Summary: It's the twin's junior year of high school. After having to adjust to the new El Carro kids coming in, there's a new adjustment to be made: the kids from Sweet Valley Jr. High are back! And bringing all of the drama with them! Can Jessica and Elizabeth survive it? AU
Disclaimer: I do not own Sweet Valley High characters or anything of the such.
Clash of the Schools
Chapter 1
Back Again
Jessica's POV
"I think that you're totally overdressing. You're blowing this back to school thing to new heights, seriously." My twin sister said as she watched me perfectly do my makeup in the mirror. "I got ready in under fifteen minutes and I'm looking great."
I smiled at my twin. "This year, everything's going to be different. Melissa and I made amends, so it's not going to be as stressful a year. Will and I are cool after he cleared my rep. Now I know who my true friends are—definitely not Lila. And I'm going to be in charge. Which is why I'm wearing this. I know, its risqué or whatever, but I feel like being sexy for the first day."
Liz grinned at me proudly. "I'm glad to hear you say that. I'm going to eat breakfast." She walked out of the bathroom and headed to her room while I stood and looked at myself in the mirror. My hair was curled in gentle spirals down my back; my shirt was a blue belly top with the word BOY on it. It showed off my flat stomach and my new stud piercing. Also, I wore low slung jeans with white tennis shoes. It was an extremely feminine tomboy look. It looked great.
As I finished applying my clear lip gloss, I smiled at my reflection. I looked really hot! I looked incredible! All of those new students coming could eat their heart out… especially since I was available. After all of that drama last year, I decided that it'd be nice to be single again. They could look but not touch.
And besides, after today I would dress mellow. It's just nice to have the attention for the first day of a new year.
When I went downstairs, I grabbed an apple and hopped into the Jeep with Liz, where we headed off to school. For a moment, I was a bit nervous. I was starting this year off single—a rare feat, I must say—and not totally confident. Sure, now Melissa and I were cool and those rumors wouldn't be going around anymore. But that didn't mean people wouldn't still be talking about it. Gosh.
I shook my head at that thought and turned to Liz. "So… what's the Conner verdict? Is he going to be here today or is he coming next week?"
She sighed and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Next week. He's spending another week in rehab to make sure that he can definitely live without alcohol. I think it's the best, even though I miss him more than you can imagine."
"I totally understand. When he comes back, he's going to be a completely different guy, and he'll no longer treat you like crap." I assured her. She was head over heels in love with him, and I knew that she was ready for him to come back.
I was glad that I didn't have to worry about that! The relationship life is way too complicated.
When we pulled into the school, Elizabeth put the keys in her purse and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was wearing a jean skirt and a red beaded tank top, matching flip flops with her hair pulled into a side ponytail on her shoulder. "I'll see you at lunch."
"We're not going to class together?"
"No, I have an Oracle meeting first thing this morning. If any new kids want to sign up, then all they have to do is sign up with Maria and me this morning and we'll talk to them briefly before sending them on their way. It's mandatory."
We walked through the doors of the school and hugged each other. "See you later then." We walked separate ways down the hallway, where I met up with Tia, and Liz with Maria.
"Hey girl! Looking extra hot for the new kids coming?" She asked.
I grinned. "You already know it. Same for you?" Tia was wearing a short black skirt and black tee with 'badass' written in white letters.
"Jess, the only boy I'm looking hot for is Trent. So are you seriously looking for man-candy?"
I ran a hand through my hair as a group of freshmen boys stared me up and down. "More seriously, I'm doing this to show everyone that I'm not afraid to look nice just because of everything that happened last year."
Just then Melissa, Cherie, and Lila came over. "Hey Jess! Hey Tia! What's up?" They asked. The three were also dressed up extra hot for the first day of school. I always say, great minds think alike.
"Getting ready to start this new year. Now that the school's expanded what seems tenfold, I have a lot more people to impress." I told them. "But I plan to stay single this entire year. No more drama with boys. Jeremy was my last boyfriend for a long time."
"Is he still with Jade?"
I nodded. "They're happily together."
"That's great!" Melissa grinned but then frowned. "But you two were totally cute together."
"We were during the time. But… we grew apart, and Jeremy and Jade look way better together than we did." I looked down at my schedule. "What class do you guys have first period?"
We all shared our schedule before Melissa, Tia, and I walked towards our first period. The two of us dropped Melissa off in her class and continued onto class, myself thinking: This year, I'm totally going to be drama-free!
Elizabeth's POV
"Hi! Welcome new students to Sweet Valley High's newspaper, The Oracle. I'm your chief editor, Maria Slater. I'm in charge of the entire paper; what goes in and what doesn't. And this is my second in command, Elizabeth Wakefield. She has the same job as me when I can't fulfill my duties. She's also in charge of the layout. So, if you want to officially sign up now, then go ahead and sign the sheet. If you have any questions, come over now and we can answer them."
Bunches of people came over my way and signed the clipboard in my hand. It wasn't until someone didn't sign that worried me. I looked up from the paper and smiled at the guy, who was just staring at me in awe. Either he had a crush or something totally embarrassing was on my face.
"Um, hi. I'm Elizabeth. Do you want to sign up?"
"Yeah, I do. But I first just have to get over the fact that I'm standing in front of Elizabeth Wakefield. You look… amazing!" The guy said, a huge grin breaking onto his face, revealing two really cute dimples.
"Oh, do I know you?"
"You do, actually." A girl spoke, coming from behind the guy. "Maybe you don't remember those two kids you started The Zine with in Jr. High, but we're them."
My eyes widened, and I totally felt stupid as realization dawned on me. The other half of El Carro was joining our school, which meant that Jessica and my Jr. High friends would be transferring over. It was too good to be true!
"S—Sal? Anna? Are you for real?"
Before either of them could say another word, I dropped the clipboard and enveloped them in huge bear hugs. "Oh my gosh! It's so good to see you guys again! I can't believe… we're here… I'm practically speechless!"
They both laughed. "Yeah, we can see that. So how's everything been?" Anna asked.
"For me? Everything's been pretty great. I'm… I'm going through a hard time right now, but I'm making my way through one step at a time." I tucked a strand behind my hair, putting the bright smile back on my face. "But you guys just being here is making my life ten times better."
"Well… we have to catch up. I mean, I'm sure everyone wants to see you again. Like Toby."
"Do you still date Toby?"
Anna shrugged. "It's an on and off kind of relationship. We're both really dramatic."
"Well, um, we'll catch up at lunch. I'm still kind of busy." I looked behind my friends and picked up the clipboard I'd dropped earlier. "If I see you in class, we'll hang then, too. Okay?"
"Yeah! Cool. We'll see you later."
When they left, Maria walked over and asked, "Who were they?"
"They were my old friends from Jr. High. I can't believe we're in school together now. This is… great. It's incredible!" I turned to her. "Now I have to introduce them to my best friend: you!"
"I can't wait to meet them. Now finish up with this line so we can get to class." Maria smiled and turned back to some kids wanting to ask her some questions.
And I stood there in awe, not believing that my long time friends were back. With Conner gone and me worrying about how he'd act when he returned from rehab, my old friends would be the perfect distraction.
"Salvador and Anna." Tia said, pointing to each one as we sat around the table during lunch. "Sal, you're the goofy one. And Anna, you're the Drama Queen. Am I right?"
"Dead on." Sal answered. "And you're Tia, Maria, and Andy. Tia, you're The Comforter, Maria, you're The Overachiever, and Andy, you're the equivalent of me as The Goofball."
"Man, you make us sound like superheroes." Andy said with a grin.
"Hey, that's how Liz makes you guys sound." Anna told us.
I smiled at them and asked, "So what've you guys been up to lately?"
"Personally, I don't do as much writing. Toby, wherever he is, and I have gotten more and more into acting and now we plan on being the leads in whatever school play will be happening."
"And I'm still a writer. And I still play guitar."
"Really? That's awesome!" I said. "Are you still in that band called Big Noise or whatever?"
Sal let out a deep sigh. "We don't really hang out anymore. Different friends." He explained. "Kristen and Brian hang with the 'It Crowd', Blue and Damon hang with the stoners and surfers, and Bethel hangs with the athletes. What about Jessica? She hangs with the athletes?"
"More like the cheerleaders." I answered.
"Jessica was an athlete?" Tia asked, shock written all over her face.
"Yeah, she used to run track." Anna said. "But she's a cheerleader."
Just then, another guy plopped down at the table. "Sorry I'm late, babe." Toby said, pecking Anna's temple before devouring his meal.
"Wow, Toby. You haven't changed a bit." I joked.
He looked up, did a double take, swallowed his food, and grinned. "It's a Wakefield!" He exclaimed. "I can't believe that The Wakefield Twins are back. I can't believe you even remember who I am."
"Of course I do. Dramatic Toby and Anna."
"How'd you know?" He grinned and stood to give me a hug.
After that whole little reunion was done, I turned back to Sal and asked, "So the old gang split up."
"It's not like we were the Scooby Doo squad or whatever." Sal said with a grin. "And it was for the best. We were a totally odd bunch, anyway. So it's not that big of a deal."
"That's what made us so great! We were all different and yet we all got along so beautifully. We should totally reunite our group. With no questions asked."
"That'd be stupid." Anna said, a sad pout on her face. "They dubbed us losers. They stopped hanging around us because of that. Why would they—or why would we want to hang out with those guys after they ditched us to be considered popular?"
I shrugged, knowing that she was right. But was there really something wrong with wanting to go back in time and live when things were so much simpler? Before Conner brought all of that drama into my life and made me forget that there is a life beyond us? Was there something wrong with that?
I could only hope not, because I planned to do something about it.
A/N: First fic so review and review some more! Many people don't read SVH but I want to bring it back so tell me your honest opinion and I'll write more.
