Taffy Sinclair 004 - Taffy Sinclair and the Romance Machine Disaster (5 page)

Unfortunately, that was only part of my troubles. I didn
'
t know it at first, but this whole computer matchup was going to turn into a disaster. It took Wiggins a while to restore order. In the meantime, I got some more news. None of it good.

1.
Not only had Taffy Sinclair gotten Randy
'
s name, but nine out of fourteen girls in the sixth grade got him as their boy matchup,
including
Beth Barry. It was bad enough that he was so popular that practically everybody had a crush on him, but my best friend in the world! I couldn
'
t believe it. She had always acted as if she didn
'
t know that boys were on the face of the earth, and all along she had a secret crush on Randy.

2.
Melanie and Taffy Sinclair got each other
'
s names. Melanie pretended to be mad, but I saw her watching Taffy out of the corner of her eye. Now that she was getting thin and a lot prettier, was she going to turn into someone stuck-up and snotty like Taffy Sinclair?

3.
Christie refused to speak to any of us for the rest of the day because no one in The Fabulous Five got her name. She said that proved that we all just pretended to be her friend because her mother is principal of our school. She said we thought that gave us special privileges, which is a big fat lie!

4.
Katie was mad, too. Even though she says that she doesn
'
t like boys, she was upset when her boy matchup said
"
Computer error #
14
"
and she read it out loud and the whole class laughed.

5.
And then there was good old Curtis Trowbridge. You can always count on him to make a bad thing worse. Why did he have to be the only boy who would tell who he ma
tched up with? All afternoon he
tore around yelling,
"
I got Jana Morgan! I got Jana Morgan!
"
to anyone who would listen.

In fact, it turned out to be a terrible day, after all. In addition to all the girls being mad at me, practically everybody in the whole sixth grade was mad at everybody else. During afternoon recess lots of kids weren
'
t going around with their regular friends. Christie stood all by herself near the swings and kept giving the rest of us poison-dart looks. I walked around with Melanie and Beth and Katie, but I made sure to stay as far away from Beth as I could. I couldn
'
t forget that she was a traitor.

If that was the dismal pits, then I don
'
t know how to describe what happened next. We were still outside for recess, and I had noticed that Taffy Sinclair was with a group of girls that she doesn
'
t usually go around with. Of course Mona Vaughn was there, but so was Alexis Duvall and Lisa Snow and Kim Baxter. It looked like a meeting of the Randy Kirwan fan club.

Anyway, they were whispering and looking at me. Then suddenly they started giggling. I could feel my ears getting hot. I didn
'
t know what they were giggling about, but I was sure that it was something pretty terrible and that it was about me.

Taffy stopped giggling. Then she looked straight at me and said in a voice so loud that just about everybody on the playground could hear,
"
If Randy had Jana
'
s name, he would have said so since he had a date with her.
"
She paused for a minute to be dramatic and then gave me a wicked smile and said,
"
Obviously he has someone else
'
s name.
"

She might as well have added,
"
It must be mine,
"
because from the tone of her voice you could tell that was what she meant.

I thought I would explode. It was bad enough that she would say such a thing, but how could Alexis and Lisa and Kim be on her side? I looked around quickly to see if Randy had heard what she had said, but he was too far away. At least that much was going my way.

The rest of the day I had trouble concentrating on what Wiggins was talking about in class. My mind was on Randy. He didn
'
t look at me once. I tried not to look at him, but I couldn
'
t help it. Even when I wasn
'
t looking at him, I kept seeing him with that green and white striped printout in his hand saying that his matchup was a secret. Why would he do a thing like that to me? He had always been such a kind and sensitive person. Was Taffy right? Did Randy have someone else
'
s name? Did he have hers?

I could hardly wait to get home after school. I wanted to be alone so that I could do some more thinking and maybe figure everything out. But wouldn
'
t you know it. Mom was there. She said that she had left work early because she was coming down with the flu. I had to admit that she looked terrible. She was on the sofa all bundled up in a blanket. Her nose was red and her eyes watery and her voice sounded scratchy.

I put my books in my room and went back to the living room to see if she needed anything.
"
Just some company,
"
she said.
"
Sit down for a minute and tell me about your day.
"

I sat beside her and immediately looked down at my feet. The computer matchup had been the biggest thing in my day, and I didn
'
t want to talk about it. Not even to Mom. It was just too humiliating.

"
Things didn
'
t go so well, huh?
"
she said gently.

"
Worse than that.
"
I hesitated as long as I could, but if I couldn
'
t talk to Mom about it, who could I talk to? Finally I broke down and told her about the matchup. I started by telling her about Christie being mad at all of us and about Melanie and Taffy getting each other and about Katie getting
"
Computer error #14
"
for her boy matchup. Mom chuckled at that, and then I told her how mad I was at Beth.
"
She knows how much I like Randy Kirwan,
"
I said.
"
And all along she
'
s liked him, too.
"

Mom didn
'
t say anything for a minute. She just gave me a sympathetic look. I guess she was waiting for me to cool off. Finally she said,
"
You haven
'
t said anything about who Randy matched up with. Was that a surprise, too?
"

There was such a big lump in my throat that at first I just nodded. Then I shook my head. Finally I sputtered,
"
I don
'
t know. Nine out of fourteen girls in our class got his name, but he wouldn
'
t tell anybody whose name he got. I
'
ve never been so embarrassed in my life.
"

"
Did he say why?
"

I shook my head.
"
Melanie said it
'
s because Joel Murphy and Keith Masterson were teasing him about me. But I can
'
t believe that
'
s it. I know Randy likes me. That
'
s only part of it though. Wiggins said that nobody had to tell if they didn
'
t want to, and when Randy wouldn
'
t, then none
of the other boys would either—
except Curtis Trowbridge. Now all the girls say it
'
s my fault that none of the boys will tell, and they
'
re mad at me. It wasn
'
t my fault, Mom, honest. I just wish I knew why
he
won
'
t tell.
"

Mom got a sad look on her face, and even though she had a cold, she pulled me close and gave me a hug.
"
Maybe Randy is feeling a little bit self-conscious about things. Being the first boy to have a date with a girl. Being teased by the other boys. And now matching up with over half the girls in his class. Randy is such a nice person that maybe he doesn
'
t want to hurt any of their feelings. I don
'
t know if that
'
s it either, sweetheart. I wish I did. I wish I had all the answers for you and could make you feel better.
"

Even though she didn
'
t have the answers, sitting there with her arms around me made me feel a little better. I might have stayed there forever except that just then the doorbell rang. We exchanged surprised looks.
"
Who on earth could that be?
"
she said.

I jumped up and raced for the door.
"
I
'
ll get it.
"
What if it was Randy? What if he had come over to tell me that he really did get my name after all and that now he was ready to tell? What if he said he hadn
'
t told in school because he wanted to tell me in private? Maybe I had been wrong to be so worried. I plastered a smile on my face and threw open the door.

"
Hello.
"
A pretty young woman was standing there. She was carrying a huge bouquet of flowers.
"
Is this the Morgan residence?
"

My heart skipped a beat and I nodded and stared at the flowers. They were chrysanthemums in beautiful fall shades of yellow and bronze.

"
I
'
m from Blossom Time Florist, and these are for Mrs. Patricia Morgan.
"

"
That
'
s my mom,
"
I said in a voice just barely above a whisper.
"
I
'
ll take them.
"

After the lady from Blossom Time Florist left I just stood there holding the flowers and staring at the door. I had been so sure that it would be Randy, but it wasn
'
t. I wanted to cry.

"
Who is it, Jana?
"
Mom called.
"
Did I hear my name?
"

"
These are for you,
"
I said. Then I marched back to the sofa, handing her the bouquet as if it were made of snakes instead of flowers.

"
I
'
ll bet I know who they
'
re from.
"
She opened the card and nodded.
"
Pink. Just as I thought. I
'
ve only been home for a couple of hours and he
'
s already sending me get well flowers.
"
Mom sighed and gave me a look that was a mixture of amusement and exasperation.
"
I don
'
t know what I
'
m going to do with that man. Ever since he asked me to marry him and I told him I needed time to think about it, he won
'
t leave me alone for a minute.
"

I mumbled something about doing my homework and went to my room. I closed the door behind me and sat down on the bed, pulling Randy
'
s straw out from its hiding place under my pillow. I just sat there staring at it for a long time thinking about Mom and Pink and the beautiful flowers and trying to figure out what she was doing right that I was doing wrong
.

Mo
m was still sick the next morning. She came scuffing out of her bedroom wearing her warmest robe and fur-lined slippers. She blew her nose loudly and said that she was staying home from work. Then she mumbled something about how I should
"
hab a dice day
"
and went back to bed again. I was awfully sorry that Mom was sick, but I had to admit that her not being around when I got ready for school couldn
'
t have come at a better time.

I hurried through breakfast and then raced to my closet to pick out something special to wear. It wasn
'
t that I was trying to impress anyone, especially not Randy Kirwan. I just felt like getting a little more dressed up than usual. Besides, I got tired of wearing the same old things all the time. My new blue plaid skirt almost jumped off the hanger at me. It even had a matching sweater. Mom said that it made me look a lot older and that I should save it for special occasions, but I didn
'
t think it would hurt to wear it to school just this one time.

When I was dressed I went into the bathroom and opened the drawer where she keeps her makeup. I did it very slowly so that the drawer wouldn
'
t squeak and wake her up. I had been reading in teen magazines that makeup would help accent a person
'
s best features. I had explained that to M
om, but she is awfully old-
fashioned about some things. Anyway, my eyes are my best feature so I spread some blue eye shadow over my lids and brushed her darkest mascara on my lashes. That was better. I decided to add some lip gloss and a little blusher, and when I was finished I looked so much better that I almost wished Mom could see me.

Putting on makeup had taken extra time, and when I got to school the playground was crowded with kids. I stopped outside the gate for a minute wishing that I had a mirror so that I could check myself over one more time. I must have been daydreaming because I suddenly realized that Katie Shannon was standing in front of me making a terrible face.

"
Jana Morgan, what have you done to yourself?
"
she shrieked.

Leave it to Katie, I thought.
"
What do you mean, what have I done to myself? I
'
ve just fixed up a little. That
'
s all.
"

"
Fixed up,
"
she scoffed.
"
You look like a clown. I think this must be circus day. There are clowns all over the playground.
"

Surprised, I looked around. At first I couldn
'
t figure out what she was talking about. The playground looked pretty ordinary, with groups of kids standing around waiting for the first bell to ring. Then I glanced toward the side of the building where the sixth-graders usually congregate. Alexis Duvall and Lisa Snow were standing together talking. They both looked as if they were going to a party. Alexis had her light brown hair piled on top of her head. Lisa was wearing long dangling earrings, and they both had on heels. As I got closer I could see that they were wearing makeup too.

"
Just wait until you see Kim Baxter,
"
said Katie.
"
She must have put her makeup on while she rode the school bus—at the same time they went over a bunch of potholes. It
'
s smeared all over her face. What
'
s the matter with everybody today, anyway?
"

I didn
'
t answer. I just kept looking around. Katie was right. Practically every girl in sixth grade was dressed up, and most of them had on tons of makeup. I was looking for Taffy Sinclair when I noticed girls rushing over toward the bicycle racks. It was practically a stampede. They were zeroing in from all directions. I didn
'
t understand why until I heard Sara Sawyer say in an icky sweet voice,
"
Hi, Randy.
"

Randy locked his bike to the rack and glanced around. He looked surprised, but before he could say anything Alexis Duvall marched right up to him. She was waving a paper in her hand.
"
Here
'
s your math homework, Randy,
"
she gushed.
"
It must have blown out of your book. I SAVED IT FOR YOU.
"

I felt as if I was going to throw up. Sara and Alexis were flirting with him. Didn
'
t they know how silly they looked? Did they really think Randy Kirwan would fall for a thing like that? I looked at Katie and she looked back at me. I could tell she felt the same way I did.

"
Thanks, Alexis,
"
said Randy. He was grinning like crazy.
"
I would have gotten into a lot of trouble without my homework.
"

"
She probably snitched it out of his book when he wasn
'
t looking,
"
I muttered.
"
She probably . . .
"

I felt Katie
'
s hand on my arm, and before I could finish my sentence she interrupted me.
"
Look! Will you get a load of Taffy Sinclair.
"

I did. And then I blinked a couple of times in case I was seeing things. It was Taffy Sinclair, all right, and she was walking with Melanie Edwards. They were heading straight for Randy and the crowd of girls around him. Taffy was batting her eyes and smiling her fake smile, but that wasn
'
t all. She had on makeup, too, and she was running a brush through her long blond hair so that everybody would notice her new curly perm.

Randy certainly noticed. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"
Hi, Randy,
"
Taffy cooed, flipping her new curls over one shoulder.
"
Could I talk to you for a minute?
"
Then she stepped away from Melanie as if she had something private to talk to him about.

"
Sure, Taffy.
"

Randy almost tripped over his feet getting to her. It was disgusting. Taffy and Randy are just about the same height, but somehow Taffy managed to scrunch down so that she was looking up at him with her big blue eyes. Then she reached out and put a hand very lightly on his arm and began saying something in such a soft voice that I couldn
'
t hear even though I strained as hard as I could. Apparently Randy couldn
'
t hear her either because he moved closer. Suddenly he looked at her and smiled. I thought I
'
d die. It was the same 1,000-
watt smile that he always gave me. Was he telling her that she was the one he matched up with? I could feel my heart breaking into a million tiny pieces.

"
That
'
s men for you,
"
said Katie. She must have seen the look on my face.

"
I don
'
t know what
'
s happened to him,
"
I said.
"
We had such a great time Saturday, and we have so much in common. I can
'
t believe he didn
'
t get my name in the computer matchup. Why is he acting this way?
"

"
Did you just get in from outer space or what, Jana Morgan? Did you ever hear of the word
conceit
?
"

I frowned at Katie.
"
Randy Kirwan is not conceited,
"
I insisted.
"
He
'
s kind and sensitive
. . ."

"
And handsome and popular and has practically every girl in sixth grade falling all over him including
Taffy Sinclair. What do you mean he isn
'
t conceited? You must be blind.
"

What did Katie know about boys, anyway? She didn
'
t even like boys, and what
'
s more, they didn
'
t like her either.

"
Well, I certainly don
'
t need any advice from you!
"
I cried and stormed off toward the school. I opened my locker wishing I could crawl inside and hide there until time to go home. I had never been so miserable in my life. I had thought that the computer matchup would turn out to be fun and that everyone would find out that Randy Kirwan and I were meant for each other. Some romance machine it had turned out to be. Instead, my life was a disaster. Every girl in the sixth grade was mad at me for something that wasn
'
t my fault. I was mad at Beth for having a secret crush on Randy when she knew all along that I liked him. Christie wasn
'
t speaking to me because I didn
'
t match up with her. Melanie had matched up with Taffy and was getting friendly with her and probably turning into a snotty and stuck-up person. And I had just yelled at Katie and made enemies with her.

Worst of all, I had just found out that the most wonderful boy in the world wasn
'
t as wonderful as I thought. As much as it hurt to do it, I had to face the truth. Randy Kirwan was conceited
.