Time elapsed in this book: 5 weeks
Length of their junior year: 1 year, 5 months, 1 week
Jessica’s love interest: Jeffrey Morrow, Spence Millgate
Entertainment rating: 9/10
This is one of the most memorable books in the early Sweet Valley High series for me, an absolute classic in the original canon. When I first read this as a kid, I already knew what would happen because I’d read later books (I think Sweet Valley High was already releasing books in the 70’s or something by the time I discovered this series), but reading this and living through all the drama was absolutely riveting. Can Elizabeth survive the heartache of losing Todd? the cover asks. A better question is, can I survive it as a reader?? I was in love with Todd. I couldn’t imagine him disappearing from her life/my life. If that doesn’t sell you, there’s also a great subplot involving Jess working at a dating agency.
We open with a miserable Liz, who just received news at the school talent show that Todd’s family is going to move to Vermont in a week! She doesn’t know how she’s going to handle this. Jess is sympathetic and can’t picture Liz without Todd but then thinks that this could be a good thing since Todd’s a drag on Liz’s social life. Todd drops by to see how Liz is faring and Liz voices hope that his family could decide to stay, but Todd confirms there’s no chance of that. He says he’ll drop by later to see her again.
The Wakefields settle down to eat dinner. It’s still the day of the talent show, so I have no idea what time the talent show took place, as I thought it was evening but a lot has happened since then and they’re only now eating dinner. The family talks about everything but Todd. Mr. Wakefield tells Jess she needs to get a part-time job so she can pay them back for the dress she put on their charge account at Lisette’s.
The next day at school, Enid and Liz commiserate in the cafeteria. Enid plans to throw Todd a going away party on Saturday. Liz wishes she could have one last night just with Todd but also thinks a party will keep her from being too sad. She tells Enid that lots of couples stay together after one of them moves, but Enid doesn’t think it’s realistic for them to keep dating when they’re 2000 miles apart. Liz assures her it’ll work because she and Todd are special.
Jess finds as a receptionist at Perfect Match Computer Dating Agency. Steven is amused by how perfect the job sounds for her. Jess asks if he’s still mad about her trying to set him up with Cara and Steven says no. Jess then checked Steven out and decides he’s a hottie so she needs to find someone else for him through her new job! A little weird to check out your own brother, but as a kid, I just nodded along and thought, of course he’s hot (he’s in Sweet Valley, after all, plus he’s a Wakefield) so of course she wants to set him up!
Saturday is Jessica’s first day at work. She wants to look at old files to see if there’s anyone who might be good for Steven. The owner, Mary Ann, gives Jess keys to the office and tells her to come back anytime to read old files, under the guise that reading them would help Jess learn more about the company.
That night is Todd’s going away party at the Beach Disco. Liz and Todd dance together. Jess points Liz out to Nicholas Morrow, who used to have a thing for Liz and clearly isn’t over it. Jess suggests that once Todd leaves, Liz would love Nicholas’ support. He’s unsure about that but also interested.
Liz pulls Todd aside, wanting some alone time with him. They’re both super emotional. Liz says that everyone’s been telling her it won’t work out to keep dating. Todd says the same. They both agree they’re going to somehow make things work long distance! Todd gives Liz a locket as a goodbye gift, which she puts on and claims she’ll never take off. What a load of BS, since she usually wears the gold lavaliere her parents gifted the twins when they turned sixteen, and I’m pretty sure this locket is never mentioned again after this book.
On Sunday, Jess goes to work and looks through old files to find potential dates for Steven. There are no photos accompanying the profiles, so she has to use the descriptions alone. She finds three women who seem promising. The first one, Beatrice, is 43 years old (for the record, Steven is 18) and divorced from a wealthy banker. Jess figures she has money, sounds like a lot of fun, and is beautiful.
Besides, Jessica thought, Steven might do well with an older woman. According to the National Enquirer, it was a good move. All the stars thought so.
Absolutely amazing. I love it!!
The second potential date is a 20 year old named Jody (way more age appropriate) who sounds vaguely intellectual. The third woman is named Missy and says she likes to cook, so Jess figures this is the answer to Steven’s constant complaints about how bad dorm food is. I’m not sure when he ever eats in the dorms, since he’s always around the Wakefield house. Jess calls Beatrice and gives her Steven’s contact info. She says that it’s best if Beatrice doesn’t mention the dating agency because Steven is shy like that.
Meanwhile, Liz is at the Wilkins’ house, saying goodbye to Todd and his family. She and Todd cry and kiss, telling each other how much they’ll miss each other. Liz hopes that something will come up to stop their move, but it’s really happening. The Wilkins leave Sweet Valley, and Liz goes home brokenhearted.
A week later, Liz and Jess are driving to school and Liz is preoccupied. Jess asks what she’s doing and Liz admits that she’s busy finishing up another letter to Todd that she’s hoping to mail at lunch. Jess asks why she doesn’t just give their dad the letter so he can mail it from his office. Liz says it takes a day longer that way, plus she feels closer to Todd if she can mail the letter herself. Jess suggests they go to a movie sometime that week to get Liz’s mind off Todd, but Liz doesn’t want to go anywhere in case Todd calls.
At lunch, Jess tells Cara how Liz has gone off the deep end. Cara’s surprisingly sympathetic, which Jess wasn’t expecting. Jess asks what’s up with her, and Cara says her dad just moved out but she doesn’t want to talk about it any more.
Jess asks Mr. Collins to assign Liz a special project for The Oracle to hopefully take her mind off Todd, so he asks Liz to cover the sailing races that weekend. Jess gets in touch with Nicholas, who’s competing in the race to let him know Liz will be there and suggests that he offer her a ride. Jess assures him that Liz likes him and just needs him to invite her out to take her mind off Todd. Nicholas obliges and calls Liz. She figures that Nicholas knows how she feels about Todd and that accepting a ride from him can’t hurt so she agrees.
Later that evening, Liz tells Jess that some woman has been calling Steven all week, asking him out to dinner and the like. Jess asks what’s weird about that. Liz says the woman is “old, almost Dad’s age” (not sure how Steven knows this from a phone call, but I love the detail!) and divorced (again, how does Steven know this? Did she open with this information??) and it’s all really weird. Jess is disappointed but figures she’ll set Steven up with one of the other women.
Saturday is the regatta. Nicholas drives Liz there and shows off his sailboat. She asks its name because apparently that’s not written on the side of it. Nicholas says its official name is Seabird but that he privately calls it My Favorite Twin. Liz blushes and feels flattered. Bruce Patman asks up to them with a towel around his neck, having just taken a swim. His attire is not noted, but I can only hope he’s wearing the world’s smallest bathing suit like he rocked in previous books. Bruce asks how Liz is holding up with Todd gone. Nicholas’s face darkens at the mention of Todd.
Nicholas wins the regatta! To celebrate, he invites Liz and Jess out onto his family’s boat for the afternoon. It’s a great time. There’s champagne for all! Liz almost feels guilty for enjoying herself so much. Nicholas invites both twins to his family’s barbecue the next day. Liz justifies it by thinking that it’s not cheating on Todd to hang out with other people and that she just has to trust that Nicholas isn’t still interested in her.
The barbecue is fun. Jess spends time with Nicholas’s cousin Jeffrey, who she met at the regatta. She considers falling in love with him but decides against it because he seems like a poor relation of the Morrows, plus he’s studying to be am archaeologist, which she thinks sounds dusty. Liz hangs out with Nicholas, who asks if she and Todd talked about seeing other people. Liz says they decided it’d be too hard to get involved with other people. Nicholas says he understands and invites Liz out to a movie later that week. Liz agrees, reassuring herself that he probably just wants a good friend. Nicholas gives Liz a kiss on her nose to thank her for agreeing to go. Later that night, Liz tells Jess she worries Nicholas wants more than friendship. Jess can’t believe Liz would pick Todd over Nicholas. She’s determined to save Liz from herself.
Todd calls on Monday when Liz is out. Jess picks up the phone and tells him that Liz isn’t home. He asks how Jess has been. Jess tells him that she’s worried about Liz because all Liz does anymore is go through the motions and that everyone has to practically force Liz to do anything with friends because she just wants to be at home in case Todd calls. He doesn’t realize she’s been like this, although he had noticed how often she’d been writing him. Todd makes Jess promise to take care of Liz and hangs up.
Todd doesn’t call again all week, and every time Liz calls, he’s not at home. Liz goes out to a movie with Nicholas and eels a bit guilty, especially since she thinks he looks like he wants to kiss her. He leans in… and Liz leans in…. Nicholas kisses her. Liz kisses him back! It’s a beautiful moment until Nicholas pulls away and tells Liz that he would never hurt her. Liz says she knows. She likes him a lot, but doesn’t know how to tell Todd about this.
Nicholas shows up at the Wakefield house on Friday, telling Liz he felt weird about how they left things the other night and wanting to talk about it with her. Liz thinks that she should pursue Nicholas because he’s there, especially since Todd hasn’t called her. She tells Nicholas she wants to go out again and he can’t believe his good fortune!
On Saturday, Steven comments on how Liz seems to be throwing herself at Nicholas quite soon after Todd left without talking to Todd about things. He thinks Nicholas sounds like a rebound. Liz gets defensive. Before they can talk more, the doorbell rings. The woman at the door introduces herself as Jody and says she’s there for Steven. She’s wearing a black leather jacket, leather pants, six earrings in an ear, and has the longest fingernails Liz has ever seen. Liz invites Jody in, wondering why Steven is giving her advice about who to go out with when this is apparently his date. Jody lights up a cigarette and tells a confused Steven that he’s supposed to be her perfect match. Steven and Liz realize that this is the work of Jess trying to set Steven up!
Tuesday afternoon, Liz and Enid go to the beach. Liz tells Enid about her latest date with Nicholas. Enid says she seems to be spending all her free time with Nicholas so she’s glad Liz could squeeze her in that afternoon. Liz says she always has time for Enid but is having a lot of fun with Nicholas. Enid says she knows how it goes, that she was lonely after she and George broke up, but that it seems like Liz is just using Nicholas as a substitute for Todd. Liz is annoyed and doesn’t know why everyone seems to think she’s doing something wrong.
Friday afternoon, Liz realizes that she actually is still in love with Todd and that she’s just been projecting onto Nicholas. FINALLY! She wants to tell him this but won’t have a chance to say anything until Saturday, when they’re scheduled to go to a party at Lila’s together.
It’s Saturday and Todd is back in Sweet Valley! Only Winston knows he’s in town, since Todd is staying with him. Mr. Wilkins was supposed to come with Todd but was too busy with work, so only Todd flew to California and is spending the weekend selling furniture, closing his family’s bank account, etc. Absolutely nothing that a sixteen year old should be tasked with, let alone have authority to do. He thinks about Liz and wants to see her but is too chicken. He decides to go to Lila’s party that night and talk to Liz then because he figures he’ll have the courage to explain everything if other people are around.
Meanwhile, Steven is driving home from college since he’s planning to go to Lila’s party that night. No clue why Lila invited him, but apparently Steven feels comfortable enough about the invite that he extended an invite to Betsy Martin and her boyfriend, Jason. He sees a stranded car at the side of the road. It’s Cara! Steven fixes her flat tire and invites her out for a cup of coffee. They end up talking and Cara shares her recent family problems: not only did her parents divorce, but her younger brother decided to move to Chicago with their dad. Steven suggests she come out to Lila’s party that night to get away from it all and says he’d love it if she were there.
Jess goes to the party with a guy named Spence Millgate, someone she found for herself through Perfect Match. He turned out to look nothing like his photo (good to know nothing’s changed in the world of dating since December 1986, when this book was published) and wants to be an undertaker. Jess spends most of the party trying to avoid him. She decides Perfect Match isn’t so perfect, especially since she called the last potential match for Steven and the woman said she prefers food to men. Jess plans to quit her job since she’s made the money she needed. Jess runs into Betsy Martin at the party and asks what she’s doing there. It’s a fair question. Betsy says Steven invited her… and then she spots Steven dancing with Cara! Betsy is appalled. Jess then runs into Todd and asks what he’d doing there. Todd says he’s back to visit… and then he spots Liz dancing with Nicholas! Liz meets his eyes and Todd runs away!
Liz tells Nicholas that she needs to resolve things between her and Todd before she can date anyone else. Nicholas says he was afraid she’d say that and that he’s in love with her but that she can’t treat him like a yo-yo (you tell her, Nicholas!!!) and that he won’t have the courage to try to pursue her again. Liz bursts into tears and begs him to forgive her. I hate the way she treats Nicholas in this book.
Liz finds Jess, who tells her about the conversation she’d had with Todd, telling him how Liz did nothing but mope all day. Liz goes for a drive and ends up at Todd’s old house. He’s there too!! They get in the twins’ Fiat and talk about their relationship. Todd says it’s not Jessica’s fault he was pulling away, but that she made him realize it wasn’t fair to keep Liz from enjoying life in Sweet Valley. They don’t know when Todd might be able to visit Sweet Valley again and know it’s futile trying to keep their relationship alive. Liz tells him she’s still never going to take the locket he gave her off. And with this, my 12-year-old heart broke. How could their “perfect” relationship really be over?!??
Next up: Will Betsy Martin stop Steven and Cara from becoming an item?