Are We In Love? Read online

  ARE WE IN LOVE?

  Written by

  Kate William

  Created by

  FRANCINE PASCAL

  Copyright © 2015, Francine Pascal

  Cheryl wiped the tears from her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she looked at Steven and burst out laughing again.

  "What?" He raised his eyebrows. "What's so funny?"

  Cheryl shook her head. "I was just thinking about . . . this. You and me and the slalom course. Annie's convinced there's something going on between you and me, that these driving lessons are just an excuse for us to be alone together."

  Steven grinned. "She must not have taken a good look at the VW. It doesn't have much in the way of a backseat."

  "Ridiculous, isn't it?"

  Steven nodded. "But Annie's not the only one. Jessica was on my case last night, trying to get me to confess that I'm secretly madly in love with you."

  "Just because we've been hanging out together, and you happen to be a guy and I happen to be a girl. How absurd."

  "It's the way rumors always work," Steven pointed out. "You're guilty until proven innocent."

  "Well, I guess it doesn't matter what other people think, as long as we know the truth, right?" Cheryl said lightly.

  "Right," Steven confirmed.

  They looked at each other in silence for a moment. Cheryl's eyes were warm with amusement . . . and something else. A question? A challenge? Steven felt his body tense with expectation. Is she wondering what it would be like too?

  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

  One

  Cheryl Thomas popped the clutch on Steven Wakefield's stick-shift VW for about the tenth time that afternoon. They both burst out laughing as the yellow car bucked wildly forward, then stalled out in the middle of the Sweet Valley High student parking lot.

  "Sorry." Cheryl smiled ruefully at Steven. "I'm probably taking years off your car's life. I'll never get the hang of this."

  "Don't worry about the car. It's indestructible." Steven's brown eyes twinkled. "And you will get the hang of this—you've made a lot of progress already. I guarantee, one of these days you'll be an excellent driver. So stop being such a typical impatient New Yorker."

  Cheryl widened her dark eyes. "A typical impatient New Yorker? No way. I'm a typical laid-back Californian now. I was even thinking of trading in my grand piano for a surfboard!"

  Steven grinned. "I suppose there's really no such thing as a typical New Yorker or Californian," he amended. "And that's probably a good thing."

  "Variety is the spice of life," Cheryl agreed. "OK, I'm going to try this one more time. So, I turn the key and then I put the clutch in?"

  "Other way around. Put in the clutch and then start the engine." Cheryl did as Steven instructed. "Good," he said. "Now, shift into first gear. Ease up on the clutch and gently step on the gas at the same time. Easy does it. . . . You got it!"

  With a little lurch, the VW started forward. Cheryl steered carefully around the parking lot, her confidence soaring as she managed to shift into second gear without mishap. Maybe this driving business isn't so hard after all! she thought.

  Back in New York City, Cheryl hadn't needed to know how to drive. She and her friends used public transportation: buses, subways, and taxis. In Sweet Valley, though, every sixteen-year-old had a license; passing the driver's test was a cherished coming-of-age ritual.

  Soon I'll have my driver's license, Cheryl thought. I may even get a surfboard, though I'd never give up my piano to get it. Cheryl had a hunch she would never be a "typical" Californian.

  She smiled to herself. She guessed that when people imagined typical California girls, they pictured people like Steven's sixteen-year-old twin sisters. Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield were blond and blue-eyed, with perfect size-six figures and perfect suntans. Cheryl recalled her first impression of Sweet Valley High. She was pretty sure she had never seen so many good-looking kids gathered in one place—good-looking white kids. Will I be the only black student in the entire school? she had wondered, feeling incredibly conspicuous.

  The student body had turned out to be more diverse than it initially appeared. Still, Cheryl was definitely in the minority, which had not been the case at her school in Manhattan.

  "There were so many times during my first few weeks here that I wished I were back in New York," Cheryl mused out loud. "But now . . ."

  "Things are looking up, huh?"

  Cheryl nodded. "Things are looking up, especially at home. Annie and I get along a lot better since her mom's appendix surgery."

  "Nothing like an emergency to bring people together," Steven commented.

  "It forced us to talk out a lot of our differences," Cheryl agreed. "We may never be as close as Elizabeth and Jessica, but at least we don't hate each other anymore!"

  "Liz and Jess are close, but they definitely don't see eye to eye about everything," Steven assured Cheryl.

  Cheryl laughed. "Annie and I don't see eye to eye about anything. I'll never forget the expression on her face when I told her I liked classical music. She stared at me as if I'd come from another part of the solar system instead of just another part of the country!"

  "Even though you're different in a lot of ways, if you communicate, you can be friends."

  "Yeah. It was a tough lesson, but we learned it."

  She pressed in the clutch with her left foot and coasted up to a stop sign. Steven's such a good listener, Cheryl thought. And such a good friend.

  Cheryl had been miserable when her widowed father, a well-known fashion photographer, had announced that they were moving to California. Not only were they leaving New York, but they would be moving in with his fiancée and her sixteen-year-old daughter.

  The reality had been even worse than Cheryl's expectation. Suburban southern California was so different! Cheryl missed the big-city noises, the constant hum of activity. Most of all, she missed just being herself. In Sweet Valley, she felt different, self-conscious. She felt that when other people looked at her, they saw a black girl—they didn't see Cheryl Thomas.

  Her future stepsister, Annie Whitman, a popular Sweet Valley High student, had tried hard to help Cheryl fit in, but all of her well-intentioned efforts had backfired. First there had been the welcome party, to which Annie had invited just about every minority student from Sweet Valley High, with the misguided hope that Cheryl wouldn't feel so unusual. Cheryl had been mortified. Then Annie had campaigned to get Cheryl into her snobby sorority, Pi Beta Alpha, absolutely the last social organization in Sweet Valley that Cheryl would have wanted to join. When Cheryl turned down the PBA's invitation to pledge, it had been Annie's turn to feel insulted.

  Steven was right, Cheryl reflected. She and Annie did a lot better once they finally took time to get to know each other as individuals. Cheryl discovered that Annie was as uncomfortable with this new and unfamiliar situation as she herself was. She hadn't given Annie enough credit; Annie was able to look beyond the fact that Cheryl was black. In fact, most of the kids at school were a lot less prejudiced than Cheryl had assumed they would be. She had made real friends, and that made all the difference.

  "I think you're ready to leave the parking lot," Steven said to Cheryl. "How about taking us home to Calico Drive?"

  The Thomases and Whitmans had bought the Beckwith house, right next door to the Wakefields. Cheryl took a deep breath. "OK, I'm up for it."


  Cheryl signaled for a right turn, then eased up on the clutch and pressed down on the gas. The VW rolled smoothly forward. She was out in traffic. She was driving!

  She flashed Steven a triumphant grin.

  "Just don't get cocky," he kidded.

  Cheryl laughed. Adjusting her sunglasses, she accelerated until she was going at the speed limit. Sweet Valley's sure a lot prettier than New York, she thought, admiring the brilliant green of the royal palms and the distant azure sparkle of the Pacific Ocean.

  A feeling of contentment, of belonging, washed over her. Yep, things were looking up!

  Jessica Wakefield stretched her bare arms over her head with a contented sigh. "I wish it were Friday every day."

  "You mean Friday afternoon," her boyfriend, Sam Woodruff, said.

  They were sitting at the edge of the swimming pool in the Wakefields' backyard, their feet dangling in the water. Jessica kicked up a little splash. "Right. Friday the minute school gets out. An eternal weekend!"

  "It would always be the very beginning of the weekend," Sam elaborated, running a hand through his curly blond hair. "That's the best part."

  Elizabeth Wakefield looked up from the picnic table where she was spearing vegetables and chunks of seafood to make kabobs. "But wouldn't that be boring?" she wondered. "I mean, weekends are only special because they come after weekdays. We wouldn't appreciate Friday afternoons if it wasn't for Monday mornings."

  Jessica shook her head, amazed at this display of ignorance. Sometimes she couldn't believe Elizabeth was her identical twin, her own flesh and blood. Trust Elizabeth to be unable to imagine a world without Mondays!

  "All I'm saying is that this moment is perfect." Jessica tossed back her shoulder-length blond hair and extended one slim, bronzed leg. "There are still hours of daylight left, but the sun is a bit lower in the sky, so it's not too hot. The air is warm, the water is cool." I look great in my new bikini, and Sam thinks so, too, she could have added. "And there's no school for two whole days!"

  Elizabeth laughed. "Well, when you put it that way . . ."

  "The fire's ready," Todd Wilkins called from across the patio.

  Elizabeth carried the kabobs over to Todd. He placed them one by one on the sizzling grill, then took the empty platter from her hands and set it down on the patio so he could wrap his arms around Elizabeth. "I'm with Jessica and Sam. I kind of like this endless weekend concept," he said, kissing her lightly on the lips.

  Elizabeth smiled up at him. "Looks like I'm outnumbered. I'll have to give it a try." She lifted her mouth for another kiss.

  They were interrupted by a familiar male voice. "Hey, break it up. Is this what happens when I leave you kids alone without a chaperon?"

  Laughing, Elizabeth pushed Todd away. "Better keep your distance," she joked, "or my big brother will beat you up."

  "There won't be any violence," Steven promised as he and Cheryl pulled up chairs at the picnic table. "So long as you share your food with us."

  "There's plenty," Elizabeth said. "But you're a vegetarian, right, Cheryl? Are shrimp and scallops OK, or should I make some kabobs with just vegetables?"

  "Just vegetables would be great," Cheryl replied. "Thanks."

  "How'd the driving lesson go?" Jessica asked.

  Cheryl smiled. "We made it back here in one piece, so I guess it went all right."

  "She's a pro," Steven told the others. "She could pass the test tomorrow."

  Cheryl rolled her eyes. "I still stall out at stop signs if there's the slightest bit of an incline. And I can't parallel park for my life. That's what comes of living in a city where driving is more of a hazard than a convenience!"

  "It must have been fun, though, living in New York," Jessica remarked enviously. "Whizzing up and down Fifth Avenue in taxicabs . . ."

  "Sorry to disillusion you, but even the taxis weren't all that terrific," Cheryl confided. "I don't miss the city anymore, I really don't. I mean, at first I didn't understand why Mona and Annie couldn't move to New York. But since Dad travels for his work all the time anyway, he was more flexible about relocating. Mona did promise we'd both grow to love it here." Cheryl smiled at Steven. "And she was right."

  "Tell us again about how your father met Annie's mom," urged Jessica. "I think it's the most romantic story."

  "It was at a fashion shoot," Cheryl related obligingly. "Dad was the photographer and Mona was one of the models. I guess something just clicked between them. He meets a lot of beautiful women, but there was something special about Mona. Which reminds me—they finally set a wedding date, for three weeks from tomorrow."

  "That's not much time to make all the arrangements, though," Elizabeth said.

  "It'll be pretty simple," Cheryl explained. "Just a small ceremony in the backyard, with lunch afterward. Annie and I are going to be Mona's bridesmaids."

  "Will your father and Mrs. Whitman compose their own wedding vows?" Elizabeth asked.

  Jessica was more interested in clothes. "What will you wear?" she asked Cheryl.

  Meanwhile, Todd pushed back his chair. "I'd better keep an eye on the grill."

  Steven was already halfway to the house. "Be right back—I'm changing into my swim trunks."

  Splash. Sam cannonballed into the pool.

  Elizabeth laughed. "I hate to make a gender stereotype, but I get the impression the males of the species aren't real interested in this particular topic!"

  Cheryl smiled. "Tell me about it. My dad wants to marry Mona—he's very enthusiastic about that. But he could care less about all the details. Actually, that makes it fun for Annie and me—we'll get to help a lot."

  "That must be wild, helping your own parents plan their wedding," said Jessica.

  "A lot of things about this marriage are unusual," Cheryl agreed.

  That's the understatement of the century! Jessica thought. There weren't many mixed marriages in Sweet Valley; Mr. Thomas and Mrs. Whitman were breaking new ground.

  For a moment, the three girls sat in thoughtful silence. Elizabeth spoke first. "I think it's great that your dad and Annie's mom are getting a second chance at true love," she said sincerely.

  Cheryl flashed her a grateful smile. "Thanks for the positive attitude, Liz."

  "Everyone deserves a second chance at love," Jessica contributed. "Or a third or fourth. Hey, Cheryl, here's something I bet you didn't know about my dear older brother—he almost tied the knot not too long ago!"

  Elizabeth shot a "zip your lips" look at Jessica, but Jessica had Cheryl's full attention now and wasn't about to relinquish it. "Yep, he came this close to eloping with his old girlfriend, Cara. She was supposed to move to London with her mother, and she and Steven decided they didn't want to be separated. So they drove to Nevada to get married."

  Cheryl's eyes were bright with curiosity. "What happened?"

  "They changed their minds at the last minute," Jessica answered sadly. "Too bad. Cara was a really good friend of mine. I wish she were still around."

  "Jess, changing their minds was the smartest thing they ever did, and you know it," Elizabeth declared.

  "Oh, Liz, you just have no romantic imagination," Jessica complained.

  "According to your definition, probably not. And I'm glad."

  "Steven's been pretty lonely since then," Jessica went on, ignoring Elizabeth. "I really should be working harder to find someone new for him. And what's your story, Cheryl?" she went on. "Did you leave any broken hearts in New York?"

  "Plenty of friends, but not a boyfriend, no," said Cheryl. "Well, at least not a recent boyfriend."

  "Then you're single too. Let's see . . ." Jessica drummed her fingers on the table. "Who should I fix you up with?"

  "Not this routine," Elizabeth groaned. "Watch out, Cheryl. My sister's a notoriously disastrous matchmaker."

  Jessica put her hands on her hips. "I am not!"

  Cheryl's eyes crinkled. "Don't worry about me, guys. Since my piano finally arrived, my life's complete."

 
Elizabeth laughed. "Just consider yourself warned."

  Jessica frowned. "Just consider yourself lucky you don't have a twin sister!"

  Two

  "I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse," Annie Whitman's boyfriend, Tony Estaban, announced, taking a giant bite out of his bacon double-cheeseburger.

  "Watch your language." Annie directed a teasing glance at Cheryl. "There's a vegetarian at the table!"

  Cheryl smiled. "Tony can eat whatever he wants. He scored three goals in the first game he's played since he's been back on the team—he earned a bacon quadruple-cheeseburger."

  Tony reached for his chocolate milkshake. "I missed two other shots, though," he pointed out, as if that somehow diminished the Sweet Valley High soccer team's victory over their Fort Carroll rivals.

  After the Saturday-evening game, spectators and players alike had headed for the Dairi Burger, Sweet Valley's most popular teen hangout. Cheryl, Steven, Annie, and Tony had arrived just in time to grab the last free booth. Now Cheryl glanced around the crowded restaurant. She recognized pretty much everyone there. This could be lunch period at the Sweet Valley High cafeteria, she thought, amused.

  "I can't believe you're wasting a thought on those missed goals," Annie said to Tony. "You're such a perfectionist."

  "Of course I am." Tony slipped an arm around her slender shoulders. "That's why I'm crazy about you."

  "Humph," Annie mumbled, but she couldn't keep from smiling. As she looked across the table at Cheryl, her clear green eyes seemed to say, "Thanks." Cheryl was glad to see Annie and Tony so happy. But even though she had done a little mediating, she didn't feel she could take too much credit for getting them back together: Annie and Tony made a perfect couple.

  "Well, it was a great game," remarked Steven, stealing a french fry from Cheryl's plate. "Offensively and defensively."

  "It was so fast-paced," said Cheryl. "A lot more exciting than football, I thought." At her old high school, arts rather than sports had been emphasized. Football might be considered an "all-American" ritual, but it had still been completely foreign to her. "I mean, the players aren't buried under pads and helmets. You can see their faces. And their bodies," she added mischievously.