Taffy Sinclair 010 - Taffy Sinclair Goes to Hollywood (5 page)

"
Well, what about Megan and Chelsea?
"
Taffy asked.
"
They seem awfully nice, but they
'
re always with Paige.
"

Tess nodded.
"
They are nice. Believe me. But they used to be Paige
'
s best friends when she lived here before. She was actually nice then, too.
"

"
But surely they
'
ve noticed how she
'
s changed,
"
insisted Taffy.

"
I guess they
'
re just being loyal,
"
said Tess.

Taffy took a tiny bite of her chocolate cake and thought about Paige again. It was uncanny how this real-life situation was so much like the movie they were making. Paige was jealous of the new actress on the set who got the part she wanted. In the story, Jillian Morris is jealous of Tiffany Stafford partly because Tiffany is making a play for her boyfriend, but also partly because being new, Tiffany is getting a lot of attention.

Taffy thought about the script. It all worked out neatly so that Tiffany won over Jillian and her friends in the end. But that
'
s just a story. Real life is much more complicated.

Next, her thoughts turned to Raven. He was so handsome and so wonderful when he wanted to be. Tess seemed to know everything about everybody. Maybe she knew why Raven was behaving so strangely, too. Taffy was dying to ask. Still, she thought, when you
'
re talking about superstars, Raven Blaine is the genuine article. He probably doesn
'
t have time for me except when we
'
re working together on the set.

She sighed. Being a movie star was a lot different from how she had thought it would be.

T
he afternoon went by quickly. After another hour of studying in the temple of doom, the cast was called back to the set to film the next scene. This time Tess and KJ were in it plus a bunch of extras who were instructed to mill around and look like kids standing around on a playground waiting for the bell to ring. The scene went well, and KJ was such a comedian both on the set and off that by time Taffy got back to the hotel at the end of the day, her black mood had lifted and she was feeling good about her first day as a movie actress.

The phone was ringing when she and her mother entered their room.

"
I
'
ll get it,
"
shouted Taffy, dashing around the end of the bed to grab the receiver off the bedside table.

"
Hello. This is room nine seventeen,
"
she said.

"
Taffy? This is Shawnie.
"

"
Shawnie!
"
Taffy cried, so surprised that she almost dropped the phone.

"
I just wanted you to know that I mailed you a letter on the way to school this morning,
"
said Shawnie.
"
I started writing it yesterday around the time your plane was supposed to take off for California. There isn
'
t much in it, but I wanted you to know that I was thinking about you. Have you written me yet?
"

Taffy sucked in her breath.
"
Well, I haven
'
t mailed anything yet, but I
'
m going to . . . probably in the morning,
"
she said, crossing her fingers and wishing she didn
'
t have to lie. She had meant to write to Shawnie, but she had been so busy.

"
That
'
s okay,
"
said Shawnie, and Taffy could hear disappointment in her voice.
"
I
'
m sure you
'
ve been on the go a lot. So tell me all about Hollywood. Are you shooting the movie yet?
"

Taffy stretched out on the sofa and told Shawnie everything that had happened since she left home, starting with her trip to
the West Coast, the chauffeur-
driven limousine, the elegant hotel, the party last night at the director
'
s house, and ending with her day on the set. It felt good to talk to her friend.

"
And Raven Blaine is in your movie, too?
"
squealed Shawnie, sounding as if she were ready to pass out at the thought.
"
What
'
s he like? Tell me everything.
"

Taffy winced. She couldn
'
t tell Shawnie
everything.
Not how she was starting to get a crush on him.
Shawnie might think she was getting conceited and would forget her old friends at Wacko Junior High. Not only that, but Shawnie might slip and say something to Cory about Raven.

"
He
'
s cuter in person than on the screen or in magazines,
"
Taffy offered.

"
But is he nice?
"
Shawnie urged.
"
You know, is he friendly?
"

Taffy closed her eyes and thought about Raven
'
s gorgeous smile.
"
Umm-hmm. He
'
s nice and friendly and handsome and everything you
'
d expect from a superstar.
"

"
Wow,
"
said Shawnie.
"
You
'
re really lucky. Have you met any other kids our age?
"

"
Yes,
"
said Taffy.
"
I
'
ll write you all about them,
"
she promised. She wasn
'
t ready to tell Shawnie about Paige Kramer yet. She needed to think that situation over a little longer.

"
Well, I
'
d better go,
"
said Shawnie.
"
My parents let me call your dad and get the name of your hotel and the phone number yesterday, but they said I could only talk to you for five minutes every couple of days. Don
'
t forget to write, and Taffy
. . ."

"
Yes.
"

"
Cory said to tell you that he mailed you a letter this morning, too,
"
Shawnie said softly.
"
He also said to tell you that he misses you.
"

Taffy didn
'
t move from the sofa for several minutes after she hung up the phone. She had never felt so guilty in her life. She really
hadn't
had time to write to
Shawnie or to Cory, but she could never explain that to them. They wouldn
'
t understand. Slowly she pulled herself up into a sitting position and stared at the desk. She had seen hotel stationery in the top drawer yesterday when she had been exploring the room. She would start a letter to both of them right this minute before she got too busy again.

"
Taffy, honey, you
'
d better get cleaned up so that we can go down to the restaurant for dinner,
"
her mother called as she emerged from the bathroom.
"
Then we have to study your lines for tomorrow.
"

Taffy sighed and promised herself that she would
positively
start the letters before she went to bed. Surely there would be time after she memorized her lines for tomorrow
'
s filming.

When they got down to the hotel
'
s restaurant, there was a table already reserved for them, and the maitre d
'
fluttered around while they got seated, and then, with a great flourish, he unfolded the huge linen napkins and spread them in Taffy
'
s and her mother
'
s laps before handing them tall, leather-bound menus. Taffy looked around the room at the elegant dinner guests at the other tables and thought about how Merry Chase had said that the person who won the leading role in
Nobody Likes Tiffany Stafford
would be given star treatment in Hollywood. I certainly am, she thought. But how am I going to explain all this to Shawnie and Cory?

Just as the waiter had finished taking their orders, there was a commotion near the front door. The other diners were craning to see the cause, and Taffy turned, too, hoping that it was a famous movie star coming to eat at the same restaurant where she was.

Cameras were flashing as a knot of people squeezed through the door and into the foyer. Suddenly the crowd parted just long enough for her to see who was at the center of all the excitement. It was Raven Blaine, and he was smiling at the cameras and waving to the reporters crowding around him.

"
Oh, my gosh,
"
cried Taffy.
"
That
'
s Raven, and he
'
s coming this way.
"

"
Tell us about the movie you
'
re making,
"
shouted a woman holding out a tape recorder with one hand while she tried to get her camera in position with the other.

Taffy held her breath. Raven was only a few feet from her now. It was so thrilling. So exciting to see reporters flock around a real movie star. She held her breath and i
magined for an instant the same
thing
'
s happening to her.

Suddenly Raven stopped beside her table.
"
I
'
m making a wonderful film called
Nobody Likes Tiffany Stafford,
and this is my costar, sitting right here. I
'
d like you to meet Taffy Sinclair.
"

Before Taffy could understand what was happening, Raven reached for her hand, pulling her up to stand beside him, and the reporters turned to her and began asking questions and taking pictures.

"
How many movies have you starred in before this one, Miss Sinclair?
"

"
Are you a personal friend of Raven Blaine
'
s?
"

On and on the questions went until restaurant personnel moved in and ushered the reporters back out the door. When the room was quiet again and Taffy was tingling all over with excitement and trying to catch her breath, the maitre d
'
returned to her table and bowed low.

"
I
'
m so sorry, Miss Sinclair,
"
he said.
"
I deeply regret this invasion of your privacy. Mr. Blaine is attending a private function in one of our party rooms. We anticipated that the press would cover his arrival, but we had no idea that they would interrupt your dinner as well.
"

"
Oh, that
'
s okay,
"
Taffy assured him.
"
I mean, actually it was fun. But Raven
. . .
I mean, Mr. Blaine, you said that he
'
s in a private party room?
"

"
Yes, Miss Sinclair,
"
the maitre d
'
said formally, and Taffy could sense that the subject was closed.

As soon as he had moved away from the table, Taffy
'
s mother began speaking in a loud voice.
"
Isn
'
t this exciting, dear? You
'
re actually going to have your picture in the paper with a famous actor.
"
She gazed at the ceiling and looked thoughtful.
"
I
'
ll go right out tomorrow and buy up all the copies I can find. Then I
'
ll send them to . . . hmm . . . let
'
s see
. . .
to your acting coach back home, and your agent, and that wonderful casting director who auditioned you . . . and
. . ."

Taffy barely touched her food. She tuned out her mother
'
s lengthy chatter and remembered the way Raven had looked at her when he introduced her to the press. He had been smiling so sincerely, just as he had yesterday when they first met. So what if he was sixteen and a superstar? she thought.
He liked her.
She could tell.

Taffy drifted up to her room like a helium-filled balloon. In fact, when she got on the elevator, she wondered briefly if she couldn
'
t float up faster by herself than the elevator could travel.

"
I
'
ve got to call your father and tell him what happened,
"
cooed Mrs. Sinclair as soon as they were in the room.

Taffy flopped across her bed, vaguely hearing her mother
'
s conversation, and relived the scene in the restaurant. If this is what being a movie star is all about, I love it! she thought, hugging herself with joy.

A knock sounded at the door. Taffy glanced at her mother, who was still talking on the phone, and then got up to answer it. She peered through the peephole and saw a bellman standing in the hall holding a big vase of roses.

"
Flowers for Miss Taffy Sinclair,
"
he called.

"
That
'
s me,
"
she gasped, throwing open the door.
"
Oh, my gosh. They
'
re beautiful.
"

The bellman left, and Taffy carried the flowers across the floor and carefully set them down on the table beside the sofa. There were a dozen long-stemmed red roses in a silver vase, and they were the most beautiful flowers she had ever seen. Her heart was thumping and her hands shaking so badly that she had trouble removing the small envelope holding the card.

"
Who could these be from?
"
she whispered.

Raven!
she thought, and the idea startled her so much that she almost dropped the envelope. Fumbling, she removed the card. On the outside it said: