Sweet Valley University #15: Behind Closed Doors

Winston is failing most of his classes because all he does is mope over Denise and then spend all his free time with her. He tells her that he can’t see her anymore because if he fails even one of his classes, his parents will quit paying for school and he’ll have to transfer out, which naturally means they’ll never see each other again.

Before he makes this huge decision though, he shows a complete inability to say no, which makes me wonder if he’s ever had a girlfriend before, though I know he does. Like he tells her that he has to study, but then goes to a party with her instead. He finally asks his professor for help and the prof basically tells him that he should have come in a lot sooner, but then agrees to help.

He tells Winston that he can pick up a study guide at his office. In a great scene, he discovers that the study guide is one sheet of paper saying something like, Mr. Egbert, please study pages 1-150 for the next test. Burn. Then he turns around, finds a copy of the real tests, debates it for about 5 seconds before grabbing it and running off.

Liz is worried that things are falling down with Tom because he stands her up (once, how could he?) and he’s planning on going to a big event in Las Vegas for student reporters. He also keeps shooting down her ideas. Nina points out that Liz might be upset because she’s not the number one reporter in the relationship, which makes senses but she basically blows it off in three seconds.

She decides to do a story on Todd because he didn’t get reinstated to the basketball team. Tom asks her not to do it so she waits until he leaves to start it. This part is really boring and since it covers the next two books, it’s pretty sad. Basically she finds some financial records from the athletic department that show the school getting some huge alumni donations for the athletic department. Yet Todd tells her that the school hasn’t got any money for athletics.

She does a bunch of research on the whole story and tries to meet with different professors and coaches. Every time she does, she runs into the dean, who stops her from pursuing things. Tom calls and yells at her for even researching the story without his approval because he is in charge of the news station, but she completely ignores it.

Lila and Bruce decide to move in together and meet with a real estate agent. She shows them a crappy little apartment, but they ask to see the big house across the street, which they eventually decide to rent. It’s ridiculous because they get a house with two stories, four bedrooms, a sauna and swimming pool….for two people.

The other big storyline involves Jessica pouting because she signed up for a film history class, but when it was filled, she got put into a medieval history class. She goes to the bookstore to get her book for class and runs into Louis, a cute guy who makes her think medieval history might be fun. On the first day of class, she discovers that he’s actually her professor.

They see each other one more time and she decides that she’s in love with him. She literally runs into him on a beach and they build sandcastles together. He suggests she writer her next paper on Tristan, which she does and he naturally loves her paper. She starts studying all the time and ignoring everyone. He gets distant and she slips him a little note, apologizing for her actions.

The next day Louis calls her into his office and apologizes. She says that it’s okay if they’re just friends and he tells her that he’s not her friend, he’s her professor. He also says that they can’t see each other outside of class, which causes her to run off and him to feel bad because of course all he can do is think about kissing her.

Jessica spends the next couple of days crying in her room and moping over him because she’s sure that he’s the love of her life. She goes for a walk on the beach and runs into him. They talk for about three seconds before he can’t help himself anymore and kisses her, which makes her think that nothing could be better.

Seriously, how many times do we have to deal with Jessica “falling in love” with some guy she doesn’t know? It’s only been half a school year and she’s already had Mike, James and Randy, who she breaks up with at the beginning of this book. I’m sorry, but I’m already sick of her love life.