Sweet Valley High #23: Say Goodbye

Todd Wilkins is leaving Sweet Valley! Oh noes! Actually, when you consider that he is supposedly one of the most popular guys at SVH, no one really seems to give a shit except for Liz. She cries quite a bit and mopes over his leaving. She tells both Steven and Enid that they decided to stay a couple and not see other people. Both try to convince her that it doesn’t make sense.

Enid throws Todd a going away party and they sneak off for a few minutes together. Todd tells her that his dad sat him down for a talk over their relationship and it isn’t fair of him to keep a hold on her. She tells him that she can’t picture dating anyone else and cries again. He gives her a gold locket, she promises to never take it off and they decide to stay together. Given that she can’t even stay faithful when he’s 10 minutes away, I don’t see this ending well.

Jessica takes it upon herself to find another guy for her twin and Nicholas Morrow is just perfect. She goes to Mr. Collins and asks him to assign Liz a story to take her mind off Todd. He has her cover the boat race, so Jess calls Nicholas and convinces him to invite Liz to the race as his guest. Liz isn’t too sure, but he claims that he just wants to be her friend.

Liz runs into Bruce at the race and they exchange a few comments over how love letters can make you feel better when the person you love is so far away. Nicholas acts uncomfortable, changes the subject and drags her off. When he wins the race, he invites the twins to a celebration party on his dad’s yacht. Later he asks Liz to go out with him later in the week.

Jessica decides that Nicholas is the perfect replacement for Todd. They start spending a lot of time together, but Liz keeps writing long letters to Todd every day. When he calls, Jessica fake cries to him. She tells him that all Liz does is sit around the house, moping and writing letters. He feels so bad that he backs off and stops writing and calling.

After a few dates with Nicholas, Liz starts feeling bad about leading him on. At the same time, she keeps calling Todd and he never calls her back. She gives up, starts flirting with Nicholas and asks him on a real date. They go on multiple dates and even kiss a few times, but she claims that her heart still belongs to Todd and never takes off his necklace.

Jessica ran up a huge bill on a new outfit and the Wakefields insist she get a job and pay them back. She starts working at a dating agency and decides that since she did such a good job with her twin, she should fix up her brother too. She picks out three women and give them Steven’s number, but tells them not to mention the agency.

The first woman is 43, divorced and super rich. She keeps calling Steven, which freaks him out. The second woman never calls, but the third woman shows up at their house. She wears all leather, smokes and has weird piercings. She tells him about the agency, he flips out and screams at Jessica for messing in his dating life.

The next day, he sees a car on the side of the road with a flat tire and Cara Walker behind the wheel. He helps her change her flat tire and suggests they grab a cup of coffee. She tells him all about her dad and brother moving to Chicago and her parents’ divorce. Steven realizes that she’s changed and grown up a lot. He asks her to come to Lila’s party that night because he would really like to see her.

Todd randomly shows up in town to help his parents pack up the house. Winston convinces him to go to Lila’s party and when Jess sees him, she tries to hustle him out before he sees Liz. He sees Liz dancing and looking “in luv” with Nicholas, so he runs off. Liz sees him and chases after him.

Nicholas drives Liz home and she breaks it off with him, telling him that she isn’t ready for a relationship with anyone else. She drives all over town and finally finds Todd sitting in his old backyard. They have a long talk and decide to break up as long as they live so far apart. She’ll keep the necklace because it represents their love, but they won’t be tied to each other anymore.

Steven comes home, acts perfectly nice and goes to bed. Lila calls with big news. Betsy Martin saw Cara and Steven getting way too close and confronted them on the dance floor. She told Steven that it was too soon after Tricia and he ran off crying. Liz gets over Todd really fast by devoting herself to making her brother feel better. Oh and Jessica picked a date from the agency for herself, but he turned out to be a future undertaker and just plain creepy.