Taffy Sinclair 011 - Nobody Likes Taffy Sinclair Read Online Free Page A

that two ninth-grade boys were leaving. The bumper cars were relics of an old amusement park ride and were what gave the place its name. Taffy plunked her books in the seat and scooted inside an instant before a group of kids coming from the back of the room could get to it. " Whoa. That was close, " she said as Shawnie sat down beside her.
    " Oh, hi, Taffy. I heard you were back. "
    Taffy looked up to see Alexis Duvall and Lisa Snow stopping beside the bumper car. It was Alexis who had spoken, and Taffy couldn ' t help remembering that neither Alexis nor Lisa had even so much as spoken to her in the cafeteria. Still, she thought, they ' re being friendly now.
    " Hi, guys, " Taffy replied. " What ' s been going on? "
    " Absolutely nothing, " said Alexis.
    " You can say that again, " agreed Lisa. " This place is a snore, totally dullsville. "
    " Gee, you should have been in Hollywood with me, " Taffy said eagerly, as a crowd of kids began to gather around the bumper car. " Things were anything but dull. " She raised her voice so that everyone could hear. " There were lots of teenagers in the cast, and we went to the beach and did tons of fun things. I even went to a party at the director ' s Beverly Hills mansion, and Patrick Swayze was there! "
    " Big deal, " she heard someone mutter.
    Taffy winced, knowing the remark had been meant for her. Someone must be jealous. The rest of the crowd looked interested.
    " You probably know some of the other stars in my movie, " she went on. " Raven Blaine was in it. He may be one of the biggest stars in the world, but in person he ' s really kind and sensitive. Paige Kramer was in it, too. Remember her? She used to star in her own weekly TV show called Daddy's Little Darling. We got to be terrific friends. "
    " Wow! It sounds like all your Hollywood friends are better than your friends back here in good old boring Wacko! " challenged Tammy Lucero.
    " Right, " said Marcie Bee. " I ' m surprised you ' d even sit with Shawnie, now that you have big-deal movie stars for friends. "
    Taffy looked at them in shock. She opened her mouth to reply, but Shelly Bramlett cut her off.
    " Oh, I just love my new friends, " Shelly said in a falsetto voice, which Taffy knew was supposed to be an imitation of her own voice. " They ' re all sooooo famous! "
    Laughter broke out around the room.
    " Hey, guys. Wait a minute, " Shawnie yelled over the noise, but no one was paying any attention to her. Then turning to Taffy, she said, " Come on. Let ' s get out of here. "
    Taffy couldn ' t speak. She tried to hold back the tears gathering behind her eyes. What ' s the matter with everybody? she wanted to shout. Why didn ' t they understand that she was just explaining about her life in Hollywood? The stars she had met may have been famous, but they were just regular kids.
    Picking up her things, she followed Shawnie outside into the refreshing air.
    " Oh, Shawnie. Why did they say all those things? " she cried.
    Shawnie put an arm around her shoulder. " I guess they think you ' re bragging, that you think you ' re better than they are, now that you ' ve made a Hollywood movie. "
    Taffy was silent for a moment. Then she sighed and looked sadly at Shawnie. " But it just isn ' t fair, " she began. " Can you imagine how awful it is to have something wonderful happen in your life and not be able to talk about it because everyone thinks you ' re bragging? "
    " You can talk to me about it, " Shawnie said softly. " I won ' t think you ' re bragging. "
    Taffy looked at the sincere expression on Shawnie ' s face. Surely Kimm Taylor couldn ' t wreck their friendship.
    " Thanks, Shawnie, " said Taffy. " You ' re a good friend. But I still don ' t understand what ' s wrong with everybody else. "
    " They ' ll get over it, " offered Shawnie. " It ' s just that nobody from Wakeman Junior High has ever gone off to Hollywood to make a movie before. And hearing about it makes some kids feel like big fat nothings. "
    Taffy sighed and