Sweet Valley Twins #9: Against the Rules

Elizabeth has a brand new best friend in the form of Sophia Rizzo. Unfortunately, Sophia's older brother Tony is a thug. He got in big trouble a few years ago and now everyone thinks that she's just like him. Liz thinks she's fun, sweet, etc. and would make a good friend.

The school just announced that the sixth graders would have the chance to write the big play of the year, and she suggests that Sophia take part in it. This leads to Liz heading over to her house after school and finding out that she wrote plays and stories for years. Liz then convinces all her friends to be nice to Sophia too. They plan a big picnic at school and get to know her.

Since Jessica hates poor people, she naturally hates Sophia and her whole family. She gets a new excuse to hate her when Steven shows up with a black eye that Tony gave him. Steven was with some guys who accused Tony of stealing from the school and made a rude comment. Jess cares not for that though. Tony hit her brother so he's evil. Once the news breaks that Sophia wrote the school play, she and the Unicorns convince most of the school not to audition.

The kids working on the play cast it themselves and then perform it in front of their English classes. Lila grabs a copy from Sophia, reads it in the hallway, and laughs about how bad the play is, which turns people off even more. Ned and Alice finally sit Liz down and tell her that they don't want her hanging out with Sophia outside of school anymore. Sadly, Liz just found out that Sophia has never really celebrated her birthday and made plans to throw a surprise party for her.

While all this is going on, Ned finds out that one of his clients asked the twins to come with them to LA for a few days to keep their daughter happy. After getting them all excited, he finds out that the invitation was only good for one twin. Jess is obsessed with some new musical and really wants to go. Liz offers to give up on the trip, but their parents decide that it's more fair if they guess the number Steven wrote on a piece of paper.

Liz wins, and Jessica throws a major bitch fit. She bursts into tears, screams about how Liz always gets everything she wants, and shouts that Liz is their favorite before running and slamming her door shut. Liz keeps offering to let Jessica go, and their parents keep telling her no. She gets Jess to agree to a twin switch, which will let her stay home and throw the party.

The play goes off perfectly. Everyone loves it, and people start to love Sophia too. Since the Wakefields had plans with their friends for the next day, Liz throws the surprise party there. Ned and Alice come home early and arrive seconds before Sophia does. Ned offers to go pick up her mom and brother and bring them back, which Liz realizes will give him the chance to check out their home and draw his own conclusions about the family.

Turns out that Ned and Alice actually love them. Alice agrees to buy the blankets and stuff her mom makes and sell them to her clients. They make a public apology to Sophia, and even Lila brings her a nice birthday present. Jessica comes home and still doesn't like Sophia but also doesn't really care because the mini Olympics are coming up.

*Ned literally says that he doesn't understand the term "drawing straws" when deciding who can go to LA. Why do people hire him for legal work??

*So, Sophia's mom once had a good job and supported her kids. She then had a knee injury that left her without work. Somehow, she still manages to have a house in what seems like a good area.

*Lila comes over and sees Sophia there, so Jessica says she stopped by to pick up old clothes. Sophia cries and tells Liz that her mom would never accept charity. WTF? How can she afford a house, pay bills, and feed and cloth two kids without working or accepting any type of charity.

*Ned and Alice never say a word to Steven in regards to him being an asshat to Tony. Plus, he kind of deserved his punch.

*Julie makes a fancy cake for the birthday party with an elaborate stage on the top made from frosting. Oh yeah, I can totally see an 11-year-old kid doing that.

*Jessica is such a bitch in this one. She tells their parents that she's worried about her sister hanging out with criminals, which is why they tell Liz she can't be friends with Sophia any more. Then again, it's shitty that they never bother to get to know Sophia at all.

*After the play ends, some random guy in the back stands up and shouts for the author to come out on stage. A bunch of other people do the same thing until Sophia comes out and takes a bow. I'm sure that happens all the time.

*BTW, the play is super lame. It's all about a typical family and the fights they have, which ends with them deciding to just talk things through from now on. The typical family consists of a mother, father, son, and two daughters. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I've never known one of these "typical" families before.