Time elapsed in this book: 3 weeks
Length of their junior year: 1 year, 2 months, 1 week
Jessica’s love interests: Jean-Pierre Baptiste
Entertainment rating: 6/10
The book’s title has an exclamation point at the end of it, so you know it’s going to be a good one! Or at least, it has the potential to be a good one. And the cover is intense, with Liz cradling an unconscious Enid, a scene that doesn’t actual happen in the book. Overall, this wasn’t one of my favorites, partly because Enid is such a dull main character (why is this always the case??) and I didn’t particularly care about her relationship with George. On the other hand, the story is overly dramatic and there’s a great subplot with Jess trying to cook while she thirsts over another hottie, so there’s entertainment to be had!
The book opens a few minutes before the last book ended, only we’re in the cockpit of a Cessna with Enid and George. George just received his pilot’s license and is fulfilling his promise to take Enid on a flight before breaking up with her because he’s in love with Robin. Enid keeps gushing over the views, while George feels miserable because he knows he’s about to break her heart. Just then, the engine cuts out! George guides the plane into Secca Lake below, and they hit the water!
The plane is upside down on the lake. Enid is shaken up but okay. She sees George hanging from his seat, unconscious. She jumps out her window into the lake and swims over to his side. She frees George from his seat, then hits her back on metal. Enid can’t feel her legs and knows realizes something’s wrong.
On the ground, a group of SVH students watched the whole ordeal. Robin is one of them. When she sees George loaded onto a stretcher, she turns white, whispers his name, and faints.
We cut to the Wakefield twins and their parents, who are at the police station like they were at the end of the last book. They hear the distress call about the flight come in and panic because Liz knows Enid is on the plane. The sergeant they’re with calls in to find out the status of the passengers and lets the Wakefields know they’re alive and what hospital they were taken to. This seems wildly unprofessional, but who knows.
At the hospital, the doctor tells Enid’s mom that the last disc in Enid’s spine was damaged and she’s now paralyzed. As soon as the swelling goes down, they’ll need to operate. George is also at the hospital and goes into Enid’s room. He’s overcome with guilt and tells Enid that he never meant to hurt her and vows to never tell her about his feelings for Robin because that would further hurt her. Instead, he’s going to bury his feelings forever. Sounds healthy.
Liz shows up at the hospital, and Mrs. Rollins tells her that Enid is paralyzed. Liz is devastated and also angry because she knows that George is in love with Robin, yet Enid risked her life to save George’s! She thinks that Enid will never recover without George’s support so she wishes for George to forget about Robin and stay with Enid. This whole thing is bonkers. Who’d actively wish for their best friend to stay with someone who didn’t love her?? I guess that’s high school for you.
On Monday, Jessica goes to the Sweet Valley Civic Center for a cooking class that she and Lila signed up for. The class is three times a week, and Jess is annoyed because it was Lila’s idea to go, but now the two of them aren’t even on speaking terms because Jess went after Lila’s boyfriend. They snipe at each other for a while and then acknowledge that Jack deceived them both and call a truce. The teacher walks into the room. His name is Jean-Pierre Baptiste and Jess has to catch her breath because he’s the most handsome man she’s ever seen.
In his early twenties, Jean-Pierre was well over six feet tall, his broad shoulders tapering down to a slender waist. He had jet black hair worn a bit longer than most of the guys Jessica knew at school, and chiseled features that looked like those of one of the statues she’d seen in slides in her art class. And his eyes–Jessica had never seen such intense blue eyes before.
He sounds like he looks like a Disney prince. Also: he’s been added to the running list of the hottest guys Jessica has ever seen.
Jess focuses on every word Jean-Pierre says in his French accent, fantasizing about kissing him by the Eiffel Tower, while following his directions to make mustard.
Lila drives Jess home. They go to Robin’s house first so Jess can tell her about a cheerleading practice that changed. But when they get there, they see George’s car in Robin’s driveway and George himself on the front porch. Lila and Jess don’t stop and instead discuss what this means, coming to the conclusion that George and Robin are involved with each other. Jess is appalled George would cheat on Enid with Robin while Enid’s still in the hospital! Jess tells Liz about having seen George’s car there, and Liz is furious too.
We cut to George’s point of view. He’d dropped by Robin’s to tell her things are over between them because he must do the honorable thing and stay with Enid. But she wasn’t home so instead, he calls her that night to tell her they need to just be friends.
At school the next day, Jess and Cara decide to punish Robin for being a cheater by freezing her out. Robin comes over to their table in the cafeteria and asks Jess why she didn’t tell her that cheer practice changed. Jess ignores her and leaves the table with Cara. Robin is confused and seeks out Liz to ask how Enid is doing. Liz is cold to her and says she’ll let Robin know if there’s a change.
Liz goes to the hospital to visit Enid. George is there too, acting distant and awkward. Enid says their visit is the best thing that’s happened to her all day. Liz thinks that Enid would be able to get better if George loved her. The standard Sweet Valley trope of, all you need to get better is knowing someone loves you!
Liz and George return to the hospital a few days later to be there to support Enid’s surgery. During the surgery, George tells Liz that things are over between him and Robin. The surgery goes well, and the doctors says Enid will walk again. Hooray! Liz worries that once Enid recovers, George will leave her as planned for Robin, and she thinks this might have a devastating effect on Enid.
Lila and Jessica go to another cooking class and learn to make puff pastry. I am shocked that they went from learning to make mustard to making puff pastry, as the skills needed for each are wildly different and puff pastry is ridiculously hard. Jess manages to rock it, though, and Jean-Pierre compliments her. Jess says she thinks that Jean-Pierre will be her date for the next school dance, and Lila tells Jess she’s crazy. Jess doesn’t care. She daydreams about going to Paris with him. She then thinks that she can turn her new cooking skills into a nice anniversary gift for her parents; typically Liz is the one who gets them a nice gift, but this year Jess thinks she’ll be able to make them a gourmet dinner and show up Liz.
Robin is wallowing in self-pity and eating to cope, gaining weight. She begs Liz to meet up with her after school, and Liz reluctantly agrees. Robin wants to know why people are avoiding her, and Liz is angry because she thinks George and Robin are still seeing each other. Robin mentions that she’s put weight on.
“You look fine to me,” Elizabeth fibbed. As a matter of fact, Robin did look as if she’d gained some weight. But Elizabeth hadn’t come there to make small talk.
Liz is so judgmental. Apparently if she had gone there to make small talk, she’d have talked to Robin about looking bigger than usual? So weird. Anyway, Liz tells Robin that Enid will have a setback if George breaks up with her, and Robin tells Liz that George won’t break up with Enid. Liz says Enid is her best friend and then leaves.
At dinner, Jess mentions that the twins got a letter about their summer jobs, the tour guide gig that they took a test for awhile back. I guess this is still early enough on in the series that the ghostwriters assumed summer would arrive soon for the twins. Jess says they need reliable transportation, and their parents say it’s perfect timing because Mrs. Wakefield is planning to get a new car so they’re going to give the twins her old Fiat!
Friday night, Todd, Enid, and George come over to the Wakefield’s for dinner with Liz. Enid is still in a wheelchair, and Liz doesn’t know why because the doctor said she should be walking by now. The evening is awkward. George looks like he wants to be somewhere else, and Enid clearly realizes George is uncomfortable but is trying to ignore it. George says he has to leave early, so Todd takes Enid home and Liz comes along for the ride.
Jess gets home while the place is empty and daydreams about what dish to make for her parents. Her parents then get home and immediately start scolding Jess for leaving dirty dishes in the sink. Jess says she didn’t cook anything and wasn’t even home! Her parents suddenly remember that Liz had people over for dinner and say Liz must have had a reason to leave the dishes dirty since she’s usually responsible, unlike Jessica.
At their next cooking class, Jess tells Lila that she’s going to ask Jean-Pierre to the dance. Lila thinks it’s ridiculous because he’s too old, but Jess will not be deterred. At the end of class, as she’s gearing up to ask him, the door flies open and a beautiful redhead enters. Jean-Pierre introduces her as Lizbette, his wife, and calls Jess his star pupil. Jess scurries out, relieved she hadn’t made a fool of herself by asking him to the dance.
On Wednesday, Liz confides to Todd that she thinks Enid might be depressed since she’s not going to physical therapy as prescribed and she still says she can’t walk. Liz then goes shopping for a dress with Enid, and Enid tells Liz that she thinks George hates her because of the accident. Liz thinks once again that George needs to be more supportive because Enid will never recover without him!
Friday night is the big dance! Jessica’s date is Ken Matthews. We’re told Ken is not “as sexy and mysterious” as Jean-Pierre and is “sweet, if a bit dull,” but he’s a good dancer. I wonder if Ken Matthews was modeled after Barbie’s Ken. Ken points out Mr. Collins and Ms. Dalton dancing together, and Jess thinks that Lila is probably happy to see the two teachers falling in love, since Lila’s dad had briefly dated Ms. Dalton. Jess then notices Robin and thinks that it looks like Robin’s gained weight. It’s been like a week and a half at this point, how much weight could Robin have really gained?? Apparently Robin had trouble getting a date to the dance and you can’t go to a dance in Sweet Valley without a date, so she’s there with a friend of her cousin. Lila asks Jess what happened to Jean-Pierre, and Jess says she decided Jean-Pierre was too old.
Enid shows up in her wheelchair. Lila says it’s totally inappropriate to go to a dance in a wheelchair and wonders what Enid thinks she’ll do all night. Jess says, probably keep an eye on George. What an amazing comeback!
Enid is having a terrible time at the dance and thinks she shouldn’t have bothered since she can’t dance and George is acting super awkward, to the point where even Enid knows he’s not in love with her anymore. Enid tells George he should dance with someone else. He confirms that she really means it, then goes off to dance with Robin. Watching them, Enid realizes they’re in love. The moment George returns, she accuses him of being in love with Robin and he’s relieved to have it out in the open finally. They leave the dance.
On Sunday, Liz goes to Enid’s house to check on her. Liz asks how she’s doing, and Enid says she’s fine and that it was all a misunderstand. Enid says George only danced with Robin because Enid told him to dance with someone and Robin was available. Enid then says George would never break up with her while she’s in a wheelchair. Liz asks Enid if she really wants George to stay if he’s in love with someone else. Enid doesn’t answer but says that George is all she has left. Enid then tells Liz she’s never going to walk again and that Liz needs to leave so Enid can take a nap. It’s so hard to root for Enid right now. I want her to get some self-respect!!
That night, Jess cooks her family a seafood dinner, a trial run for her parents’ anniversary. Jess doesn’t have a chance to eat much, but everyone else says the meal is delicious… and then they all get sick. Turns out, the mussels hadn’t opened on their own, so Jess pried them open, which caused food poisoning! Everyone is miserable. Mr. and Mrs. Wakefield get mad at Jess and ask if she was trying to kill them.
Mrs. Rollins visits Liz and tells her that the the doctor thinks Enid has a psychological block against recovering because her spine is in normal condition. Liz goes to Mr. Collins’ house to discuss this with him and comes up with a plan.
Monday, Jess goes to her last cooking class. When she gets home, she asks her mom if she can help with dinner and Mrs. Wakefield makes a snide remark about Jess having helped enough with dinners. Wednesday, the Wakefields go out to dinner and when Jess mentions that Robin and George are still seeing each other while Enid recovers, Mr. Wakefield admonishes Jess to not jump to conclusions because it wouldn’t hold up in court. Jess rightly points out that she’s not testifying anywhere. Liz then makes Jess look even worse by surprising their parents with tickets to a dinner-theater event for their anniversary. Jess says she was going to make dinner for them for their anniversary! The parents tell Jess they don’t think their stomachs are ready for another dinner she makes. They are the worst.
That weekend, Liz invites Enid over while she’s babysitting Teddy Collins, Mr. Collins’ son. They’re all outside by the pool, and Liz tells Enid to keep an eye on Teddy while she gets root beer from the kitchen. Liz whispers to Enid that Teddy can’t swim, then disappears. As soon as she’s gone, Teddy makes a big show of playing with his truck by the edge of the pool, and he falls in! Enid panics and calls for Liz, but no one hears her! Enid pushes herself up!! Her legs feel like rubber, but she manages to run to the pool and swim over to Teddy! Liz comes outside and applauds the situation! Enid says she doesn’t know how she did it, but she’s able to walk! Liz confesses that Teddy can swim and that it was all a ruse to get Enid to stand up. Enid says she’s not mad; she’s just happy she can walk again. She then tells Liz that she knows George is in love with Robin, and she doesn’t want to hang onto him if he doesn’t want her. Finally!!
Todd comes over that night, and Liz tells him all about it. The Wakefield parents come home from their anniversary dinner in a great mood and when Liz announces that Enid can walk again, they break out the champagne, even giving Liz and Todd a glass. Also, it turns out that the crash wasn’t George’s fault; the rental plane had something wrong with its engine.
Next up: Jess is tired of always being second best in her parents’ eyes and vows to do something about it!