Taffy Sinclair 011 - Nobody Likes Taffy Sinclair (4 page)

Taffy dropped her books on the counter with a thud.
"
Are you kidding?
"
she muttered.
"
Most of them treated me like poison.
"

Mrs. Sinclair nodded and smiled sympathetically.
"
I
'
m sure they
'
re a little jealous. After all, none of them have ever done what you have.
"

Taffy sighed.
"
Shawnie says that my going to Hollywood makes them feel like big fat nothings. Do you think that
'
s true?
"

"
Probably, but you can
'
t let that bother you, sweetheart. You have a wonderful future as an actress, and someday they
'
ll all be bragging that they knew you in school. Just you wait and see.
"

But what about now? Taffy wanted to ask as she headed upstairs to her room. Someday was a long way away. She thought about what had happened during the day. Her overhearing The Fabulous Five talking behind her back. Laura McCall
'
s pretending to gag and giggling with her friends when Taffy told her homeroom about Hollywood. Taffy
'
s finding out that Kimm Taylor had practically stolen her best friend while she was gone. And now, the scene at Bumpers.

I don
'
t want to wait for someday, she thought miserabl
y. I want kids to like me now.

F
or the next couple of days Taffy bit her tongue every time she was tempted to mention Hollywood or Raven Blaine or anything else about making a movie. It was more difficult than she had expected, but it was the only solution she could come up with to keep people from thinking she was bragging.

She sighed every time she looked at her bulletin board at the clipping from the Hollywood newspaper of her and Raven Blaine, or at the gold star necklace that Raven had given her. But she didn
'
t wear the necklace to school again. It would just remind me of things that I
'
m better off not thinking about, she told herself.

On Friday Cory asked if he could walk her home after school so they could make plans for their date that
evening. Before they had even left the school grounds, Cory had told her that he would come by at six-thirty and that they would be doubling with Shawnie and Craig.

With that settled Taffy linked arms with Cory for the rest of the walk home, sauntering along as slowly as possible. She wanted to make the time with him last, even though she knew her mother would be sitting in the car in the Sinclair driveway, impatiently tapping her fingertips against the steering wheel and watching the hands on her wristwatch move closer to the time Taffy
'
s acting lesson was to begin.

"
You
'
re awfully quiet. What are you thinking about?
"
asked Cory.
"
I hope it
'
s not Raven Blaine.
"

"
Raven Blaine!
"
Taffy echoed. Her heart began to pound.
"
Why would I be thinking about him?
"

Cory looked down at her, a tiny frown creasing his face.
"
I heard that you told everybody at Bumpers a few days ago that Raven Blaine was totally cool.
"

"
That
'
s not what I said,
"
Taffy argued.
"
I never ever said he was totally cool. What I said was that he was a really nice person, that
'
s all.
"

"
Okay, okay,
"
said Cory.
"
I didn
'
t mean to come off sounding jealous.
"

"
That
'
s okay,
"
said Taffy, but her heart was still pounding. Did Cory su
spect how she felt about Raven?

"
So, what were you thinking about?
"
he asked.

Taffy squinted up at Cory in the bright sunlight.
"
I was just dreading going to my acting class,
"
she said.
"
My mother is determined to make me into an actress.
"

"
I thought you liked acting,
"
said Cory.

"
Don
'
t get me wrong. I do like acting, but I
'
d also like to have more time for other things—
"
she flashed him a big smile—
"
like spending time with you. It
'
ll never happen, though. Now that the producers of
Nobody Likes Tiffany Stafford
are considering turning it into a weekly television series, my mother
'
s more determined than ever. I don
'
t know what she
'
d do if they cast someone else in the part of Tiffany Stafford.
"
Cory stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.
"
Do you mean that you might go back to Hollywood?
"
he asked incredulously.

Taffy didn
'
t say anything for a moment. She hadn
'
t wanted to tell Cory about that possibility, but it had slipped out.
"
Maybe,
"
she admitted,
"
but I really don
'
t want to. Honest. It
'
s my mother who wants it. She
'
s devoting her whole life to making me a star.
"
Taffy hoped her voice sounded sincere. She hadn
'
t lied to Cory. Not exactly, anyway. Part of her did want to stay here and be a real teenager. But even though she couldn
'
t admit it to him, part of her loved the glamorous life in Hollywood and wanted to return.

"
If you
'
re going to take lessons, why don
'
t you take singing lessons?
"
suggested Cory.
"
Then you could take Kimm Taylor
'
s place as singer for The Dreadful Alternatives.
"

"
Replace Kimm? You
'
ve got to be kidding,
"
said Taffy.
"
But then
. . ."
she mused, and lapsed into thought. Maybe that wouldn
'
t be such a bad idea. Shawnie had said that the band was trying hard to make it big. If that happened, she wanted herself—not Kimm—to be in on the glory. Besides, it would serve Kimm right for trying to steal her best friend.

"
I
'
m serious,
"
said Cory.
"
Talk to your mom. Tell her that you
'
d rather be a singer. She ought to go for that, since you could still be a star. You don
'
t have to mention The Dreadful Alternatives.
"

"
I wouldn
'
t dare ask her anything like that,
"
Taffy said with a laugh.
"
She
'
d come totally unglued.
"

"
What would your dad say?
"
Cory asked.
"
Would he be more sympathetic?
"

Taffy shook her head.
"
It wouldn
'
t do any good if he was. He wasn
'
t a Radio City Music Hall Rockette who gave up a career for marriage and a family. Mother considers herself the authority on show business, and she makes all those kinds of decisions.
"

Just as Taffy had predicted, Mrs. Sinclair sat idling the car at the bottom of the driveway. When she saw Taffy and Cory approaching, she jumped out and began waving.

"
Hurry, Taffy. Do you know what time it is? We
'
re going to be late.
"

Taffy looked at Cory helplessly.
"
I have to go,
"
she whispered.

Cory glanced quickly toward Mrs. Sinclair, who was ducking back into the car, and then pretended to cough. When he put his hand to his mouth, he kissed the tip of his index finger and brushed the finger across Taffy
'
s cheek.

"
See you later,
"
he said softly.

Taffy smiled and nodded as she got into her car. She touched the spot where Cory had left the kiss as she waved good-bye to him. He was so wonderful.

Who knows about Raven Blaine? she thought. He seemed to care about me. But maybe he acts that way to every girl he meets.

She sighed and thought about Cory again, closing her eyes and seeing them together on stage with The Dreadful Alternatives. Now, more than ever, she wanted to be a regular person, an ordinary seventh- grader at Wakeman Junior High, instead of a movie star. And maybe someday The Dreadful Alternatives, with her as their singer, would make it into the big time. Then she would be a star after all.

"
Taffy. Did you hear me?
"
asked her mother as she pulled into a parking space in front of a red brick building.
"
I asked if you
'
ve memorized the scenes your class is going to work on today.
"

Taffy blinked away her daydreams.
"
I read them over a few times,
"
she offered.

Mrs. Sinclair shook her head.
"
I certainly hope you don
'
t embarrass yourself,
"
she scolded.
"
I
'
d think the least you could do is memorize your scenes. Well, come on.
"

Why won
'
t she leave me alone? Taffy wondered miserably as she followed her mother into the building and up the stairs. Why won
'
t she just let me lead my own life the way I want to?

Taffy thought about mentioning the idea of taking singing lessons instead of acting lessons, but she knew the timing wasn
'
t right. Maybe she could bring up the subject another time, when her mother was in a better mood. But she would have to be careful and handle it just right. The chance to replace Kimm was too important to make a mistake.

Mrs. Sinclair opened the door to The Merry Chase Studio and pushed Taffy in ahead of herself. The walls were covered with pictures of famous actors and actresses who had studied with Merry Chase. Taffy went past the secretary
'
s desk into the room where class was held. It was a large room with twenty-five or thirty chairs lined up in three rows at one end. The rest of the room served as the stage, where the students practiced their roles.

At least a dozen other boys and girls around Taffy
'
s age were already seated. Most sat beside their mothers, but a few others—the lucky ones, to Taffy
'
s way of thinking—were clustered in the third row, talking and giggling together. Taffy looked longingly at this group as her mother tugged at her and pointed to two seats at the front.

When everyone was finally settled, Merry Chase herself took center stage. She was stick-thin with heavy makeup and hair dyed black. Her hair was piled on her head, and she was dressed in a long, flowing muumuu with tons of silver jewelry hanging around her neck.

"
Good afternoon, loves,
"
she called out in a deep, throaty voice.

"
Good afternoon, Merry Chase,
"
the students answered obediently.

Merry Chase smiled benevolently.
"
I hope everyone has memorized the scenes for today, because we all want to work hard and become famous movie stars.
"

Mrs. Sinclair nudged Taffy and looked down her nose at her as if to say,
"
I told you so!
"

Taffy rolled her eyes toward the ceiling and groaned inwardly. She was trapped.