Don't Go Home with John Page 2

  Jessica leaned against him. "I know that, but I can't help feeling that it's up to me. I mean, I'm the girl. If I can't keep myself, you know, more in check, how can I expect you to?"

  Sam moved his face in front of hers. "Jessica Wakefield," he said gently. "I may be a boy, but I'm not some sort of wild beast, you know. It's not like you kiss me and I go brain dead right away. I'm a person, too. I have as much responsibility for what happens between us as you do." He kissed the top of her head. "I care about you, Jess. You know I would never hurt you."

  She smiled back at him. "Does this mean you'll wear the tights?"

  Jessica walked into the living room, relieved to see that her parents were out. She didn't really feel up to talking to them right now. Despite Sam's reassurances, she was still worried. No matter what he said, she couldn't shake the idea that it was up to her to be the one who never got carried away.

  Lost in thought, Jessica climbed the stairs to her room. She could hear her twin sister Elizabeth talking on the phone in the adjoining room.

  Jessica loved her sister dearly, but she also thought that Elizabeth was so levelheaded and reliable that she was boring. And Elizabeth was always trying to give her advice she didn't want to take. Now, however, it occurred to Jessica that Elizabeth might have some advice she would be willing to listen to. As soon as she heard her sister say good night to Todd and hang up the phone, she walked into her room.

  "How do you two do it?" she demanded without any preamble. "That's all I want to know. How do you do it?"

  Elizabeth looked up with a smile. "Do what? Talk on the phone? It's easy. Todd dials my number, I pick up the receiver—"

  Jessica took a stuffed toy from the dresser and threw it at her sister. "This is serious, Liz," she said. She flopped down on the foot of Elizabeth's bed. "How do you and Todd stay so close and not . . . you know. The other night Sam and I were kissing so hard that we fell out of the car."

  Elizabeth laughed.

  "Fell out of the car?" she gasped. "How did you manage that?"

  Jessica frowned. "I don't know. I guess I'd started to open the door and then I got distracted and . . ." She sat up. "Elizabeth, will you please stop laughing? This isn't funny. Once I start kissing Sam I practically forget what planet I'm on."

  Elizabeth gave her a shrewd look. "And you think Todd and I don't?" she asked. "You think Todd and I just shake hands and give each other a peck on the cheek?"

  Jessica tried not to let her surprise show in her face. The idea of Elizabeth and Todd having as much fun kissing as she and Sam did was a new one to her. She always thought Todd and Elizabeth were about as exciting together as Mr. and Mrs. Wakefield. "You do?"

  Elizabeth made a face. "Yes, we do. Only we know what we want and we've set our limits. We know when to stop."

  "That's just it," said Jessica. "I'm not so sure Sam and I do. I mean, I think we do . . . Sam thinks we do . . . but sometimes I'm not so sure."

  An impish smile lit up Elizabeth's face. "Maybe you and Sam are spending too much time alone," she teased. "Maybe you should get involved in more group activities."

  Jessica rolled over on her stomach. "Oh, sure," she said. ''Like dog sledding. That way we'd not only be with other people, we'd be too cold to do anything if we weren't."

  Two

  Jessica's bedroom door opened and Elizabeth's head appeared. "What are you doing, Jess?" she asked. "Don't tell me you're not ready yet."

  Jessica, hunched over her desk with a determined expression on her face, didn't look up. "Go away," she said. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

  Elizabeth sighed. "Jessica," she said with exaggerated patience. "I have to get to school early today. I want to go to the Oracle office before classes start, and you're still in your pajamas."

  The point of Jessica's pencil snapped. "Elizabeth, please!" She turned to face her twin. "I have got to get this math homework done before we go or I'll be in this class for the rest of my life."

  Jessica hated it when her sister looked at her the way she was looking at her now. It was exactly the look her mother gave her when Jessica forgot to do some tiny little thing like fix supper or walk the dog. It must be genetic, she thought. Thank goodness I didn't inherit it!

  "What are you talking about?" asked Elizabeth. "I thought Sam came over last night to help you with it. The two of you were in the kitchen for hours."

  Jessica avoided meeting her sister's eyes. It was true that Sam had come over last night to help her with her math assignment. And it was true that they had spent hours in the kitchen. The trouble was that it was very hard to concentrate on quadratic equations when the cutest boy in California was leaning over your shoulder with his cheek next to yours.

  Jessica pushed a golden strand of hair out of her eyes and sighed. "Well, we did start to do it," she explained. "We really did. But then Sam had to come around the table to show me something in the textbook, and then I sort of turned to ask him a question . . ." She shrugged helplessly. "And the next thing I knew, Mom and Dad were pulling into the driveway and it was so late that Sam had to go."

  A smile tugged at the corners of Elizabeth's mouth. "I knew Sam was fast on a dirt bike," she teased, "but this is ridiculous."

  "Tell me about it," said Jessica sourly. "This really isn't funny anymore, Liz. I'm just as bad as Sam is. Every time I'm near him I want to kiss him. I'm like a moth to a flame."

  "It seems to me that the problem isn't that you want to kiss him," said Elizabeth, still trying not to smile. "The problem is that you do."

  Jessica scowled. How could her sister joke at a time like this? And everyone thought that Jessica was the frivolous twin! "We're going to have to have a guard."

  "Oh, sure," grinned her sister. "Maybe Grandma could come out to be your chaperone. I'm sure she'd love going to dirt-bike meets and dances."

  Jessica smiled at the image of their grandmother sitting in the back of Sam's car while she and Sam said good night. "Well, something drastic has to be done," said Jessica. "We can't go on like this."

  Elizabeth's expression became serious. "Jessica," she said in her most reasonable voice, "promise me one thing. Promise me you won't go overboard like you usually do. This isn't the mega-crisis you think it is."

  "Overboard?" Jessica repeated. "When have I ever gone overboard?"

  "Jess, we don't have five hours for me to stand here and list all the times you've gone overboard. All I'm trying to say is that this is no big deal. Todd and I have gone through exactly the same thing. Every couple does."

  Jessica bit her lip. It was absolutely impossible that Elizabeth and Todd, two of the dullest people in Southern California, could have gone through what she and Sam were going through. Elizabeth was wonderful, but a girl who can't go to sleep at night unless she's written in her diary is not the sort of girl who is likely to be swept away by passion. And as for Todd—Todd was less exciting than a plate of cold potatoes. "No, you haven't," said Jessica shortly. "Nobody has."

  "Jessica, listen to me. You don't have to go to extremes here. You just have to be a little more disciplined. At least get your homework done before you start to kiss."

  "I'm not going to go to extremes, Liz," Jessica snapped. "I'm just going to get out of the way of temptation for a while." She had thought about it the previous night after Sam left, and again that morning. From that moment on, she and Sam would go everywhere in groups. When they kissed good night, they would kiss good night at the front door, under the porch light. When they held hands, they would hold hands in public places only. "As long as we're never alone, we'll be fine."

  "It's going to be pretty crowded in Sam's car with half of Sweet Valley High in the backseat," Elizabeth said as she turned to go.

  Elizabeth stopped outside the Oracle office. Inside, she could hear someone talking. "Well, you know what girls are like," a boy's voice was saying bitterly. "They never know what they want. They tell you one thing, and then they get mad at you when that's what you do." Could that be John Pfeifer? Elizabeth, her hand on the knob, hesitated. She had never heard that tone in John's voice before. There was a mumbled response from someone else, and then the door opened suddenly and one of the basketball players came out, calling goodbye and nodding to her as he passed.

  Feeling a little puzzled by the belligerence she had heard through the door, Elizabeth walked into the office. John Pfeifer was sitting at his desk, a paper in front of him. He looked up with his usual warm smile. "Hi, Elizabeth!"

  Maybe I didn't hear him right, Elizabeth thought. Maybe he was reading from that copy of the daily paper. She smiled back. "John!" she cried. "I was hoping I'd run into you. I wanted to congratulate you on getting the internship."

  "Thanks, Liz," said John with a shy but happy grin. "I knew you'd be happy for me."

  She threw her books down. "Well, if you knew I'd be happy, John Pfeifer, why didn't you tell me yourself?" she asked with a laugh. "I can't believe that I had to hear the news from Jessica, who heard it from Lila."

  Elizabeth had been half kidding, but much to her surprise John started to blush. Elizabeth had to hide her surprise. Jessica had said she thought there might be something going on between Lila and John, and now it looked like she may have been right.

  "I really haven't seen you since I heard," he mumbled. "I mean, I've been busy, and you've been busy, and . . ."

  Elizabeth smiled. "But you have seen Lila."

  John pretended not to know what she was getting at. "Oh, yeah," he said quickly. "I saw Lila. I ran into her in town the afternoon I found out," He shrugged. "You know, I was so excited I just had to tell somebody."

  "Oh, yeah," said Elizabeth, sitting down across from him. "I know." She got out her papers and started looking them over. "You and Lila seem to be getting pretty friendly lately," she went on, trying to sound casual.

  John picked up the newspaper and held it in front of his face. "Well, you know," he said evasively, "we've had a few classes together and everything. She's a nice girl. She's not as stuck-up as some people think she is."

  Elizabeth and John had been friends for too long for her to let him get away with this. She reached over and pulled the newspaper down. "John Pfeifer," she said with an impish smile, "don't think you can fool me. I've seen the two of you walking in the hallway together and talking at her locker. I'm not an ace reporter for nothing, you know."

  John shifted nervously in his chair. "Oh, we're not. . . I mean, I like her and everything, but . . ."

  Elizabeth couldn't hide the fact that she was pleased for him. Although he wouldn't discuss it at any length, she knew how down John had been since he and Jennifer split up. He was so serious and intense that his confidence had almost vanished completely. Lila Fowler had never been one of Elizabeth's favorite people, there was no denying that, but if she was the person John wanted, Elizabeth wasn't going to say anything against her. Maybe someone who was light and not into having a heavy relationship was just what John needed to help him get over Jennifer.

  "But what?" she teased. "Lila is one of the prettiest and most popular girls in the school."

  John shrugged. "But I'm not one of the handsomest boys." He smiled wryly. "Or one of the richest." He shrugged again. "I don't know. I almost asked her out yesterday, but then I got cold feet at the last minute. I mean, we're not even in the same league, are we? How can I expect a girl as popular and rich as Lila to want to date me? It's like a carpenter wanting to go out with a princess."

  "Oh, come on, John," said Elizabeth. "Don't put yourself down." She put a friendly hand on his shoulder. "You may not be royalty, but you are one of the nicest boys around. And you're the only one who has an internship at the L.A. Sun."

  John's expression became earnest. "Do you really think I have a chance, Liz? I mean, sometimes I think she really likes me, and then I think about the guys she usually goes out with . . ." He made a face. "It's just that I don't think I could stand any more rejection right now. Not after . . . well, you know, I just couldn't."

  Elizabeth touched his hand. "Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there?" she asked.

  Lila pulled open the door of her locker a little more abruptly than she had planned. Two notebooks and her gym sneakers flew out. "What a day," she grumbled as she bent down to pick them up. "It hasn't even started yet and already I don't like it." Almost every day for the past few weeks she had bumped into John as she walked across the parking lot, but this morning there hadn't been any sign of him. After their coffee in town the other afternoon, she had expected him to ask her out. Instead, though he had come running up to her yesterday as if there were something he had to say to her, all they had talked about in the end was what his first piece for the L.A. Sun would be, and what color scheme she had finally decided on for her ball. Lila shoved the sneakers back into the locker, took out the books she needed, and slammed it shut. Boys, she thought. No wonder I always played the field. Grumbling to herself, she turned around and walked right into someone who was standing behind her.

  "John!"

  He was smiling but his eyes were serious. "I thought I'd walk you to your first class," he said quietly.

  Lila was relieved that her laugh sounded more natural than it felt. "But we go in opposite directions," she reminded him.

  "That's all right," he said, falling into step beside her. "I need the exercise."

  He's going to ask me out, Lila told herself as they slowly made their way down the corridor. She glanced over at him. The boys she usually dated were self-confident to the point of arrogance, but John at this moment looked nervous and shy. She edged a little closer to him, her arm just touching his. "Everyone's talking about your internship, you know," she told him. "You're practically a local hero."

  His green eyes turned to her. "I don't know about local hero," he laughed, the shyness giving way to that pride she had seen in him the other day.

  Lila shook her head. "No, it's true," she said. "Everyone thinks you're terrific. It's such an honor! Everyone's saying you're some kind of genius."

  They came to a stop in front of her classroom. "But is that what you think?" he asked. "Or is it just what everybody else says?"

  "It's what I think," Lila said, her voice a whisper.

  The bell rang, and students started hurrying past them, into the room.

  John took an audible breath. "Does that mean you'd be willing to go out with me tomorrow night?"

  He spoke so fast that if she hadn't been waiting for it, she might not have understood him. "Tomorrow?" Lila had already turned down two dates just in case John did ask her out, but she frowned as though she were considering her busy schedule anyway. ''Well, sure," she said at last. "Sure. I don't think I have anything else planned."

  "Really? You will?" His smile was so openly happy that, impulsively, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

  "Of course I will." She smiled back. "But now I have to go or I'll be late."

  Just as she shut the door behind her, Lila turned back to the hall. John was still gazing after her. She gave him a wink.

  Lila glanced at herself in the glass of the cafeteria door before she went into lunch. She wanted to make sure that she looked her usual calm, controlled self. Which couldn't have been further from the truth. Lila didn't know how it had happened, but she was so excited about her date with John on Saturday that she hadn't been able to think of anything else all morning. Maybe it was that she liked him even more than she had thought. Maybe it was that he was so different from her usual boyfriends that it made him especially attractive. She just wasn't sure. The only thing she was sure of was the fact that everyone else would be very surprised. Everyone was making such a big deal about his internship and how talented and serious he was that she knew they would never imagine him being interested in her. Lila Fowler and John Pfeifer? they'd say. But she's so superficial and he's so serious . . . I guess there must be more to her than we always thought.

  Lila slowly crossed the lunchroom to the table where Jessica, Amy, and Caroline Pearce were already sitting. The fact was that she was so excited about her date with John that she had decided not to tell her friends about it right away. She was going to make them guess.

  Lila slipped into the chair next to Jessica.

  Caroline was talking about how much trouble she was having finding crinolines for her Scarlett O'Hara costume for Lila's ball. Amy wanted Jessica to taste her sandwich because she thought it smelled funny. Jessica was worried that she had a split end.

  Lila tapped her fork against her plate restlessly. What was wrong with them? Hadn't they noticed that she had a secret she wasn't going to tell them? Wasn't even one of them interested in her?

  At last Jessica stopped talking about her hair long enough to say, "So how about it, guys? Anyone want to go to the movies tomorrow night?" She looked around the table. "I thought it'd be nice if a bunch of us went to see that new comedy."

  "We might be up for it," said Caroline. "I'll see what Jerry thinks."

  "Sure," said Amy. "It sounds like fun. I'll talk to Barry."

  Jessica turned to Lila. "Well?" she asked. "You want to come along?"

  Lila pushed her food around on her plate in a bored way. She knew from years of experience that the surest way to get Jessica to ask you for information was to act as though you didn't intend to give her any. "I'm afraid I can't," she said, not meeting Jessica's eyes.

  Jessica tilted her head in a way that meant she was thinking. "Why not?"

  Lila speared one pea with her fork and slipped it into her mouth. "I'm busy."

  Jessica rested her chin on her hand. "Busy doing what?" she asked.

  Lila dabbed at her mouth with her napkin. "Well, if you must know," she said in a bored voice, "it just so happens that I have a date tomorrow night."

  Amy, Caroline, and Jessica all looked at one another.

  "Oh, really?" said Amy. "And with whom would that be?"

  Lila shrugged. "Oh, someone . . ."

  "It wouldn't be with someone whose initials are J. P., by any chance, would it?" guessed Amy.