Taffy Sinclair 011 - Nobody Likes Taffy Sinclair (9 page)

Ta
ffy hurried home the next day after school to make sure everything was ready. Her father had left work early and was in the family room, setting up the VCR to tape the movie. Her mother bustled around in the kitchen, putting chips in a bowl and setting out cans of soda for Taffy and her friends.

"
Oh, this is so exciting,
"
gushed Mrs. Sinclair.
"
My own
baby
is a movie star.
"

"
Mo
-ther
,
"
said Taffy.
"
I
'
m not a baby.
"

Just then the doorbell rang, and Taffy rushed to answer.
"
Hi, guys,
"
she said to Shawnie, Cory, and Craig, who were clustered on the front step.
"
Come on in.
"

"
Hey, it
'
s only fifteen minutes till show time,
"
said Cory.
"
Just think, millions of kids all across America
are going to be watching
you
!"
He pointed at Taffy and grinned.

"
Isn
'
t that fantastic?
"
said Shawnie.
"
I can
'
t believe this is really happening.
"

"
Me, either,
"
murmured Taffy, feeling suddenly nervous at the thought of so many teenagers sitting in front of their television sets at this very moment, getting ready to watch her acting debut. And what about Paige and Tess and Raven? Were they watching, too? She had a funny feeling at the back of her throat, as if she might throw up from excitement, and she swallowed hard to get rid of it.

"
I
'
ve got refreshments for everyone,
"
Mrs. Sinclair sang as she entered the family room carrying the bowl of chips in one hand and a tray of sodas in the other.

Taffy was too antsy to sit down. She watched her friends get settled around the room as if they were about to watch an ordinary show. Shawnie was on the sofa. Cory sank into a chair, and Craig sat on the floor between the sofa and chair.

Taffy checked her watch. Five minutes to go. Her palms were sweaty, and she wiped them on her jeans and looked at her friends. Craig and Cory were talking quietly, and Shawnie was munching chips.

How can they be so calm? she wondered. If I could just go to my room and hide until this is over
. . .
or maybe for the rest of my life if I give a rotten performance!

"
It
'
s time,
"
her father announced. He waved the remote control unit toward the television, and the screen flashed to life.

"
Look! There are the opening credits!
"
cried Mrs. Sinclair.

Taffy felt her knees turn to jelly as she sank onto the floor in front of the set. Every eye in the room was on the screen.

"
Bouquets and
Rainbows Productions presents . . .
"
Taffy murmured as she read the words on the screen.
"
. . .
Nobody Likes Tiffany Stafford . . .
starring Raven Blaine . . . Paige Kramer . . . Taffy Sinclair—
"

"
Taffy Sinclair!
"
shrieked Shawnie.
"
Did you see it? It said Taffy Sinclair, right
there
!
"

Everyone was nodding and laughing as a stream of commercials came on next, and Shawnie collapsed across the sofa, her arms flung out wide.
"
I don
'
t believe it,
"
she moaned.
"
I knew it was going to happen, but I still don
'
t believe it.
"

"
Shh, everybody,
"
said Cory.
"
It
'
s starting.
"

The room grew quiet again. Taffy squinted at first, looking out nervously through narrow slits, but as the first scene faded in, she gradually relaxed and watched eagerly. It almost seemed as if she were back on the set. Paige Kramer looked like a true villain as she and her two best friends ganged up against Tiffany Stafford, the character Taffy played. Then Raven came on the scene, looking almost as handsome on screen as he did in person. The sight of Raven made Taffy blush, and she turned her head slightly so that Cory wouldn
'
t see.

At the next commercial break, Cory turned to Taffy.
"
Hey, it
'
s pretty obvious that your character has a thing for that guy,
"
he said, putting extra emphasis on the word
"
thing.
"

"
Yeah,
"
said Craig, and Shawnie giggled.

This time Taffy could not hide her scarlet face.
"
It
'
s just a movie,
"
she argued.
"
I mean, I had to do what the script said.
"

"
Who would argue about a thing like that?
"
asked Shawnie, rolling her eyes.
"
I
'
d have a crush on him even if it wasn
'
t in the script.
"

"
Do you mean to say that you didn
'
t have a crush on Raven Blaine while you were in Hollywood?
"
asked Cory, and Taffy couldn
'
t tell if he was joking or serious. Eeeek, she thought. What do I say now?

She was still searching for the right answer when the doorbell rang.

"
Don
'
t anyone move. I
'
ll get it,
"
her mother called out as she hurried to open the door before the commercial ended and the movie resumed.

"
Flowers for Miss Taffy Sinclair,
"
said a man holding a long, white box.

Taffy looked at the box in surprise.
"
Who would be sending those?
"
she wondered softly.

"
They must be from Jerry Lowenthal, your wonderful director,
"
her mother said breathlessly.

Taffy took the box from her mother and opened it. Inside were a dozen beautiful long-stemmed red roses.

"
There
'
s a card!
"
shrieked Shawnie.
"
Hurry up, Taffy. Open it.
"

Taffy picked up the small white envelope while everyone looked on. Slipping the card out, she took a deep breath before reading the message.

For Taffy—the brightest star in Hollywood. Congratulations on a great performance. I miss you. Please come back soon.

Love
,
Raven

Taffy
'
s first instinct was to hide the card before Cory could see it, but when she glanced at him, she could tell by his expression that it was too late.

Taffy handed the roses to her mother, who bustled off into the kitchen to put them in water. She tried to think of something to say to Cory, but she couldn
'
t. He had slumped back into his chair and was staring at the actors on the screen as if he weren
'
t really seeing them. Shawnie and Craig were quiet, too.

Taffy turned her attention back to the television set. Here it is, she thought, my big debut. But somehow all the fun had gone out of it. She could hardly wait to see the words the end flash across the screen
.

W
hen Taffy got to school the next morning, she found Marge Whitworth, the anchorwoman for the local TV station, waiting on the front steps with her camera crew. Power cables crisscrossed the sidewalk to the station
'
s van, parked nearby.

"
Taffy!
"
called out Ms. Whitworth.
"
We
'
d like to interview you for the six-o
'
clock news.
"

"
Sure,
"
said Taffy. She put her books down on a step and whipped a brush and a small mirror out of her purse.
"
Just a minute while I fix my hair.
"
An instant later she approached the anchorwoman and asked,
"
Do I look okay?
"

"
You look terrific,
"
Marge Whitworth said.

A small crowd of students was beginning to gather.
Taffy could see Jana Morgan and Melanie Edwards among the faces. Taffy smiled to herself, remembering the last time she had been interviewed on TV by Marge Whitworth. It was last year, in sixth grade. She and Jana had found a baby girl named Ashley on the front steps of Mark Twain Elementary. That time Jana had been interviewed, too. But this time it was just Taffy in front of the camera.

I
'
m the star, she thought with satisfaction.

Marge Whitworth positioned Taffy on the steps and did a quick sound check. Then she signaled the cameraman and began the interview.

"
Ladies and gentlemen, it
'
s my pleasure to present to you our own local movie star, Taffy Sinclair, whose first movie,
Nobody Likes Tiffany Stafford,
was shown on network television last night. Taffy, can you tell us how it felt to see yourself on TV and to know that boys and girls all across America were watching, too?
"
asked Ms. Whitworth.

Taffy took a deep breath and looked straight into the camera.
"
It was a wonderful feeling,
"
she said calmly.
"
I hope that everyone enjoyed watching the film as much as I enjoyed making it.
"

Taffy
'
s heart swelled with pride when she heard a small ripple of applause somewhere in the crowd and saw out of the corner of her eye that it came from Shawnie and, surprisingly, from Kimm. Cory was standing with them, and Taffy saw with a stab of sadness that he wasn
'
t applauding. He wasn
'
t even smiling. He had left her house last night with barely a word, obviously angry about the roses.

Taffy was drawn back to the present by the sound of Marge Whitworth
'
s voice.
"
Now, Taffy, can you tell us what was the most exciting part of making the movie?
"

Taffy thought for a moment.
"
It
'
s hard to pick out one thing as most exciting,
"
she said.
"
I loved meeting the other stars, and working on the set, and, of course, going to Hollywood parties and to the beach.
"

Marge Whitworth asked several more questions before ending the interview. Then she thanked Taffy and moved back toward the van, where her crew was busy storing the equipment away.

Taffy watched her go, thinking that it felt good to be in front of a camera again. How could I ever give that up to go back to being an ordinary student? she wondered.

"
Talk about a celebrity,
"
called out Kimm as she and Shawnie rushed toward Taffy.
"
We
'
re going to get to see you on television again tonight.
"

Taffy laughed.
"
Talk about overexposure,
"
she said.
"
You guys are going to get sick of turning on your TVs and seeing my face.
"

"
No, seriously,
"
said Kimm,
"
I just loved watching your movie last night. You were terrific. You have every right to feel proud of yourself.
"

Taffy blinked in surprise. She hadn
'
t expected so much flattery from Kimm.

"
Thanks, Kimm,
"
she said.
"
I heard you sing with Cory
'
s band earlier this year, and you
'
re pretty terrific
, too."

Kimm smiled broadly.
"
Thanks, but that
'
s nothing compared to being a movie star.
"
Looking around quickly, she added,
"
Hey, I
'
ve got to run. I
'
ll see you guys later.
"

Taffy watched Kimm hurry toward the building.
"
I have to admit that you were right about Kimm,
"
she said to Shawnie.
"
She is nice.
"

"
I knew you
'
d think so when you got to know her better,
"
replied Shawnie.

"
I do like her, except for one thing,
"
said Taffy, frowning.
"
She has a crush on Cory.
"

"
I
'
m not positive,
"
said Shawnie.
"
Naturally they
'
re together a lot because of all the rehearsals. It could just be my imagination. I guess I shouldn
'
t have mentioned it, but
. . ."
Her voice trailed off as she gazed over Taffy
'
s shoulder.
"
Uh-oh,
"
she murmured.

Taffy whirled around, following Shawnie
'
s gaze.
"
Oh, no,
"
she said. It was Cory whom Kimm had been rushing to see. They stood together near the front door, deep in conversation.

"
What am I going to do now?
"
she cried.
"
He
'
s mad because of the roses that Raven sent me. What if he decides he likes Kimm now instead of me?
"

Shawnie looked serious for a moment.
"
There
'
s something else I should probably tell you,
"
she said.
"
He
'
s been getting a lot of teasing about you lately.
"

Taffy flashed h
er
a surprised look.
"
Teasing about me?
"
she echoed in astonishment.

"
Right. In the hall between classes a couple of days ago I overheard a bunch of guys asking him if you were going to use your influence in Hollywood to get his band into the big time. I could tell that it made him awfully mad.
"

"
That
'
s terrible,
"
exclaimed Taffy.
"
Those creeps! Why would they say a thing like that?
"

"
I guess everybody thinks of you differently now. You
'
re our resident celebrity, and they don
'
t know how to handle it,
"
Shawnie offered sadly.

The bell rang, and the girls said good-bye and headed for their lockers. Taffy felt more confused than ever. Now even Cory was having trouble because she was a movie star.

I
'
d better keep my fingers crossed that the movie does become a series, she thought, because I
'
m never going to fit in again at Wakeman.

Taffy was still thinking about her predicament when she and Shawnie headed out of the building after school. Suddenly Shawnie stopped and pointed toward the street.

"
Look, Taffy!
"
she cried excitedly.
"
There
'
s a limousine at the curb, and your mother
'
s standing beside it.
"

Taffy looked up quickly. A long, white limousine was parked between two yellow school buses, and standing beside it, just as Shawnie had said, was Mrs. Sinclair, waving frantically in Taffy
'
s direction.

"
Oh, my gosh,
"
Taffy murmured.

"
Taffy! Guess what?
"
shouted her mother.
"
Channing Crandall is back in town. He sent this limo to get you and take you to The Merry Chase Acting Studio to see him. Oh, Taffy. I know it can only mean one thing. Hurry, dear. We can
'
t keep Mr. Crandall waiting.
"

Taffy nodded and turned to Shawnie, but she couldn
'
t look at her right away. Her mother was probably right. There was only one thing this could mean. She was going back to Hollywood. But for herself and Shawnie it would mean saying good-bye again. How could she be so excited and so sad at the same time?

"
I guess I
'
d better go,
"
said Taffy.

Shawnie nodded and cleared her throat.
"
Right,
"
she said softly.
"
And, Taffy . . . good luck.
"

Taffy got into the backseat of the limousine and pretended to stare out the window so that her mother couldn
'
t see the tears streaming down her face.

"
Well, if it isn
'
t the brightest new star in Hollywod,
"
said Channing Crandall when Taffy and her mother stepped into the studio. He strode forward, grinning broadly, and clasped her small hand in his large one. Merry Chase was beaming beside him.

"
Congratulations, love,
"
she said in her deep, throaty voice.

"
The ratings are in from last night
'
s broadcast of
Nobody Likes Tiffany Stafford
,"
Mr. Crandall went on,
"
and I
'
m pleased to tell you that they were spectacular. That
'
s all the producers were waiting for. Good ratings mean that we
'
re going to turn the movie into a series,
and
. . ."
The casting director paused to build suspense.
"
And we
'
d like to have the same cast, which means that you have the starring role of Tiffany Stafford again if you want it. What do you say? Will you do it?
"

Taffy couldn
'
t answer right away, although she could see her mother twisting her hands nervously.

"
We have the first three scripts completed already, so we
'
d like to start filming next week,
"
the casting director added.

Taffy stared at Channing Crandall. This was it. If she said yes, her life would change forever. She would have to leave Wakeman Junior High for six long months. She would have to leave her best friend and her steady boyfriend. She would never be a normal teenager again.

She closed her eyes. No, she thought as a smile spread slowly across her face. I
'
ll never be normal again, but I
'
ll be a
star
.