**This blog contains adult language.**
Warning: Spoilers Ahead!!! This is a recap blog which means I read the book and tell you everything that happens so you don't have to read it yourself. Do NOT continue to read unless you want to know what cold-hearted-bitch move the twins made this book.
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From the Back of the Book: Terror in the skies...George Warren has been looking forward to taking his girlfriend, Enid Rollins, as a passenger on his first licensed flight. Afterward he's going to tell her something he's known for a long time – he doesn't love her anymore, and their relationship is over. Then he'll be free to date Robin Wilson, the girl he does love. But as he and Enid are flying, George loses control of the plane and is forced to make a crash landing. Enid is seriously injured and George is overcome with guilt. He can't possibly break up with Enid now. But how long can he pretend to be in love with her and continue living a lie?
Meet the Cast
*Elizabeth Wakefield – identical twin of Jessica and massive fucking martyr.
*Jessica Wakefield – identical twin of Elizabeth with narcissistic and histrionic tendencies
*Ned Wakefield – neglectful patriarch of the clan and successful lawyer
*Alice Wakefield – neglectful matriarch of the clan and an interior designer
*Steven Wakefield – older brother, university student and general asshole
*Enid Rollins – Liz's best friend and generic good-girl type
*Todd Wilkins – Liz's douchebag boyfriend and star of the SVH basketball team
*Lila Fowler – Jessica's self-absorbed best friend and representative of SV new money
*Bruce Patman – school dick and representative of SV old money
*Winston Egbert – stereotypical school nerd
There are more but these are the main characters that plague us book after book.
This book was published in 1985 and this is my first time reading it. The cover doesn't make much sense. Liz wasn't with Enid when they crashed. Enid doesn't even look particularly injured. I'm not sure what they were going for here, but it missed the mark.
In the last book, Jess and Lila fought over a guy named Jack who turned out to be a thief and a liar. Jess once again found herself in a horrible situation with a man because 'women in peril' is Pascal's favorite trope, but she saved herself by cheerleader-kicking a weapon out of the bad guy's hand. Liz had a mini mystery involving some photographs that were submitted to the paper without a name but that was forgotten almost as soon as it was introduced. And George cheated on Enid with Robin during some flying lessons. Liz found out about the cheating but didn't tell her best friend about it because....reasons I guess. At the end of the book, Liz found out that George's plane crashed with Enid on board.
Missing, Presumed Dead: Steven was briefly mentioned once but never seen or actually heard from so I'm counting him as chained up in the basement still. Bruce and Winston were never mentioned at all. This is the second book in a row that the two of them have been missing and no one seems to care. Olivia, Roger and Caroline all pull a disappearing act as well. You'd think people in SV would be suspicious about all these random teenagers not being seen for months at a time but I guess not.
Released from the Wakefield Dungeon: no one. The Wakefield reign of terror continues.
We begin with Enid and George flying in a rental plane. In the timeline, it's a short time before the end of the last book so Jess is probably still cheerleader-kicking Jack at this point. It's George's first solo flight but he's feeling confident and well-prepared. Enid is having the time of her life but George is agonizing over having to tell her that he's in love with Robin. He reviews their entire relationship for us but it's basically just that he knew Enid for years and then they started dating and he thought he was in love with her but then he fell in love with Robin and realized Enid was more of a friend. Pascal really tries to paint him as a tortured victim telling us that he didn't want to cheat and he tried not to fall in love.
Save it, Pascal. He's a jerk and cheating is disgusting.
They fly over the lake and George feels awful because he knows that Robin is down on the shore watching him. Suddenly the engine cuts out. He calls air traffic control who urges him to turn into the wind and put his nose up to slow the descent. I don't know if this is good advice or not. I read a lot of articles on engine failure in flight and the general consensus was that you should put your plane into a glide. I'm pretty sure that doesn't mean raising your nose but I'm not a pilot so I might be wrong. The pat about turning into the wind is probably better advice because I did find that they advise you not to turn into a tail wind because that will increase your speed. BUT....ATC then advises him to land in the lake which my research shows should be a LAST RESORT only. It would be much safer to land on the nearby road or in a field than in the water. Mostly because hitting the water at high speed is like hitting concrete and the likelihood of drowning is extremely high.
George follows ATC advice and they end up crashing into the lake and the plane immediately flips upside down and starts filling with water. George is knocked out but Enid is relatively unharmed. The cabin starts to fill with water so she unbuckles her harness and drops down into the water. She can't unbuckle George from where she's at so she has to leave the plane and swim around to the other side. She takes her shoes off on the way so they won't hold her down.
Enid has to step up on the wing to get George out. Her wet socks slip on the surface but she doesn't do the reasonable thing and take them off because Pascal needs this for her plot. Enid releases George's harness and he falls into the water which wakes him up. She slips on the wing and falls back into a metal strut, hitting her lower back really hard. She falls into the water where she discovers she can't move or feel her legs. Luckily George is able to grab her and tow her back to shore where rescue people are waiting, having been alerted by air traffic control and by Todd who witnessed the crash from the beach.
We skip to the police station and catch up with the end of the last book where Liz overhears the officers talking about the plane crash. All of the Wakefields start being really dramatic and talking about how this affects them and their lives because they're awful people. Pascal describes everything they say as “wailing” which is just fecking annoying I'm sure and then the lot of them head for the hospital.
We land briefly in Enid's mom's head where we find out from the doctor that Enid damaged the last disc of her spine and is paralyzed from the waist down. There's hope that she'll regain use of her legs with surgery but they can't do it until the swelling goes down.
We go back to George's head and he decides that there's no way he can break up with Enid now because it's all his fault that she's paralyzed. He's grateful that no one knows about him cheating except Liz because he figures he can count on her not to tell. I mean, she's known for days and hasn't said a fucking word so this seems like a reasonable assumption.
We skip to Monday and begin our B-plot. Jess is at some cooking class after school that Lila signed them up for before she stopped talking to Jess entirely. Lila had convinced her that they'd learn how to make “elegant dishes” but their first assignment is to make mustard by crushing mustard seeds. Jess is being aggressive with her mortar/pestle because she's pissed that she's making a stupid condiment and she accidentally gets some on Lila's expensive blouse. That prompts a conversation and they eventually call a truce. Yay.
The teacher of the class is a man named Jean-Pierre Baptiste who I am going to call JP because I'm lazy. Jess is instantly in lust with him because he's hot. I REALLY hope we're not going to be getting a teacher/student plot here because that's gross. Yes, it's natural to have a crush on your teacher. No, it's not a good thing to act on it.
Jess tells us that she's in love with this handsome “European man” and his “magical” French accent. She hasn't even talked to him but she's in love. She decides she's going to ask him to an upcoming school dance.
Sigh.
Pascal. DO NOT DO THIS.
Lila gives Jess a ride after class. Jess wants to stop at Robin's house really quick to tell her about a change in cheer practice. She could just call but obviously Pascal is trying to set something up here. On the way, Lila tells her that Robin broke up with Allen because of another guy. When they get to Robin's house, they see George in the driveway. They both make the connection and Jess says he could have at least waited until Enid was out of the hospital to visit his side piece. She tells Liz about it later and Liz is furious. She thinks that Enid finding out the truth would kill her (dramatic much, Liz?) and can't believe George would continue to see Robin on the side when Enid is so vulnerable.
It's a new day now, and despite Jess promising Liz she wouldn't say anything about George and Robin to anyone, the first thing she does is tell Cara. Jess has never been very interested in George and Enid but she's feeling a little betrayed by Robin. Pascal makes sure we remember that Gale used to exist (you know, those extra pounds that get mentioned so often they get their own name) because being “chubby” was Robin's only character trait several books ago. Jess and Cara decide that they have to tell everyone so Robin can get the “cold war” she deserves. I don't know why Liz ever thought Jess could keep this a secret. She knows better than that.
Robin immediately picks up on the fact that everyone is mad at her. That, coupled with the fact that George broke up with her over the phone the night before, sends her into an emotional spiral. She immediately starts eating a ton of cake and ice cream because Pascal is a motherfucker.
Liz is finally able to see Enid who is scared but hopeful that the surgery will fix everything. George is there as well and things are awkward between him and Liz. Enid picks up on it but thinks they're just being weird because she's in the hospital. They all make small talk for awhile and then leave separately.
George finds out that the FAA has retrieved the plane and they're taking apart the engine to see if they can figure out why the plane stalled. George is sure it was something he did and blames himself for the accident, resolving to stay with Enid as penance.
Always a good reason......
The next day they schedule Enid's surgery. Both George and Liz skip their afternoon classes to see her before she goes under. They meet up in the waiting room and George tries to talk to Liz. She gives him the cold shoulder. He swears he called things off with Robin but she doesn't believe him and thinks he's lying. They get called in to see Enid and she tearfully tells them that she's scared. She goes on to say that she couldn't make it without them and George clearly feels very guilty. They wish her good luck and promise to be there until she's out.
We skip to Jess at cooking class to check in on the B-plot. Lila is fed up with being asked to touch slimy, sticky things but Jess is having the time of her life. She's still convinced that she's going to get JP to take her to the dance that's coming up. And her parents' anniversary is coming up so she figures she can use the things she's learning to make them a romantic dinner and finally show Liz up on the gift front.
Back to the A-plot. Enid's surgery goes well and the doctor says he expects her to gain use of her legs again. He warns them it will take some time and she'll have to do inpatient PT for a week and then outpatient PT for awhile after that. Enid's mom is allowed to see her, leaving Liz and George alone. He again tells Liz that he called things off with Robin and she tells him she doesn't believe him. Then she yells at him for Enid almost dying in order to save his life and he angrily tells her that he knows that he's the cause of all this and he already feels guilty enough. He says he'll stay with Enid to make her happy but it's clear it won't make him happy. Liz doesn't really care. She's hoping he'll stay with her forever even though he'll be miserable and it won't be better for Enid in the long run.
We land in Robin's head now. She's miserable because everyone at school seems to be avoiding her and she doesn't have George or Allen anymore. She's been eating to soothe her soul and Gale has attached herself to Robin's midsection. She finally approaches Liz and asks to talk to her after school. They meet at someplace I've never heard mentioned before and the first thing Liz does is notice Gale.
Liz is such a bitch.
Robin asks Liz why she's being blackballed again like she doesn't know. Liz tells her that she can't even look at her without thinking about Enid. Robin confesses that George broke up with her but she's hoping it's only temporary which pisses Liz off. She seems to think that George should just marry Enid even though he doesn't love her. Liz is perfectly willing to trap her supposed best friend in a loveless relationship for some reason. She thinks the alternative is worse but I can guarantee it isn't.
A week or so passes and Enid is back home. She's still in the wheelchair though and doesn't seem to be making any progress on getting out of it. The doctor says she should be physically capable of walking but for some reason she isn't. Liz thinks something else is going on and resolves to find out what.
Odds that Enid knows George is drifting away and is staying in the wheelchair to guilt him into staying: 88%
We skip to Friday. Liz has planned a dinner with her, Todd, Enid and George. She's dismayed when Enid shows up still in her wheelchair. Enid gushes about how wonderful George has been, spending all his time with her and fetching everything she needs. The dinner is awkward. George looks miserable the entire time and Enid is putting on a fake 'all is well' act that makes Liz uncomfortable. It's clear Enid knows something is up. Liz asks her about PT and Enid says she hasn't been going because the nurses are too pushy and they expect her to get out of the chair. Liz asks if she has feeling in her legs and Enid admits that she does but says she's too weak to do anything. She needs George.
After dinner, George says he really needs to get home because he has to be somewhere early the next morning. Enid is upset and doesn't want to leave so George asks if Todd will take her home when she's ready. Of course, Todd agrees and Enid immediately gets depressed. As soon as George is gone, she asks Todd to take her home. Liz decides to go with them, leaving the dirty dishes in the kitchen sink which is against Wakefield rules.
Jess gets home and goes up to her room, looking through cookbooks to plan the big anniversary dinner. Is that the C-plot? We haven't really had one. It feels like it's just a subplot of B. Anyway, as she's looking at recipes she's planning out how she'll ask geriatric JP to her high school dance. She's sure he'll go. I hope he doesn't. Ned and Alice come in and start yelling at her about the mess in the kitchen. When she tells them Liz left it, they immediately calm down and say there must be a reasonable explanation. Jess is pissed because they didn't think there was a reasonable explanation when they thought she did it. Her feelings are hurt but she still plans to make them the best dinner ever.
We skip to Sunday afternoon at Enid's house. She's waiting for George to show up and feeling sorry for herself. She's convinced herself that she's too weak to do anything and she feels hopeless. She knows that something is going on with George and she's desperate to keep him. When he shows up, she starts crying and saying that she can't go on without him and he's all she has left and he's her entire world. It's a lot of pressure to put on one person. George feels guilty and hugs her and tells her everything is fine. She thinks to herself that she has to do whatever she can to hold onto him even if that's not fair to him.
Pascal ruins everyone. Everyone.
We go back to the B-plot. Lila takes one look at the raw chicken in front of her and quits the class on the spot. Jess plugs ahead, still determined to best Liz in the anniversary competition that she's made up in her own head. After class, she makes sure she's the last to leave the room. JP tells her that she's a really good student and asks her if she wants to take the intermediate class after this. She sees this as an expression of interest. She's about to ask him to the dance when a woman comes in the room. JP introduces her as his wife and I breathe a huge sigh of relief.
I guess the dinner is going to be the C-plot after all because the B-plot has concluded.
Liz goes to see Enid after school. Enid still hasn't tried to get out of her wheelchair – in fact, now she has a motorized one. She tells Liz that she thinks George blames her for the accident and that's why he's been so distant. Liz thinks that if Enid knew the truth, she could just move on and focus on walking again but she decides it isn't her place to tell. Less than two sentences later, she contradicts herself by saying she doesn't think Enid could survive losing George.
First of all, of course she could. She's not Bella fucking Swan. It would hurt but she'd be fine.
Seconds of all, which is it, Liz? Would it set her free or kill her? You just told us both.
We skip to the dance. Jess goes with Ken who I finally removed from the cast list because he never fucking shows up. Pascal did this to spite me. Mr Collins, the slightly creepy journalism teacher is there with Ms Dalton the french teacher. I think they're supposed to be chaperones but they don't seem to be paying attention to the students. Enid and George double with Liz and Todd but Enid's facade is slowly crumbling. She knows that something is going on with George. He's really distant and distracted and never seems to be listening to her anymore. He never seems excited to see her.
It's because you're being a manipulative bitch, Enid.
George goes off to get Enid something to drink and runs into Robin at the refreshment table. Enid sees them talking and something clicks in her head. She's heard rumors that Robin broke up with Allen because of another guy and she never really wondered until now who it was. George seems animated while talking with Robin and Enid hasn't seen that for awhile. She wonders if George is the guy Robin broke up with Allen for.
George comes back with their drinks and Enid realizes they have nothing to talk about. George is distracted and clearly uncomfortable. She finally tells him that he should go dance with someone. He says 'no' but she insists and then gets upset when he finally gives in. She expects him to ask Liz but is dismayed when he asks Robin. When he comes back after the dance, she angrily asks him if he's in love with Robin. He never answers the question but that's answer enough. Enid starts to cry and asks him to take her home.
Liz goes to see Enid on Sunday afternoon. She expects Enid to be upset about a breakup but Enid informs her that she and George are still together. She says she didn't let George tell her how he felt about Robin because she doesn't care. He's all she has left and she knows he'll never leave her as long as she's still in the wheelchair. Liz can't believe Enid is going to hold on to George when she knows he loves Robin. Enid refuses to talk about any of it anymore so Liz changes the subject and asks about PT. Enid tells her that she's never going to walk again and everyone should just get used to the idea.
I told you she was going to end up staying in the wheelchair to keep George.
These books are so predictable.
We land in the C-plot now. The anniversary is still several days away but Jess has decided to prepare a cold seafood salad as a practice run. Liz tells her all about the George/Enid situation and bemoans the fact that the surgery didn't help Enid. She still thinks it's a physical problem because she's stupid. Jess tells her that Enid has nothing to gain and everything to lose by walking again. Liz doesn't believe that Enid would fake not being able to walk because....say it with me now....she's stupid. Seriously. All we hear is how fucking smart Liz is and she's an idiot. Jess's dinner ends up giving them all food poisoning and, honestly, it's the best part of the entire book. She should poison them more often.
#Jessismyhero
Liz decides to concoct some hairbrained plan to make Enid walk again. I don't know what it is, but I know it involves slightly creepy Mr Collins' son Teddy and a fake babysitting job.
This is already stupid and I don't even know what it is.
So I don't think the C-plot is technically the dinner. I think it's the fact that Jess feels like her parents prefer Liz. She thinks she's judged more harshly and punished more severely than her twin. And she's 100% right. Liz never gets in trouble for the shit she pulls but Jess gets in trouble for things she didn't even do. So I guess our C-plot is actually the inequality of the Wakefield twins.
On Wednesday, the Wakefields – minus Steven who is still chained up in the basement apparently – go out for Mexican food. They continue to tease Jess about poisoning them despite the fact that it clearly makes her feel like shit. Talk turns to the Enid situation and Jess offers up her opinion that George is a terrible person. Liz puts in that she actually feels sorry for him because he tried to tell Enid the truth but she refused to listen in order to manipulate him. Ned and Alice praise her loud and long for her insight making Jess feel like garbage. The salt gets poured on the wound when Liz presents her parents with theater tickets for the night of their anniversary. Jess protests that she had a special dinner planned but evil Alice laughs and says she doesn't think she's ready for another of Jess's dinners. It's pretty bitchy to be honest.
And both Jess and Liz are right here. George is a terrible person for cheating on Enid in the first place but he's also being emotionally manipulated and he's in a terribly hard place right now.
#I'vegotyouJess
Back to the A-plot. Liz seeks out Robin to apologize for being a bitch earlier in the book. Robin is pretty gracious about it. She says she's still in love with George but her conscience won't let her pursue anything until Enid is better. She tells Liz that George thinks Enid is staying in the wheelchair to hold onto him but Robin still can't be with him until Enid is walking again. Liz feels awful for all of them.
Liz decides to put her plan in action. She calls Enid and asks her to come over the next afternoon. Then she arranges with Teddy to come over too and asks him to bring his swimsuit.
She's going to have Teddy pretend to drown so Enid has to get out of the chair and save him, isn't she?
This is the dumbest plan ever. What if something goes wrong and Teddy actually drowns? Liz is awful. And stupid. Very, very stupid.
The next day, the plan is enacted. Teddy gets there first and Liz instructs him to play with his toy truck at the edge of the pool. When she goes inside, he's supposed to fall in and pretend to drown. Enid arrives and Liz explains that she's babysitting. She tells Enid she's going inside to get some root beer and then adds that Teddy can't swim. Teddy plays his part as soon as Liz is out of sight and Enid gets out of the chair and runs to the pool to jump in and save him.
When everyone is out of the pool drying off, Enid tells Liz that she genuinely believed she couldn't walk. I don't really believe her but I think Enid is doing a good job of convincing herself that she wasn't manipulating George this entire time. Jess comes along and blows the plan by mentioning that Teddy is a really good swimmer. I have no idea how she knows this since Liz babysits at Teddy's house most of the time. Enid forgives Liz for her trickery and says that she knows she needs to let George go because she truly loves him and wants him to be happy.
A couple of hours later, Liz and Todd go to the Dairi Burger and Pascal legitimately tells us that the entire restaurant gives Liz a standing ovation.
Sigh.
I hate everything.
Ned and Alice run into slightly creepy Mr Collins and Ms Dalton at the theater and he fills them in on Liz's shenanigans. Not only do they think it's heroic, but they actually pop champagne to celebrate their amazing daughter.
Pascal, this is getting a little much.
The A-plot concludes with Enid letting George go. She accepts his apology and realizes she was doing the wrong thing trying to hold onto him. She knows seeing him with Robin will hurt but she knows she'll get over it and find someone else eventually. The plane was determined to have something wrong with the engine and there was nothing George could have done to change the outcome but he's too afraid to fly again. Enid hopes he'll change his mind someday.
We finish the book with the C-plot. Ned and Alice continue to poke fun at Jess's cooking even though it causes her distress. We know they don't care. They also continue to praise Liz for the least little thing. They talk about what a hero she is and then lecture Jess for jumping to conclusions about George. Jess has had enough and vows to do something that will change their minds about her.
Coming Up Next: Jess is going to do something to make her family see that she's not an idiot. But the book is titled 'Runway' so I'm guessing it's going to be something stupid. Which is ironic really.
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