Time elapsed in this book: About 3 weeks
Jessica’s love interests: Bill Chase, Tom McKay
Entertainment rating: 4/10
Hot on the heels of Dear Sister, one of the best books in the series, we get… this. It’s not bad, but it is definitely a let down after all the insanity of Liz waking up from a coma and undergoing a personality transplant that cumulated in her making out with Bruce at his parents’ beach house. I mean, whoa. My 12 year old self was not particularly impressed with this book either, perhaps because I never found Bill Chase especially enthralling. But let’s dive in!
We open with Jessica and Bill Chase rehearsing scenes for Splendor in the Grass, the drama club’s spring play. Apparently my count of how long junior year has been going on so far is about accurate, since this book acknowledges that it’s spring and my own unofficial timeline count says it’s about May. I find it amusing that they acknowledged that it’s spring, since clearly whoever wrote this did not expect the series to last another 100+ books and must have thought the school year would end soon!
Anyway, they’re rehearsing the big love scene in the play. Every time Bill kisses Jess, she insists something is not right and that he needs to kiss her again. Everyone but Mr. Jaworski, the drama coach, is amused. Bill is flustered. Jess is thrilled, since she once asked Bill to a Sadie Hawkins dance and he turned her down, so she’s been waiting for a way to get back at him. Gotta love Jess!
After the rehearsal, Liz tells Jess to be nice to Bill, since he obviously has a crush on her. Jess doesn’t care and changes the subject by pointing out that Todd has his arms around a beautiful girl! Liz is stunned! Todd introduces the girl as Patsy Webber and says she’s an old friend of his who just moved back to Sweet Valley after living overseas in Paris. Apparently, her dad’s job took them to France at the end of her freshman year at Palisades High, but now her dad has been transferred back to California and they’re in Sweet Valley, so she’ll be at SVH. Patsy is bubbly and giggly and says it’s great to see all her old friends again. When they’re alone, Liz asks Todd if he and Patsy were very good friends. Todd says that actually, they used to date, but that was before he met Liz. He says that he and Patsy are just friends now, so Liz shouldn’t worry. I’m curious why Todd supposedly didn’t know Liz until junior year, yet he’s featured in the Kids and Twins series as a Sweet Valley regular who grew up with the twins. Even if we discount those as completely different series in an alternate universe, it’s not like Todd just transferred to Sweet Valley High this year, so why didn’t he and Liz meet their freshman or sophomore years? How have Liz and Todd never talked about anyone either of them used to date? Questions I’ll never know the answers to. And to be fair, these books are aimed at the twelve year old crowd; when I was reading these at that age, I didn’t wonder any of this. I just accepted this story as reality, wished I’d been the one to date Todd, and kept reading.
Liz and Todd are joined by Bill and DeeDee Gordon, who has a bit part in the play and a big crush on Bill. Everyone tells Bill how great he was at practice. He’s very modest about it, then gets speechless when he sees Jessica, his love interest, down the hallway, flirting with Tom McKay. She sees Bill and blows him a kiss, and he grins like a maniac.
That evening, Jess and Liz fight over who should do the dishes. Jess says she has a date with Tom, and Liz lectures her about stringing Bill along. Jess says she can’t help it if Bill is crazy about her. Then Liz mentions that Bill offered to give surfing lessons to DeeDee and Jess explodes. How dare he show interest in another girl?!? She calls Bill and asks him to lend her his script, just to keep him interested. He drops by later that evening with the script, but Jess has already left for her date with Tom. Liz tries to talk him out of being interested in Jess, but he’s unmoved.
Bill goes to the beach, feeling sorry for himself. He doesn’t know why he thought Jess might be interested in him, but he’d hoped it were true. At the beach, he reminisces about Julianne, his previous love. They’d met when Bill lived in Santa Monica, before his parents divorced and he moved with his mom to Sweet Valley. Bill and Julianne were both avid surfers, and they quickly learned they had a bunch more stuff in common. One night at a party, they argued and she got a ride home with a friend; tragically, the car slid on a curve and Julianna died. When he moved to Sweet Valley, he was struck by how much the Wakefield twins looked like Julianne, which is why he’d turned down Jess when she’d invited him to a dance: she looked too much like Julianne and he was scared of falling in love again. But now he’s ready.
That weekend at the beach, Cara points out to Jess that Bill seems to be moving on because he’s in the water, giving DeeDee a surf lesson, as he’s apparently done every day that week after school. Jess is furious that he seems to be moving on from her, so she joins them. Jess tells Bill she didn’t know that he was giving surf lessons and that she would love some pointers from him sometime, but three’s a crowd so maybe next time. DeeDee hates the sad expression on Bill’s face, so she excuses herself and tells Jess that Bill’s all hers. I hate what a pushover DeeDee is. I think perhaps this is why I’ve never loved this book: both love interests (Bill and DeeDee) are fairly weak.
Later that afternoon, Bill rubs sunscreen on Jessica’s back. Suddenly, Jess notices Tom McKay heading to the beach. She tells Bill that she’s hungry and he offers to grab her food at the Dairi Burger and leaves right before Tom arrives. Jess is thrilled by his arrival. Liz is not, since Tom arrived with a group that includes Patsy Webber, who’s wearing a bikini that looks like “three tiny scraps of material and a yard or so of string.” Patsy asks if anyone wants to go in the water. Todd asks if Liz is game and she says no. Todd joins Patsy, and Liz is heartbroken to see them enjoying the waves together. Liz, this is a problem of your own making; you were literally invited to join by both Patsy and Todd.
Liz goes to the parking lot to get her book from the car and runs into some friends, including Enid, Olivia Davidson, and Lois Waller. Olivia she says that she’d heard Patsy moved back to town! Apparently Patsy used to live down the street from Olivia’s cousin. Back then, Patsy wasn’t especially attractive, so Olivia didn’t know what Todd saw in her. Because obviously, being beautiful is the only thing that matters. Liz tells her that Todd said he and Patsy used to be close. Olivia says, “I guess that’s one way of putting it.” What a pal. Enid tells Liz she shouldn’t worry since Todd loves Liz now, and Olivia agrees that Todd’s probably forgotten all about being in love with Patsy. Liz is dismayed and asks, “They were in love?” She then asks Olivia when Todd and Patsy broke up. Olivia says she doesn’t know and that they might not have officially broken up but they obviously stopped seeing each other when Patsy moved. Liz feels even worse and assumes this means Todd never stopped loving Patsy!
After a lunchtime play rehearsal on Tuesday, DeeDee starts complimenting Bill on his acting. Jess comes up and starts complimenting him too, which leads Bill to compliment Jess, and DeeDee eventually excuses herself to cry.
Todd and Liz watch this from afar. Todd is unimpressed with Jessica’s antics. He comments about it to Liz, who jumps to Jessica’s defense and gets mad at Todd. They argue for a bit. Liz says she’ll see him after school, and Todd says he’ll be at the rehearsal. Liz wonders why he’s been spending so much time at rehearsals but doesn’t question it. Liz wanders off and runs into DeeDee, who mentions that Patsy is designing costumes for the play and that it was Todd’s idea since he knew Patsy was into fashion. Suddenly Liz knows why Todd cares about the play: it’s because he’s in love with Patsy!
Liz confides all this in Enid, who is rightly skeptical about Liz’s leaps in logic. Enid tells her she should just talk to Todd. Liz worries that if she does, Todd will break up with her.
Saturday morning, there’s play rehearsal. Jess knows that Bill has promised to give DeeDee another surf lesson, so she invites him over to her house for a spontaneous pool party instead. Bill says he already has plans with DeeDee, so Jess casually tells DeeDee she’s invited too. DeeDee tells Bill to just go to Jessica’s and then runs away. I wish DeeDee would grow a spine.
At the makeshift pool party, Jess banters about with Tom McKay while Bill watches, wishing he could be that cool. He is sad that Jessica has been ignoring him since Tom arrived, although he acknowledges he ignored DeeDee once Jess arrived. Liz comes home from the library while the pool party is going on and hears all the action straightaway. Her parents mention that even Todd’s there, so Liz hurriedly changes and then heads out back… only to find Patsy laying facedown on a lounge chair, her bikini strap untied, and Todd is rubbing suntan lotion into her back! Liz flees back into the house. Todd races after her and begs to know what’s going on but Liz doesn’t want to talk about it.
Eventually, Todd leaves and Jessica appears. Liz tells Jess she’s been upset about Todd and Patsy. Jess says she didn’t know anything was going on between them, then sees this as a perfect opportunity to cause some trouble in paradise because she’s still salty about Todd choosing Liz over herself, plus she doesn’t like the way Todd monopolizes Liz’s time. She tells Liz she has noticed them spending a lot of time together at rehearsals and that if it’s just a crush, it’ll likely pass. Liz doesn’t feel better.
Liz cries for another hour, feeling worse about the situation, then goes to some building to conduct an interview for the school paper. She runs into Roger Barrett there, who’s working as a janitor. He’s embarrassed that she’s seen him and begs her not to tell anyone because he doesn’t want people to know about his job, which helps his family pay rent.
Another lunchtime rehearsal for the play happens. DeeDee’s father is apparently some big Hollywood agent and comes to watch the rehearsal. He announces that someone in the show impressed him enough that he’s bringing a producer friend of his to the opening night. Jess is positive that he’s talking about her (obviously, since the Wakefield twins are the center of the universe!), and Lila teases Jess about being so sure that this mystery actor must be herself.
DeeDee asks Bill to give her another surf lesson that afternoon, since she’s entering a competition on Saturday. Jess has just canceled on Bill, so he’s free and agrees. Elsewhere, Jess tells Liz about how DeeDee’s dad is going to make her a star and then waltzes off, not caring about Liz’s own problems. Liz confides in Enid that she thinks her relationship with Todd is over. Enid again encourages Liz to talk to Todd. Liz agrees, but when she walks down the hall to find Todd, she discovers him with his arms around Patsy! Liz runs away.
Bill approaches Jess and asks if she’ll be his date to the cast party after opening night. Yes, you apparently need a date to a cast party in Sweet Valley. Jess says no, she’s already planning to go with Tom McKay, and suggests he ask DeeDee.
Bill and DeeDee go surfing. The swells get bigger, but DeeDee is determined to keep surfing. Her board flips out from under her, she’s hit on the head, and the world goes dark! Bill realizes DeeDee hasn’t reappeared and is facedown in the water! I am 100% sure this scene kept my younger self from ever wanting to surf. Bill swims out to her, pulls her to shore while keeping her head above water, tries to pump the water out of her stomach, and begins mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Her eyes flutter open. She’s alive! They share a kiss and realize they’re in love with each other! He tells her he doesn’t know why he’d been infatuated with Jess because she’s the one for him and he’s in love with her! She says she’s in love with him too! I love how easily these characters fall in love and immediately tell each other they love them. How did I used to think this was normal?
It’s opening night for the play and tickets have sold out. Lila tells Jess she looks amazing and asks Jess to return the compliment. Jess tells her that if she wants a compliment, she should ask Roger for one, since he’s got a crush on Lila. Lila laughs and says she wouldn’t even talk to Roger in his own dreams. Lila points out that Bill seems to have chosen DeeDee over her, and Jess is unconcerned. Jess says she doesn’t care and that she has better things to focus on now, like that Hollywood contract that’s sure to come her way.
The play gets underway. Jess is fantastic! The play is fantastic! DeeDee’s dad congratulates everyone and tells Jess she was great. But he has his eye on someone else: Bill! Jess can’t believe it. When Tom asks if she’s ready to go to the cast party, Jess tells him she’ll meet him there and then strides over to Bill. Jess tells him congratulations and says she knew he’d be recognized for his acting, since he’d been so good. He looks more handsome than ever to her, now that he’s been acknowledged by someone in Hollywood. Jess tells him she’s free and able to go to the cast party with him after all, and DeeDee slips away.
Outside, DeeDee runs into Roger, who commiserates about love with her. They’re both in love with someone who acts like they’re invisible, DeeDee with Bill and Roger with Lila. They decide to go to the cast party together.
Jess tries to get Liz to go to the party with her. Liz doesn’t want to go, but eventually Jess talks her into it. Once they get there, Patsy asks Liz if she’s seen Todd. That is the last straw for Liz, who rushes outside. Todd is there and demands to know what is going on with Liz. He asks if she’s trying to break up with him because she keeps running away every time he’s near her. Liz says that no, he’s the one trying to break up with her and that she knows all about Todd and Patsy. Todd is confused. He explains that the day Liz saw him hugging Patsy, it was because she’d just gotten a letter from her boyfriend in Paris, breaking up with her. They really are just friends! Liz really is the only one for him! Liz feels like a dope and says she loves him. I’m pretty sure subplots like this were absolutely enthralling when I was 12, but wow… this is such trite drama. All they needed to do was talk to each other!!
Jess and Bill chat at the party, Jess snuggling up to him as he talks about surfing and DeeDee’s competition that morning (she placed third, in case anyone other than Bill cares). DeeDee walks in the door, and Bill leaps up to greet her. Bill asks where she’d gone because he thought they were coming to the party together. DeeDee says she let him have his time with Jessica. Jess says that was sweet of her, and Bill interrupts to say he doesn’t want to be with Jessica, he wants to be with DeeDee! Jess can’t believe the humiliation and decides the two of them deserve each other. Cara teases Jess about losing her touch, since she’s now lost Bill and Tom, who’s been dancing with Patsy all night.
Notes:
I’m pretty sure this is the first and last book in which we see Patsy Webber.
I wasn’t a big fan of this book even as a kid. Sure, I was always here for Liz and Todd stories because swoon. But the main plot was about Bill and DeeDee, and neither is an especially interesting main character. Was anyone a huge fan?