The truth hurts . . .

Janet Howell is driving Jessica Wakefield crazy! Janet is on of the most popular and important girls at Sweet Valley Middle School, but when she's mean, she's really mean. And ever since she and her sort - of boyfriend, Denny, got into a huge fight, Janet has been utterly impossible. So Jessica decides to get Janet and Denny back together. And i it takes a little fib to do it, well . . . all's fair in love, right?
Not quite. Jessica's twin sister, Elizabeth, overhears her scheme, and gives Jessica a lecture on lying that hurts her feelings. So Jessica makes a wish on a falling star: that Elizabeth would have to tell nothing but the truth. But when her wish comes true, Jessica is anything but happy! Not only can't Elizabeth stop telling the truth, she can't seem to keep her mouth shut - about Jessica! Can Jessica reverse the wish in time to save herself from Elizabeth's obnoxious honesty?

How far can you stretch the truth before it snaps?

What was so terrible about lying? Jessica wondered. When it didn't hurt anyone and it helped things move along faster than normal, what was the big deal about telling a couple of lies? A person couldn't be honest one hundred percent of the time. If Elizabeth thought she could be, then she was already telling a lie - to herself. At least Jessica was trueful about her lying. She didn't pretend that she was above it.
Jessica paused beside her bedroom window and gazed out at the night sky. Dozens of stars sparkled in the darkness. Jessica searched for a constellation, but she couldn't find one.
Elizabeth's words echoed in her head. I don't tell lies. And I'm never going to. I don't believe in lying. Did she have to act so superior about it? Couldn't she see that once in a while a person had to lie? Telling the truth all the time just didn't work.
At just that moment a meteor streaked across the sky. People say that if you wish on a falling star, your wish will come true, Jessica remembered. Well, I wish Elizabeth would see why you can't tell the truth all the time. I wish she could see that being a hundred percent honest isn't all it's cracked up to be!

Good-Bye Middle School