SVH09-Racing Hearts (12 page)

Dennis shook his head. "No, you don't understand. Not only don't I have a car, I don't have a driver's license. I just turned fifteen."

"Oh." Jessica was at a rare loss for words. For a long time she just stared at him, looking at the boy she'd assumed was close to eighteen in a completely new light. "That does change things, doesn't it?"

"I hope you don't hate me," Dennis said timidly, his age clearly showing through his crumbled facade of confidence.

"How did you think you could get away with it?" Jessica asked.

"I know how you must feel, a girl like you finding out she's been hanging out with a kid-- especially when you thought I was much older. I realized you'd dump me if I told you the truth, so I kept my mouth shut. I figured if I could hide my age until I got my learner's permit, it might make a difference. If it still matters to you," he added hopefully, "I start driver's ed in two months."

Jessica took in Dennis's words with conflicting emotions. She liked him. She really did. And part of her still wanted Dennis at her side during the Bart dance. But what would everyone say when they found out her date wasn't even old enough to drive? She could just picture the look on Lila's face. Besides, Dennis had

had the nerve to keep the truth from her all these weeks.

Jessica Wakefield was the picture of innocence wronged. Keeping her voice hard, she addressed Dennis for the last time. "It's too late for true confessions," she told him. "Goodbye, Dennis." Quickly she ran for the elevator, hoping it would arrive before Dennis had a chance to catch up to her--and see the tears welling in her eyes.

Eleven

No one could have asked for a finer day for the thirty-first running of the Bart. Marshmallow- white clouds dotted the sky, keeping the temperature from rising too high. A slight breeze blew in from the ocean, making the air comfortable for the crowds pouring into the Sweet Valley College stadium.

The multitiered stands were divided into rooting sections for the five participating schools. The Sweet Valley High contingent was situated in one of the areas closest to the field. Several signs reading We Love You Bruce and Tony were being unfurled, although a few diehards who hadn't believed the rumor that Roger had dropped out of the race also held up banners with his name on them.

Elizabeth and Todd found seats toward the top of the Sweet Valley section. Todd scanned the faces below them and was surprised to see

Jessica along with the other cheerleaders. "I thought she was married to that job of hers these days," he noted.

"She quit, Todd," Elizabeth told him.

"The law not her cup of tea?" From the way he said it, he made it clear that he found Jessica's decision not at all surprising.

"I'm not convinced it ever was," Elizabeth said. "The only reason she worked as long as she did was because of a guy."

"I should have suspected there was a guy involved. There always seems to be." Todd raised an eyebrow. "What happened? Did he try to take advantage of her?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "Not in the way you think." Elizabeth related Jessica's version of what had happened the night before.

"And of course your twin can't stand the thought of being with a younger man," Todd concluded.

Elizabeth sighed, remembering the sadness she'd heard in Jessica's voice. "I think she really liked him, Todd. But Jess considers being fifteen a handicap no boy could ever overcome. She hasn't had the best of luck with guys lately, and she feels a lot of people around here might conclude she was so desperate for someone that she settled for a younger guy. Imagine how humiliated she'd feel chauffeuring him around everywhere." Elizabeth shook her head, her blond ponytail swinging from one shoulder to

the other. "It's a shame, though. I think if it had happened to me, I would have said the heck with what anyone says and gone out with him anyway."

"I'll keep that in mind the next time I see you snuggling up to a ninth grader," Todd kidded.

Elizabeth grabbed Todd's hand and squeezed it playfully. "I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you. But seriously, Todd, I feel bad for Jess. She seemed pretty upset this morning."

"Well, I wouldn't waste my time feeling sorry for your sister," Todd said. "Knowing Jessica, she'll be after someone else before the day's out."

Dressed in her red and white uniform, Jessica was in the middle of a last-minute practice with her squad before the bulk of the crowd arrived. She figured the cheering would keep her busy-- busy enough, she hoped, to recover from the latest disappointment in her life. As the stands began to fill up, she felt her spirits rise. With five high schools' worth of boys to feast her eyes on, she realized that getting Dennis Creighton out of her system would be much easier than she'd thought.

Standing as close to Jessica as possible was Annie Whitman, wearing a minidress short enough to make her a girl watcher's delight. But boys were the farthest thing from Annie's

mind this morning. All her energy was focused on Jessica and the other cheerleaders as they went through their routines, and she even tried running through some of the motions herself. Tryouts for the cheerleading squad were coming up soon, and Annie wanted to be sure she had all the moves down perfectly. Several times she tried to get Jessica's attention, but Jessica either didn't hear her or pretended not to.

On the field, Coach Schultz was giving a final pep talk to Bruce Patman and Tony Esteban. Then, looking supremely confident, Bruce took off his warm-up suit and headed toward the starting line. Because of the number of boys in competition, the race was to be run in heats, and he was one of the participants in the first heat. The top three finishers of both heats would then square off in the final race, and the winner would be awarded the silver trophy displayed on the judges' table--and the scholarship to Sweet Valley College.

Anticipation was in the air. Jessica led the Sweet Valley crowd in the chant, "Go, Bruce, go." With Roger apparently out of the picture, Bruce was Sweet Valley's only real hope for victory, and all eyes were on him.

That was exactly the way he liked it. The dark-haired boy smiled to his fans and even waved as he did a few jogging steps for the crowd.

"Look at that guy," Todd said disgustedly to

Elizabeth, "playing to the crowd as usual. He's going to burn himself up."

"I don't know," Elizabeth said. "I really think he wants to win this one. You know how big his ego can be."

"Well, we'll see soon enough. They're getting ready to start."

There were the obligatory introductions and the playing of the national anthem before the first race got under way. The stadium was eerily silent as the main judge raised his starter's pistol in the air. "On your mark, get set, go!"

The runners were off. Having learned a lesson from his race with Roger, Bruce held back at first, letting Joe Epson, one of the runners from El Carro High, fly into the lead. The coach had told him that the boy was known for fast starts but that his staying power was questionable. So Bruce concentrated on keeping his stamina and remaining just far enough behind Epson to make the other boy feel overconfident. He spent the early part of the race jockeying for second with two other boys. It was exactly where he wanted to be.

By the half-mile mark, however, it had obviously become a two-person race. The other boys, now visibly tiring, began to drift farther behind the leaders. One boy from Palisades High, the apparent victim of a muscle pull, even had to drop out, much to the disappointment of his school.

Bruce finally made his move on the final lap. Coming into the final turn, he bore down as hard as he could, and with a burst of reserved speed flashed by Joe Epson. Bruce finished a good three seconds ahead of him and fell into the arms of his teammate Tony as the crowd roared its approval.

"You made it, amigo," Tony congratulated him.

Still puffing, Bruce said, "It's only the beginning. I expect to see you running next to me in the finals. Go to it, Esteban."

Because Tony was not expected to do well, the enthusiasm in the Sweet Valley stands for the second heat was considerably weaker. If it hadn't been for the announcement over the loudspeaker, many of the students might not even have realized their star miler was running after all.

"... and in lane seven is Roger Barrett from Sweet Valley High."

All eyes focused on the slender boy, who cut a handsome figure dressed in a brand-new pair of red running shorts with the white high school tank top. It was quite a change from the ragged- looking figure who'd run that first race.

"I don't know how he did it," Lila said to one of her sorority friends, conveniently taking over once again as Roger's self-appointed number- one fan. "But doesn't he look great? You know, I bet he planned this whole ruse just to shock

the other schools. Imagine coming up with that dumb story about a job and a mean boss." She let out a laugh.

Elizabeth, overhearing the whole thing, was astonished at how conniving Lila could be when she put her mind to it.

"There's still time to plan that party after all," Lila said aloud. "After this race I'll call my father and have him get our cook to whip up a few things. Oh, it's going to be great!"

"Excuse me, Lila." Elizabeth turned around. "I couldn't help overhearing. You say the party's on again?"

Lila struck a pose. "It was so heartless of me to plan to do something for the coach and then decide to drop it for a silly little reason. No one else is doing a tribute, so it's left to me."

"Gee, I hate to break this to you, Lila, but Coach Schultz isn't leaving the school. All those rumors going around about him are false."

"Oh, you're just making that up, Liz. Can't you see how tired the man looks? It's obvious he's sick."

"Lila, what everyone around school has failed to notice recently is that the coach has
always
looked tired. Really, he's in great shape. You'll read all about it in next week's
Oracle."

"Hmmph," Lila snorted. "Well, I'll have the party anyway. This time the party's going to be in honor of Roger. A victory party."

"What makes you so sure he's going to win?" Elizabeth asked.

"Where's your faith, Liz? Of course he is! That guy can do anything," she said, her admiration of him back in full force. "Just look at that bod." She sighed.

"A few days ago, you didn't want to have anything to do with him."

"Oh, that," she said, nonchalantly, dismissing her abrupt rejection of him. "I'm sure Roger knows I didn't mean anything by it--especially since he's the one who forced the issue, coming up with that story about not being able to run. How else was I supposed to react?"

Elizabeth thought a moment before answering, then realized that Lila probably didn't know any other way. "All I can tell you, Lila, is don't be surprised if Roger decides not to show up." She was going to say something about Olivia, but her attention was diverted to the track and the start of the second heat. Standing next to each other, Roger and Tony held up their joined arms in unity and wished each other luck.

Then they took their marks. Both boys sat comfortably back in the pack for the first part of the race, letting the top miler from Springbrook High set the pace. But by the two-thirds mark, Roger began to find the pace too slow and advanced into the lead himself, where he remained until he crossed the finish line. The big surprise of the race was Tony, who finished third and

thus ensured that all three Sweet Valley qualifiers would be running in the final.

The crowd went wild. Jessica was convinced she'd lose her voice by the end of the afternoon but kept right on cheering anyway. Even Annie Whitman had managed to cheer her heart out in the bleachers, wishing all the time that she were down there with the squad.

Yet everyone had reserved a little extra for the final race, the most important one of all. The Sweet Valley High runners were lined up in lanes one, two, and three. In lane four was Joe Epson, the speedster from El Carro, who sneered derisively at Bruce, the boy who'd run him out of first place in the first heat.

"You're not going to do it to me again, Mr. Big Shot," the boy declared.

"You're in for a big surprise, then," Bruce shot back, " 'cause that's exactly what I intend to do."

"That's what you think," Joe hissed.

"Listen, buddy, if I were you, I'd give a little thought to this guy over here, too," he said, pointing to Roger.

"Oh, him." Joe dismissed Roger with a snort. "There's no way he could run that fast twice in one day. He's probably burned himself out."

Bruce just smiled. He found himself having come to a grudging admiration for Roger's running, if not for Roger himself. He was still

trying to get over the deception both Roger and the coach had pulled on him.

But there was no time to think about it. The final heat was about to begin. Bruce set his eyes on the track ahead of him and the glory that would be his when he stepped first across the finish line.

Roger, too, was focusing all his attention on the path ahead. He'd been able to catch everyone by surprise in the first heat, but now every runner on the track would be setting his sights on beating him. Did he have enough left inside to pull out another victory? he wondered.

The answer would be clear in less than five minutes. The starting gun went off, and from then on the pounding sound of feet was all Roger could concentrate on. Bruce was running with him stride for stride, apparently deciding that if he couldn't beat him, he'd join him as long as he could. Tony was right up with them, running faster than he ever had in his life. Joe Epson was close behind, although leading them all was one of the runners from Springbrook.

The pace was very fast, faster than Roger was accustomed to and much faster than he desired. It was sapping his strength, and he wasn't sure he could keep it up, let alone have enough left over for victory.

All he could do was try. Bearing down harder, he moved several steps ahead of Bruce. Tony,

he realized, was already fading, as was the other runner from Springbrook High. Joe, the boy from El Carro, was right there alongside Bruce.