Lila Fowler

Lila Fowler is a major character who appears in almost all the Sweet Valley series. She was portrayed by Bridget Flanery in the Sweet Valley High (T.V. Series) from 1994 to 1996, and portrayed by Shirlee Elliot from 1996 to 1998.

Character
Lila Katherine Fowler is very rich, as her father is a big computer magnate and he spoils her with presents from his trips for business. Lila is snobbish, fashionable, and devious. She can't stand losing and is best friends with Jessica Wakefield. Lila and Jessica have a love-hate relationship, as they might go shopping together and hang out and get along great, but the next day they'll be competing over something, whether it be a guy, the last pair of shoes in stock at their favorite store at the mall. They may be best friends, but they are often best rivals, too. They often go shopping together and talk on the phone and have been best friends and best enemies since Sweet Valley Twins. They sometimes can't stand each other, but usually have a nice relationship. Lila often has the nicest clothes in school and every girl is envious of her style. Lila often brags about her latest present from her father, such as a diamond bracelet or a new credit card. Lila is sometimes nice but can be conniving, too. She gets jealous easily, and has many of Jess' traits. She once dated Bruce Patman. Lila lives in a mansion called Fowler Crest, although in the first episode of the TV show, Elizabeth calls it Fowler Manor.

The truth with Lila though is because her parents are divorced, she is lonely and starved for attention from her father. When he is off on business trips, it's usually Lila who is left alone in the mansion. Her closest confidante at home is one of the housekeepers named Eva. All she wants is to have her father be there for her. She was in Pippin, and her father didn't attend any of the performances; she was a cheerleader (until a prank she and Cara Walker had played on the opposing team's cheerleaders had them both kicked off the squad) and he had never seen her cheer at a game. When her shoplifting attempt accidentally got Jessica arrested for it, Lila appealed to Elizabeth to help her and her father intervenes. Her mother, Grace, eventually comes back into her life in The Trial of Elizabeth Wakefield, and she reveals what truly happened that lead to their divorce. Despite George's best efforts to keep himself and Grace together, she fled to Europe and regrettably left Lila behind. This time, she was able to become the mother that Lila needed.

In S.V.H. #2 (Secrets), after finding out that Nora Dalton is dating her father, George, Lila spread nasty rumors about her dating Ken Matthews in an attempt to break them up. According to Todd, she got her comeuppance when Ken learned the truth and ditched Lila.

In S.V.H. #4 (Power Play), she tries to get her father's attention by shoplifting from the mall. It took Elizabeth to help her through the crisis. At first, Lila could be selfish and snobbish, but it took the events in S.V.H. #90 (Don't Go Home with John) to have the most harrowing impact on the heiress. John Pfeifer had attacked her on a date, and she was shattered by the trauma. This helped thaw a lot of the frosty relationship that Elizabeth had always with Lila. She was on Lila's side in this whole situation, despite the fact that she and John had worked together on the Oracle. This story helped make Lila more sympathetic, and when her parents, to her delight, later remarried, this helped make Lila a happier person.

In a hidden subplot in book #66, Lila and Jessica have a heated argument about how Jessica was behaving about her parents' marital situation (they had separated and Jessica was using the situation to drive a wedge between the family).

Lila found out that Jessica was viciously blaming the whole separation on Elizabeth. Although she and Liz weren't close, Lila was disgusted that Jessica world make light of her parents' troubles and blame her sister for it all.

Lila's experience as a child of divorce came into play as she berated Jessica for her disgusting scheme. She then understood what Liz was going through as she had been through the same issues with her own parents.

She then told Jessica that she was an entitled brat and that she had always preferred Elizabeth's company to hers.

As Lila pointedly told her enemy, Liz often put others before her own needs, thinking back to Lila's shoplifting trouble. Liz didn't care about what her own issues were, she came to help Lila. Eventually, Lila and Elizabeth became friends, not close friends, but their cold war relationship thawed substantially.

During the Earthquake story-line, when the Wakefield's house was damaged, the Fowlers had hosted the Wakefield family. This solidified a bond between the Fowlers and Wakefields. Even Elizabeth, who had normally been more or less critical of Lila, unbent more around Lila and became more friendly to her.

Lila has brown hair and hazel eyes. Her name is probably pronounced "LY-lah" with greater emphasis on the first syllable.

Sweet Valley Senior Year
Lila only appears in a minor capacity. Lila took Melissa's side during the Jessica/Melissa war and later admitted that she felt like she was always in Jessica's shadow. The two slowly repaired their friendship over the series.

In The Sweet Life, Lila and Ken Matthews had reconciled, though their marriage continues to be rocky. In the final book, Bittersweet, they reconciled after finding out that Lila's fake pregnancy was actually for real.