Who's to Blame?

Who's to Blame? is the 66 novel in the Sweet Valley High book series.

Plot
When Jessica cruelly blames Elizabeth for breaking up their parents marriage, she is distraught and stays at Enid's house. Steven and Cara are angered by this and suspects she's up to no good. Even Lila, who wasn't really a close friend of Elizabeth's, was seriously appalled at Jessica's treatment of her own sister, and they had a falling out. This situation also caused Cara to end her friendship with Jessica.

Sypnosis
Liz is cruelly blamed for her parents trial separation by Jessica, and she stays at her friend, Enid's. This angers Steven who hates seeing his more sensitive sister being blamed by his conniving selfish sister. He furiously reprimands Jessica for being a selfish bitch to Liz. Steven points out that if Ned and Alice divorce, this will be her fault and not their sister's because she wanted their divorce. Steven also warns Jessica that if this gets back to Ned and Alice, she will be grounded for this. She ignores his warning, but it's just the beginning of her troubles.

The next day at school as Lila and Jessica talk, she mentions that she intends to break up the marriage and get her parents to divorce. That way, Ned could run for mayor of Sweet Valley and she can brag to everyone about her being the mayor's daughter. After this, she could set her parents up with different people and no one will know the truth about what she did. Lila is visibly annoyed by this because Jessica doesn't understand, nor does she seem to care about, the stress that she went through being the daughter of divorced parents. She calls Jessica out for being selfish and tells her off, explaining that she should be lucky that she has loving parents and a mom to bond with. Lila also mentions that she wished for one day that Jessica would live life in her shoes with her father ignoring her because of his business and not having a mother in her life (her closest companion was the family housekeeper, Eva), so she can appreciate what she has. When Jessica cruelly taunts Lila, Cara, herself coming from a divorced family, sees this and is furious. Cara and Jessica then get into a blistering argument. An argument which ends their friendship permanently. Cara angrily (and rightly) accuses Jessica of harming Liz with her conniving ways, pointing out that her parents' separation is really her fault. That Steven was right to have told Cara the truth about her from the beginning and her behaviour towards Liz certainly confirmed it. At that point, Cara is done with Jessica. Jessica is angered when Cara tells her that their friendship is over and that she never wants to see her former friend again. Cara walks to class with her head held high as Jessica orders her to come back and apologize to her at once. Lila, herself infuriated, calls Jessica an entitled, selfish brat. She pointed out that Cara was in her rights to be mad at her because of how she treated Elizabeth. This is one of the few times that Lila actually understood Liz and her feelings. Lila then tells Jessica off by revealing that she really preferred Liz to her. She states that she sees Liz as a true friend because she's never put her and her own needs above others. Remembering what Liz had done for Lila during her situation with shoplifting, Lila saw her as a giver and that made her more well loved. Whereas, she sees Jessica as a fake friend and nothing but a taker because of her selfish nature. She had only befriended Jessica out of desperation.

Lila also heads off to class, with her head held high, leaving Jessica thoroughly humiliated as everyone in the school begins laughing at her.

Cara visits Steven at the Wakefield's home and tells him everything that she had learned. This annoys him even more as he realizes Jessica's true plans to see the divorce through and be known as the mayor's daughter. That even Lila is annoyed by her behaviour and even called her an entitled brat and standing up for Liz, shows that the situation is very serious indeed. He tells Cara that he appreciates what she did in alerting him to the seriousness of the situation. This makes Steven more determined to bring Liz home, explain everything and hopefully stop Jessica before she destroyed the family dynamics irreversibly.

After finding her at Enid's, where she was staying, Steven and Cara gently convince an emotionally distraught Elizabeth to return home with them. At first, she declines, fearing Jessica will once again harass her with her conniving ways and her vicious innuendo, but Steven and Cara don't give up and they gently persuade Liz to come home. They reassure that they're on her side and won't abandon her. Steven also promises Liz that if Jessica starts any more trouble for her, she would have him and Cara to answer to. She then finally agrees to go home, supported by her brother and her close friend. Steven and Cara comforting her on the way.

The next day, Steven, Cara and Enid confront Jessica about her treatment of her sister, and then the three give her an ultimatum. That she either apologize to Liz for her horrendous treatment or else be exposed for what she did, which would lead to a long grounding and total humiliation. Jessica defied them all and even went and called their bluff. She was quite proud of her nastiness, and was intent that her way would win out. This would prove to be the fatal flaw for Jessica and the final straw for Steven and Cara. This time, the gloves were off. Steven became determined to out connive Jessica and give her the punishment she deserves.