The Cannibals (13 page)

“Yes, you are!” I shouted. “You thought the whole thing was stupid! You said so a million times!”

“That doesn't mean I think you're stupid, honey.” She tried to hug me, but I wouldn't let her.

“Yes, it does!” I screamed. “You think I'm stupid! You hate me!”

I ran upstairs and slammed and locked my bedroom door. She knocked for a long time, but I wouldn't answer.

It wasn't fair of me to take it out on her like that, but I'd never felt so bad in my whole life! In one single day I went from being Miss Popularity to Miss
Piranha
, or however you say that word that means Miss “Reject of the Universe.”

That night I couldn't sleep. I kept looking in the mirror to see if I'd turned into someone else and mistakenly ended up with
her
life. But the face looking back from the mirror was mine, all puffy and red from crying.

“Oh, my God,” my mother said, looking up from the newspaper tonight. “I don't believe this.”

“What is it?” asked my father. We were all in the kitchen. He was making dinner, my brother was doing his homework, and I was circling programs I didn't want to miss in the latest issue of
TV Guide
.

She continued, “The medical examiner's office announced today that autopsy tests on former president and talk-show host Larry Singer have been concluded. According to the coroner's report, Mr. Singer wasn't human at all, but was in fact a rare strain of flesh-eating bacteria.'”

“It says that? Where?” My brother actually got up to look.

I know she was trying to cheer me up, but my mother can be so crude.

“That's not funny,” I told my mother. “You shouldn't make jokes about Larry.”

“I'm sorry, honey. Hey, did you see this editorial?”

The editorial, inexplicably entitled “I'm ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille,” said that it was time to “bury”
Scream Bloody Murder
; and for the school board to stop blaming everybody else, “including the young lady whose only crime was in trying to make her dreams come true.”

“Hey, Tiff, that's you!” my brother said.

The editorial stated that it was “ludicrous” for the school board to blame Principal Brown for the pending lawsuits, since
he
was the one who had advised them
against
permitting the movie to be filmed on campus.

“It's about time someone talked sense,” my father said. “Doesn't that make you feel better, Tiffy?”

“No!” I said. “Do you think the kids at school are going to read that editorial or care what it says? They're still going to think I'm a big fat
loser
!”

I ran upstairs and threw myself on my bed, the tears pouring out of me in torrents. A gentle hand began to stroke my back. My mother was sitting on the bed beside me.

“Tiffany,” she said, “please listen to me.”

“I can't go back to school!” I moaned. “They all hate me!”

“No, they don't,” she said. “Besides, it's not your fault that the movie folded. Those legal problems have nothing to do with you.”

“I know,” I groaned, “but if it wasn't for me, none of this bad stuff would've happened!”

“Look at it this way, Tiff,” she said. “None of the good stuff would've happened, either. None of the excitement, none of the fun. And just think—you got to meet Little Tina.”

“She wasn't very nice!” I sobbed.

“No, she wasn't,” agreed my mother. “But like the editorial said, life is one big classroom.”

“But I wanted to be in the
movies
!” I wept. “I wanted to be on TV!”

“Forgive me, sweetie,” my mother said gently, “but I still don't understand why that's so important.”

“Because you're famous!” I cried. “People care what you do! You're not just some tiny little
ant
! You're important! And you never get ugly and old! You always look good in reruns! Forever! I don't want to get old, Mom! I don't want to just die and people won't even know I existed!”

“I know,” she murmured. “It's a lousy system. But it's something we all have to face.”

“But I don't want to be like everybody else!” I said. “Don't you understand, Mom? I want to be different! I want to be someone
special
!”

“Oh, honey bunny, you are,” she whispered, gathering me into her arms.

Chapter Sixteen

I never thought I'd say this, but my mother was right. Everything has turned out fine!

I'm back at school again and the kids are being really nice to me. Even Mimi Durning! Yesterday I was brushing my hair in the girls' bathroom and she came in and started putting glitter on her head, and her eyes met mine in the mirror.

Mimi told me that she owed me an apology.

“An apology? What do you mean?” I said.

She explained that she'd never actually thought of me as a real person until the day the movie deal collapsed, and she saw me leaving the school parking lot and driving down the street in reverse.

“You always seemed so perfect,” she said, “and like you didn't have any feelings. Maybe I was just jealous of you.”

“That's okay. I don't blame you,” I said.

We even gave each other a
hug
!

And The Girls and I are together again, even Ashley, who's back at school and has gained ten pounds and looks a whole lot better!

Sometimes I still feel a little mad at The Girls for turning against me when I needed them most and dropping me like a hot potato. But I realize now that we
all
have our faults, and that we shouldn't let a small misunderstanding stand in our way. I mean, we've practically been friends forever! We'll probably be bridesmaids at each other's weddings!

I really feel like I've learned a
lot
from this experience and my mistakes.

The
best
thing that's happened is that all the legal problems have been solved! The cola companies decided
not
to sue our school because it didn't look too good for public relations. And the movie company has announced that it's not going to sue us either! They're going to complete
Scream Bloody Murder
after all, so it isn't a total loss!

Unfortunately, all the scenes filmed at Hiram Johnson have been dumped and are being reshot at a high school in LA. So there goes my big break.
But
, and was this ever a load off my mind,
SBM'
s insurance company paid to have the swimming pool resurfaced!

So it's better than ever now, thanks to me!

Anyway, who could feel depressed in the spring? The days are so sunny and warm, the birds are singing, and all the trees and flowers are in bloom. It makes me feel so hopeful for the future. Like my mom said, the end of
SBM
wasn't the end of the world. I still have Campbell and my friends and my modeling career. There'll be plenty of other big breaks down the road. For Pete's sake, I'm only seventeen!

And I realize now, after everything I've been through, that there's more to life than fame and success.
Much
more. I'm even thinking of putting off college for a while and joining the Peace Corps.

When I told that to Campbell, he was very impressed. But that's not exactly why I said it. I really believe that when a person has been blessed with money, looks, intelligence, et cetera, they owe it to God to give something back to life.

Campbell says I seem much more considerate and mature.

Another good thing that came out of all the bad stuff that happened is that I really appreciate my parents now, and how they try to make the world a better place. My dad comes up with all these great ideas and inventions, and my mother has devoted herself to teaching, although she plans to quit when they move to the coast and open their Home Sweet Home House. House Home. Whatever it is. I can never remember. Which may or may not pan out, I don't know. But we all have our dreams, no matter how dumb they are, and they deserve a chance to blossom and grow.

One thing I
do
feel guilty about: I've been so wrapped up in myself and my own problems that I haven't gotten around to calling Wally's dad and finding out how poor Wally's doing. The last I heard, he'd been found in the jungle and returned to his school. In a cage!

Doesn't Wally understand that the sooner he gets with the program and cooperates, the sooner he'll be able to come home? I wish there were some way I could explain it to him. Maybe I'll write him a letter tonight, if I'm not too exhausted.

But first—on with the show!

If there is
anything
more exciting than Macy's Spring Fling Fashion Show, I don't know what it is! It is truly the highlight of the season.

This afternoon, as I was putting the finishing touches on my makeup in the dressing room, I bowed my head and said a special thank-you to God. I mean,
think
about it. What a privilege it is to get to wear beautiful clothes and walk out onto the stage and down the runway with my darling Campbell, in front of newspaper photographers and an adoring crowd, when half of the world is naked and starving.

It makes me feel so humble and so blessed.

That settles it. I am
definitely
going into the Peace Corps.

I wonder if you can choose where they send you.

Campbell has never looked more handsome than he did tonight, and I could tell that The Girls were really envying me. But they tried to be good sports about it, even Shelby, who was stuck with that lunkhead Bryan, who fell off his skateboard on the way to Macy's and knocked out his two front teeth.

The other reason The Girls might have been feeling a tiny bit jealous was because at the end of the show
I
was the one who'd get to wear the June Bride gown while
they
had to be my bridesmaids. It wasn't
my
idea. Mr. Margo said he picked me and Campbell because we are the ideal couple.

It's true. And not just because we look so good together. We're soul mates, through and through. During the entire
SBM
ordeal, when all my hopes and dreams were crumbling, Campbell stood by my side and never faltered, or tried to act like he didn't know me. He never even threw the pool in my face!

I just hope that I can always be as good a friend to Campbell as he has been to me. And someday, if it pleases God, his wife.

Mr. Margo has a motto that is tattooed on my brain: “The model's final effort must be to conceal the effort that it takes to be a model.”

In other words, being pretty, professional, and poised isn't enough. There's a
lot
more to modeling than just smiling and strutting your stuff!

Not only do you have to know how to walk and turn and pause, showing the clothes to full advantage, and
not
blink your eyes, so you'll look intense, but you must also be able to undress
very quickly
and get into a new outfit and back onstage without looking like the clothes were thrown on you from a speeding car.

Plus, try to “suck in your gut and tuck up your butt” for two hours! That's our other motto.

Believe me, it's not easy!

But I love the work. There is something so rewarding about hearing all those cameras clicking, and the way the audience oooohs and aaaaahs when you make your entrance in a fabulous dress. Plus, when it comes to making money, it sure beats babysitting!

The first part of the show went smoothly as Campbell and I took a “Cruise to Alaska,” dressed for church in our “Sunday Best,” toured Europe in our “Around the World” coordinates, and decided to “Paint the Town Red” in our matching “Grad Night Party” ensembles. Which reminds me: I have
got
to call Dean Schmitz! He's absolutely
swamped
the answering machine with messages and has even started calling my parents.

In between our appearances, The Girls and their escorts modeled casual apparel: “Sun 'N' Surf,” “Tennis, Anyone?” et cetera. I know The Girls were disappointed that they didn't get to wear more dress-up stuff, but I told them that they still looked great.

Then finally it was time to prepare for my big entrance, the show's grand finale: the “June Bride” scene.

As Mr. Margo assisted me with the rows of tiny genuine pearl buttons, the clouds of veil, and the shimmering white train, a thousand butterflies fluttered in my stomach. I was thinking, this is how it will be in real life someday, for Campbell and me, with The Girls, my best friends, there beside me, sharing that golden moment.

“Tiffany, you look so beautiful!” The Girls gasped, even Shelby. Grateful tears sparkled in my eyes.

Campbell saw me backstage, just before we made our entrance, and the look on his face made me cry some more.

“Tiffany, you look like an angel!” he breathed. “You'll make some lucky man so happy someday.”

“So will you,” I stammered. “You look so handsome, Campbell.” He looked
fantastic
in his snow-white tux accented with a single red carnation. “Too bad you can't dress like that all the time.”

He laughed—I guess he thought I was joking—then he took my hands and said, “Seriously, Tiff, you're a beautiful person. Inside and out. Some man will be proud to call you his wife.”

I wanted to shout, “It's
you
, Campbell,” but my eyes said everything that needed saying. He kissed me on the cheek and wished me luck, then took his place behind the curtain.

I'm
already
the luckiest girl in the world, I was thinking, struggling to control my emotions. But suddenly The Girls were crowding around me—and
they
were all crying, too!

“Tiffany,” Barbie wept, “we just want to tell you—

“—how much we all love you!” Kendall cried.

“And how sorry we are for feeling jealous of you sometimes!” Ashley sobbed.

“And for all the mean things we've said behind your back!” Shelby sniveled.