Taffy Sinclair 011 - Nobody Likes Taffy Sinclair

T
affy Sinclair stared out the windshield as her mother turned the car into the long driveway leading to the front of Wakeman Junior High. It had been six long weeks since she had left home and gone to Hollywood to star in an after-school movie. Taffy had auditioned for the leading role in
Nobody Likes Tiffany Stafford
and won out over one hundred and fifty other girls. It would be shown on national television in a few weeks. Last night she and her mother had taken the long flight back from Los Angeles International Airport to La Guardia Airport in New York City. The plane had not landed until almost midnight, and the rest of the ride home in the car was just a sleepy blur.

Everything looks the same, she thought. Yellow buses lined one side of the drive, and kids milled about on the broad lawn and congregated near the doors.

"
Look, Mother! There
'
s Mona Vaughn. Oh, there
'
s Shane Arrington, too,
"
she said happily.

"
Of course, dear,
"
said her mother with a touch of impatience in her voice.
"
Now, don
'
t forget to take all your books and to turn in the lessons that you did with your tutor on the movie set to each of your teachers.
"

Taffy sighed.
"
I won
'
t forget. I
'
ll do it as soon as I get to class.
"

How could I forget? she thought, feeling suddenly unsure about going back to being an ordi
nary seventh-
grader after living the glamorous life of an actress. She wondered for the millionth time how everyone at Wakeman would treat her, now that she was a movie star. Would she fit in again, or feel terribly out of place? At least I have Shawnie Pendergast, she thought, remembering how anxious her best friend had been for her to come home. I can
'
t wait to see her and tell her all about Hollywood.

And then there was Cory Dillon. Cory was an eighth-grader who had moved to town from Louisiana last year. He had a soft southern accent and a gorgeous smile, and practically every girl in school had had a crush on him since he started Wakeman
'
s first rock band, The Dreadful Alternatives. He had asked her out a month before she went to Hollywood, and they had dated every single weekend before she left. She had been sure then that it was just a matter of time before he asked her to go steady, and they had written a few times while she was away. Still, six weeks was a long time, and she couldn
'
t help wondering if he still liked her.

Taffy took a deep breath to calm her jitters and got out of the car. She loaded the books into her arms and headed for the front door. An instant later she stopped, staring at Dekeisha Adams, who was coming up the front sidewalk in bright pink, fuzzy bedroom slippers. Taffy did a double take as her eyes traveled up the tall black girl from the bedroom slippers to the knee-length pink sleep shirt sticking out below her jacket.

"
Dekeisha?
"
Taffy whispered in astonishment.
"
What on earth are you wearing?
"

Dekeisha caught sight of Taffy just then and hurried toward her.
"
Hey, Taffy! Is that really you? Welcome back from Hollywood! When did you get home?
"

"
Last night,
"
said Taffy, feeling relieved that the first person to greet her was so friendly. She squinted at Dekeisha
'
s clothes again and asked,
"
But why are you dressed that way? Are you in a play or something?
"

Dekeisha twirled around to show off her outfit.
"
It
'
s Pajama Day,
"
she said, grinning.
"
But I guess you wouldn
'
t know about Pajama Day, since we just voted on it last week. Every month we
'
re going to have one day where everybody comes to school in costume if they want to. This month it
'
s Pajama Day. Next month it
'
s going to be Clash Day. You know, nothing you wear can match. Then we
'
re going to have School Colors Day, stuff like that. It
'
s just for fun, and it ought to be a blast.
"

"
Gosh, I wish I
'
d known,
"
said Taffy, frowning.
"
I
'
ll probably be the only one at school wearing regular clothes.
"
And not fitting in,
she added silently.
Just like I thought.

"
Hey, maybe we
'
ll have Movie Star Day, and everybody can come as a famous movie star. Then I
'
ll put on a blond wig and come as Taffy Sinclair.
"
Dekeisha laughed good-naturedly over her shoulder and headed into the building.

Taffy went in too, noticing immediately that lots of girls were wearing bedroom slippers. Some of the slippers were the floppy kind with open backs, but the most popular were the huge fuzzy ones that looked like animal heads. Almost all of the girls were wearing pajama-type outfits, but she noticed that most of the boys seemed to be wearing their regular clothes. Still, she felt terribly out of place as she made her way through the halls to her locker.

"
Look! There she is. The movie star!
"

Taffy felt a rush of excitement. She dropped the combination lock she had been working on and spun around to face the three eighth-grade girls who had stopped nearby. All three of them were dressed for bed. Taffy remembered seeing them around school before. She wasn
'
t sure of their names, but she was glad that they had recognized her.

"
Did you really go to Hollywood?
"
asked one of the girls, who Taffy tho
ught was named Josie something-
or-other. She had brown hair that hung straight to her shoulders and wore a flannel granny gown and matching nightcap.

"
Oh, yes,
"
Taffy assured her.
"
I had the starring role in an after-school movie called
Nobody Likes Tiffany Stafford.
And I got to meet lots of famous movie stars, and I had my own chauffeur and limousine, and . . .
"

The tall blonde standing next to Josie nudged her and whispered something.

Taffy blinked. Had she said something wrong?
"
But I still had to go to school. I had my own private tutor.
"
She paused again, feeling suddenly panicky.
"
Is there something special you
'
d like to know about?
"
she asked.

The girls exchanged glances.
"
No,
"
said Josie.
"
Not really.
"
The three of them stared at her for a moment, then moved on down the hall, leaving Taffy looking after them in puzzlement.

"
Why were they so rude?
"
she mumbled to herself.
"
I mean, they asked me if I went to Hollywood, didn
'
t they?
"

She turned back to her locker and began working the combination again.
"
Fumble fingers,
"
she whispered in frustration as the lock failed to open. She spun it and began the combination again. It was left seven—right fifteen—left nine, wasn
'
t it? she thought. Surely she hadn
'
t forgotten it in just six weeks.

"
Left seven,
"
she murmured,
"
right fif
. . ."

"
Oh, Taffy! There you are!
"

Taffy recognized the voice this time. It was Shawnie Pendergast, her best friend. Shawnie was walking up the hall toward her with Kimm Taylor, who was the singer for The Dreadful Alternatives.

Taffy couldn
'
t help chuckling. Shawnie had on a pajama sweatsuit with a teddy bear on the front and carried a matching bear under one arm.

"
I
'
m so glad you
'
re back!
"
Shawnie cried, racing up to Taffy and giving her a big hug.
"
It seems like six months since you left instead of six weeks.
"

"
Oh, hi, Shawnie. Believe me, I
'
m glad to see you, too,
"
Taffy assured her, and she meant it. After years of rivalry with Jana Morgan and her friends in The Fabulous Five with no one but homely Mona Vaughn to take her side, Taffy had discovered Shawnie Pendergast, and they had hit it off immediately. They both loved clothes and had long blond hair, although Shawnie also had a sprinkling of cinnamon freckles on her nose.

Smiling at Shawnie, Taffy said,
"
I
'
ve got so much to tell you that I don
'
t know where to begin.
"
Then, rolling her eyes, she added,
"
There are some things that can
'
t be put into letters, if you know what I mean.
"

"
You bet I do,
"
said Shawnie, laughing,
"
and I can
'
t wait to hear
everything.
Kimm and I have been talking about how exciting it must have been out there. You know Kimm, don
'
t you, Taffy?
"

Taffy blinked at Kimm. She was wearing a beautiful red silk kimono, which looked especially nice with her long, straight black hair and almond eyes. Of course she knew Kimm, but there was something in the way Shawnie said it that gave her a funny feeling.

"
Hi, Kimm,
"
she said.

"
Listen, I
'
ve got to run,
"
said Kimm.
"
I need to get a book from the media center before the bell rings.
"

"
See you later,
"
Shawnie called out as Kimm raced down the hall. Then, turning to Taffy, she said,
"
Kimm
'
s awfully nice. Did you know that her grandmother was born in China?
"

"
No,
"
answered Taffy, feeling a stab of jealousy. Shawnie was supposed to be
her
best friend. So why was she talking so much about Kimm?

"
Cory and I just got your postcards yesterday saying you
'
d be back today,
"
said Shawnie.
"
Have you seen him yet?
"

"
No,
"
replied Taffy, adding quickly.
"
I hope he still likes me. Six weeks is a long time to be gone.
"

"
Don
'
t worry. He still likes you—a lot! Now, come on,
"
Shawnie urged her.
"
Hang up your jacket, and let
'
s see if we can find him.
"

Taffy nodded and tried her combination again. This time the lock popped open. She hung her jacket on a hook and carefully stacked her books on the top shelf, keeping out only the ones she would need for her morning classes.

"
Have you noticed how everyone
'
s staring at me? I know it
'
s not because I don
'
t have on my pajamas,
"
she said a few minutes later as she and Shawnie strolled down the hallway.
"
I mean, it
'
s true that I went to a lot of Hollywood parties and met tons of famous stars, but
. . ."

"
Yeah, like Raven Blaine,
"
chimed in Shawnie, raising her eyebrows.
"
That had to be a totally
awesome
experience.
"

Taffy felt her face color slightly at the mention of the handsome boy whom she had met while she was in Hollywood. Raven Blaine was one of the biggest teen idols in the world, and she fondly touched the small gold star on the delicate chain that hung around her neck. Her name was engraved on one side, and it had been a gift from Raven to celebrate her movie debut.