Phase 1: What Would Jessica Wakefield Do?

A few weeks ago I was sitting in my brother's truck waiting for him and his girlfriend in a restaurant parking lot. They'd told me to be there around 7:30-ish and then called me to ask where I was...sitting here waiting for you. He was calling to say the restaurant had an hour waiting and asked why I'd gotten there so early. Because you told me to. He suggested going to the mall, but I didn't want to lose my parking place so I stayed there. While I was sitting, waiting, a thought came to mind and I began to wonder, What Would Jessica Wakefield would do.

I hadn't thought about Jessica Wakefield in years. She hadn't been a part of my life since I quit reading Sweet Valley High books some time in high school. It was a long run, considering I started reading Sweet Valley High books when I was in fifth grade and couldn't imagine doing half the things Jessica and her twin sister Elizabeth were doing. Even back then my fifth grade self knew something was weird: why did these sixteen year olds act like they were 80?

I had baby-sitters so I knew some sixteen year olds and they were cheerleaders, had sprained ankles, slept in and got grounded, which the Wakefields did, but my baby-sitters never used the word studious to describe themselves or talk about parties being wonderful. I could accept a certain amount of embellishment (I've never known anyone that was held hostage like Regina Morrow was or Elizabeth Wakefield before her) but I still expected accurate dialogue, even from a book written in 1986.

It occurred to me that if Jessica Wakefield were a real person, she'd probably be on a reality show, something along the lines of The Hills more so than Survivor or even The Amazing Race, even though reality shows weren't around back in the day. I also realized I missed her. She and her lame sister were such a part of my life, not as much the gospel for my teenage years because Judy Blume had that covered, but because they did stuff I'd probably never do like meet royalty, get kidnapped, or have a twin sister.

I miss my old friends, Jess and Liz and their posse: Brother Steven, Mother Alice, Father Ned. Friends Enid, Lila, Bruce, Amy and various others. As much as I miss them, I have to say, I've been a bad friend...I don't know how the series ends. Somewhere along the way, I started high school, wrote for the school paper and hated the popular girls. For my own peace of mind, I need to know how it all goes down. So I started my quest, a rather simple resolution: by the end of the year, I want to read the entire Sweet Valley High series.

Sadly, my local library doesn't carry the books anymore and a trip to a local bookstore proved successful yet disjointed; I found a bunch of books but they weren't in order. I implore you, if you see one or ten at a local thrift store or in a box in the back of your closet, help a girl out!