Double Love

Double Love is the first ever book in the Sweet Valley High Series.

Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield are the only set of identical twins at Sweet Valley High. Both are very alike, except in their way of dressing; and most notably, their personalities. Elizabeth is kind, sincere and friendly; while Jessica, younger than Elizabeth by four minutes, is notorious for being snobbish and conniving.

Jessica is interested in star basketball player, Todd Wilkins and she thinks he's interested in her too, but the trouble is, he is interested in Liz, which doesn't sit well with Jessica. So, on a forbidden date with Rick Andover, a former SVH student who had dropped out of school, she was caught in a bar fight at Kelly's Roadhouse. The cop who was called to the scene, thought Jessica was Elizabeth! Jessica doesn't even bother to correct the mistake, thinking that if there was a little damage done to her sister's perfect reputation, it didn't matter, especially since she saw Liz as competition for Todd.

The book's B-storyline focuses on Jessica's speculation on Marianna West, a lawyer who works at her father's law practice and that she could possibly be busting up her parents' marriage. Fortunately, that wasn't the case, and Marianna was merely working later with Mr. Wakefield so she could gain a promotion to being partner in the firm. The second romance speculation was with the twins' older brother, Steven. Jessica was always trying to fix Steven up with her best friend, Cara Walker, but he was never interested. Jessica is infuriated when she thinks he is dating Betsy Martin, a very low-class (at least in Jessica's opinion) girl from one of the worst families in town, but she realizes that he is dating Betsy's sister, Tricia.

Another sub-story was a court injunction pitting the Sweet Valley High school versus the two most powerful families in town, Bruce Patman's family and Lila Fowler's family, who both want the football field turned into a formal english garden or a factory. Neither got what they wanted, though, because the school retained control of the field.

Todd, having been lied to by Jessica about Elizabeth's involvement with Kelly's, had a perfunctory date with the conniving Cheerleading co-captain, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Jessica decided to try to talk Elizabeth out of being with Todd by saying that he had attacked her. Todd saves both of the twins when sleazy Rick Andover carjacks the twins' Fiat, and drives them towards Kelly's.

Jessica's lies were exposed, and that made Elizabeth angry. She then decided to teach her sister a lesson that she would not soon forget. It was a tradition that the author of The Oracle's Eyes and Ears gossip column would get thrown fully dressed into the school's swimming pool, but this time, Elizabeth, who was passing herself off as Jessica, got even with her sister, having Jessica thrown into the pool.