SVH08-Heartbreaker (11 page)

Outside, Elizabeth stood on the porch and closed her eyes, letting the cool night air wash over her flushed face. Tears spilled out from under her lids. She would never be able to get used to it. She would never be able to look at Todd and Patsy without feeling as if she'd been stabbed in the heart.

Suddenly she jumped as a pair of strong arms closed around her from behind, trapping her arms against her sides.

"It's no use trying to escape." Todd's voice was husky against her ear. "I'm not letting you loose until you tell me what's going on. Liz, are you trying to break up with me or what?"

Elizabeth wrenched about to face him. "
Me
--

trying to break up with
you?"
she choked. "Is that supposed to be some kind of sick joke?"

Todd wasn't smiling. "All I know is that you've been running away from me every time I try to get near you. You didn't return any of my calls this week. I don't understand it, Liz. I feel I've suddenly developed a contagious disease or something."

"You're wasting your time," Elizabeth said coldly. "I know all about you and Patsy."

"Patsy?" Todd looked confused. "What about Patsy and me?"

Elizabeth tried to yank away, but Todd had her firmly in his grasp. In frustration she blurted, "I was looking for you after school one day, and I saw you at your locker with--with your arms around her! And don't you dare deny it!"

"I'm not going to," said Todd quietly. "It's true."

Elizabeth was sobbing openly now. Todd's face had dissolved into a wavery blur. "I h-have to go now, Todd. P-please let me g-go."

"Nothing doing. Not until you've heard the rest of it."

"Please, Todd ..." Elizabeth struggled weakly against him. "I don't want to hear any more."

"Will you just listen? Patsy was really upset that day. She'd just gotten a letter from her boyfriend in France telling her he'd met

someone else. She was really broken up about it, so I put my arms around her to comfort her."

"That's it?" Elizabeth wanted to believe him, she really did.

"That's it. I told you once before, Liz, but I guess you weren't listening. Patsy and I are just friends. You're the one I love." His arms dropped from her waist. "Now, if you still want to run away, I'm not going to try to stop you."

Elizabeth looked hard into his face, at the sincerity shining from his brown eyes. And she knew he was telling the truth. She'd been wrong to doubt him, terribly wrong.

"I don't know what to say," she whispered. "I feel like such a dope."

He smiled crookedly. "Lucky for you I happen to have a soft spot for dopes."

"Oh, Todd ..."

She snuggled against his chest, breathing in the clean, starchy scent of his freshly ironed shirt. It felt so good to be in his arms. The tears continued to spill down her cheeks, but now they were tears of happiness.

"Hey." Todd tipped her chin up to meet his gaze. His eyes were dark and liquid with emotion. "Don't cry. There's a penalty for crying, you know."

"Oh, yeah? What is it?"

"This." He leaned down and kissed her, setting loose a flurry of warm sensations in

her. "And there's more where that came from if you don't watch it."

Elizabeth's laugh ended up a hiccup. "What's the punishment for saying I love you'?"

"Oh, that's really heavy-duty. Possible life imprisonment."

He kissed her again, more firmly this time. Elizabeth felt herself melting against him.

"I surrender," she murmured happily.

Fifteen

Jessica snuggled closer to Bill on the couch. He seemed strangely ill at ease, she thought. Maybe it was just the effect of her nearness. She smiled at the knowledge that she hadn't lost her power over him.

"I was thinking about our little celebration," she cooed, sliding her arm through his. "Let's make it a barbecue at the beach. The beach is so romantic, don't you think?"

"Jessica, I--"

But Jessica barreled on. "That way you can Start teaching me how to surf. Oh, won't that be neat? When I heard how you coached DeeDee into winning third place in the championship, I was really impressed."

"About DeeDee--"

"Oh, you don't have to explain, Bill. I know she's wild about you, poor thing. But, who

could blame her? I'll bet there are a million girls who'd like to be with you."

She shot him a coy upward glance through the dark fringe of her lashes. She was practically sitting on his lap. Now she let her head rest daintily against his shoulder, her golden hair spilling down his arm.

Bill stood up so suddenly that Jessica's head was jerked back against the couch. Ginger ale sloshed over the brim of the paper cup he'd been drinking from, sprinkling her bare arm with ice-cold droplets. He was staring past her, a glazed expression on his face. Jessica followed his gaze over to the front door, where DeeDee had just walked in with Roger Barrett.

He probably feels guilty about dumping her,
Jessica thought. Too bad. Now that Bill was almost a movie star, she wasn't about to let DeeDee get her net around him again. Not that she really had anything to worry about. No one in his right mind would want DeeDee Gordon when he could have Jessica Wakefield.

"DeeDee!" Bill cried, rushing over to meet her. "What happened? I thought you were coming to the party with me."

DeeDee's cheeks flushed pink, but her smile never wavered. "I could see you were busy," she replied. "I figured you and Jessica would want to be alone to make plans for your celebration on Saturday."

"That was really sweet of you, DeeDee,"

Jessica drawled, rising from the couch and walking over to stand beside Bill.

Ignoring Jessica, Bill grabbed DeeDee's elbow as she moved to turn away. "Wait a minute. I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding here." He glanced over at Jessica. "I've been trying to tell you, I can't make it on Saturday."

"Oh, no problem. We can just as easily do it Sunday. In fact, that might even be better."

"Sunday is out, too." He put his arm around DeeDee, pulling her close as he stared into her eyes. "Same with the weekend after that. You see, Jessica, I'm going to be pretty tied up from now on."

Tied up? Jessica couldn't believe what she was hearing. It wasn't possible! He was telling her he'd rather be with DeeDee. '> DeeDee was gazing back at Bill with an ecstatic expression that made Jessica want to throw up. What a nerd! For that matter, Bill was a nerd, too. Those two deserved each other. How could she ever have been so blind as to think she could be in love with Bill? Ugh!

Nevertheless, Jessica couldn't fight the blush that was climbing up the sides of her face. It spread over her cheeks with a throbbing heat. She could feel her ears burning. It was rare for her to blush, but when it happened, it was a major Technicolor event.

With a choked cry, she fled. This was too much! What should have been the best night of her life was rapidly becoming the worst.

"I don't think Jessica was too happy about your turning down her invitation," DeeDee said to Bill after they had strolled outside to the patio to escape the crush of the party.

Bill smiled knowingly. "Oh, she'll survive."

DeeDee glanced up at him shyly. "You're sure, really sure you're not still in love with her?"

That was when he kissed her. It was even better than the other times. Because she knew it was for keeps. It left her heart pounding. Bill cupped her face with gentle hands as he drew back. The pads of his thumbs moved in slow circles over her temples, while his fingers tangled in her dark curls.

DeeDee's pulse skidded out of control. Every sense was singing with life.

His hands slid down over her bare arms, which were rippled with gooseflesh. "Cold?" he asked.

"Just happy." She pressed her cheek against the pleasant wooly scratchiness of his shoulder.

"I hope that answered your question," he murmured against her hair. !

"Mmm ... I'm not sure. I may need a little more convincing."

He drew her to him again in a long, lingering kiss.

"Any better?" he asked.

"Keep it up. This may take all night."

"What about the party?"

"Oh, I'm sure Lila won't mind if we leave early. It's for a good cause."

"Yeah?"

"Well, if you're going to be America's new teen sex symbol, you're going to need a lot of practice acting sexy, right?"

He laughed. "If you say so. Are you applying for the job of coach?"

"Are you accepting applications?"

"Just one."

He lowered his mouth against hers, stopping any further conversation. DeeDee let herself be carried away on a wave of warm sensations. It was an enchanted night, in spite of the way it had started out.

Gently she pulled away and looked up at Bill. The moonlight bleached his hair to silver-white, and his eyes looked almost black. She touched his cheek. There was something she wanted to tell him, but at the moment she was too full of emotion for words.

Bill said it for her. "I know. I love you, too."

Sixteen

"You must be losing your magic touch, Jess," Cara teased. "First Bill, and now Tom. That's two strikes in one night."

Jessica glared at Cara. It was humiliating enough without having her friends making a big joke out of it!

"Bill's a creep," she snapped. "I was getting tired of him, anyway. It's a relief to have DeeDee take him off my hands."

"What about Tom? Did you notice that he and Patsy have been dancing practically every dance together?" She giggled. "Maybe the punch was spiked with Elmer's Glue."

Jessica didn't laugh. In fact, there was nothing even remotely funny about this whole evening as far as she was concerned.

Through the sliding glass door that led out onto the patio, she caught a glimpse of Bill and DeeDee. DeeDee was laughing. Bill bent to

smooth a wisp of hair from her cheek and whisper something in her ear. Jessica looked away. She couldn't stand to watch anymore. Those two made her sick.

"What about Roger?" Cara asked cattily. "Look at him--he's been sitting over there in the corner by himself practically the whole evening. I'll bet he could use some company."

Jessica pounced upon it as the perfect chance to divert the conversation away from the painful topic of her failures. With a wicked smile, she turned to Lila, who had just walked up.

"I think we should save Roger for Lila. Don't you think they'd make an adorable couple?"

Lila groaned and clutched at her stomach. "Ugh! Don't make me ill!"

Cara played along with the gag. "I don't know. I think he's kind of cute, Lila."

"Why don't you go over there and ask him to dance?" urged Jessica. "After all, it's your party. You're supposed to make all the guests feel welcome."

Lila was on the verge of turning green. "I wouldn't dance with Roger Barrett if he were the last boy on earth!" she declared.

Unfortunately, just as she said it, the record that had been playing ended. In the lull that followed, Lila's voice carried across the room, every word audible.

It was obvious from the flash flood of red that washed across Roger's cheeks that he'd

heard. His eyes glistened. Even at a distance, Jessica could see the painful way his Adam's apple was working above his collar. She couldn't help feeling a little sorry for him.

Even Lila looked embarrassed as Roger twisted out of his chair, bolting from the room as if he'd just discovered it was on fire.

Elizabeth, glowing as she walked in on Todd's arm, was just in time to witness the execution.

"Poor Roger," she said to Todd. "Looks like he's been put up before the Fowler firing squad."

What would Lila do if she ever discovered Roger's secret? she wondered. All her sympathy went out to him. Roger's crush on Lila was worse than hopeless. It was positively heartrending.

(Roger and Lila have big surprises in store for them in Sweet Valley High
#9, LOVE ON THE RUN.)

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