Time elapsed in this book: 2 weeks
Length of their junior year: 3 years, 3 months, 1 week
Jessica’s love interest: A.J., who’s barely mentioned
Entertainment rating: 7/10
The cover features Ronnie Edwards trying to talk with an unimpressed Jessica. The shirt she’s wearing always struck me as weird. Why is there a bow at the bottom of the v-neck? Her face is sixteen, but the shirt makes her look like a 40-year old tired of hearing her teenage son’s excuses.
Anyway, Ronnie Edwards is back! When we last saw him in any meaningful capacity, he was being an absolute ass to Enid. He’s now less of a jerk but more of a pathetic wannabe. Despite this, I actually enjoyed this book. It includes Jess scheming for good and the world’s worst bookie. What’s not to like?
We open at a soccer game. Jeffrey French scores a last-minute goal so SVH wins and is headed to the play-offs! Everyone goes to the Dairi Burger to celebrate. Ronnie shows up and starts flashing a bunch of cash, saying has money leftover from buying a new Mustang so the next round of food is on him. Everyone asks where he got the money, and he says he has connections. We soon find out his “connection” is a bookie named Big Al who actually owns the Mustang and loaned it to Ronnie.
Three sketchy looking dudes are at the bar, one of them with a cigarette dangling out of his mouth. I guess the Dairi Burger allows smoking?!?? This seems more like a Shady Lady kinda thing… One of them asks to see Ronnie’s car. Liz and Jeffrey follow Ronnie and the sleazeballs outside, where the dudes start roughing Ronnie up for his money. Jeffrey cuts in and they demand to know who he is. Ronnie says, “He’s the star of the soccer team!” Way to be smooth, Ronnie. The guys look about as impressed with Ronnie as I feel. Jeffrey, channeling his inner Todd, grabs the cuff of the guy’s jacket, which gets their attention. Scared, they scurry off. Ronnie offers to pay Jeffrey for his help, but he declines. The next week at school, Ronnie starts hanging around Jeffrey as if they’re friends.
Meanwhile, Jess has been making feather and bead earrings and wants to get them into local stores. She’s got an eye for fashion! And business! The only thing she lacks is a financial backer. Ronnie says to let him know if she needs “a grand or so.”
Ronnie continues to follow Jeffrey around, which annoys him. Liz is also annoyed since Ronnie treated Enid so poorly and she hasn’t forgiven him for that (consistency! I love it!).
After class one day, Ronnie asks Jeffrey if he can borrow a hundred bucks because he needs to pay a business contact. Jeffrey asks who this contact is, and Ronnie admits it’s a bookie. Jeffrey gives him a lecture about how gambling is bad but loans him $25.
Jessica brings her earring samples into a boutique at the mall called Treasure Island. The store manager isn’t impressed, but Lila and Amy stroll in and ask if they’re for sale. Seeing interest, the store manager decides to carry them! I love it when Jess and co use their scheming powers for good!
Ronnie goes to Bruce’s mansion for a Phi Epsilon meeting. I’m still amazed he’s even in SVH’s fraternity, but I guess it’s about as exclusive as Pi Beta Alpha (which is to say: not at all). He asks his brothers for money. No one has any except Bruce, who says he’ll check with his financial advisor and get back to Ronnie, perhaps over lunch. What a line!
Ronnie calls his bookie, Big Al, and identifies himself using the nickname Smallfry. LOL. Big Al is pissed that Ronnie doesn’t have the money but says there’s a way Ronnie can pay him back…
The first eight pieces of jewelry that Jessica gives the store sell almost immediately! The manager tells Jess that she’ll take as many pieces as Jess can provide!
Ronnie finds Jeffrey and tells him Big Al threatened him. He does not tell Jeffrey that his nickname is Smallfry. Ronnie says Big Al will forgive his debt so long as SVH wins the championship soccer game that weekend by exactly 2 points. Jeffrey is disgusted that Ronnie wants him to throw the game. Ronnie says no, he still wants SVH to win; he just wants a specific point spread. Jeffrey says no.
Jess asks her mom to finance her budding business. Mrs. Wakefield agrees to a $200 loan. Jess realizes she can save money by ordering in bulk, so she orders $900 worth of supplies.
A car follows Ronnie on his way to school. Ronnie gets nervous and pulls over, trying to run away, but the guy in the other car is too quick and catches up. He punches Ronnie and tells him this is a taste of what will happen if he doesn’t make good on his agreement with Big Al!
When Ronnie finally gets to school, he searches for Jeffrey. Ronnie calls him Jeff, to which Jeffrey snaps, “It’s Jeffrey.” Do NOT call him Jeff, people! Especially if you want a favor from him. Jeffrey tells Ronnie he’s sick of him, then realizes that Ronnie doesn’t look good. He asks what happened, and Ronnie spills all. Jeffrey didn’t realize it was that serious and says he’ll throw the game.
Jess reminds Ronnie of his offer to loan her a grand. Ronnie says he doesn’t even have a hundred dollars anymore, so Jess goes home and asks her mom for more. Mrs. Wakefield asks if she means like $400 or $500. Jess says, “Something like that.” She’s vague enough that Mrs. Wakefield agrees she can charge more and pay it back in installments. Jess wonders if she should mention how much it actually costs but figures that by the time the bill’s due, she’ll have earned enough that it won’t matter.
Big Al shows up to watch soccer practice. Apparently he’s the real “small fry” since he focuses on high school sports games (what serious bookie does this?!?) and has nothing better to do than watch the team practice for a game he thinks he’s fixed. Liz tells Jeffrey that a bookie came to watch the practice, and Jeffrey gets tense. He tells Liz about Ronnie’s request. Liz can’t believe he’s even considering it! Especially since there’s a scout from Branford college coming to the game! Jeffrey is stunned. He didn’t know about the scout and doesn’t know what to do anymore.
All the materials Jess ordered come in. She’s excited to get to work, but then she gets a call from the manager of Treasure Island. The owner of the store wants to turn it into an upscale boutique and cut back on jewelry, so they don’t need any more pieces from Jess.
Liz drives to the soccer game. Ronnie pull into the lot too, and a stranger pulls in after him. It’s one of Big Al’s lackeys. Ronnie tells the guy everything’s arranged, but the guy insists they listen to the game together. He drives off with Ronnie, and Liz follows.
Jeffrey warms up with the rest of the team and spots Big Al in the crowd. Jeffrey gulps. They go into the locker room and a telegram arrives for Jeffrey. It’s from Big Al! Gotta love a bookie who sends threatening telegrams to high school soccer players! The telegram reads:
FRENCH: IF YOU WANT TO SEE YOUR LITTLE PAL AGAIN, JUST MAKE SURE YOU DON’T PLAY YOUR BEST TODAY. BIG AL.
He even signs it with his real name (well, his real nickname). I love it!!
Liz tails Ronnie and the mystery man to an abandoned bar. They go inside, and Liz realizes the man has a gun and a rope. She sneaks off to call the police from a pay phone, but before she can tell them the emergency, a hand clamps over her mouth and she’s dragged away!
Ronnie is surprised to see Liz appear. The captor, Max, ties her up and turns on the radio to listen to the SVH game. Max says that if they don’t win by 2 points, both Ronnie and Jeffrey will pay the price! Liz distracts Max while Ronnie grabs an old bottle. He hits Max on the head. The bottle shatters! Max goes limp and collapses to the ground!
Ronnie and Liz race out of there and drive to the nearest pay phone. They call the police, then race to the stadium. Liz finds Coach Horner and convinces him to call a time-out. Liz tells Jeffrey he doesn’t need to worry about Big Al anymore. In the crowd, the police are arresting Big Al! The threats are over! Jeffrey rushes back onto the field. SVH wins the game against Big Mesa 3-2!
The Wakefield credit card is declined when Mr. Wakefield tries to pay for gas, making Mrs. Wakefield realizes how much Jess actually charged. I wonder what kind of limit they have if they’re one Wakefield twin away from having no credit. Jess says she’ll take her jewelry to other stores and jokes that she could always get a part-time job at Treasure Island. Mrs. Wakefield says that’s a great idea.
Up next: Is John Pfeifer into Jennifer Mitchell?