Jessica Against Bruce Page 2

  Ronnie squared his shoulders inside his leather jacket. "Sorry, Rosa. Guys only."

  "It sounds like the Elks Club or something," Lila said to the girls. "Totally thrilling."

  "Or the Boy Scouts," Jean added, her eyes twinkling.

  Jessica laughed. "I bet they play with GI Joes in Bruce's backyard."

  "Bruce gets to be the general, and the other guys have to be grunts," Rosa said. She saluted smartly. "Yes, sir! No, sir! Yes, your mighty generalship, sir!"

  "So, Bruce," Jessica said, meeting his eyes defiantly. "When are you going to let girls join?"

  "No fair making it boys only," Amy chimed in. "What about equal rights and all of that?"

  Bruce looked at Ronnie, and they both smiled tolerantly. "Girls just don't have what it takes," Bruce explained in his most patronizing tone. "It's just a fact of nature."

  "What exactly does it take?" Jessica snapped. "A big mouth?"

  The girls at her table laughed. Jessica felt her cheeks flush with the thrill of battle.

  "Come on, Bruce," Jessica persisted. "They even let women join the army, you know."

  Bruce sent the other boys a grin. "I think Sam should hurry up and get back to Sweet Valley so he can keep Jessica in line."

  Some of the guys cheered and Bruce folded his arms across his chest.

  "You are the biggest sexist pig in this school, Bruce Patman," Rosa said. "No, scratch that. You're the biggest sexist pig in California."

  "I bet I can do whatever it is a person has to do to join your stupid club," Jessica declared, standing up and placing her hands on her hips.

  A smile curled Bruce's lips, and his blue eyes sparkled maliciously. "I know, you just want to spend more time with me to rekindle those old flames of passion."

  "Whooa!" Aaron Dallas said. "Stand back—she's gonna blow!"

  Jessica swallowed her fury. True, she and Bruce had dated for a little while—but it was ancient history, now. They were both much too headstrong to be able to get along in a relationship. A relationship meant compromise, and compromise with Bruce was one thing she had never been able to achieve. Ever since, it had been open war between them.

  Still, Jessica couldn't deny that there was a powerful spark between them. He was sexy and provocative, and Jessica could never resist rising to his bait. She knew there was nothing romantic about it at all, nothing that should make Sam jealous. It was more like an old ritual between them, a running contest to see who could score most often and hit the hardest. For the moment, Bruce had won, and Jessica was seething.

  "You're not going to let him get away with that, are you, Jess?" Lila prodded.

  "Get away with what?" Jessica said sweetly. "I don't consider Bruce's lies or his dumb, sexist comments much of a threat. They're the mark of a small mind."

  Ken let out a howl of laughter, and slapped Bruce on the back. "Ouch," he said. "That one was a killer, Bruce. She got you good."

  "Anyway, as I was saying," Bruce cut in, ignoring Ken's comment and turning his back on Jessica and her friends, "it's a club only guys have the guts to handle. If any of you are interested, though, I'll be sitting over there."

  With one last arrogant smile over his shoulder, Bruce sauntered away with Ronnie swaggering at his side.

  "Bruce is all talk," Jessica said, sitting down again and leaning her elbows on the table. "Whatever the club involves is probably a lot less outrageous than he'd like everyone to think."

  "That crack about only guys having the guts to take it really burns me up, too," Amy said.

  Jessica nodded. "I think we should all try to get in, just to prove to Bruce—and everyone else—what a jerk he really is."

  "I agree," Lila said. "I hate it when Bruce lords it over people—particularly me."

  "OK, so you're all with me, right?" Jessica said.

  Rosa, Jean, and Maria looked at her doubtfully. "I really don't want to get wrapped up in this club," Maria said. "With Bruce and Ronnie as members, it probably just means trouble."

  "I'm out, too," Rosa said, shaking her head. "I think it's great that you're sticking up for equal rights, Jess, but I've got enough to handle right now with schoolwork and all."

  Jean just held up both hands. "And you can count me out, too," she said.

  "You two, then," Jessica said, turning back to Lila and Amy. "We'll show them."

  "Right," Amy said with a firm nod.

  Lila folded her arms across her chest. "If it'll bring Bruce down, I'm in."

  "Great," Jessica said determinedly. "We'll show them all!"

  Elizabeth and Todd were deep in conversation when Mr. Collins, their English teacher, interrupted.

  "Messages from our leader," he said, waving two identical pink slips of paper.

  Elizabeth read her note aloud: "Please come to Mr. Cooper's office at seventh period."

  "We've been summoned, Mr. Collins," Elizabeth said apologetically. "Are you going to assign homework?"

  Mr. Collins waved them out. "Just read to the end of Silas Marner," he said with a smile.

  "What did we do?" Todd wondered out loud, as they hurried down the hall to the principal's office. "I haven't committed any major crimes today."

  "None that you know of," Elizabeth teased him.

  When they arrived at the office, one of the secretaries ushered them into Mr. Cooper's inner office. Enid was already there, as well as Penny Ayala, Bill Chase, and Dan Scott.

  "We're all busted," Dan quipped. "I told them I didn't do it, whatever it was."

  "What's going on?" Elizabeth asked, taking a seat next to Enid.

  Enid looked as puzzled as the others. "I don't know."

  "Well, here you all are," said Mr. Cooper, walking in and closing the door. "Good, then let's get started."

  As he sat behind his desk, Elizabeth felt a sudden jolt of adrenaline. It hadn't occurred to her until that moment, but she was sure they had all been chosen to host the visiting teachers. She sat forward in her chair and smiled.

  "Now," the principal said as he ran one hand over his bald head, "you all know about the International Teachers' Project, and you know I want some of our best and brightest students to represent Sweet Valley High and to host our guests. Well, you've been chosen."

  "Cool," Dan said.

  "What sort of responsibilities will we have, Mr. Cooper?" Todd asked.

  "Well," Mr. Cooper said, "on the days the teachers spend with us, you'll each be excused from a half day of classes, either morning or afternoon. You'll be divided into two teams, and it will be your responsibility to take our guests around the school and to answer any questions they might have."

  "Is there a specific schedule we'll be following?" Enid asked.

  "Yes," Mr. Cooper answered, giving her a quick smile. "I want the teachers to see as much as possible. You might even find yourselves taking them to your own classes. I also want them to see all of our facilities—gymnasium, theater, art studios . . ."

  "The cafeteria?" Penny supplied.

  "Most definitely," Mr. Cooper agreed. "I hardly need to say that our cafeteria staff will be on full alert, and I think we can expect some pretty tasty lunches."

  "Mr. Cooper?" Elizabeth asked. "Will we be allowed to ask the teachers questions about their own countries, or wouldn't that be polite?"

  Mr. Cooper sat back in his chair and beamed at her. "Of course you can ask questions. That's why I picked you, Elizabeth. You're intelligent, responsible—"

  "Miss Perfect," Todd whispered.

  As subtly as she could, Elizabeth dug her elbow sharply into Todd's ribs, smiling innocently at Mr. Cooper the whole time.

  "Yes," Mr. Cooper finished, "by all means, ask our guests questions. This project is supposed to be an exchange of ideas," he said, meshing his fingers to demonstrate his point.

  "The teachers are coming tomorrow, aren't they?" Bill asked.

  "Yes. These are your schedules for tomorrow," Mr. Cooper said, passing each of them a sheet of paper. "Enid, Penny, and Dan, you're the morni
ng team. Elizabeth, Todd, and Bill, you've got afternoon duty. Your teachers will excuse you from your classes. Meet me here after homeroom, team one, and at the beginning of fifth period, team two. Got it?"

  As they filed out, Penny spoke in a low voice behind Elizabeth and Todd. "Do you think we should all synchronize our watches?"

  Todd glanced back with a grin. "I never could figure out that military time stuff—eighteen hundred hours, twenty-one hundred hours. I'd be a total failure."

  "Seriously, isn't this great?" Elizabeth said enthusiastically.

  "Yeah. And we get out of classes, too," Todd answered.

  Elizabeth laughed. She could tell that Todd was looking forward to their new job as much as she was.

  At dinner that night, Elizabeth told her family, including her older brother, Steven, who was home from college on a short break, about being chosen to show the visiting teachers around.

  "I think that sounds terrific, Liz," Mrs. Wakefield said proudly.

  Mr. Wakefield helped himself to some salad. "Just remember one thing, Liz," he said. "Some of the teachers will have very different ideas and ways of doing things. Try to be tactful."

  "Ned!" Mrs. Wakefield laughed. "You're talking to Miss Tactful USA."

  Mr. Wakefield shrugged and winked at Elizabeth. "You know what I mean, Liz. Some of them might have old-fashioned ideas about discipline or gender roles. That sort of thing."

  "Like maybe one of them will say that girls shouldn't play sports," Jessica suggested. "To be honest, I for one wouldn't mind if girls didn't have to take gym class. I hate getting hot and sweaty in the middle of the day!"

  "I'll be very discreet, I promise," Elizabeth said with a smile for her father. "I won't argue about anything. Unless it's really serious," she added.

  Jessica hooked one leg underneath her and sat on her foot so she could reach across the table for the salt. "Speaking of gender roles . . ." she began in her most gossipy voice.

  "Pass the pepper, please," Steven said through a mouthful of food.

  "Liz, do you have any white clothes that need washing tonight?" Mrs. Wakefield asked politely.

  "No, I did some laundry yesterday," Elizabeth said, trying not to smile while the family pretended they hadn't heard Jessica. It was a family joke to tease Jessica when she had particularly juicy news she was eager to spread around.

  Typically, Jessica ignored the fact that they were pretending to ignore her. "Bruce started some hotshot club," she explained, shaking salt on her carrot sticks. "And he says it's for men only. Like he's really a man!"

  "OK, I'll bite, Jess," Mrs. Wakefield said, smiling. "Are you planning to crash the gates of sex discrimination?"

  "I thought Liz was the feminist around here," Steven put in. "You fell for that beauty-pageant stuff hook, line, and sinker, Jess."

  Not long ago, Jessica had defended her right to enter the Miss Teen Sweet Valley competition. If there was one thing that Elizabeth couldn't stand, it was contests in which the only thing that mattered was a good figure and a pretty smile. In fact, her chief objection to auditioning for the soap opera was that the women characters on the show were either empty-headed bimbos or scheming witches. Stereotyping in beauty pageants and on the soaps were equally revolting to her.

  "Totally different situation," Jessica declared with a toss of her head. "Somebody has to prove to Bruce and his entourage that girls can do anything boys can do. We're just as smart, we have more endurance, we're probably more creative, and we're equally as brave. In fact, in everything I can think of, women are at least equal to men."

  Elizabeth nodded. "Well, I agree with you there, Jess. But why would you want to join a club Bruce started?"

  "That's not the point, Liz," Jessica insisted.

  "I just don't understand why you feel you have to prove yourself to him, of all people," Elizabeth persisted.

  Jessica sighed patiently. "I'm not proving myself to him," she said. "I'm proving a point to him. And to all the other guys who think Bruce is right. They're saying that guys are stronger, smarter, braver, tougher—you name it, according to them guys can do it better."

  "I know plenty of guys like that at college," Steven said. "Their line is that it's just a fact of nature that there are some things females can't do—because they're females."

  Mrs. Wakefield let out an indignant breath. "I'd like them to see Liz change the oil and air filter in the Jeep!"

  "And I wish they could have seen her negotiate the commission right out from under that car salesman!" Mr. Wakefield added.

  "Problem is, you can't argue with that kind of guy," Steven went on regretfully. "They have to see something with their own eyes, and even then, they'll try to argue that it was just a fluke or beginner's luck or something like that."

  "I have to say, I agree with Jessica about wanting to join this club," Mr. Wakefield said after a moment's pause.

  Elizabeth looked at her father in surprise. "You do?"

  "Sure," he said with a nod. "Steven's right, too. Some men just don't get the point unless you hit them over the head with it."

  Jessica let out a high-spirited laugh. "And I can't wait to do just that to Bruce!"

  Three

  Jessica took her seat in first period French the following day, wearily opened her French book, and prepared to be bored. Ms. Dalton was infuriatingly persistent about pronunciation, and she sometimes drilled a single student on one sentence for what seemed like five minutes at a time.

  "Did you do the homework?" Lila asked her, sitting down at the next desk.

  "Why? Didn't—" Jessica began. As she spoke, the fire alarms all over the school began to clang.

  "Fire drill," Lila moaned. "I just sat down!"

  "All right, class," Ms. Dalton said, taking her purse from her bottom desk-drawer. "Single file. You know the procedure."

  The bells were clamoring so loudly that Jessica had to cover her ears as they went into the hall. All up and down the corridor, doors were opening and students and teachers were streaming out to the exits. Jessica and the rest of the French class went outside to the front lawn.

  "Perfect timing," Lila said, sitting down on the grass. "My French homework for today was not exactly a fait accompli."

  "Well mine was," Jessica said huffily. It was irritating that on one of the rare days that her homework was done, there was a fire drill during class. "It's not fair."

  "Hi," Elizabeth said as she walked up with Todd.

  "Take a seat," Jessica invited.

  Jessica was watching Ms. Dalton and Mrs. Ray, the Spanish teacher. They both looked puzzled and exasperated, and Mrs. Ray kept shaking her head. Jessica stood up.

  "I'll be right back," Jessica said, walking toward the two teachers and keeping her ears open.

  "Nobody told me there was a drill scheduled," Ms. Dalton was saying. "I had a lot to get done this period, and this is going to throw my schedule off."

  "Mr. Cooper promised to warn us ahead of time," Mrs. Ray complained.

  Jessica strolled back to the others and sat down on the ground.

  "Unscheduled fire drill," she announced. "The teachers didn't know about it."

  Elizabeth looked quickly at the school. "You don't think there could be a real fire, do you?" she asked anxiously.

  "Wouldn't that be heaven?" Lila asked dreamily. "No more school."

  Fire sirens could be heard approaching from a distance. Jessica lay back on the grass, ready to take full advantage of the unexpected free period to work on her tan.

  "This looks really serious," Elizabeth murmured nervously as the fire trucks pulled up in front of the school.

  Jessica raised herself up on one elbow. There wasn't a trace of smoke anywhere near the brick building, and she was sure that the fire fighters would be gone in a minute. It looked very much like a false alarm.

  And then Jessica wondered if someone had triggered it on purpose. Perhaps someone with a killer test or someone trying to escape an oral report had pulled the fire alarm to
get out of class. There had been plenty of "unscheduled drills" in the past that had eventually been traced back to a student. Jessica had even considered pulling a false alarm herself once or twice, although she knew she would never be crazy enough to go through with it.

  As her eyes wandered over the crowded lawn, she caught sight of something that was becoming all too familiar: a black jacket embroidered with a glaring white X. The person wearing the jacket was a surprise to her, though.

  "Take a look," she said, nodding her head in that direction. "Tad Johnson's in Bruce's club."

  "Tad?" Lila echoed, turning around. "He's not one of Bruce's friends."

  "I know," Jessica said, frowning hard.

  Tad Johnson was hardly Bruce's type. Conservative guesses put his weight at about two hundred and forty pounds, and as far as Jessica knew, Tad's only interests in life were playing football and watching football. He didn't exactly fit in with Bruce's cool-as-ice image.

  "So what is it the guys have to do to get in?" Jessica said in a frustrated tone. "Obviously it doesn't matter if you're one of Bruce's friends."

  Lila raised an eyebrow. "I'm amazed they could even find a leather jacket in Tad's size."

  Tad, Bruce, and Ronnie were leaning against a tree, hands in their jacket pockets and grins of superiority on their faces. While Jessica watched, Ronnie held one hand up in the air and Tad slapped it, laughing.

  "Look at them," Jessica fumed. "The three of them are acting like they just won the lottery, or pulled off the insider-trading deal of the century."

  Stretching out one leg to admire her tan, Lila let out a short laugh. "Maybe one of them pulled the fire alarm," she suggested.

  "Yeah, sure," Jessica scoffed. But then her smile faded. Deep in thought, Jessica lay back again and closed her eyes against the sun, waiting for the signal to return to class. Maybe they were responsible, after all.

  At lunchtime, Jessica arrived at her usual cafeteria table in the middle of heated speculation about Club X.

  "I heard there's some kind of initiation thing," Amy said, her light blue eyes gleaming.

  "Yeah, I heard it was some kind of macho test," Denise Hadley contributed.