Robin Wilson is fat. The book will make sure you never forget that, because Robin eats like allllll the time. Don't all chunky people carry candy bars in their purse and scarf down whole cheesecakes when they're excited?
Robin has this crazy delusion that Jessica is her BFF, when it couldn't be more clear that Jess is using her. Because overweight people can't possibly have self esteem!
In the last book, Elizabeth promises to nominate Robin for a spot in Pi Beta. Even though Jessica originally promised to do it, we all know Jess doesn't want a fat girl in her sorority. (Jessica is president of the sorority, by the way. Huge surprise.)
Jessica is furious when she finds out Liz wants "that tub of lard", as she so eloquently describes Robin, in PBA.
"one look at that shape and they'll be calling us the Pi Butterball Alphas!"
Clever.
At the next PBA meeting, Liz nominates Robin as promised, and of course Jess is ultra pissed. She even calls Elizabeth "Little miss do-a-good-deed-every-day!" Oohh BURN!
The reaction to Robin's nom by the other PBA members?
"Robin Wilson? She's..that pudgy one right?"
"Liz put her name up, so she must think it's ok"
"You're sure she's not kidding?"
Yeah, Robin isn't so welcome. But no one says anything against Elizabeth- duuhhhh she's a Wakefield twin! I don't really get why Jess, the PRESIDENT of the damn sorority, couldn't just refuse Robin entry. The only reason the book gives is that Liz will be mad, and Robin would find out and not serve as Jessica's "handmaiden" anymore.
Pretty weak excuses. Are we really supposed to believe that Jessica needs someone to run her errands so badly that she would let someone like Robin in her precious sorority? It wasn't like she even likes Robin or cares about her feelings. And would Jessica care that much about Liz being a little pissed? I doubt it. Elizabeth would forgive her in less then 2 minutes and we all know it.
So they let Robin in on the good (?) news about her nomination. Robin reacts by offering them all kinds of delicious sounding food and eating a whole cheesecake as previously mentioned. I know if I were a PBA member, I'd vote her in just so we could go to her house and eat! Some parts of this book make me really hungry.
Jessica is not going to stand for any of this. She and her friends give Robin some humiliating and tough pledge duties. Like forcing her to run around the school track for a week (not such a bad idea, actually), and making her wear a teeny bikini on the beach and play volleyball while Bruce Patman makes fun of her. Robin is a spineless wimp and goes with all of it.
But then they give her the last pledge challenge.....
Ask out super hunk and major jerk Bruce Patman, and get him to take her to the upcoming dance!
Robin is devastated, knowing Bruce would never go out with her in a million years.
"I might as well ask Elvis Presley!"
"Robin." Elizabeth reminded her gently, "Elvis has been dead for-"
"That's just my point"
So condescending Liz! Obviously, Robin knows Elvis is dead!
Elizabeth makes a deal with Bruce to take Robin to the dance. She writes a newspaper article stroking Bruce's ego and he goes to the dance with "Fatso Wilson" (one of his many pet names for Robin).
Robin is thrilled! This is short-lived, however, since Bruce announces this at the dance:
"Ok that's it, I brought you to the dance, Tubby. I've got better things to do now. Anybody wanna steer the Queen Mary around the floor tonight? She's all yours!"
I always thought this would be THE most embarrassing thing ever at a dance! I felt so bad for Robin, he could have at least just ignored her once they got there if he couldn't stand her fatness that much.
Jessica is of course happy to witness this , as she was beyond pissed when she heard Robin actually managed to get Bruce to take her.
Technically Robin did get Bruce to take her to the dance, so that last pledge duty is fulfilled. But wait, the PBA members still have to do the official vote. Usually this vote is just a pretense, once you finish the pledge tasks you're in. We all know it won't be quite that easy for poor Robin though....
They vote by dropping black or white balls in a box for each pledge. White for yes and black for no. It only takes one blackball to keep the pledge out (What kind of vote is that? ONE anonymous vote can keep a girl everyone else approved out? K.)
This is nice and convenient for the plot line, because guess what happens, Robin gets blackballed!!!
Wonder who did it. Any ideas? Jess is practically tripping over herself to go break the news to Robin, and Elizabeth comes along to "pick up the pieces", as only Elizabeth can.
Robin is crushed, but good old Jessica re-assures her,
"I know you feel that it leaves you out of everything worth having on Sweet Valley High, but I'll still be your best friend"
Liz actually tells her to shut up after that. Finally! Robin flips out and says there's "no reason for her to go on anymore"
Yes, without high school sororities and a size six figure, what reason is there to go on?
Elizabeth feels kinda guilty about this whole thing, (If I were her I'd direct that guilt to Jess, since she's the one who started this crap) To ease her conscience, she writes a scathing article in the school paper bashing the Pi Betas and their exclusiveness. Isn't she a member? Whatever..
The whole school reads "Snobbery is Alive and Well at Sweet Valley High", and it's a smashing success and huge blow to the PBA members. Since when do students care that much about the school paper?
Robin returns to school after a break, and her tent dresses that she wears throughout the book, (what's a tent dress? A mu-mu? Guess this was before Lane Bryant and Torrid), are starting to get looser! Liz tries to talk to her, but Robin is understandably cold and unreceptive at first.
Liz notices robin's plate, "usually heaped with french fries and double burgers, now held only lettuce leaves, two tomato slices, and a hard boiled egg"
Geez one extreme to another, huh Robin? From wayy too much food to practically starving. Sounds healthy.
After about a week or two of starving and running around the track, Robin is dropping weight like crazy. She becomes thin enough for SVH in lightning speed. Since she's thin now, she's automatically gets on the cheer squad and becomes co-captain. Because losing weight will teach you all the fundamentals of cheerleading and dance. Alright.
Next, new thin, confident Robin runs against Jessica to be Miss Sweet Valley High. Wait, wasn't Jessica JUST crowned queen of something else one book ago? At least in this case, Robin wins, thanks to supporters like the defensive line of the SVH football team, who parade through the auditorioum with a sign
"Robin Has Us Throbbin'!"
Really? No words for that one.
Robin also puts up signs telling the whole school thtat the Pi Betas blackballed her, and have forbidden any non-member from running for Miss Sweet Valley High. This is a lie, (not the blackballing, but they never forbid a non-member from running in the election), not that PBA doesn't deserve the bad publicity. Robin sounds like she might make a good politician.
I also need to add that Jess and Robin are the only ones running. No one else wanted to be Queen? Only two contestants? Guess all the other girls knew that sociopath Jessica was running, and didn't want her unleashing her fury on them for running against her. I wouldn't want to run against that psycho. Robin is a brave girl.
By the way, Jessica thought she would win because she's dated the whole first string of players on the Gladiators. Seriously though. As she tells Liz,
"Well I do it for team spirit. And everyone of them appreciates it too!"
I'm sure they do Jessica.
Anyways, everything gets wrapped up nicely, Robin rejects Bruce Patman, (who is super into the new thin sexy Robin), publicly after being named Queen, and picks Allan Walters to escort her because he was nice to her when she was fat. She and Allan fall in LUV and blah blah blah.
And of course there is a sub-plot! Lila is a poor little rich girl who's dad won't give her the attention she needs. She resorts to stealing from a store in the mall, and giving Jessica the stuff she steals as "gifts" saying it's stuff some random Aunt sent her that she doesn't want. The store notices a high volume of missing stuff, and they blame Jessica and arrest her.
Elizabeth swoops in to save the day, having seen Lila shoplifting earlier (surprised?). They let Jessica go, and Lila ends up in court, finally getting some short-lived attention from her dad. Even though it's clear her dad is going to go right back to ignoring her, (and he does for most of upcoming books), Lila's shoplifting problem never comes up again.
The book ends telling us about Scott Daniels, the alluring older college guy Jessica met at the beach when she was sketching (sketching? Since when is Jessica an artist? This is never mentioned again ). Elizabeth already doesn't like the sound of him, but Jessica is all hot for him because he's in college. And according to Jess, college kids, "understand life and art" . LOL
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