Taffy Sinclair 010 - Taffy Sinclair Goes to Hollywood (6 page)

For a beautiful actress,

Congratulations on your first day as a star.

Holding her breath, she opened the card. It has to be from Raven, she prayed. It just has to.

Finally she let out her breath and looked at the signature.

Len

"
Len!
"
she shrieked.
"
Who
'
s Len? I don
'
t know any Len.
"

Disappointment pressed down on her heart. Who on earth was Len?

"
Perhaps he
'
s someone you met on the set today,
"
said her mother, who had hung up the phone and come over to admire the flowers.
"
You talked to a lot of the cameramen, the gaffers, the grips. Maybe one of them has a crush on you.
"

Taffy made a grumpy sound and turned away, vowing not to look at the roses again until they turned brown and died. She didn
'
t want them to be from someone she met on the set. Not a gaffer. Not a grip. Not a cameraman. She
wanted
them to be from Raven Blaine.

W
hen the AD knocked on Taffy
'
s trailer door the next morning to tell her that it was time to begin filming, she jumped in her chair. She had been so lost in her thoughts about the roses, she hadn
'
t realized the time. She still hadn
'
t figured out who Len was, and what
'
s more, she didn
'
t care. But one thing was certain, she thought, she would be extra careful about whom she talked to or even said hello to from now on.

But the roses weren
'
t the only thing on her mind. As Taffy walked to the set, she kept her eyes focused on the ground just ahead of her feet and thought about Shawnie and Cory. It had been late last night when she had finally settled down to memorizing her lines for today
'
s shoot, and she had been too tired to start letters to either of them before heading for bed.
"
What am I going to do?
"
she whispered to herself.

"
Good morning, Miss Sinclair.
"

It was the same voice as yesterday, and it startled her so much that she looked up without meaning to. The cameraman who had spoken to her was younger than most of the others and nice looking, and he was smiling as he waited for her answer.

"
Hi,
"
she said quickly, then she ducked her head and hurried on past. That has to be Len, she thought. She was glad she had gotten away before he could ask her about the flowers.

This morning
'
s set was an interior room in the school, which had been built, complete with desks and a chalkboard, on the back lot near the fake school front. When she arrived, Paige, Megan, Chelsea, and KJ were already there, blocking out their movements in advance so that the action in the movie would look natural. She looked around for Raven, but he wasn
'
t there yet. At least she wasn
'
t the last one to arrive, she thought with relief.

Paige was strutting around looking important, so Taffy ignored her and smiled at the others as she hurried to her mark. This time, instead of chalk, it was a piece of dark tape marking the spot where she was to stand when the cameras began rolling.

Suddenly Paige rushed toward the director. Her green eyes were flashing, and she swept her auburn hair over one shoulder as she shouted,
"
Taffy Sinclair isn
'
t the only person in this movie, and yet you always arrange it so that she
'
s standing front and center. What about the rest of us? We
'
re in the story, too.
"

Jerry Lowenthal looked flabbergasted, and Taffy shrank back, not wanting to get into the middle of a fight. It was obvious that Paige was furious and that she wasn
'
t going to merely back down with a few soothing words. But on the other hand, thought Taffy, she isn
'
t the lead character.
I am.

Jerry approached Paige.
"
Sure, Paige. I
'
m listening. What did you have in mind?
"
he asked.

Paige whipped around and began pacing back and forth across the set, pointing to various places in the room and quoting the lines other actors would speak.
"
So you see,
"
she concluded,
"
it w
ould be a much better scene if
I
were in the close-up instead of Taffy.
"
Paige shot a look of superiority at Taffy while she waited for Jerry
'
s reply.

The director rubbed his chin in thought and then shrugged.
"
You know, that
'
s not a bad idea. Let
'
s give it a try. Okay, everybody. Places, please.
"

This time it was Taffy
'
s turn to be flabbergasted. Paige Kramer had taken control of the scene and was pushing her into the background. So what if Paige had made lots of movies before. That didn
'
t give her the right to take over the director
'
s job.

Apparently her mother felt the same way, because no sooner had the actors taken their places than Mrs. Sinclair came bustling onto the set.

"
Just one moment,
"
she shouted.

Jerry took an exasperated puff on his cigar.
"
What is it, Mrs. Sinclair?
"

"
You can
'
t let Paige upstage
my
daughter,
"
she said indignantly.
"
Taffy is the
star
of this movie.
"

"
Of course Taffy is the star of this movie, Mrs. Sinclair,
"
Jerry said in a soothing voice.
"
Don
'
t worry. She
'
ll get all the attention she deserves. Now please have a seat while we get on with the shooting.
"

Taffy couldn
'
t look at Paige. Why did her mother have to make scenes and embarrass her all the time?

Just then Raven came trotting into the room.
"
Sorry I
'
m late. I overslept,
"
he said, grinning sheepishly.

He started toward his mark and then stopped and looked at the other actors.
"
Hey, what
'
s going on here? According to the script—
"

"
The script was wrong,
"
Paige said icily.
"
The scene works much better if we
'
re standing this way. Your new mark is over there. It
'
s the one that used to belong to KJ.
"

Raven glanced first at Paige and then at Taffy before shaking his head and crossing the room to his mark.

"
You
'
d better watch out,
"
KJ whispered to Taffy.
"
She
'
s going to try to upstage you in every scene now that she
'
s gotten away with it once.
"

Fuming, Taffy moved toward her mark—the new mark, which was off to one side and had once belonged to Paige—and watched the gaffers adjust huge, plastic reflectors to create the proper mix of light and shadows. Naturally, her own face was in shadows now while Paige beamed triumphantly in the light.

Surprisingly, the rehearsals and filming of the scene went smoothly, even though once during a rehearsal Taffy turned stage left when she was supposed to turn stage right. As soon as she discovered her mistake, she gave herself a small lecture that the mistake didn
'
t mean she was an amateur but that instead she was learning with experience. And as badly as she hated to admit it, the scene did work better with the actors arranged the way Paige had suggested. Still, she couldn
'
t forgive Paige for pushing her into the background and taking the spotlight for herself.

The only other disappointment of the morning was Raven. In front of the camera he was all smiles, flirting and treating her special. And after Paige
'
s outburst, she was dying for him to mention the scene in the restaurant with reporters crowding around both of them. She was dying to see Paige
'
s face when she heard about that. But he didn
'
t say a word about it. He didn
'
t even act as if he remembered it. Instead, away from the cameras he seemed even more distant and quiet than he had the day before.

To Taffy
'
s relief the rest of the day went pretty smoothly. She divided her time between filming scenes and doing her schoolwork in Toodie McCormick
'
s trailer.

Dollins was waiting when they wrapped for the day and whisked the
m through the rush-hour traffic
toward the hotel with his usual efficiency.

Taffy leaned back against the smooth leather upholstery and played again in her mind the scene where
Paige took control of the filming. She would play it through once, then mentally rewind it as if it were on her VCR at home, and then play it through once more. Finally she let the tears flow that she had been holding back all day. They were tears of humiliation because of the way Paige had succeeded in making her look insignificant, unworthy, an amateur. They were tears of frustration because she did not know how to handle someone as nasty as Paige. And they were tears of anger because she wanted to fight back and didn
'
t know how.

"
I
have
to do something about her,
"
she muttered under her breath.
"
If I don
'
t, she
'
s going to wreck the movie and take over the lead. She
'
ll even rewrite the script if she has to in order to make it come out the way she wants it.
"

She sighed deeply and thought about the story line for
Nobody Likes Tiffany Stafford.
Paige was like Jillian Morris in so many ways. But in the movie Tiffany simply proved to everyone that she was a nice person and didn
'
t deserve to be treated the way Jillian and her friends were treating her. Eventually wicked Jillian saw the error of her ways and changed, too, and everyone lived happily ever after. Taffy blew out her breath noisily to show her distaste. That was how it was in the movies. In real life things never worked out that way.

T
affy bounced eagerly out of bed on Saturday morning and hurried to shower and dress. Even though she usually loved to sleep in on Saturday mornings, the day
'
s shoot was scheduled for one of the biggest malls in the San Fernando Valley, and she could hardly wait to get there. It seemed like ages since she had done something normal, like go to a mall.

As the limousine sped through the crowded streets, Taffy studied her lines and thought about the scene on this morning
'
s call sheet. Since it was a shopping scene at the mall, only the girls in the cast, Paige, Megan, Chelsea, Tess, and herself, would be acting today. Unfortunately that meant that Raven wouldn
'
t be there and also that she would have to be on her guard against Paige again. For the past few days the filming had gone on without major problems or any more outbursts from Paige, but things were tense on the set just the same. The movie cast had expanded to include some adults who played teachers and parents, and Taffy recognized one of the actors from an old comedy series she had watched on television when she was younger. Even though school in the temple of doom was a pain, she was beginning to enjoy the time she spent on the set, sitting around talking to the cast and crew and waiting for her turn in front of the camera.

When Dollins pulled the limousine up beside the mall, Taffy saw to her surprise that one of the second ADs was waiting to escort her to the set. Taffy guessed that Julie was in her early twenties. She had long blond hair and the sort of California look that made Taffy wonder why she worked behind the cameras instead of in front of them. But mainly she was nice, and Taffy liked her a lot.

Julie led her through wide glass doors into the mall. Taffy looked around in amazement. Three stories high, the mall was unlike any other she had ever seen at home. Glass elevators moved between floors, and in the center was a huge ice rink, where brightly dressed skaters moved gracefully over the ice. Julie steered her toward one end of the first floor, where the storefronts had been roped off to keep curious spectators off the set. The cameras had been set up by the entrance to a large department store, and Taffy could see a delicious array of sporty outfits arranged on counters and hanging from racks. One of
the mannequins wore a terrific-
looking sweatsuit in a gorgeous shade of teal. Maybe there would be time after the shoot to try it on, she thought.

"
Hey, are you ready for this?
"
Julie asked.

"
You bet,
"
said Taffy confidently. But as she looked around at the crowd, composed mostly of noisy teenagers pressing close to the ropes and hanging over the railing of the mall
'
s upper level, her confidence started to slip.
"
What a mob scene. Are they really going to let all those people watch?
"
she asked nervously.

Julie laughed.
"
Sure. They
'
ll even hire some of them as extras to walk around on the set like shoppers and make the mall scenes seem real.
"

"
Imagine getting paid to shop,
"
Taffy said, rolling her eyes in ecstasy.

Just then Paige stepped up beside her.
"
I hope you don
'
t let the crowd scare you into blowing your lines,
"
she said icily.
"
I
'
ve seen it happen lots of times with other
amateurs.
"

Taffy sucked in her breath and glared at Paige.
"
You just take care of your own lines,
"
she snapped.
"
I
'
ll take care of mine.
"
Then she spun around and headed for makeup.

When she returned to the set a little while later, Chelsea, Megan, and Tess were there, blocking out the scene with Paige. The director, Jerry Lowenthal, was stomping around, waving his arms as he barked orders around the butt of a cigar. The gaffers were adjusting the lighting, and the grips were making their final checks to see that all of the equipment was in place.
Taffy was still seething with anger, but she pasted on her best fake smile and headed toward her mark on the floor in front of the department store. When the scene began, she would wait there for her cue to move toward the others as if they had simply bumped into each other during a shopping trip at the mall. As she stepped onto the set, she tried to ignore all the squealing, giggling girls in the crowd, but just then a group of boys leaning against the ropes began whistling at her and stomping.

"
Hey, baby! You can be in my movie anytime!
"
one of them yelled, which sent the others into fits of laughter.

Taffy felt her face redden. How could she possibly act her part with
that
going on!

"
Quiet on the set!
"
Jerry yelled, and half a dozen second ADs moved to the ropes like riot policemen to keep order in the crowd.

Taffy could feel Paige
'
s eyes on her, looking her over and sizing up her reaction to the boys
'
outburst.
"
Well, I
'
ll show her,
"
Taffy muttered under her breath. She raised her chin with a confident air and took her place.

The rehearsals went without a hitch. Taffy remembered her lines and spoke them perfectly, reminding herself that the secret to acting was to become the character. With Paige for an enemy off the set as well as in the story, that certainly wasn
'
t hard to do.

"
Places, everybody!
"
the director shouted.
"
Take one!
"

The moment the cameras were rolling Taffy forgot that she was Taffy Sinclair. She was Tiffany Stafford, beautiful, misunderstood Tiffany, who was being unjustly persecuted by Jillian Morris and her friends. The scene was going perfectly when Chelsea
'
s tongue suddenly twisted on a word and the director called,
"
Cut!
"

"
Sorry, guys,
"
said Chelsea.

Taffy smiled sympathetically, happy that it had been Chelsea who had ruined the take instead of her.

"
Take tw
o!
"
called Jerry, and the slate snapped in front of the camera.

This time it was one of the set crew, tripping over an electrical cable and causing a clatter as he stumbled, who forced the scene to be cut.

Paige tapped her foot impatiently and mumbled something to Megan and Chelsea that Taffy couldn
'
t hear.

Suddenly there was a commotion in the crowd, and a red-haired girl of about fourteen leaned over the second-floor railing and began shouting.
"
Paige Kramer! I know you! You used to be on
Daddy's Little Darling
!
That was my favorite TV show when I was little. I watched you all the time.
"

"
Oh, my gosh! It
'
s Paige Kramer!
"
someone else cried out from behind the rope.

"
I know her. She
'
s a
star
!
"
came a voice from another direction.

Murmurs of
"
It
'
s Paige Kramer!
"
and
"
She
'
s a star!
"
flowed through the crowd like a giant wave. Paige threw Taffy a look of triumph and then began turning slowly like a music-box ballerina, waving and smiling to her fans. Some of them held out scraps of paper, begging for autographs, and when Paige went over to the rope and actually began signing her name, one little girl of eight or nine held out the tail of her T-shirt for Paige to write on.

Taffy longed to melt into the scenery. She could feel a sour taste gathering in her mouth. Why did
this
have to happen? Paige would never let her forget that the kids were actually calling her a star. And why didn
'
t Jerry do something about it? They were supposed to be shooting a movie. But when she looked at the director, he was leaning against a camera, smiling as he watched Paige sign autographs and chomping on his cigar.

"
Isn
'
t it great to be a star?
"
sang a tiny voice beside her. Taffy looked down to see Tess standing there.

"
Whose side are you on, anyway?
"
grumbled Taffy.

"
You
'
re letting her get to you,
"
warned Tess.

"
So?
"

"
That
'
s exactly what she wants,
"
argued Tess.
"
You know that as well as I do.
"

"
I don
'
t see what difference it makes,
"
said Taffy.
"
She's
the one getting the star treatment.
"

"
Not for long, she isn
'
t,
"
said Tess in a coy voice.

"
What do you mean?
"
asked Taffy, puzzled.

Tess smiled mysteriously.
"
Just that I have a friend in the right place.
"
She smiled again.
"
Actually he
'
s in the crowd, but at the moment that
'
s not just the right place, it
'
s the
perfect
place.
"

"
What are you talking about?
"
Taffy demanded. Tess could be so frustrating sometimes, and this was certainly no time to kid around.

"
You
'
ll see,
"
said Tess with a wave of her hand as she went skipping across the set like the small child she portrayed in the film.

Suddenly someone in the crowd reached out and touched Taffy
'
s shoulder. She whirled to face a teenage boy with a shock of blond hair falling across his forehead.

"
It
'
s you! Taffy Sinclair!
"
he said in a loud voice, and everyone nearby turned to see whom he was talking about.
"
Your picture is right here in today
'
s newspaper. This is you, isn
'
t it, with Raven Blaine?
"
The boy held up a copy of a newspaper and pointed to a picture, which Taffy recognized at once as the one the newspaper photographers had taken of Raven and her in the restaurant.

At the mention of Raven
'
s name, half the girls waiting for Paige
'
s autograph surged toward Taffy.

"
It
is
her!
"
shouted one of them.
"
I saw that picture, too!
"

"
You touched him!
"
sobbed another.
"
You touched Raven Blaine! I
'
d
kill
to be you!
"

Taffy fought hard to suppress a giggle. Leave it to Tess, she thought. The boy who had called out to her must be the friend Tess had told her about. But she didn
'
t have much time to wonder about Tess and her friend. Teenage girls were crawling over the ropes and swarming toward her, pushing Paige aside in their mad
rush to meet someone who had actually touched
Raven
Blaine.

"
What
'
s he like?
"
begged a tall brunette with green eyes.
"
Is he coming to the set today?
"

"
Is he a good kisser?
"
screeched another.
"
He
'
s
so-o-
o-o
gorgeous! He just
has
to be a good kisser!
"