Taffy Sinclair 011 - Nobody Likes Taffy Sinclair (10 page)

"
Nothing
'
s definite yet,
"
Taffy said when Shawnie called her later in the evening after the interview with Marge Whitworth had been broadcast. She knew she was lying to her best friend, but she still didn
'
t know how to break the news.

"
When will you know?
"
Shawnie asked.

"
Pretty soon,
"
replied Taffy, wondering if her voice was giving her away.
"
If I do go back to Hollywood,
"
she added slowly,
"
you
'
ll have Kimm to be friends with, won
'
t you?
"

There was a long pause.
"
Sure,
"
said Shawnie,
"
but believe me, it won
'
t be the same.
"

Taffy bit her lip to keep from crying.
It won't be the same for me
,
either
,
she wanted to say. Instead she went
on,
"
But you were telling me how much fun it is to go to her house, and how interesting she is.
"

"
Yeah, I know,
"
said Shawnie, sounding more and more dejected,
"
and I meant it, but. . . . Let
'
s change the subject, okay?
"

After they hung up, Taffy stared at the phone for a while. Finally she looked up Kimm
'
s number and dialed it.

"
Hi, Kimm,
"
she said when the girl answered.
"
This is Taffy. Can you talk a minute?
"

"
Sure,
"
Kimm replied.
"
I watched your interview on TV a few minutes ago, and it was great. What
'
s up?
"

Taffy chose her words carefully.
"
When I first got home from Hollywood, I was pretty jealous of how much time you and Shawnie had spent together while I was gone.
"

"
I know you guys are best friends,
"
Kimm interjected.
"
I wasn
'
t trying to wreck your friendship. Honest.
"

"
I understand that now,
"
said Taffy.
"
And it
'
s okay that you and Shawnie like each other so much.
"
She paused, not wanting to say what was coming next.
"
There
'
s something else.
"

"
What?
"
asked Kimm.

"
Can you keep a secret?
"

"
Well . . . sure,
"
said Kimm.

Taffy took a deep breath.
"
I found out after school today that
Nobody Likes Tiffany Stafford
is definitely going to become a television series and that I
'
ve got the starring role again.
"

"
So you
'
ll be going back to Hollywood?
"
asked Kimm.

"
Right. Shawnie doesn
'
t know yet. I didn
'
t want to tell her until
. . ."

"
Oh, I get it. Until you knew she
'
d have a good friend while you
'
re gone?
"
asked Kimm in a soft voice.

Taffy tried to say yes, but the word stuck in her throat. She waited a moment until the awful feeling had passed and then whispered,
"
That
'
s right. I leave on Sunday.
"

"
Don
'
t worry,
"
said Kimm.
"
Shawnie and I will be good friends while you
'
re gone. Not only that, we
'
ll both be your friends when you come home.
"

Taffy couldn
'
t keep her secret much longer. Her mother was telling everyone she knew. She even called the local newspaper.

"
When are you going to be leaving?
"
Shawnie asked sadly. They were sitting on the front steps of the school after lunch the next day.

"
Sunday,
"
said Taffy.
"
Mother
'
s checking with the airlines today.
"
She paused a moment.
"
I just want you to know that as much as I want to do the series, it makes me sad to leave. I wish there was some way you could come with me.
"

"
Maybe I can come and visit you during summer vacation,
"
offered Shawnie.

"
Do you think you could?
"
Taffy asked excitedly.
"
Would your parents let you?
"

"
I
'
ll do anything to talk them into it if you
'
ll promise me one thing,
"
said Shawnie.

Taffy looked at her in surprise.
"
What
'
s that?
"

Shawnie glanced up to make sure no one was listening. Then she giggled and whispered,
"
Introduce me to Raven Blaine!
"

Taffy laughed, too, and for a moment the whole idea of going back to her movie career seemed exciting again. Then she thought of Cory.

"
I
'
ll introduce you to Raven anytime, especially if you can help me figure out what to do about Cory. I can
'
t go steady with him if I
'
m going to be gone for such a long time,
"
she said, looking pleadingly at Shawnie.
"
But how can I break up with him without hurting him or making him think I
'
m stuck-up and conceited? No matter what I say, that
'
s how it
'
s going to sound.
"

Shawnie squeezed Taffy
'
s hand.
"
I don
'
t know,
"
she admitted.
"
I guess all you can do is try. There he is, over by the bike rack. Why don
'
t you talk to him now, before he hears about it from someone else?
"

Taffy glanced toward Cory. He was standing alone, wearing the same sad expression he
'
d had ever since Raven
'
s roses had arrived. He knows, she thought. But Shawnie
'
s right. I have to talk to him now.

"
Hi, Cory,
"
she called out as she approached the bike rack.
"
Do you have a minute?
"

"
Sure,
"
he said. A smile flickered across his face and then died away.
"
How
'
s it going?
"

"
Okay.
"
She paused, fighting to keep her nerve.
"
I have something to tell you.
"

Cory ran a finger across the top of the bike rack. Without looking at her, he said,
"
You
'
re going back to Hollywood, right?
"

Tears filled Taffy
'
s eyes. She tried to say yes, but all she could do was nod. Finally she cleared her throat and said,
"
Part of me wants to stay here with you and Shawnie. The trouble is, I don
'
t fit in anymore. Nobody likes me. Everyone thinks I
'
m conceited.
"

"
Is that the only reason you want to go back?
"
asked Cory.

Cory
'
s words startled Taffy. It was the one question she didn
'
t want to answer, but she knew she had to.
"
No,
"
she admitted.
"
I really do want to be a star.
"

"
And singing with The Dreadful Alternatives would never make you a star, at least not a big star,
"
said Cory.

Taffy started to protest, but Cory shook his head.
"
It
'
s true. You
'
re special. You belong in Hollywood.
"
He paused and said softly,
"
I guess I shouldn
'
t even get mad if you go out with Raven Blaine.
"

"
But . . . Cory
. . ."
Taffy sputtered.

"
It
'
s okay. I
'
ve been thinking about it a lot since he sent you those roses. I won
'
t get mad if you go out with Raven Blaine. But I don
'
t want you to get mad, either, if I go out with Kimm.
"

Taffy stared at him in astonishment. She didn
'
t know what to say.

"
See, it
'
s not that I don
'
t like you as much as ever,
"
Cory continued.
"
I do. No one can take your place. Honest. But Kimm
'
s nice. And we have lots of fun together . . . the same way you have fun with your friends in Hollywood.
"

Taffy wanted to hug Cory, right there on the school grounds with half the student body watching. He did understand, after all. It was too wonderful to be true.

Instead she smiled shyly and said,
"
Thanks, Cory. I
'
m leaving Sunday,
b
ut
I
'
ll be back.
"

"
Yeah,
"
he said.
"
In six months. That
'
ll be great.
"

When the bell rang a few minutes later, Taffy headed for her afternoon classes feeling better than she had in a long time. She could leave for Hollywood now knowing that everything was settled with Shawnie and Cory, partly—she smiled and shook her head in disbelief—because of Kimm, the girl she had thought of as an enemy just a few days before.

On Friday after school Cory stopped her in the hall.
"
I know that you
'
re leaving on Sunday, and that you
'
ll be busy packing, but I
'
d really like you to come to The Dreadful Alternatives rehearsal tomorrow afternoon. Do you think you could talk your mom into letting you stop by?
"

"
Wow,
"
said Taffy.
"
You want me to come to a rehearsal even though we
'
ve broken up.
"

Cory grinned.
"
Sure. Why not? Anyway, do you think your mom will let you?
"

Taffy sighed.
"
I don
'
t know. You know how she is.
"

"
Will you try?
"
asked Cory.
"
It
'
s important to me that you be there.
"

Taffy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Why did he want her to come to rehearsal now that she was leaving town? she wondered. They had already agreed that she
'
d never get to sing with his band. But maybe it would be all right to go. After all, he still liked her, and she still liked him.