Time elapsed in this book: 3 weeks
Length of their junior year: 2 years, 9 months, 2 weeks
Jessica’s love interest: None. She even goes to a party without a date!
Entertainment rating: 7/10
Cousin Kelly Bates is visiting and she looks so similar to the twins that it’s almost like we get the Wakefield triplets in this book! Kelly is featured not just in the Sweet Valley High series but also in the Sweet Valley Kids (#24: Cousin Kelly’s Family Secret) series when the twins are in 2nd grade and Sweet Valley Twins (#111: Sisters at War) series when the twins are in 6th grade! I love seeing characters appear in multiple series within this universe. That always gives a nice sense of continuity, especially since continuity is not necessarily Sweet Valley’s strong suit.
The cover: simple, yet effective! Twins have become TRIPLETS! Plus, it accurately depicts a scene in the book where all three wear a jean skirt and t-shirt: Liz in blue, Kelly in pink, Jess in purple.
Kelly is visiting because her mom’s getting remarried and Kelly isn’t happy. She idolizes her dad and is still mad that her mom (Mrs. Wakefield’s sister Laura) left him, so Aunt Laura sent her to Sweet Valley to cool off. The twins are very excited about her visit and say they haven’t seen Kelly since she and Aunt Laura moved to Tucson eight years ago. However, as proof that continuity in Sweet Valley is inconsistent, it later became canon that the twins actually saw cousin Kelly when they were twelve, in Sweet Valley Twins #111.
Kelly is expected to stay for months, so she enrolls at Sweet Valley High. On Monday, she and the twins dress up in the outfits on the cover of this book, and everyone at school is excited to see what looks like triplets. Kelly is invited to write an article for The Oracle about what has changed in Sweet Valley since she left eight years ago. Kelly nervously says she doesn’t remember much and that she’ll just write an article about Sweet Valley through a stranger’s eyes.
On Tuesday, the twins introduce Kelly to Nicholas Morrow, who they’ve decided will be a good match for her. I mean, Nicholas pursued Liz, Jess pursued Nicholas, and he seems to just hang out with high schoolers anyway, so why not set him up with their doppelgänger? Logic checks out. Nicholas is of course smitten and invites Kelly to a costume party at the country club the following weekend. Kelly accepts.
Jess and Kelly play tennis. Kirk Anderson approaches and likes what he sees when he looks at Kelly. She finds him charming and accepts his invite to get dinner at the Dairi Burger that night. Jess almost warns Kelly that Kirk’s a jerk but figures she’ll see it for herself. However, when Kelly returns home from the date, she gushes about how nice Kirk is. She says he invited her to the country club party and she really wants to go with him instead of Nicholas.
Kelly keeps having nightmares that she doesn’t remember when she wakes up. Jessica, sharing a room with her, doesn’t know how to help.
Aunt Laura calls and says she’d like to visit for Kelly’s birthday but Kelly doesn’t want her mom coming because her dad will be there.
Kirk picks Kelly up for another date, arriving thirty minutes late. He claims he ran out of gas on the way, and Kelly forgives him. They dance at the Beach Disco and then he leaves to catch up with an old friend. He’s gone a loooong time but eventually returns with excuses and Kelly forgives him for that too. It’s very clear to the reader, although I didn’t understand any of the nuance when I first read these, that Kelly is traumatized by her childhood and is falling for a loser similar to her dad because she’s been allowed to worship her absent father. There’s a difference between not talking poorly about your ex to your shared child and not telling your child the truth about the past.
Jessica tells Kelly that she heard Kirk is going out with Marci Kaplan again. Kelly says no, they’re just good friends. Neither twin believes this (nor do I), but they don’t push it. They go to a picnic at the beach. Kelly was supposed to go with Kirk, but he’s late to pick her up again so the twins convince her to go with them instead of waiting around for that dud who may or may not show (and who is 100% dating Marci Kaplan again).
At the beach, Kelly spots Kirk talking to Marci! Kirk tells Kelly he didn’t pick her up because Marci called and really needed a friend, but he doesn’t offer an excuse for why he couldn’t have called and told Kelly this. Kelly is an absolute doormat and just accepts it. They have fun at the beach, and then Kirk ditches her so he can drive Marci home. Kelly is disappointed but still wants to date him because her self-esteem is non-existent.
Liz talks to Enid about Kelly’s weird desire to still be with Kirk despite his behavior and realizes that Kelly is falling for the same kind of guy her mom did. Yes, Liz. She absolutely is modeling that behavior. Sweet Valley doesn’t always tackle “issues” well, but this is surprisingly well done.
Friday is Kelly’s birthday, I assume her 17th. Her dad’s supposed to come over at five and Kelly is beside herself with excitement about seeing him. Uncle Greg shows up at six-thirty and claims there was bad traffic. A bouquet of flowers arrives right after he does. Kelly assumes they’re from him and is thrilled… but the card says they’re from her mom. Uncle Greg says he was going to buy Kelly a present but what he wanted to get her would have taken three months to arrive and he didn’t want her to wait that long, so he didn’t buy her anything. Liz thinks this doesn’t make any sense (because it doesn’t), but Kelly says it’s okay. She suggests he move to Sweet Valley so she can live with him permanently. Uncle Greg says they can talk about it later and that he has to leave for a business dinner in Los Angeles. He takes off.
Kelly is mad at whoever insisted on a business dinner with her dad that night. I’m pretty sure that person doesn’t exist and Uncle Greg just used that as an excuse to bolt (after all, he could have said no), but there’s no proof to my theory. Kelly asks if everyone liked her dad, and the twins get uncomfortable. Liz says he reminded her of Kirk. This makes Kelly angry and she says this is all her mom’s fault. She runs off crying.
The twins and Kelly dress as See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil monkeys for the country club party. Fittingly, Kelly is See No Evil. The costumes at the party range from excellent (Lila as Princess Diana) to funny (Winston as a grape, using balloons!) to yikes (Jeffrey as a “ragged, dirty wino”).
Kelly dances with Kirk (dressed as a pirate). He suggests they leave for a party of their own. Kelly is excited and they drive to Miller’s Point. Kirk sips beer on the way and drinks more when they get there. He starts kissing Kelly, who swoons at first but then gets uncomfortable when Kirk’s hand starts edging under her leotard. She says she wants to take things slow, and Kirk calls her a tease. He throws a beer bottle into the distance, where it shatters. Kelly freaks out and tells him not to do that. He says he’ll do what he wants to do and throws another one. Kelly starts to panic. She feels like she’s in one of her nightmares. Kelly doesn’t want to get in the car with him again and walks off. She suddenly remembers being eight years old and hiding under the kitchen table while her dad hurled glasses, plates, and bowls at the walls and her mom begged him to stop. She realizes that the nightmares she’s been having were actually flashbacks!
Kelly tells the twins and their parents what she remembers. Mrs. Wakefield calls her sister, who flies out the next day and confirms that it all actually happened. Apparently Aunt Laura didn’t want to remind Kelly of anything Uncle Greg had done, since it seemed like Kelly had blocked all memories of her dad being abusive. Seems healthy. Kelly says she still loves her dad’s good qualities but can now see that he can’t handle being a full-time father. She says she hasn’t been fair to her mom and will be going back to Tucson to live with her. She also says that Kirk is a jerk and she will not be going out with him again.
Up next: Robin Wilson might leave Sweet Valley to go to college early!