Sweet Valley High #109: Double-Crossed

 I have no clue how I read these books so far out of order, but to recap:

Sweet Valley High #107: Jessica's Secret Love

Sweet Valley High #108: Left at the Altar

 

 

This book takes place after Jess interrupted Jeremy and Sue's wedding, so she's now temporarily living at Fowler Crest. Lila kind of thinks that the whole thing is romantic but wonders if her friend made the right decision. Liz calls to tell her twin that Ned and Alice are seriously talking about sending her to boarding school. Jess blows the whole thing off because as soon as they see that she and Jeremy are truly in love, they'll understand everything.

The new lovebirds go out like twice before Jeremy tells her that he has to leave town on a Project Nature assignment in Costa Rica. He promises that he'll only be gone a few weeks and when he comes back, he can transfer to their office in California. Before he leaves, he gives her an engagement ring, the same on that she picked out when shopping with Sue. He makes her promise that she won't tell anyone until he gets back.

Instead, she tells Lila who promises to keep it a secret. Lila then tells Caroline who spreads it around school. Liz is one of the last people to hear and has a breakdown because the twins are growing apart. Jess calms her down and says that no matter what happens, they'll always be sisters. Liz and Todd can even live next door to her and Jeremy.

 

The only problem is Jeremy, big surprise. She demands that he let her go to the airport with him, but then he makes her leave before she can see him get on the plane. Whenever she calls him, he's never there but conveniently calls back later. Lila brings up how Jess would go out late with Sam and pretend she was at Fowler Crest. When Alice called, Lila would make up an excuse and call Jess who would then call home from his house. Jess has no idea how this relates to her and Jeremy. We also get a scene of a dude calling Jeremy and telling him that she called again while he smokes a cigarette.

Todd and Winston both go to the same place to get their hair cut. While Todd gets a new guy, Winston gets the old guy who keeps calling him the wrong name and ruining his hair. Todd gets a hot new look and decides to grow a mustache at the same time. While all of the guys love it, Liz hates it.

It gets to the point where she cringes when he touches her. They have a romantic moment and start making out. As soon as his mustache touches her face, she runs away from him. They have a huge fight, with her telling him that it's gross and no one likes it. The fight gets so bad that they end up breaking up.

Sue has her ups and downs, not surprisingly. She spends the first few days crying in bed and wishing that she could change things. Liz worries because Sue goes off by herself all the time and rarely eats, plus she works out a lot. Things get much worse when Jess moves back home.

 

After one dinner where Jess makes snide comments about boarding school and then drops the news that he proposed, all hell breaks loose. The next morning, they find Sue passed out in bed with a suicide note and an empty bottle of pills next to her. Doctors pump her stomach and let her return to the Wakefield house but tell them to keep an eye on her.

Jess briefly wonders if anyone would blame her for everything and then decides that no one can stand in the way of her true love. She keeps moping around until Jeremy calls to say that it will be at least another couple of weeks. No worries though because Project Nature is having a huge Halloween party in the woods. He tells her to invite all of her friends and that he'll bring her the perfect costume.

Lila and Robby are having some problems too. He gets an invite to a big show for new artists, but she thinks that the gallery will take advantage of him. She signs him up for a business class, he freaks out, and they stop talking. They get back together when he admits that he started taking the class and likes it so much that he signed up for another class. When she finds out he draws nudes, she freaks out again and they break up yet again before getting back together.

We then learn that Sue has a dark side. She starts sneaking around the house to get the mail and taking letters from somewhere in California up to her room before anyone can see them. When a mysterious stranger calls her, she laughs about how the “suicide attempt” wasn't as bad as she thought but not something she would want to do again.

 

 

Alice gets a certified letter in the mail about Sue's mom's will. Sue's mom was the heiress to a frozen food fortune but wrote Sue out of her will when she kept seeing Jeremy who she hated. She added an amendment that if Sue and Jeremy broke up and stayed apart for two months, then she would get the money. If she failed, Alice would inherit everything. Since Jeremy left town and they stayed apart, she gets the fortune.

Amy and some other kids started a video club at SVH and get together to show their movies. She asks Jess for help with her film, which really just sets up a reason for her to come to their meeting. They watch the video that Winston made about the best places to kiss in Sweet Valley. She's shocked to see Jeremy and Sue kissing just weeks ago but convinces herself that it's not them.

Cut to the big Halloween party. Jeremy sends over a Jasmine dress and plans to go as Aladdin. Liz wears her same cat costume from last year (which last year?), and Sue goes as a witch. In the middle of the party, Jeremy goes missing. Jess can't find him anywhere and sneaks outside to cry about how he ditched her. She then finds him and Sue making out. He has her pressed against a tree with his tongue down her throat and hands all over her. Though he runs after her, she tells Liz what happened who then drives her home.

Jessica can't stop crying and sobbing about how it was all a lie and they never stopped seeing each other. When Jeremy shows up, Liz tells him off and slams the door in his face. Jess then rushes out and gives her that look because she just knows that he's there to explain. Instead, Jeremy wants to tell them that Sue disappeared...

 

*There's a great moment where Bruce calls Jessica a homewrecker and says that he never should have let her get caught up in her crazy schemes. When he tells her to keep her hands to himself, she reminds him that he liked it when she didn't keep her hands to herself. He gets all embarrassed and makes a rude comment to Liz, who then reminds him that the sisters have some things in common.

*Liz points out that Sue's stepdad decided not to come to town after her suicide attempt because it didn't sound serious. She thinks it's weird because he married her mom when Sue was eight. That really does make him sound bad.

*In case you're worried about poor Winston's hair, don't fret! He winds up getting it all shaved out and dresses up as Captain Picard for the party, with Maria going as a Vulcan.

*Jess is shocked to learn that her stopping the wedding prevented Alice for becoming a millionaire. Liz asks if she would trade Jeremy for the money, and she has to think about it for a second before saying no. Yup, true love.

*Both twins think it's weird that Sue wants to go the party. Why though? She works for Project Nature and knows most of the adults who will be there. Jess is just a random add on from Jeremy who invited all of her friends. By the way, I would be pissed if my employer threw a massive party and a bunch of teenagers showed up.

 

*Let me point out that Jeremy is 23 years old. I was a dumb shit teenager girl who dated a guy the same age and now realize how disturbing it was. At least my way too old boyfriend didn't have a fiancee!

*Jess dream engagement ring is a huge sapphire with a diamond on either side. First of all, how does a dude working at a nonprofit have the money for that type of ring? Second, you know Jess wouldn't marry a man without a huge diamond on her finger!

*Lila goes to the party as the Mona Lisa. I only point this out because it's super cute when Robby calls her his Mona Lila.

*According to Jess, she's been infatuated with other guys before but other than Jeremy, the only one she loved was Sam.

*She's literally at the beach and points out that one of her boyfriends died when he fell over the pier a few feet away but that she can't even remember his name. That means you date too much kid, too much.

*Even as a 12/13 year old or however old I was, I thought this book and the whole series was ridiculous. What teenage girl wants to marry a guy who literally broke off his engagement in front of friends days earlier?