"Wow!" Zack whistled when he saw the dozens of cars parked in front of the Sutton hous.
"This is going to be some party." April smiled and smoothed her thick, dark hair.
Sitting forward in the backseat, Terri nervously checked her reflection in the review mirror.
Her lipstick was a pretty shade of apricot, and it matched her flowered shirt perfectly.
Her short, glossy, light brown hair still looked neat, but she quickly ran a comb through it anyway.
She wanted to make sure she looked her absolute best.
She rarely wore eyeliner, but that evening she had carefully applied a thin dark line around her large brown eyes, which made them look even larger.
Zack turned of the motor, then opened the doors for Terri and April.
Terri slid out of the car and made her way up the walk with Zack and April.
Suddenly she felt shaky.
Remember, she told herself.
Tonight you're not going to be shy—no matter what.
They rang the doorbell, and Jessica Wakefield opened the door.
"Zack and April! Hi! Oh, hi, Terri!" Although the Wakefield twins were identical, it was always easy to tell them apart because they dressed so differently.
Jessica was wearing a short black miniskirt, a bright red blouse, and matching red shoes.
Elizabeth tended to be less flashy, preferring soft pastel colors and more conservative clothes.
Terri was glad there was a way to figure out who was who!
"Hi Jessica," she said brightly.
"How's the party?"
"It's great," Jessica answered. "Come on in, you guys!"
Happy to see a familiar face, Terri stepped into the Sutton house.
It was a huge contemporary house with a cathedral ceiling in the living room.
Impressed, Terri looked around for some more familiar faces.
Across the room, she saw Cara Walker and Jean West sharing a laugh with a several of the football players.
In the other direction, Todd Wilkins was gazing into Elizabeth Wakefield's eyes as they talked quietly at the side of the room.
A minute later Terri spotted Jessica dancing with Skip Harmon, a senior at Sweet Valley.
Enid Rollins waved to Terri as she danced with a guy Terri didn't recognize.
Lila Fowler had taken over Jessica's job of answering the door, and more people were arriving by the minute.
Terri wondered when her friends were going to show up.
With shriek of laughter, Amy appeared at the living room entrance.
"Here he is, everybody!" she announced, pulling Ken into the room by the arm.
Just looking at Ken mad Terri's heart pound.
His sandy blond hair was tousled, and he was wearing a blue cotton pullover sweater that matched his deep blue eyes.
"Hi, everyone," Ken said shyly.
For a guy who attracted as much attention as he did, Terri thought Ken was remarkably down-to-earth.
Everyone at the party broke into cheers.
"Come on, you guys." Ken smiled as he and Amy made their way into the room.
"I wasn't the only one out there, you know."
"Well, you did score the winning touchdown," Amy said, smiling.
"And for that, you deserve this."
As the entire party watched, Amy took Ken by the shoulders and planted a soft, sizzling kiss on his lips.
Terri felt herself blushing.
Well, what did you expect? she reminded herself.
Everyone knew that Amy was interested in Ken.
And they were perfect for each other, weren't they?
He was the star of the football team, and she was one of the prettiest cheerleaders.
It seemed only natural for them to become a couple.
"Way to go, Sutton!" Winston Egbert called out.
Winston was the junior-class clown, and Terri usually laughed at his jokes.
But tonight she didn't find the situation very funny.
Amy finally broke of the kiss, then smiled with satisfaction.
She snuggled closer to Ken and grinned at her guests.
"That's all for now, folks," she quipped.
A sickening feeling shot through Terri.
Why had she come to this party anyway? So she could see Amy Sutton kissing Ken Matthews?
Fortunately, just at the moment the door bell rang, and John and Jennifer burst in, followed by Kristin, Shelley, and Shelley's boyfriend, Jim Roberts.
"Hi, everybody!" John shouted.
"You can start the party now, We're here!"
Terri giggled, despite herself.
She had never been so happy to see her friends in her life!
Ken was glad his tan would hide the blush on his face.
It bothered him that Amy had kissed him like that in front of everybody.
He liked her, sure.
But they had only been out on a few casual dates.
Amy was acting as if they were a serious couple.
"Hey, buddy," Winston called out, walking over to shake Ken's hand.
"So, did any of those scouts offer to buy a car yet? Or are they jus going to give you a bundle of cash?"
Ken smiled. "I don't know what they're going to offer me." he said truthfully.
"I'll settle for a scholarship, though,"
"Well, if they do give you any cash, you know where I live," Winston joked.
"Tens and twenties will be fine."
Ken started laughing. "OK, Win. "Whatever you want."
Amy came up beside Ken and put her arm through his.
"Well, I'd better go find Maria," Winston said.
"I don't want her to fall into the punch bowl without me." Winston slapped Ken on the back, then walked away.
"Do you want something to drink?" Any asked softly.
Ken nodded. "But I can get it, Amy."
"No, this is your party. Relax," she told him.
"Orange juice, right?"
"Sure. That would be great." Ken watched as Amy walked over to the refreshment table.
Jessica joined her there and immediately started whispering something in Amy's ear.
The two girls obviously had lot to talk about, and Amy seemed to forget all about Ken.
"Great game, Ken," Elizabeth said, approaching him with Todd at her side.
"Thanks, Liz.
Sometimes you get luck I guess," Ken said.
"That wasn't luck, Ken. It was skill, and you know it," Todd interjected.
"Maybe so, Wilkins, but I can't wait until I see you on the basketball court again.
Then it'll be my turn to be in the crowd cheering you on."
Todd had been the star player on the basketball team before he had to leave Sweet Valley to move to Vermot, when his father had been transferred.
Recently his father had returned to Sweet Valley.
"Here's your juice," Amy interrupted, handing Ken a paper cup.
Jessica was with her.
"Listen, I have to say hello to some people. I'll be right back.
Jess, keep an eye on Ken for me, will you?" Amy asked.
"Make sure he doesn't do anything I wouldn't do."
"My pleasure," Jessica replied, throwing her arm around Ken's shoulder and winking at him.
Ken smiled. He and Jessica had gone on enough dates to know that they weren't meant for each other, but they enjoyed hanging out together.
"Hey, Jess," he said. "I'm in trouble if you're taking care of me.'
Jessica grinned at him, then turned to her sister.
"Hi, Liz. Hi, Todd! Great party, huh?" she asked.
"Sure is," Elizabeth agreed. "Skip is a terrific dancer. You two look fabulous out there."
"Dancing isn't everything," Jessica said, rolling her eyes toward the ceiling.
In answer to Elizabeth's quizzical look, she added, "I'll tell you later."
Elizabeth turned to her boyfriend.
"This is one of my all-time favorite songs. Come on, let's dance."
"Yes, ma'am." Todd flashed her a smile, and they moved toward the corner of the living room where everyone was dancing.
"I'm on a spy mission," Jessica whispered into Ken's ear once they were alone.
"I need to gather some information for this week's 'Eyes and Ears,'" she said, referring the school newspaper's gossip column that Elizabeth wrote.
"What do you mean?" Ken asked. "I know nothing!" he insisted in a phony German accent.
Jessica's eyes twinkled mischievously.
"Oh, come on! You and I go way back, Ken.
You don't have to pretend with me. Are you and Amy going to be Sweet Valley High's next hot couple or not?
"What?"
"Ken Matthews, you're hopeless! I wish you could see the look on your face!"
Just then Amy returned. "Hi, guys. What's going on?"
"Oh, nothing," Jessica fibbed. "We were just talking about football."
Ken glared at Jessica, the turned in the direction of the dancers.
Was Any telling people that they were couple? Was that why she had thrown such a big party, to let everyone know that they were going out?
******
Well, our next five opponents have a combined twenty-three to fifteen record, so an undefeated season isn't exactly guaranteed," Terri told John.
She was having a much better time now that she had her friends to hang out with.
Surrounded by a few of the football players, together with Shelley, Jim, Kristin, Jennifer, and John, she felt a lot more comfortable.
She had danced a few times, with different guys, and she had met some new people, too.
"So what do you think, Terri?" John asked. "Do the numbers add up?"
"Well, we do match up well against—"
Terri stopped in mind-sentence when she saw Ken approaching.
"Hi, gang!" he greeted them. "What's the latest?"
"As Terri," John said. "She's the only one who knows anything."
Ken looked right at her. "OK, Terri," he said cheerfully. "Give me the good news."
"Um, let's see . . ." Terri felt her knees begin to shake. Why couldn't she think of anything now?
"I'm going to get something to drink. Want anything, Terri? John asked.
"A Coke would be great," Terri said, and John and Jennifer headed over to the refreshment table.
"Hey, there's Robin," Shelley said to Kristin.
"Let's go say hello."
Terri looked at her friends. Please, she begged them silently. Don't leave me alone with Ken!!
But her friends walked to the other side of the living room.
And looking over at the refreshment table, Terri saw that John was at the end of a very long line.
He wouldn't be back any time soon.
She decided she would just have to plunge in and say the first thing that came to mind.
"Um, actually, that last touchdown of yours was your fifty-seventh run of the season, and your seventh running touchdown," she told Ken.
"I knew it was something like that," Ken said. "I'm glad somebody's keeping count."
"The only other person in school history who had more running TD's was Richard Chico, and that was six years ago," Terri went on.
"He had nine. But you still have five more games left in the season, so I think you can break the record."
"Yeah, maybe I can," Ken said.
"It's good thing I don't have to gou up against Matt Ambers again.
When i saw him heading toward me today, I thought my season was all over.
"He may be big, but he's slow," Terri said.
"He never even got near you." ,
"Boy, you really know football!" Ken said.
Terri blushed and looked down, hoping he wouldn't notice.
Was he complimenting her, or making fun of her? She couldn't tell.
When she raised her eyes to answer him, Amy was at Ken's side.
"So there you are! she cooed, giving Terri a nasty glare while Ken wasn't looking.
"I thought you'd run off and left me."
Well, I'd better go get that Come myself," Terri mumbled.
But before she could take off, Amy grabbed Ken by the neck, pulled him to her, and gave him another big kiss.
Terri turned away. She had been crazy to thin Ken would ever look at her twice.