Taffy Sinclair 009 - The Truth About Taffy Sinclair by Betsy Haynes Read Free Book Online Page A

worked it just right, he ' d never be able to say no.
    We loaded up with books and papers and started down the hall again. I took a deep breath to get up my nerve.
    " You were right about Clarence wanting to kiss me, " I began shyly. " In fact . . . " I let my voice trail off as if I couldn ' t stand to say any more.
    Randy frowned. " What do you mean? "
    " I haven ' t told anyone, " I whispered. " Clarence is such a bully. But he ' s always following me after school. And trying to kiss me when no one ' s around. "
    " That creep. " Randy stopped dead in his tracks. " Wait until I get my hands on him! "
    " Oh, no. Don ' t tell him that I told you. He ' ll be really mad at me. "
    Randy stood there for a moment, and I could tell that he was thinking over what I had said. I could hardly breathe as I waited to see if my plan had worked.
    " Okay, " he said. " I won ' t tell him, but meet me by the front door after school. I ' ll walk you home, and I ' ll do it every day until school is out. Let ' s see Clarence try anything when I ' m with you. "
    My feet didn ' t touch the floor all the way to the Media Center and back. It had worked! Randy was going to walk me home from school for the rest of the week. Surely by the party Friday night he ' d be my boyfriend instead of Jana Morgan ' s. I would take him away from her if it was the last thing I ever did, and there wasn ' t a thing she could do about i t.

CHAPTER TEN
    "J ana and the others say they don ' t have your diary, " said Mona when I met her in the girls ' bathroom during morning recess.
    " Ha! " I scoffed. " What did I tell you? They won ' t admit it to you because they know you and I are friends. "
    " Are you really sure they have it? What if they ' re telling the truth? I ' ll bet someone else has it and is planning to give it back. "
    " Of course I ' m sure they have it, " I insisted. " Who else would keep it hidden all this time? Anyone else would have given it back a long time ago. "
    Mona shrugged and looked dejected.
    " That ' s okay, Mona. You tried. " I made my voice sound as sad as possible. " I ' ll just have to think of something before it ' s too late. "
    " What do you mean, ' before it ' s too late ' ? "
    " Oh, I was just thinking that they are probably planning something. Something awful . . . like reading my diary out loud at Curtis ' s party Friday night. "
    I could see from the look on Mona ' s face that she was surprised. " They wouldn ' t do a thing like that. Would they? "
    " Not to you, " I said. " Or to anybody else except me. You know how much they hate me. They always have. And now that I ' m probably going to get that part in the television commercial, they hate me more than ever. "
    Mona was quiet for a moment. " Let me talk to them again. If they have your diary, I ' ll find out this time. I promise. "
    After Mona left, I put my elbows on the shelf above the sinks and stared at myself in the mirror. Was it possible that Jana and her friends really didn ' t have my diary? It would have been a lucky break for them if it had landed in one o f their lockers during the mix- up. But there were twenty-one other kids in Miss Wiggins ' s sixth-grade class, twenty if I didn ' t count myself, who could have gotten that diary just as easily as one of The Fabulous Five.
    In my mind I went down each row in the classroom looking for possibilities. Kids who would have a reason to keep my diary. Matt Zeboski—no. Gloria Drexler—no. Sara Sawyer—probably not. We weren ' t great friends, but we weren ' t big enemies, either. Keith Masterson—no. Wait a minute, I thought. Keith and Joel and Richie were the ones who messed up the lockers. Maybe one of them had it. They were always playing jokes on people. I made a mental note that the three of them were suspects, and then went on down the rows. Of course every one of The Fabulous Five had to be counted. Alexis and Kim and Lisa were maybe ' s along with Sara.
    Suddenly I thought about Mona. She was the one who had