Tag Line: She's your sister. Trust her.From the Back of the Book: Anything for a sister. Abby would do anything to be in the school's most exclusive sorority. And now she's got the chance. Because the sorority sisters have asked her to join them. All Abby has to do is get through the initiation. That might be a problem. Because this year, the initiation is going to be.....murder.
Validity Confession: I'm not sure this is a true Point Horror. It's listed on Goodreads as one but it doesn't appear on some of the other lists. The spine has the blood splatter but it says "Thriller" instead of "Horror". Not that we care too much on this blog. I'm just throwing it out there.
This book was published in 1987, so it's one of the earlier ones. I've definitely read it before. More than once. Maybe more than ten times.
So, full disclosure....I LOVE this
book. I probably shouldn't. It's not particularly well-written and
the characters are pretty annoying and Stine pulls some real dick
moves, but it's fun. It's a wild ride, so strap yourselves in
and just surrender to the madness.
We begin with our protagonist Abby
fighting with her sister Gabriella. The entire time they're
fighting, Abby is getting ready to go out, so she's looking at
Gabriella's reflection in the mirror along with her own. Abby has
been asked to pledge the Tri Gams which is the most exclusive
sorority at her college and she's excited and honored. Gabriella
isn't impressed. She thinks the whole sorority thing is stupid and
useless and it's pissing Abby off.
Abby is described as pretty. She has a
round, high-cheekboned face, olive cat-like eyes, full red lips and
straight, dark hair. She tells us that Gabriella has the same eyes
but she's not as pretty as Abby. She goes on to describe herself as
a cat and Gabriella as a tiger.
The fight escalates to the point that
Abby yells at her sister that she's inhuman. She pauses to take a
few deep breathes and when she turns around, Gabriella has left the
room. Abby's mom walks in to ask her what's going on and Abby
promptly turns around so she can talk to her mom's reflection too.
She says she has a thing for reflections, but I think she just likes
to look at herself in the mirror. She asks her mom how she looks and
her mom tells her that her tag is out on her sweater. She offers to
fix it but Abby yells at her for never saying anything nice.
Whoa, over-react much?
Abby's mom tells her she looks nice and
then comments that this whole sorority thing must be super important
to Abby. Abby's all like “duh”. She gets mad again when her mom
asks if she'll be able to handle it if she doesn't get in. Abby
believes there's zero chance that will happen. She's getting in.
It's obvious.
Confidence she does not lack.
Stine decides to take a shot at teen
girl fashion. We're told Abby's wearing an oversized gold sweater, a
short brown knit skirt and dark patterned tights. It could be cute.
Depends on shades and patterns, but I think he did okay here.
Abby takes the bus to campus. It's
about 30 minutes away but it feels like new world to Abby and she
revels in it. She's outside the sorority house when she sees an
unwelcome sight. Leila Sherman is going inside. Abby fumes.
What right does someone from her past have invading her future? She
finally decides not to let it ruin her life and she goes inside.
Naturally Leila and Abby have some kind
of beef over a guy named Gordon. Because girls always pick
guys over their BFF's. {eye roll} Hey, Stine, it's Chicks before
Dicks and most of us adhere to that code.
Abby is expecting the sorority house to
be magical but it's actually a little run down and the sisters aren't
as glamorous as she thought they'd be. She's disappointed.
Abby hears someone call her name and is
excited to see Nina. Nina isn't given a last name. That
always worries me in books like this. It's kind of like the red
shirt in Star Trek. Nina has short hair with bangs, a tiny nose and
freckles. Abby says she looks like she's 10 years old. The two of
them had been great friends in grade school but drifted apart after
junior high. Nina is the giggly, bubbly cheerleader type and Abby
considers herself to be deep and serious and literary. She has no
time for the frivolous. But she is genuinely glad to see Nina since
she doesn't know anyone else.
They talk super briefly but when Abby
hears that Nina and Leila are roommates, it all goes downhill from
there. Nina gets super nervous and uncomfortable and gives Abby the
whole “let's have coffee sometime” routine before dashing away to
talk to someone else.
Abby sees Leila coming toward her and
starts to feel out of control. She doesn't know what to say to Leila
after all this time. She feels awkward but luckily the sisters call
the meeting to order at that point and she doesn't have to talk to
Leila.
Abby sits next to a tall girl with red
hair. The girl has a quiet, squeaky voice like a mouse and Abby
thinks it's a joke at first because Abby is kind of a bitch. Mouse
girl is named Rebecca Reeves.
Andrea Volner, the president of
the Tri Gams begins the meeting.
With every new character, it's becoming
glaringly obvious that poor Nina wasn't given a last name for some
sinister reason.
Abby is more impressed with Andrea.
She is tall and pretty with blonde hair and a toothpaste smile.
She's wearing expensive clothes – a gray wool skirt, maroon silk
blouse and a gray scarf tied around her neck. This does not sound
like any sorority girl I've ever heard of. Stine fails this attempt
at teen girl fashion. As Andrea drones on, Abby's mind wanders. She
thinks about how she and Leila used to be the bestest besties that
ever bested until Gordon shattered their relationship.
A latecomer arrives and causes a lot of
commotion. Andrea addresses her as Jessie and she
conspicuously isn't given a last name either. Rebecca makes a few
catty remarks under her breath about Jessie's clothes. Jessie's
wearing jeans (not even 501's – the horror!!) and a sweatshirt with
an ugly poncho over the top. She has glasses and messy hair and an
obvious weight issue. Abby disdainfully thinks that Jessie
looks nothing like a Tri Gam. Jeez, Jessie, what are you thinking?
Surely you know us fatties aren't allowed to pledge sororities.
We're allowed to do other people's homework and scrub bathrooms and
things but joining a Greek House? Yeah, no. Buh-bye now.
Abby tells us she doesn't judge people
(and I give myself a concussion because I laugh so hard I fall out of
my chair) but she can't figure out why Jessie would even be there.
Rebecca tells her that Jessie's older sister was a Tri Gam and
younger sisters are automatically pledged. They don't always get in,
but they're automatically pledged. Legacy, Stine. It's called a
Leg-a-cy.
There are ten girls in the pledge class
and only five will actually be accepted into the sorority. Andrea
goes on and on about how sisters are sisters for life. Then she
tells the group that every year the pledges are put through a test.
They share an experience...a secret...that will bond them together
for life. They will be taken to another town and asked to commit a
crime that will prove their loyalty to the Tri Gams and each other.
Nina and Abby go for coffee afterward
and Nina is clearly freaking out. Abby laughs at her for being so
worried about the crime thing. Abby thinks it's just one of those
silly sorority things that they're trying to make sound all dramatic
but will really just be a giant joke.
The topic turns to Leila and Nina
mentions that she's worried about her. She thinks Gordon is dragging
Leila down. She found them in Gordon's backseat on campus recently
where anyone could have seen them. Leila would have been kicked out
of school if campus security had caught them. She wonders if she
should have a conversation with Leila about her behavior. As she's
telling the story, Abby starts going bright red and shaking. She
rather robotically states that Leila can take care of herself and
Nina immediately apologizes for opening old wounds. Abby should be
the last person to discuss this with and it wasn't very sensitive of
Nina to bring it up.
Jessie arrives then and sits right down
without waiting for an invitation. She formally introduces herself
and we learn her last name is Harvard. Nina still isn't given a last
name. She introduces herself with her first name only. You know,
I'm sure Stine just effing forgot to give her one but I'm choosing to
believe that she's a red shirt. Nina asks Jessie if she thinks the
crime thing is for real and Jessie replies that it definitely is and
she can't wait to do something bad. Abby thinks Jessie is a little
twisted (oh, Stine, you clever fellow – I see what you did there
{wink}). She and Nina make their excuses and practically run out of
the diner to get out of spending time with Jessie.
Just for the record, I'm beginning to
think Stine is incapable of writing a “nice” girl.
The next chapter has us in Nina's head.
When she gets back to her dorm room, Leila is pissed at her. Leila
doesn't understand how Nina can go out with Leila's worst enemy in
the entire world!! She reminds Nina that when it all went down,
Abby was so upset her mother had to pull her out of school for a
whole year. The official story was that Abby went to live with her
grandmother but it's heavily implied that she was committed. Nina
protests that Abby's all better now and she's probably forgotten the
whole Gordon mess. Except she so clearly
hasn't forgotten it and Nina is well aware of it. So why lie?
Leila is furious and I'm not sure why.
Nina isn't either. She asks Leila what's really going on and Leila
throws a pair of binoculars at her. She tells Nina this way she'll
have a better view next time she spies on Leila and Gordon. So did
she just have those laying around or did she go out and buy some just
to have this dramatic moment? Because that's a little....twisted.
{wink} Leila tells her that one of them has to move because there's
no way they can room together.
I guess we were only with Nina for a
couple of pages because suddenly we're back in Abby's head. She's
arrived home and her house seems quiet. Gabriella's voice comes out
of the dark and startles Abby. Gabriella wants to know about the
meeting but Abby refuses to rise to the bait. She knows Gabriella is
just looking for something to ridicule. She's heading up the stairs
when she hears Gabrielle ask her if she thinks they're really going
to do a crime. Abby wonders how Gabriella knew about that part. She
worries that maybe Gabriella followed her to the meeting.
Abby opens her bedroom door and is
surprised to find Gordon there. He says he climbed in through her
bedroom window. Oh, nice. That's not fucking creepy or anything.
We're told Gordon is tall and big like
a football player. He's wearing torn jeans and a stained sweatshirt
that looks like he hasn't changed it in weeks. Charming. He has
long, unwashed hair and lots of stubble and Abby tells us he looks
like an unwashed Sean Penn. This is alarming to me because Sean Penn
already looks unwashed to me. How much worse does it get? Does
Stine really expect us to believe that two gorgeous girls are
fighting over this disgusting specimen? I know it's fiction, but
come on.
Abby demands to know what he's doing
there. He says he wants to explain and apologize. He says he was
immature last year and never meant to hurt her. I....I guess that
was the explanation and apology because he doesn't actually say
anything else. It's good enough for Abby. She throws herself at him
and starts kissing him rather aggressively. At first he doesn't
respond, but then he starts kissing her back.
Not sure what happens with that whole
thing because a new chapter starts and we take a timehop. It's a
week later. The girls are being driven hours away from campus in the
dark. There's fog too because Stine loves his cliches. Everyone is
nervous and on edge wondering if they'll actually be asked to commit
a crime. Three girls chose not to go, giving up their chances of
becoming a Tri Gam entirely.
A peppy girl named Emily sits
next to Abby on the rented mini school bus. She thinks the whole
crime thing was a sorority prank and she's loving every minute of it.
Nina and Leila are clearly still fighting and sit with other people
on the ride. On the way they come across an accident. A car has
hit and killed a deer. Abby becomes filled with dread and keeps
picturing the poor innocent creature leaping across the road to his
certain death. She wonders if they are all like that poor deer.
Innocent creatures being led to their own demise.
The girls arrive at the house and it
looks like something out of a horror movie on the outside. Abby is
relieved to find that the inside doesn't look so bad. There's
nothing creepy about it and it seems homey and warm. Andrea reads
out the room assignments. Nina will be sharing a room with Rebecca.
Emily and a quiet girl named Ruby are to share a room.
Naturally Abby and Leila are assigned to be roomies. If you couldn't
see that one coming a mile away, you might want to make an
appointment with an optometrist. Abby is nervous about it, but
figures she can hold it together for a couple of days. Jessie is
allowed to have her own room.
Andrea encourages them all to go right
to sleep because they have important work to do the next day.
They'll be casing out some places or something. Abby is relieved
when Leila immediately tells her that she's exhausted and she hopes
they can catch up the next day instead. She can put off having a
convo with Leila for at least another day.
The next day they explore the town.
It's a tourist place so most of the businesses are now boarded up and
closed for the fall and winter. It seems abandoned. Andrea tells
them to memorize everything they see because their lives may depend
on it later. It's all excessively dramatic and, for some reason, in
this particular book, it's hilarious. This book is the equivalent of
watching a horror movie spoof to me. It's like “Scream If You
Know What I Did for Halloween Last Friday the 13th
on Nightmare Street With the Children of the Corn” or
something.
Leila is chatting away to Abby acting
like the last year never happened and they're still best friends.
Abby isn't sure what's up with that, but she's grateful because it
makes her less nervous.
They arrive at a place called Driftwood
Antiques and Andrea motions them all inside. The shopkeeper is
an elderly, frail looking woman. She goes into the back room to take
a phone call and Andrea quickly points out the side door, jewelry
case and cash register. She tells them that they're going to come
back the next day and steal the jewels and take the money.
Later that night, Andrea holds a
meeting of the Tri Gam pledges. I'm unsure at this point if any of
the other sorority sisters came along. It seems to just be Andrea
and the seven pledges. Anyway, Leila tells Andrea that they all
think this crime is a joke. Andrea grimly replies that they're in
for a big surprise if they think that.
Andrea takes out a gun and tells them
that they're going to draw straws and the person with the short straw
will carry the gun. She outlines the plan for the robbery for them.
Abby goes from amused to disgusted. She's sure it's all a joke and
she thinks it's in very poor taste to keep it going this long. She's
disappointed all over again in Andrea and the sorority.
Andrea takes the straws around. Ruby
refuses to draw one and says she won't participate. Andrea reminds
her that she cannot get into the sorority if she doesn't, but Ruby
holds her ground. There's no phone and no way for Ruby to call for a
ride home so it's decided that she'll just remain at the house when
the others go to town to commit the robbery. The other girls all
draw. Nina gets the short straw and is horrified.
Later that night, Abby and Leila are
discussing it in their room when they hear an odd tapping at the
window. To their surprise, Gordon crawls through and into their
room. Abby rushes over to give him a hug but he pushes past her to
hug Leila. Leila asks what he's doing there, while giving Abby a
strange look, and Gordon says he followed her. Not creepy as fuck or
anything, Stine. Why oh why do all the boys have to be so creepy
in PH Land?? The chapter ends with Abby feeling so embarrassed
that she wants to die.
The next
morning, everyone is scared and nervous. Abby is still mostly sure
it's a joke but doubt is starting to settle in. She still feels
hella stupid about the night before and is worried that Leila is
going to go postal on her. They get ready to go into town and Andrea
gives Nina a brief course on how to use the gun. To everyone's
relief, she tells Nina that the bullets are really just blanks.
The girls all
have assignments. Rebecca is supposed to tie up the old lady. Abby
is supposed to empty the cash register. Nina has the gun. I'm not
sure about everyone else. At first, things seem to be going okay.
Then Nina loses her nerve and Jessie takes over with the gun. Abby
can hear Rebecca and Emily smashing in the jewelry cases. Leila is
laughing and saying that the old woman is clearly in on it. The
whole thing is confusing. Suddenly the old lady cries out in pain
and grabs her chest. They all watch in horror as she collapses to
the ground. Jessie runs over and checks her pulse. She's dead.
Because of
course she is.
The next chapter
opens up with all our main characters back at the house. Everyone is
upset. Andrea is pacing back and forth saying “This was not in
the script” over and over. Nina is bad off. She keeps saying
“We killed her” over and over. Abby tries to comfort her
with no results. Things get very dramatic. Several of the girls are
crying. Nina starts tearing at her hair. Only Leila is calm. She
gives Andrea a cold look and tells her that it's time to stop.
Andrea pretends
she doesn't know what Leila's talking about. She continues to insist
that everything is real until Leila gives up in disgust. Then Andrea
starts to put on her coat. She tells them that she's going to walk
to the next house and call the police. She'll stand behind the
girls, but this has to be reported.
The room erupts.
Everyone but
Abby starts screaming. Ruby is the only one okay with calling the
police because she's the only one that didn't participate and she has
nothing to lose. Nina is hysterical. Jessie physically restrains
Andrea and throws her down. There's chaos for awhile and it's pretty
campy. Finally everyone calms down. They agree to go up to their
rooms to think about things for awhile and then they'll meet again at
3:00 to calmly discuss what to do.
As they all
disperse, Abby feels like everything is happening in slow motion.
She looks at the fire and then imagines that the flames leave the
fireplace and go frolicking around the room. She verbally tells them
to stay in the fireplace but no one seems to notice.
That was a real
Cooney moment right there, Stine. That was pure Devnee and the
Shadow. Next thing you know some foil-fingered, moldy-smelling
creature is going to start migrating people's boundaries.
Abby helps Nina
up the stairs and into the room she and Leila share. Leila tries to
calm Nina down by telling her that it was all just a fake. She read
about a fraternity in another state that does the exact same thing
every year. Jessie interrupts from the door and belligerently
insists that it wasn't a joke and the old woman is dead. Leila gets
mad and tells Jessie that she's just being cruel by continuing this.
Nina finally says she wants to go to her own room and lie down and
Jessie volunteers to walk her there.
As soon as
they're gone, Leila whirls on Abby and demands to know what's
happening between her and Gordon. Abby denies anything is happening
but Leila brings up how Abby tried to hug him the night before. Abby
begins to dig through her makeup. Despite the fact that her face is
bright red and her mirror is so bad she can't really see herself, she
begins to apply blusher. Leila tells Abby that she has to get over
it. Gordon chose Leila and these things happen. It wasn't a big
deal and certainly no one meant to get Abby that.....upset. Abby is
pissed.
A best friend
stealing your boyfriend isn't just something that happens. It
IS a big deal. I'm with Abby on this one, Leila.
Leila becomes
uneasy with Abby's anger and decides to back off. She tells Abby to
leave Gordon alone and then leaves the room. Abby furiously grabs
her lipstick. I guess she puts on makeup when she's pissed??
Suddenly she sees Gabriella's reflection in the mirror behind her.
Abby wants to know what she's doing there and Gabriella says she
hates being left out of the fun. Abby doesn't want her there and she
spins around to confront Gabriella but Gabriella has left the room.
Then...well,
this happens:
“Broken,
Abby though. Broken, broken, broken. She turned back to the mirror
and picked up the lipstick. Broken, broken, broken. Looking
intently in the mirror, she began applying the lipstick to her lips,
lightly at first and then pressing harder and harder. Her hand moved
in quick circles, smearing the soft lipstick over her lips, on her
chin, under her nose. Round and around. Round and around. She
smeared the lipstick in wider and wider circles, covering her lower
face and then her cheeks.”
So....yeah.
The next chapter begins and we're with Nina and Jessie who are
sitting outside talking. Jessie reassures Nina that no matter what
happens, they're all in it together. Nina wants to go home but
Jessie tells her the bus driver left to do another job and won't be
returning until the next evening. They're trapped. They're startled
when they hear what sounds like a gunshot. Jessie immediately
dismisses it as duck hunters in the nearby woods. Movement catches
their eyes and they see Gordon running all bent over through the
trees as if he doesn't want to be seen. Nina can't figure out why
he's there or why he's running like that. There's no time to pursue
it, though, because Jessie notices it's 3:00 and time for the
meeting.
The girls are all snapping at each other like feral cats and a
freshly scrubbed Abby is stunned at how much things have changed in
just 24 hours. They aren't sisters anymore. A storm begins to rage
outside and the lights flicker to add to the tension already in the
room. They're five seconds from tearing each other apart with their
bare hands already. I'd hate to see what would happen if the lights
go off. Leila tells them that they really only have two choices.
They can continue to play their parts like good little sorority girls
until Andrea reveals it was all a joke, or they can put up a united
front and tell Andrea they're done playing the game.
Jessie practically attacks Leila. She rages that nothing is a joke
and it's all real. Seriously, the girl doth protest way too
fucking much. Clearly she's in on it and they're dumb not to realize
it.
Abby notices that Andrea hasn't come down for the meeting and asks
where she is. No one had noticed her absence until then. Someone
says that she probably fell asleep, so they all troop upstairs to
wake her up. Why? I don't know. I guess they're pack animals now.
Andrea doesn't answer the door, so they bust in. They see her lying
in a pool of blood. Jessie (again) runs forward to examine the body
and she tells the others that Andrea has been shot and she's dead.
Jessie is fucking Dr. Oz or something and everyone believes her
medical diagnosis immediately.
They all go back downstairs and there's more hysteria and hair
rending. The lights flicker again with the storm so Jessie goes into
the kitchen to get candles. She conveniently finds enough for
everyone to have one exactly at the moment that the lights go out and
no one...not one of them...asks how the fuck she knew where to
find the candles.
Abby accuses Jessie of killing Andrea in a creepy voice that scares
the crap out of everyone. Nina loudly argues that it was clearly
Gordon. Leila jumps in to defend Gordon and things kind of
disintegrate again. Suddenly they realize they can hear knocking on
the front door.
Hoping it's the bus driver, they answer it only to find a sopping wet
Gordon. He comes in all smiles and goofy mumblings and Nina
immediately starts screaming that he's the murderer and they have to
“get him”. He seems really confused by this. Jessie jumps in to
support Nina's story and asserts that he's the killer. She's obvi
trying to divert suspicion but everyone is oblivious. Gordon denies
any killing. Abby tries to alibi him by telling the girls that he
sneaked in her window the night before and spent the night with her.
This alarms Gordon and Leila both.
Abby tells the group that he was sneaking away from the house to
protect her reputation and he couldn't possibly have killed Andrea
because he was with her the whole time. Gordon tries to stop her.
He tells her that they need to tell the truth and Abby insists that
she is. The problem is, she's also insisting in her own thoughts
that she's telling the truth. She believes she's telling the
truth.
So....there's that.
Gordon tells them that he came up to see Leila. He spent the night
with her in one of the rooms and then slept all day. When Nina and
Jessie saw him, he was simply trying to leave without being seen.
Jessie doesn't believe him and says they need to lock him up in a
bedroom until they can figure out who's lying. Gordon is okay with
it. He just wants to be dry and warm. Leila protests but no one
listens. She becomes very emotional and keeps saying “Poor
Abby. Poor confused Abby.” over and over in her head. I find
an entire page of this VERY ANNOYING, STINE.
Leila tells Abby that she wants to talk to her and Abby angrily tells
Leila that she has a few things to say too.
The next chapter begins with Nina and Jessie again. Nina is crying.
Again. There's a long pointless conversation where Nina finally
accuses Jessie of knowing more than she says about this weekend and
Jessie denies everything.
Then we hop into Leila's head. She's sitting in the kitchen drinking
hot tea. We get page after page of her confused inner dialogue going
over everything for us in case we forgot. Do PH authors really think
our attention span is so short that we can't maintain the facts of a
168 page book?? She worries about Gordon and worries about poor,
poor Abby and goes back and forth about whether anything is real.
THIS IS USELESS.
Leila finally goes upstairs. She pauses outside of the room where
Gordon is locked up but doesn't hear anything from inside. She
figures he's asleep again. He can fall asleep anytime, anywhere.
She goes into her room and sees Abby sitting at the dressing table.
At first, Abby doesn't respond to Leila calling her name. Then she
finally turns and smiles.
“I'm not Abby,” she said finally in a hoarse voice. “I'm
Gabriella.”
Are you surprised? Be honest. Did you know Gabriella didn't exist?
Did you notice she really only appeared in the mirror? I can see you
over there pretending you knew it all along. {wink}
Leila doesn't know what to do. At first, she tries to convince Abby
that she's not Gabriella. That only makes Abby/Gabriella furious.
Leila debates running from the room and then decides against it
because people are stupid in PH Land. She decides she can calm
Abby/Gabriella down and everything will be just fine. Abby/Gabriella
goes into a monologue about how she's Abby's only loyal sister and
how Leila is a complete bitch for stealing Abby's boyfriend.
Not really arguing with her on that one.
Leila screams that things like that happen all the time and people
don't go crazy from it.
Not really arguing with her either, but it doesn't make Leila less of
a bitch. Chicks before dicks. Learn it. Live it.
Oh, and calling a crazy person “crazy” is really the equivalent
of poking a very large bear with a very sharp stick. It's not the
first choice I'd make personally, but you do you, Leila.
Abby/Gabriella responds by pulling out a gun and telling Leila that
she's going to make her pay.
I told you. Bear. Stick. Duh.
The next chapter brings us back to Nina. She's staring out the
window having a LONG inner dialogue about whether she should have
spent a year living at home before she moved into a dorm and whether
she should move back there now. STINE, THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO
WITH THE PLOT OF THIS STORY. In the middle of all this, she
looks down and sees a phone cord running along the wall.
The other girls see her crawling along the floor and they ask her
what she's doing. She tells them about the cord and they join in the
hunt. Jessie jumps up in a hurry and tries to stop them. They don't
listen to her. They find a jack and then decide to follow the cord
back the other way, hoping to find a phone. They do not. Before
they can begin a thorough search, they hear crashing and screaming.
It sounds like it's coming from the basement.
Dun dun dun.
We headhop back to Abby/Gabriella. She's forced Leila down the
basement stairs at gunpoint. She tells Leila that she's going to
kill her and hide the body down there where no one will think to
look. Gordon appears to save the day. He tries to talk
Abby/Gabriella down but she isn't having it. They struggle and the
gun goes off.
The next chapter begins with the other girls rushing to the basement.
There's a lot of confusion. Nina sees Gordon physically tackling
and restraining Abby and she picks up the discarded gun to force him
to let Abby go. When Abby starts screaming that she's Gabriella,
Nina realizes what's going on and she says “Poor Abby” a
few times herself. Grrr.
Gordon gets Abby/Gabriella restrained and they all try to figure out
what the hell to do now. A clueless Andrea suddenly appears on the
stairs. She's happy and congratulates them all on making it into the
Tri Gams. The old lady is with her and just as cheerful. They're
pretty proud of themselves until they notice Abby.
Nina gets up and gives a big speech about how ashamed she is of the
sorority. But she's going to take her place in it and make sure they
never do this weekend again. It's.....dumb. Jessie is confronted
and she reveals she's been in on it the entire time. No sh*t.
Most of the group goes up to call for help. Nina, Gordon, Abby and
Leila remain. Abby just keeps saying “I'm not Abby, I'm
Gabriella” over and over again. Leila feels responsible. She
gets down and hugs Abby, telling her what a good friend she's been.
The paramedics arrive to take Abby away. The entire time she's
scolding Gabriella for embarrassing her in front of the other
pledges. Gabriella replies that she was only protecting Abby as
usual. Abby becomes scared because she doesn't know where she's
being taken, but Gabriella tells her not to worry because she's
coming along too.
The End.
Final Thoughts: I don't know why I love this book. It's awful.
It's very offensive to people with mental illness. But it's campy.
It's over-dramatical-fantastical. It's unintentionally hilarious.
It has TWO plot twists (there is no Gabriella and the weekend was
fake). Okay, they weren't particularly GOOD plot twists but there
were two! It's like...bonus! This book is just pure,
unapologetic camp and I love it.
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