Perfect Shot (Sweet Valley High Book 55)

  PERFECT

  SHOT

  Written by

  Kate William

  Created by

  FRANCINE PASCAL

  Copyright © 2015, Francine Pascal

  PERFECT SHOT

  "I trusted you," Shelley snapped. "When you made that promise to me, I believed you." Her eyes filled with tears. "I guess I was an idiot, right? I should've known better. I should've guessed you were only spending time with me because"—her voice broke—"you wanted to take my picture for that ridiculous contest."

  Jim looked anguished. "Shel, I'm so sorry. I was the idiot, I admit it. But if you'd just let me explain—"

  "You promised me that you'd never take a picture of me again and that you'd never show it to anyone if you did." She glared at him. "So what do you do? You enter a picture of me in a contest, hoping that it'll get published. That way the whole world can laugh at me instead of just you and Olivia Davidson!"

  Now Jim was starting to get angry, too. "Shelley, you're being ridiculous. No one is laughing at you. The whole reason—"

  Shelley cut him off. "Don't you dare call me ridiculous!" she cried. "You're the one who's trying to make me look like a fool by taking a picture of me and plastering it all over the papers! You broke your promise. How can I ever trust you again?" And with that she spun on her heel and ran down the hallway toward the locker room.

  CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  One

  Elizabeth Wakefield stood in the doorway of Sweet Valley High's crowded lunchroom, anxiously searching for her boyfriend, Jeffrey French.

  "There he is. Over there!" Enid Rollins exclaimed, pointing to a corner table.

  Enid was Elizabeth's best friend, and right now she was almost as excited as Elizabeth about what Roger Collins, the English teacher, had just told them. The Sweet Valley News was sponsoring a photography competition, and both girls wanted to tell Jeffrey about it. Jeffrey was an avid photographer in addition to being an excellent soccer player and one of Sweet Valley High's most handsome juniors.

  "Hi!" Jeffrey said, his green eyes lighting up when the girls came over. He squeezed Elizabeth's hand affectionately and then smiled at Enid. "I was hoping you guys would show up." He grimaced at the macaroni and cheese on his plate. "It's barely edible, but I'm starving."

  "Jeffrey," Elizabeth began, pulling up a chair, "we were just talking to Mr. Collins, and he told us all about the News's photography contest." Her blue-green eyes shone with excitement. "Did he tell your class about it this morning? It sounds like a terrific opportunity. He said he'd give my class all the details this afternoon."

  Jeffrey nodded. "Yeah, he told our class this morning. Not only can you win a brand-new video camera, but you also get your photograph published in the News!"

  Roger Collins, one of the most popular teachers at Sweet Valley High, had told his classes that he would act as a liaison between the newspaper and the students. He would be accepting photo submissions up until a week from Friday.

  "You've got to enter it, Jeffrey," Elizabeth said with characteristic exuberance. "I know you'll have an excellent shot at winning. You're such a good photographer!"

  "I don't suppose you're at all biased," Jeffrey teased her.

  Enid shook her head. "No way. Elizabeth knows a great photographer when she sees one. Don't tell me you're thinking about not submitting any of your work."

  Jeffrey laughed. "Talk about peer pressure," he complained good-humoredly. "Who said anything about not trying? Of course I'll submit something." He grinned at Elizabeth. "As long as my tried-and-true newspaper pal here helps me decide which photograph to send them."

  Jeffrey was referring to the fact that Elizabeth was one of the hardest-working staff writers for The Oracle, Sweet Valley High's school paper. Jeffrey was a photographer for the paper, and they had gotten to know each other through working together on The Oracle.

  "But Mr. Collins said the competition is wide open. The judges aren't really looking for anything in particular," she reminded him.

  "Yeah, I guess they just want to encourage young photographers," Jeffrey said, taking another bite of macaroni and cheese. "I wouldn't mind winning a video camera. I can think of someone I wouldn't mind taking movies of!" He winked at Elizabeth.

  Enid groaned. "If you two start getting romantic, I'm going to have to leave," she teased them. "Hold off for a minute, OK? Do you have any idea what you're going to submit, Jeffrey?"

  "I could submit one of the photos I already have. But what I'd like to do," Jeffrey said, "is shoot several rolls of film and see what I can come up with that's different."

  He turned to Elizabeth. "Then you can help me select something to submit."

  Elizabeth had to smile. She and Jeffrey were so similar. They were both so serious when it came to pursuing anything related to their future careers. She wanted to be a writer one day, and she was working hard at the paper and in English class, trying to learn as much as she could. She knew how devoted Jeffrey was to photography. He spent hours shooting pictures and developing them. Elizabeth was thrilled that he would finally have the chance to show off his good work.

  "Hey," Enid said with a smile, nudging her friend. "Here comes your better half."

  Elizabeth looked up and saw her twin sister, Jessica, approaching her table. One look at Jessica's face and she could tell her twin wanted something from her.

  "Where in the world did Jessica find that outfit?" Enid continued. "No one could possibly get you two mixed up today."

  Elizabeth had to laugh. Jessica's brand-new outfit was straight out of the latest issue of Ingenue magazine. Jessica was always involved in something new, whether it was a new fashion trend, a new rock group, or a new way to make money. She liked life in the fast lane, and as she often explained to her twin, that meant changing lanes all the time!

  Elizabeth was four minutes older than Jessica, but those four minutes were like light-years. In personality she and Jessica were more like identical opposites than identical twins. If Elizabeth said yes to something, Jessica invariably said no. Elizabeth loved school and studying. She liked to spend her free time with a few special friends, like Jeffrey and Enid. She didn't mind the long hours that working on the newspaper required, and she didn't even mind spending a whole evening doing homework. She was also very organized and could always be counted on to head a committee at school.

  But Jessica much preferred the social side of school to the academic. Her friends tended to be much wilder than Elizabeth's, more interested in boys, shopping, and the beach. Jessica always wanted to be in the thick of things. As co-captain of the cheerleading squad and a member of Pi Beta Alpha, the school's most exclusive sorority, Jessica could count on a busy social life. And somehow she always managed to know what everyone in Sweet Valley was up to.

  Yet however different the twins were in temperament, Jessica and Elizabeth looked so much alike that strangers, and sometimes even friends, confused them. Both had silky, sun-streaked blond hair, sparkling blue-green eyes, and perfect size-six figures, and each even had a small dimple in her left cheek.

  "Liz," Jessica gasped. "I completely forgot we're having an extra cheerleading practice today to get ready for the girls' basketball team playoffs, so—"

  "So, let me guess. You need the car, right?"

  Jessica looked dumbfounded. "How di
d you know?"

  Jeffrey started to laugh. "Must be ESP, Jessica."

  Jessica frowned at him. "So, is that OK, Liz?" she asked, turning back to her sister.

  Elizabeth nodded. She dug around in her bag for the keys and then handed them to her twin. "Here you go."

  A second later Jessica was off like a shot, calling "Thanks!" over her shoulder as she hurried off to another table to join several other cheerleaders.

  "Now, if only you could get a picture of that," Elizabeth said, shaking her head. "You'd have to be awfully quick, though."

  "You could call it 'Vanishing Act: Jessica Wakefield and the Disappearing Car Keys,' " Enid joked.

  "I'll probably have to win the video camera first," Jeffrey commented. "I doubt I could catch Jessica on film without her looking like a blur."

  "Sure you could." Elizabeth giggled. "Just tell her it's going to be in the newspaper!"

  "Did you hear about Patrick McLean?" Amy Sutton asked. She and Jessica were getting ready for cheerleading practice in the locker room after school. Amy was standing at the mirror, brushing her blond hair for what seemed like the hundredth time.

  "Who's Patrick McLean?" Jessica replied.

  "He's head of some dance studio that's just about to open in town." Amy almost always knew things before anyone else, partly because her mother worked as a broadcaster on a TV news show and partly because Amy just prided herself on being the first to get new information. "And he's doing a big promotion for the studio, part of which includes free ballroom dance lessons to anyone who wants them in the gym on Wednesdays after school!"

  "Ballroom dancing? Here? You mean—waltzing around and doing the tango and stuff?" Jessica couldn't help laughing. "Who's going to want to do that?"

  "What do you mean?" Amy said indignantly. "I can't wait! Don't you know anything, Jess? All those movie stars in the thirties and forties always knew how to waltz. You can't fall in love and go on big luxurious cruises and be totally romantic unless you know how to waltz. I mean, really."

  Jessica still wasn't convinced. "Oh, yeah?" she said. "Well, what guys in this school are going to let themselves get dragged to ballroom dance lessons? Half of them can't even dance to normal music."

  Amy carefully applied some eye crayon under her slate-gray eyes. "I'm not worried," she said smugly. "My experience is that if I want a boy to do something, I can usually make sure he'll do it." She gave Jessica an imperious little smile. "Same usually goes for you, Jess. Don't tell me you're slipping."

  Jessica made a wry face. But before she could respond, Amy continued. "Besides, don't you remember that there's a big dance coming up? It couldn't be better timing."

  Amy was right! The Varsity Club was holding a dance to honor all of the school's athletes who had earned letters in varsity and junior varsity sports. They had even rented a ballroom in a newly completed luxury hotel in downtown Sweet Valley for the occasion.

  Jessica imagined herself floating dreamily in the arms of Kurt Campbell, a handsome senior she had decided she liked. Kurt was a varsity football player, which meant he would definitely be attending the dance. Jessica hadn't really dated anyone seriously since her recent breakup with A. J. Morgan, but she was more than ready to get back in circulation. And dance lessons might make her even more attractive to Kurt. "Hey," she said suddenly as she tied the laces to her tennis shoes in double knots. "What's Patrick McLean like? Is he old or young or what? I mean, will it be absolute torture to go to these lessons?"

  Amy shrugged. "Who knows? But we'll find out tomorrow."

  The cheerleaders' practice lasted longer than usual that afternoon. As Robin Wilson, who shared the position of co-captain with Jessica, had just explained to the members of the squad, now that the girls' basketball team was in the playoffs against Emerson High, both the team and the cheerleaders were going to be getting a lot of publicity. "So we need to do an extra good job," Jessica added solemnly.

  "And remember, our schedules are going to be kind of crazy," Robin pointed out. Robin, a pretty brunette with dark, serious eyes, was used to giving the instructions to the group, since her co-captain had a tendency to be forgetful. "We have to be ready to cheer at every game, as long as the team stays in the running. And with the kind of talent we have on the girls' team, that could be all the way to the top!"

  Everyone gave one last cheer, signaling the end of practice.

  "I guess the team is really counting on Shelley Novak," Jessica said to Amy as they strolled back across the football field to the gym.

  "I still say she looks like a beanpole," Amy said derisively.

  "She's one of the best players in the state," Jessica argued. "I think she's supposed to get some kind of big award at the Varsity Club dance. She's scored an amazing number of points this season." Shelley was a junior, like Jessica and Amy, but she usually hung around with the other girls on the basketball team, and none of the cheerleaders knew her very well.

  "You think she's going to that dance?" Amy looked astonished. "I thought you asked her about it last week, and she said she wasn't. Who's she going to find to go with her?" Amy asked, referring to a conversation that had taken place the week before. At Amy's bidding, Jessica had asked Shelley if she was planning to go to the dance. Shelley had looked embarrassed and shyly said no.

  Jessica shrugged. "She may not have been planning to go before, but now that she's getting this award, she pretty much has to. Besides, I'm sure she can find a date," she added. "She's really pretty."

  Amy laughed. "Maybe she is, but she's about six inches taller than most of the guys we know! What guy wants to dance with a girl who's taller than he is? No one I know."

  Jessica couldn't believe Amy sometimes. Much as she thought her friend was a lot of fun, Amy occasionally surprised her with her mean streak. "I think you have to be tall to play basketball so well," Jessica said. "If we've got a chance this season, it's because of Shelley."

  Amy wrinkled her nose. "I don't think basketball is very feminine. I'm glad I'm a cheerleader instead."

  Jessica shook her head. "I'm glad the girls on the team don't feel that way, or we wouldn't have anyone to cheer for." She laughed. "The boys' team didn't even qualify for the playoffs this year."

  Amy shrugged. "Since when are you such a girls' sports fan? All I'm saying is that I can't imagine Shelley being very graceful on the dance floor. You don't have to make an issue out of it!"

  Jessica didn't respond. They had reached the locker room now, and she stopped for a minute, watching as the girls' basketball team came running in from practice on court.

  Shelley was the first person she saw, and Jessica couldn't help disagreeing with Amy's assessment as she watched Shelley run toward them.

  True, Shelley was tall, but she had an athlete's toned body. She was beautifully proportioned, and she had long slender legs. In fact, her body was a lot like those of the fashion models Jessica admired in Ingenue.

  Shelley had coppery, curly hair and beautiful almond-shaped brown eyes. With the right makeup and clothes, Jessica thought she could be striking. And there was no denying how smoothly she moved, both on the court and off.

  But Amy had apparently gotten a different impression of the basketball star. "See?" she whispered triumphantly to Jessica. "She'd have to get her date a pair of elevator shoes. Either that or dance with him on her knees." She giggled, and after a minute Jessica broke down and giggled, too.

  She still thought Amy was wrong, but she couldn't help laughing at her friend's sense of humor, even if it was a little warped.

  And anyway, Jessica was too busy thinking about Kurt Campbell and the upcoming dance lessons to worry about Shelley Novak any longer. If she could waltz into the ballroom looking fantastic, there was no telling what would happen between her and Kurt.

  Two

  "Hey," Cathy Ulrich said, rattling on the shower curtain. "Didn't you hear me ask for the shampoo?"

  "Sorry," Shelley said. She passed Cathy a tube of shampoo and turned off the water,
then wrapped herself in a fluffy white towel.

  "Something's bugging you, I can tell," Cathy said when she got out of the shower a few minutes later and caught up with Shelley at her locker. "You want to talk about it? You've seemed keyed up all day. Even in practice."

  Shelley was drying her hair vigorously with the towel. "It's nothing," she muttered. "I was just—" She glanced at herself in the mirror and bit her lip. "Cath, are you planning on asking anyone to the Varsity Club dance?"

  Cathy opened her locker and took out a bottle of body lotion. "I'm not sure," she said matter-of-factly. Cathy's boyfriend, Tim, was a freshman at UCLA, and the two of them saw each other only on occasional weekends and holidays. "I don't think Tim can make it, so I'd have to dredge up a date." She laughed. "And I do mean dredge. I can't think of a single guy I'd want to ask. What about you?"

  Shelley looked at her reflection in the mirror and frowned. "I ought to do something about my hair," she said critically, running her fingers through her curls. "It looks so—" She grimaced. "I don't know, so practical."

  Cathy looked closely at her. "Mmm," she said thoughtfully. "First she wants to know if I'm planning on asking someone to the Varsity Club dance. Then she just happens to start picking on herself with that I-wonder-if-he-thinks-I'm-pretty kind of expression in her eyes." She grinned. "I don't suppose it's possible that you might be thinking about the dance yourself, is it?" She took her clothes out of her locker and began to get dressed.

  Shelley pretended to concentrate on an almost-invisible mark on her cotton sweater. "Maybe."

  "Hey," Cathy chided her. "We've got a lot of big stuff coming up, Shel. Like, we happen to be in the playoffs, and we happen to need to stick together and give each other lots of moral support. So don't you think you'd better unburden yourself to your very best friend and tell me what gives?" She paused for a moment. "It's Greg, isn't it?"

  Shelley slumped down on the bench next to her locker and rested her chin on her hands. "I can't stand it," she moaned. "Is this really what it's supposed to feel like when you fall in love? Cathy, I'm a total wreck. All I can do anymore is think about Greg. I know this is corny, but my stomach really does feel like it's got butterflies in it. I can't eat, I can't sleep—" She looked fearfully around to make sure the coach wasn't within earshot. "I can't even keep my mind on basketball anymore!"