Free Taffy Sinclair 004 - Taffy Sinclair and the Romance Machine Disaster by Betsy Haynes Page A

at me, too. Especially Taffy. She was glaring at me with poison-dart eyes. No on e said anything. It was as if I were in the middle of a stage and the audience was waiting for me to begin my solo. I didn ' t care. I had something to say and I was going to say it.
    " You think you are so wonderful, Randy Kirwan, " I began. " Well, you aren ' t wonderful at all. You ' re conceited! In fact, you aren ' t just the most conceited boy in Mark Twain Elementary. You ' re the most conceited boy in the world! "
    Randy ' s face flushed a bright red and he looked at me with a funny expression.
    " And furthermore, you think it ' s such a big deal to keep your girl matchup a secret. You think girls will fall all over you to find out who it is. Well, maybe some of them will, but I won ' t! I don ' t care! In fact, I hope you didn ' t get me. I hope you got . . . " I fumbled for an instant trying to think of the worst possible person for him to match up with. " . . . WIGGINS! " I shouted triumphantly.
    I felt so much better I thought I ' d die, and I turned around and stomped back to my table. I knew that the cafeteria had gotten deathly quiet. I also knew that everybody was looking at me. I didn ' t care. I sat there laughing in my mind, thinking about Randy matching up with Wiggins and taking her to Mama Mia ' s for pizza Saturday after the football game.
    " Pssst. Jana. Look! "
    Randy was leaving the cafeteria, and he was walking out with Taffy Sinclair.
    Every time I looked at Randy all afternoon, he was looking at Taffy Sinclair, and most of the time she was looking back. Well, she can have him, I thought. I don ' t know what I ever saw in him. I don ' t know why the computer gave me his name in the first place. That stupid computer made a big m istake. Romance Machine? Huh!

CHAPTER TWELVE
    I c ould hardly wait for Mom to get home, and I met her at the door. " Boy, you should have heard me tell off Randy Kirwan in the cafeteria today, " I bragged. " He thinks he ' s so smart. I don ' t know what I ever saw in him in the first place. "
    " Oh, hi, Jana, " Mom said in a faraway voice. " How was your day? " She hung up her coat and glanced around, but she didn ' t really look at me. Instead, it was almost as if I were invisible and she was looking straight through me.
    " I said, I really told off Randy Kirwan in the cafeteria, " I repeated. It didn ' t register. She still had that blank stare so I went on, " and then I took Wiggins hostage and bombed the school. "
    " That ' s nice, dear, " she said. " I ' ll call you when dinner ' s ready. "
    I was starting to get worried. This wasn ' t like her. " Earth to Mom. Earth to Mom. Come in. This is Jana. "
    Instantly her glazed look disappeared. " Oh, Jana. I ' m so sorry, " she said, and I could tell that she really meant it. " I ' ve had a terrible day. Pink hasn ' t stopped by my desk to talk to me once today. He must be angry with me over something, but I can ' t imagine what. I ' m worried sick. Now, what were you saying? " Her eyes suddenly opened wide. " There was a bomb threat at school! "
    " No, Mom. I was only teasing. Didn ' t you have lunch with Pink? You two have lunch together almost every day. "
    Mom shook her head. " I saw him leaving the building at noon alone. I can ' t imagine what ' s wrong. I just hope he wasn ' t meeting another woman. "
    I could see that Mom was really upset, but for the life of me I couldn ' t understand her. " Mom? " I asked. " Aren ' t you the same person who was saying just this morning at breakfast that Pink was bugging the daylights out of you and that you didn ' t want to talk about him anymore? "
    Mom looked sheepish. " I know that ' s what I said, " she admitted. Then her eyes got misty. " But that was before he started ignoring me. I guess I didn ' t realize just how much he meant to me until now. I know this is going to sound strange, but I really miss him. If only he hadn ' t come on so strong before, practically suffocating me with attention.