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  “And you didn’t correct him.” Elizabeth’s voice was hard.

  “I tried to, Lizzie. Honest, I did. He—he wouldn’t listen.”

  Jessica was sobbing uncontrollably now. Elizabeth felt torn between wanting to comfort her sister and wanting to murder her. Knowing she’d been with Rick instead of Todd made it easier for Elizabeth to forgive her.

  “Stop crying, Jess,” she commanded softly. “I know how scared you must have been. I guess I would’ve been, too. What I don’t understand is how you could let people think I was arrested.”

  “That’s so totally ridiculous,” she said, grabbing a handful of tissues and mopping her face. “The cop just drove me home and gave me a warning. If I’d been arrested, Mom and Dad would’ve been called. I can’t believe Caroline would spread a story like that about you!”

  “I suppose this whole thing is Caroline’s fault now, huh?”

  “Please don’t hate me,” Jessica begged. “I’ll clear your name, Liz. I promise. Even if it ruins me.” She sneaked a look at her sister to see if she would demand such a sacrifice.

  Elizabeth just thought for a moment.

  “But you know, Liz, doing that just might keep the gossip going on forever. You know how it is. Anyway, something will happen tomorrow, and everybody will forget about this,” she said hopefully.

  “Jessica, I don’t care about the whole world. I just want my friends to know the truth.”

  Jessica sensed she was almost off the hook.

  “Certainly you don’t think your friends—your real friends—would think you were arrested. Don’t tell me that your very best friend, wimpy Rollins, would turn on you?”

  Jessica knew she shouldn’t make a crack about Enid, but she couldn’t resist. She didn’t like Elizabeth being close friends with anyone but her.

  Lost in thought, Elizabeth mumbled, “No, Enid is my friend. She’ll stick.” But what about Todd? she thought.

  “Is there anyone else you want me to tell the truth to? Maybe Todd Wilkins? Are you and he kind of buddies?” Jessica asked, never taking her eyes off her sister’s face.

  Buddies? Buddies! The one boy in all the world whom Elizabeth loved, who made her heart beat faster and her breath catch in her throat. Buddies?

  “Yeah, I guess that’s what we are,” she finally answered.

  Knowing she had won the battle, Jessica gave Elizabeth a hug. “Don’t worry about a thing, Liz. Todd and I have gotten very close. I’ll tell him the truth. I just know he’s too terrific a guy to hold it against you. No way do I want him mad at you, Lizzie. Like, wouldn’t it be impossible when he picks me up for dates for him not to say hello to you, at least?”

  The picture of a smiling Todd picking up Jessica for dates, holding her hand—kissing her good night at the front door—made Elizabeth want to weep. She could only imagine in despair what Todd must think of her now.…

  * * *

  Ronnie and Enid had a date to spend what was left of the day at the beach, but when Ronnie knocked on Enid’s door, Todd was standing beside him.

  “You don’t mind, do you, Enid?” Ronnie asked as they clattered down the deck steps. “Just look at Todd. He’s a mess. I couldn’t let a frat brother go moping around like that without doing something. So I asked him to come along with us today, OK?”

  Enid took one look at Todd’s sheepish, embarrassed expression and melted. She ruffled his hair, linked arms with the both of them, and said, “Come on, you gorgeous guys. Let’s go!”

  At first the job of cheering Todd up didn’t appear to be very difficult. By the time they hit the blue-green water, he was actually laughing. Immediately Enid and Ronnie announced, “It’s water war time!” and splashed Todd from both sides. They all rode in on the waves like human surfboards. When they finally dragged themselves from the water, dripping and shivering, they were all in great spirits. That is, until Ronnie, sitting cross-legged on the small blanket Enid had brought along, said, “Hey, what do you think of Liz Wakefield and Rick Andover?”

  Todd sat upright, scowling. “I heard the rumor,” he muttered unhappily. He looked crushed.

  Enid glared at Ronnie for being so stupid, but he didn’t seem to get the message.

  “That guy is such a beast. I can’t believe her!” Ronnie added, not realizing he was rubbing salt in the wound.

  “Now, wait a minute,” Enid said. “We’ve all heard the same rumor and—”

  “See?” Ronnie interrupted. “Even Liz’s best friend—”

  “No, no!” Enid protested. “We’ve just heard the rumor. But I know it’s not true. I asked her about it.”

  Smiling sarcastically, Ronnie demanded, “And what did poor Liz do? Burst into tears?”

  Enid didn’t like Ronnie’s attitude. “No, she didn’t burst into tears. In fact, she seemed quite angry and confused that anybody would say such things about her. She flatly denied the rumor, Ronnie.”

  “And you believed her?” Ronnie asked, amazed.

  “Of course I believed her!” Enid said hotly. “She wouldn’t lie to me. She’s my best friend!”

  Sitting on the plaid blanket in the blazing sun, the three friends shared an awkward silence. Enid picked up handfuls of sand, letting the grains sift out from between her clenched fingers. “I know Liz better than just about anybody. And I can’t imagine her with a guy like Rick—especially in a place like Kelly’s.”

  “Well, sometimes a person is not what she seems,” Ronnie said sharply.

  Todd nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that’s true. I mean, that’s what I’m finding.”

  Enid couldn’t believe her ears and told them so. “I know there’s another explanation. I can’t accept these rumors, especially after Liz has denied them.”

  Todd, a sad, faraway look in his brown eyes, said, “Maybe there’s just so much a person can take. I mean, how long can you go on trusting someone, believing in someone?”

  “If you’re her friend,” Enid said, “you should never stop.”

  Todd looked down at the sand.

  Desperately, Enid turned to Ronnie. “Sometimes people make mistakes they’re sorry for later,” she said slowly and from her heart. “Don’t you think they should be forgiven?”

  Ronnie thought for a moment, throwing a pebble over and over into the sand. Finally he shook his head. “Some things are unforgivable.”

  Enid was shaken by Ronnie’s attitude. It was a side of him she hadn’t known before—a cold, hard, unforgiving side—and it frightened her.

  “How did you hear about Liz?” Todd asked Ronnie.

  “I heard it from at least three people,” Ronnie answered. “She was seen getting out of the police car. She was overheard promising never to go to Kelly’s again—with Rick, especially.”

  “Well, I guess that’s it, then,” Todd said with bitter resignation. “There’s no use arguing because it’s a plain fact—Liz was there with Rick, and no amount of explaining can change that.”

  “Well, I don’t believe she was there,” Enid said, “but even if she was, the real question is, are you a true friend, and can you forgive her?” She was really asking Ronnie, pleading with Ronnie, but it was Todd who answered.

  “I don’t know. I really don’t.”

  “Well, I do know,” Ronnie said vehemently. “And if a girl I liked did something like that, I’d never speak to her again.”

  Though the day was still warm, Enid shivered and pulled on a shirt. She had made a decision. He must never know about me. Never. He must never know about the time she was arrested after that horrible accident. Lost in thought about herself, Enid forgot all about Elizabeth’s problems.

  Nine

  It was one of those mornings that made Elizabeth think her sister had been a bird in a former life. Jessica was chirping away nonstop at the breakfast table.

  “Didn’t I tell you, Miss Sourpuss, that it would all blow over?” Jessica burbled over her Rice Krispies. “Why, the entire school has totally forgotten about you and Rick.”
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br />   “About who and who?”

  “I mean about Rick and me. Nobody has said a word to me about it in days.”

  “How nice for you, Jess. They’ve talked to me about it. Practically all anybody talks about is me going to Kelly’s and what I did with Rick.”

  “Who said that?”

  “Actually, Jessica, you’re right. Nobody talks about it. They just hint! They talk to each other about it, but when I walk up, they stop. I’m a walking conversation stopper.”

  “I think you’re just imagining things.”

  “No I’m not, Jessica. Enid filled me in. Everybody’s talking about me and Rick, and they all believe it. On Wednesday there was a big message on the blackboard in the Oracle office when I walked in, too.”

  Jessica leaned forward. “What did it say?” she asked, as though it were some juicy gossip about somebody else.

  “It said: ‘Scoop! Big-shot editor Wakefield makes news! Why isn’t it in the paper?’”

  “That is vile,” Jessica snapped. “You’re not the editor! It isn’t your decision to print such a story.”

  Elizabeth shook her head in dismay. “Jessica, sometimes I truly do wonder about you.”

  “Lizzie, I promise that anytime I hear anybody say anything about you, I’ll set them straight.”

  Elizabeth stared forlornly out the window at the peaceful swimming pool. Wouldn’t it be nice to sit out there all day and not have to face anyone at Sweet Valley High?

  “Are there people you’re worried about?” Jessica asked anxiously. “Because I’ll tell them, if there are.”

  If only someone could convince Todd Wilkins of the truth. Elizabeth felt tears forming behind her eyes. Enid had told her about their trip to the beach and how Todd had heard all the lurid details and believed them. How could he?

  “No,” said Elizabeth. “Anybody who would believe things about me without even finding out the truth isn’t anybody I care about.”

  “You’re not going to tell Mom and Dad on me?”

  “Jessica, you know I’d never do something like that to you.”

  Jessica gazed at her wonderful sister, and a wave of love flooded through her. She grabbed Elizabeth and hugged her.

  “You’re so wonderful to me, Lizzie! Sometimes I think I don’t deserve it!”

  In Elizabeth’s mood, that was all it took for the tears to flow. She wept, hugging Jessica as hard as she could. “Oh, Jessie, you’re wonderful, too. You deserve everything. Everybody loves you, and they should.”

  “Lizzie—you’re crying!”

  “It’s all right, Jessie. I’m just upset—about Steve and—things.” And she hurried from the kitchen to fix her face. She would show none of this at school. Elizabeth Wakefield would hold her head high.

  Actually, the gossip about the Kelly’s Roadhouse fiasco did seem to be dying down. When Elizabeth got to school that day, the corridors were buzzing with a new and much more serious crisis—the Gladiators’ football field. George Fowler—Lila Fowler’s father—was throwing the school off the field, the rumor said. He was one of the richest men in Sweet Valley already, and he wanted to take over the football field to put up a factory. Now the big mystery of the football field made sense.

  “George Fowler is stealing our football field,” lanky, dark-haired Winston Egbert told Elizabeth breathlessly. For once, he didn’t appear to be joking.

  “No, you idiot,” said Dana Larson, who was walking by. Dana was the lead singer for the Droids, Sweet Valley High’s hottest rock band. “It’s the Patmans. Bruce Patman’s father has bought the land, and he’s going to put in an amusement park.”

  “An amusement park?” said Winston, astounded. “Hey, that wouldn’t be so bad!” He turned and dashed down the corridor. “Hey, did you hear? Bruce Patman’s father is building a Disneyland on the football field.”

  Elizabeth, from her experience as a reporter for The Oracle, knew there was no sense believing the distorted rumors circulating through the halls. She headed for the newspaper office and Mr. Collins.

  “Mr. Collins,” she said, “what’s going on? I’ve heard crazy rumors.”

  “They’re not rumors, Elizabeth,” said Mr. Collins, looking grim. “They’re true enough.”

  Sweet Valley’s two most powerful families, the Patmans and the Fowlers, were at each other’s throats again, and the high school was caught in the middle. The Patman-Fowler feud—pitting the old, established Henry Wilson Patman and his canning industry money against George Fowler and his new money made through silicon chips—was going to be fought out on the Gladiators’ football field.

  “The school had leased the field from the city, but the lease ran out recently,” said Mr. Collins. “Now George Fowler is trying to buy the land so he can put up a new factory.”

  “Right across from the school?” said Elizabeth, aghast.

  “That’s what he wants. The Fowlers judge everything by how they can make more money.”

  “But where would the Gladiators play football?”

  “I don’t think that interests George Fowler, Liz.”

  “But I heard the Patmans want the field, Mr. Collins.”

  “Oh, yes, they do. When they heard George Fowler was going to buy the land for a factory, they went into shock. They’ve gotten a court injunction to block the sale. They don’t want a factory there.”

  “Well, good,” said Elizabeth. “Then we support the Patmans.”

  “Wrong, Elizabeth. The Patmans don’t want the Gladiators on the field either. They want to plant a formal English garden, the way it was in 1916 when it was part of the Vanderhorn estate.”

  “Who were the Vanderhorns?”

  “The Vanderhorns were one of the original families in Sweet Valley.”

  “So?”

  “Bruce Patman’s mother was a Vanderhorn.”

  “My goodness,” said Elizabeth. “What a mess.”

  “Yes. And I’m afraid it’s all yours.”

  “Mine?” Elizabeth felt her pulse racing. She had never been given a story this big before.

  “Yes. John is busy with the game against Palisades High. If we ever get to play it. So this one’s all yours.”

  “You mean we might not be able to use the field for the Palisades game, Mr. Collins?”

  “As of right now, Elizabeth, nobody can use the field for anything. The Fowlers have claimed it, and the Patmans’ court injunction keeps everybody off the land until this is settled.”

  “But the team has to practice!”

  “Not on their own field, Elizabeth. Have fun.”

  * * *

  Court injunctions might keep school officials and even big shots like the Patmans and the Fowlers off a disputed football field, but they were useless against the student body of Sweet Valley High. By lunchtime the rumors had totally engulfed the school. Kids were milling around in front on the steps and spilling over onto the lawn.

  In the middle of the throng was Ken Matthews, the powerful blond captain of the Gladiators’ football team. Next to him was Todd Wilkins and some of the other school jocks. All eyes were turned to them. Something had to be done.

  “What are we going to do, Kenny?” somebody yelled. “They can’t take our field.”

  “OK, calm down,” Ken said, gazing out over the crowd. “Don’t worry. Number one, the Gladiators have never lost anything without a fight!”

  A roar of approval greeted this comment.

  “And, number two,” Todd added, “we need that field more than anyone else. They can build a factory or a garden anyplace!”

  “Right on,” somebody yelled.

  “And it’s ours!” Ken shouted.

  Another roar from the assembled students.

  Looking out the cafeteria window, Mrs. Waller, the school dietitian, saw the rally building in size. She put down her clipboard and hurried down the corridor to the gym.

  “Coach!” Mrs. Waller called out.

  Coach Schultz looked up from the play diagrams he was working on
in preparation for the big game against the Palisades Pumas.

  “What’s the matter, Mrs. Waller?”

  “Coach, I think we’ve got trouble. The football team is out in front of the school, and they’re all worked up.”

  “My team?” said Coach Schultz, getting up quickly.

  “Kenny Matthews is in the middle of it.”

  “What are we waiting for?”

  And together, Coach Schultz and Mrs. Waller hurried upstairs toward the principal’s office.

  “Chrome Dome’s going to have a fit,” said Mrs. Waller.

  “My boys won’t do anything wrong,” said Coach Schultz. “They’re just high-spirited.”

  They swept into Mr. Cooper’s office in time to hear the announcement on the school’s intercom system.

  “Coach Schultz, please report to the principal’s office!”

  * * *

  “What are we going to do?” Jessica shouted, having pushed through the crowd to head up the cheerleaders.

  “I’ll tell you what we’re going to do,” Todd yelled. “We’re going to stage a sit-in right on the football field!”

  A cheer went up.

  “If they want to build anything on this field, they’re going to have to build it on top of us,” Ken shouted to the crowd.

  Another cheer went up, and the students began rushing across the great lawn toward the field.

  “Come on!” Jessica yelled, piloting the cheerleaders.

  “Follow me, Gladiators,” Ken shouted.

  And just like an army of Roman warriors, the student body cascaded across the campus, pouring out of the school, dropping everything, racing to take possession of the football field.

  Inside his office Mr. Cooper watched in frustration.

  “We’ve got to stop them!” he said.

  But nobody could stop the rush of students now.

  Elizabeth ran behind them, furiously taking notes on her steno pad about what was now the most exciting story ever to hit campus. And there was Todd, right in the middle of it all. By the time she got to the field, a group of angry kids had cornered Lila Fowler and Bruce Patman, the children of the two families involved.

  “Hey, Fowler, what’s with you?” Winston Egbert demanded of Lila. “Isn’t your father rich enough already?”