Taffy Sinclair 004 - Taffy Sinclair and the Romance Machine Disaster (7 page)

I can't. I don't know how to shut this thing down,
I tried to yell, but suddenly my tongue went numb and I couldn
'
t make a sound. The rest of my body was frozen too, and I just stood there like a statue looking at Randy.

He was still looking at me too, as if he couldn
'
t understand why I didn
'
t come on. I knew in that instant that he didn
'
t feel sorry for me the way Taffy had said. He really cared about me after all. He cared enough to wait for me, to risk his life for me. A picture filled my mind. It was Randy holding my hand and pulling me to safety just as flaming walls crashed behind us. My heart was about to burst with happiness.

All of a sudden Curtis Trowbridge appeared from out of nowhere. He rushed up and started doing something to my computer.

"
Don
'
t worry, Jana. I know all about this kind of computer. See. I took care of it for you. It
'
s all shut down.
"

I couldn
'
t believe it. I looked first at Curtis and then at Randy, who just shrugged and headed out of the room. Then I looked back at Curtis again. He was grinning at me as if he had just done something wonderful. Then Curtis—not Randy—grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the door.

T
he fire drill was just the beginning
of a totally rotten day.
Taffy Sinclair had practically every girl in the whole sixth grade giving me dirty looks. I knew what they were thinking. They thought that if Randy didn
'
t ask me for pizza on Saturday, then maybe they would have a chance. In addition to giving me dirty looks, they were all flirting with him like crazy. What was worse, he was flirting back. Every time I looked at him he was talking to a different girl. I thought I
'
d die.

I was ready to explode by the time I got home from school. I pitched my books down on the sofa and marched into Mom
'
s bedroom.

"
You should have seen Randy Kirwan flirting with practically every girl in the sixth grade today,
"
I said.
"
He spread himself around like the flu. He is the most conceited boy I ever met.
"

Mom put down the magazine she was reading and looked at me sympathetically.
"
I assume that when you say
'
practically every girl in the sixth grade,
'
you mean everybody but you.
"

"
Sort of,
"
I admitted.
"
You should have seen him though. He talked to Lisa Snow and Beth Barry and Alexis Duvall. And of course, he talked to Taffy Sinclair. And that
'
s not all. When he talked to Mona Vaughn, she got a look on her face as if he had just said that she should be the next Miss America. I couldn
'
t believe it.
"

"
He
'
s certainly getting a lot of special attention from the girls these days. It sounds as if that computer matchup business really went to his head.
"

"
You can say that again,
"
I said.

She didn
'
t. She blew her nose instead, which reminded me that I had been so upset over Randy that I hadn
'
t even asked her how she was feeling.

"
How
'
s your cold?
"
I said.
"
It
'
s a good thing you stayed in bed all day. It doesn
'
t sound all that great.
"

"
Stayed in bed? Are you kidding? Pink has called every single hour to see how I
'
m feeling. I
'
ve been back and forth between this bed and the phone so many times that I feel as if I
'
ve run a marathon.
"

"
Why is he calling so often?
"

Mom shrugged.
"
He just says he
'
s calling to see how I
'
m feeling and to ask if I need anything. I don
'
t know what
'
s gotten into that man. The flowers yesterday, the phone calls today. But that
'
s not all. He wants to take me to Ricardo
'
s for dinner on Saturday night.
"

"
Ricardo
'
s? Instead of bowling? That
'
s one of the most expensive restaurants in town.
"
I couldn
'
t help being surprised. Pink is an absolute bowling nut, and he and Mom go bowling every single Saturday night.

"
You
'
ve got it,
"
said Mom. Then she smiled softly and reached for my hand.
"
It looks as if you and I have the opposite problem.
"

I nodded and squeezed her hand. I could feel a lump crowd into my throat. She was certainly right about that. She could have Ricardo
'
s. All I wanted was Mama Mia
'
s. I would give anything if Randy Kirwan would pay attention to me the way Pink paid attention to her. Just then the phone rang.
"
Pink?
"
I asked.

Mom looked at her watch and then nodded.
"
Pink. Do me a favor, will you, honey? Tell him I
'
m asleep and you don
'
t want to disturb me. I hate to ask you to do that. I know it isn
'
t the truth, but
. . ."

"
It
'
s okay, Mom. I understand.
"

I raced into the living room and picked up the receiver. Mom was right. It was Pink.

"
Hi, Jana,
"
he said.
"
I
'
m just calling to check on your mom. Could I speak to her, please?
"

"
Gee, Pink. Mom
'
s asleep and I really don
'
t think I should disturb her
.
"
I could feel a grin spreading across my face. Lying was fun when you had permission.

"
Oh . . . well . . . then could I talk to you for a minute, Jana? There is something that I
'
ve been wanting to ask you.
"

"
Sure,
"
I said. He sounded nervous, but I couldn
'
t imagine what he wanted to ask me.

Pink cleared his throat.
"
I was wondering how you feel about me? What I mean is, I was hoping that you don
'
t have any objection to your mom and me getting married.
"

I sighed. Mom and I had talked about all of this ages ago.
"
Of course I like you. You know that. And of course I don
'
t have any objection to you and Mom getting married. Didn
'
t she tell you?
"

"
Yes, she told me, but I just wanted to make sure.
"
He paused, but I had the feeling that he wanted to say something else. I was right.

"
Can I ask you a favor, Jana? A big favor?
"

"
Shoot,
"
I said.

"
Well, I was wondering if you could . . . you know, sort of talk me up to your mother? I mean, if she knew how much you like me, she might not need so much time to make up her mind. I don
'
t want to sound like I
'
m pushing her or anything. But I really believe that your mom and I were meant for each other. We really have a lot in common. It might help her realize all of that if she knew you thought so, too.
"

"
Sure, Pink. I
'
ll talk you up,
"
I promised.

I was practically in a trance when I hung up the phone. Two things he said really hit home.
Your mom and
I were meant for each other. We really have a lot in common.
Those were the same things I had thought all along about Randy and me. So why was Pink pestering the living daylights out of Mo
m and Randy acting as if I didn'
t exist? It didn
'
t make sense.

I glanced back in the bedroom at Mom. She was reading her magazine again. Maybe I shouldn
'
t have promised Pink that I would talk him up. She acted as if hearing more about him was the last thing in the world she wanted. Still, I could see Pink
'
s point. She was only thinking about him calling all the time instead of his good qualities. He really did have good qualities. Mom raved about them all the time when he wasn
'
t driving her nuts. Maybe reminding her of them wasn
'
t such a bad idea after all.

My hand was still on the phone when it rang again, and I almost jumped out of my skin. Was Pink calling back so soon? He hadn
'
t even given me time to talk to Mom.

"
Hello,
"
I said.

"
Hi, Jana.
"
It was Beth.

I frowned.
"
What do you want?
"

"
I want to know why you
'
re mad at me.
"

"
Because you
'
re a traitor,
"
I said.
"
You know that I like Randy Kirwan, and yet you answered your computer questions so that you would match up with him, too.
"

Beth didn
'
t say anything for a minute. What was there to say? I thought. She was guilty and she knew it.

"
Jana Morgan, you know as well as I do that practically every girl in the sixth grade has a crush on Randy. You know that he
'
s the most popular boy in school. So what does popular mean? It means that
everybody
likes him, especially girls.
"

"
So what?
"
I said.
"
You
'
re my best friend. At least, you
'
re supposed to be.
"

"
I am your best friend,
"
Beth insisted.
"
But I couldn
'
t stop liking him just because you liked him, too. Besides,
"
she added slowly,
"
you don
'
t know for sure that he didn
'
t get your name. You just need to find a way to get him to tell. After all, you
'
re always saying how the two of you have so much in common.
"

Your mom and I were meant for each other. We really have a lot in common.
Suddenly I got this great idea. If it could work for Pink, it just might work for me, too. Maybe this was the plan I had been searching for.

"
If you
'
re really my best friend, there is something you could do to help me.
"

"
Okay. What do you want me to do?
"

Tingles raced up and down my spine. I took a deep breath and said,
"
Tomorrow at school
you could talk me up to Randy.
"

I
knew I should go into Mom
'
s room and start talking up Pink, but I didn
'
t. Now that I had a plan to get Randy
'
s attention back, I couldn
'
t think about anything else the whole time I fixed hot dogs for Mom and me for supper. Surely once Randy heard a lot of super things about me, he would get his mind off all those other girls and ask me to go for pizza again. Then once everybody saw us together at Mama Mia
'
s, they would know he had my name and they
'
d stop listening to Taffy Sinclair.

Still, I couldn
'
t help worrying a little. What if Beth forgot? Or what if she only mentioned me once or twice? Or what if Randy was too busy being conceited and talking to all those other girls to listen? Maybe just one person talking me up wasn
'
t enough. Maybe I needed a whole campaign.

After supper Mom said she was going to take some cold medicine and go right to bed because she couldn
'
t afford to miss another day of work. That meant I could put off talking up Pink until tomorrow. It
also meant I had the living room to myself for the entire evening. I smiled. My campaign headquarters, I thought.

I sat down at the end of the sofa by the phone. The next question was, who should I call to help in my campaign? Beth was in already. Christie was the next logical choice, but she was still mad because not one of The Fabulous Five matched up with her. I
'
d have to think about her. Melanie? Hmmm. She was getting awfully friendly with the enemy. I
'
d have to think about her, too. Of my very best friends, that only left Katie. How could I ask her to help? She was the one who called Randy
"
conceited.
"

I was back to Christie again. Maybe if I asked her to help me with something as important as Randy Kirwan, she would see that I still liked her. It was worth a try.

I crossed and uncrossed my fingers three times for luck and dialed her number. It rang only once.

"
Hello.
"

"
Hi, Mrs. Winchell. This is Jana. May I speak to Christie, please?
"

"
Hello, Jana. Just a moment. I
'
ll see if I can find her.
"

I held that receiver for ages. I was beginning to wonder if even Mrs. Winchell would come back on. Finally I heard sounds on the other end, and Christie said hello.

"
Hi, Christie. What are you doing?
"
I thought I had better start off with casual conversation and then work up to the big favor I planned to ask.

"
I
'm
washing my hair,
"
she said in a grumpy voice.

I panicked.
"
Gee, that
'
s great. Not that I noticed how dirty it was at school today or anything. What I mean is
. . ."

"
What do you want, Jana?
"

"
I just called to talk,
"
I lied. My pulse was racing. If I goofed up this conversation, she probably wouldn
'
t speak to me for the rest of my life.

"
You called to pretend that you
'
re my friend because you want something. Didn
'
t you? Just because my mom
'
s principal of Mark Twain Elementary, you think you can butter me up and get anything you want.
"

"
That
'
s not true, Christie, and you know it,
"
I said.

"
Oh, yeah? Prove it.
"

I could see I wasn
'
t getting anywhere. I certainly couldn
'
t prove anything to her by asking her to do me a favor. Then I got this great idea.

"
Forget it,
"
I said, trying to sound as dejected as possible.
"
You wouldn
'
t believe me no matter what I said or did. Besides, what I really need right now is a good friend to talk to and give me advice. I
'
d better go and call someone else. Bye.
"

"
Don
'
t hang up yet,
"
Christie said.
"
What do you mean
'
give me advice
'
?
"
she asked.
"
Did something bad happen?
"

I could tell I had her hooked. It was all I could do to keep from giggling.
"
Not exactly.
"

"
Come on, Jana. Tell me. What happened?
"

"
Well
. . ."

"
Jana!
"

I knew I had stalled long enough.
"
Nothing has really happened. It
'
s just that Randy Kirwan acts as if he has forgotten all about our date and all the things we have in common. He keeps flirting with everybody else as if he doesn
'
t know I
'
m alive. I was just wondering if you would talk me up when you
'
re around him at school tomorrow.
"

There was a pause.
"
I thought you wanted advice, not a favor,
"
she said.

"
Oh, I want advice, too,
"
I said quickly.
"
I was wondering if you thought
something like that would help?
You know, get him to finally tell who his girl matchup is?
"

Christie didn
'
t say anything. That was a good sign, I thought. It probably meant that she was weakening. It did, and we talked for a long time. Before we hung up, she promised to talk me up to Randy, and we also said that we would start eating lunch together again.

Melanie was easier. I promised to talk her up to Scott Daly if she would talk me up to Randy. Katie said she would do it, too, but I could tell she thought it was silly.

I felt better than I had in ages. My four best friends and I were best friends again, and my campaign was going to work. Randy Kirwan was going to find out that I was still alive. Maybe he was embarrassed about being teased. And maybe he didn
'
t want to hurt a lot of girls
'
feelings. And maybe he was getting conceited from all the attention. But he was still the most wonderful boy in the whole sixth grade.

I finished my homework quickly and started to turn on the television when a terrible thought occurred to me. I had promised Pink that I would talk him up to Mom, but so far I hadn
'
t done it.

I could have gone into Mom
'
s room right after I hung up from talking to him. Or I could have casually mentioned him while Mom and I ate supper. Or I could have said something about him when Mom told me that she was going to bed. Maybe she would be dreaming of Pink right now if I had done it then. I had meant to talk up Pink, but I had other things on my mind and I put it off. What if my four best friends put off talking me up to Randy, too?

My mind was racing as I dialed Beth
'
s number again.
"
Beth!
"
I cried when she said hello.
"
When are you going to talk me up to Randy? And what are you going to say?
"

"
Gee, Jana. I don
'
t know. I haven
'
t really thought about it.
"

"
Okay. Here
'
s what I want you to do,
"
I said.
"
Wait by the bike rack in the morning before school. When
Randy gets there, go over to him and say that I
'
ve been getting lots of calls from other boys. Tell him that you never realized before what a popular person I am. Say I
'
m so popular that my phone is ringing off the wall. Okay? Will you say that?
"

"
I guess so,
"
said Beth.
"
Have you really been getting lots of calls?
"

"
Of course not. But if Randy thinks I
'
m popular, he might decide that he
'
d better do something about the competition.
"

Beth didn
'
t say anything for a minute.
"
Do you really think it will work?
"

"
It will if you convince him that I
'
m the most popular girl in the sixth grade.
"

Next I called Christie.
"
Your locker is close to Randy
'
s so here is what I want you to do,
"
I instructed.
"
Get there early and get your books. Then when you see Randy at his locker, walk over casually and just mention how Taffy Sinclair is up to her old tricks. Tell him that she is so jealous of me for being so popular that she
'
s trying to turn all the other sixth-grade girls against me.
"

"
What do you mean
'
for being so popular
'
?
"
asked Christie.
"
Is something going on that I don
'
t know about?
"

"
Of course not. But I
'
ve got to make Randy think that there is. Can
'
t you see that?
"

"I guess so."

Melanie was perfect for the next thing I had in mind.
"
Your job is to convince Randy that I really am a kind and sensitive person,
"
I said.
"
Go up to him at morning recess and tell him that on the way home from school today I saw a puppy in the middle of traffic and rescued him from being hit by a car. Randy is crazy about dogs. I know he
'
ll be impressed.
"

"
Jana, I didn
'
t know that you rescued a puppy this afternoon.
"

I frowned at the receiver.
"
I didn
'
t. But I
'
m always on the lookout for animals who need help. I would do it if I saw one. It
'
s just that there isn
'
t time to wait around for the real thing.
"

Melanie said she understood and that she would help me and we hung up. That left only Katie. She would be the hardest. I sat back and stared at the ceiling. Beth would make him jealous of the other boys and maybe he would even worry that I didn
'
t like him anymore. Christie would make him see Taffy Sinclair for what she really is and feel angry about the way she is trying to turn everyone against me. Melanie would show him that I
'
m kind and care about animals, but what was left for Katie?

I racked my brain trying to think of something for Katie to say to Randy. Finally I decided to sleep on it, and I promised myself that I would talk up Pink to Mom first thing in the morning
.