Taffy Sinclair 008 - Taffy Sinclair and the Melanie Make-Over Read Online Free PDF

and I ducked out without waiting for Melanie and headed for my apartment, where we could talk things over and get a snack. Modeling school had made all of us absolutely famished. I put an entire package of cheese curls in a bowl and set it in the middle of the kitchen table and then started looking for sodas.
    " Did you see how skinny Laura MacLeod is? " asked Beth, scooping up a handful of cheese curls with one hand and plopping them into her mouth one at a time with the other.
    " I ' ve read that models have to be that skinny, " offered Christie. " Otherwise nobody will hire them. They work really hard to stay that way. "
    " I ' ve read that, too, " I added, handing everyone a can of soda.
    " So do actresses, " said Beth. " I ' d give anything to be that skinny. In fact, I ' m starting on a diet right this minute. If Laura can do it, I can! " With that Beth pushed the bowl of cheese curls across the table and almost into Christie ' s lap.
    " Maybe she ' s naturally thin, " said Katie. " Some people are, you know. "
    " Not that thin, " said Beth. " Besides, I ' ve read articles about how models practically live on nothing but lettuce leaves and mineral water. They sacrifice for their profession. I think that ' s beautiful. I ' m going to sacrifice for my profession, too. Don ' t try to talk me out of it. "
    " So when ' s the funeral? " Katie asked sarcastically.
    " What funeral? " demanded Beth. " I ' m not going to kill myself. I ' m just going to lose a little weight. "
    " The funeral ' s for your brain, and it ' s already dead if you ' re going to eat only lettuce leaves and mineral water. Dieting like that is dangerous. Haven ' t you ever heard of anorexia or bulimia? "
    " Don ' t be silly, " scoffed Beth. " This is nothing like that. "
    " I could stand to lose a little weight myself, " I said. I had to agree with Beth. I knew about anorexia and bulimia, and they had nothing to do with us. Katie was just trying to put a damper on things again.
    " Why don ' t you put away the cheese curls and see if you have any apples or anything? " Christie suggested brightly " We could all stand to trim down a little. "
    " Terrific idea! " I cried. " We can weigh in on my bathroom scale and keep track of how much we lose as a project for The Fabulous Five. " Then, looking at Katie, I added, " This isn ' t a matter of having eating disorders or whatever they ' re called. It ' s a matter of becoming the most gorgeous girls in Mark Twain Elementary. Isn ' t that what The Fabulous Five is all about? "
    Katie shrugged. " I guess so, " she conceded. " As long as we don ' t overdo it. There ' s another problem, though. Without Melanie, we aren ' t The Fabulous Five anymore. "
    " Maybe we ' ll just have to be The Fabulous Four, " I said.
    Just then there was a knock at the door. I rushed in to the living room and looked out through the peephole. " It ' s Melanie! " I gasped.
    She has a lot of nerve showing up here after the show she put on at modeling school, I thought, and I could hear my friends murmuring among themselves in the kitchen as I opened the door.
    " Hi, " Melanie said in a quiet voice. " I thought you guys might be here. May I come in? "
    " Sure, " I said offhandedly.
    " I know you ' re all really mad at me for spending so much time with Taffy Sinclair, " she began. " And I ' m sorry, too. Being best friends with you and part of The Fabulous Five is more important to me than anything . . . even being a model. "
    It was obvious from the look on Melanie ' s face that she was truly repentant. I wanted to run to her, throw my arms around her, and give her a big hug, but I hung back, waiting to see what my other friends would do. I didn ' t want everybody to think I was just a big pushover.
    It was Katie who broke the ice. " Here. Have an apple. " She picked an apple up from the counter where I had laid them to answer the door, and she tossed it to Melanie. " The Fabulous Five has a new project. Losing weight. "
    Melanie grabbed the