Taffy Sinclair 010 - Taffy Sinclair Goes to Hollywood (7 page)

"
Forget Paige Kramer! I want
your
autograph!
"
cried a cute blonde, who thrust a piece of paper toward Taffy.

"
Me, too! Me, too!
"
came shouts from around the set.

Taffy reached for the papers and pens and quickly began signing her name in bold loops and swirls:
Taffy Sinclair.
It was like a dream come true. She wasn
'
t just a seventh-grader at Wakeman Junior High. She was a celebrity. A
star
!
So what if it had taken a friend of Tess
'
s to get things start
ed. Once the teenagers in the
crowd realized that she was the girl in the newspaper picture with Raven Blaine, they had flocked around her, lavishing her with praise and begging her to tell them about Raven.

But the moment wasn
'
t perfect, after all, because out of the corner of her eye she could see trouble waiting for her—trouble by the name of Paige Kramer.

T
he director allowed the autographing to go on for a few more minutes. Then he picked up a bullhorn and began shouting orders to the crowd.

"
Okay, everybody! Behind the ropes, please! Quiet on the set!
"

It took the help of the second ADs and the set crew to get all of the enthusiastic fans corralled behind the ropes again and order restored.

"
Taffy! One more autograph—
pleeeeeze
!
"

A thrill fluttered through Taffy, and she looked around quickly to see a wiry girl with long brown hair slithering under the rope on her stomach, clutching a scrap of paper in her outstretched hand.

It was all Taffy could do to keep from running to her and signing one last autograph, but a warning loo
k
from Jerry held her in her place, and Julie swiftly shooed the girl back under the rope. Taffy threw her an apologetic smile and crossed her fingers that the girl would stay until after the shoot.

I
'
ll talk to all my fans then, she thought wistfully. And sign autographs until my fingers ache.
"
Oh,
"
she murmured,
"
I wish this moment would never end.
"

"
Places, everybody,
"
Jerry barked.
"
Take three. Cameras up!
Rolling!
"

This time it was Taffy who flubbed a line.
"
Rats!
"
she said under her breath. She didn
'
t dare look at Paige.

Finally, after the fifth take, Jerry yelled out,
"
Cut and print. That
'
s a wrap for this morning!
"

The crowd had broken up and the girl who had begged for an autograph was nowhere to be seen. Taffy shot a quick glance at Paige, who was glaring at her from the other side of the set, and then hurried to find Dollins. The last thing in the world she wanted to do right now was have a big fight with Paige. Nevertheless, she couldn
'
t help muttering under her breath,
"
Call me an amateur
now,
Paige Kramer.
"

When Taffy returned to her hotel, she raced to the front desk to get the room key.

"
Room nine seventeen,
"
she said to the man behind the desk.

"
Here you go, Miss Sinclair,
"
he said pleasantly.
"
Here
'
s your key, and it looks as if you have some mail, too.
"

Taffy nodded her thanks and looked at the two letters he handed her. They were both addressed to her. One had Shawnie
'
s re
turn address in the upper left-
hand corner and the other one had Cory
'
s. These were the letters Shawnie had told her about when she called on Tuesday, the ones she and Cory had each mailed on their way to school. Taffy closed her eyes and felt the old guilt creeping up on her again.

Nowhere in the entire week had she been able to squeeze in time to write to either of them. It was the truth, whether they would understand or not. Her days had been filled with filming and schoolwork, and the nights were taken up with memorizing the next day
'
s lines, and naturally, with sleep. But they would think that she had simply gotten carried away with Hollywood and was too conceited even to think about her old friends at home.

She thought back over the events of the week, remembering the important things that had happened, which would fill her letter when she did find time to write. The trailer with the star over her name, her photograph in the newspaper with Raven Blaine, fans clamoring for her autograph. Her guilt deepened. Cory and Shawnie would never believe that she missed them.

When she reached her room, Taffy curled up on one end of the sofa and held a letter in each hand. Which one should I open first? she wondered. But there wasn
'
t really a choice to be made as she ripped open Cory
'
s letter. It was him she was dying to hear from.

Dear Taffy,

Hi. How are you? How is Hollywood? Do you like being a movie star?

There's
nothing much new here. Hope I'll
hear from you soon.

Cory

Taffy read the letter over three times before she folded it and put it back into the envelope. She had hoped it would be more romantic or that he would have signed it
"
Love, Cory.
"
But he hadn
'
t. He was probably too embarrassed to write a mushy letter, she thought with a smile.

Shawnie
'
s letter was longer. In it she told Taffy everything that had happened since she left for Hollywood in almost minute-by-minute detail. Doing homework. Watching television. Going to the mall.

She even mentioned Taffy
'
s old enemies, The Fabulous Five.

I w
as sitting with The Fabulous Five at Bumpers yesterday after school, and Beth Barry told everybody that she's going to try out for the Halloween show. That's certainly no big deal compared to what you're doing. Right?

Right! Taffy thought and smiled to herself. She had forgotten just how boring life really was at Wacko Junior High.

She was even having trouble paying attention to what Shawnie was saying. But the last paragraph of the letter jarred her back to attention.

Cory called last night, and we talked for a long time, mostly about you. I told him how much I missed you and how lonely I was already. He's really nice. He said he missed you, too, and that I could talk to him an
ytime I was feeling sad. Well, I'
d better hit the sack now. Write soon.

Love,
Shawnie

Taffy frowned and read the paragraph again. What did Shawnie mean,
he's really nice.
He
is
nice, Taffy argued with herself. He
'
s just being a friend. And if he told Shawnie that she could talk to him when she
'
s sad, he was only trying to make her feel better. Taffy glanced out the window at the hazy mountains pointing sharp fingers toward the sky. There was a terrible ache in her throat, and suddenly Wacko Junior High seemed a million miles away.

"
I
'
ll write to both of them this afternoon,
"
she said resolutely.

The sharp ring of the telephone startled her. Taffy raced to answer it.

"
Hello,
"
she said softly.

"
Hi, Taffy. It
'
s KJ. There
'
s going to be a party at the beach this afternoon. Wanna catch some rays with the rest of the cast?
"

"
A party? . . . Wow
. . .
I mean
. . ."
Taffy fumbled. Her mind was racing. The cast! That meant
that Raven would be there. But so would Paige Kramer.

Heat flamed up Taffy
'
s face at the thought of facing Paige so soon after the disaster at the shoot this morning. But it would give her a chance to see Raven again somewhere beside on the set. Maybe they could talk, even stroll on the beach. Maybe she could find out why he flirted with her and acted as if he thought she was special some of the time and practically ignored her at other times.

"
Grab your suit and your shades and be downstairs in the lobby in half an hour,
"
KJ instructed before Taffy had time to object.

"
Okay
, but let me check with my mom first,
"
said Taffy.

Mrs. Sinclair looked up from cutting Taffy and Raven
'
s picture out of a tall stack of newspapers and gave her permission, and Taffy ran around the hotel room in a frenzy, changing into her blue bikini and pulling the matching top over her head. Next, she snatched her sunglasses off the dresser and a towel out of the bathroom, stuffing them into a beach bag, and surveyed the hotel room frantically to see if there was anything she had forgotten. Her gaze fell on the two letters, lying forlornly on the sofa. She caught her breath. She had promised herself that she would answer them this afternoon. But how could she miss the beach party and the chance to see Raven?

The thought made her heart pound against her chest like surf on the rocks, and she closed the door behind her and got on the elevator for the ride down to the lobby.

T
affy had forgotten to ask KJ what sort of car to look for, and she had half expected a limousine like her own. Instead, a flame-red IROC-Z full of laughing teenagers screeched to a stop under the hotel portico, and a waving KJ yelled for her to get in. Taffy
'
s pulse raced with excitement. Back home, none of her friends were old enough to drive yet, and a parent or older brother or sister had to take them everywhere they went.

"
Come on, Taffy,
"
Tess called from the backseat.
"
I
'
ll sit on your lap.
"

Taffy scanned the occupants of the car. Paige, angrily staring straight ahead, sat in the front seat next to KJ. Megan and Chelsea were crowded into the back with Tess. Where was Raven? Taffy smiled to mask her
disappointment. Maybe KJ was picking him up next. Maybe he would sit beside her. But how could they talk to each other if Tess was sitting on her lap? What
'
s worse, he might get into the front seat where there was more room and sit beside Paige.

"
Come on, Taffy. We don
'
t have all day,
"
teased Megan.

Taffy ducked into the backseat and sank down behind KJ. Tess was true to her word and climbed onto Taffy
'
s lap.

"
This is a neat car,
"
Taffy called to KJ.

"
You think
this
is a neat car when you
'
ve got a limo with your own chauffeur?
"
Tess asked in disbelief.

"
Hey, not all of us were flown in from the other side of the country to
star
in this movie,
"
KJ reminded her good-naturedly.
"
The rest of us live out here and beat our brains out auditioning for minor roles. Hey, but it
'
s a living, right?
"

"
Right,
"
said Chelsea.
"
I may not be a star yet, but I
'
ve had my college education paid for since I was twelve because of the parts I
'
ve played.
"

"
Me, too,
"
said Megan. Then she added with a laugh,
"
It sure beats baby-sitting or working at McDonald
'
s.
"

"
And you get to meet people like Raven Blaine,
"
said Taffy, nodding enthusiastically. Instantly, she realized what she had just said and she slapped a hand over her mouth.

Paige turned around and eyed her coldly.
"
So, our little
amateur
has a crush on
superstar
Raven Blaine, eh?
"

"
I
'
m not an amateur!
"
Taffy shouted angrily.
"
I
'
m an actress, and I got this part auditioning just like everybody else. At least I
'
m not a has-been trying to make a comeback, like you.
"

Taffy was sorry the moment the words were out of her mouth. Paige
'
s eyes filled with tears, but she didn
'
t utter a word. Instead, she whipped around to face the front again, and the car got deathly quiet.

Boy, I
'
ve blown it now, thought Taffy. I just can
'
t find enough ways to put my foot in my mouth. Nobody really likes Paige all that much because she
'
s so snobby, but now I
'
ve behaved even worse.

KJ had been traveling along Santa Monica Boulevard. Now he turned the car onto the coastal highway, and Taffy sank back with a sigh to look at the scenery, thinking that she had been here a week already and had hardly seen anything of the area yet. At least now she was getting to do one of the things she wanted most to do, spend an afternoon at the beach.

Out of the car window Taffy could see the ocean clearly and the waves lapping against the beach where Santa Monica Pier jutted into the water. Everywhere along the beach people lounged on towels or under umbrellas, while others played in the surf.

"
Aren
'
t we here?
"
she asked excitedly, wondering why KJ didn
'
t simply stop the car and let them out.

Tess twisted around on Taffy
'
s lap and gave her a sideways glance.
"
Didn
'
t KJ tell you? We
'
re heading for Venice Beach. You
'
re going to love it. Just wait.
"
Then she leaned against Taffy, covered her mouth with a hand so that no one else in the car could hear, and whispered,
"
Raven
'
s going to meet us there.
"

Taffy could only nod, afraid to utter a sound in case her voice might betray her excitement. As if her troubles with Paige weren
'
t enough, she had begun to worry that Raven wasn
'
t going to join their beach party. He had been acting so strangely all week, friendly on the set and then cool and distant off it, as if he didn
'
t really want to have anything to do with her. It
'
s probably just my imagination, she assured herself.

Tess had been right about Taffy
'
s loving Venice Beach. She did love it, from the first instant it came into sight. Piling out of the car with the rest of the cast, she couldn
'
t conceal her amazement at the size of the crowd and all the activity going on before her. It was like a three-ring circus. The boardwalk was swarming with teenagers, most on roller skates or skateboards. Everyone was laughing and calling to someone else and in a hurry to get where they were going. The aroma of popcorn and burgers mingled with the smell of the ocean and an occasional whiff of barbecue or seafood. Vendors, selling everything from sunglasses to maps of movie stars
'
homes, hawked their wares over bursts of rock music coming from blasters or from live bands, which drew knots of sunbathers to their impromptu concerts. But most exciting of all were the people, of every size and shape—some tanned bronze, some so pale they were obviously venturing into the sunshine for the first time, and others sunburned red as fireballs—shooting across the sand.

"
Come on, Taffy. Don
'
t just stand there gawking,
"
Chelsea said, laughing.
"
Let
'
s find a place to put our blankets.
"

Tess was forging ahead of the group, sidestepping through the bodies whose lotion-smeared skin glinted in the sunlight. Behind her came KJ and Paige, followed by Chelsea and Megan, with Taffy bringing up the rear.

Megan and Chelsea slowed to walk with Taffy. Then Megan looked sympathetically at Taffy and said,
"
Don
'
t let Paige get to you.
"

"
Yeah,
"
said Chelsea.
"
She
'
s really okay. It
'
s just that she
'
s having a tough time right now.
"

Tell me about it,
Taffy wanted to say, but she
'
d already said too much for one day. Instead she nodded and picked her way through the hot sand to the spot where Tess was already unfurling a blanket and spreading it on the ground.

Taffy dug in her beach bag for her towel while Paige unrolled a straw beach mat on the sand, sitting down on it so that her back was to Taffy. Taffy frowned. This was going to be some fun afternoon if Raven didn
'
t show up and Paige acted like a spoiled brat. A spoiled
has-been
brat who can
'
t act! she thought angrily.

Actually the time passed quickly. She and Tess left the others to mingle with the crowd, stopping once to watch a pair of street performers, who looked like college boys, give a pantomime show and another time to listen to a black man playing island music on a steel drum. While they waded in the surf, Taffy turned to Tess and said,
"
Hey, thanks for what you did at the mall this morning. Having that friend of yours hold up Raven
'
s and my picture and get the crowd to ask for
my
autograph was super!
"

Tess shrugged.
"
I thought you needed a taste of what being a Hollywood celebrity was all about,
"
she said, laughing.

"
I thought you did it to get back at Paige for being so conceited,
"
said Taffy.

A frown crossed Tess
'
s face.
"
Give Paige a break,
"
she grumbled.

"
What for?
"
demanded Taffy.
"
She likes you. But you
'
ve seen how she treats me. Just because she
used
to be a star, that doesn
'
t give her the right to pick on me.
"

"
Well, she was a star, and she deserved to be one,
"
Tess insisted.
"
She was a good actress and a great kid. Everybody liked her. It
'
s just that she
'
s had some rough breaks. That
'
s what has changed her.
"

"
Do you mean moving away from Hollywood?
"
asked Taffy.

"
That was just part of it. Her parents split last year. That
'
s when she moved back here with her mother. I don
'
t think she
'
s very happy.
"

Taffy didn
'
t answer. She was thinking about her own family. Her mother was awfully pushy when it came to Taffy
'
s career, but at least her family was together and she was basically pretty happy. Still, just because Paige
'
s unhappy doesn
'
t mean she has to take it out on me, Taffy thought, but she didn
'
t say it out loud.

The girls stopped at a refreshment stand before heading back to their blankets, where they stretched out again and Taffy finally dozed in the warm sunlight.

She was teetering on the edge of sleep when she heard Paige cry happily,
"
Look, everybody. Here comes Raven. Hey, Raven! Over here! Where have you been?
"

Taffy sat up quickly, checking her appearance in a small hand mirror she kept in her beach bag. A long, red crease, from where she had been lying facedown on her towel, marked her cheek like an angry scar.
"
Rats!
"
she muttered under her breath. Be an actress, she told herself. Then she turned her other cheek in Raven
'
s direction and smiled at the boy loping across the sand toward them.

She did a double take, and then her smile drooped into a frown. Was Paige going blind, or what? she thought. The boy coming their way was about Raven
'
s size, but he couldn
'
t possibly be Raven. His hair was an awful shade of red, and his huge sunglasses covered half his face. The towel slung around his neck hung to his knees and hid his build so that he looked like any ordinary boy, if that good.

"
It
'
s Raven, silly,
"
Megan said behind her hand.
"
He has to go incognito or the crowd would mob him.
"

Taffy nodded, understanding finally. What Megan said made sense, but was that really Raven? It hardly looked a thing like him. Of course, the red hair could be a wig, and . . .

"
Hi, everybody,
"
Raven called out.
"
Sorry I
'
m late.
"

It was definitely his voice. He removed his sunglasses just long enough to reveal startling dark eyes, and Taffy knew beyond a doubt that it was him. Was that what being a superstar was like? she wondered. Having to put on a disguise when you went out in public?