Read Online Taffy Sinclair 008 - Taffy Sinclair and the Melanie Make-Over by Betsy Haynes - Free Book Online

agreed that my idea was a good one, and Christie said she would be the one to invite Mona. We practiced our model ' s walk and weighed in and talked awhile, and then my friends went home.
    I thought about calling Melanie ' s house to find out how she was feeling and to ask what was wrong with her, but I didn ' t. She seemed okay by the time Laura dismissed modeling class. Besides, I couldn ' t stand the way she was hanging around with Taffy Sinclair. If Melanie wanted to choose between The Fabulous Five and Taffy, that was her business. And if I called her, she would think I was begging her to come back.
    A little while later the phone rang. It was Christie, and I could tell by the sound of her voice that she had good news.
    " Mona says she ' ll come! " Christie gushed. " I can ' t believe it. She sounded a little surprised at first, but when I told her that we really did want her at our meeting, she thought about it for a minute and then said okay. "
    " Terrific! " I said, bouncing up and down on my tiptoes.
    " I can ' t wait to get started on her. Like Beth said, we ' ll be changin g an ugly duckling into a swan. "
    " Yeah, " I said. " And wait until Taffy Sinclair sees that. "

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
    So far, anyway, the things I was learning in modeling school hadn ' t done much for my relationship with Randy. He not only hadn ' t given me one of his 1,000-watt smiles in a long time, but when I got to school Monday morning, he glanced at me for an instant and then looked away so quickly that my heart almost stopped.
    " I think Randy is avoiding me, " I confided to my friends as soon as I reached our special spot by the fence where they were waiting.
    " Don ' t be silly, " said Beth. " Randy Kirwan is crazy about you. Hasn ' t he kissed you TWICE? Why would he avoid you? "
    I frowned. " He ' s probably so impressed with Taffy that he doesn ' t care about me anymore. I mean, have you noticed that ever since modeling school started she always walks absolutely perfectly and sits down absolutely perfectly and does EVERYTHING as perfectly as Laura MacLeod? " Then I went on to tell them about how Randy had started to look at me and then turned away. " I definitely think he did that on purpose, " I confessed.
    " You thought he had lost interest in you when Taffy pulled that secret-admirer trick on you, too, but he hadn ' t, " said Christie.
    " I know, " I responded, " but he really did turn away. That means something must be wrong or else why would he do it? "
    " Psst , guys, " Katie whispered loudly. " Here comes Mona. Everybody smile. "
    Mona was trudging up the front walk with her shoulders slumped forw ard and her hair hanging in her eyes, as usual. She reminded me of a sad puppy.
    " Hi, Mona, " I said, trying my best to sound cheerful.
    " Hi, Mona, " echoed my friends.
    She looked up and gave us an embarrassed smile. Then she made a quick left and hurried toward the side entrance.
    " What are we going to do when she comes to our club meeting after school? " Beth moaned. " What will we say to her? Did you see how she just acted? She ' s scared to death of us. "
    Christie sighed. " We can ' t just start right in trying to make her over. We ' re going to have to get some conversation going. Make her trust us and stuff. "
    " Sure, " I agreed. " But how? "
    We worried about that for the rest of the day. I even forgot about Randy ' s avoiding me and about Taffy and Melanie ' s hanging around together. I could think about those things later. But Mona was coming to my apartment after school.
    At morning recess we huddled in the cold beside the fence and stared at each other with blank expressions. At noon we were so worried that we couldn ' t look at Mona across the cafeteria or finish our lunches, and by afternoon recess panic had set in.
    " I guess changing Mona from an ugly duckling into a swan wasn ' t such a super idea after all, " conceded Beth as we headed for my apartment after school. " We can ' t even think of a way to begin.