Time elapsed in this book: Two weeks.
Jessica’s love interests: Dennis Creighton, Kevin Borden
Entertainment rating: 7/10. The subplot gets a 10/10 but the main plot is only like a 5/10.
We open Sunday morning with the twins in their bedroom. Liz tells Jess that she needs to come downstairs for pancakes. Jess is busy admiring herself in the mirror as she models their mom’s brown suit, which she thinks makes her look like a business woman. In a callback to the previous book, Jess says she’s no longer jealous of Bill Chase attracting the attention of some Hollywood guy because all Bill is getting is a screen test and Jess figures he’ll bomb it. No, now Jess is focused on her own future career. Liz scoffs at this and says she’s too young to suddenly decide on a career. Jess asks how this is any different from Liz suddenly deciding she wants to be a writer. I’m cheering for Jess in this moment, since Liz really is quite sanctimonious. Liz tells Jess that her own career choice is besides the point and that she thinks that Jessica’s sudden interest in a career is just a way to kill time while she’s between boys. OUCH. Jess gets angry and points out that Liz has wanted Jess to set goals for herself for years, so why isn’t Liz happier about it now? Liz is mollified and says that sure, she’s supportive and that Jess should let her know if she can help somehow. As an adult, it seems obvious that Liz feels better about herself when she can feel bigger than her twin. But of course, as a kid, I probably thought Liz (who I related to more, since we both loved books!) was just trying to be realistic and smart. They go downstairs, and Jess tells their dad that she wants to start an after school job in his law office starting tomorrow.
Monday at school, Lila and Jess complain about the weather. It’s actually raining. In Sweet Valley! Cara was so unimpressed by the rain that she stayed home, worried it’d worsen her cold. Lila wonders who they’ll see after school at the Dairi Burger. Jess asks why Lila is so sure Jess will be there and Lila says, “Where else would you go when it’s too wet for the beach?” Too true, Lila; those are literally their only two after school hang out spots. Jess says there are other spots to go. Lila nods and says that clearly Jess has moved on quickly from Bill if she has another date already. I love the assumption that if Jess doesn’t show up at their hang out spots, she’s obviously out with a dude. I mean, obviously. Jess says she’s planning to become a lawyer so she’ll be working in her dad’s office. Lila is concerned about how this might affect Jess’s social life, but Jess reassures her the office closes at 6 and that she’s still (obviously) planning to go to the upcoming Bart dance the following week.
Aaron Dallas passes by at this point and asks Lila if she’ll go to the dance with him. He’s the co-captain of the school’s soccer team and we’re told the following:
Lila had tried dating Aaron back in junior high, but there hadn’t been any chemistry. They had remained good friends, however.
I call BS! In the Sweet Valley Twins series (which, granted, hadn’t been written yet when this book was published), Jessica is the one who kinda dates Aaron! I don’t remember any sort of situation where Lila dated Aaron in junior high! Come on, continuity!
Aaron wanders off and Roger Barrett comes into view as he runs down the hall toward his locker. Roger slips in a puddle, falls, and slides across the floor about ten feet. Roger is mortified, especially since he has a crush on Lila, and he quickly tries to regain his composure and leave. Jess and Lila burst into giggles. Lila refers to Roger as “Bugs Bunny” and explain that she gave him that nickname because he bugs her. I don’t remember my thoughts on this as a kid, but as an adult, I’m embarrassed that she couldn’t come up with something cleverer.
Roger is embarrassed about the whole situation and tells Olivia Davidson, one of his closest friends, that he made a fool of himself in front of Lila. Olivia asks if that’s why he looks so tired. Roger says no, he’s tired because he was up until 3am studying for a test. He says he needs to get used to sleepless nights if he wants to be a doctor. He doesn’t tell her that he was up late because he has to study when he should be sleeping; after school, he has a job as a janitor to help his family pay rent because his mom is too sick to work and his dad is too drunk to work. Roger eyes Olivia’s outfit (a long floral print skirt and silk scarf), which she bought at the thrift shop, and asks when she’s going to start shopping at the mall like everyone else. Olivia says that’s not her style and breezes off to class.
After school in the boy’s locker room, Bruce Patman complains that Coach Schultz made them run in the rain. These kids would not last living anywhere but Southern California. John Pfeifer, who just played a one-on-one game of basketball with Todd, asks Bruce if this means he won’t run the Bart trials the next day if it’s still raining. Bruce says no way! He’s been bragging about how he’s going to win the Bart for ages and he’s not about to back down now! Plus, he says that if it stops raining, he might have a chance to break a four minute mile. Todd says Bruce doesn’t stand a chance of getting anywhere near that (true). Bruce says no one’s calling Todd speedy, and Todd says he doesn’t claim to be. John asks if Todd has made up his mind about whether he’ll participate, and Todd says he isn’t sure. The winner gets a scholarship, which Bruce doesn’t need since his family’s loaded, but Todd could use. Still, considering that Todd knows he’s not fast, why is he even considering this? Losing a race doesn’t win you a scholarship. Tony Esteban joins them and they start gossiping. Bruce tells them that apparently Coach Schultz asked the school board (which Bruce’s dad serves on) for more money and when they said no, he threatened to quit. They then talk about the dance. Bruce says he hasn’t decided who to ask, and Tony jokes that maybe he’ll ask Annie Whitman, which makes them all laugh because she has a reputation with the guys. Tony asks Bruce if she’ll get a chance to work her magic on him and Bruce says only if she’s lucky.
Jess goes to her first day of work. She’s introduced to the office manager, Trudy, who asks her to make copies of legal briefs. Jess turns on the radio and gets to work. Trudy comes in and tells her the radio needs to be turned off and that her father said to relay that it’s an office, not a disco. Jess looks at some of the documents she’s copying, but trying to read the legalese gives her a headache. She decides she’s had enough of the job and that this isn’t anywhere near what she expected, which was to be constantly in court, defending people! Trudy asks her to get another box of legal forms from the store downstairs. Jess heads over to the elevator, trying to figure out how to break the news to her dad that she’s quitting. But before she can get in the elevator, someone asks if she’s new. Jess looks at him and see’s a guy who’s over six feet tall with wavy golden hair and brown eyes. She is smitten.
Working in her father’s office might have its rewards after all. Already she was beginning to feel a tingle of excitement of being in this boy’s arms.
I actually laughed at this part! Tinder was made for people like Jess. I picture her turning eighteen, immediately downloading the app, and swiping right on a new guy every night based on his looks.
He introduces himself as Dennis Creighton and says he works part time at his dad’s ad agency across the hall. She introduces herself and says it’s her first day working for her dad’s law firm. He asks if she’s training to be a secretary. Ugh. Jess tells him no, she wants to be a lawyer. Dennis is impressed and says he likes girls with ambition. She asks why she hasn’t seen him around school and he says maybe she hasn’t been looking hard enough. She says she knows everyone who goes to SVH and then realizes he must go to Sweet Valley College (at this point, it’s still called Sweet Valley College instead of Sweet Valley University; I’m curious when in the series that changes) and asks if he knows George Warren, Enid’s boyfriend. It’s strange for her to immediately mention Enid’s boyfriend instead of her own brother, who’s also a student there, but okay. Dennis says he’s not in college, he’s in high school at El Carro, one of their rival schools. They part ways and say they’ll see each other around.
The next day, all Sweet Valley High students are excused from their first period classes to watch the Bart track trials. It seems like the trials are something that should be happening after school or at least on a weekend, but it also seems like very little actual learning goes on at this school, so who knows. I never picked up on this as a kid. Cara, Lila, and Jess are in the stands together. Lila asks how Jessica’s first day of work went and Jess says it was one of the most exciting afternoons she’s had in a long time.
“Oh yeah?” Lila probed. “What’s his name?”
She’s not wrong. Lila knows Jess well. Jess is annoyed and tells Lila that it’s thanks to her dad that she had a great afternoon doing real work. They all watch as Bruce strides onto the track. We get this absolutely glorious description of him:
His brand new red running shorts were short enough to expose nearly the entire length of his long, muscled legs, while his white, sleeveless T-shirt emphasized his sleek, tanned arms.
Hello, Bruce!
One row in front of Jess, Lila, and Cara, Liz is sitting with Enid, Olivia, and Roger. Roger’s staring wistfully at the track, although when Liz asks if he wishes he were out there, he quickly says no. Liz asks why not, since she always sees him running around school. He says no again, Olivia comes to his defense and says Roger’s never run a race, and Liz pushes, telling him to think about it because he could win a scholarship! Somehow she thinks now, a few minutes before the trials begin, is a good time to start encouraging him to enter.
Lila overhears this and decides to add some fun to the race. She tells Roger that she thinks he could win too because she’s seen how fast he is around school and that she’d love to see him beat Bruce. Roger says she doesn’t understand, so Lila presses him again. She tells him that she thought he was a strong person but now she’s disappointed in him. Roger quickly decides he has nothing to lose but everything to gain by entering the race. He thinks he doesn’t need to run in the finals and risk his job (his boss won’t give him the day off for that), but he can run in the trials and maybe win Lila’s heart! Roger runs down to the track and tells Coach Schultz he wants to enter. He’s wearing army fatigue pants and a red T-shirt, but at least he’s wearing sneakers. Coach Schultz tells him to take his place in track three and that the race starts in five minutes.
In the stands, Cara, Lila, and Jess are laughing about Roger entering. Liz and Olivia call them cruel. Liz starts talking Roger up and saying he’s going to win. Jess asks why she’s not rooting for Todd, who’s appeared on the track as well as a late entrant! Liz is shocked.
On the track, the runners get ready. There’s a bunch of anticipation, since no one from Sweet Valley High has won the Bart race since 1956, but they have some good contenders this year. The race begins! Bruce immediately takes the lead; Roger’s last. As the race goes on, Roger starts gaining ground and soon is in second place. And then, at the end, he overtakes Bruce for the win! Jess points out that Roger’s going to be popular now that he’s won this race, and Lila knows she’s right. Lila heads onto the field and congratulates Roger, saying she knew he could do it! Roger feels like it’s a dream come true! Coach Schultz tells Roger the race was impressive and that he looks forward to training him, Bruce, and Tony (who also qualified for the race).
Heading back to class, Roger’s pulled into the principal’s office. Chrome Dome Cooper tells Roger how impressive his run was! He set a new school record for the mile: Four minutes, 5.5 seconds. I’m honestly impressed by this too; my only mile times are nowhere near this. Chrome Dome gives him a free warm up suit and enthusiastically tells him about all the races he could win in the future. Roger wants to tell him he can’t run the actual Bart race, but he can’t find his voice and he’s happy feeling like a winner for now.
At lunch, Lila checks out some guy from behind who she says has “a class-A bod.” He’s wearing a blue running suit, and Jess and Lila are thirsty. Jess says she can’t see the guy’s face, nor does she know who it is, but says, “I can see even in those baggy sweats that everything’s in the right place.” Lila wonders who he is because she’s drooling too. The guy turns around. It’s Roger!! Lila is shocked by what she’s been missing out on, so she heads over to him and invites him to sit with their group. Lila fawns over him, and when Bruce walks by, Ken Matthews flags him down to ask if Bruce has congratulated Roger yet. He does so stiffly.
At another table, Liz asks Todd why he decided to enter the race. He says it doesn’t matter because he didn’t win but Bruce had gotten him riled up about the race, so he decided to enter to support Coach Schultz and the running program. Todd says he heard that Coach Schultz is leaving because he has cancer.
That evening, Jess is at work. Trudy gives her some documents to copy, and Jess is thrilled because this gives her a chance to begin the second step in her plan to snag Dennis. She tells Trudy that the copier is broken, leaving out the fact that it’s “broken” because Jess unplugged it, and offers to go to the ad agency across the hall and ask to use their copier, saying that they probably won’t mind since it’s only a few pages. She heads over there and asks for Dennis, who leads her to their copy room the moment Jess relays her excuse for being there. Dennis says there’s plenty of privacy in the copy room. Jess starts feeding documents to the machine, enjoying the crackling electricity between them but not wanting to get too distracted until her work is done. Dennis asks if using the copier is the real reason she’s there and says no one will bother them in the copy room. Jess says she has to get back to work and that she’ll be at work until six. He asks what she’s doing after work. When Jess says she doesn’t know yet, he suggests he meet her at her office once both places are closed and they can finish the conversation. Jess is triumphant and positively beaming as she thinks about what a perfect date it’ll be:
She was glad she’d be meeting him at her father’s office. The more she thought about it, the more the idea appealed to her. It was the perfect place for them to spend their first date. They’d have plenty of privacy–something a place like the Dairi Burger certainly couldn’t offer–at that was nothing to be sniffed at, especially if Dennis’s intentions were anything like her own.
I can’t even type this out without giggling. Seriously, get this girl a glass of water and load Tinder on up!
When Jess gets back to her office, she asks her dad if she can stay late, ostensibly to do homework without any distractions, and he agrees. Jess has a magical evening with Dennis (sadly, we don’t get any details) and then waltzes home. Liz notices her blissful state and asks, skeptically, is she was really doing homework there. Jess says she actually stayed to clean up the office, since it was a mess, but she didn’t want their dad to know. Liz doesn’t buy this and asks if there’s a boy involved. Jess says no, she’s just focused on her career and that she’s hoping that if she makes a good impression, she’ll be able to be promoted. I’m pretty sure she’s not even getting paid for this “job,” so who knows what a promotion would entail, but these are questions my 12 year old self never asked. I was too riveted with the love story! And honestly, I’m pretty riveted by it again now.
Two days later, Jess and friends are in the cafeteria, and Lila is wondering where Roger is. Jess asks if she’s smitten. Lila says she doesn’t understand why Roger seems to be playing hard to get since he’s had a crush on her for months. I love her confidence!
The following Monday, Roger is called to Coach Schultz’s office. The coach asks why Roger wasn’t at track practice; the coach had ordered him there so he should have been there! I feel like I should point out that at no point did Roger ask for coaching, nor did he join the track team, nor did he even agree to be there, but okay. Roger can’t get in a word edgewise as the coach talks about what winning this scholarship would mean and where former champions are today. He says he expects Roger to be at practice after school.
Roger leaves, distracted, and runs into Lila. She tells him she wrote a poem about him but that his friend Olivia rejected it for the next issue of The Oracle. She reads it to him, and it’s pretty bad. Roger thinks he’s glad Olivia saved Lila from public embarrassment by refusing to print it. He tells Lila she shouldn’t have gone to the trouble. Lila thinks he’s flattering her and invited him over after school for a swim. He says he can’t. She asks what’s more important, and he says he can’t tell her. Way to be casual about it, Roger.
That evening, Liz goes to her father’s office after it closes, determined to see what Jess has been up to, since she doesn’t believe Jess is actually working. Once she gets to the office, she sees two silhouettes through the glass and arrives in time to hear Jess murmur, “No one kisses the way you do!” Liz smugly thinks she was right, that she knew a boy was involved somehow (I mean, duh) and then listens to the rest of their exchange, in which Jess and Dennis plan future rendezvouses and decide to go out for dinner at Guido’s, which is nearby. As they head downstairs, Jess passes Roger, who’s starting his shift as a janitor. Neither says anything, but Liz witnesses this from her hiding spot and worries about what will happen now that Jess knows his secret.
Roger calls Olivia once he gets home and confesses that he works as a janitor. He says he’ll understand if she no longer wants to be his friend. Olivia cuts him off to say that’s ridiculous and that she doesn’t understand why he’s so ashamed because she thinks he should be proud that he has a job and is helping his family. He tells her his boss is awful and won’t let him have Saturday off to compete in the race, nor will he let him have time off to train with Coach Schultz, which is why he hasn’t shown up to practice. His boss told Roger that if he asked for any more time off, he’d lose his job. Olivia tries to think of a way to help him but can’t, so she hangs up and calls Liz for advice.
When Jess gets home, Liz confronts her about the time she’s spending at the office. Liz says she knows there’s a boy involved. Jess tries to deny it and gets offended when Liz says she knows because she spied on her. Liz then says she also knows that Jess saw Roger there. Jess snickers and says it’s the hottest gossip in ages and that she can’t wait to tell everyone that he’s a janitor. Liz says she better not and that if Jess tells anyone, Liz will tell their dad what Jess is really up to in the evenings at the office. Jess is annoyed at Liz for using one of her own tricks, but she agrees.
Lila calls and asks Jess for advice on how to snag Roger. Jess is all too delighted to help set them up, since she knows Lila won’t want anything to do with him once she finds out about his job, so she may as well have fun seeing them together now. What a pal. Jess suggests to Lila that she throw a party in Coach Schultz’s honor, since they’ve all heard that he’s going to leave the school after the race, and she should invite Roger as her escort. I feel like he should be called her date, since “escort” sounds like she’s going to pay him, but it is what it is. Jess assures Lila that Roger won’t turn it down if he knows it’s a tribute to the coach, and Jess dreams about bringing Dennis as her date and finally revealing him to her friends. As usual, she has her own interests at heart.
The next morning at school, Roger decides he’s going to return the track suit he was given. He runs into Lila in the hall and asks her how important it is that he runs the Bart. She says she’s not going to answer that because she knows there’s no reason for him to not run. Roger tells her he does, in fact, have a reason to not run: he has a job cleaning offices. Lila gasps and calls him a “cleaning boy.” Roger says he prefers to be called a janitor. Lila hopes no one else knows about his job and doesn’t invite him to her party after all.
Roger tries to give Coach Schultz the sweat suit back and tells him that he can’t run because of his job. Coach Schultz says he knows all about Roger’s job because his boss, Mr. Pendergast, called him and told the coach he wouldn’t stand in the way of Roger training for or running in the Bart. He’s giving Roger that Saturday off work, and he’s allowing Roger to come in an hour late to allow him time to go to practices after school. Roger is floored and has no idea what came over his boss. This must have made sense to me as a kid, but now, I’m wondering why the boss called the school instead of just telling Roger this directly. Roger thanks Coach Schultz and says he’ll make him proud before he leaves. Coach Schultz says he’s not going anywhere and that all the rumors are just rumors. He’s healthy and simply threw a fit in front of the school board to get more money, which worked, and everything’s fine now.
Roger runs outside to find Liz, who’s eating lunch with Todd. He figured she had something to do with his boss giving him the day off (why would he assume Liz had something to do with it? Unclear). To thank her, he gives her “a big kiss.” Todd is sitting net to Liz and tells Roger that Liz is his girl. Slightly surprisingly (and also slightly disappointingly), Todd isn’t mad and doesn’t immediately want to punch Roger, who tells Todd that it was just a kiss of gratitude. Is this a thing? I certainly don’t get kisses of gratitude from friends now, and I definitely didn’t when I was in high school. Anyway, Roger thanks Liz and she says it was her dad’s doing, that he’s a lawyer and pointed out to Mr. Pendergast that a state law requires him to give Roger vacation days and sick leave. I don’t know if this is actually true, but far be it from me to question Ned Wakefield’s knowledge of the law. Liz also tells him that he should thank Olivia too, since she’s the one who told Liz about the situation.
Roger finds Olivia and tells her he doesn’t know he could have been so stupid as to miss the love in her eyes! He says he realizes that Lila just wanted to bask in his glory, but Olivia actually loves him! They stroll off, hand in hand.
It’s the night before the race. Jess doesn’t know why Dennis hasn’t asked her to the Bart dance yet since she’s been dropping hints like crazy. She can’t ask him to Lila’s party anymore, since that’s no longer happening. When she and Dennis are making out in her dad’s office that evening, she finally asks if he’ll take her to the dance. He looks uncomfortable and says he can’t because he doesn’t have a car, that he hadn’t been honest with her about that. Jess asks if he can borrow his dad’s car and Dennis says no. Jess thinks about it and suggests that she pick Dennis up and then he can drive her car. What is this obsession with the guy driving?? Dennis finally comes clean and says he can’t drive her because he’s only fifteen and doesn’t have a license. He says he starts driver’s ed in two months, if that helps. Jess freaks out, worried what others would think if they knew she was dating someone too young to drive! Also, she’s mad that Dennis kept the truth from her until now. She tells him goodbye and leaves with what remains of her dignity.
It’s the day of the race! Liz and Todd are in the stands and see Jessica with the rest of the cheerleaders. Todd asks why she’s not working. Why would she be working on a Saturday, Todd? Liz tells him that Jess quit her job and that she’d only stayed there that long because of a fifteen year old boy. Liz says that Jess thought that if anyone saw her with a fifteen year old, they’d have thought she was desperate and Jess couldn’t have that happen. Liz says if it had been her, she wouldn’t have cared about the age. Todd tells her not to feel too bad for Jess, since he’s sure she’ll find a new love interest soon enough. Amen to that, Todd.
The first race starts. Bruce wins it. The second race starts, and Roger’s in it! In the stands, Lila says Roger looks great and that she doesn’t know why he made up a story about a mean boss and not being able to take the day off work. She says she’s going to throw a party after all, only this party will be in Roger’s honor! Roger wins his race, and Tony Esteban comes in third, meaning he’ll be in the final too.
The final race starts. Roger takes an early lead and expects Bruce to match his pace before long. But one of the other runners trips Bruce, who falls and knows his chances of winning are shot, but Bruce has a grudging admiration for Roger and his speed, so it’s okay. Roger wins with an official time of three minutes. 59.8 seconds. Bruce and Tony hoist him up in front of the crowd and cheer for him. I call total BS on this. There is no way Bruce would be tripped and not make a stink about it. There is also no way Bruce would be this supportive of a competitor.
When Roger is back down again, a bunch of people swarm to congratulate him. Mr. Pendergast is even there, telling him the race was impressive. Lila appears and tells Roger she’s throwing a party in his honor. Roger tells him that he can’t make it.
Jess has fully bounced back from Dennis. She’s hit it off with Kevin Borden, one of the cheerleaders from Springbook, a rival school that I don’t think we ever hear about again, and Kevin asked her to the dance. Love how Jess always lands on her feet and always manages to find a date whenever one is required. And in Sweet Valley, dates are always required. I do want to note that it’s odd that another school has male cheerleaders while Sweet Valley High’s cheer squad is decidedly all female. Annie Whitman approaches Jess and tells her she plans to try out for the cheerleading squad when they have tryouts. Jess is displeased due to Annie’s reputation with the boys (apparently Jess has avoided a bad reputation) but tells her all are welcome to try out.