Two weeks later

"I hated Gary," Conner said bitterly. "He didn't like me much either
because I was a constant reminder to my mom's first marriage and to my
real dad. I was also in the way. My mom and Gary wanted privacy, not some
little kid hanging around. It was even worse when Megan was born
because then I felt like I didn't belong in my mom's new family."
Elizabeth snuggled up to Conner and he wrapped his arm around her
shoulder and intertwined their legs. She rested her head on Conner's hard
chest. Her head moved up and down as Conner breathed. It was quiet except
for Conner's voice. Her parents were visiting friends and Jessica was
cheering that night. Elizabeth had never been so happy. Even though
Conner was still seeing her sister she knew that Conner cared about her. He
had shown it today by finally opening up to her. She knew they had
moved too fast but things just seemed so right between them.
With Conner lying next to her telling her things that he had never told
anyone before and his hand running down her smooth bare shoulder, she
knew she wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Or with anyone else. She
would have thought that Conner would look silly tangled in her flowerily
sheets in her light wood sleigh bed. But amid all the girliness he
looked even more masculine.
"Gary showered Megan with attention all but forgetting about me. But
when I turned thirteen things got worse. For my birthday my mom gave me
my dad's old guitar. It was the best present I'd ever gotten and I
begged my mom for lessons. But Gary refused to pay for them because they
were sending Megan to some fancy sports camp and that guitar lessons
weren't possible financially. So I worked all summer mowing lawns and when I
finally got enough money to pay for several months worth of lessons, I
tried to give the money to my mother. But Gary intercepted it and made me
open a savings account to save for college. Or course I was furious because
the last thing on a thirteen-year-old's mind is college.
"When Gary left my mom she was devastated. She cried and she blamed me
for his disappearance. 'If only you had been nicer to him and treated
him with respect, he wouldn't have left. All he wanted was for you to
accept him as a father figure.' Then she started drinking."
"Oh, Conner," Elizabeth said softly.
"I've closed myself up," he said hoarsely. "First my dad left and then
my mom emotionally left. I've never let myself get that close to anyone
again besides Megan. And now she's left too." Then he buried his face
in her hair. "Except you." He groaned. "You do things to me Elizabeth
Wakefield."
Elizabeth ran a finger across his chest where his heart was and traced
a heart around the area. "Give me your heart, Conner, and I'll keep it
always," she whispered. They laid there together silently for a moment.
"So why aren't you at the game with everyone else?" Conner asked her.
Elizabeth propped herself up on one elbow, her head balanced on her
hand. "I don't know," she said honestly. "Things have changed so much since
last year. We all used to hang out in one big group. All of us, Todd,
Ken, Lila, Amy, Enid…but everything's changed. I haven't talked to Enid
in forever, Todd and I aren't on speaking terms and Maria's been busy
with school. It's like everyone is moving on and I'm stuck in neutral."
"Yeah," Conner agreed. "Tia has cheerleading and Evan and Andy are also
branching out. But I've never been good at making new friends."
" So why aren't you at the game?" Elizabeth asked quietly.
"It's almost an hour away. Plus I wanted to be with you. I hate
football games."
Elizabeth smiled. "What about Jessica?"
"What about her? Whenever I'm with her I wish I were with you. Our
relationship is like totally dead. I think even she knows it."
"And maybe you could end things on good terms," Elizabeth said
hopefully.
"Not usually my style," Conner said brushing his lips against hers.
"But for you-" He kissed her harder and lost himself in her sweet lips. He
had never let himself get this intimate with a girl but he knew that
with Elizabeth it was different. He rolled over on top of her and allowed
himself to pretend that everything was okay and that Elizabeth didn't
have a twin sister.

One Week Later

Jessica fluffed up her hair with her fingers. She had chickened out
with Conner a few weeks ago but tonight she was ready. And terrified. She
wasn't sure if this was the best idea. She and Conner had hardly seen
each other these past weeks and she was always so busy with cheerleading
and Lila and Melissa….
And then there was the whole mystery note thing. Jessica reached under
her pillow and pulled out a small stack of identical white envelopes.
She had gotten several more of the anonymous messages. She reread the
one that had come that afternoon.

There's no other girl as special as you.

Jessica smiled. Even though she wasn't interested in another guy, the
notes still intrigued her. It was so romantic and it was pretty obvious
that the guy was crazy about her and not afraid to tell her, unlike
Conner who rarely complimented her or noticed her appearance. But tonight
she would make sure he noticed. She slipped on her robe over her
slip. She felt weird just parading into his room wearing the skimpy slip
that stopped mid-thigh and that had a plunging neckline so low that it
rivaled any other piece of clothing she had.
She gathered up all her courage and marched down to Conner's room. She
tapped lightly on his door.
"Come in!" he called.
How romantic she thought sarcastically. He doesn't even open the door!
She opened it and shut it quietly behind her. "Hey," she murmured,
adding a deeper tone to her voice to make it sound sexier.
"Hey," Conner said getting up from his bed. "Are you okay? You sound a
little hoarse."
"I'm fine. Actually, I'm going to be more than fine very soon."
"Really?" Conner said distractedly. "Why? Are you going to Lila's or
something?"
"No, silly! I'm with you!" she giggled. She walked over to him and
placed her hands on his shoulders. "Things have been different lately."
"Yeah, I agree, they have."
"And I think I can make it all better," she purred.
"Good," he said relieved. "How?" he said his eyes darting around the
room.
"Like this." She very slowly shrugged her robe off revealing her slip.
Conner's eyes widened. "Jess," he choked out. "What are you doing?"
"I want you Conner," she choked out.
Conner took in her luscious body and then he quickly pushed her away
and ran his hands through his hair. "Are you crazy!" he shouted,
Jessica felt tears start to form. "Don't you want me? I thought you
were in love with me! We've been seeing each other for over a month!"
"But things haven't been okay. We've grown apart, Jess. We don't have
anything in common," Conner argued.
"But I love you!" Jessica cried.
Conner looked away. Then he ran out of the room and slammed the door.
Jessica sobbed and sunk onto the bed. Now what? How could Conner be so
cruel and reject her like that? True, things had been different but they
were meant to be together.
Actually, Jessica admitted, things had not been okay with them. But the
horrible thing was that Conner thought so too and had been planning
on dumping her. And that hurt almost more than the rejection itself.
Well, Conner had had his chance. There were other guys; cuter, more
attentive guys out there. After all, Conner McDermott, wasn't that great.

Elizabeth glanced up from her computer, startled. Conner stormed into
the room. Elizabeth got up and closed the door quietly. She walked over
to where Conner was fuming.
"You want to know what your crazy sister tried to do?" Conner spat out.
Elizabeth pulled down on the large shirt she was wearing for bed. She
glanced at the clock. It was after ten.
"She came into my room talking about how weird things had been. I
thought we were on the same wavelength but then she shed her robe and was
wearing some slip thing."
"She wanted to…" Elizabeth couldn't even say it as tears formed in her
eyes.
"Listen," Conner said gently. "I never wanted to. She does nothing for
me. Not like you." Conner sat down on her bed, frustrated.
"So what did you do?" she whispered.
"I ran," Conner admitted. "I was freaked."
"Oh, Conner," Elizabeth said sitting down next to him." This makes
everything worse! Clearly, Jessica still has feelings for you and now she's
probably devastated." She placed a hand on his thigh. "You need to work
things out with her, Conner." Elizabeth sighed. "Maybe I should back
off for a while."
"No," Conner said quickly. "I-we can't."
They were both silent. "Night, Liz." Conner leaned in and kissed her.
Elizabeth responded hungrily and they both lost themselves in the kiss.
Elizabeth's door flew open and Jessica barged in sobbing. "Liz, you
have to help me." She stopped when she saw Conner and Elizabeth who had
been too started to move. "Oh my God," Jessica choked out. "Get off MY
BOYFRIEND!" she shrieked and fled in tears.