Taffy Sinclair 011 - Nobody Likes Taffy Sinclair Read Online Free PDF

Why won ' t she just let me lead my own life the way I want to?
    Taffy thought about mentioning the idea of taking singing lessons instead of acting lessons, but she knew the timing wasn ' t right. Maybe she could bring up the subject another time, when her mother was in a better mood. But she would have to be careful and handle it just right. The chance to replace Kimm was too important to make a mistake.
    Mrs. Sinclair opened the door to The Merry Chase Studio and pushed Taffy in ahead of herself. The walls were covered with pictures of famous actors and actresses who had studied with Merry Chase. Taffy went past the secretary ' s desk into the room where class was held. It was a large room with twenty-five or thirty chairs lined up in three rows at one end. The rest of the room served as the stage, where the students practiced their roles.
    At least a dozen other boys and girls around Taffy ' s age were already seated. Most sat beside their mothers, but a few others—the lucky ones, to Taffy ' s way of thinking—were clustered in the third row, talking and giggling together. Taffy looked longingly at this group as her mother tugged at her and pointed to two seats at the front.
    When everyone was finally settled, Merry Chase herself took center stage. She was stick-thin with heavy makeup and hair dyed black. Her hair was piled on her head, and she was dressed in a long, flowing muumuu with tons of silver jewelry hanging around her neck.
    " Good afternoon, loves, " she called out in a deep, throaty voice.
    " Good afternoon, Merry Chase, " the students answered obediently.
    Merry Chase smiled benevolently. " I hope everyone has memorized the scenes for today, because we all want to work hard and become famous movie stars. "
    Mrs. Sinclair nudged Taffy and looked down her nose at her as if to say, " I told you so! "
    Taffy rolled her eyes toward the ceiling and groaned inwardly. She was trapped.

CHAPTER SIX
    Th e telephone was ringing when Taffy got home from acting class.
    " Hi, Taffy. It ' s Cory. How would you feel about going roller-skating instead of to a movie? A lot of kids from Wacko are going to Skateland over on Lincoln Avenue tonight. I thought it might be fun to go along. "
    " Wow, " said Taffy. " I haven ' t been skating in ages. I ' d definitely like to go. "
    " Great. I ' ll see you at six-thirty then. And Taffy . . ." He hesitated a moment. " Did you say anything to your mother about singing lessons? "
    Taffy bit her lower lip. There was no way she could ever talk her mother into letting her take singing lessons instead of acting lessons, but she didn ' t want to tell that to Cory. " Not yet, " she said.
    Stalling wasn ' t much better than lying, she told herself after they hung up, but it would give her time to plan what to say when Cory asked again. She didn ' t want to say anything that would make him mad at her, not right now, when they were beginning to date again.
    " Remember to be home on time, " her mother warned when Taffy came downstairs to wait for Cory that evening. " You need your beauty sleep. What if you get a call to go back to Hollywood and you have dark circles under your eyes? "
    " Mo -ther! " Taffy said with a huge sigh. " I ' ve never had dark circles under my eyes in my life. "
    Before Mrs. Sinclair could reply, the doorbell rang. Taffy hurried to open the door and drew in her breath at the sight of Cory. He looked so handsome standing there, his blond hair falling gently over his forehead.
    " Hello, Cory, " her mother said behind her. Then the tone of her voice changed. " Why are you carrying skates? I thought you two were going to a movie. "
    Taffy winced as she no ticed that a pair of black-and- neon-green roller skates were slung over Cory ' s shoulder. " We changed our minds, Mother. I forgot to tell you. "
    She could see storm clouds gathering in her mother ' s eyes.
    " A bunch of Wakeman kids are going, " she added quickly. " I ' ll still be home early. "
    " Taffy! You know you