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

can ' t go skating. What if you broke a leg? It would ruin your movie career! "
    Taffy felt as if her whole body were crashing inward. She didn ' t dare look at Cory. What could she say?
    " It ' s okay, Mrs. Sinclair, " said Cory. " We can go to a movie. I guess I wasn ' t thinking when I asked her to go skating. "
    In exasperation Taffy spun around and opened her mouth to plead with her mother, but the look of determination on Mrs. Sinclair ' s face stopped her.
    " Come on, Taffy, " Cory urged. " It ' s okay. Honest. "
    Taffy got her jacket from the hall closet and said good-night to her parents. Then she followed Cory out of the house.
    " I feel just awful, " she said as they walked down the street toward Cinema Six. " Were we supposed to meet Shawnie and Craig at Skateland? "
    Cory nodded. " Don ' t worry, though. We ' ll explain later. They ' ll understand. "
    Even though Cory seemed perfectly content to see a movie, Taffy couldn ' t help wishing they could have gone to Skateland. There would be so many Wakeman kids there, and maybe if they saw her with Cory, they would realize that she was just one of them. Maybe they would even forget to hate her for being a movie star. Also, hadn ' t Kimm said that Cory had already seen all of the movies playing at Cinema Six? No wonder he wanted to skate, she thought. He ' s probably bored to death.
    But halfway through the movie he reached for her hand, and on the way out of the theater he slipped his arm around her waist. " Do you mind if we skip Bumpers tonight? " he said. " There ' s something I ' d like to ask you—in private. "
    Taffy ' s eyes widened, and her heart skipped a beat. " It ' s okay with me, " she assured him.
    When they were outside, Cory steered her into a small park and motioned toward a bench underneath a beautiful oak tree. They sat down, and he made circles in the dirt with the toe of his sneaker. Finally he looked up and said, " I ' ll bet things seem pretty dull here after Hollywood, don ' t they? "
    " No, honest, " Taffy insisted. " I ' m really glad to be back. " Then she added quickly, " Going to classes at Wacko is a lot more fun than sitting around with a tutor on a movie set. Of course, we only had to go to school three hours a day, which was pretty neat, but— " She broke off the sentence quickly, embarrassed that she had forgotten her vow not to make a big deal about Hollywood or starring in a movie. She would just answer people ' s questions and let it go at that. Now she had broken that promise to herself. What if she had blown Cory ' s feelings for her, too? she thought frantically.
    " Yeah. Well, I guess things are different there, " Cory said lamely.
    " No . . . I mean, yes . . . I mean . . ." she fumbled, trying desperately to think of the right thing to say.
    Then, to her surprise, Cory looked at her and said, " I . . . I really missed you while you were in Hollywood. "
    Taffy felt a pink glow spread over her cheeks. " I missed you, too, " she said shyly.
    " I was worried that you might like it so much out there that you ' d never come back. "
    Taffy bit her lower lip. She could never admit to Cory just how much she had liked Hollywood and how much she missed it, now that she was home. " But I did come back, " she told him.
    " Yeah. " Cory grinned broadly. " And am I glad! " He looked down again, making more circles in the dirt with the toe of his sneaker. " What I wanted to know is . . . " he began, " . . . would you go steady with me? "
    Taffy ' s heart leapt into her throat. Had she heard him right? Had he actually asked her to go steady? But the look in his eyes told her that he had.
    " I mean, if you don ' t want to, or if you think you ' re going back to Hollywood . . ."
    " Oh, yes, " she answered quickly. " I ' d love to go steady with you. "
    Cory leaned toward her and kissed her softly on the lips.
    I ' ll never go back to Hollywood, she vowed silently as they walked toward home. And I ' ll talk my mother into letting me take singing