Sweet Valley High #2: Secrets

Yay! Something that’s not Fear Street!

Secrets picks up right after Double Love ended. Jessica is bitching to Cara about how Liz had her dunked in the school swimming pool and she looks horrible. Cara tries to point out that she deserved it, given that she did nearly ruin her twin sister’s reputation, but Jess ain’t hearing that shit.

It turns out that Jess is really just worried that Bruce Patman saw her and was so disgusted that he won’t ask her out now. I love this because in the University series, she acts like he’s the scum of the earth and never mentions that they dated. Cara tells her she looked like Bo Derek coming out of the pool, which is really just a way of stroking Jessica’s ego.

We then jump to Liz’s house where she’s baking cookies with Enid, until she drops a measuring cup and flips out. She tells Liz all about her sordid past. Apparently she went through a bad period and started experimenting with drugs and alcohol. She and this guy George hit and kid while high. He survived, but it was enough for them to both get their lives back together. I’d buy this story a lot more if (a) Enid wasn’t so lame and (b) they didn’t set it up to happen when she was 13.

Anyway, she’s super worried that her boyfriend Ronnie Edwards will find out about her sordid past and dump her. She says it’s even worse because she and George still write each other letters. Liz tries to get her to tell Ronnie the truth, but then agrees to keep her secret. Enid then reveals that George is coming for a visit in a few weeks and she doesn’t know what to do.

We then jump to the other storyline, which involves Lila hating on Mrs. Dalton for dating her dad. She mentions that she’s too young for him, which is funny because don’t rich guys always go for younger ladies? Lila moans about how the teacher is a gold digger and then makes up a rumor to Cara about Ken Matthews and the teacher secretly dating (he has a crush on her). Cara runs off to tell everyone in the world.

Jessica runs into Bruce and tries badly to flirt with him. She even pretends to lose her necklace and when he just walks off (no time), Winston ends up searching for it on his hands and knees. Jess then starts whining about how Liz has no time for her because she’s always with Enid and how Enid is a terrible person. She’s really just pissed because Ronnie is in charge of counting the votes for some dance queen and she thinks he’ll give it to Enid. She wanders into Liz’s room, where she finds Enid’s letter from George…

Todd, Liz, Enid and Ronnie go out to dinner and everyone notices how the happy couple isn’t so happy. Ronnie keeps hanging onto Enid and Enid just looks unhappy. She still lets him take her up to Miller’s Point, which is where he really goes psycho.

He starts in about how he hates liars and mentions George. Then he basically tries to force himself on her because he thinks since she gave it up to George, she should give it up to him. He even grabs her arms and wrists. Enid eventually realizes that Liz must have told him. She takes it out on Liz and refuses to talk to her.

Liz turns to Jess for some odd reason. Jess goes off about how Enid is a terrible person and Liz can do better. Then she wanders off to a party at Lila’s where, for some reason, they sit around drinking wine they stole from her dad’s wine cellar.

Jess tries making herself look good because she thinks Bruce is coming around. When she learns that he’s out on a date with a college girl, she cozies up to Ronnie, who’s all lonely without Enid. He acts cold until she rants about Enid and then he takes her side. She evens manages to get him as her date to the dance.

There’s still some gossip going around about Mrs. Dalton, but it’s really lame. They leave notes for her and make rude comments, but no one has any proof. She basically feels like crap, the school board calls her in for a walk and Mr. Collins is the only one on her side. Liz and Enid bond for about a moment over the event, but then Enid snaps and walks off. Yay for her!

Jess somehow turns everything back around her. She tells Liz that she’s only going with Ronnie to the dance so she can get them back together. For some reason, people keep believing her bull shit. Liz confronts Winston because it turns out that he knows George, but he swears he never told anyone. She then talks to Todd, who points out that Jess is a lying bitch who accused him of rape, but Liz basically laughs it off.

Liz finally finds the letter and realizes that Jess passed it to Ronnie. Enid goes to Mrs. Dalton for advice. She manages to convince the teacher to go to the dance and the teacher convinces her to forgive Liz. She runs home to get ready for the dance and her mom says there’s a guy at the door. She assumes it’s Ronnie, but it’s actually George and he looks super good. Winston told him what happened and he decided to surprise her.

Enid and Liz make up at the dance and Enid seems really happy with George. Liz spreads a rumor about Jess and while she’s named queen, Winston is picked as her king. It turns out that Liz told everyone she secretly had a crush on him and they picked him instead of Bruce. I really hate Jessica….and Elizabeth.