Taffy Sinclair 009 - The Truth About Taffy Sinclair (7 page)

No
matter how grim things seemed as far as my diary was concerned, I still had one thing to look forward to. Randy Kirwan was going to walk me home after school. The day seemed endless, even though we spent most of the time cleaning up the sixth-grade room to get it ready for summer vacation.

When the dismissal bell finally rang, I hurried to my locker and then to the front door to wait for Randy. I tried to look cool, even though my heart was racing. Maybe I should have stopped by the girls
'
bathroom and brushed my hair, I thought.

Mark Peters and Scott Daly walked by. They were Randy
'
s best friends. I was hoping they would ask me whom I was waiting for, but they didn
'
t.

Then Alexis Duvall and Lisa Snow came along next.
"
You just can
'
t bear to walk out of good old Mark Twain Elementary after six long years, can you, Taffy?
"
Alexis said with a grin.

"
Yeah,
"
said Lisa.
"
It really gets to you, doesn
'
t it?
"

I nodded and smiled, wishing they would stop long enough to ask me what I was really doing waiting by the door, but of course they didn
'
t. I glanced down the hall. If only Randy would hurry up. I was dying for someone to see
us leaving the school together—
especially Jana Morgan.

Instead, Clarence was lumbering toward the door. When he saw me, he started making smooching sounds and grinning broadly.
"
Just wait until Friday night!
"
he called as he went past.

Friday night. It depressed me even to think about it. Suddenly it didn
'
t matter that Randy was walking me home. After Friday night he would probably think I was horrible and never want to speak to me again.

The school had almost emptied out by the time he finally got there. I tried to smile when I saw him coming, but I just didn
'
t feel like it. Instead, I sighed and mumbled,
"
Hi,
"
barely above a whisper.

"
What
'
s the matter? Has Clarence been bothering you again?
"

I shook my head. It would be the truth if I told him what Clarence had said and that he had been making smooching noises. But even if Randy believed me now, he probably wouldn
'
t after Jana read my diary out loud.

"
Then what
'
s the matter?
"
Randy repeated.

I thought quickly.
"
I guess I
'
m just a little sad about leaving our old school,
"
I lied.
"
We
'
ve gone here all of our lives.
"

Randy nodded.
"
I
'
ll miss it, too.
"
Then he flashed a grin and added,
"
But don
'
t tell anybody I said that. I don
'
t want to get teased.
"

I said I wouldn
'
t, and we walked along in silence. I knew I should be making fabulous conversation. I should be impressing Randy so that he would forget all about Jana Morgan and decide that he liked me instead. But for some reason I just couldn
'
t. I didn
'
t feel like talking. Not to Randy. Not to anybody.

When we got to my house, I thanked Randy for walking home with me and went inside. My mother was waiting for me.

"
Hi, sweetheart. Are you ready to go to the mall and look for a new outfit for your audition Friday night?
"

Surprise must have shown on my face because she added,
"
You didn
'
t forget an important thing like that, did you? Just remember, Cynthia Cameron will do everything she can to get that job away from you.
"

"
Sure, Mother. Let
'
s go.
"

I followed her out to the car, thinking that usually shopping for new cl
othes at the mall was one of my
favorite things to do. But today was different. And as we went from store to store, I couldn
'
t seem to find anything I liked.

"
What
'
s wrong, love?
"
she asked after I left the fifth store without trying on a single thing.
"
You aren
'
t coming down with something, are you?
"

She stopped, turned me toward her, and studied my face.
"
You look a little pale. Here, let me feel your forehead for fever. It would be just
awful
if you got sick and missed the audition.
"

Dutifully, I let her feel my forehead. I knew I didn
'
t have a fever, but it would make her feel better. Sometimes it seemed as if she cared more about my show business career than she did about me.

Finally we found an outfit that she felt sure would be just right.
"
It
'
s perfect,
"
she said as she handed it to the clerk at the cash register.
"
Cynthia Cameron can
'
t possibly show up in anything that gorgeous. Oh, Taffy. Isn
'
t it exciting? The job is yours. I can just feel it.
"

I tried to smile as I watched the clerk put the clothes into a bag. Mother was right about one thing. The outfit was pretty. It was a sundress with tiny straps and a full skirt that was a blaze of bright colors.

She was right about another thing, too, I thought. I would look great Friday night—when I met my doom.

Mona came over after supper. She was so shy about trying on my clothes that I had to talk her into it.

"
But Taffy, they
'
re all so beautiful,
"
she said over and over.

"
Here,
"
I said, handing her my favorite blue knee pants and ruffled top. It was the same outfit my mother had suggested I wear to the audition before she agreed to buy me something new.
"
Try on this one. I think you
'
ll look great in it.
"

Mona
'
s eyes got big when she saw herself in the mirror. She really did look nice. Blue was a super color for her, and the pants and top couldn
'
t have fit her any better.

"
Wow!
"
she said.
"
Do you really mean that I can borrow this?
"

"
Of course. Not only that, because you look so nice in it, I think you ought to keep it.
"

Mona thanked me a million times before she left. She thanked me so much that it got embarrassing.
"
I
'
m really sorry I couldn
'
t help you find your diary,
"
she said as she headed out the door.

"
That
'
s okay,
"
I said.
"
You tried.
"

And she really had, too. After she left, I felt like a bigger jerk than ever for using my great wardrobe to bribe her into trying to get my diary back. Even giving her the blue pants and top won
'
t make up for what I wrote about her, I told myself. After Friday night, she
'
ll hate me just like everybody else.

The trouble was, I had said things in that diary that no one would understand. I had meant them at the moment I wrote them because I was hurt or angry, but they weren
'
t really the
truth.
Not the truth about the kids I wrote about, and now that I had stopped to think about it, not the truth about how I really felt.

Later, when I climbed into bed, I could almost hear the time bomb ticking. Wednesday. Thursday. Friday. Friday night. I was a goner. Blown away by my own diar
y. It was just a matter of time.

By
morning I knew what I had to do.

I had tossed and turned all night thinking of my choices. The first choice was to skip the party and go to the audition the way I was supposed to. That would make my mother happy, and I might even get the job doing the commercial. But that wouldn
'
t solve my problem. It was the second choice that made the most sense.

Skipping breakfast, I left for school a few minutes early. I wanted to get there in time to be the first one at the spot by the fence where The Fabulous Five always congregated in the morning. I planned to be there, waiting for them, when they arrived.

Jana and Melanie were the first to get to school. They came sauntering onto the playground as if they didn
'
t have a care in the world. They didn
'
t, I thought. Nobody had
their
diaries and was planning to expose their innermost secrets to the whole world.

They gave me a questioning look as they approached.

"
Hi,
"
I said nonchalantly, acting as if it were perfectly natural for me to be standing there.

"
Hi,
"
they said in unison. I knew that they were trying to figure out what to say next, but just then the other three girls came walking up.

"
Hi, Taffy,
"
said Christie.
"
Is something wrong?
"

For an instant I lost my nerve as I looked at the five of them lined up like an army against me. If this didn
'
t work, I was doomed worse than ever. Maybe I shouldn
'
t even try it. Jana might see this as the perfect chance to get me for once and for all.

"
Yeah,
"
said Jana.
"
What
'
s the matter?
"

I hesitated, still trying to decide if I should take the chance. And yet, I couldn
'
t help remembering when Jana and I had found baby Ashley. We had shared something so special that for a moment it felt as if we were friends. It had been confusing, and I had tried to explain it to my diary.

Dear Diary:

How can you hate someone and really like her at the same time? How can you suddenly feel like trusting someone who has been your enemy
forever? That's what I'
d like to know because it happened to me today.

First, Jana Morgan got me into trouble by saying that I stuck out my foot and
tripped her—which I didn't do!!!!
! Then, Miss Wiggins got mad at both of us for yelling at each other and sent us to the detention room in the office. Boy, was I mad. Then it happened. While we were walking in the hall, Jana thought she heard a kitten crying. We couldn't find it, and then I looked out the glass front doors and saw a baby in a basket. Her name was Ashley, and she had been abandoned right there on the steps of Mark Twain Elementary. Nobody else was around when we brought her into the hall. We talked to her and took care of her for a little while as if we were her mothers. We loved her so much! You could tell that she loved us, too, by the way she smiled.

When Jana and I looked at each other, it was as if we had the most wonderful secret in the world. It's hard to explain, but I wish that moment could have lasted forever.

Jana was still looking at me, waiting for me to answer.
"
I need to talk to you about my diary.
"
I said the words quickly before I could chicken out again.
"
I know you have it and that you
'
ve read it. Even though you probably won
'
t believe this, I just wanted to tell you that I
'
m sorry for all the mean things I wrote about you.
"

All five of them were staring at me as if I had just announced that school wouldn
'
t be out for another six months. Jana started to say something, but I began talking again before she could get the words out.

"
I don
'
t know which one of you put the note on my desk with the drawing of the diary and the words
'
Friday night
'
written on it, but I know what you
'
re planning to do. You
'
re going to read my diary out loud at the party and humiliate me in front of everybody. I promise, if you
'
ll give it back to me
now,
I
'
ll be your friend.
"
I paused for an instant and looked at Jana, hoping that she would remember what it was like when we found baby Ashley.

Nobody said a word. I looked down at the ground as I waited, my heart pounding in my ears. I had said it. I had apologized to Jana and her friends. If this didn
'
t work, I didn
'
t know what else I could do.

Finally Jana spoke.
"
We don
'
t have it, Taffy. Honest, we don
'
t.
"

"
That
'
s right,
"
said Beth.
"
All we found was that dirty magazine. We only pretended that we might have your diary.
"

"
Are you sure someone
'
s planning to read it at the party?
"
asked Jana.
"
That
'
s awful.
"

I opened my purse and pulled out the crumpled note and handed it to her.
"
And look. It says
'
Friday night,
'
just as I told you it did. What else could it mean?
"

The girls passed it around, studying it closely and shaking their heads.

"
Wow,
"
said Melanie.
"
That
'
s pretty scary. Somebody
'
s definitely out to get you.
"

"
But who?
"
said Katie.

We scanned the playground looking for anyone who might be suspicious, but none of us came up with any ideas.

I can
'
t explain how, but I knew that Jana and her friends were telling the truth. They didn
'
t have my diary after all. I walked around Mark Twain Elementary like a zombie all day, going to class, having lunch in the cafeteria, and feeling more depressed than ever. It was Thursday—the day before the party—and not only did I still not have my diary back, but I didn
'
t even know who had it.

Most kids were bubbling over with excitement over leaving grade school and going into junior high in the fall. On the way home from school even Randy talked about how he could hardly wait for September and playing on the Wakeman football team, and he didn
'
t seem to notice that I was quiet again.

As usual, my mother was waiting for me when I got in the house. She was in a dither, her face pink with excitement. I groaned under my breath. She was the last person I wanted to talk to right now.

"
Oh, love, just wait until you hear the news,
"
she gushed.
"
Cynthia Cameron will never be able to top this.
"

She paused, waiting breathlessly for me to ask her about her big news. When I didn
'
t, she went on anyway.

"
A little while ago I got this brilliant idea. You
'
re going to be a star, and you should arrive at the television station like a star! So I rented a limousine to take you to the audition!
"

I gasped.
"
A limousine?
"

"
That
'
s right, dear. Tomorrow night, at exactly seven o
'
clock, an enormous white stretch limousine will pull up to our door. Then a uniformed chauffeur will escort you out to the car, put you inside, and take you to the audition in style. He
'
ll wait, of course, and after you
'
ve given a stunning performance at the station, he
'
ll drive you home again where your father and I will be waiting for you with bated breath.
"

I swallowed a giggle as what she was saying began to sink in.

"
Then you and Dad aren
'
t going with me?
"
I asked tentatively.

"
Of course not, dear. How would it look for a
star
to arrive with her parents? But don
'
t worry about a thing. You
'
ll be wonderful.
"

Later, after I had thanked her a million times and was finally alone in my room, I hugged myself with joy. I had a new plan. A fantastic plan. It didn
'
t matter that someone was going to try to humiliate me by reading my diary at the party. I would show that person a thing or two. I would show that person the
truth
about Taffy Sinclair
!