Pretenses Read online

  The twins had few friends in common, though they often did things together. Jessica preferred the company of people such as Cara, Lila Fowler, and Amy Sutton—popular, stylish girls who were active members of Pi Beta Alpha, the exclusive sorority of which Jessica was the president. She also numbered some good friends among the cheerleading squad, which she co-captained. Elizabeth's friends struck Jessica as boring. Enid Rollins, for instance, Elizabeth's best friend and one of the nicest, most dependable girls at school as far as Elizabeth was concerned, seemed to Jessica to be the next dullest thing after homework. Jessica liked Jeffrey French, her twin's boyfriend, but lately she was on a campaign against serious relationships and was trying her hardest to get Elizabeth—like Cara—to consider playing the field.

  "We have our differences," Elizabeth said now, giving Cara a mild smile. "But we manage to get along, for limited periods of time, anyway." The three of them decided to have something to eat, and as they sat at the kitchen table, Elizabeth began to fill Jessica and Cara in on Winston's idea for The Oracle. Both girls thought a comedy feature was a great idea.

  They were all batting ideas around when the telephone rang. Jessica lunged for the wall phone, almost knocking her twin over. "Oh, hi," she said, sounding disappointed. "It's Steven," she announced, shaking her head at the look of delight that came over Cara's face. "This long-distance stuff," she muttered. "Steve, when are you coming home to visit? Cara looks like she's pining away."

  "That's why I'm calling," Steven said. He sounded to Jessica as if he had a cold. "A doctor at the health service here thinks I may have allergies or a sinus problem. He wants me to come home for some pretty intense tests. I'll be bringing lots of classwork with me because I have to see a couple of doctors and have all kinds of tests, including sinus X rays and stuff like that. So it might take awhile. Anyway, I'm feeling so lousy, I'm kind of looking forward to being home and doing my work there."

  Jessica giggled. "Maybe you're allergic to college. You come home often enough."

  Cara's face looked even brighter. "Is he coming home? Let me talk to him," she begged, snatching the telephone out of Jessica's hand.

  Jessica frowned at her friend the whole time Cara spoke. She listened intently as Cara went on and on about how great it would be to have Steven around, especially with her party coming up. Whatever problems Jessica had thought she had noticed between Cara and Steven before seemed to have disappeared. When Cara hung up, Jessica gave her a long look.

  "You'd better watch it, Cara. You know the old saying about familiarity breeding contempt. If Steven's going to be around here for almost two weeks, you might start getting on each other's nerves. What you two need is a little mystery in your relationship."

  Cara looked surprised. "What do you mean? Has Steve been saying something to you about us? Do you think he's getting sick of me?"

  "Don't get paranoid," Jessica advised. "That's the last thing you need. It's just that I happen to have been reading a great article in Ingenue magazine about this. If you don't keep men guessing a little, all the spark goes out of the relationship. If I were you, I'd be a little—you know—aloof. Do something to surprise him, make things more romantic between you. It's important not to let him start taking you for granted."

  Cara looked slightly confused. "But things have been fine between us lately, Jess. Maybe there isn't much mystery in our relationship, but there isn't any miscommunication either. We always know just where we stand with each other. We're very open about things. Isn't that the way it should be?"

  Jessica shrugged. "Open is fine, if you want someone to take you for granted. My own feeling is that girls should be a little less open and a lot more mysterious. Kind of the way it used to be in the movies. I mean, look at Lania Louise, for instance." Lania was Jessica's favorite soap opera character that week. "You never see Lania being open with any of the men she loves, do you?"

  "You've got a point," Cara said, looking worried.

  Elizabeth laughed. "Right, Jess. I'm surprised at you. If you're such an expert on romance, why aren't you going out with anyone right now?"

  Jessica made a face. "Because I'd rather not be involved with just one guy, thank you. I'm sick of all the guys at school anyway."

  Elizabeth got to her feet. "Well, it sounds to me as though Steve's going to need sympathy and support. Being sick can't be any fun. Who needs mystery when your nose is running, your eyes are itching, and you can't stop sneezing?"

  Cara didn't answer, but Jessica said, "I think you're wrong, Liz. Steve needs something to take his mind off his problems." She was glad she had said something. After all, Cara was one of her best friends and Steven was her brother. If she couldn't convince them that they'd be better off not being so serious, then the least she could do was to keep them from getting into a real rut.

  "Hi, sweetheart," Mrs. Richardson said when Abbie wandered into the kitchen after school, her arms filled with books. "How was your day?"

  Abbie thought first before answering. Much as she adored her mother, lately Abbie felt her mother was getting too involved in her activities. Ever since Abbie had broken up with Doug, it seemed that telling her mother the simplest thing often led to long, drawn-out discussions. Her mother was a psychologist, and Abbie knew she couldn't help letting her professional side show when she talked with Abbie about her social life.

  "It was fine, Mom," she said in a neutral voice, helping herself to an apple from the refrigerator. "Actually, it was a pretty good day." She told her mother about sitting with Winston, Elizabeth, Penny, and Jeffrey at lunch and volunteering to help advertise the competition for the paper.

  "That's wonderful, honey. Are you going to submit some cartoons for the competition? I'm sure they'd be a real hit," Mrs. Richardson said warmly.

  "I'm considering it," Abbie admitted, taking a bite out of the apple. "Elizabeth Wakefield is so nice, Mom, I really want to get to know her better." She paused to chew and then went on. "I hope I can get to be friends with her." She was thinking that submitting cartoons for the paper's competition might be the best way. Abbie had been noticing Elizabeth from afar for a while now, and she secretly thought Elizabeth was one of the smartest, nicest girls at school. Now that Abbie was no longer spending time with the kids from Palisades High, she was anxious to start making some new friends. And if there was one person Abbie wanted for a friend, it was Elizabeth!

  "Honey, I'm delighted," her mother said sincerely. "It sounds like you're really going after what you want." She frowned. "When you were with Doug, you seemed to spend all your time accommodating him. You saw his friends, not yours. You were the one who was forever doing things to help him, not the other way around. It's just wonderful to see you making new friends and starting to have a life of your own."

  Abbie didn't answer. Sometimes she thought her mother was a little too critical of Doug, but in this case she had to admit she had a point. Their relationship hadn't been very equal. Doug was a year older than Abbie, and from the start she had felt compelled to try to impress him, to do whatever she could to make him happy. Unfortunately, it hadn't gone the other way. Doug hadn't given as much love back as he'd taken. When they decided to split up, Abbie was the one who suffered most. Doug still had his friends, his sports, his familiar, comfortable life. Abbie was the one who had given up everything for Doug. Now, with Doug gone, she had to learn to start doing things for herself. She wasn't finding it easy, but she felt hopeful she would make more friends in time.

  "You know what else, Mom? A few days ago Cara Walker told me about the fancy party she's having next weekend, and I'm sure she's going to invite me. I think it's going to be really fun. It's at the Marine House, right on the water. What do you think I should wear?"

  Mrs. Richardson beamed at her daughter. "Oh, honey, we should buy you a new dress. The Marine House is supposed to be gorgeous. Why don't we go shopping tonight after dinner?" She gave Abbie a spontaneous hug. "I'm so happy for you, dear. Your social life is really taking off!"

  Abbie blushed with pleasure. Her mother was as happy as she was about the invitation. That was the positive side of having a mother who cared so much about what she did!

  "You know," Abbie said with sudden determination, "I think I am going to submit a cartoon strip to The Oracle. I'm going to go upstairs and see what kind of ideas I can come up with."

  Abbie worked on her cartoon strip until dinner. She tried a couple of different ideas—one about animals, one about creatures from outer space—before deciding to set her cartoon strip closer to home. She called the strip "Jenny," and the main character, Jenny Bain, was a sixteen-year-old high school student just like Abbie. In fact, Abbie's middle name was Bain, an old family name, which made the identification even stronger. Abbie decided the cartoon would be about the life of an average girl in high school who went through the same ups and downs that most teenagers did. The first strip was about breaking up with a boyfriend. In the first panel Jenny was talking to her mother, complaining. "When I was going out with John, I felt terrible about myself. All I could do was sit around and worry about him. We stopped having fun, and I felt like it was all my fault."

  "So, how do you feel now?" Jenny's mother asked in the second panel.

  "Well, everything's different now. John and I have split up, and I don't have anyone to blame but myself for anything that happens."

  "Well, it's Friday night, sweetheart. What are you going to do? Are you going to see some friends? Go to a movie?"

  "Nah," Jenny said in the last panel. "I think I'll just sit around and worry for a while about what I did to make things fall apart!"

  Abbie liked the cartoon a lot. She was sure she wouldn't be the only one able to identify with Jenny.

  In fact, she liked the cartoon strip so much, she decided she would definitely submit it to The Oracle for the competition. She just hoped Elizabeth liked it. As far as Abbie was concerned these days, Elizabeth Wakefield could do no wrong. If she liked the cartoon, Abbie would believe it was good.

  Three

  The twins had decided to prepare a special dinner for Steven's homecoming Friday evening. "We have to do something to make him feel better," Elizabeth had said.

  Jessica was outside on the patio, grilling hamburgers, while Elizabeth sat at the outdoor table, chopping vegetables for a big tossed salad. They had also decided to roast corn on the grill.

  "Mom and Dad should be home soon," Jessica said. Their mother, an interior designer, and their father, an attorney, had both promised to get home early that night. Elizabeth didn't answer, but Jessica continued talking. "I hope Steven isn't allergic to hamburgers," she called to Elizabeth from her perch at the barbecue.

  Elizabeth was clearly thinking about something else while she prepared the salad. "Hey," she said reflectively, "we had a meeting about the new feature in The Oracle this afternoon. A lot of people showed up with good ideas. Abbie is talking about drawing a cartoon strip that sounds great. And you'll never guess who else showed up, Jess. Amy Sutton. Can you believe it? She had the idea of writing a kind of mock Miss Manners column." Amy Sutton was a close friend of Jessica's. Elizabeth, who had been friendly with Amy years ago, thought she had become cliquish and boy-crazy. "The strangest thing of all is that Abbie started offering to help Amy with her proposal. Since it looks like Amy's her strongest competition, I couldn't help thinking that was a little weird."

  "What is it about Abbie Richardson? All of a sudden she seems to be running for Miss Congeniality or something. She's acting like everyone's best friend. Just a few months ago no one ever saw her."

  "Well, try to be sympathetic, Jess," Elizabeth said as she seasoned the salad. "Until she broke up with Doug, she was understandably less interested in getting to know people at school. Now I think she's trying hard to make friends. Frankly, I don't see anything wrong with it. She's a really nice girl. It's not like she's got some kind of sneaky motive or anything. All she wants is to be friendly."

  Jessica wrinkled her nose. "It gets on my nerves when people are that nice. I'm always sure they want something."

  Elizabeth couldn't resist a laugh at this point. "I wonder why," she said sardonically. "Jessica, has it ever occurred to you that the rest of the world doesn't operate by Jessica Wakefield's standards?"

  Jessica shrugged. "Well, all I know is that she bothers me. She's too . . . I don't know, too nice. You should've seen her today in art class. She actually volunteered to clean up after everyone! Not that I wasn't glad at the time, since I was wearing my new white cotton knit shirt. I mean, the last thing I wanted was to get oil paint all over it. But it still seemed weird. I told Cara, and she thought it was weird, too."

  "Speaking of Cara," Elizabeth said, "is she coming over tonight to see Steven?" She was actually glad to have an excuse to change the subject. She felt slightly uncomfortable talking about Abbie, although she wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because she didn't really know her that well yet, and she hated to make judgments prematurely.

  Jessica nodded. "She's been going on and on all day about seeing Steve. God, you'd think it had been two months since they'd seen each other, not two weeks!"

  Elizabeth smiled. She could imagine two weeks feeling like an eternity if she and Jeffrey were separated for that long.

  "Hellooo, anyone home?" a familiar voice called.

  "Steve!" the twins cried in unison. The next minute they were engulfing their older brother in twin hugs.

  "Whoa!" He laughed, then stepped back and grinned at them. "I'm sickly, remember? The doctor told me there's a distinct chance I could be allergic to twins. Especially blond twins."

  "You don't look sick," Jessica argued, putting her head to one side and studying her brother. In fact, Steven looked as handsome as ever, just like a younger version of their father, with his dark hair, broad shoulders, and eyes that crinkled at the corners when he smiled.

  "I'm not really sick. I just can't breathe too well," Steven said, setting his bags down in the front hall. "Are Mom and Dad still at work?" When both girls nodded, he said, "Good, quick, fill me in on all the gossip before they get here."

  Elizabeth winked at her sister. She loved having her brother at home; their family was complete again.

  "I can't believe how much I missed you," Cara told Steven later that night. They were sitting out by the Wakefields' pool, and Cara couldn't help thinking how romantic the setting was. The moonlight was reflected on the water, and the air was the perfect temperature, slightly balmy and scented with flowers.

  Steven sneezed. "You know," he said, taking out a tissue, "we might be better off inside. This pollen—"

  Cara couldn't help noticing that Steven had dropped her hand in an effort to get the tissue. He didn't bother to reach for it again, either. Remember what Jessica said, a little voice reminded her. Was Steven really getting tired of her? He hadn't seemed all that excited to see her when she arrived at the Wakefields' that evening, and he hadn't paid much attention to her since then.

  "Fine," she said in a short, curt tone. "We can go back inside if you want." But your family is in the living room, and we won't be alone, she thought to herself. She gave Steven a significant look, which meant, loud and clear, "I'd rather stay out here alone with you and be romantic."

  But if Steven noticed, he misread her meaning. "Phew," he said, getting to his feet. "I'm glad you don't mind, Cara. I think something out here is really making me feel worse."

  Cara didn't say a word. Instead she followed Steven inside and tried to hide her impatience as they sat down with the rest of the Wakefields. When Steven excused himself to go upstairs and take some medicine, Jessica leaned over to whisper conspiratorially in Cara's ear. "Not much of a romantic reunion, huh?" she said. "See what I mean? You two need mystery, Cara. Mystery."

  By the end of the evening, Cara was beginning to think Jessica might be right. It wasn't just that Steven wasn't being romantic. That made sense, and she couldn't really blame him. After all, the poor guy was clearly miserable. His nose was running, and his eyes were puffy and watery.

  But even so, he could have carried on a conversation with her, Cara thought. He had barely said a word to her all night. He really seemed to be thinking about something else.

  "Let's take a walk," she said finally, unable to bear it any longer. She hadn't seen him in weeks—weeks—and he was treating her like she was his kid sister!

  "OK," Steven said, not looking thrilled.

  "Is anything wrong? You seem preoccupied," Cara observed as they strolled out onto the sidewalk.

  "I'm a little worried about a paper I'm working on for my history class. In fact, this was a terrible time of the term for me to get sick. I've got tons of stuff to do, and you know how badly I want to get good grades this semester." He didn't notice the disappointed expression on Cara's face.

  "Hey," she said softly, slipping her arm through his, "I missed you. I'm glad you're back."

  Steven looked down at her with surprise. For a moment she thought she saw an expression of annoyance in his dark eyes. "Cara, I don't feel very well. It's not like this is a vacation. Unless I can get a lot of stuff done while I'm at home . . ."

  Cara pulled her arm back abruptly. "I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I only meant that it's nice to see you, that's all."

  Steven's eyes softened. "I'm sorry," he said, pulling her close to him. "You'll have to bear with me, Cara. I just feel rotten. And the pills the doctor at school gave me are making me tired and cranky. I'm glad to see you, too. And I've missed you."

  Cara still felt uneasy. Steven didn't sound like himself. Was it really because he was sick, or was it something else? Again she thought that perhaps Jessica was right. Perhaps their relationship was beginning to get humdrum. It sure didn't seem that there were any fireworks right now. She wondered if there was some way to get some mystery back in their relationship.

  "OK, Cara, tell us more about your party," Lila Fowler said. It was lunchtime on the Thursday before the party, and Jessica, Cara, and Lila had gathered with a group of their friends at a corner table. Amy Sutton, Jean West, Sandra Bacon, and Maria Santelli, friends of Jessica's from the cheerleading squad, were all there.