Elizabeth Wakefield stared out her window at the sparkling surface of her family's swimming pool. Her lips pursed in thought as she twirled a strand of golden hair between her fingers. Suddenly she spun to face her friends. "I know! We can have a costume party--one with a theme!"
Enid Rollins nodded, her reddish brown hair bobbing against her shoulders. "That's not bad," she said. "We could tell everyone to come as a literary character." She jumped up from Elizabeth's desk chair and curtsied, holding out an imaginary full skirt over her khaki walking shorts. "I can be Jane Eyre!"
Maria Slater rolled her deep brown eyes. "And Jessica and Lila will be Tweedledee and Tweedledum. As if!"
Elizabeth giggled. "Oops. I guess you're right. I keep forgetting this isn't
my seventeenth birthday party we're planning--it's my twin's."
"But it's your birthday too!" Olivia Davidson said, perched at the foot of Elizabeth's bed with the California sunshine gilding her mane of wild brown curls like a halo. "Why shouldn't you do something you think is fun?"
"Hello!" Maria broke in, a wry expression on her ebony face. "Remember, Jessica's favorite literary character is the woman who gives makeup tips in
Ingenue magazine."
"There has to be something we can do that will be fun for
everyone," Elizabeth said, her hands in the pockets of her jeans.
"True," said Enid. "This isn't just a birthday party. It'll also be an end-of-the-school-year blowout."
"Still, I want to surprise Jessica with a party planned especially for her," Elizabeth said. "But it's not easy, coming up with a party both our sets of friends will like!"
Elizabeth and Jessica had the same sun blond hair, blue-green eyes, heart-shaped faces, and size-six figures. But the resemblance was purely physical. When it came to personality and interests, the twins were nothing alike.
Impulsive, irrepressible Jessica spent as little time on schoolwork as possible, convinced there were more important things in life--like cheerleading, shopping, and scoping for guys on the beach. Elizabeth, four minutes older, was the more responsible twin, a straight-A student who worked hard on the school newspaper, the
Oracle, and dreamed of becoming a professional writer. Jessica was happy to date somebody new each week, while Elizabeth preferred a steady relationship with one special boy.
One special boy. Elizabeth bit her lip at the thought. Until recently that boy had been Todd Wilkins, the Sweet Valley High basketball star she'd been dating for what Jessica thought was an eternity. Elizabeth had been deeply in love with Todd. In a way she supposed she still was--though they were barely speaking to each other now. Elizabeth knew she'd hurt Todd terribly when she fell for Devon Whitelaw, the new guy at school. But she couldn't ignore her attraction to tall, handsome Devon, with his independent attitude and razor-sharp mind. Her confusion had cost her both boyfriends. She and Devon were officially "just friends" now, and she figured she should feel lucky for that. At least Devon didn't hate her, though he had every right to.
Olivia's voice broke into her thoughts. "Well today is Sunday, the first of June," Olivia was saying. "Your birthday is the thirteenth."
"That's less than two weeks to plan the birthday bash of the century, whatever you decide to do for it," Maria added.
"Don't remind me," Elizabeth said with a groan. She shoved away all thoughts of Todd and Devon and tried to concentrate on the issue at hand.
Elizabeth's gaze rested on Olivia's color-splashed tunic and purple leggings. "Come on, Liv. You're the most creative person in our class. You must have some ideas!"
"Give me time!" Olivia chided. "The
Mona Lisa wasn't painted overnight!"
"Speaking of ideas, Liz, have you picked out a birthday present for Jessica?" Maria asked.
Elizabeth shook her head. "The party will be part of it--if I ever get it planned. I do want to give her something else, but I haven't a clue about what!"
"Choosing a gift couldn't be too hard, knowing Jessica," Maria pointed out, reaching out to scratch Prince Albert, the Wakefields' golden retriever, behind the ears. "She's always so in-your-face about telling the world what she wants."
"True," Enid said. "But Chris O'Donnell is already married."
Elizabeth laughed. "With Chris out of the picture, Jess's second choice would be a new car since our Jeep bit the big one. But my savings account isn't up to the challenge."
"Olivia, how are you coming on your gift for Ken?" Maria asked.
Elizabeth looked up, interested. Olivia had been dating Elizabeth's friend Ken Matthews, quarterback for Sweet Valley High's football team, and Elizabeth had never seen either of them looking so happy. "What gift?" she asked. "Are you planning something special for the end of the school year?"
"I'm painting his portrait!" Olivia revealed, her hazel eyes sparkling. "I'm just about finished, and I can't wait to see if he likes it."
"You mean he hasn't seen it yet?" Enid asked. "Didn't he have to pose for you?"
"Nope. I asked him for photographs for reference. Besides that I'm making it up out of my head."
"You go, girl!" Maria cheered. "Hey, Liz, how about surprising Jessica with a painting party for your mutual birthday? Everyone can wear old clothes--"
"Painter's pants?" Enid quipped.
"We can tape up a mural-size sheet of paper on the side of the house," Maria continued. "And everyone can paint their greetings to Jessica on it. I went to a party like that once in Hollywood. Everyone threw paint all over each other. It was total insanity, but we never stopped laughing."
Olivia grinned. "It sounds like fun, but isn't Jessica more the dressed-to-the-hilt type when it comes to parties?"
Elizabeth nodded. "I'm sure Jessica's life on the planet would end if a guy saw her with a blob of paint in her hair."
"It's a good thing Ken doesn't feel that way!" Olivia said, rubbing at some multicolored smears of dried paint on her own hands. "When I'm working, my hair gets so much paint in it, you'd think I'd gotten a punked-out dye job!"
"And on you, Liv, it looks perfect," Elizabeth told her warmly. "Very painterly."
Olivia smiled back.
"But we're still stuck for an idea for the hottest birthday party ever," Enid reminded them.
Maria ran a hand over her stylishly short black hair. "That's because we're going about this all wrong," she said. "We have to start thinking like Jessica."
Olivia grimaced. "That sounds painful!"
"It does, but Maria's right," Elizabeth said. "What kind of party would Jessica want?"
"Something with blasting music," Maria said.
"And hot guys," Enid said.
"She'd want to have it at a place where she can wear the sexiest minidress Valley Mall has to offer," Olivia added.
"I've got it!" Elizabeth cried. She raced to the bed and plopped down in the middle of it, disheveling the comforter. "We'll rent the entire Beach Disco!" she exclaimed. "Hire a DJ or a band and invite everyone we know!"
"And dance the night away!" Maria finished for her.
Enid nodded. "That's perfect! Jessica loves that place."
"So does everyone else," Olivia said. "Dancing in the open air, with a view of the ocean . . . Hey, Ken and I are definitely there."
"I've never heard of anyone renting the whole disco," Enid pointed out. "Are you sure you can afford it?"
"I don't know what it would cost," Elizabeth admitted. "But it can't be too outrageous. And maybe they'll give us a discount because we hang out there all the time."
"A frequent dancer credit," Maria joked.
"Right." Elizabeth swatted her friend on the arm. "Whatever it costs, it'll be worth it. We've only got one birthday a year, right?"
"And you only turn seventeen once," Olivia said.
Elizabeth took a deep breath. "I can hardly believe we're going to be seventeen years old!" she exclaimed. "I'm sure this will be a birthday we'll remember forever."
