Sweet Valley High Super Stars: Enid’s Story

This is a book about Enid, but of course it has to focus on Liz. Liz is all sad and kinda depressed because Todd is away for the Christmas break. This being Sweet Valley, you know that she’s either going to cheat on him or seriously contemplate cheating on him, which is true.

Enid is feeling lonely because she just broke up with Hugh and this makes no sense. She and Hugh break up (again apparently) right before Murder in Paradise, which was years later. That’s part of why she feels so shitty and almost gives into the plastic surgery thing. There’s even a whole thing about how he ditched her for a curvy and cute younger girl.

Enid’s crush on Jeffery is back, but she doesn’t really tell anyone. She takes Liz to the Dairi Burger where a bunch of kids are meeting for the first day of break. Liz and Jeffery run into each other by the front door and get caught under the mistletoe, so they have to kiss. Liz gets all flustered and starts thinking about all their “good” times.

Jess comes in and proceeds to makeout with a bunch of random guys. Okay, okay. She asks for volunteers to kiss her under the mistletoe and then starts eyeing Jeffery. He’s pretty cute and popular so she wonders why they never hooked up. At first he thinks she’s Liz and is kind of disappointed when it’s Jess so he gives her a tiny kiss.

Enid and Jeffery kind of chit chat a little and she volunteers some ideas for his mom’s Christmas gift. One thing leads to another and they make plans to go to a skating party together. She purposefully doesn’t tell Liz and actually encourages her not to come. Of course Liz shows up and is kind of surprised, but not hurt, that they’re together. Jeffery makes a joke about Sonja Henie, which I only mention because it turns up later.

Jessica pretends to be a shitty skater to catch some guy’s attention. We all know that the twins are absolutely perfect at all sports related activities, so of course she’s actually a professional level ice skater. The guy’s name is Brian and he comes onto Enid, knowing her from her wild and crazy days. Jess tries to get in the middle, but he’s all hot for Enid.

Enid and Jeffery go to the movies and he chats about Liz. Enid bought her a present and so did he, which is a little weird. She then sees Jessica, who’s looking at this awful pair of sunglasses with palm trees on the top. Jess wants to talk about Brian and gets pissed when Enid blows her off.

There’s another story in here, involving Enid’s dad. Apparently he’s a ragging alcoholic, but she refuses to admit it. Her mom remembers all these horrible stories about him fucking up their lives, but Enid thinks she’s exaggerating. Her dad’s coming back for Christmas, but her mom won’t answer the phone for him or take messages. She finally talks to him and they make plans to spend Christmas Eve day together.

Enid’s fuzzy feelings for Jeffery lead to her buying him a present. She gets him a tub of ice cream and a postcard of Sonja Henie. He gives her a book of poetry and she feels letdown when she realizes that it’s Liz’s favorite author. He then reveals that Liz brought him a gift of Christmas cookies and he eagerly wants her feedback on their relationship, making it clear that he’s still in love with Liz.

Jeff calls later, wanting to do something as friends and she turns him down. Still feeling crappy, she accepts a date with Brian when he calls. Brian takes her out for Thai food and she barely blinks an eye when he orders beer, even though he’s supposedly changed. He then takes her to a party, where she sees a bunch of her old “friends”. She wants to leave and when she spots him getting drunk, she takes off on her own.

We’re then treated to a short section about Liz. Oh god. She doesn’t want anyone to tell Todd that she made Jeff cookies because she’s worried what he might think. Todd calls, they talk for a few minutes and suddenly she’s back in love with him. Oh and Lila is now staying with the family because her dad is out of town and this includes Christmas. I don’t think I’d want to be reminded of a happy family if I was in her shoes.

Enid goes to see her dad and of course he’s drunk, even though it isn’t even noon. He makes her feel bad by comparing his behavior to the way she used to act and she runs away crying. To make herself feel even better, she goes to a party hosted by Robin and George. George, as in George Warren, he ex-boyfriend, the guy who cheated on her with Robin Wilson.

Liz and Jeffery have a short conversation, where she calls him on all the time he’s spending with Enid. Then, because they’re under the mistletoe, they kiss again and Enid sees it. She runs into Brian and decides to leave the party with him.

Brian pulls out his college moves on her and she’s putty in his hands. He shows her a joint and they actually smoke it. Go Enid! He also gives her some alcohol and now we’re veering into date rape territory. They actually get high and their conversation, complete with the wrong lyrics to the twelve days of Christmas, reminds me of real-life stoned conversations. Not that I would know…

The kicker is that Jess heads up to Miller’s Point with some college guy she just met. The car next to them is way too loud and when she goes to complain, she sees Enid all out of it. Instead of offering help, she runs back to the party to spread the latest gossip.

End’s dad finally realizes the error of his ways. Hey guys, it’s Christmas. He talks to his ex-wife, who realizes that Enid is late coming home and they both get a little worried. He vows to find her, no matter what. Look, I appreciate the sentiment, but she’s like 20 minutes late! He goes to a couple of bars to look for her.

Jessica tells the party about what she saw, just as Mr. Rollins pops up. Instead of wanting all the details, the party kind of turns on her, which is awesome. They make her feel like shit for not helping Enid, when she obviously needed it. Her pathological/psycho side reminds her that she’s the hero and now they know where to find Enid. She maintains this line of thinking even as her “date” edges towards the door and away from her.

Brian leaves Miller’s Point and starts driving recklessly. Enid passes out and the car crashes, but her dad saves her. He goes back to grab Brian, just as the car explodes. Enid wakes up in the hospital on Christmas. Jessica brings her the ugly sunglasses as a gift and she sees her dad, who promises to clean up. Actually he tells her that he’s going into rehab so he won’t be around for a few months. Oh yeah, that sounds a lot different from how things are now.

The book then jumps to a New Year’s Eve party at Fowler Crest. Jeffery asked Enid, but she turned him down because she wants more than friendship. He confesses that he has feelings and they kind of kiss a little. Too bad this storyline never appears again!