Time elapsed in this book: 6 ish weeks?
Length of their junior year: 3 years
Jessica’s love interest: Ballet
Entertainment rating: 6/10
The cover of this book isn’t great, but at least they look close to being in high school! That’s Bruce Patman with his arm around Julie Porter, smirking at Josh Bowen with disdain. I don’t know if it’s because we don’t often see Bruce’s profile, but he doesn’t look like his usual self here. Also, his arched eyebrows look cartoonishly villainous. I suppose it’s fitting.
This book is full of throwbacks to people and events in Sweet Valley Twins. As always, I love this because it gives Sweet Valley the impression of continuity. For example: the drama department’s new show, You Can’t Take it With You, requires a lead actress who knows ballet. Jess knows she’s perfect for the role because when she was 12, she took lessons from Madame Andre (the plot of the second SVT book!).
More continuity: Liz meets up with Julie Porter after school. They used to be friends in 6th grade but have grown apart. Liz wants to hang out with her again now because she’s learning to play the recorder and Julie is a musical genius. In an example of how this series lacks continuity, Liz is playing a wooden recorder despite Jess buying a PLASTIC recorder in the last book, since she couldn’t afford a wooden one.
In the hall, Liz and Julie hear a noise and realize that Julie’s neighbor, Josh Bowen, has been stuffed inside a locker as a prank by Phi Epsilon members Bruce, Winston, and Ronnie Edwards. Liz tells Julie that pledging the fraternity used to be fun, not mean; she knows this because Todd was a member. Ahh, Todd. I miss him and his drama.
Liz’s current boyfriend, Jeffrey, is not a Phi Epsilon member, but everyone’s invited to the party Phi Epsilon is having at Bruce’s house on Friday, so he and Liz are going. Julie gushes to Liz that she thinks Bruce is a hunk!
Liz, Julie, and Josh hang out at Casey’s Ice Cream. He seems like a decent guy, but he’s nervous because Phi Epsilon members are supposed to meet him there, which means a pledge task is likely. Sure enough, Bruce, Ronnie, Tom McKay, Michael Harris, and Bill Chase (seriously, all these guys are members?!? I can’t picture Bill or Michael in PE…) each bring two ice cream sundaes to the table and tell Josh to eat them all. He does his best but gets sick, so Liz and Julie walk around the mall with him until he starts feeling better. Bruce tells Julie that they got carried away. Julie’s heart melts and she forgives him. Liz is disgusted and says she needs to leave. Josh leaves with her. Julie stays with Bruce, who invites her to the Phi Epsilon party!
When Julie tells Josh she’ll be at the party, he’s excited until he hears that her date is Bruce. He tells her to be careful. Julie is annoyed. Liz is equally as judgy when Julie tells her the news.
Jess tells Liz that Lila heard Bruce is interested in a senior, so she doesn’t know why he invited Julie. Liz decides to approach Lila and ask about the rumor. Before Liz can say anything, Lila says she needs a favor. Lila’s gone out with John Pfeifer a few times but he doesn’t seem super interested, so Lila wants Liz to place an item about Lila in the “Eyes and Ears” gossip column that will make him jealous. Liz says no, then asks where Lila heard the news about Bruce. To only Liz’s surprise, Lila’s lost interest in interacting with Liz and doesn’t answer.
Josh and the other pledges clean Bruce’s house. Josh is annoyed, but John Pfeifer says it’ll be over soon and once Josh gets in, Bruce will be his best friend. Josh calms down. He drives off and runs into Liz on the way home. Liz shares the rumor that Bruce is interested in a senior. Josh says they need to tell Julie immediately! When they spill the beans, Julie cries and says she’s glad they told her, even if it is just a rumor.
Jess, who’s been practicing ballet, goes to the audition and discovers she’s not the only one trying out for the lead role. Danielle Alexander, a senior who’s an excellent ballerina, is auditioning too! Jess watches her audition from afar. At first, Danielle’s incredible. Then Mr. Jaworski says something, and Danielle’s dancing suddenly gets wobbly. Jess starts feeling hopeful again since her biggest competitor doesn’t seem so threatening. Her own audition starts, and she falls down. She tells Mr. Jaworski it’s her “grand floppe,” which he finds funny. Jess continues to flail about miserably. She sees DeeDee in the wings, suppressing a giggle. Jess can’t believe the audition is going so poorly and wants to cry, but, incredibly, Mr. Jaworski tells her that he thinks she might be right for the part.
At callbacks on Thursday, Mr. Jaworski says he loved Jessica’s grande floppe but she should make her dancing even worse. Jess doesn’t understand but nonetheless obliges. He tells her she’s perfect for the role and to remember that the character thinks she’s a great dancer but she’s actually terrible. Jess realizes that it’s a part to be played for laughs, not a serious ballet role. She is mortified!
The Phi Epsilon party gets underway. All the pledges are dressed in silly attire and act as servants for the night. Bruce gives Julie a tour of his mansion. He shows her the pool and tells her it’s a good place to go skinny dipping at two in the morning. What a visual! He then shows her his bedroom and says it’s where he spends most of his time. Another visual! Bruce takes her back down to the party, and Julie thinks he’s a perfect gentleman.
Later that evening, Liz sees Bruce kissing Danielle in a corner. Clearly she’s the senior he’s interested in! He then leaves Danielle and finds Julie, who dances with him. Eventually, he leads Julie to the alcove, where other couples are “locked in passionate embraces.” It seems like they’re about to kiss… but Bruce pulls away and says he’s going to change the music to something more special.
Inside, Bruce changes the music, then finds Danielle and starts kissing her again.
Outside, Julie sees someone approach and assumes it’s Bruce. He sits next to her and kisses her. Someone turns the lights on, and she realizes she’s kissing Josh! She’s furious, and he’s embarrassed. Julie runs off, mad at everyone in Phi Epsilon!
Josh is confused because he thought they’d found a random girl to judge a kissing contest. He didn’t realize he’d be kissing Julie! Bruce finds the whole thing hilarious.
At school, Josh is given one final pledge task: to serve a bunch of Jell-O to Julie in the cafeteria. He doesn’t want to make her the butt of the joke again, so he dumps the Jell-O in Bruce’s lap instead. Bruce jumps up and starts yelling that his new pants are ruined! Other members offer suggestions for how to get the stain out of his pants, and Bruce grumbles, “I’m so glad I’ve got the Sweet Valley Homemakers Club with me.” One of the funniest interactions in this book. Bruce tells Josh that he’ll never get into Phi Epsilon now. Josh says he doesn’t care because he quits.
Josh apologizes to Julie. They realize they’re in love and kiss. Josh says it’s his second best kiss; his first best kiss was in the dark at the Phi Epsilon party on Friday. She finds this charming and they kiss more.
The school play debuts! I have no idea of the timeline here since no passage of time is noted, but there’s no way that the play happened after just a week of rehearsals. In reality, it would be like 2-3 months later, so this probably means like a month passed in the world of Sweet Valley. Who knows. Jess is excellent and everyone applauds her comedic chops. Even Danielle loves it. Jess asks if she came with Bruce, and Danielle says no, they are OVER.
Up next: Amy introduces Sweet Valley to slambooks!