Taffy Sinclair 010 - Taffy Sinclair Goes to Hollywood (12 page)

T
he little girl on the screen had red hair and green eyes, and she was absolutely darling. She was so cute and funny and such a good actress that Taffy almost forgot that she was watching Paige Kramer, the girl who had been her enemy ever since she arrived in Hollywood.

When the program ended, Taffy sank back into the sofa and stared out the window, thinking about her life in Mark Twain Elementary. Nobody had liked her then, either. The kids were jealous of her looks and of the fact that she got modeling jobs and later got parts in television commercials. She had wanted to be friends, and it was awful to always be so misunderstood. That
'
s why she had known that she could play the part of Tiffany Stafford better than anyone.
She knew how it felt. She had been there. But now she knew that Paige Kramer had been there, too.

Taffy blushed
as she remembered the Saturday-
morning shoot at the mall and how she had stolen Paige
'
s autograph-hunting fans away from her. And how she had called Paige a has-been on the way to the beach.

Turning off the television set, Taffy tried to study her lines, but she had a hard time concentrating. She couldn
'
t forget the look on Paige
'
s tear-streaked face when she shouted,
"
Everyone who sees this movie is going to hate me! And I don
'
t blame them. I hate myself!
"

Still, thought Taffy, there
'
s only one starring role in the movie. Only one Tiffany Stafford. And I won the part fair and square.

When Taffy reached the set the next morning, she looked around timidly for Jerry Lowenthal. She had finally been able to practice her lines in front of the mirror the night before, trying her best to get them perfect. She would die if the director yelled at her again today.

Instead of Jerry, the first person Taffy saw was Paige. She was standing beside the front door of Jillian Morris
'
s house just as she had been the day before, but this time she looked angrier than ever. Taffy felt the breath go out of her like air out of a balloon. How was she going to face Paige after yesterday
'
s outburst? How could they possibly act the scene together now? Part of Taffy wanted to run to Paige and tell her that she understood. That she knew how it felt to be picked on and misunderstood. But another part of her held back. Paige might laugh in her face. There was no guarantee that Paige would understand Taffy.

When Tess arrived, Jerry called for a rehearsal. It went like clockwork. Tess, Taffy, and Paige all spoke their lines perfectly, although Taffy could tell that Paige was as nervous as she was.

"
Good job, ladies,
"
said Jerry.
"
I knew you could do it. Now, let
'
s roll the cameras.
"

Taffy and Tess hurried to the side of the house. Taffy took a deep breath and bounced from one foot to the other as she waited for the scene to begin.

"
Don
'
t let Paige make you nervous,
"
said Tess.
"
Just get out there and say your lines the way you did in rehearsal. You
'
ll do fine.
"

"
Quiet on the set,
"
called the assistant director. Taffy grabbed Tess
'
s hand and watched for their cue. When Jerry signaled, the two girls crossed the lawn and climbed the front steps, knocking on the door. Paige opened it and began speaking her lines.
"
Tiffany Stafford! What are you doing here? And what are you doing with Kara! Did you kidnap her?
"

Taffy answered her, putting all the emotion she was feeling into the part. Paige was trying hard, also, and as they got to the hardest part of the scene—the part where Taffy would have to tell her that it was partly
her own fault that they weren
'
t friends—Taffy
'
s mind flashed back to The Merry Chase Acting Studio.

The secret of great acting, Merry Chase had said over and over again, is
not
to act, but to
become
the character you
'
re playing.

Deep down, Taffy knew that she wanted to make up with Paige now that she understood the other girl better. I see her differently now, Taffy thought as she waited for her turn to speak. I understand why she
'
s so down on herself. And since I
'
m playing the role she wanted, I
'
m the only one who can make her feel better.

"
Do you mean that you went out in this storm to look for my little sister?
"
Paige asked.

"
Of course,
"
said Taffy.
"
When I found out that she was lost, I had to help find her. It didn
'
t matter whose little sister she was.
"

"
I owe you an apology,
"
Paige said.
"
You
'
re a much nicer person than I thought you were.
"

This is it, thought Taffy. This is my chance to change things between Paige and me. And I can do it in front of the cameras, and when the movie comes out, in front of the whole world. All I have to do is become the character I
'
m playing. I can do that now.
I w
ant to make up with Paige.

Taffy could feel her heart pounding. She had never done anything like this before. But she had to do it. She lifted her head and looked straight at Paige, but when she began speaking, she didn
'
t say the lines from the script.

"
I feel the same way about you,
"
she began.
"
I guess the trouble between us was that we didn
'
t take the time to try to understand each other or find out how much we have in common. I can see that now, and I
'
d like to be friends.
"

There was absolute silence on the set as Paige stared at Taffy. Total surprise registered on her face, and it looked as if tears were about to bubble up in her eyes.
"
Do you really mean it?
"
whispered Paige.

Taffy nodded.
"
Cross my heart,
"
she said softly.

A smile broke across Paige
'
s face, and she opened the door wide.
"
Come on in, Tiffany,
"
she said.
"
We have lots of things to talk about.
"

Paige closed the door, and the two girls stood looking at each other in silence. Outside, they heard Jerry call,
"
Cut!
"
but neither of them moved.

"
Did you mean what you said out there?
"
Paige asked.
"
Is that why you made up your lines instead of following the script?
"

"
That
'
s right,
"
said Taffy.
"
I started thinking about what you said yesterday, and I realized that our lives are a lot alike. We
'
ve both had trouble making friends because other kids were jealous of us. They didn
'
t understand that we weren
'
t really different. That made me understand that we
'
re
both
perfect for the part of Tiffany Stafford.
"
Taffy paused and took a deep breath.
"
I can
'
t give you the part back, but I can tell you that I really do want to be friends.
"

Before Paige could answer, the door burst open, and the director strode in.

"
That was terrific!
"
he cried, grinning so broadly
that his cigar nearly popped out of his mouth.
"
I knew both of you could do it.
"
Then he turned to Taffy.
"
I don
'
t know where you came up with those lines, but they were perfect. I even had a lump in my throat.
"

"
Oh,
"
said Taffy casually,
"
I was just following my acting teacher
'
s advice.
"

Then Taffy and Paige exchanged grins and walked off the set arm in
arm.

For
the next few weeks on the set, things got better and better for Taffy. She had long talks with Paige and learned that there
was another tragedy in the red-
haired actress
'
s life. She had a younger brother and sister who had not come back to California with Paige and her mother, and she missed them terribly.

With all that, it
'
s no wonder that she was so crabby all the time, Taffy thought. I was a big threat to the last thing she had going for herself: her career.

One afternoon when there was no filming, Paige and Taffy explored Rodeo Drive with Tess, Megan, and Chelsea. The girls had a great time wandering around the world-famous street packed with expensive shops where movie stars and rock stars and celebrities of all kinds do their shopping. Another day they visited The Walk of Stars, where star-shaped pieces of stone are set into the sidewalk.

"
Just think, guys,
"
Taffy said, looking at the hundreds of Stars, each one containing the name of a famous actor or actress.
"
Someday we
'
ll all have our names in The Walk of Stars.
"

"
Right on!
"
shouted Tess, raising a fist into the air.

To her relief, Taffy received no more presents from the mysterious Len, either. She was sure he was the cameraman who always acted so friendly on the set. She felt certain that telling KJ that she already had a boyfriend had finally done the trick.

But by the end of work on the movie there was still one thing that hadn
'
t worked out the way Taffy wanted. Raven Blaine. When they played scenes together, he flirted and acted the way he did when she had first gotten to Hollywood. But off camera it was another matter. If anything, he was more withdrawn, paying less attention to her now than ever.

With Raven acting so uninterested, Taffy
'
s thoughts turned more and more to Cory Dillon. Even though he had written two more letters to her, saying that he missed her and hoped she
'
d be home soon, she couldn
'
t help worrying. Especially since Shawnie had not returned her telephone call. She hadn
'
t written, either. Were Cory and Shawnie going out together? Had they gotten together so often to talk about missing Taffy that they had fallen for each other?

Then one evening near the end of shooting the phone rang.

"
I
'
ll get it, Mom,
"
Taffy called out. As usual, she hoped it was Raven, but she knew it was probably Paige or Tess.

"
Hi, Taffy. This is Shawnie. How
'
ve you been?
"

Taffy was speechless for a moment.
"
Ummm . . . okay. I mean
great
,
"
she finally managed to say.

"
I guess you
'
ve been wondering why you haven
'
t heard from me in such a long time,
"
said Shawnie.

Uh-oh, thought Taffy. Here it comes. She
'
s going to tell me that she and Cory are dating. Maybe she
'
ll even say they
'
re going steady.

Taffy cleared her throat.
"
Yeah,
"
she said slowly.
"
I was wondering why you haven
'
t written. Is something wrong?
"

"
Not anymore,
"
Shawnie said, and the tone in her voice made Taffy more nervous than ever.
"
You
'
ll never believe what happened.
"

Taking a deep breath, Taffy said,
"
Go ahead. Tell me.
"

"
Well, it all began when Cory and I started getting together to talk about you,
"
Shawnie began.

Taffy
'
s heart dropped into her shoes. This was it. Cory and Shawnie really had started liking each other.

"
We were both so lonesome for you that we just had to get together to talk about it.
"
Shawnie paused, and when she started speaking again, her voice had a breathless quality.
"
Then one Sunday afternoon—the afternoon you called and talked to my mom—Cory invited me to his house to listen to The Dreadful Alternatives practice. I can
'
t believe that they
'
re only a junior high rock band. They
'
re terrific!
"

Tears were starting to form in Taffy
'
s eyes. It really was true. Her best friend and her boyfriend. It happened all the time in soap operas, but this was her life. This was real.

"
Anyway,
"
said Shawnie,
"
while I was watching them practice, I kept noticing the drummer. Do you know him, Taffy? His name is Craig Meachem, and he
'
s totally gorgeous!
"

"
What?
"
asked Taffy. Was Shawnie talking about another boy?

"
I said his name is Craig Meachem. He
'
s the drummer in Cory
'
s band. Surely you know him.
"

"
Oh, sure,
"
said Taffy. She almost collapsed with relief.
"
So, did he notice you, too?
"

"
Did he ever!
"
cried Shawnie.
"
And after practice Cory introduced us, and Craig and I
'
ve been spending practically every waking minute together ever since. That
'
s why I haven
'
t written, or even called. I
'
ve wanted to. I
'
ve been dying to tell you everything that
'
s been going on, but I
'
ve been so
busy
!
I hope you can understand.
"

Taffy couldn
'
t help smiling.
"
Of course I understand,
"
she said softly.
"
And that
'
s okay. I
'
ve been busy, too.
"

The girls spent a few more minutes talking about what they would do when Taffy got back home, promising each other to double-date the very first weekend.
When they hung up, Taffy was walking on air. She still had her best friend and her boyfriend, too.

"
Did you know that the wrap party is going to be tonight at Raven
'
s Malibu beach house?
"
Paige asked on the last morning of filming.

"
Wrap party?
"
asked Taffy.
"
What
'
s that?
"

"
It
'
s a big party for the whole cast and crew that
'
s always held after all the filming is finished. You know, when everything is wrapped up.
"

"
Oh,
"
said Taffy.
"
And it
'
s going to be at Raven
'
s? I didn
'
t know he had a beach house on Malibu. Wow! It sounds like fun.
"

"
It will be sad, too,
"
Paige said wistfully.
"
It
'
s when we
'
ll all say good-bye.
"

Taffy felt a lump rising in her throat. Good-bye? she thought. But I
'
m just getting to know everybody. I can
'
t stand to say good-bye to Tess or Chelsea or Megan or KJ and especially to Paige. She sighed and thought about Raven. I
'
ll probably never see him again, she thought.

That evening Dollins let Taffy and her mother out in front of a gorgeous beach house. It was perched on stilts, and the entire wall facing the ocean was made of glass. As Taffy got out of the limousine and headed for the front door, she glanced toward the mailbox and stopped, staring in amazement at the name on the side.