Sweet Valley High #139: Elizabeth is Mine

Todd is all in shock that Jessica would accuse his beautiful and wonderful girlfriend of cheating on him for the 400^th time and kind of refuses to believe it. She tells him exactly where to find them and then throws herself at him. In her eyes, it's the perfect payback to her twin stealing her man. Todd turns her down and tells her to help herself to the feast he made for Liz before leaving. He drives around town before heading to the school, and after seeing Liz and Devon still going at he, he just takes off.

Jessica devours the lobster salad and all the other stuff Todd made for her twin while fuming to herself. After eating way too much, she decides to get back at Liz.

Liz and Devon are still freaking making out until it starts raining. She heads home while feeling like she's walking on air, only to find Jessica waiting for her. Jess makes a few comments and then tells Liz she looked for her. Liz keeps making up excuses until Jess drops the news that she saw them together and that Todd now knows. She also makes Liz feel like the hose bag she is by telling her all about how Todd made huge plans for an anniversary that Liz herself even forgot.

Though she feels bad for hurting Todd, Liz tries to avoid him and not think about him so she can focus just on Devon. That lasts until Todd confronts her in school. He gives her the ring and tells her that he wants her to have it because he bought it just for her. Liz feels like a lying cheating whore because Todd is so awesome and knows her so well but she just can't keep her mind off Devon.

Mr. Russo, the chemistry teacher responsible for AP chemistry who is still giving them elementary school assignments, announces a last minute science fair. Despite the fact that they have no time, they have the option of entering a science fair in like two weeks. He then tells Devon that he already signed him and Liz up. Devon gets all super cool and tells him no and then won't tell Liz why he won't enter. He does make her a rock candy crystal though, which amazes her because she's never seen anyone do something so smart. I guess she missed it when we did that project in sixth grade.

Jessica comes up with a revenge plan that consists of two steps. The first is to make herself available, er more available?, to Devon and win him over. She'll also hook Todd up with Courtney Kane to show Liz how it feels when someone steals your man. Courtney goes along with the plan because she secretly still likes Todd. They dress her up to look more like Elizabeth, which seems to work.

The first time they see each other, Courtney is super demure and quiet. She practically ignores her, which leaves him interested. Todd then thinks that dating Courtney would be the perfect revenge. When they hang out together though, she actually seems like someone he might like. They talk about old times and get along really well. Jessica cements the plan in his mind when she walks by dressed like Liz and shows him his ring on her finger. He thinks he's making Liz jealous and that she'll come back to him.

Jess then arranges for Liz to pick her up at the Dairi Burger and for Courtney to meet Todd there. Liz walks in just as they start heavily kissing and runs outside in shock. After crying and feeling like a mega bitch, she decides that it's good for Todd to move on. She even tells Jessica that she wants to give him back the ring so that he can move on like she did.

Devon keeps acting super secretive about why he doesn't want to enter the science fair, and Liz tries not to push him in a way that pushes him to tell her the truth. Did he cause an explosion that burnt a girl's face off? Did he take a serum that made him into the dullest man alive? Nah, he was just so good at science that winning all the time turned him off or something like that. Liz is super understanding and promises not to tell his secret to anyone. What secret? He feels bad at her missing the science fair and agrees to enter.

Jessica's plan for winning Devon involves asking him for help with her science homework. Devon actually makes a rude comment about how she can't compete with Liz and about how Liz is smarter, which makes me think he should check their SAT scores. Jessica explodes at him and storms off. She later tells him she forgives him and decides to enter the science fair. Since everyone else already has a partner, she picks Bruce.

Bruce and Jessica make a big-ass volcano that actually explodes. Devon and Liz make some musical instrument. Both projects sound more appropriate for kids. People love the volcano but care more about the instrument, so Jess borrows wire cutters from Bruce and disappears. She then comes back and adds more dry ice to the volcano, despite his warnings, just as the judges arrive. The volcano literally explodes, in a bad way, and takes away Jessica's dreams of winning the fair and winning Devon's heart.

Liz tries to play the instrument, realizes something is wrong, and finds that “someone” cut the wires inside. Devon is totally fine with it because he didn't really want to win anyway. Liz is okay with it too because she has Devon. She isn't that okay with seeing Todd and Courtney together again though.

Todd quickly remembers why he stopped seeing Courtney in the first place. Once she has him back, all she can talk about is the crap her daddy buys her, her horses, and all her upcoming trips. Todd loves knowing that Liz is jealous but hates spending time with Courtney. That's why he gets really excited when Liz calls and asks him to meet her at the Dairi Burger.

When she tries to give him the ring back, he points out that he saw her wearing it and realized it was a sign they belonged together. They then put things together and realize Jessica was up to her old tricks. She then rushes in with Devon right behind her. Devon flips out at seeing Liz and Todd holding hands and throws a fit. Todd then thinks it's the perfect time to get down on one knee and propose to her.

This leads to Devon and Todd having a knock down drag out fight. Punches fly, Liz tries to get in the middle, and someone hits her in the face and then in the ribs. Three football players have to come over and drag Liz out of the fight and pull the guys apart. All she can think about is her broken heart and hurting body as she runs away. Meanwhile, Courtney is pissed and ready for some real revenge.

*Nan knows perfectly well that Liz has a boyfriend and yet still encourages Devon to go after her. Nice parenting.

*Maria and Winston make a working paddle wheel for the science fair, Amy and Lila make a robot that actually models clothes, and Enid and Maria submit a solar energy project they worked on before the science fair. Any of those projects deserves to win over what Liz and Devon do.

*Devon and the whole science thing irritates me. It's multiple mentions of him not wanting to talk about it and making a huge deal about why he doesn't want to enter. His reason for not entering is so lame, and I hate that Liz thinks he's so compassionate or some other bull shit for stepping back and letting someone else win.

*Todd and Courtney went on a date one time that involved sneaking into the office where their dads both worked, but they accidentally interrupted a black tie party. Todd's dad now sends him an invitation to each party with a note on it that he's not invited. LOL

*Jessica explains that she's so upset because Devon is the first guy she cared about since Christian died. Let's go down the list of soul mates she's met since then, shall we? There was Paul at camp, that thief guy in France, and Cameron at the magazine. I feel I'm missing some others too...

*Jess gets a hilarious scene where she thinks about telling her mom what her other daughter's been up to lately. I kind of feel like Alice would just get confused that Jessica wasn't telling a story about herself.

*Todd tells Liz that they can pretend the kiss never happened and just go back to being normal, but she tells him that kissing Devon wasn't a mistake. They do not break up though. Devon asks her later, and she just tells him that they pretty much broke up.

*Devon talks to Nan about how he feels bad for Liz because he knows she had a long history with Todd. Shouldn't there be a welcoming committee that's just like, “dude, she cheats on Todd all the time, but they always wind up together. You should just date Jessica. She'll get bored and dump you within a week.”

*Todd is truly disturbed when Jessica throws herself at him on the beach and wonders why she would think he'd want her. Maybe because of all the other times you made out with her or dated her?

*Liz wants to give Todd back the ring so he can give it to Courtney. Can you imagine her reaction if he tried to give her jewelry he bought and gave to someone else first?

*Despite Courtney ending the book with revenge on her mind, I totally read the last book in this series and do not remember her in it at all.

*As I come close to the last of SVH, I only have a few books left after this one beyond Earthquake and Aftershock, which I cannot find anywhere, I find myself really hating the series. These later books are really hard to get through. The first two chapters, and sometimes three, just go over everything that happened in the last book. Then there are a bunch of references to the last book later on. I also hate Devon so much that I'm glad he wasn't in SVSY.

To see how this shit storm of a miniseries wrapped up, you can read my recap of the last book here : http://yarevisited.blogspot.com/2013/02/sweet-valley-high-140-please-forgive-me.html