The moral of the story: If you mess with Elizabeth, she will make you dance with Winston Egbert.

The Big Deal: Some unnamed fall dance at which Jessica gets crowned queen, party at Lila’s

Best outfit: Dana Larson – “tight black velvet jeans, a pair of sparkly pink leg warmers, and a purple satin blouse”

Synopsis:

Enid is freaking out. She’s suddenly sure her new boyfriend, Ronnie, is going to break up with her. When Liz asks why, Enid reveals her dark past. Enid used to take drugs (gasp!) and, because this is Sweet Valley, her wild days ended when she and her drug-buddy George went joyriding and hit a kid. Enid and George have been pen pals for the last two years and now George is coming to Sweet Valley for a visit. Ronnie is a jealous asshat and Enid is sure he’ll break up with her just for having a male friend, so she makes Liz promise to keep George and Enid’s past with him a secret.

Let’s just get one thing straight: Ronnie is a jerk. And Enid apparently knows it, but she’s so in love with him that it doesn’t matter.

There’s a dance coming up. Jessica wants to be crowned queen because she’s sure Bruce Patman will be king and then he’ll have to notice her. Enid is her only competition and normally this wouldn’t worry Jessica. But Ronnie is head of the dance committee, so Jessica is afraid that he’ll somehow get people to vote for his girlfriend. Jessica finds one of George’s letters to Enid in Liz’s room, and she figures the best way to make sure she’s crowned queen is to ruin Enid’s life. She shows Ronnie the letter and then he breaks up with Enid. This plan has the added benefit of making Enid think Elizabeth betrayed her. Jessica is never happier than when Liz has no friends but her. Then Jessica goes to a party at Lila’s and gets Ronnie to agree to go to the dance with her.

Meanwhile, there’s a terrible rumor going around that Ms. Dalton, the French teacher, is having an affair with Ken Matthews. Ms. Dalton stays home from school for a few days, but Enid feels like she really needs some advice so she goes to her apartment to get it. Ms. Dalton tells Enid to hold her head high and go to the dance even if people are talking about her. So Enid goes home and starts getting ready, and then who should show up unexpectedly but George Warren. He takes Enid to the dance and everyone thinks he’s the most gorgeous guy they’ve ever seen.

Liz has figured out that Jessica is the one who told Ronnie about George, so to get even she makes sure Jessica and Winston are crowned king and queen at the dance. Jessica is humiliated when she has to dance with the geekiest kid in school. Enid apologizes to Liz for being such a bitch, and everyone is happy. Except Jessica.

Quotes:

Elizabeth hugged her best friend, forgetting the fact that they were both covered in chocolate-chip cookie batter. Enid Rollins was spending the night at the Wakefields’, and Elizabeth had initiated Project C. C. Cookie in the hope it would distract Enid from whatever it was she’d been so jumpy about all evening.

Liz is so perfect. She makes cookies…

But the best thing about him was that he didn’t give a darn whether he was popular or not.

…she has the niftiest boyfriend…

Elizabeth went back to her room and to the book she was reading, but she couldn’t seem to concentrate. She was thinking about Enid, worrying over the fact that she hadn’t called.

…her concern for her friends knows no bounds…

Elizabeth relented at the sincerity in her sister’s tone. “I’m sorry, Jess,” she said. “I know you’re just trying to help.”

…she worships her twin sister…

Among other things, Jessica had led him to believe her sister was too busy dating other boys to bother with him. She’d told Elizabeth a story about Todd attacking her, when all he’d done was reluctantly kiss her on the cheek…

Elizabeth defended her twin. “Jessica means well…”

…a little too much.

Jessica and the number 137

“Your room is already so disgustingly neat. It’ll take a hundred and thirty-seven years to clean up mine,” she wailed. p. 87

The cover: Sorry about the cover, I don’t know why someone would scribble on a book with a marker.