THE DAYS PASSED SLOWLY after Mel’s date with P.J. She tried to concentrate on things that wouldn’t remind her of Justin, but somehow everything reminded her of him.
The following Wednesday was the debut of “It’s No Joke.” Mel decided to watch it at Diana’s house. The idea of watching it at her own house was not very appealing. She knew that Dee and Timmy and even her parents (who all planned to watch) would talk about Justin as if they had known him intimately—which they hadn’t. Furthermore, Diana was going to be the only one at her house that night. Her older brother had left for college and her parents were going to a school board meeting. Watching with Diana would be the next best thing to watching in private.
Mel had long since apologized to Diana for her outburst in the cafeteria. Ever since, Diana had been especially tactful on the subject of Justin.
“So you really liked him?” she had asked Mel during study hall one day.
Mel nodded. “Really.”
“But what happened? Why haven’t you been in touch with him? Did you guys have a fight?”
“No. We just…It isn’t going to work out, that’s all.” Mel would not admit the truth to anyone but Lacey.
After a moment, Diana said, “Remember when you first told me about Justin and I said his name sounded familiar?”
“Yeah.”
“I finally realized why. It was because I had just read a magazine article about kids in commercials. There was a paragraph on Justin. Did you know that he used to be the My-T Soft Diaper baby?”
Mel giggled. “Really?”
“Yes,” said Diana, not pausing to say anything about Mel’s not knowing. And then she was off on another subject. Mel was grateful.
On Wednesday, Mel arrived at Diana’s a half an hour before “It’s No Joke” was to come on. “Oh, good,” said Diana. “You can help me make popcorn.”
“You need help? You’ve got a popcorn popper.”
“Don’t be a jerk,” said Diana mildly. “We’re making Fudgy Popcorn in honor of the occasion. Here, melt these chocolate bars in the double boiler.”
Diana’s popcorn invention turned out to be delicious. Mel put a plate of it on the table in the TV room. Then she and Diana settled themselves on the couch. Diana turned the television on with the remote control and switched it to channel 4.
Mel glanced nervously at her. “I feel like I’m about to watch someone audition or take a test.”
“I guess it is a test, in a way,” said Diana. “I mean, the show’s supposed to be a hit and everything, but no one’s seen it yet. The people in the audience are the ones who will really decide whether the show is popular.”
“Shh!” Mel said suddenly. “Here it is! Here it is!”
The words “It’s No Joke” appeared on the screen with lively music playing in the background. Then came a shot of a residential street. It could have been any street in any town in America. The camera rolled down the street past several homes, then slowly zeroed in on one house. After a moment, it zeroed in even closer on an upstairs window. A girl, Tania Delaney, came to the window. Her name flashed tastefully across the bottom of the screen. Gorgeous Tania smiled a gorgeous smile.
Mel stuck her tongue out at her.
The camera moved to the next window, and another character was introduced. Window by window, everyone in Justin’s TV family was presented to the viewers.
“But where’s Justin?” Mel asked in frustration. “Everyone’s been introduced already—even the adults and the dog.”
“Wait, wait! There he is!” exclaimed Diana.
The camera had pulled back slightly and the front door of the house opened. Justin stepped out. In large letters appeared the words “And Starring Justin Hart.”
“Wow,” breathed Diana. “Starring. He’s the star of the show!”
“Yeah,” Mel said softly.
Diana glanced at her, about to say something, then changed her mind and turned back to the set.
Mel thought that the plot of the first “It’s No Joke” was not really very special. In the story, Susannah Brody, the character played by Tania, wants to start dating boys, and Zack (Justin) suddenly becomes an overprotective big brother and does all sorts of wild things to ward off any possible dates. Nothing new. Mel had seen it all before.
However, Mel thought that the actors and actresses were wonderful, especially Justin. They made a mediocre script into a very funny show. Mel even had to admit that Tania was good.
As the final credits were rolling, Diana turned to Mel and said, “I don’t know about you, but I loved that! I plan to be sitting right here on this couch from eight-thirty to nine every Wednesday evening from now until the show is off the air.”
“Oh, you know I liked it, too,” Mel replied. She and Diana had laughed nonstop during the show. They had laughed so hard that they’d missed some lines and had had to keep turning to each other and saying, “What? What did he say?”
Suddenly Mel began to giggle. “Remember when Susannah’s first date, Joel, arrives at the house and Justin meets him at the door in the gorilla suit?”
Diana began to laugh, too. “Yeah, and Joel says, ‘What gives?’ and Zack goes, ‘What do you mean, what gives? It’s Wednesday—Gorilla Day. Isn’t Wednesday Gorilla Day at your house?’”
“And Joel turns around and runs home!” Mel finished up. Then her smile faded. “Diana, tell me honestly. What did you think of Justin?”
Diana pretended to swoon. “I thought he was…Gosh, ‘gorgeous’ doesn’t seem like a good enough word for him. I’ll use that just for his looks,” she decided. “I think there’s a lot more to him than good looks. He seems warm and—and funny, of course—and caring. I feel silly saying that when all I know of him is what I saw on a half-hour TV program.”
“No, you’re right,” said Mel. “He’s all those things.” What Mel didn’t add was that she was more in love with Justin Hart than ever. “The nation’s Hart-Throb.” That was a pretty accurate description, she thought. Mel made up her mind. She would call Lacey as soon as she had a chance for a private conversation.
Mel got her chance the next evening. While Dee and Timmy were busy with their homework, and Mr. and Mrs. Braderman were having coffee in the living room, she closed herself in her parents’ room and dialed the Reeders. Mel had realized that she might be calling Lacey a lot and had decided to stop asking permission each time. She would deal with the phone bill when it arrived and her parents hit the ceiling.
“Lacey,” Mel said as soon as Lacey was on the phone, “did you see ‘It’s No Joke’ last night?”
“Are you kidding?” cried Lacey. “Sure! It was great. It was all anybody could talk about in school today.”
Mel hadn’t planned to ask it, but the question slipped out of her mouth: “What did the girls say about Justin?”
“Oh, they’re all in love with him. They said what a hunk he is and how cute he is. One girl said she was having a Hart attack over him. They’re thinking about starting a Justin Hart fan club. They say they’ll call it Hart Beat.”
“I was afraid of that,” said Mel.
“What do you mean?”
“Not only is Justin tempted by that Tania Delaney every day on the set, but now he’s got every girl in America falling all over him. Look at my competition. How can I beat that?”
“Mel, are you saying—”
“I’m saying I’ve decided I’m not giving Justin up without a fight. But what a fight it’s going to be—me against millions of girls having Hart attacks.”
“But you are going to fight back?”
“Well, I decided that at least I want to talk to him one more time. If nothing else, I want to find out why Justin kept all this stuff a secret and why he wouldn’t give me his phone number. If he doesn’t want to see me anymore, fine. But I have a right to know those things. And it wasn’t fair of him to leave our relationship unfinished, especially when he knew I’d find out about him so soon.”
“All right!” said Lacey. “Good for you. What are you going to do?”
“First, I’m going to try to call him. Even a phone conversation would be all right at this point. Now, I’ve remembered his parents’ first names. Do you have the phone book there?”
“Yup,” replied Lacey, “and I’m opening it to Hart.”
“Okay,” said Mel. She waited several seconds. “Have you got it?”
“Got it. Go ahead.”
“His mother’s name is Jade.”
“Jade?” Lacey repeated in astonishment. “Jade Hart? What a name!”
Mel giggled. “Really. I know.”
“Let’s see…Gosh, there aren’t any Jade Harts listed, but there are fourteen J. Harts… Hey, maybe his mother goes by her maiden name, since she and Justin’s father are divorced. Do you know her maiden name?”
“No,” replied Mel, discouraged. “Well, let’s try his father. His father is Madison Hart.”
“Madison Hart…Madison,” murmured Lacey. “Well, no Madison Harts, but twenty-one M. Harts.”
“Just for kicks,” said Mel, “see if any Justin Harts are listed.”
“No,” said Lacey a few seconds later. “No Justins. Hey, do you know where he lives?”
“No. And I’m not going to go calling all those J. Harts and M. Harts asking for him. It would be embarrassing.”
“I don’t blame you.”
Mel thought for a moment. “Lacey?”
“Yeah?”
“What are you doing a week from Saturday?”
“Why?”
“How’d you like a guest? I feel like going into the city and eating at Serendipity and shopping at Bloomingdale’s. I could use a change of pace. I’m sure Mom and Dad would give me permission.”
“I think it would be great. I’d love to see you.”
“Oh, thanks! I’ll call you next week to tell you what train I’m taking. Will you meet me at Grand Central?”
“Of course. At the information booth?”
“Sounds good. Talk to you later. “Bye, Lacey.”
“Bye, Mel.”