Taffy Sinclair 002 - Taffy Sinclair Strikes Again

by Betsy Haynes

  "Boy crazy!"

  "Immature!"

  I couldn't believe my eyes. Who could have written such horrible things? Nobody who really knew me. Not someone who was my friend. I felt as if a gigantic hand were squeezing my heart.

  Suddenly everybody started yelling.

  "Bossy!"

  "Overdramatic!"

  "How could you?"

  "Overweight!"

  "Show-off!"

  "Some friend you are!"

  I couldn't look up. I knew that if I did I'd cry. I opened the other lists. I couldn't believe them, either. They were all the same. "Nutty over boys." "Babyish." "Boy crazy." Not one of my friends saw me for what I really was.

  Just then, Katie jumped up and raced to the door. She jerked it open and ran out. "Meeting adjourned!" she shouted over her shoulder. Then all my other FORMER friends started getting up, too. They were all frowning and sticking their tongues out at one another. Beth was even sticking her tongue out at me. I couldn't do it back. I felt too miserable and misunderstood.

  In a minute everybody was gone, and I was alone in my room with torn-up lists scattered all over the floor. Thank goodness Mom wasn't home. She might come tearing in, asking what was the matter. I couldn't tell her. I'd be so embarrassed that I'd die.

  It was a terrible thing to find out that the people I had trusted and thought were my best friends were really only faking it all along. I was glad it was Saturday and Mom would be going out with Pink. I couldn't sit at the dinner table and try to make conversation. I just wanted to be alone. My whole life was going down the drain. I couldn't share that kind of misery with anyone, not even Mom.

  Of course, she came home from shopping all excited and wanting to talk. She said she had a great idea for my Halloween costume. She didn't even notice I wasn't in the mood for conversation.

  "I was pushing my cart through the frozen food section when I saw it," she said as she loaded groceries into the refrigerator.

  "My costume?" I wondered if she thought I should go as a TV dinner or a bag of frozen french fries. Not that I really cared.

  "No, silly. Not the costume, the idea. How would you like to be the Jolly Green Giant?"

  I must have had a really strange look on my face because she started rattling on about how extra funny it would be for me to be a giant, since I'm practically the shortest kid in the sixth grade, and how she had already figured out how to make the costume out of green felt. I let her talk until she ran down, and then I said it sounded great and went to my room. I couldn't tell her that Halloween was the furthest thing from my mind just then.

  Pink was right on time coming to pick her up. I was planning to hide in my room until after they left, but in addition to my pizza, he had brought along a new bowling trophy for Mom and me to see. I tried to smile and congratulate him, but who could think about bowling trophies at a time like that? They finally left. And then I was more lonely than ever. I had never felt so alone in my life. Mom had Pink. But who did I have? Nobody anymore. We didn't even have a dog.

  I tried to eat my pizza, but it had cooled off and it stuck in my throat. I put most of it in the fridge even though Mom would find it and probably think I was sick. Finally I went to my room and closed the door. Miss Piggy was grinning at me from her spot on the wall. I was more glad than ever that my FORMER friends did not know Randy Kirwan's poster was right behind Miss Piggy's.

  Then I got this great idea. I pulled Miss Piggy down and looked at Randy. Just because I liked him a lot didn't mean I was boy crazy. I was just romantic, and nothing was wrong with that. I'd show those girls a thing or two. I'd show them that I wasn't crazy over boys, but boys were crazy over me! It would be easy. I would watch Taffy Sinclair to see what she did. Boys were always following her around. Of course I wouldn't make friends with her. I wouldn't be caught dead doing a thing like that. I would just watch her, maybe even take notes, and then practice flirting in front of my mirror at night. I'd let my hair grow long like hers and even wear the same color nail polish.

  The more I thought about my great idea, the greater it seemed. It wouldn't be long before everyone would know how attractive and fabulous I was, and all my FORMER friends would be so jealous they'd probably die.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Sunday afternoon Pink came over, and he and Mom watched "Bowling for Bucks" on television. Pink is always saying that he is going to try to get on that show someday, and Mom always says that he's good enough to win a lot of money if he does. I couldn't help watching Mom and Pink more than usual. I could see they really liked each other. Mom made popcorn with lots of butter, and twice she put extra ice in his soda glass. I wondered if my FORMER friends would think she was boy crazy because she did those things.

  Pink was nice to her, too. He stirred the popcorn while she poured the melted butter in, and he told her that her hair looked nice. I started to get really sad and lonely again, watching them together and wondering if Randy Kirwan or some other cute boy and I would ever be like that. But then I remembered my great new plan and felt better.

  I could hardly wait to get to school on Monday to put it into action, but when I got there, I discovered I had a problem to deal with first—the enemy.

  The first one I saw was Katie. She was slouched against the front gate, looking about as friendly as a prison warden and giving dirty looks to everybody who went through. I couldn't help thinking how right I had been that she was probably a radical, and I stuck my nose up in the air and sailed right past her. I certainly didn't need her for a friend.

  Then I heard a funny noise and turned around. It was Beth, and she was looking at me and making loud smooching sounds that were beginning to draw a crowd.

  "If it isn't Randy Kirwan's lover girl," she said, cooing.

  I could feel my whole body going numb. What if Randy was standing close enough to hear her? Then what would he think of me? I hated Beth Barry more than I'd ever hated anyone in my life.

  "A lot you know!" I screamed. "You've got the mentality of a house plant!"

  I whirled around and almost ran smack into Taffy Sinclair. She had been standing there eavesdropping, and she would probably tell everybody in the whole school what Beth had said. I took off for the school building with tears smarting my eyes, but it was like running through a mine field. Christie was standing beside the swings glaring in my direction. And Melanie sat on the steps, watching me like a big, pop-eyed toad as I went by. When I got inside the school and closed the doors behind me, I felt like I'd been in a war. I hated all my FORMER friends, and it was plain to see they hated me, too.

  I don't know why I turned around and looked through the big glass doors to the school yard again, but I'm glad I did. What I saw made me burst out laughing with surprise. Beth was sticking her tongue out at Christie who was shouting something at her that I couldn't hear. Katie must have come up to the school right behind me because Melanie had gotten up and the two of them were standing toe to toe, and practically nose to nose, yelling at each other.

  It serves them right, I thought as I headed for the sixth-grade room. I had noticed Taffy Sinclair watching the whole thing, and she had a funny smile on her face, like the cat that has just eaten the canary, I thought. She was obviously enjoying our problems, but I didn't have time to worry about her right then. The rest of the morning was sort of fun. We all took special pains to snub one another. We kept our noses so high in the air that if the sprinkler system had come on, all five of us would probably have drowned.

  Lunchtime was a little harder. My FORMER friends and I had sat together in the cafeteria practically all of our lives. I stood just inside the lunchroom door shifting my lunch bag from one hand to the other and feeling very self-conscious. I looked around to see who else I might sit with. There was Mary Sweeney. She had picked me second to be on her field hockey team in gym class the week before. But she was sitting with Gloria Drexler and Marcie Bee, who were her best friends, and they were whispering and giggling together and not looking at anybody else.


  Just then Curtis Trowbridge walked by, carrying a hot lunch tray. He gave me a bucktoothed smile. "Hi, Jana," he said. "Have you heard what's happening this afternoon?"

  "No," I said, trying to sound as disinterested as I possibly could. Curtis Trowbridge was the nerd of the world, and I did not want to be seen talking to him.

  "We're going to get Wiggins," he said, and his grin got even bigger and toothier than before. "Watch the clock over her desk. At exactly one-fifteen everybody is supposed to sneeze. Isn't that great?"

  I had to admit it was. It was fun to play tricks on Wiggins. Sneezing in unison was a new one, and I wondered what she would do about it.

  Unconsciously I must have smiled at Curtis or done something equally weird that gave him the idea I liked him because the next thing he said made me cringe.

  "Who are you having lunch with? Want to sit with me?"

  "Sorry—um—" I stammered. "I'm sitting over there with my friend." I started walking in the direction opposite from the one he was heading in, hoping I'd find somebody to sit with—in a hurry.

  "Maybe there's room for me," he said, turning and following me.

  Leave it to an airhead like Curtis Trowbridge not to know when he isn't wanted. He's a mathematical genius, just like Christie, except he lives on another planet.

  In my hurry I almost bumped into Melanie. She was just coming through the door and was looking around for someone to sit with, too. Our noses shot into the air so fast you would have thought someone was pulling them up with strings. Now I really had to find someone to sit with. I couldn't let Melanie think that I didn't have any other friends or that Curtis Trowbridge was the best I could do.

  Looking around the cafeteria one more time, I spotted the perfect place. I couldn't believe I hadn't seen it before. Over in the corner and sitting all by herself was Taffy Sinclair. There is room for at least eight kids at each lunchroom table, and the little kids in the lower grades can cram in ten or twelve. But nobody else was sitting with Taffy, not even Mona Vaughn, which was really unusual because Mona absolutely worshipped Taffy and followed her around like a pet dog. Anyway, there was plenty of room, and maybe I wouldn't have to sit too close to either Taffy or Curtis. No matter what, it would have to do for then. I headed for Taffy's table, walking slowly and trying to look as casual as I could. I was also trying to figure out just where to sit down. If I sat too close, Taffy might get mad and do something really snotty. After all, we weren't exactly the best of friends. But I didn't want to sit too close to Curtis, either. On the other hand, if I sat too far from Taffy, my FORMER friends would know we weren't together and think I didn't have any friends at all. I decided to compromise and sit across from her, but in the middle of the table.

  Taffy was busy breaking her sandwich into about eight pieces. I supposed that grown-ups would call it dainty, the way she barely opened her mouth and took little bitty bites of those little bitty sandwiches, but I thought it was pretty strange. I wouldn't even call it normal.

  "Hi, Jana," Taffy said, giving me a big smile, crooked bicuspid and all.

  "Huh?" I said. "Oh, hi, Taffy." Her smile caught me by surprise and that was all I could think of to say.

  "Hi, Taffy," Curtis said as he sat next to her. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her move away the tiniest bit.

  I pulled my cream-cheese-and-jelly sandwich out of my bag and plopped it down on the table. Then I started eating and tried to figure out what to do next. I didn't want my FORMER friends to think Taffy and I were really good friends. She was just the best I could do right then, and I was going to have to think of something else fast. I jumped at the sound of breaking glass and turned around. Some little kid had dropped a hot lunch tray. That wouldn't have mattered except that I came face to face with Christie sitting about three tables away. She glared at me, and I glared at her. She was sitting with Alexis Duvall, a new girl in school, and she shot me a look of triumph. I had to say something to Taffy to show we were together, and I had to say it right then.

  I turned to her and said, sputtering, "Guess what?" Taffy looked at me with those big blue eyes and smiled at me again. I wasn't sure I could take much more of that.

  "What?"

  For a minute I just stared at her, trying to think of something to say. I was about to panic when I remembered the great news I'd gotten from Curtis Trowbridge a few minutes before.

  "Curtis says we're going to get Wiggins this afternoon. Isn't that right, Curtis?"

  "Sure is." It was his turn to grin. I was getting tired of seeing so many teeth.

  Taffy's eyes brightened and I hoped all my FORMER friends were looking. I scooted a little closer to her end of the table just in case they were.

  "At exactly one-fifteen everybody in the whole class is supposed to sneeze!"

  Taffy was smiling. Curtis was smiling, and it only seemed right that I should smile, too, so I did. There the three of us sat, smiling like idiots.

  "That sounds like fun," said Taffy. "I can hardly wait."

  As I said, I was feeling pretty stupid with that big grin on my face, but just then something happened that was too wonderful to be true.

  Randy Kirwan walked by our table. He had already finished eating and was heading toward the door. At the very same moment that I looked up at him with that fake smile pasted all across my face, he looked at me and smiled back. I was so happy I thought I'd die.

  Everybody was whispering about the great sneeze caper in the classroom after lunch, but when Wiggins came in, we clammed up in a hurry. I could tell by the way she acted that she didn't suspect a thing. I had a hard time keeping a straight face when she passed out worksheets about compound sentences at 1:10. Five minutes to go. I thought I'd probably explode before that.

  Also, I couldn't figure out why Taffy Sinclair had acted so jolly in the cafeteria. It just wasn't like her. Maybe she was coming down with the flu or something.

  Wiggins sat back down at her desk and began writing in a notebook. Little did she know, it was almost zero hour. 1:12. I could hardly sit still. I couldn't do my worksheet, and I was afraid to look at anyone else to see what they were doing. 1:13. I was getting dizzy from watching that sweep second hand go around the clock. 1:14. The final countdown. Forty seconds. Thirty seconds. Twenty seconds. Ten seconds. I opened my mouth so I'd be ready. 1:15.

  "A-A-A-CHO-O-O-O!"

  We had done it. We had sneezed in unison at 1:15. Wiggins looked surprised for an instant, but then her eyes took on a devilish glow.

  "Gesundheit," she said.

  That broke the tension, and everybody started squirming and saying "gesundheit" to everybody else. Hardly anybody noticed when she stood up.

  "Class," she said in her general's voice.

  We all got quiet, wondering what she was going to do.

  "I'm sorry to hear that you've all caught colds."

  She said it so sweetly that my heart started thumping. I knew she was softening us up for something. Just then she grabbed the tissue box off the corner of her desk and started marching up and down the aisles, pulling tissues out of that box and dropping one in each kid's lap. When she went past me, she was moving so fast she was almost skipping. It was really something to see. After she had handed tissues out to everyone, she pulled another one out and held it to her nose.

  "Okay, class. Tissues to your noses, please," she instructed.

  When we had all done that, she held a long, bony finger in the air and said, "On the count of three, everybody blow. One. Two. Three."

  Everybody blew, all right. It sounded as if a herd of bull moose had invaded Mark Twain Elementary. We all kept on giggling and blowing our noses until she held up her hand for silence.

  "Now that we all feel better, let's get busy with our worksheets again," she said in a very calm voice.

  Good old Wiggins. You could always count on her. She never got mad. But then, we could never get her, either. She was just too clever.

  CHAPTER SIX

  On the way home f
rom school I had the perfect chance to watch Taffy Sinclair in action. I had taken a different route in order to avoid being seen walking alone by any of my FORMER friends, and when I turned one corner, there she was about a half a block ahead of me, walking with Scott Daly and Mark Peters. Scott and Mark are two of the other cute boys whose pictures I had considered having blown up to poster size. The three of them were walking along with Taffy in the middle, and the boys were paying so much attention to her that they probably wouldn't have looked up if a parade had gone by. It almost made me sick until I realized that very soon cute boys would jump at the chance to walk with me.

  The first thing I noticed about Taffy was that when she turned her head to look from one of them to the other, she sort of flipped her long, blond hair so that it brushed across a shoulder. That looked easy enough. Then I remembered that my hair was too short to brush across a shoulder, but I practiced moving my head that way a couple of times, anyway, since I planned to let my hair grow long like Taffy's.

  The next thing I noticed was the way she walked. She was moving slowly, and each time she took a step with her right foot, she sort of twisted her hips in that direction. Then when she took a step with her left foot, she twisted back that way. I watched her walk like that for a minute, thinking that she was twisting her hips back and forth so much she was probably covering more territory sideways than she was going forward. Walking like that was going to take some practice.

  I thought about how I walked. I sort of leaned forward and took short, fast steps. In fact, Pink had once said that I walked like someone in one of those old-fashioned movies when the film goes really fast. I had seen one of those old movies once, and now I could understand why no cute boys ever wanted to walk with me.

  I tried to remember how Mom walked when she was with Pink, but for the life of me I couldn't. I guess I had just never paid that much attention before. I made a mental note to watch her the next time I had the chance.