White Lies (Sweet Valley High Book 52) Read online

  Go on. Just go on and say hi, he commanded himself. His feet seemed to be glued to the floor, but he managed to force himself down the corridor. When he reached her, he cleared his throat. "Hi."

  She looked up swiftly, a glow of warmth in her eyes. A tiny smile turned up her lips. "Hi." They looked at each other for an awkward, silent moment, and then Jennifer broke eye contact. "Thanks for the flowers," she said softly.

  "For the—?" Confused, John looked at the flowers, and then he remembered what Elizabeth had said in the parking lot. He grinned and sat down. It was going to be all right. He could feel it. "No problem," he said with a soft chuckle. "How's your father?"

  "Good. He's OK." Jennifer nodded and looked up at him again. The happiness in her eyes was beautiful to John. "So are you."

  They smiled shyly at each other again. Tipping his head to one side, John asked, "Do you want to go down to the cafeteria? I could get you a Coke or something."

  "Sure," Jennifer replied. She picked up the flower arrangement and stood up. "Let's go."

  Thirteen

  When Elizabeth got home, she went into the kitchen to pour herself a tall glass of orange juice. As she stood at the table drinking, the sound of muffled laughter reached her ears. She walked into the dining room and glanced out the sliding glass doors. Jessica and A.J. were sitting at the patio table together, doing homework.

  Curious, Elizabeth watched them for a moment. A.J. leaned close to Jessica and whispered something that sent her into gales of laughter, and then Jessica reached out to caress A.J.'s arm. To Elizabeth, they looked like a completely different pair than they had looked recently. Jessica's eyes glowed with happiness, and A.J. couldn't stop looking at her. If there was ever an example of a couple in love, Jessica and A.J. were it.

  Even though Elizabeth didn't want to spy on them, she couldn't help being intrigued. She wondered what could have happened to produce such a dramatic change. Instead of pouting, Jessica was smiling; instead of looking anxious, A.J. looked captivated. And knowing her twin the way she did, Elizabeth knew there was a good chance Jessica had manipulated the situation in an underhanded way. But there could be a different reason, too, she decided fairly. Puzzled, Elizabeth slid open the door.

  "Hi, you guys!"

  They turned around with a blank, surprised expression, as though they had forgotten there were other people on the planet. "Oh, hi, Lizzie," Jessica called back. She faced A.J. again.

  Elizabeth sighed and leaned against the doorframe for a minute, just relaxing and letting her mind wander. Jessica's voice reached her ears clearly.

  "Well, anyway, I just felt so bad for all those poor little girls. I knew we had to do something."

  "I think it's great you got Liz and Enid to help out with the plan," A.J. said admiringly.

  The meaning of their words slowly sank in, and Elizabeth stared at her twin in disbelief. As usual, Jessica was taking the credit for something—this time, for starting up the Big Sisters program at school. Just then, Jessica glanced her way and caught Elizabeth's skeptical expression.

  Jessica jumped up, her jaw set. She hurried toward Elizabeth and brushed past her into the house.

  "Why are you looking at me that way?"

  "I don't know what you're talking about," Elizabeth replied. She took another sip of juice.

  Jessica stood near the door with her hands on her hips. "You were giving me this look," she said peevishly. She glanced back out at the patio again.

  Sighing, Elizabeth put her glass down on the dining room table. "Sorry. Whatever the look was, I didn't mean it. I was just surprised to see you and A.J. getting along so well, that's all. It seemed like you two had been arguing a lot lately."

  "What are you talking about?" Jessica demanded. She looked appalled at the thought. "We never argue. And we're getting along fine. Never better."

  "Yes, I can see that. But what changed things?"

  Jessica wrinkled her brow and shook her head. "I don't know what you mean, Liz. Nothing's changed. I'm just in love, if you know what I mean."

  "And so is A.J., I guess." Elizabeth looked out at A.J. again and shrugged. "I guess I'm just imagining things, Jess. Sorry."

  Jessica nodded and ran back outside again.

  I must have made too big a deal out of their differences, Elizabeth mused. Maybe they know how to work things out, after all.

  She felt a little chagrined at not giving her sister more credit. All along Elizabeth had assumed that the differences between Jessica and A.J. were just too big to ignore, but maybe they weren't. Besides, every couple ran into rough times together and survived. Certainly she and Jeffrey had. So there was no reason to think Jessica and A.J.'s relationship wouldn't make it.

  But if Jessica patched things up by telling lies to make A.J. admire her, what kind of relationship was that? Elizabeth shook her head slowly. With that kind of deception, how long could Jessica's romance with A.J. last?

  Immediately after school on Friday, a big group of juniors and seniors congregated in the school parking lot. A holiday mood was in the air, and Elizabeth felt herself smiling broadly.

  "Another weekend," she said as Jeffrey draped one arm across her shoulders. "Hurray!"

  He pulled her close and wiggled his eyebrows up and down. "We'd better do something to be thankful about, huh?"

  She giggled and bumped him with her hip. Everyone in the crowd was laughing and talking, exchanging weekend plans. Jessica and A.J. were in the center of one group, which suddenly let out a round of applause. Bruce Patman held up his hands as though he were accepting it.

  Shouting for quiet, Ken Matthews and Winston Egbert donned sunglasses and climbed up on top of Winston's battered Volkswagen. They were both wearing flowered Bermuda shorts and mismatched Hawaiian-print shirts.

  Ken whistled shrilly through two fingers. "OK, listen up, all you lowly peons!" he called out. He gestured to Winston and bowed from the waist.

  With a modest smile, Winston acknowledged the boos and catcalls and applause from his audience.

  "Nice legs, Win," Cara said, giggling.

  "Thank you." Winston's long skinny legs looked like two poles sticking out of dirty white hightops. "As you all know," he began in an oratorical style, "it's Friday afternoon once again." There was more applause and whistling. "And once again, it is time to hit the beach!"

  "Ow!" crowed Aaron Dallas.

  Another round of applause swept the crowd, and Lila shouted, "Time to party!"

  Elizabeth grinned as she surveyed the scene. It never ceased to amaze her how much energy her friends had. Every weekend was a whole new cause for celebration. The tennis courts at the end of the parking lot were virtually empty. It seemed that practically no one stayed at school on Friday afternoons. Most people wanted to get as early a start on the weekend as possible.

  Except for one person. On one of the courts, Kristin Thompson was practicing her serve by herself. Elizabeth felt a pang of sympathy for her, and she looked up at Jeffrey.

  "I think I'll ask Kristin if she wants to go to the beach with us. It might be a change from practicing all the time."

  "Good idea."

  Smiling, Elizabeth detached herself from the group and jogged to the fence. "Hi, Kristin?"

  Kristin turned, her tennis racket still poised. "Oh, hi, Jessica."

  "I'm Elizabeth, Jessica's twin," Elizabeth corrected her with a laugh. She nodded toward the group of students. "We're all going to the beach, and I was wondering if you wanted to come along."

  Kristin smiled. "Thanks, but I'm meeting my coach at the club in a few minutes. She's getting there late today, so I thought I'd just hit a few balls here before I meet her."

  "But it's Friday!" Elizabeth said in a cajoling tone. She wanted Kristin to feel welcome. She turned as Bruce Patman joined her at the fence. "Tell her, Bruce. It's too hot to play tennis."

  Bruce gave Kristin an appraising glance. "She's right. Besides, these courts are supposed to be closed on Friday afternoons. Didn't anyone
tell you?"

  "No—I—" A look of dismay crossed Kristin's face.

  "He's just kidding," Elizabeth said quickly. "But we'd really like you to come. Honest."

  "Yeah," Bruce drawled. His eyes ran over Kristin again while a slow, seductive smile turned up one corner of his mouth.

  "Come on—come to the beach, and we can get something to eat afterward," he invited, twining his fingers in the chain-link fence.

  Kristin smiled back at Bruce, and her cheeks turned slightly pink. But she continued to shake her head. "Sorry, I have to go to my tennis lesson. Thanks for asking, though."

  "You're sure?"

  "Positive."

  Shrugging, Bruce took a step backward. "Some other time," he said.

  Elizabeth thought Bruce looked a bit irritated. He wasn't used to being refused point-blank, and she couldn't help feeling a little bit smug about it. Bruce was so arrogant that his ego needed periodic deflating. Being turned down by a pretty girl once in a while wouldn't kill him.

  As they both turned to head back for the group, Elizabeth cast one last look back at Kristin. She had heard Kristin was a dedicated tennis player, and that certainly seemed to be the case. Elizabeth wondered if there was any way at all to tempt Kristin to do something other then play tennis. If she wouldn't go to the beach on a blistering hot Friday, she probably wouldn't do anything else!

  Is Elizabeth right? Is it true there's nothing that will tear Kristin away from the tennis court? Find out in Sweet Valley High #53, SECOND CHANCE