lila Fowler put in as she struggled in vain with her own zipper. "She probably invented most of it. She's been blabbing to absolutely everyone." Quickly she recounted what Cara had told her. "Now, will someone please help me with this darned thing? I think I've got a thread stuck in it."

Jessica reached over, freeing the zipper with a deft yank. Her blue-green eyes glittered with secret amusement. A smile played at her lips. This wasn't turning out so badly after all.

"You know what they say," she drawled. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." In this case, of course, it didn't hurt to have a twin with a good imagination.

"I'll bet Scott never thought hell would turn out to be so wet!" Cara laughed, sending them all into gales of uncontrollable giggling.

When they arrived at the gym, Jessica sidled up to link arms with Ken Matthews, who was just leaving. Physically, Ken was all you would expect of someone who was captain of the football team: tall, blond, blue-eyed, and gorgeous. Right now he was also sweaty from football practice, and his jersey clung to his broad chest in dark, wet patches. Jessica thought he looked very sexy.

"How's it going, Ken doll?" she flirted. It was an old joke between them; she was always kidding him about his resemblance to Barbie doll's companion.

"Hot," he teased right back, squeezing her arm against his side, "and getting hotter all the time." He grinned down at her. "What's up with you? You look like the cat who ate the canary."

"You could say that," she replied with a wink. "You could definitely say that."