All Night Long, chapter 5

Cara had Elizabeth's arm in a clinch that would have made a wrestler wince.

"I don't believe it." Her dark eyes were wide with incredulity. "You actually told Scott off in front of all his friends?"

"That's not all," Elizabeth continued in a conspiratorial tone. She was really beginning to enjoy this. It wasn't often her flair for storytelling was given such free rein. "Scott was acting like such a creep while we were rowing around the lake that I pushed him overboard."

"You didn't! With all his clothes on?"

"Every stitch."

"Jessica, you are evil." Cara beamed with undisguised admiration. "I'll bet he deserved it, too. Men can be such jerks sometimes. How did he act afterward?"

Elizabeth giggled. "Ever see that old movie, Creature from the Black Lagoon?"

Cara dissolved into gales of laughter. "Oh, I wish I'd been there. I'd give anything to have seen that!"

So would I, Elizabeth thought wickedly, as she conjured up a picture of Scott with algae dripping from his mustache. He had to be a good part of the reason Jessica hadn't come home last night.

Why hadn't Jessica listened to her when she warned her Scott was trouble? Elizabeth sighed. In Jessica's eyes that probably only made him more attractive.

Over Cara's shoulder she caught sight of Todd ambling toward them. She made a gesture with her hand to let him know she didn't want her cover blown. Todd winked knowingly and placed a finger to his lips in response. His brown eyes twinkled with suppressed amusement as he lazily looped an arm about Elizabeth's slender waist.

"Hiya, Jess. You know something? You're beginning to remind me more of your sister every day."

"Flattery will get you everywhere," Elizabeth purred, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

With an expression of puzzled delight on her face, Cara looked from one to the other. Everyone knew that Todd had once been a source of competition between the two sisters. Elizabeth figured the gossip would be bounding off the walls by the time she got to PE that afternoon. She coughed loudly to disguise the laughter that bubbled up in her throat.

Elizabeth could see that Cara was also dying to know more about the wild party at the lake but didn't want to pump her further in front of Todd.

Cara cast a meaningful look at her, reluctantly saying, "Well, I guess I'd better get going. I have a history quiz next period, and I haven't even glanced at last night's homework assignment."

Todd laughed. "Don't look at me. My knowledge of history is limited to what happened last week."

"I'm sure you'll knock 'em dead, Cara," Elizabeth responded.

"Bye, you two." Cara spotted Lila Fowler and was off like a shot, waving a bangled wrist. "Oh, Li-la..." she sang out.

Elizabeth giggled. "I'll bet one of Cara's ancestors was a town crier. What do you want to bet the whole school will be buzzing with the news by lunchtime?"

"What news is that?" asked Todd.

Briefly she told him the story she'd made up about Scott. "It'd serve him right if Jess had pushed him overboard," she said. "The first time I laid eyes on him, I knew he'd end up getting her in trouble."

"You make Jessica sound like an innocent bystander," Todd commented dryly. "I wonder what she was doing all the time Scott was leading her astray with his evil ways."

Elizabeth frowned, a note of annoyance creeping into her voice. "You don't have to be sarcastic about it." The strain of Jessica's absence was beginning to wear on her nerves.

"I take it Little Red Riding Hood hasn't shown up yet," Todd surmised.

"Not yet," Elizabeth replied defensively. She darted a nervous glance at the clock above the multi-use room. In keeping with her Jessica impersonation, she hadn't put on her wristwatch when she got dressed.

"There's nothing you can do about it one way or the other," he told her. "Why not forget it?"

Elizabeth chewed her lip and frowned up at the clock once again.

Todd knew that expression. He seized both of Elizabeth's hands, forcing her to meet his gaze. "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, don't, Liz. You can't take that test for Jessica. That would be the same as cheating. I know you-you wouldn't dream of cheating for yourself, so why do it for Jessica?"

"It wouldn't really be cheating," she defended weakly.

Nonetheless, she felt sick about what she was contemplating. There was a sour taste in the back of her mouth, and her head was starting to ache. It was like quicksand, she thought. The harder you tried to get out, the deeper you sank.

"What would you call it?" challenged Todd.

"Jess knows the answers. I'm sure she'd pass if she were here."

"That's just the point, don't you see? She isn't here. Come off it, Liz. When are you going to stop taking all the knocks for Jessica's irresponsibility? Do you really think she'd do the same for you?"

"That's unfair!" Elizabeth shot back, partly because she was tired and upset, partly because she knew, deep down, that he was right. She couldn't imagine Jessica doing all this for her if the situation had been reversed.

"You're just saying that because you don't like her," she accused. "You've never liked her."

Todd lifted an eyebrow in surprise. "I guess it should be obvious to you, of all people, why I'm not so crazy about your sister."

Back when Elizabeth and Todd were first getting together, Jessica had wanted him for herself. She had tried to stop her sister's blossoming romance, but for once her devious tricks had failed. In fact, all she had succeeded in doing was winning Todd's permanent distrust. He wouldn't easily forget the way she'd selfishly tried to manipulate his feelings-and Elizabeth's as well.

"In my opinion Jessica cares more about herself than anyone else," he added.

Elizabeth whirled on him, her eyes bright with angry, unshed tears. "Who asked you for your opinion, anyway?"

He touched her arm. "Look, I was only trying to-"

"I know what you were trying to do!" she cried, shaking his hand off. "You were trying to turn me against my own sister! I never thought you'd stoop so low, Todd Wilkins."

A dull flush crept up the sides of his neck. It was the first time they'd ever argued. He looked as if someone had delivered a karate chop to his stomach.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," he answered stiffly. "I was only trying to help, Liz. But I guess you just aren't interested in hearing the truth."

"The truth is you're jealous because I'm doing something for Jessica."

"Don't be an idiot!" Todd growled, losing his temper at last.

"So now I'm an idiot on top of being a cheat? Well, you're right about one thing," she said through clenched teeth. "Only an idiot would go out with you!"

Todd looked as if she'd slapped him. "I guess that means our date for Saturday is off," he said coldly.

Saturday was the day of the surfing championship, when half the school would turn out on the beach for an afternoon of wave-watching and sunshine and a giant barbecue after nightfall. Elizabeth wouldn't have dreamed of missing it. And until that moment she wouldn't have dreamed of going without Todd, either. Todd glowered darkly at her before spinning on his heel and stalking off.

Watching his stiffly held, muscular back retreating down the hallway, Elizabeth immediately felt a sharp pang of regret. She didn't really know why she'd said all those awful things to Todd. They weren't even true. She realized he'd only been trying to help. But where Jessica was concerned, it seemed everything had a way of getting turned hopelessly inside out. Including Elizabeth's own feelings.

She fought the urge to run after Todd. She'd probably just end up making things worse if she tried to apologize now. Swallowing against the tears in her throat, she made her decision. She would have to take the test for Jessica. She'd gone too far to back out now.