Taffy Sinclair 008 - Taffy Sinclair and the Melanie Make-Over (8 page)

Mel
anie did not come back to class in the afternoon, and we were sure the school nurse had called her mother to take her home. As for Taffy, she kept her eyes down on her schoolwork for the rest of the day. She didn
'
t try to butter up Wiggins or flirt with Randy or anything, and she didn
'
t show up on the playground at afternoon recess, either.

I couldn
'
t remember when I had been so mad at Taffy Sinclair. I knew she wasn
'
t really going through with that awful diet
"
trick
"
herself, no matter what she said to Melanie. She was pulling a trick, though. She was tricking Melanie into thinking she needed Taffy instead of Laura or anybody else in order to be
thin and become a model. I couldn
'
t let her get away with a thing like that.

My friends and I had made a promise to Mona that we would teach her the things we were learning at modeling school at Katie
'
s house after school, and we kept it. As usual, she was shy at first, but she started giggling when we told her all the things she would have to do to walk across a room.

"
Hold your head up,
"
I began.
"
Keep your shoulders low, and pull your tummy in.
"

As soon as she did that, Beth added,
"
Now relax your arms and let them hang by your sides. Then take a deep breath.
"

Everyone was giggling by now as Mona took a deep breath, swelling up her chest and looking as if she might explode.

"
You can let it out, silly,
"
Christie said with a laugh.
"
Now walk in small, even steps, always stepping out on your right foot first and putting down your heel and then your toe.
"

Mona exhaled and then lifted her right foot into the air.

"
Wait!
"
shrieked Katie.
"
We forgot to tell you to look at the spot you
'
re walking toward first. You
'
ll have to start all over.
"

With that, we all began laughing so hard that we could barely stand up. After a while, Mona was walking as well as the rest of us, and pretty soon we all got into the act, practicing going back and forth across Katie
'
s game room until we started to get silly again.

Suddenly Mona looked at her watch and announced that she had to leave.
"
There
'
s something I always do on Tuesday afternoons,
"
she said. She was acting shy again, so nobody asked her what it was.

After she left, Christie brought up the subject that had been on my mind.
"
I think that Melanie has probably learned her lesson about Taffy Sinclair. So what will we do about Mona if Melanie wants to come back in The Fabulous Five?
"

"
Mona
'
s nice,
"
I said wistfully,
"
but she
'
s not the same as Melanie. Melan
ie has been our friend forever.
"

"
I
'
m not sure that Mona would fit in, anyway,
"
said Beth.
"
She
'
s awfully shy.
"

"
You can say that again,
"
said Christie.
"
And a little immature.
"

"
Speaking of immature,
"
said Katie,
"
I couldn
'
t believe my eyes when I saw into her locker yesterday. There was a bottle of bubble stuff sitting on the shelf. You know, the stuff that looks like dishwashing liquid that you dip a wand into and blow bubbles into the
air."

"
You
'
re kidding!
"
said Beth.
"
I haven
'
t played with anything like that since I was four!
"

We got quiet after that. Nobody knew what else to say. We all liked Mona, even if she was shy and a little immature. But the truth was, Melanie was a super friend and we all wanted her back in The Fabulous Five.

"
I know what,
"
I said.
"
Let
'
s go to the Double Dip for a big fat ice cream cone. Our diets aren
'
t working, anyway, and we need more time to decide what to do.
"

Everybody thought that was a great idea. We grabbed our coats and raced the four blocks to the Dip, as most kids called the ice cream store.

After we
'
d gotten our cones and found a booth and were almost finished eating them, I just happened to look out the window toward the building across the street. It was the local animal shelter, where people took stray dogs and cats or where they dumped animals they didn
'
t want anymore.

"
Look,
"
I said.
"
That
'
s Mona coming out of the animal shelter. Do you suppose she wants to adopt a pet?
"

"
Let
'
s go ask her,
"
said Christie.

We jumped up and hurried outside, calling to Mona to wait for us.

"
What were you doing in there?
"
I asked breathlessly when we got to the other side of the street.
"
Are you going to get a new dog or cat?
"

Mona looked at us for a moment and then shook her head.
"
No,
"
she said softly.
"
I was just visiting.
"

"
Visiting?
"
asked Beth.
"
What for?
"

Sighing, Mona explained,
"
I feel sorry for all the animals who can
'
t find homes. I know they
'
ll be put to death. So I go in after school every Tuesday and Thursday to talk to them and play with them a little bit. I
'
m not allowed to take them out of their cages, so I save my allowance, and when I can, I buy this.
"

Mona opened her book bag and pulled out a plastic bottle of bubble liquid. I knew it was probably the same bottle Katie had seen in her locker the day before.

"
I blow bubbles at them through the wire, and you should see how they act. The kittens and cats swat at them with their paws, and the puppies and older dogs mostly snap at them and then try to figure out where they
'
ve gone when they burst.
"
Her eyes were shining as she talked about the animals, calling some of them by names she had obviously made up herself.

"
The hard part is when I come back and most of my old friends are gone.
"
She paused, her violet eyes growing misty. Then she smiled again and said,
"
But there are always plenty of new ones just waiting to play.
"

I wanted to say something to tell Mona that I thought she was special, a very caring person. I wanted to say it just right so she would know I really meant it, but when I opened my mouth only one word came out:
"
Wow!
"

We talked a little while longer, and then Mona said she had to go home. As I watched her leave, I knew instantly that she was someone I wanted for a friend. I could tell by the quiet way they were looking down the street after her that my friends felt the same way, too. How could we possibly choose between Melanie and Mona? I wondered. It wasn
'
t fair.

Just then I got this great idea. I slapped my forehead with the heel of my hand. Why hadn
'
t I thought of it before? It was terrific! It would solve all our problems! I couldn
'
t get the words out fast enough.

"
I know what we can do,
"
I said, jumping up and down.
"
We can be best friends with Melanie and Mona both. It
'
s easy. We
'
ll just change the name of our club. From now on, instead of The Fabulous Five, we
'
ll be The Sensational Six!
"

My friends stared at me for a minute and then broke into applause.

"
I think it
'
s great!
"
cried Christie. She threw her arms around me and gave me a hug.

"
Fantastic!
"
said Katie, piling on and encircling both of us with her arms.

"
It
'
s just . . . just . . . just . . . SENSATIONAL!
"
shouted Beth, and she jumped into the air throwing her hands over her head like a cheerleader.

"
But what about our shirts?
"
asked Katie.

"
We
'
ll just have to get new ones made that say The Sensational Six,
"
said Christie.
"
Besides,
"
she added with a grin,
"
I
'
m starting to
outgrow
my old shirt, anyway.
"

We giggled and nodded. We knew what she meant. Then we headed for home, promising to call each other later to make plans for our new club.

As
soon as I got home, I called Melanie. She must have been waiting by the phone because she answered after the first ring.

"
How are you feeling?
"
I asked.

"
Fine,
"
she said.
"
Boy, did Mom throw a fit when she found out about Taffy and diet trick. She said that it could have turned into bulimia and that she
'
s going to call both Mrs. Sinclair and Laura and tell them what happened, too. Then as soon as we got home she baked a big pan of brownies and practically forced me to eat some.
"
Then with a laugh, she added,
"
But I only ate one and a half.
"

"
I
'
m glad that your mother is going to tell on Taffy,
"
I said.
"
She deserves to get into trouble, because what she did to you was so dangerous.
"

"
I guess she does, but it was mostly my fault. I shouldn
'
t have gotten carried away with wanting to look like a model. Especially since I made my best friends mad at me. I
'
m sorry,
"
she added softly.

"
Did you go to the photographer to have your portfolio pictures made?
"

"
No. I don
'
t want to be a model anymore. At l
east, not now. Maybe when I grown
up things will be different, but right now I just want to be with my friends
. . .
if you guys still like me. I
'
ve been noticing how much you
'
ve been hanging around with Mona Vaughn and how different she looks.
"

"
Boy, do we still like you! And Mona, too.
"
Then for the next half hour I told her about how we had worked with Mona to change her from an ugly duckling into a swan and how much fun she had turned out to be. I also told her about Mona
'
s visits to the animal shelter. Last, I told her how we had decided to ask Mona to join our club and that we were changing the name to The Sensational Six.

The next morning my friends and I waited anxiously for Mona to get to school. We couldn
'
t wait to tell her our plan. When Christie spotted her coming onto the playground, she waved and motioned for her to come over to our special spot by the fence.

"
Hi, everybody,
"
she said shyly when she joined us.

"
We
'
ve got great news,
"
I began. I was so excited that I couldn
'
t help hopping from foot to foot.

"
That
'
s right,
"
said Christie.
"
We want you to join The Fabulous Five.
"

"
The vote was unanimous,
"
Melanie assured her,
"
and we
'
re going to change our name to The Sensational Six.
"

It was plain to see that Mona was surprised, and she turned her big violet eyes on each of us. Then she looked down and began digging in the dirt with her left toe.

I swallowed hard.
"
What
'
s the matter?
"
I whispered.
"
Don
'
t you want to be friends?
"

Mona
'
s eyes were misty when she looked up again. She nodded.
"
Of course, I want to be friends. It
'
s just
. . ."

"
Just what?
"
asked Beth.

Mona looked from one to another again as if she was struggling to find the right words.
"
Well,
"
she began slowly.
"
Everything
'
s happening so fast. I mean, until last week we hardly even talked to each other. Then you decided to fix my hair, which was great,
"
she added quickly.
"
Don
'
t get me wrong. I love it. But now you say you want me to be in your self-improvement club and to try to be one of the most gorgeous and most popular girls in Mark Twain Elementary.
"

Mona paused.
"
I guess I
'
m just not ready for that,
"
she said with a sigh.
"
But I hope we can still be friends anyway.
"

Just then I remembered the day we had looked for Mona at school and had found her alone in the classroom. She had been furious at us then, accusing us of making it be-kind-to-Mona day and telling us she wasn
'
t a charity case. Deep down I knew she was right. She didn
'
t need for us to swoop down on her and take over her life. All she needed right now was to know that we liked her.

I rushed forward and gave her a hug.
"
It
'
s okay,
"
I said.
"
We
can
still be friends.
"
Then my friends rushed up and hugged her, too.

During the rest of that week my friends and I went back to being The Fabulous Five, but every now an
d
then Mona joined in. Sometimes she stood with us in our private spot by the fence or had lunch with us. On those days we laughed and called ourselves The Fabulous Five Plus One.

It was obvious that Taffy Sinclair was furious. She had not only failed to break up The Fabulous Five, but she had to share Mona, her one and only friend, as well. She shot poison-dart looks at us all the time, and she constantly tried to butter up Mona, telling her how nice her hair looked.

On Friday morning I stopped at the drinking fountain after I got my books out of my locker. When I looked up, Randy Kirwan was standing next to me.

"
Hi,
"
he said, giving me one of the best 1,000-watt smiles I had ever seen.
"
Can I talk to you a minute?
"
I was so surprised that I don
'
t know what I said, but a minute later we had moved away from the drinking fountain to where we could have some privacy. The smile was still on his face, and he stood very close to me.

"
I
'
ve been noticing how you and your friends have been going around with Mona some of the time.
"

A burst of panic shot through me. Did he know something about Mona that my friends and I didn
'
t know? Something terrible? Then I remembered how super Mona really was and how much my friends and I liked her now.

"
That
'
s right,
"
I said, looking him straight in the eye.
"
We
'
ve even thought about changing our club name to The Sensational Six, but Mona says she isn
'
t ready for that right now.
"

"
Wow!
"
said Randy.
"
And I was worried that learning to be a model would make you different, and I wasn
'
t sure I would like you that way.
"

"
Why not?
"

"
Well, you know . . . You were wearing your hair different, wearing different clothes. You even walked different. I liked it,
"
he added quickly,
"
but, you know
. . .
I thought maybe you had changed, gotten conceited. I thought you might even feel differently . . . about me.
"

Tears came into my eyes, but I didn
'
t mind if he saw that.
"
I haven
'
t changed,
"
I said.
"
I haven
'
t changed at ALL!
"

Just then he turned on his 1,000-watt smile again.
"
I know. That
'
s what I wanted to tell you. When I saw how you and your friends were making friends with Mona, I knew you hadn
'
t changed after all.
"

I walked around all day on cloud nine. My feet didn
'
t touch the ground one single time. I knew why Randy hadn
'
t smiled at me lately. He had been worried that I wasn
'
t a kind and sensitive person anymore, but he knew the truth, and I had the feeling that he liked me more than ever now
.