HEAD OVER HEELS

  Written by

  Kate William

  Created by

  FRANCINE PASCAL

  Copyright © 2015, Francine Pascal

  HEAD OVER HEELS

  Lila laughed. "If I win, you write my term paper. And if you win, I write yours. How does that sound?"

  Jessica swallowed. If she lost the bet, she'd have two term papers to write. And at this point she could barely imagine writing one!

  But she wasn't about to let Lila see how worried she was. "You're on," Jessica said cheerfully.

  "Fine," said Lila. "We'll make the carnival the cutoff point. Just think, if Bruce and Regina break up before then, you won't have to worry about your term paper!"

  And if they don't, Jessica thought uneasily, I might as well hang myself. She looked across the cafeteria to where Bruce and Regina were sitting and shook her head. This bet is too important to lose, Jessica thought. If Bruce and Regina don't break up on their own in a few days, I'm going to have to do my best to help them!

  CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  A LETTER TO THE READER

  Preview: CAITLIN

  One

  "Jessica Wakefield," Elizabeth called, knocking firmly on the door of her twin sister's bedroom, "were you planning on waking up at some point this morning?"

  Hearing her twin's groan, Elizabeth pushed open the door to Jessica's bedroom. "Come on, Jess," she urged, pulling up the blinds and letting light pour into the room. "Good Lord," she said, looking around her. "It looks like you've been dynamiting in here. How can you sleep in this mess?"

  Jessica sat up in the rumpled sheets, stretching her slim arms over her tousled blond hair and yawning. "What time is it, Liz?" she asked crossly. "It feels like it's about four in the morning.

  Elizabeth laughed. It was like Jessica not to have a clock in her room. She lived by what her parents sometimes referred to as Jessica Standard Time. Being on time was not one of her concerns.

  Apart from a mole on Elizabeth's right shoulder, the twins were identical down to the tiny dimple in each left cheek. They were both sixteen years old, though Elizabeth was born four minutes before Jessica. Both had shoulder-length, sun-streaked blond hair, sparkling blue-green eyes, and model-slim, five-foot-six-inch figures. Even the gold lavalieres dangling around their necks were identical—presents from their parents on their sixteenth birthday.

  But the resemblance between the twins was only skin deep. Elizabeth, who wrote the "Eyes and Ears" gossip column for The Oracle, the student newspaper at Sweet Valley High, wanted to be a serious writer one day. That was why, as she often explained to Todd Wilkins, her steady boyfriend, she tried her hardest to be objective. Organized, good-natured, and fair as possible—that was how Elizabeth's friends described her. Jessica, on the other hand, never planned more than one day at a time, though she threw herself into every project—and every new relationship—with astounding energy.

  "It's eight o'clock," Elizabeth told her twin firmly. "And it'll probably take you half an hour to find your closet in this mess!"

  "It's cozy in here, Liz," Jessica said defensively, leaping out of bed and heading straight for the mirror over her dresser.

  Elizabeth laughed. Jessica's room had always been a sore point in the Wakefield household. The rest of the attractive, split-level home was nicely decorated and tidy as a pin. But Jessica's room—which was sometimes referred to as "The Hershey Bar" because she had insisted on painting her walls chocolate brown—was always a mess. She rarely bothered to pick her clothes up from the floor.

  "It feels like another world in here," Jessica told her twin proudly.

  "It sure does," Elizabeth said, shaking her head as she stepped over an enormous pile of clothing on her way to the door. "Try to hurry, Jess," she called from the hallway. "I'm supposed to meet Todd before homeroom this morning."

  Downstairs, in the sun-filled, Spanish-style kitchen, Alice Wakefield was mixing orange juice in a glass pitcher. "Morning, Mom," Elizabeth said, giving her mother an affectionate hug. "You look pretty today," she added, glancing admiringly at her mother's flowered dress.

  "A client's coming over to look at some floor plans," her mother said, smiling.

  Alice Wakefield worked as an interior designer. With her blond hair, bright-blue eyes, and trim figure, it was easy to see where the twins had gotten their good looks. People often mistook Alice Wakefield for the twins' older sister.

  "Looks like another beautiful day," Ned Wakefield exclaimed, hurrying into the kitchen and dropping an affectionate kiss on his wife's cheek. "Where's your better half?" he teased Elizabeth, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

  Elizabeth giggled. "Probably bulldozing a path to her closet," she told him.

  The corners of Mr. Wakefield's eyes crinkled with laughter. Broad-shouldered and dark-haired, with warm, dark eyes, he looked to Elizabeth like an older version of her brother Steven, who was finishing his first year of college.

  "Give her a hug for me, will you?" Mr. Wakefield said. "If I don't hurry I'm going to miss my meeting this morning." Ned Wakefield was a successful lawyer whose office was located in downtown Sweet Valley.

  "At this rate, she probably won't be downstairs before you come home for dinner!" Elizabeth laughed as she poured herself a bowl of cereal.

  Taking a last gulp of coffee and waving at Elizabeth and her mother, Mr. Wakefield hurried outside to the garage.

  "Mom, do you mind if I take the Fiat this morning? Mr. Collins has called a meeting of the carnival committee after school today."

  "The carnival committee?" Alice Wakefield looked blank for a minute.

  "To raise money for handicapped children," Elizabeth reminded her. "It's not a real carnival," she added. "A group of us at school is putting it together, and I'm the chairperson. It'll just be a tent or two with games and refreshments. But Mr. Collins thinks we can raise a fair amount of money, especially now that we're getting sponsors from the community."

  "Now I remember," her mother said. "When is it supposed to take place?"

  "A week from Saturday." Elizabeth sighed. "That's only twelve days, and we've still got so much to do!"

  "Well, you're welcome to the car," Mrs. Wakefield said. "I don't need it today. Just drive safely."

  "Drive safely where?" Jessica asked, strolling into the kitchen and taking an orange from the basket on the table.

  "School," Elizabeth said wryly. "Or have you forgotten?"

  "I wish I could forget," Jessica said, flinging herself down on a chair. "That stupid term paper is giving me nightmares."

  "Try working on it during daylight hours," Elizabeth said and smiled.

  "Fifteen pages!" Jessica moaned. "How am I supposed to fit that in on top of everything else?"

  "History teachers should be better organized," Elizabeth agreed. "They really should schedule homework assignments around dates and cheerleading practice."

  "OK, girls," Alice Wakefield said, bringing a carton of milk to the table. "I'm going to go put my makeup on. Careful with the car, you two, and I'll see you both tonight."

  "Jess, do you have any good ideas for the carnival?" Elizabeth asked, turning the red Fiat down the shady street.

  Jessica shot a quick look at her twin, who was concentrating on the road in front of her. "I don't suppose you'd trade me a few pointers on my history paper for some carnival ideas?" she asked craftily.

  Elizabeth checked the traffic in the rearview mirror. "You're right," she said firmly. "I wouldn't. Come on, Jess. We've got less than two weeks to get this thing organized, and we really need some help. Besides," she added, "it's such a good cause. The money we raise will be donated to a special fund at Fowler Memorial Hospital to help handicapped children."

  "I'll think about it," Jessica said absently, her eyes on the lush green panorama of the roadside near Sweet Valley High. "Hey," she said suddenly, leaning forward, "isn't that Regina Morrow in Bruce Patman's car?"

  Elizabeth gave her twin a quick look. "It is," she confirmed, maneuvering the Fiat into the lane next to Bruce's shiny black Porsche. "They've been seeing an awful lot of each other lately, haven't they?" Elizabeth asked, glancing at Jessica to view her reaction.

  Bruce Patman was the only son of Henry and Marie Patman, one of the richest and most powerful couples in Sweet Valley. Bruce was a senior at Sweet Valley High. Dark-haired, handsome, and powerfully built, he had a reputation as a lady's man and a snob. Even his license plate number—1BRUCE1—displayed his arrogance. Elizabeth didn't like Bruce Patman one bit. He had tried to take advantage of her after her motorcycle accident when she was suffering from memory loss and wasn't herself. And she knew Jessica didn't think much of him either. At one point Jessica had fallen head over heels in love with him. Elizabeth had never seen her sister so affected by a boyfriend. The fact that things had ended badly—and that Bruce's behavior had caused the breakup—explained the stormy expression on her twin's face as they overtook the black Porsche.

  "I can't understand why Regina would get mixed up with a je
rk like Bruce Patman," Jessica said sullenly, pulling her blond hair back from her face.

  Elizabeth was too tactful to point out that Jessica herself had once found Bruce the most fascinating male in the world. "I know," she agreed. "I have to admit I don't think much of the idea. Regina is so incredibly nice," she added, pulling into the parking lot next to Sweet Valley High.

  Bruce pulled his Porsche up beside them and was leaping out to open the door for Regina.

  "Good Lord," Jessica muttered. "I wonder what he's up to with the Prince Charming act."

  "That's the strange thing," Elizabeth said in a low voice. "I've never seen Bruce act this way before. He seems to be killing Regina with kindness. He even meets her after every class so he can have a few minutes with her."

  "I'm sure it won't last," Jessica snapped, grabbing her books and jumping out of the car. "Thanks for the ride, Liz. I'm going to find Cara before homeroom."

  Elizabeth shook her head as she watched her twin bound across the parking lot. Jessica didn't seem crazy about the idea of Bruce and Regina as a couple, she thought.

  It was funny, Elizabeth mused, gathering her books and getting out of the car. As far as looks went, Bruce and Regina seemed like a perfect couple. But then, Regina looked perfect no matter who she was standing next to.

  With her long, black hair, high cheekbones, and perfect ivory complexion, Regina Morrow was a natural beauty. The Morrows had moved to Sweet Valley just that year, and Regina's spectacular looks had caused a great deal of attention. She had even been approached by a local modeling agency, which had arranged to have her picture on the cover of a recent issue of Ingenue magazine.

  But beauty wasn't all that made Regina Morrow special, Elizabeth thought, catching sight of Todd across the parking lot and quickening her steps to meet him. Regina had been almost completely deaf since birth. Years of training in a school in Connecticut had taught her to read lips so well that some people couldn't tell she couldn't hear them. And because Regina could distinguish tones, her voice hadn't been affected by her handicap.

  The real difference, Elizabeth thought, was that Regina didn't take anything for granted as so many people did. She loved being alive and it showed in everything she did. No wonder people liked her so much and were so much happier when she was around!

  "Hey, where've you been?" Todd asked, giving Elizabeth a warm hug and kissing the tip of her nose. "I've been looking all over for you. Mr. Collins wants to know how we're doing with the carnival plans."

  "Sorry I'm so late," Elizabeth told him, smiling up into his coffee-brown eyes. "Jessica was in slow motion this morning. Or at least she was until she saw Bruce and Regina together. That speeded her up."

  "I can imagine." Todd grinned and slipped his arm around her. "Hey, maybe we can get them to do a booth at the carnival," he added, laughing. "We'll call it 'Beauty and the Beast.' "

  Elizabeth laughed, but she felt uneasy as she and Todd walked into the cool interior of Sweet Valley High. She wasn't sure why, but she had felt strangely protective of Regina ever since the girl had moved to Sweet Valley. As far as Elizabeth knew, Regina didn't have much experience with boys. She had lived a sheltered life, and Elizabeth felt that Bruce Patman wasn't the safest bet for a first boyfriend.

  "I hope she doesn't get hurt," Elizabeth told Todd, giving his hand a warm squeeze. "You have to remember," she added softly, slipping her arm around him, "not all guys are as wonderful as you are."

  "I never forget it for a second," Todd joked, kissing the top of Elizabeth's head. "You're right, though," he added more seriously. "I'm a little worried, myself. Regina's such a nice girl, and I don't trust Bruce Patman."

  "Well," Elizabeth said, opening the door to her locker and putting her books inside, "I guess we'll just have to watch what happens."

  "And hope the Beast doesn't break the Beauty's heart," Todd added, a concerned expression on his face.

  Two

  "Don't you think the carnival committee deserves better food?" Winston Egbert joked, spearing a hot dog with his fork and raising it in the air.

  Enid Rollins laughed. "We should've picked a better place to meet, Liz," she told Elizabeth, who was furiously jotting notes on a pad next to her lunch tray.

  Elizabeth looked up at her best friend and grinned. "What better place for brainstorming than the eye of the hurricane?" she pointed out. Elizabeth and Todd were sitting across from Enid and Winston in the middle of the crowded Sweet Valley High cafeteria, trying to organize themselves before the meeting with Mr. Collins after school. But Winston, a tall, lanky boy generally known as the class clown, was contributing more merriment than constructive advice. He had just discovered that by pounding an empty milk carton with his fist he could fire the last drops of milk at the person next to him.

  "Quit it, Egbert," Todd said cheerfully, leaning across the table to see what Elizabeth had written. "Hey, when is Mr. Collins going to announce who the parent adviser is? I think we need some fresh ideas."

  "After school today, I think," Elizabeth told him, putting the cap back on her pen and looking at the preliminary list she'd drawn up. "I hope so, anyway." she said. "At the rate we're going, we'll never get this carnival together!"

  "Liz! Todd! We've been looking for you everywhere," a voice called. Elizabeth turned to see Olivia Davidson and her boyfriend, Roger Barrett Patman, approaching with their trays.

  "How's it going?" Olivia asked, glancing at Elizabeth's notebook as she set the tray down. Olivia was the arts editor for The Oracle, and she and Elizabeth had often collaborated on projects for the newspaper.

  "I'm the only one who has an idea for a booth so far," Winston told her. "I'm going to let people throw pies at me for a dollar a shot."

  Everyone laughed. Olivia pushed her frizzy brown hair back from her face and looked down at her lunch with a grimace. "I don't think creativity and Sweet Valley High lunches mix." Roger reached across the table and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

  Olivia had loved Roger even before his identity as Bruce Patman's cousin was discovered. Before Roger had learned he was really the illegitimate son of Bruce's uncle—dead now for many years—Roger had been the poorest boy in the class. Now he lived in the Patmans' enormous estate on the hill overlooking Sweet Valley. Elizabeth had wondered at first how Roger would react to being part of a millionaire's family, but by now it was apparent that Roger was as down to earth as he'd always been. And he and Olivia were as fond of each other as ever.

  "Boy, that cousin of mine has really gone off the deep end this time!" Roger exclaimed, watching Bruce pull a chair out for Regina on the other side of the cafeteria.

  "What do you mean?" Todd asked curiously, catching Elizabeth's eye.

  Roger shook his head. "I don't know," he said slowly, opening his carton of milk and taking a big gulp. "But I'd say this time he really has fallen hard!"

  Olivia leaned forward, her hazel eyes dancing. "It's incredible," she confided. "Bruce is like a completely new person! He actually asked me how I've been when he answered the phone last night. And"—she shook her head and giggled—"more to the point, he listened when I told him!"

  "Revolutionary," Todd said, grinning.

  "I've never seen him so friendly," Roger went on. "I think he's flipped over Regina."

  "So you really think Bruce is serious about her?" Elizabeth asked.

  "I'll tell you what I think," Winston interrupted, punching Roger's empty milk carton so the spray hit Todd on the arm. "I think we need to get back to the carnival."

  "I guess you're right," Elizabeth said, pushing her lunch tray aside and picking up her note pad.

  "Pretty romantic, don't you think?" Lila Fowler asked, waving the ice cream bar she was eating in the direction of Bruce and Regina, who were sitting across the cafeteria. There was a smirk on her pretty face.

  Jessica followed Lila's gaze and shrugged. "You know Bruce," she said airily, pretending to concentrate on her lunch. "I bet it lasts about a week."

  "Hmmmm," Lila said, her brown eyes narrowing as she watched Bruce kiss Regina on the cheek. "I can't imagine anyone staying interested in Regina for even that long," she said, flicking her wavy, light-brown hair behind one shoulder.

  Jessica laughed. She knew there was no love lost between Lila and Regina. Lila Fowler had been the richest girl in school until Regina moved in. That in itself would have been enough to irritate Lila, who had always made a point of having the biggest or newest or best of everything. But Regina's beauty—and all the attention she got after her picture appeared on the cover of Ingenue—was more than Lila could bear. In fact, Lila had tried to convince The Lane Townsend Agency to put her on the cover instead of Regina. Lila was an attractive girl, but she wasn't model material. Or at least that was what the owner of the agency had told her. And hearing how perfect Regina was for the camera was all Lila had needed to decide that Regina Morrow was the most detestable girl at school.