SVH12-When Love Dies

When Love Dies (Sweet Valley High #12)

Kate William

Francine Pascal

WHEN LOVE DIES

Steven felt himself stiffen. "It's none of my business what Tricia does. We're not going together anymore."

"Then what are you getting so excited about?" Cara asked.

"I'm not excited!" Steven practically roared. Abruptly he pulled Cara to her feet. "Let's dance. I feel like dancing." To hell with Tricia, he thought.

Steven placed his arms around Cara. He closed his eyes, imagining it was Tricia he was holding. Tricia's warm body pressed so closely to his, Tricia's fingertips dancing lightly over the back of his neck--

Suddenly Steven kissed Cara hard on the lips.

Cara stirred eagerly in his arms. "Oh, Steve," she murmured. "This is going to be the nicest party I ever had."

Bantam Books in the Sweet Valley High Series Ask your bookseller for the books you have missed

#1 DOUBLE LOVE

#2 SECRETS

#3 PLAYING WITH FIRE

#4 POWER PLAY

#5 ALL NIGHT LONG

#6 DANGEROUS LOVE

#7 DEAR SISTER

#8 HEARTBREAKER

#9 RACING HEARTS

#10 WRONG KIND OF GIRL

#11 TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

#12 WHEN LOVE DIES

#13 KIDNAPPED!

#14 DECEPTIONS

#15 PROMISES

#16 RAGS TO RICHES

#17 LOVE LETTERS

#18 HEAD OVER HEELS

#19 SHOWDOWN

Written by

Kate William

Created by

FRANCINE PASCAL

BANTAM BOOKS TORONTO

NEW YORK LONDON SYDNEY AUCKLAND

RL 6, IL age 12 and up

WHEN LOVE DIES

A Bantam Book I September 1984

Sweet Valley High is a trademark of Francine Pascal

Conceived by Francine Pascal

Produced by Cloverdale Press Inc., 133 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10003

Cover art by James Mathewuse

All rights reserved.

Copyright © 1984 by Francine Pascal.

Cover copyright © 1984 by Cloverdale Press Inc.

This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by mimeograph or any other means, without permission. For information address: Bantam Books, Inc.

ISBN 0-553-24358-6

Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada

Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words

"Bantam Books" and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, Inc., 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10103.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

O 0 9 8 7 6 5 4

To Amy Berkower

Chapter One

"Steve! Aren't you going to say hi to your favorite sister?"

Jessica Wakefield tossed her schoolbooks down on the kitchen counter in an untidy pile. Her wide, aquamarine eyes flashed With curiosity as she took in her older brother's miserable

expression. Steven was sitting slumped at the table, staring vacantly into space while he stirred a cup of coffee that had probably gone cold hours ago.

He looked up and blinked, as if seeing her for the first time. "Hi, uh . . . Jess," he said, as if it had taken him a second or two to tell which of his twin sisters was standing before him.

Boy, what's wrong with him? Jessica wondered. He can't even tell who's who.

On the outside, there was no denying that Jessica and Elizabeth were identical in every respect. They shared the same sun-streaked golden hair and dazzling white smiles, the same delicate features and perfect size-six figures. Together, they formed a double image of sun? kissed, all-American loveliness.

Beneath the surface, however, it was a different matter. Tempestuous Jessica seemed to attract trouble the way a magnet draws metal shavings, while the more levelheaded Elizabeth spent a lot of her time trying to disengage herself from the results of her sister's mischief-making. But at the moment Jessica was honestly concerned about her brother. She sank down in the chair beside his.

"What's wrong? You look like your best friend just died."

Steven grunted. "It's nothing." He stopped stirring his coffee and put the spoon aside. His brown eyes were dark with gloom; his wavy brown hair looked as if it hadn't been combed. The shadow of a two-day beard darkened his handsome, square-cut face.

"Nothing! You've been walking around here every weekend looking like Dracula's leftovers. You're still upset about Tricia, right? More upset than she is, I'll bet."

It really bugged her the way her brother

carried on about the trouble he was having with his dumb girlfriend--as if she were really, well, somebody. In Jessica's opinion Tricia Martin was a nobody. No, worse than a nobody. Tricia came from one of the trashiest families in Sweet Valley. What on earth did Steven see in her anyway? Jessica wondered. She snatched a banana from the fruit bowl, and angrily yanked the peel off.

"Look, Jess, just lay off, OK?" Steven shot her a warning glare as he got up and stalked out of the room. Jessica saw that there were tears in his eyes.

A few moments later Elizabeth sailed into the kitchen, put down an armful of books, and removed her sweater. "Hi, Jess," she said, heading straight for the refrigerator. "Gosh, I'm starved! I'm going to make myself a sandwich. You hungry?"

"Not really," Jessica said as she popped the rest of the banana into her mouth, leaving the peel on the table. She watched as Elizabeth took a big piece of cheese out of the refrigerator and placed it on the counter.

The two girls could have been mirror images, except that Jessica's hair swung loose around her shoulders while Elizabeth's was pulled back in a practical ponytail. And Elizabeth's neatly tailored corduroy skirt was a lot less likely to bring traffic to a screeching halt than Jessica's skintight jeans and flimsy camisole top.

"Liz, did you see Steve on your way in?" Jessica demanded as her sister spread mustard on a slice of bread. "He looks awful," she went on, without waiting for an answer. "I wonder if Tricia finally dumped him."

Jessica thrived on real-life soap operas--especially those in which she played a starring role. However, a crisis involving their adored older brother came in a close second.

"I always said Steve was too good for her, didn't I?" she continued. "I always said she'd turn out to be nothing but trouble--just like that whole grungy family of hers. I guess this just proves I'm right."

Elizabeth turned to give her sister a sharp look. "Our poor brother is dragging around with a broken heart, and all you can think about is being right. Don't you care about Steve?"

"Of course I do!" Jessica flared. "I was thinking of Steve. If he'd listened to me, he never would have gotten so involved with Tricia in the first place. He should have broken off with her months ago."

"I think you've got things mixed up," Elizabeth said sternly. "Steve doesn't want to break up with her. He's madly in love with Tricia."

"Ugh! How could he be? Talk about humiliating! The Martins are just about the worst family in Sweet Valley. How could our own brother want to be seen with one of them?" Jessica

jumped up to face Elizabeth across the kitchen counter.

"Tricia's nice," Elizabeth protested, meeting her sister's gaze. "She's not like the rest of her family."

"If she's so nice, why's she giving Steve the cold shoulder?" Jessica walked over to the counter and snatched a piece of the cheese Elizabeth had been slicing.

Elizabeth sighed. There was no denying Tricia had been acting coldly toward Steve, Elizabeth thought. She'd broken two dates, and according to Steven, she'd acted vague and uninterested when they were together. It was strange because Tricia had always been so devoted to him in the past.

"1 don't know what's going on with Tricia," Elizabeth said. "Maybe she's having some kind of trouble at home. Something she's too embarrassed to tell Steve."

"I can't see what could be more embarrassing than what he already knows. I mean, everybody knows her father's a drunk, for goodness' sake. And her sister! Betsy'll probably end up either pregnant or in jail in another year or so. Maybe both."

"Come on, Jess, give Tricia a break. Her family's problems aren't her fault."

"Why does she have to go around defending them all the time then? Honestly, she's so forgiving it makes me want to throw up!"

"I don't suppose you've ever heard of family loyalty?" Elizabeth asked pointedly.

Jessica sniffed. "All I know is I could use a little of it myself. It seems like every time I try to do somebody a favor around here, I practically get my head bitten off. Last week I merely suggested to Steve that Tricia might be interested in another guy, and he looked at me like I'd just thrown a hand grenade at him."

"Some favor," Elizabeth muttered. She put her sandwich on a plate and carried it over to the table.

Jessica tagged after her, sitting down in the chair next to her. "OK, so what's the latest? Do you know why Steve looks so lousy? What gives?"

Elizabeth took a big bite of her sandwich. "He didn't tell me. But I heard him on the phone asking for Tricia when I walked in. I guess she wasn't home, because he hung up."

"She stood him up, I'll bet. She'd probably rather be off at some wild party than spending « time with someone whose biggest interest is college. She's just like Betsy."

"What's Betsy got to do with it?" As far as Elizabeth could see, Tricia wasn't anything like her older sister, who had one of the worst reputations in town.

"Well, you know how it is, they're sisters-- and sisters have lots of things in common," Jessica finished lamely.

Elizabeth laughed. "For my sake, I hope that's not true--or I'm in real trouble!"

"See what I mean?" Jessica sulked. "Nobody around here appreciates me. Someday when I'm rich and famous, you'll be sorry you weren't nicer."

Elizabeth laughed. "We love you, dummy-- isn't that enough? Anyway, to show you how much I appreciate you, here--you can have the rest of my sandwich."

Jessica glared at the crust on Elizabeth's plate. "Gee, thanks a lot. I'm overwhelmed by your generosity."

"What did you expect? A check for a million dollars?"

Jessica looked thoughtful. "That wouldn't be bad--for starters. Actually, I was thinking maybe you could lend me your red shoes for tonight. I'm going out with Aaron Dallas and--"

Elizabeth didn't let her finish. "Absolutely, positively no. The last time you borrowed them, you broke a strap, and it cost me six dollars to get it fixed. You never did pay me back."

"I haven't forgotten. I was planning to pay you back. Every cent. Didn't I promise?"

"Yeah, six months ago."

"OK, so this time I promise I'll pay you back with interest. Now can I borrow them?"

Elizabeth refused to budge. "Sorry, Jess."

"In that case, I guess I'll just have to go barefoot. I'll probably end up stepping on a

piece of broken glass and bleeding to death, and it'll be all your fault." Jessica rose from her chair with a wounded expression. "If you can live with that on your conscience . . ."

Elizabeth burst into uncontrollable giggles. "I give. A performance like that deserves some reward. Honestly, Jess, Hollywood just doesn't know what it's missing. You could probably win an Academy Award."

"And when I do, I'll be sure to thank my sweet, generous sister for having the same size feet as me." Jessica laughed and leaned over to give her twin a playful punch on the arm.

Later that evening, Elizabeth was getting ready for her date with Todd Wilkins, her boyfriend and the handsome star of the Sweet Valley High basketball team. She imagined his warm brown eyes, his lopsided grin. She smiled as she slipped a navy T-shirt dress over her head. After all this time, the thought of Todd still made her tingle. She barely noticed when Jessica waltzed into her room and began digging around in her closet, looking for the red shoes.

"Steve hardly said two words at dinner. This thing with Tricia is really getting out of hand. Somebody should do something."

Elizabeth shot her sister a warning look. "Keep out of it, Jess. If Steve wants our advice, he'll ask for it."

As if on cue, their older brother walked in

through the open door. "Has either of you seen my car keys?"

At six feet plus, Steven towered over his sisters, but aside from the healthy outdoor look they all shared, he didn't resemble them in the least. With his rangy, athletic build, wavy, brown hair, and dark eyes he was an eighteen-year-old lesion of their father.

"Got a date, Steve?" Jessica piped up.

"I thought I'd drive over and see Tricia. She wasn't home when I called, but she should be back by now."

"Didn't you tell her you were coming home for the weekend?" Jessica asked.

Steven frowned. "She knows I come home almost every weekend. I've never had to make a big thing of telling her."

"Oh, I see." Jessica picked up Elizabeth's brush and began guiding it through her hair with studied casualness. "Maybe you're giving her the impression that you can take her for granted. You know, you just expect her to be there for you."