Free SVH01-Double Love by Francine Pascal Page B

parents' room while they were in the midst of an argument. Not an argument, really. They weren't shouting at each other or anything like that. It was more of a heated discussion. Her mother had seemed tense, and her father had worn an uncharacteristic frown.
    She'd only caught the tail end of their conversation, but it had brought a sour taste to her mouth nevertheless.
    "I never said my work was more important than yours," Ned Wakefield had argued in a voice straining to remain patient. "What I said was that it would be nice if we saw more of you "
    It might have been just a minor complaint. Their mother had been working longer hours than usual lately, due to a special design project
    she was involved in. But the incident bothered Elizabeth because her parents almost never argued. The thought of anything coming between them struck her like a sudden blow. What if the argument was just the tip of an iceberg named Marianna West? No, Elizabeth told herself, my imagination is running away with me again. It can't be true. It just can't.
     

Ten
     
    Elizabeth was almost finished taking notes and ready to head back to the Oracle office when it happened. There he was, suddenly, right in front of her, face to face, and there was no possibility of ignoring him.
    "Hi, Todd."
    "Liz," said Todd, his face lighting up. "Hey, isn't this something?"
    "Yeah! I'm covering it for The Oracle."
    "Wow, Liz, this is a big story. I always knew you'd be a great reporter."
    "Really?"
    "Sure."
    Todd looked away then, as though remembering something, and fell silent.
    "I was just heading back to school," Elizabeth said hopefully.
    "Yeah? I'm going back, too."
    They might have made up then and there, Elizabeth thought later, except that suddenly Jessica came running over.
    "Todd!"
    "Hi, Jess," he said.
    "I want to talk to you. It's terribly important," she gushed.
    "Oh--sure," Todd said.
    Elizabeth walked away as quickly as she could. She thought she heard Todd call her, but she kept on going, across the campus to the Oracle office. It was the longest walk of her life.
    Inside the office at last, Elizabeth sat at the typewriter and plunged into writing the story. It was like a doctor's prescription--it shut out all the pain and longing.
    Write, she told herself. Keep on writing. Forget everything else.
    Todd watched with a sense of loss as Elizabeth walked away. He'd had a precious moment when everything might have been set right, and he'd let it slip away.
    Somebody was talking at him. It was Jessica Wakefield.
    "Earth to Todd Wilkins," she was saying with a slight trace of irritation. He was such a hunk
    and just about the nicest guy at Sweet Valley High, but sometimes he seemed so dense! "What did you say, Jessica?" They were strolling along back toward the school again, and Jessica kept the pace leisurely. She wanted Todd to herself this time. "Liz was sure in a hurry," he said. "Yes," Jessica said slowly. "She's upset these days."
    "I guess she would be," Todd said. "Living down a stunt like that isn't easy."
    "That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Jessica began. "It's just terrible, what's happening. What kids are saying."
    "But it's all true, Jessica! I'd give anything to find out it wasn't."
    "Oh, Todd," Jessica whimpered, and she ran a few steps to a bench on the lawn and collapsed onto it. Todd was beside her in a minute. "What's the matter, Jessica?" Jessica was crying with abandon, holding her face in her hands and sobbing. Her shoulders shook. She wouldn't look at him. "Hey--Jess!"
    Todd sat beside her and pulled her close, holding her against him as she cried. "Come on, now. It can't be that bad."
    "Oh, Todd! I just can't stand it, what people are saying about Elizabeth. I love her more than
    anything in the world. I can't let her be treated like this."
    Jessica looked up into Todd's concerned face, into his wonderfully tender brown eyes, and her heart fluttered.
    "Todd, it could have happened to anyone! It's not fair! Why, it could