Taffy Sinclair 002 - Taffy Sinclair Strikes Again by Betsy Haynes Read Free Book Online Page A

happened. I didn't want to stand there by myself with everybody looking at me, so I followed her. I started fishing around in my lunch bag as I went so that I wouldn't have to look at anybody. I was so embarrassed I thought I'd die.
    "How can you act like nothing happened?" I asked after we sat down.
    "You can't let them know they've gotten through to you. If they think they made you mad or hurt your feelings, they'll just do something else. You've got to make them think you can't be bothered with such childish stuff, and the best way to get the message across is with body language."
    I didn't have the slightest idea what body language was, and I must have had a really dumb look on my face because she started explaining.
    "Body language is talking to somebody by moving a certain way. It's like when you stick your nose in the air to snub somebody. Only it's a lot more than that. You can say just about anything to somebody and that person will get it without you even saying one word."
    It was starting to sound interesting, but I still wasn't totally convinced. "How do you know so much about body language?" I asked.
    "My mother taught me. She used to be an actress, and actresses and actors use it all the time."
    "Do you mean a person can say anything with body language?"
    "Sure. If you wanted to, you could send really snotty messages to your FORMER friends. Wouldn't that be fun?"
    "Boy, would it," I said. I could just imagine saying every hateful, nasty thing I could think of to them, without doing much more than moving my little finger.
    "And that's not all," said Taffy. "You can do all kind s of things with body language." Taffy looked around to see if anybody was looking before she whispered, "Best of all, you can send messages to boys."
    "Boys!" I was really sorry I had almost shouted that because now people were looking at us again. I cupped a hand around my mouth and whispered, "Boys? Are you sure?"
    "Of course," she said. "I send messages to them all the time." She hesitated a minute and then said, "If you want me to, I could show you how."
    "Great!" I said. "Why don't you come over to my house tomorrow morning?"
    Taffy said okay, and I started thinking about how it was body language she had been using all along. That was why she walked the way she did and flipped her hair over her shoulders. I had been seeing it, but I just hadn't understood what it meant. Now it all made sense, and pretty soon I would know how to use it, too.
    I could see it all now. I was going to be able to tell off my FORMER friends, and I'd be able to send messages to Randy Kirwan and tell him I knew he had a crush on me—all without ever opening my mouth. After that, I might work on Mom. I needed more freedom than she gave me, and I could definitely use a bigger allowance. I couldn't help thinking that my life was going to be just about perfect, and I owed it all to my new best friend, Taffy Sinclair.
     
    Mom acted really surprised the next day when I told her that Taffy was coming over, but then she made a typical mother-type remark.
    "I think it's wonderful that you're expanding your circle of friends to include Taffy after all the trouble you girls had getting along before. It shows you're getting very mature."
    It was all I could do to keep from laughing. If only she knew. She hadn't even noticed that my FORMER friends and I were not going around together anymore.
    While I waited for Taffy to come over, I made a mental list of all the things I wanted to learn to say in body language. Of course the very first thing I wanted to learn was how to send messages to cute boys, especially Randy Kirwan. I could hardly wait for Taffy to get there.
    A little while later I heard Mom letting her into the apartment. When I opened the door to my room, Taffy was giving Mom a really angelic smile and Mom was practically melting down into her shoes. Good old body language, I thought. Boy, did I have a lot to learn. Anyway, Taffy came into my room, and we closed