Sweet Valley High #124: Meet Me at Midnight
Read part one of this miniseries here.
The Moral of the Story: Summer camp sucks unless you can fall in love and/or cheat on your boyfriend.
The Big Deal: Big play at the summer camp
Synopsis:
Todd has apparently not noticed that Liz was holding another guy’s hand and gives her a great big hug. I guess he has a break from basketball camp and is going to stay in Winston’s cabin as a visitor because he’s so co-dependent he can’t even let his girlfriend go to summer camp for a month. Liz is not pleased. She wishes Todd would go home and acts like she’s totally bored with him.
Jessica gets the lead in the play and she’s all happy until she gets a letter from Paul. He doesn’t want her to try to see him again because he doesn’t like dumb blondes. Jessica is pissed and totally determined to make him fall in love with her. What? Guy’s an ass who made out with you and then called you stupid. Forget about him. But no. She cooks up a scheme with Tanya, Paul’s sister, and manages to get him alone so they can talk. She’s found out he dated a camp counselor last summer and she hurt him really bad so now he doesn’t want anything to do with the camp or its counselors. What a drama queen. Jessica tells him she knows everything and calls him a coward. He says he’ll see her, just to prove he’s not afraid of women.
Winston is getting letters from his girlfriend, white Maria, who is staying at her grandmother’s ranch. She keeps talking about some cowboy named Hank. Winston gets jealous and tells Aaron and Todd all about it. They get Winston some cowboy boots and sign him up for horseback riding lessons, figuring that if Maria wants a cowboy, Winston will be the best damned cowboy on the planet. Who wants to bet that Hank is some old man Maria has no interest in whatsoever? Some fifteen-year-old camper named Lara starts flirting with Winston and he tells her his concerns about Maria. He acts like they’re already broken up and lets Lara make out with him a little. Well, hell. If you can’t trust Winston, who the fuck can you trust? Then one day Winston gets a letter and a picture of Maria and Hank. To my complete and utter shock, Hank turns out to be an old man Maria has no interest in whatsoever.
Joey gets Liz alone and tells her he’s seen her with Todd and can tell she’s not in love with him. He wants her to break things off with him, and Liz says she will. Todd’s leaving the next morning, and Liz wakes up early to say goodbye and break his heart. Of course she can’t do it. She knows it’s the right thing to do, but you know how much Liz loves cheating. She figures she’ll just keep her summer fling a secret from Todd. But then Nicole, that bitch, tells Liz to break things off with Joey or she’ll write Todd a letter and tell him everything. Liz does as she’s told and is heartbroken when Joey immediately starts hanging all over Nicole. Jerk.
Jessica steals the camp owner’s car so she can sneak into town and visit Paul at his family’s restaurant. She ends up flipping burgers and closing the kitchen down with him. She doesn’t get back to camp until after two in the morning. She plans to meet him again the next night, but Lacey, the camp owner, finds out Jessica took her car and is furious. She’s watching Jessica like a hawk, so Jessica can’t see Paul. She writes him a letter telling him she has to cancel their plans for the day and invites him to see the play on Wednesday. For some reason she thinks her letter will get there that day and she’s shocked when two days go by and she hasn’t heard from him. The day of the play, she takes a bike and rides to the restaurant, but a cook there says it’s Paul’s day off. He gives her a ride to Paul’s house and she ends up missing the play. She and Paul go outside and fall asleep under the stars.
Liz pretends to be Jessica and stars in the play. When it’s over, Joey comes up to her and gives her a great big old kiss. Liz is sad because she thinks that he thinks she’s Jessica, but he says he knew it was her all along. Yeah, right. So now I guess they’re flinging it again.
Quotes:
Jessica let out her breath in a rush. She couldn’t believe it. She had really done it. She had landed the lead role in the summer production.
Yeah, I bet she feels really good, having beaten all the twelve- and thirteen-year-olds who tried out.
She was attracted to somebody else. She had to break up with Todd. Just the thought made her feel like the most disloyal girlfriend on earth.
No, the fact that you constantly cheat on your boyfriend makes you the most disloyal girlfriend on earth.
The Cover: I don’t know who anyone on this cover is supposed to be. I can’t tell which twin is which. That guy in the canoe is making a face that makes me wonder where his other hand is.
November 10th, 2009 at 11:50 am
Is it just me or were there about a thousand Marias in this series?!
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Sandy Reply:
November 10th, 2009 at 11:51 am
Yeah, and all Maria’s are not Hispanic. So I’m really confused…
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Shannon Reply:
November 10th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Yeah, none of them are Hispanic. One’s black and the other is possibly Italian. What the hell?
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Darren Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 12:46 am
Now I’m confused with this Hank for the only Hank I know is Henry Patman. How can they call the cowboy Hank? Unless the ghost writer read the Patmans of Sweet Valley and saw the picture of one Patman as a cowboy.
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Shannon Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 8:54 am
There are already at least two Marias. You don’t think there can be another Hank?
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November 10th, 2009 at 11:52 am
“If you can’t trust Winston, who the fuck can you trust?”
So true.
Sweet Valley logic: Well if they can’t see me cheating then it’s not cheating.
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Shannon Reply:
November 10th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
I can’t tell you how much it broke my heart that Winston made out with some other chick. It’s messing with my whole world view.
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Sandy Reply:
November 10th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Never forget the mantra:
“It’s only a book, its only a book, it’s only a book”
This has helped me everytime there’s a continuity error, or the wrong kid dies, and now Winston cheats.
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November 10th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
They get Winston some cowboy boots and sign him up for horseback riding lessons, figuring that if Maria wants a cowboy, Winston will be the best damned cowboy on the planet.
Oh, Winston
I’m pretending the bit where he makes out with someone else didn’t happen, BTW.
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Shannon Reply:
November 10th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
You know, I think that’s the best way to handle this. Just pretend it never happened.
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November 10th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
haha this is awesome! just found this blog from modcloth! i used to looove sweet valley!
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Shannon Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 8:46 am
Thanks, I’m glad you’re enjoying it!
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November 10th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
Your post is up!!!
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Shannon Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 8:50 am
Ha ha, it’s great! I hope I’m not the only one sending in pictures…
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Kate Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 9:05 am
It’s amazing! I love it.
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November 10th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
“Joey gets Liz alone and tells her he’s seen her with Todd and can tell she’s not in love with him.”
I know he’s only telling Liz this so he can get all up in her goody bag, but this guy may just be the smartest person in the entire series.
PS love your Children of the Nineties glamour shot, Shannon!
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Shannon Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Oh, thank you!
Yeah, Joey is one smart cookie. It’s been obvious to us from the beginning that she doesn’t really love Todd, but Joey’s the only one who doesn’t think they deserve a Couple of the Year award.
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November 10th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
No Joey Liz just loves cheating on Todd.
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Shannon Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 8:58 am
True story.
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November 10th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Of course old cowboy dude is named Hank. Just of course it is…
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Shannon Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Ha, yeah, I figure it must have been a toss up between Hank and, like, Bill or something. Possibly Rusty.
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November 11th, 2009 at 12:44 am
Aw man, why couldn’t Maria (Winston’s girlfriend) be meeting up with some rich dude that walks with a swagger (ala Vince McMahon), that would’ve been funny to dress Winston in a suit and have him swaggering along like he’s drunk like the wrestling promoter! That would’ve been funny, and then Winston could talk like he’s gargling with Drano.
Don’t feel too bad about Elizabeth, she’s really hopped around with a lot of boys, cheating on boyfriends is a Wakefield thing like the ewings of Dallas: Elizabeth, Jessica, even Steven, even Ned with Marianne rumors and Alice with Hank Patman. It’s so amazing Elizabeth hasn’t jumped in the sack yet, and more amazing how Jessica let herself get manipulated with Jeremy the swindler.
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November 11th, 2009 at 1:13 am
I think they named him Hank because the ghostwriters insist on recycling names, creating this vortex of Sweet Valley incestuous sounding families/relationships. Weird.
Liz is such a whore! I’m giggling silently to myself because I haven’t thought of someone as a “kissing slut” since about 7th grade, but she totally is one!
Shan – Your pic is adorable! I wish I could submit a glam shot, but my entire family is in it. Maybe awkwardfamilyphotos.com will have me, haha
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Shannon Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 8:55 am
I’m sure she’d take a family shot! Send it in!
LOL @ “kissing slut.” She totally is.
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November 11th, 2009 at 5:20 am
Jessica gets the lead in the play and she’s all happy until she gets a letter from Paul. He doesn’t want her to try to see him again because he doesn’t like dumb blondes
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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Shannon Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 8:55 am
I know, that’s my favorite part, too!
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Lindsay Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 9:54 am
It might be the greatest thing ever in an SVH book. Aside from Lila Fowler
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Shannon Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 9:59 am
Of course. There is nothing better in an SVH book than Lila Fowler.
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November 12th, 2009 at 11:30 am
It’s amazing that Liz can treat Todd like crap and he doesn’t even get the message!
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