by Betsy Haynes
"And you get to meet people like Raven Blaine," said Taffy, nodding enthusiastically. Instantly, she realized what she had just said and she slapped a hand over her mouth.
Paige turned around and eyed her coldly. "So, our little amateur has a crush on superstar Raven Blaine, eh?"
"I'm not an amateur!" Taffy shouted angrily. "I'm an actress, and I got this part auditioning just like everybody else. At least I'm not a has-been trying to make a comeback, like you."
Taffy was sorry the moment the words were out of her mouth. Paige's eyes filled with tears, but she didn't utter a word. Instead, she whipped around to face the front again, and the car got deathly quiet.
Boy, I've blown it now, thought Taffy. I just can't find enough ways to put my foot in my mouth. Nobody really likes Paige all that much because she's so snobby, but now I've behaved even worse.
KJ had been traveling along Santa Monica Boulevard. Now he turned the car onto the coastal highway, and Taffy sank back with a sigh to look at the scenery, thinking that she had been here a week already and had hardly seen anything of the area yet. At least now she was getting to do one of the things she wanted most to do, spend an afternoon at the beach.
Out of the car window Taffy could see the ocean clearly and the waves lapping against the beach where Santa Monica Pier jutted into the water. Everywhere along the beach people lounged on towels or under umbrellas, while others played in the surf.
"Aren't we here?" she asked excitedly, wondering why KJ didn't simply stop the car and let them out.
Tess twisted around on Taffy's lap and gave her a sideways glance. "Didn't KJ tell you? We're heading for Venice Beach. You're going to love it. Just wait." Then she leaned against Taffy, covered her mouth with a hand so that no one else in the car could hear, and whispered, "Raven's going to meet us there."
Taffy could only nod, afraid to utter a sound in case her voice might betray her excitement. As if her troubles with Paige weren't enough, she had begun to worry that Raven wasn't going to join their beach party. He had been acting so strangely all week, friendly on the set and then cool and distant off it, as if he didn't really want to have anything to do with her. It's probably just my imagination, she assured herself.
Tess had been right about Taffy's loving Venice Beach. She did love it, from the first instant it came into sight. Piling out of the car with the rest of the cast, she couldn't conceal her amazement at the size of the crowd and all the activity going on before her. It was like a three-ring circus. The boardwalk was swarming with teenagers, most on roller skates or skateboards. Everyone was laughing and calling to someone else and in a hurry to get where they were going. The aroma of popcorn and burgers mingled with the smell of the ocean and an occasional whiff of barbecue or seafood. Vendors, selling everything from sunglasses to maps of movie stars' homes, hawked their wares over bursts of rock music coming from blasters or from live bands, which drew knots of sunbathers to their impromptu concerts. But most exciting of all were the people, of every size and shape—some tanned bronze, some so pale they were obviously venturing into the sunshine for the first time, and others sunburned red as fireballs—shooting across the sand.
"Come on, Taffy. Don't just stand there gawking," Chelsea said, laughing. "Let's find a place to put our blankets."
Tess was forging ahead of the group, sidestepping through the bodies whose lotion-smeared skin glinted in the sunlight. Behind her came KJ and Paige, followed by Chelsea and Megan, with Taffy bringing up the rear.
Megan and Chelsea slowed to walk with Taffy. Then Megan looked sympathetically at Taffy and said, "Don't let Paige get to you."
"Yeah," said Chelsea. "She's really okay. It's just that she's having a tough time right now."
Tell me about it, Taffy wanted to say, but she'd already said too much for one day. Instead she nodded and picked her way through the hot sand to the spot where Tess was already unfurling a blanket and spreading it on the ground.
Taffy dug in her beach bag for her towel while Paige unrolled a straw beach mat on the sand, sitting down on it so that her back was to Taffy. Taffy frowned. This was going to be some fun afternoon if Raven didn't show up and Paige acted like a spoiled brat. A spoiled has-been brat who can't act! she thought angrily.
Actually the time passed quickly. She and Tess left the others to mingle with the crowd, stopping once to watch a pair of street performers, who looked like college boys, give a pantomime show and another time to listen to a black man playing island music on a steel drum. While they waded in the surf, Taffy turned to Tess and said, "Hey, thanks for what you did at the mall this morning. Having that friend of yours hold up Raven's and my picture and get the crowd to ask for my autograph was super!"
Tess shrugged. "I thought you needed a taste of what being a Hollywood celebrity was all about," she said, laughing.
"I thought you did it to get back at Paige for being so conceited," said Taffy.
A frown crossed Tess's face. "Give Paige a break," she grumbled.
"What for?" demanded Taffy. "She likes you. But you've seen how she treats me. Just because she used to be a star, that doesn't give her the right to pick on me."
"Well, she was a star, and she deserved to be one," Tess insisted. "She was a good actress and a great kid. Everybody liked her. It's just that she's had some rough breaks. That's what has changed her."
"Do you mean moving away from Hollywood?" asked Taffy.
"That was just part of it. Her parents split last year. That's when she moved back here with her mother. I don't think she's very happy."
Taffy didn't answer. She was thinking about her own family. Her mother was awfully pushy when it came to Taffy's career, but at least her family was together and she was basically pretty happy. Still, just because Paige's unhappy doesn't mean she has to take it out on me, Taffy thought, but she didn't say it out loud.
The girls stopped at a refreshment stand before heading back to their blankets, where they stretched out again and Taffy finally dozed in the warm sunlight.
She was teetering on the edge of sleep when she heard Paige cry happily, "Look, everybody. Here comes Raven. Hey, Raven! Over here! Where have you been?"
Taffy sat up quickly, checking her appearance in a small hand mirror she kept in her beach bag. A long, red crease, from where she had been lying facedown on her towel, marked her cheek like an angry scar. "Rats!" she muttered under her breath. Be an actress, she told herself. Then she turned her other cheek in Raven's direction and smiled at the boy loping across the sand toward them.
She did a double take, and then her smile drooped into a frown. Was Paige going blind, or what? she thought. The boy coming their way was about Raven's size, but he couldn't possibly be Raven. His hair was an awful shade of red, and his huge sunglasses covered half his face. The towel slung around his neck hung to his knees and hid his build so that he looked like any ordinary boy, if that good.
"It's Raven, silly," Megan said behind her hand. "He has to go incognito or the crowd would mob him."
Taffy nodded, understanding finally. What Megan said made sense, but was that really Raven? It hardly looked a thing like him. Of course, the red hair could be a wig, and . . .
"Hi, everybody," Raven called out. "Sorry I'm late."
It was definitely his voice. He removed his sunglasses just long enough to reveal startling dark eyes, and Taffy knew beyond a doubt that it was him. Was that what being a superstar was like? she wondered. Having to put on a disguise when you went out in public?
His glance passed over each of them, stopping briefly on Taffy. Her heart hammered in her chest, and she thought for an instant that he was going to say something special to her. But he didn't.
"Here, Raven. I brought an extra beach mat," Paige said, holding out a rolled-up straw mat. "You can use it if you want."
Raven thanked her and took the mat. Then he sat down close to Paige without another word.
Taffy narrowed her eyes to slits, glaring first at Paige and then at Rave
n. What's going on? she thought. What does Paige have that I don't have? And why did he act as if he liked me so much at first but doesn't pay any attention to me at all now?
She rolled over onto her stomach again and tried to think. Had she done something terrible that had turned Raven off? Had she broken a rule? Some Hollywood custom that she didn't even know anything about?
So what? she thought angrily. Who cares about Raven Blaine, anyway? But as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, she saw how handsome he was even with that ridiculous red wig hiding his wavy black hair and those huge sunglasses covering his gorgeous dark eyes. She remembered how he had looked when he smiled at her and welcomed her to Hollywood, and she knew that she cared about Raven Blaine. She cared a lot.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
They had sunned for a little while when a blond boy with a dark tan jogged toward them. Taffy noticed with approval that he was about sixteen or seventeen and that he was definitely a hunk.
"Hey, you guys," the boy said, stopping in front of them and flashing a big smile. "We're getting a volleyball game together over there. Wanna play?" He gestured toward a volleyball net set up in the sand a few yards away. Three or four other boys and a couple of girls were casually batting the ball back and forth over the set and laughing as if they were having a terrific time.
Taffy bit her lower lip. She had only played volleyball in gym class, and she had hated it. It was a dumb game, and it made her sweaty so that her clothes stuck to her and her hair hung in damp clumps. She'd die if she had to play. Absolutely die! But then, she thought, surely no one else would want to play either.
KJ jumped up immediately. "Wow! Would we?"
"Right on," yelled Megan, and she and Chelsea and Tess scrambled to their feet.
Taffy stayed on her towel. If only Paige would join the game, then maybe she could sit it out with Raven. And they could talk. And maybe she could find out why he was ignoring her. She held her breath, but an instant later Raven bounced up as if he were on a trampoline.
"Count me in," he said. Then, when the other boy wasn't looking, he adjusted his red wig, pulling it tighter on his head, pushed his dark glasses up on his nose, and ran off toward the net.
Taffy looked at Paige. Neither of them had moved. Well, I'm not going to sit here if she does, thought Taffy. Standing up slowly, Taffy brushed the sand off her legs and looked toward the net. Raven and the others were lining up in two rows on one side, and the blond hunk and his friends were on the other.
"Come on," yelled Tess. "We need you guys. We don't have enough for a full team as it is."
Taffy tried to think of a way to stall. Maybe she could say she needed to find the ladies' room. Or that she had gotten sand in her mouth and had to get another soda. Either one could take a long time, and with any luck at all, by the time she got back the game would be over.
She hadn't seen Paige stand up. "Don't worry, Taffy. We don't really need you," she snarled. "In fact, we'll get along better without you." Then Paige strutted off to join the others, leaving Taffy standing alone.
"I'm coming," Taffy muttered, even though she knew no one had heard her. She raised her chin and stomped toward the volleyball net.
When she got there, everyone was standing close to the net exchanging names, and Taffy heard the blond boy call himself Jared. There was a Sean and a Tip and a Bob, and one of the girls was Staci. Taffy wondered briefly what Raven had said his name was since he was in disguise, but the game was starting, and she didn't have time to find out. She took a place at the far right on the front row, hoping that no one would hit a ball in her direction.
The other team won the serve, and Staci was appointed server. She stepped out of bounds and whacked the ball over the net. It went to the left side of Taffy's team, toward KJ, who immediately punched it back toward Jared, who sent it shooting back over the net toward Raven. There was a short volley before the other team got the point. Whew! thought Taffy. So far so good.
Staci served again, and Taffy noticed with disgust that everyone seemed to be having a great time except her. Tess was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, trying to make herself tall enough to get into the game. Megan, Chelsea, and even Paige were talking and laughing as if playing volleyball at the beach was the greatest fun in the world.
It was the third serve, and Taffy glanced toward the water, wondering how much longer this stupid game would last. She was feeling sweaty already, and the cool waves looked inviting.
She heard a whack! and then someone shouted, "Taffy! Look out!"
Out of the corner of her eye she could see the ball hurtling straight toward her. She took a step backward in the uneven sand and felt a sharp pain as her ankle twisted, sending her sprawling.
Suddenly, Raven Blaine came out of nowhere, flying through the air with his arm outstretched in front of her, slapping the ball away an instant before it would have hit her squarely in the face.
"Taffy! Are you all right?" he cried, dropping to one knee beside her.
"My ankle hurts. I think I twisted it," she said weakly, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes as pain throbbed in her ankle. Blinking in surprise, she sucked in her breath and stared at him. His sunglasses were askew, but that wasn't the worst of it. The diving block had also knocked his wig loose, and it hung precariously on one side of his head.
The others had noticed it, too.
"Oh, my gosh!" Staci cried. "I know you. You're Raven Blaine!" She started jumping up and down, pointing toward Raven and shrieking.
"Hey, you're right!" shouted Jared, and they all began crowding around Taffy and Raven.
Raven tossed the red wig into the sand and looked around angrily. "What's the matter with all of you, anyway? Can't you see she's hurt?"
By this time a crowd had gathered as sunbathers got up from their blankets at the sound of the shouting and pressed in close to get a look at Raven.
"Is it really him?" someone asked.
"Yeah, I think it is," answered someone else.
"Oh, darn. I don't have anything for him to autograph," wailed a small voice.
Taffy listened, wishing someone would notice her and remember that she and Raven had been pictured together in the newspaper yesterday, but no one did. All eyes were on Raven.
"Back up and give her some air," he commanded the crowd. "And you!" He pointed to one of the adoring girls standing close to him. "Go to the concession stand and get some ice for her ankle."
The girl looked as if she might faint for an instant, and then with a sigh of adoration, she turned and trotted off in the direction of the nearest concession stand.
Taffy's heart soared as Raven lifted her gently into his arms and carried her back toward her blanket with the crowd streaming behind them. She let her head rest against his strong shoulder and wondered if he could hear how fast her heart was beating over the shouts of his fans.
When the girl came back with the ice, he patted it gently around her ankle, which had already begun to swell. By this time, KJ, Tess, Megan, and Chelsea had stepped in to shoo away the curious onlookers. Taffy wondered vaguely where Paige was, but she was enjoying Raven's attention too much to really care.
"I think we'd better get you home," said KJ.
"Oh, I'll be all right," protested Taffy. She couldn't stand to think of this moment being over. Raven was so attentive and so concerned.
"He's right," said Raven. "You need to get home where you can prop that foot up. You wouldn't want to miss the shoot on Monday, would you?"
Taffy shook her head sadly and allowed Megan and Chelsea to help her to her feet, one on each side of her like a pair of crutches.
"We need to be going, too," offered Chelsea.
"Right," said Megan. "It's getting late."
By now most of the crowd had broken up, and Raven put his wig and sunglasses back on and walked along to KJ's car. Taffy hopped along, wondering where Paige was. She wasn't with the little procession heading for the car, and she wasn't lying on her beach
mat, either. In fact, Taffy had noticed that even her beach mat was gone.
Taffy didn't have long to wonder about Paige. When they reached KJ's red IROC-Z, Paige was already in the front seat, arms folded and a pouty look on her face.
She threw Taffy a nasty look and said, "Well, look who's here. Our little invalid."
Raven opened the door on Paige's side of the car. "Sorry, Paige, but you'll have to get into the back and let Taffy sit in front."
Paige's eyes got wide and her nostrils flared so wide that Taffy would not have been surprised to see her breathing fire and smoke. Paige opened her mouth to say something, but seemed to think better of it and slid out of the car with a huff and climbed into the backseat. Just wait until we get back on the set, thought Taffy. She'll really be out to get me now.
The ride home was made in total silence. When they reached Taffy's hotel, KJ helped her to her room.
Mrs. Sinclair went berserk when she saw Taffy's swollen ankle. "Oh, no! What have you done? Your career! What if you can't work Monday? The director might get someone else. You could lose the part!"
"I'm okay, Mother. Really. I just turned my ankle. It will be fine by tomorrow."
Taffy's mother helped her to one of the sofas. Then she brought two pillows from the bed and put them under Taffy's ankle and covered her with a blanket. "You just lie there and rest," she instructed. "I'll get the ice."
Taffy groaned at the thought of more ice, but she let her mother wrap the cubes in a bath towel and wind the towel around her ankle. Then she settled back to write a long-overdue letter to Shawnie.
Dear Shawnie,
You'll never guess what happened at the beach today . . .
She had almost finished the letter, telling Shawnie in great detail about twisting her ankle in the sand and about Raven Blaine's taking care of her. She was reading back over the first part of the letter when there was a knock at the door.
"Who on earth could that be?" muttered her mother, going to the door.
"Package for Miss Taffy Sinclair," said the uniformed delivery man standing there.