Sweet Valley High #129: Cover Girls

Since even Sweet Valley High teachers get sick of their crap, the school decided to make the kids take two weeks off to do an internship. Jessica and Elizabeth get to work at Flair, which is like the hip and hottest fashion magazine. Todd and Lila both wind up working for their father's companies. Maria gets a spot working in the set department of a community theater, and Enid goes to work for some publisher.

On the first day, Jessica insists that she'll win the heart of Quentin Berg, some big deal photographer. He'll fall in love and make her a supermodel, despite the fact that she's too short. Liz imagines herself becoming a huge writing star. What actually happens is that Quentin doesn't give a shit about Jessica and tells her to just get him his coffee. She winds up doing – gasp – manual labor like sweeping the floor and setting up props for him.

Liz feels incredibly nervous when she gets there because all the girls kind of look like Jessica. They all wear plum lipstick, short skirts, and long matching jackets. No worries though because her boss, Leona, absolutely loves her. Leona does warn her though that she should change her wardrobe if she wants to fit in, but she also tells her that there's a good chance they might bring her back and give her a summer job.

This causes Liz to go off the deep end. She meets Maria and Enid for dinner and then drags them to the mall before they can eat. Liz takes all the money she had saved for a new computer and spends it on new clothes and a new haircut. When Jessica loves her new look and wonders about getting her hair cut the same way, Snotty Snottypants tells her that she could never afford to see the same stylist.

Leona gives Liz way more work than any intern should have. Though she's an editorial intern, she gets to actually proofread and edit articles for the magazine. This is as unrealistic as her writing articles for all those newspapers. Every time she hands out with Enid and Maria though, it's always Marcia, Marcia, Marcia. She ignores them when they talk and just wants to talk about how her internship is so hard and no one understands.

Todd hates his internship because the woman in charge of his has the gall to look at him to make sure he's doing his work and giving him tasks. He leaves early one day to see Liz, but she's way too busy and pawns him off on his sister, which is I believe what happened right before SVC. He gets to meet Simone. She's the IT girl of the moment, the hottest and skinniest model in the universe, and the girlfriend of Quentin. Quentin actually thinks Todd has a nice look and asks him to double for the model he'll use on the shoot.

When Todd heads back to work, Quentin calls him and offers him a job as a real model. Todd instantly quits. When Liz asks what he'll do about the whole internship thing, he just explains that he'll figure it out later. He gets to spend all his free time hanging out on the set with a gorgeous supermodel draped over his arm. Simone seems especially interested in him but mainly because she thinks he's Jessica's boyfriend. When she finds out the truth, she just keeps going.

Jessica is so tired from working that when Quentin sends her to the mail room, she lies down on a comfy couch for a nap. Some random dude comes in and just kisses her, which she's totally fine with because he's cute. They run into each other again when she forgot her money, and he offers her half his lunch. They have a connection, but when he asks her out, she turns him down because Cameron – that's his name – is just a mail room clerk.

After convincing the magazine's hair guy to give her a cut like her twin has, Jess shows him her portfolio and asks for his advice. He tells her flat out that she needs professional pictures taken, so she calls Lila and tells her to meet her at the beach. Because Jess has no moral compass, she steals a camera from Quentin and has Lila take shots of her. A huge wave comes up that knocks Lila over and ruins the camera.

Lila refuses to pay for the camera or lend Jess the money to replace it and even claims Jessica should pay for the shirt she wore that the water ruined. When she gets to work the next day, Quentin realizes the camera is missing and goes ballistic. Jessica runs upstairs to beg Lila for help yet again. Cameron overhears her basically crying on the phone and feels terrible for her.

Later, Quentin comes up and thanks her for what she did. Someone replaced his camera and left it on his desk with a note signed by her that said she had it cleaned. He says that no other intern ever would have noticed that his camera needed work and that she must have a special eye. In fact, it now looks brand new again! She then sneaks into the darkroom where Quentin is working and lays one on him, which he thinks is from Simone. Simone sees her come out and warns her that Quentin will never go out with someone like her. Given the age difference, I sincerely hope so!

Since she had the photos developed and sent to the office, Jessica sneaks over to check on them and finds Cameron staring at them. He claims that he had to open the package to see who to deliver it to. They somehow start fighting, which causes Jessica to notice their chemistry. She tilts her head to kiss him, and he goes off on her about how she's just like all the other models he's met before and how he'll never want her.

With her tail between her legs, she goes to see Quentin. He somehow realizes that she was the one who kissed him in the darkroom and that they have something special. She shows him her photos, and Quentin tells her that she has a good look for the magazine and that they can talk about it over dinner the next night. Cameron then comes in and, without even speaking to her, just grabs her and kisses her before telling her they're going to dinner the next night. As he leaves, she realizes she has two dates for the same night.

Leona tells Liz that if she has any ideas for the magazine, she should talk to her. Liz does all this research and finds out that other fashion magazines have some way to connect with readers but Flare doesn't. She comes up with an idea that lets real people write articles about what's trending. Leona says she'll bring it up at the next editorial meeting but that it probably won't fly because it will cost too much.

Liz is all sad but decides to focus on going out with Todd that night. When he cancels at the last minute, she remembers that she has friends and asks them to meet her. Enid and Maria take multiple buses to get all the way to LA, only for Leona to ask Liz to do some extra work at the last minute. She sends them away without really apologizing.

Even though she keeps freaking out every time she sees Todd and Simone, Liz thinks things are fine. When he keeps canceling though, she starts worrying. She makes plans with the girls for the next night, but then Leona invites her to a party and tells her that it's important for her career goals but that she's welcome to bring her boyfriend. Since who knows what Todd is up to, she asks if she can bring her friends. Leona gets really cool and points out that is a terrible idea.

Todd and Simone wind up on the empty and dark set all by their lonesome. Simone keeps coming onto him and finally kisses him, while they are both wearing super tiny bathing suits I want to point out. Liz, hoping to see him and clear things up before asking him to the party, arrives just in time to see them making off. Since this is a Sweet Valley book, she instantly runs off in tears.

*Jessica decides that even though she's in a pantsuit that she'll still fit in because her pants are almost as tight as the tights that other girls wear. WTF, how tight are her freaking pants?

*Todd starts making plans about what to do with school and how to finish school while working as a professional model...after one shoot.

*Jessica has some nerve! She keeps bitching about how Simone demands that she get her water and stuff or how Quentin bosses her about. Bitch, you're an intern, that's what you do!

*Elizabeth seriously treats her friends like crap. When Maria quits listening to her, Jess suggests that she call Enid because they're both working in publishing. Liz ends the call early because Enid just doesn't understand all the demands on her.

*Seriously, this is a two-week internship. Liz literally acts like every single thing she does will somehow lead to a major job offer in the future. BTW, why would Liz even want to work for a fashion magazine?

*Leona asks for her advice on a new dress she bought, and Liz immediately asks what color hose she'll wear after seeing it for the first time. I'm sorry but I have a hard time imaging a fashion editor in her early 30s in the late 1990s who would wear a black minidress with a plunging neckline and pair it with hose.

*Quentin is just plain creepy, but Jessica is just as creepy for going after him. He's a professional photographer who dates professional models and has to be in his mid 20s at least. Jessica is SIXTEEN YEARS OLD!!

*Cameron is equally creepy though. Who sees a girl sleeping and just decides to kiss her because she looked nice? He then kisses her without speaking to her or getting the go ahead, and Jessica is totally fine with it because he's cute.

*Lila works for Fowler Enterprises and gets assigned to answer the phones. She can't believe that the daughter of the owner would get such a shit job AND that they expect her to be nice to everyone who calls. LOL