Taffy Sinclair 010 - Taffy Sinclair Goes to Hollywood (2 page)

Taffy tossed a lock of long blond hair over her shoulder and batted her spidery eyelashes at Raven. Then she let a slow smile spread over her face.
"
Hi, Raven. I
'
m glad to meet you, too.
"

"
I want to see how you two look together,
"
Jerry Lowenthal was saying.
"
And if the chemistry
'
s right between you to play the r
oles naturally with each other.
"

Taffy
'
s knees were so weak that she was afraid she would sag to the ground. How we look together? And if the chemistry
'
s right? All she could think about was the dizzy feeling she had right now looking into Raven Blaine
'
s eyes. If that was chemistry, it was
right
!

The reading went so quickly that later Taffy could scarcely remember what had happened. All she knew was that Raven Blaine played his lines to her as if she were the most fabulous girl alive, and she managed to get through her own lines as though she were in a trance.

When the scene
ended, Jerry told them how pleased he was and that he couldn
'
t have cast the roles
better himself.

Raven thanked him and headed for the door. Opening it, he turned, smiling at Taffy again, and said,
"
I
'
m really glad we
'
re going to be making this movie together. Welcome to Hollywood.
"

"
Thank you,
"
Taffy murmured. He was so handsome that he took her breath away.

A limousine. A fabulous hotel room. And now Raven Blaine, welcoming her to Hollywood. Hello, Hollywood! she said to herself and smiled. I
'
m
really
glad I
'
m here!

T
he instant Raven was gone, Jerry jumped to his feet and said,
"
Now, that I
'
ve seen how terrific you and Raven are together, I want to show you the set where we
'
re going to begin shooting in the morning.
"

Jerry moved the cigar from one side of his mouth to the other and motioned for her to come with him. On the way through the outer office, he asked Mrs. Sinclair to join them, too. He led them down the stairs and out into the sunlight and then to a jazzy black Porsche sitting beside the building.

Taffy and her mother squeezed into the passenger side of the car while Jerry got behind the wheel. They drove through the maze of streets on the back lot until they came to an area that resembled a suburban street where a large stone building stood. Over the front door
were the words
JEFFERSON MIDDLE SCHOOL. T
hat was the name of the school in
Nobody Likes Tiffany Stafford.

"
Is this our set?
"
Taffy asked excitedly.

"
You bet,
"
replied Jerry.
"
This is where you
'
re going to spend most of the next six weeks.
"

Taffy glanced around in amazement. It looked like a real street. She wondered if the school was a real building or just a front made to look real. She had read that such things were used sometimes in movies. She was just about to question Jerry about it when he spoke again.

"
Do you know what these are?
"
he asked. He was pointing toward two rows of metal trailers off to the side of the set.

Taffy shook her head.

Jerry put an arm around her shoulder and led her toward them.
"
This one is wardrobe,
"
he said, waving toward the first trailer.
"
You
'
ll be seeing a lot of it. And this one is makeup. They
'
ll take care of your hair in there, too.
"

Now he was approaching the second row of trailers, and Taffy noticed that these trailers were longer than either the wardrobe or makeup trailers.

"
Come here,
"
said Jerry.
"
I want to show you this one.
"

Taffy approached the trailer he was pointing to. As she got closer, she could see a star painted in the center of the door. But that wasn
'
t all. Just above the star, in big black letters, was her name,
TAFFY SINCLAIR
.

She let out a gasp and then broke into a smile. It was her dressing room!
"
Can I go in?
"

"
Of course,
"
said Jerry.
"
I certainly want you to feel at home.
"

Taffy climbed the metal stairs and opened the door, stepping inside. It looked like the inside of a lot of camping trailers she had seen. There was a sofa and a table and chairs. It had a kitchen with a microwave and a bathroom and even a television set.
"
This is my own personal and private trailer,
"
she murmured in disbelief.
"
And it even has a star on the door.
"

Before Taffy and her mother left the set, Jerry Lowenthal pointed out which scenes they would be shooting the next morning, reminding Taffy that she would have to learn her lines by then. Then he made a surprising announcement.

"
There
'
s going to be a party at my house tonight,
"
the director said around the stub of his cigar.
"
It
'
s a get-
acquainted party for the cast and crew and a few other friends, and Dollins will pick you up at your hotel at six-thirty. You will come, won
'
t you?
"

"
Of course,
"
Taffy cried before her mother could object.
"
I can
'
t wait to meet everyone.
"

Later, as the long limousine pulled through the gates of a large private estate in Beverly Hills, Taffy tingled with anticipation and reminded herself that Raven Blaine wasn
'
t the only one who would be at the party.

She was anxious to meet the other kids in the cast as well. She knew that they would be spending a lot of time together and she hoped they could all be friends.

One thing was nagging at Taffy
'
s brain. She couldn
'
t get over how much the script for
Nobody Likes Tiffany Stafford
was like her own life in Mark Twain Elementary when Jana Morgan and her friends, the rest of The Fabulous Five, had formed their club and made her life miserable. As she had read over the script, she had felt as if she already knew the characters to be played by the kids she would meet at the party tonight. She would be willing to bet that the three girls ganging up against her in the movie were exact copies of the members of The Fabulous Five, and that Jillian Morris would be a duplicate of Jana Morgan. And now that she thought about it, Raven Blaine
'
s character was a lot like Randy Kirwan, too. Raven was playing Jillian
'
s boyfriend. Both Raven and Randy had dark hair and sparkling eyes and were incredibly handsome, and her character, Tiffany Stafford, had a crush on Raven
'
s character just as she had had a crush on Randy in Mark Twain Elementary.

When the limousine pulled up the circular drive and stopped at the front door of the three-story mansion, a uniformed butler came out and ushered them into the house.

Just inside the door, Mrs. Sinclair pulled Taffy aside and whispered,
"
Now remember to smile and be polite to
everybody.
There will be a lot of important people here, and this is a big chance to make a good impression.
"

She nodded while her mother patted a strand of Taffy
'
s hair into place and brushed away a wrinkle in her blouse.

"
Come along, now,
"
her mother ordered. Then she led the way across a marble foyer with a fountain splashing in the center and into an enormous room crowded with people.

On one side of the room, a group of adults talked quietly together, and across from them a dozen or so teenagers were laughing and nibbling on snacks and bobbing around to the distant sound of a rock band. But where was Raven? Taffy wondered when she noticed that he wasn
'
t with the others.

She swallowed hard. Her mother pointed to the teenagers, giving Taffy a tiny push in that direction, and then began making her way toward the adults. Taffy knew she should join the kids, but she was having a sudden attack of stage fright. She couldn
'
t just walk up to them and introduce herself. They might think she was weird.

Just then Jerry Lowenthal stepped out of the crowd and hurried to her. He did not have his cigar this time, and he was grinning broadly.
"
Taffy! Welcome!
"
Taking her hand, he led her to the center of the room.
"
Attention everyone,
"
he boomed.
"
I want you all to meet the star of our new production,
Nobody Likes Tiffany Stafford.
This is the beautiful young lady who will play Tiffany Stafford, Miss Taffy Sinclair.
"

To Taffy
'
s amazement everyone applauded. Even the teenagers were smiling and moving toward her.

"
Hi. I
'
m Paige Kramer,
"
said a stunning red-haired girl.
"
Did Jerry call you Taffy?
"

Taffy nodded.
"
That
'
s right. Taffy Sinclair. It
'
s nice to meet you, Paige.
"

"
You may not think so for very long,
"
said a boy who looked about seventeen.
"
Paige is a killer on the set. She upstages everybody and steals scenes like crazy. Besides that, she plays your biggest enemy, Jillian Morris.
"

Taffy blinked and tried to keep the smile on her face. Could she feel real hostility radiating from Paige, or was it just her imagination?

"
Cut it out, KJ,
"
said Paige. Then turning to Taffy, she said,
"
KJ
'
s the one you have to look out for. He loves to play practical jokes. The last time we worked together, he set off a cherry bomb right in the middle of my big scene. I told him if he ever did
that
again, I
'
d
kill
him.
"

Paige was smiling, but she was looking at KJ through narrow eyes, and Taffy had the chilling feeling that she wasn
'
t joking.

More kids had gathered around, and Taffy looked hopefully toward two girls who were smiling in her direction.

"
Hi, Taffy,
"
one of them said.
"
I
'
m Chelsea Oberlin and this is Megan Mills. We
'
re part of the clique that hates Tiffany Stafford in the movie.
"
Chelsea shrugged and laughed as if hating anyone was an absurd idea.
"
Is this your first film?
"

"
Yes,
"
Taffy said, relaxing a little.
"
It
'
s exciting to think of seeing
my name
in the movie credits.
"

Before either Chelsea or Megan could respond, Paige moved forward and took over the conversation again.

"
Taffy,
"
she muttered, wrinkling her nose.
"
What kind of name is that? Did you make it up or what?
"

Taffy cringed.
"
No . . .
"
she stammered.
"
It
'
s my real name. Honest. My parents
. . ."

"
Come on, Taffy,
"
said KJ, interrupting Taffy in midsentence.
"
Let
'
s get something to eat.
"

Taffy gladly joined him, turning to smile and wave at the others over her shoulder. She shuddered. Everyone was smiling back, including Paige, but there was anger in her eyes. What
'
s her problem? Taffy wondered, but at least for tonight, she didn
'
t want to know the answer.

"
So, are you all ready for the big day tomorrow?
"
KJ asked as he led her through the crowd to the refreshment table.

Taffy
'
s eyes bulged at the sight of the spread. There was everything from shrimp cocktail and caviar to pizza and chips, and waiters were passing through the crowd offering an assortment of beverages.

"
I think so,
"
she said, drawing her attention back to KJ after selecting a slice of pepperoni pizza from the table.
"
I still have to learn my lines, though. I
'
ll probably be up all night doing that. And if you want to know a secret, I
'
m pretty nervous.
"

"
Hey, don
'
t let it get to you,
"
he said.
"
You
'
ll be great. Besides, they
'
ll shoot a scene as many times as it takes to get it right.
"

Just then Taffy looked into the crowd and spotted Raven talking to Jerry Lowenthal. Her heart fluttered as she waited for him to look her way, but instead of turning toward her, he said good-bye to Jerry and disappeared into the maze of people.

Taffy and KJ finished their snacks and then circulated around the room with KJ introducing her to so many people that her head was spinning. He introduced her to important members of the crew such as the AD, who was the first assistant director and in charge of coordinating practically everything, the key grip, who headed the crew that moved around all the equipment, the gaffer, who was the film crew
'
s chief electrician, and the boom operator, who took care of the big microphones on the set.