Free Taffy Sinclair 009 - The Truth About Taffy Sinclair by Betsy Haynes Page B

sacked in the middle of a pass. I started to grab for my diary, but before I could move, someone else wrenched it out of his hand.
    It was Jana, and she tucked it under her arm as she got to her feet. My heart stopped. What was she going to do? Slowly everyone else untangled themselves from the pile of bodies and stood up, too, and I realized for the first time that it had been The Fabulous Five who had tackled Clarence.
    " Jeez, " he said, sitting up and rubbing a spot on his head. " Knocked down by a bunch of girls! I wasn ' t going to do anything! Honest! I was just having a little fun. "
    " We didn ' t like your idea of fun, " said Jana. " And what ' s more, this diary is private property. It belongs to Taffy Sinclair. "
    Then Jana stepped over Clarence ' s outstretched legs and held the diary out to me. " Here ' s your diary back. Now we know who had it and why. He wasn ' t going to read it tonight. He was just going to bribe you into giving him a kiss. "
    " Thanks, " I whispered as my chin started to quiver. I had never been so grateful to anyone in my entire life. " Thanks a million. "
    I took my diary, thinking that I was beginning to feel differently about Jana and her friends, and from the way they had ganged up on Clarence, I suspected that they felt differently about me, too. Not that we could ever be best friends, I reasoned. Too much had happened between us for that. But maybe we wouldn ' t be enemies when we got to Wakeman Junior High, either. Maybe the truth about all of us was that we were too grown up for that sort of thing anymore. Maybe I was too grown up for a diary, too, I thought. Then, with everyone watching, I tossed it into the fire.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
    A fter that, no one wanted to play hide-and-seek tag anymore, so we went into Curtis ' s house to listen to music.
    " Can you believe that nerdy old Curtis has a compact disk player and all the best music? " whispered Alexis.
    " He ' s not as nerdy as you think, " I whispered back. " He ' s just misunderstood. "
    The rest of the party was pretty mellow. Clarence sat in a corner by himself and pouted. Every so often I could hear him grumbling about how having my diary had all just been a big joke. Everyone else sprawled on toss pillows on the family room floor, drinking sodas and listening to music. Finally it was almost nine o ' clock and kids got ready to leave.
    I glanced across the room at Randy as I stood up and smoothed the wrinkles out of my beautiful new sundress. He was the only part of my plan that hadn ' t worked out. I had dreamed of us finding a dark corner and being alone, maybe even kissing good-night when the party was over.
    What ' s the use? I thought. After all, he ' s Jana ' s boyfriend, and she was the one who saved me from terrible humiliation tonight.
    I looked at Randy again, thinking that he was the handsomest boy in our class. There probably wouldn ' t be anyone else nearly as handsome in Wakeman next year.
    Suddenly something occurred to me. Something fantastic. In fact, it was all I could do to keep from jumping all over the place and laughing out loud. True, Randy hadn ' t spent much time with me tonight, but he also hadn ' t spent much time with Jana, either. That had to mean I still had a chance with him after all!
    My limousine would be here for me any minute. I wondered if Randy had ever ridden in a car like that. I could offer him a ride home. Of course we ' d be alone—behind the tinted windows. I hesitated a moment. I honestly didn ' t want to hurt Jana now that we weren ' t total enemies, but wasn ' t my mother ' s favorite old saying something about everything ' s being fair in love and war?
    I smiled to myself and headed across the room. " Randy, " I called in my sweetest voice. " Can I talk to you a minute? "
    " Sure. " He was looking straight at me and giving me a fabulous smile.
    I hurried toward him, suddenly remembering everything I had ever known about making conversation with cute boys. " I was wondering if