Sweet Valley University #29: One Last Kiss

Liz and Todd are in the hospital, watching to see what happens with Gin-Yung. Liz decides to leave and they have a moment, where you’d think one of them is dying. Liz feels guilty because Gin is dying, but at the same time, she wonders what that’s going to mean for them. Gin’s sister Kim goes off on Todd, which I think is completely uncalled for.

Basically Kim tells him that he was a horrible boyfriend, even though they decided to break up BEFORE she went to London. She tells him that it would mean a lot if he stuck around and basically guilts him into staying there, but she’s bitchy about it too. She tells him to show up and pretend like he’s still in love with Gin, to make her last days better.

Meanwhile Tom is pitching a fit because he discovered the photos his dad George, took of Liz. He goes off on him and George apologizes, calling it unfortunate. He says that he fell in love with her for being kind to him and helping him find Tom, but that he fell for her before he ever met Tom. He also reminds him that he now has Dana, but Tom doesn’t give a shit about Dana anymore. Even though he’s been dating her for books and was wowed by her before, now he can’t stand the sight of her and keeps comparing her to Liz. Yeah, give me a frigid blond over a hot, funny girl like Dana any day!

We’re also treated to an annoying sub-plot involving Jessica. She now wants to be a cop, which I find hysterical. There is no way she could handle training for the police force. She talks to Nick about it and he shoots her down right away. She also starts thinking that he’s boring because he’d rather curl up on the couch with Chinese, then go out dancing all night long.

Nick gets a call about a sting going down on a chop shop and has to rush off. Isn’t this like his 17th undercover case in like 3 books? Guess Sweet Valley is a lot bigger than we thought. His friend Bill calls, wanting to ask Nick to bring his vintage hubcap to the sting. Apparently he bought it and had Nick pick it up for him. Jess intercepts the call and decides to take it there herself, thinking that it’s some kind of evidence for the case.

This is how out of touch the chick is with reality. She spends the night watching action movies and picking an outfit because she thinks that’s the key to being a good cop. She shows up and Nick flips out. The bad guys start shooting and he tosses her under a truck. A guy grabs him and holds a gun to his head, so Jessica wings the hubcap at him and saves Nick. She expects everyone to treat her like a hero, but they kind of treat her like a dumb blond because she completely blew their operation.

She shows up at the station the next day, rambling about how she saved the day and it’s proof that she should be a cop. She goes on and on about how she expects the force to pay for her dry cleaning and they should reimburse her for future outfits needed for operations. Nick finally shuts her up, just before I fling the book at the wall.

Tom spends most of the book moping over Liz and making Dana feel like crap. They literally had a date the day before, but now he realizes that he has no feelings for her. I love that later we find out he was sleeping with her at this time too. He’s such a dick. Danny finally convinces him to write Liz a letter and leave it at the station.

Liz stops by the station and runs into their new intern Scott Sinclair. He ups her ego (like she needs it) and convinces her that print media is much better than television reporting. She starts having second thoughts about working for the television station.

Tom writes an incredibly sappy letter and leaves it on Liz’s desk. Dana stops by, thinking that she can surprise him and finds the letter. She reads it and I kind of want to groan. He goes on and on about how he’s so sorry and he misses her and never stopped loving her. Really? Because I remember you calling her a whore and stuff not that long ago. Dana hides the letter.

Todd keeps going to the hospital and making Gin feel better. He brings her candy and they talk about all their shared memories. Then he realizes that he loved her all along, even though in the last book, he told Liz that they had fun, but it wasn’t love. He waffles between the two girls for the whole book. He goes to Liz, tells her he loves her and then runs back to Gin. They finally decide to take some time apart, while he takes care of Gin.

I know this is supposed to be all heart breaking, but I don’t really buy it. This is probably the fourth girl he’s dated in like 3 months, but now she’s suddenly the love of his life. It also reminds me how pissed I was that he and Liz never got back together in the rest of the series. Kim never apologizes for being a bitch, but she does reveal to him that Gin faked having a boyfriend, to make Todd feel better about falling in love with Liz. That makes him realize that she sacrificed her last days of happiness, to make him happy.

Look, all that means is that she loved you, not that you loved her. Considering that he didn’t even want to go to the hospital and can’t stay away from Liz, I think that’s pretty much proof he doesn’t love Gin. He is there when she dies though, but I can’t say it’s all that sad. It kind of reminded me of a bad TV movie, with her not being able to see and calling Todd her angel. She even asks him to sing to her and tells him to keep loving before she dies.

Tom notices that Liz’s letter is gone and spots her outside. He thinks she’s coming to tell him that she loves him too and gets all ready. She’s actually on her way there to quit, when she runs into Todd. He tells her about Gin and breaks down in her arms. Tom looks outside, sees them together and pretty much vows to make her life a living hell.