Secrets (5 page)

Elizabeth arrived at school Monday morning to find her problem with Enid overshadowed by an item of gossip that had taken off and, in the last week, spread rapidly.

Practically everyone at Sweet Valley High was buzzing about The Affair--the one supposedly going on between Ms. Dalton and Ken Matthews.

"I don't buy it for one minute," Elizabeth told Caroline Pearce, a member of Pi Beta Alpha sorority, after first period as they stood outside the French classroom.

They were waiting for Ms. Dalton to arrive and unlock the door. Elizabeth couldn't remember her ever having been late before. But then everything about Ms. Dalton had seemed not quite right this past week. In class she was

nervous and distracted. Elizabeth had noticed dark circles under her eyes, as if she hadn't been sleeping well.

"I refuse to believe she's fooling around with Ken," Elizabeth went on. "It just doesn't make sense. Why would anyone as together as Ms. Dalton be interested in a
kid?"

"Ken Matthews isn't exactly a kid," Caroline countered, primly tossing her impossibly neat red hair. Aside from Cara, she was probably the biggest gossip around--and the one person Jessica and Elizabeth could agree on disliking. "Besides, everyone knows she's tutoring him. The question is,
what
is she tutoring him in?"

"It's the law of human nature," put in Olivia Davidson, who worked with Elizabeth on the paper and was known for her liberal views on every subject from nuclear war to organic food. She was especially big these days on women's rights. "A woman doesn't reach her peak until she's in her thirties. Men are practically burned out by then. So it makes sense, really, when you think about it. Though I still can't imagine Ms. Dalton and Ken."

"What makes sense?" asked Lois Waller.

"For an older woman to be attracted to a younger man." Caroline filled her in.

"Maybe," said Elizabeth, "but I still don't think it's true in this case. Ms. Dalton is our teacher. She wouldn't do something as unprincipled as that, even if she wanted to."

"God, Liz, you are soooo naive," Caroline drawled. "Anyway, that's what makes it so perfect. It's so disgustingly tacky."

"I talked to someone in Ms. Dalton's first-period French class who told me Ms. Dalton seemed upset, like she was on the verge of tears or something."

"Maybe someone in her family just died," suggested Lois, a shaggy-haired girl with oversized glasses which kept slipping down her nose as she talked.

"Or maybe someone's about to get fired," sneered Caroline. "My father plays golf with old Chrome Dome and says he's practically Billy Graham when it comes to stuff like teachers' morals."

"I'm with Liz," Olivia argued. "Ms. Dalton just doesn't seem like the type."

Guy Chesney, keyboard player for The Droids, skidded to a stop before them, whipping out a grubby pad and a pencil stub that looked as if it had been chewed by a pack of rats. His impish brown eyes were lit up with mischief. "I'm taking a poll," he said. "So far it's only one out of three in Ms. Dalton's favor. Goes to show, people always want to believe the worst. Me, I thrive on rumors."

"Has anyone bothered to ask Ms. Dalton whether it's true or not?" Elizabeth wondered. "Why would she tell
us?"
Caroline replied,

looking horrified at the idea. "It's not exactly the kind of thing she'd want printed on the front page of
The Oracle."

Guy laughed. "Sounds like a great idea to me. I'll bet it'd sell more copies than
Playboy.
Hey, maybe you could even staple in a fold-out of Ms. Dalton while you're at it."

All four girls eyed him with a drop-dead expression.

"OK, OK," he backed off. "It was just an idea. I mean, heck, any woman with a body like hers ..." His voice trailed off when he saw he was only making it worse for himself.

At that moment the subject of their heated discussion arrived on the scene, putting an abrupt end to the conversation.

"Bonjour,
class," Ms. Dalton greeted them as she unlocked the door.

She seemed more subdued than usual, and she was wearing a pair of very dark sunglasses-- something Elizabeth had never seen her do before. A ripple of uneasiness edged its way up her spine. Suppose, just suppose, it
were
true....

Ms. Dalton froze as she entered the classroom. Someone had scrawled on the blackboard in large block letters:

IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT A FRENCH KISS

IS,

ASK KEN MATTHEWS

Elizabeth gasped. She felt sick. But her reaction was nothing compared to Ms. Dalton's, who reeled back as if she'd been slapped, burst into tears, and rushed out into the corridor.

Elizabeth was still upset about what had happened in Ms. Dalton's classroom by the time she caught up with Enid at the end of third period, but she was determined to put a stop to this ridiculous business of not speaking to one another.

"It's no use avoiding me," said Elizabeth, blocking Enid's path as she attempted to brush past her. "Enid, we
have
to talk."

"I have nothing to say to you, Elizabeth Wakefield," Enid replied icily.

"Enid, you're my best friend. I would
never
betray you. You have to believe me. I swear I didn't tell anyone about those letters."

"The next thing you'll be telling me is that your room is bugged."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Elizabeth was starting to get a little angry herself. "Why can't you just trust me?"

"I
did
trust you, remember? Look where it got me. Thanks to you, my whole life is ruined!"

"Maybe if I talked to Ronnie ..." Elizabeth began, desperate for any solution to heal this awful rift.

Enid's icy reserve cracked in a sudden flood

of fury. "Haven't you done enough talking?" she yelled. "Can't you just keep your big mouth shut?"

Elizabeth flinched, feeling the color drain from her face. With a choked cry, Enid whirled off in the opposite direction, her head down to hide the tears she couldn't stop from falling.

"Hi, Liz!" Cara called cheerily from her post by the water fountain, where the only thing she'd been drinking in was the sight of Elizabeth and Enid arguing.

By lunchtime it was all over school that Ronnie and Enid had broken up and that Elizabeth had something to do with it. Between Ms. Dalton and Enid, the gossip mongers of Sweet Valley High were in heaven.

"Don't worry," Jessica consoled her sister as they sat on the lawn eating their lunches. "You did everything you could. If Enid wants to be stubborn about it, you can't blame yourself."

"I just wish I didn't feel so helpless," Elizabeth said sadly, nibbling on a corn chip, even though she wasn't the least bit hungry.

"Maybe I should try talking to Enid myself," Jessica suggested sweetly.

"You? You don't even like her! Why should you?"

Jessica pretended to be hurt. "Jeez! Excuse me for breathing! I was only trying to help-- you don't have to bite my head off. I just hate

seeing you this way, Lizzie. And also, maybe because I'm the tiniest bit sorry for Enid. It really is awful the way Ronnie's been treating her."

"Would you really talk to Enid?" Elizabeth felt her initial skepticism begin to melt beneath the warmth of Jessica's generosity.

"Of course I will, if you want me to."

"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt. Everything is so screwed up now, nothing and no one could possibly make it worse."
Not even you,
she added silently.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"You know I didn't mean it that way, Jess," Elizabeth apologized, suddenly ashamed of the way she'd doubted her sister's motives. It was entirely possible that Jessica had undergone a change of heart where Enid was concerned.

Jessica hugged her twin, scattering Fritos across the grass as she did so. "I forgive you. Don't I always? Just leave it up to me, Lizzie. I promise I won't let you down."

"That shouldn't be too hard, since I've already hit bottom with Enid," Elizabeth replied glumly.

"Well, you know the old saying--when you're down, you have nowhere to go but up." Jessica smiled and took a huge bite out of her tuna sandwich.

Elizabeth hoped it was true, but she had her doubts. Jessica had a talent for proving comforting old clichés all wrong.

She opened her mouth to say something, but it was too late. Jessica had spotted Enid coming up from the parking lot and was after her like a streak of lightning.

It was obvious Enid was in no mood for talking, but Jessica wasn't about to let a little thing like that stand in her way. She quickened her step as she fell in beside Enid, blocking her attempt to make a rapid getaway.

"I know how you feel," Jessica gushed sympathetically. "Well, actually, I've never been dumped by anyone, but I can
imagine
what it's like. You must feel awful!"

Enid's lips tightened. "I'm sure Liz filled you in on all the gory details. Why doesn't she just take out an ad in
The Sweet Valley News?"

"Oh, come on, Enid, don't be that way. Why shouldn't Liz tell me? I
am
her sister. I'm closer to her than anyone in the whole world."

"That's pretty obvious."

"You shouldn't be so hard on her," Jessica cajoled. "I'm
sure
she never meant to hurt you. You know how these things are."

Enid stopped to look at her. "No, I don't know how these things are," she answered coldly. "Unlike
some
people, I'm not in the habit of stabbing my friends in the back."

"You act as if Liz did it on purpose, for heaven's sake! I'm positive she didn't mean to tell Ronnie. It probably just slipped out."

"Just slipped out? Is that what she told you?" Enid's eyes narrowed.

"Well, uh, not exactly, but I--"

"Oh, stop it!" Enid snapped. "Stop trying to defend her. Nothing can excuse what she did!"

"If only you knew how upset Liz is over this whole thing."

"What about me?
I'm
the one who lost her boyfriend, remember? Don't tell me about upset! Liz doesn't know the meaning of the word. She's still got Todd and I've got ... nothing." Enid choked on the last word.

"I wouldn't exactly say that, Enid. You've still got George."

"That's right. I've still got George. After all, we outcasts have to stick together, right?"

"I wouldn't go so far as to call you an outcast, Enid," Jessica replied generously. "Sure you made some mistakes, but don't worry, people aren't going to believe
everything
Ronnie's been saying about you."

Enid seemed to fold up before Jessica's eyes. Like a dress slipping from its hanger, she slumped down on a bench.

"What has Ronnie been saying about me?" she asked in a hoarse whisper.

Jessica slid a consoling arm about her shoulders. "Believe me, you wouldn't want to know. I couldn't even
repeat
half of it."

"Oh!" Enid buried her face in her hands. "I could just die!"

"It can't be all that bad," Jessica told her. "Look at the bright side. Now you don't have to hide in the closet anymore. It must be a relief not to wonder what people are whispering about you all the time."

"Yeah, now I
know
what they're whispering about me." Enid rose slowly, painfully, to her feet. "Thanks, Jessica, I know you're only trying to help, but you can tell Liz to forget it. If I live to be a hundred and ninety-nine, I'll never forgive her for this!"

"I think you're making a mistake, Enid," Jessica replied lightly.

Enid's mouth twisted in a bitter smile. "Yeah, well, it wouldn't be the first time."

This time Jessica made no attempt to stop her as she rushed off. Elizabeth was better off without Enid for a friend, she thought. Who knew what kind of trouble Elizabeth might get into if she hung around Enid long enough? In

the long run, Jessica told herself, she was doing everyone a big favor. Including herself.

And why not? Didn't she deserve to be happy as much as anyone?

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Since Enid was no longer with Ronnie, she couldn't possibly get enough votes on her own to be chosen queen. Now that Enid was out of the running, Jessica could almost feel the delicious weight of the crown on her head.

"Watch out, Bruce Patman," she murmured under her breath. "Here I come!"

"Why would Ronnie Edwards be calling you?" Elizabeth asked later that evening as Jessica returned from a huddled conversation on the upstairs extension.

Elizabeth looked up from the paper on Shakespeare's
Julius Caesar
she was working on, then went back to it.

"O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of Enid,"
she unconsciously copied. She scratched out Enid's name and corrected it to "earth."

"I, uh, well--you might as well know." Jessica flopped down on the bed beside her. "I'm going to the dance with Ronnie."

"You're what?" Elizabeth's pen clattered to the floor.

"It wasn't easy convincing him. He was pretty angry. But I finally managed."

"Jessica, what on earth are you talking about? How can you even
think
of doing such a thing? It would absolutely kill Enid!"

Jessica's expression turned sulky. "Don't you see? I'm doing it
for
Enid. I felt so bad about botching things up with her this afternoon. So I decided to talk to Ronnie."

"What did he say?"

"He was still pretty upset, like I said. I could see it was going to be really hard to get those two back together."

"But you decided to do it, right?"

"What else could I do? He absolutely wasn't going to budge on his own, even after I told him how sorry Enid was and all."

"He's the one who should be sorry," Elizabeth muttered.

"So I figured the only way was for him to see Enid at the dance. If we could arrange to set them up for at least one dance, I'm sure everything will work itself out."

"True love conquers all?" Elizabeth remained skeptical. She was even more skeptical about why Jessica was doing all this, but she decided not to ask. "I'm not so sure it's the best idea in the world. Maybe we should just let them work it out on their own. Besides, I doubt if Enid is going to the dance now that Ronnie broke their date."

"In that case, you'll just have to find a way of talking her into it. I wouldn't want anyone to think I was going with Ronnie for my own selfish purposes." She looked positively horrified at the thought.

Elizabeth relented at the sincerity in her sister's tone. "I'm sorry, Jess," she said. "I know you're just trying to help."

"I'm doing it for
you,
Lizzie!" cried Jessica, giving Elizabeth's hand a warm squeeze.

"How does all this benefit me?"

"I just thought that if Enid and Ronnie got back together, then Enid wouldn't be so mad at you anymore."

"Ah, the mists are clearing."

"You don't need to get sarcastic--even though I know you're still furious at me for blowing it with Enid today."

"She took one look at me in gym class today and burst into tears," Elizabeth said miserably. "I felt like an ax murderer or something. Jess, what did you
say
to her?"

"Nothing much, really. Actually, it was Enid who did most of the talking. She said some
awful
things about you, Liz!"

"She did?" Elizabeth's heart sank.

"I could hardly believe my ears! You know, I think she's always been jealous of you, Lizzie. She was probably just waiting around for an excuse like this to pounce on you."

"I know Enid is angry with me, but somehow that just doesn't sound like her."

"Well, you
asked
me."

"I'm sorry I did, in that case."

"Hmphhh!" Jessica tossed her head in disdain. "That's the last time I ever try to do you a favor."

She leaped from the bed in a huff that lasted about thirty seconds--the time it took for her to plow through Elizabeth's closet.

"I
might
forgive you, if you'll loan me your beaded bag for the dance," she said.

"No way. I'm planning on using it myself."

"But you'll be wearing your green dress. It'll go so much better with mine. You can borrow Mom's gold purse. I'm sure she won't mind lending it to you. I mean, think of what a sacrifice I'm making by going at all. The least you could do is appreciate it."

Elizabeth sighed. "I guess the gold purse
would
look better with green."

Jessica blew her sister a hasty kiss as she dashed out of the room. "I've got to call Cara and see what she's going to wear."

Elizabeth was left to wonder why, if Jessica was doing her such a big favor,
she
was the one making all the sacrifices.