The Perfect Girl (Sweet Valley High Book 74) Read online

  "Come on, Robin," Dina called.

  Nodding, Robin went to the springboard and stepped up onto it. With her teammates watching her, Robin felt a self-conscious twinge. Robin shook off her uneasiness and prepared to dive. She was in shape now and would stay that way.

  No doubt about it.

  Elizabeth screamed as Todd dumped her into the surf. She went under and came up sputtering.

  "You die, Wilkins!" Elizabeth lunged to catch him and got knocked off-balance by another wave.

  Todd reached out to help her up. "Sorry," he said, his eyes dancing with laughter.

  "I've had enough. I'm getting clobbered!" Elizabeth strode through the water and up onto the beach. Todd followed her, and they both collapsed onto their beach blankets.

  "Do you want some ice cream?" Todd asked as he toweled himself off.

  Elizabeth closed her eyes against the sun. "Mmm. Sounds great."

  "I'll be right back."

  Todd's shadow passed across Elizabeth's face as she lay on her back. The sound of the waves crashing against the beach was pleasantly monotonous. Elizabeth sighed. She was completely relaxed.

  "Are you awake?"

  Elizabeth opened her eyes. "Hey, Robin. You made it. Have a seat."

  "Thanks." Robin smiled as she sat down and stripped off her sweatshirt.

  Elizabeth could not help but admire Robin's figure. She really looked fantastic in a bathing suit.

  "You could be in a swimsuit ad, Robin," Elizabeth said sincerely.

  "Yeah, sure." Robin's cheeks grew slightly pink and she fidgeted with the straps of her bathing suit.

  "I mean it."

  Robin just smiled and looked out at the ocean. Elizabeth bit her lip. She wondered if she had hurt Robin's feelings somehow. Elizabeth knew how sensitive Robin used to be about her weight. Her own sister had been one of Robin's worst tormentors. But Elizabeth had assumed that all that uneasiness was in the past.

  Maybe it wasn't.

  "I didn't mean to embarrass you," she said quietly. "I was just—"

  "That's OK, Liz," Robin said cheerfully.

  "Hey, Robin," Todd said as he rejoined them. "How was diving?"

  "Fine." Robin reached for her sweatshirt, pulled it on again, and stretched it way down over her tucked-up knees.

  "I'll get you an ice-cream cone if you'd like," Todd said, handing Elizabeth her cone.

  Robin shook her head quickly. "No, thanks. I never touch it."

  "Are you one of those constantly-on-a-diet girls?" Todd laughed.

  Elizabeth shot him a warning glance, but Todd didn't seem to notice. Even though she had never had to go on a diet, Elizabeth was always aware of her weight. Some girls dieted religiously, and some girls were almost obsessed with the way their bodies looked. It was hard not to be conscious of it to some extent. Elizabeth just hoped her friends used common sense. She knew it had taken some pretty drastic measures for Robin to lose so much weight in such a short period of time.

  "Speaking of ice cream, I think this whole Super Sundae idea is really great," Elizabeth said.

  Robin nodded. "The most important part will be getting a lot of publicity. If we don't have enough people buying tickets, we won't raise very much money."

  "And you'll have all that ice cream to get rid of." Todd grinned. His ice-cream cone was dripping in the hot sun, and he licked it carefully.

  "No problem. We just have to make sure we bring along at least three boys from the junior class," Elizabeth said. "I've seen the way you guys can eat."

  Todd looked insulted. "Hey. We're all growing boys, you know. We need our vitamins."

  "Vitamins in ice cream?" Elizabeth retorted. "Sure."

  "Vitamin C, for chocolate," Todd said, nudging her with his toe.

  Elizabeth giggled and looked back to Robin. "So when are you cheerleaders putting this master plan to work?"

  "Next week," Robin answered flatly. "After cheerleading practice."

  To Elizabeth, Robin seemed moody and preoccupied. She remembered what her friend had said earlier about three being a crowd. That might be what was bothering her. If it was, there was nothing Elizabeth could do about it, but she was sorry Robin didn't feel comfortable with them.

  "Listen, I have some homework to do," Robin said abruptly as she stood up. "See you around."

  Elizabeth felt a pang of regret. "Do you want to go to a movie with us this weekend?" she asked hastily.

  Robin glanced at Todd and then at Elizabeth and smiled. "Maybe some other time." She shouldered her bag and strode off across the sand.

  "What's wrong with her?" Todd asked.

  Elizabeth frowned. "I don't know. I guess she just misses George."

  But Elizabeth wondered if perhaps there was more to it than that.

  "Hi, Mom!" Robin called as she walked through the back door later that afternoon.

  After getting no answer, Robin went to the refrigerator for a glass of orange juice. She spotted a postcard propped up on the kitchen counter.

  Paris is wet and dismal. People are more concerned with the weather than with looking at paintings. I leave for Athens tomorrow.

  Hugs from Fiona.

  Robin frowned and put the postcard down. Aunt Fiona Maxwell was her mother's older sister. Her artwork sold all over the world for thousands of dollars, and she seemed to think her fame gave her a license to be bossy and domineering. Recently, she had tried to pressure Robin into going to Sarah Lawrence College, her alma mater, to which Robin had been accepted in the early admissions program.

  The problem with that offer had been the same problem with all of Aunt Fiona's offers. Taking her presents usually meant giving up something important. The glamorous Ms. Maxwell thought diving was a waste of time and had wanted Robin to give up the chance of a good computer department and a diving scholarship at a west coast school for full tuition at Sarah Lawrence. "All expenses paid" was something Robin's family really couldn't afford to turn down. It had taken a lot of willpower to stand up to Aunt Fiona, and to her mother, but in the end Robin had succeeded.

  Winning had been a mixed blessing, though. Every time her mother mentioned college financing, or when Robin devoted extra time to her own interests, Robin felt a bit guilty. Sometimes she felt that she had to prove something to her family to make up for the turmoil she had put them through. It didn't seem fair.

  Just being reminded of that tense, unhappy period in her life made Robin cringe. She yanked open the refrigerator and looked inside. A plate of gooey-looking brownies sat on the top shelf. Her mouth watered at the sight, and she automatically reached for one.

  Then she stopped herself. Fudge brownies didn't go with the skin-hugging jeans Robin had just bought.

  Grumbling silently about Aunt Fiona, Robin poured herself a glass of juice. When the telephone rang, she hurried to answer it, eager to be distracted from her thoughts.

  "It's me!" George sounded as if he had been walking on air, or at least flying in it.

  "Hi." Robin sank into a chair and cradled the phone against her ear. Her spirits instantly lifted. "How's it going?"

  "Great! I had my first class today. I just got back and I had to tell you all about it. It was so fantastic!"

  Robin smiled at his enthusiasm. "Tell me everything. How big is the class?"

  "There are twelve students," he said. "Some are college students, but most are older. They're so interesting, too. One guy has his own business restoring classic planes, and another used to be a diplomat. Can you believe it? And then there's this girl Vicky. She's incredible!"

  "Oh, yeah?" Robin laughed. "What's so incredible about her?"

  "Well, she's in college, too. She's an oceanography major, and she does all the calculations on air speed and altitude and stuff in her head, faster than I can do them on a calculator."

  Robin pictured a human calculator: short, boxy, and covered with lots of buttons. She grinned.

  "What else is so incredible about Vicky?" Robin asked, trying to keep the amusement out of
her voice.

  "Oh, she's funny, too," George went on. "And she's already a pretty experienced pilot. I told her all about you, and she really wants to meet you."

  "I'd like to meet her, too." But Robin doubted they ever would meet. After all, it wasn't likely that George would bring a classmate with him to visit his girlfriend.

  George continued to ramble on about his class. "And when we were studying these maps—"

  "George?" Robin cut in softly. She wanted to be sure he really did miss her. With the way he was carrying on, it didn't sound as if he did.

  "What?"

  "When do you think you might have a chance to come up?"

  "Soon. I promise," he said in a tender voice. "I can't wait to see you."

  Robin suppressed a sigh. Suddenly she felt even lonelier than she had before George called. From soaring high, her spirits did a crash dive. She really wished she could be with him, sharing the excitement of the flying class.

  "Call me, OK? Even if it's late. I miss you."

  "Me, too," George said warmly.

  After Robin hung up the phone, she sat and stared out the kitchen window for a few minutes, lost in thought. She was glad George was taking up flying again. She knew it was important to him.

  But she would be glad when the course was over. Without George, Robin felt more than alone. She felt unattractive. It was going to be a long, lonely time without him.

  Three

  Robin reviewed her mental checklist. They had run through all the new cheers three times and the squad was finished for the day. She glanced over at Jessica, who was helping Cara practice a handstand. The "co" in cocaptain was something Robin took seriously, even if Jessica didn't. She always tried to get along with Jessica during cheerleading practice.

  "Is that it, Jessica?" Robin called out.

  "Yep! Now we do the fun stuff," Jessica replied. "Super Sundae!"

  The rest of the cheerleaders grabbed their towels and sat in a circle on the grass. "What should we do first?" Annie asked the group. "Publicity?"

  "I think first we should make sure we've got everything we need," Robin said, shaking her head. "If we find out we can't get enough ice cream, for example, then all the publicity has to be undone."

  "Liz can handle the publicity," Jessica put in. "She'll write an article for The Oracle, and she knows someone at the city paper."

  "And we can make posters," Sandra said. "We can use the art department's supplies because our project is for the school."

  "Great." Robin reached into her book bag for a notebook and pen and began to jot down notes. "What else do we need to take care of right away?"

  "Donations of plastic bowls, spoons, and paper napkins," Jean West said. "There's a place in town called Party Warehouse. We could try there."

  Writing busily, Robin let her mind race ahead, trying to anticipate all the problems that could ruin the fund-raiser. Now that they were committed to the project, she wanted everything to be perfect. "How are we going to get these people to give us the ice cream and other stuff for free?"

  "We'll call them sponsors," Cara suggested. "We'll put their names in the school paper and on the posters. They can think of it as advertising, right?"

  "Hey, I just thought of something," Amy put in. "We still don't know what we're making this ice-cream sundae in. Or where we're going to make it."

  There was a short silence. Robin scribbled "Location" in her notebook and looked around. "Any ideas?"

  "Plastic kiddie pools?" Annie suggested. "We could put a bunch of them together in a pyramid shape and fill up each one."

  "We're going to need an awful lot of donations," Jessica said skeptically. "I hope everyone smiles a lot when asking for all this stuff."

  Maria grinned. "Don't forget, my father said he'd be honorary chairman. If we promise people they'll get to meet the mayor, I'm sure they'll give us whatever we want. People always want a chance to talk in person to the mayor about their gripes."

  "OK, great." Robin nodded. "And we can probably make the sundae either here at school on the football field, or at the park."

  "The most important thing is the ice cream," Jessica pointed out. "We need major supplies of ice cream if we're going to make a giant sundae."

  "Then that's what we should get first." Robin looked around at the other cheerleaders. "Who wants to start asking around? I will. Who else?"

  Jessica flopped onto her back and waved her arms in the air. "I will! I will!"

  "She just wants free samples." Amy rolled her eyes.

  "Me, too," Cara said with a laugh. "I admit it! I love ice cream!"

  Robin grinned. "OK. Let's start right now."

  Everyone stood up and started to collect gym bags. Jessica looked at Cara and Robin. "If we go in my car, you two will have to double up."

  Cara reached out to strangle Jessica. "Why do you have a two-seater?" she growled.

  "Don't hurt her," Robin said mildly. "We need her to drive."

  "Thanks a lot, you guys," Jessica grumbled. "Come on."

  The three girls squeezed into the red Fiat Spider convertible that Jessica shared with her twin sister. Robin knew sharing meant that Jessica got the car and that Elizabeth found another way to get around. But now she was glad Jessica usually had the car. It would make organizing the Super Sundae that much easier. Even if it meant putting up with Jessica's ego for a little while, she knew she could handle it.

  "Where should we go first?" Cara asked above the rush of the wind.

  "How about one of the Izzy's Incredible Ice Cream shops?" Jessica suggested. "They've got stores all over town."

  Robin sat back and enjoyed the ride as much as she could with Cara sitting on her lap. Being in charge of a big project like this was fun. She liked planning and figuring things out.

  "Who's going to do the talking?" Cara asked when they reached Izzy's Incredible. She looked from Jessica to Robin. "Not me, I can tell you that. I'm just here to give you moral support."

  Jessica glanced at Robin and raised her eyebrows. "Well? I don't mind."

  "I'll do it," Robin said with a casual shrug. She knew Jessica liked being in charge as much as she did. Sometimes their rivalry really escalated. Particularly when it came to the cheerleading team. Once Jessica had rescheduled the appointment for the squad's yearbook picture and told everyone but Robin. Luckily, Robin had found out just in time to change into her uniform and join the others. Jessica had apologized profusely, of course, but Robin hadn't believed a word of it. Jessica just couldn't stand sharing anything.

  "I really don't mind at all," Jessica said breezily. She smiled at Cara. "You know me. Pushy."

  Robin suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. It was obvious that Jessica wanted to do all the talking. And it was too early to start wrestling for control. She knew Jessica would probably blow off her responsibilities later, and then Robin would take over and follow through to the end.

  "OK," she said. "Fine with me."

  "Great." There was a triumphant note in Jessica's voice. "Come on."

  Jessica led the way into the store. "Is the manager here?" she asked the woman at the counter.

  "I'm the manager. I'm Mrs. Loman. What can I do for you girls?"

  Jessica took a deep breath and smiled her most winning smile. "We're Sweet Valley High cheerleaders, and we're organizing a huge fund-raising event for the athletic department. We thought your store might like to be a sponsor."

  "Well, I'd have to hear more about this event," Mrs. Loman said slowly.

  Jessica smiled even wider. "I knew you would. See, we're making the world's biggest ice-cream sundae. Well, it may not be the world's biggest, but it'll definitely be Sweet Valley's biggest ice-cream sundae. And that's where you come in, You see, we need a lot of ice cream."

  "Just how much is a lot? And do you want it all from me?"

  Robin laughed. "No. We're asking all the ice-cream sellers in town to donate what they can. If every store contributes at least several gallons, we'll have plenty." />
  "But the stores who donate the most will be our special sponsors," Jessica added.

  "With their names in our publicity," Cara said.

  "And everyone who participates will get to meet the mayor." Robin knew that would impress Mrs. Loman.

  "My goodness. This really is going to be a big deal, isn't it? All right. I'll talk to the regional manager of Izzy's Incredible Ice Cream. I'm sure the company will be glad to help out Sweet Valley High. Maybe we can provide all the ice cream you'll need."

  Robin, Jessica, and Cara grinned excitedly. "That's great!" Jessica gushed. "You won't be sorry. Everyone in Sweet Valley will get a taste of Izzy's Incredible Ice Cream. And then they'll all come to the store for more."

  "I get the picture." Mrs. Loman shook her head and laughed.

  Robin relaxed. The first major hurdle was passed. "Is it all right if I call you in a few days to see if everything's set?" she asked.

  "Sure. Now, how about some ice cream for you girls?"

  "Great!" Cara eagerly began to review the flavors.

  Robin looked into the tubs of ice cream lined up below the glass counter. The whole store was filled with the sweet scent of sugar and vanilla and chocolate. Just breathing deeply for a few minutes was enough to satisfy any sweet tooth. Even though Robin usually avoided ice cream, she thought she should be polite and accept Mrs. Loman's offer.

  Then the bell over the door tinkled. A very heavy woman walked in, leading two chubby boys by the hand. Robin suddenly changed her mind.

  "No, thanks. I'm, uh, allergic to milk."

  "Oh, that's too bad," Mrs. Loman replied sympathetically.

  Jessica and Cara each gave Robin a funny look, but she ignored them. At that moment she was more interested in getting out of the store and away from the overweight family than anything else. Seeing fat people always brought back her most painful memories of loneliness and shame. Lately those memories had been bothering her more and more. She didn't know why, and right now she didn't care.

  "I'll wait for you outside," she said to her friends.

  Without any further explanation, she slipped out the door.

  "OK, this is what you should write," Jessica said, leaning over Elizabeth's shoulder. The girls were taking advantage of their lunch hour the next day to work on the Super Sundae event.