Author's note: Towards the end there are some flashbacks, which
are in italics. Sorry it took me long to update, but I promise to be
better about updating. Thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed!
You guys are the BEST.

Jessica stared at Elizabeth in shock. Jessica knew that Elizabeth
would come home, but she was still surprised. Plus, Elizabeth
looked awful. Her eyes were all red and her face was tear stained.
She also looked tired and defeated. It was hard to believe that this
girl was her sister.
"Liz?" Jessica said softly. She crept over to her sister's bed and
carefully sat down next to Liz. "Are you okay? Everyone was so
worried about you," she said comfortingly.
Elizabeth laughed under her breath, "I bet."
"Mom and Dad were worried sick, and I was scared to death."
Elizabeth looked at her for the first time. "Really?"
"Really," Jessica said truthfully. Having Liz back and all this stuff
with Jeremy made Jessica realize that she was no longer mad at
Liz. Liz did a stupid thing, but they were sisters and Jessica couldn't
believe that they had let a guy come between them. Especially
a guy like Conner.
"So what happened?" Jessica said, clasping her hands in front of
her. Elizabeth was sitting on the bed, her arms wrapped around
her knees like a protective shield.
Elizabeth bit her lip, "I don't really want to talk about it."
"Oh," Jessica said quietly.
"It's not that," she quickly assured her. "I will tell you everything.
Just not now. I had Mom and Dad attacking me from all sides
demanding answers that I just didn't have. Plus, they didn't even
know that I was seeing Conner."
"So how bad is it?"
"Pretty bad," Liz admitted. "I'm grounded for two months except
for school and the Oracle. No phone calls, no e-mail, no anything.
I can't even drive the jeep. I have to take the bus to school for
the next couple of months."
"Wow," Jessica said surprised. "That's kind of harsh."
"I deserve it," Elizabeth said bitterly. "I ran away for almost a
week without leaving so much as a note. Mom and Dad called
the police, and had an investigator. I think they've both aged
about ten years."
"What made you come home?"
"I was going to come home, I had a ticket and everything. But
Conner found me and he brought me home."
Jessica raised her eyebrows.
"It's not what you think," Elizabeth said quickly. "He only did it to
save his own reputation. It's kind of hard to pick up girls when
your psycho ex-girlfriend is spazed out and ran away."
"How can you say that?" Jessica said. "Conner was really upset.
He tore into me and was freaking out big time. The guy is crazy
about you, Liz."
"It doesn't matter," Elizabeth said blinking back tears. "We're over."
"What about your baby?" Jessica pointed out.
Elizabeth's eyes flew open. "How…how did you know? Does
everyone
know?"
"No, just Conner, Jeremy, and me. We found the pregnancy
stick in the trash."
Elizabeth was silent.
"You and Conner need to be together, Liz. This is huge. Don't stay
away from him just because of me." Jessica put her hand on Liz's
knee. "I don't love Conner, Liz."
Elizabeth started to cry. "He's the one who stayed away from me."
"But everything's different now."
"Nothing's changed." Elizabeth raised her head and looked at Jessica.
"There is no baby."
"You were wrong?" Jessica said confused.
"No, I had a miscarriage. In San Jose. There is no baby anymore."
Elizabeth started sobbing and Jessica wrapped her arms around
her convulsing body.
"Does Conner know?" she asked quietly.
"No," Elizabeth said with a hint of desperation in her voice. "You
can't tell him."
"He deserves to know, it was his baby too. Plus, he's not stupid. He'll
notice that you aren't gaining any weight, and that there isn't a baby
in nine months."
Elizabeth looked at Jessica. "I'll tell him."
The twins sat there silently holding each other.
"Thanks for being here for me," Elizabeth said.
"Anytime, I love you. I'm glad you're home."
"Me too."

Elizabeth slipped quietly into her desk. Mr. Collins looked up from
his desk and gave her an odd look. She had been getting a lot of
those this morning. She pulled out her old copy of Jane Eyre and
tried to read as the rest of the students slowly trickled into
homeroom. She didn't know how she was going to make it through
the day. If it weren't for Jessica, she would have stayed wrapped up
in her covers. At least Jessica had forgiven her; she would never
have been able to face SVH without her twin.
Her mind flashed back to yesterday afternoon. Conner and her had
driven back to Sweet Valley in silence. Conner had flashed her a
couple of looks but she hadn't made eye contact. When he had
dropped her off, he had tried talking to her, but she bolted. Jessica
was right, though. She would have to talk to him eventually.
Mr. Collins walked slowly over to her desk and silently handed
her a folded piece of paper.
Elizabeth unfolded it and glanced at it. She wasn't surprised. It wasn't
like you could cut school for a week and not have anyone notice.
She gathered up her bag and walked out of the room. She could
see everyone in her homeroom eyes following her every step.
She walked nervously to the principal's office. She had never been
there except to have meetings with Mr. Cooper about a fundraiser
or a new project. She had never gone there like this. She
smoothed her skirt, and tried to find her courage. She had
decided to dress conservatively this morning. She was wearing
a white blouse, a navy cardigan, and a khaki skirt. It hadn't really
mattered much because when she showed up at school this morning,
everyone had ignored her, or else they had tried to stare at her
discreetly. No one had called her a slut or a spaz. Thank You,
Jessica!
She said mentally. The closest thing to an incident was
when she passed Cherie Reese; you could tell it was killing the
girl to keep her mouth shut.
She walked into the office and Mrs. Hannon, the school secretary,
directed her into Mr. Cooper's office.
Conner McDermott was sitting there. Elizabeth had to fight the urge
to flee. He gave her a quick glance. He looked incredible, and his
face gave nothing away. While Elizabeth was sure her face was
bright red. She sat down in the chair next to Conner.
Mr. Cooper cleared his throat and began. "You both know why you're
here. Mr. McDermott, you missed school on Friday with no excuse.
You have detention for two weeks."
Conner silently nodded.
Mr. Cooper shifted his gaze over to Elizabeth. She was silently dying.
If Conner had only missed one day, she was sure to be
suspended. Or worse, kicked out.
"I was very upset to hear that one of this school's best students had
run away.
Elizabeth opened her mouth to explain, but Mr. Cooper cut her off.
"I'm not as entirely clueless as you students would believe. I know
what's been going on these past few weeks. Unfortunately, there's
not much the school can do in these cases. "We have three
guidance counselors, and I know you're close to several members
of the faculty; you should have come to see anyone of us. Normally
in a circumstance like this, you'd be suspended and not allowed to
make up any missed work. But since you're one of our top students
and you have a clean record, we've decided to be a little lenient.
You have one week to makeup all missed assignments and tests.
You have to see one of the guidance counselors twice a week during
your study hall for two months. You have detention for a month. Also,
you're on probation until you graduate. Anything else happens and
you're suspended. Am I clear?"
"Yes sir," Elizabeth said gratefully.
"There's one more thing," Mr. Cooper said glancing from Conner
to Liz. "Every year the school board sponsors a carnival in the gym
for disadvantaged children. It's this Saturday from noon until four.
Mr. McDermott and Miss Wakefield, you two will be in charge of
the prize redemption booth for the entire carnival."
Conner and Liz both nodded. "You may go."
They quietly walked out. Elizabeth picked up her pace, hoping to
reach her math class before Conner could say anything to her.
She didn't know how she was going to spend four hours with him
on Saturday.
"Hey," Conner said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "How are you?"
"I've been better," Elizabeth said stopping. She looked down at her
shoes.
"You look good," He said clearing his throat. "You have that
whole sexy schoolgirl thing going on."
Elizabeth turned bright red. "You're such a…tool," she hissed at
him. "Is that all you care about?"
"No," Conner said quickly. "It was a dumb thing to say, I don't know
why I said it. I just…" he sounded frustrated. "I just want to talk
to you Liz."
"Well, I don't have anything to say to you," Elizabeth said and
began to walk away.
"Don't walk away from me," Conner said grabbing her arm. "We
have
to talk."
"Let go of me," she said angrily, and wrenched her arm free.
Then she hurried away. Tears were starting to fall and she
ducked into the bathroom. She hated herself. Conner was trying
to help and she kept treating him like dirt. It's just that she wanted
him so bad, and she knew that she could never have him. She
pulled out a paper towel from the dispenser and wiped her
eyes. Conner deserved the truth.

Conner moved back and forth slightly. The cool breeze caused
goosebumps to pop up on his arm, but he didn't notice, or feel
the cold. His hands lightly gripped the cool metal chains of the
swing. Usually, coming to Tia's backyard made everything clear.
But this time he was just drawing a blank. This had to have been
one of the worst days in his life. He could handle detention, no
problem. But Liz had deemed herself the ice queen and Conner
had yet been able to reach her. He was glad that the rumors and
the attack dogs had been silent. He had even seen Elizabeth and
Jessica eating together at lunch.
"Let's go upstairs and study," Elizabeth said, pulling on his arm.
"Why? You know we'll just end up making out," He said grinning
at her.
"Yeah, but we'd have some privacy. My parents and Jessica
aren't due back for a while, but when we're together sometimes
we loose track of time."
Conner snapped back to the present. He had heard the chains of the
swing clink. He glanced over and saw Tia sitting there.
"Hey," she said. She was wearing a large red robe, and her hair
was all mussed.
"Tee," he said surprised.
"We don't have to whisper. My dad is working the late shift and
won't be home for a couple of hours, and my mom sleeps like
a rock."
They sat in silence for a couple of minutes until Tia started
talking. "This is stupid, Conner. We've been friends forever. I
hate not talking to you. I even miss your blunt two word
sentences."
"Well, I miss your endless chatter," he shot back.
"You were stupid," Tia said. "But what you did had nothing to
do with us, I shouldn't have gotten mad for how you handle
your relationships."
"Yeah, but Jessica was your friend."
"Sure," Tia said, swirling her big toe around in the dirt. She
gave a short laugh. "The Wakefield's really screwed us up."
Conner smirked slightly. "They certainly are addictive."
"What?" Tia said confused.
Conner pulled back. "We should stop," he said breathlessly.
They were sprawled out across her bed. Conner was
positioned slightly on top of her. Elizabeth placed both her
hands on his face and kissed him hard. "Don't
ever stop."
Conner glanced away.
"You still like Liz," she said accusingly.
"I can't stop thinking about her Tee." He kicked the dirt hard. "I
need her."
Tia gave him a surprised look. "You really care about her,
don't you?"
"It's kind of complicated," Conner said, running his hands through
his hair. "There's all this stuff."
"What kind of stuff?" Tia said confused. "Tell me Conner."
Elizabeth and Conner were both breathing heavily. Neither could
find the energy to talk just yet. Conner had collapsed on top of Liz,
shifting his weight so he wouldn't crush her. Elizabeth lightly ran
her fingers across his back, as Conner trembled. He kissed her
mouth, her eyes, her neck. He never believed that a girl could
have this kind of effect on him. Instinct told him to get up and go,
but his body refused to leave Elizabeth's warmth. Plus, he
didn't think he could get up, anyways.
"Elizabeth left because-"
"People were saying all that stuff about you guys, I know," Tia
said quickly.
"There was more. Elizabeth is pregnant."
Tia stared at him in shock. "You mean-"
Conner jammed his hands in his pockets.
"How did…what?"
"You know about the birds and the bees, Tee." Conner snapped
at her.
"I just can't believe it."
"I know. She won't even let me talk to her."
Tia was speechless. She couldn't believe it. Her mind just refused
to accept it. She glanced up, but Conner was gone. Tia wasn't too
surprised. It was unlike Conner to spill this much.
Tia wrapped the robe tightly around herself, and started to cry. Loud,
gasping sobs, caused her body to shake. She loved Conner. They
had been best friends for years, and Tia always prided herself on the
fact that she knew Conner better than anyone. They had shared almost
ten years of crushes, kisses, and life with each other. Tia wasn't in
love with Conner, she was too devoted to Angel. But Elizabeth had
shared something with Conner that Tia could never share with him.
Tia had given her heart and mind, but Elizabeth had given her body.
There was stuff that Conner couldn't share with her anymore. He
was moving away from her so fast, Tia wasn't sure she could ever
catch up. Tia felt like she had lost her best friend for good this time.