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Last time on Starry
Love Dream! Melanie, Hazel, and Justin’s narration: Melanie: “My name is Melanie!
I’m 9 years old and I attend Grade 5 and I’ve become a famous
idol pop singer!” Hazel: “And I’m Hazel, her number
one fan!” Justin: “And I’m Justin, also
a number one fan.” Hazel: “That was really awesome,
Melanie! I can’t believe it!
You had your first concert! You were so beautiful on the stage! And you were singing so perfectly! All your songs were so pretty! I think all of our classmates were there, too,
and they got to see you sing!” Justin: “That’s right. That means that now they know who Starry~en~Luv
really is. A lot of them have
been listening to your debut song on the radio for a long time but they
never saw you until now. I’ll
bet they’re really shocked to find out it was actually you.” Hazel: “I’m so proud of you,
Melanie!” Justin: “Me, too. You really did it. I knew that you could do it.” Melanie: “Thank you so very much,
Hazel, Justin. I’m so glad that
you’re with me through this. It’s
been really tough, having to do so many things and keeping it a secret
for such a long time, but now I don’t have to, right?” Justin: “That’s right. You don’t need to keep any secrets anymore.” Hazel: “Because now they know
that you are the singer that they love, Starry~en~Luv! Were you nervous up there? I know I would be.” Melanie: “At first I was nervous,
but my manager Christina and my producer Mr. King gave me some advice
and I felt better.” Justin: “Very good, Melanie.” Melanie: “I’m so happy! Here we go!
Starry Love Dream! I wonder
what’s going to happen next! Stay
tuned!” Opening theme song “Starry Love Dream”
by Starry~en~Luv (Happy dreamy love, wings like a dove) (To the starry night, in the starry light) A dream can’t just stay a dream in my mind It would just be a waste and I would be
in a bind No matter where and how far you have to
go You’ve got to chase your dream so much so Never ever lose sight of the love, of the
dream Let your dream flow like the never-ending
stream I know things are tough and it’s easy to
get sad But as long as we’re together, even if things
go bad I want to sing like a lovebird and touch
your heart (touch my heart) Please stay with me and stay close to my
heart (close to my heart) Starry love dream! I wanna be your
happy dreamy love I wanna spread
my wings like a dove Fly with me all the way to the starry night
Fly to the sky and bask in the starry light I wanna be your
happy dreamy love (happy dreamy love) I wanna spread
my wings like a dove (wings like a dove) Fly with me all the way to the starry night
(to the starry night) Fly to the sky and bask in the starry light
(in the starry light) Starry love dream Hold my hand tight and always stay by my
side Let’s hold onto the dream as we go along
the ride Stay with me, my love, and don’t try to
look back If we lose our way, we’ll always try get
back on track There are so many obstacles to fight your
way through But as long as you believe, your dream will
come true Oh, my love, even if things don’t always
go right We have our love, our dream, never lose
our sight I want to sing like a lovebird and touch
your heart (touch my heart) Please stay with me and stay close to my
heart (close to my heart) Starry love dream! I wanna be your
happy dreamy love I wanna spread
my wings like a dove Fly with me all the way to the starry night
Fly to the sky and bask in the starry light I wanna be your
happy dreamy love (happy dream love) I wanna spread
my wings like a dove (wings like a dove) Fly with me all the way to the starry night
(to the starry night) Fly to the sky and bask in the starry light
(in the starry light) Starry love dream (Happy dreamy love, wings like a dove) (To the starry night, in the starry light) Starry love dream, I love you! The Prologue Grandma Annabelle pulled back one of the
curtains in the living room to see what was happening outside. There were three or four children and their
parents standing in front of the house talking.
After a few minutes, they walked away, but every few minutes,
more people would stop by and look and then walk away.
She started wondering what in the world was going on. Grandma
opened the door and went out onto the front porch to pick up the newspaper
that was left on the floor by the newspaper delivery person much earlier
this morning. Melanie
went down the stairs just as Grandma went back into the house. She was already dressed up in her school uniform
and she parked her special “Good
morning, Grandma,” Melanie said softly. Grandma
looked at her for a second but she did not say anything. She continued to go towards the kitchen, but
she did speak just before she came into the kitchen. “Melanie.” “Yes,
Grandma?” she asked. “Do
you have any idea why people keep stopping by in front of our house
and looking?” asked Grandma. Melanie
was puzzled. “Huh? Oh, no. I
don’t know.” Grandma
was silent again for a few seconds.
“Come have your breakfast now.” Before
going to the kitchen, Melanie pulled back the curtain slightly and saw
another couple of kids from her school that stopped in front of her
house and they were talking and smiling and pointing at the house.
After a few minutes, they continued on their journey. Melanie started to wonder what they were doing. She
went to the kitchen and had her breakfast with her grandmother. Grandma was reading the newspaper at the same
time as she ate her breakfast, which is what she always did. Melanie was thinking about what’s going to happen
at school today. It was the Monday
after her first public concert performance! She was sure that she was going to get a lot
of attention from the people at school because of that. She was a little nervous about it. “Melanie,”
said Grandma. “Yes,
Grandma?” asked Melanie as she looked up. “I
will call Mr. Wilkins and ask him if it is alright to drive you to school
this morning.” Melanie
blinked a couple of times. She
was puzzled. “Why?” “I
don’t want those people outside bothering you while you’re walking to
school. I don’t know if they’re
stopping by in front of our house because of me or because of you, but
that doesn’t matter. They shouldn’t
be bothering us. I’ll ask him
to give you a ride to school.” “Oh,
okay. Thank you, Grandma. But why did you choose him, if I may ask?” said
Melanie. Grandma
looked up with a serious face. “You
seem to have become friends with him.
I still think that he’s a little mean-spirited at times but you’ve
convinced me he’s a good person.” Melanie
smiled. “Oh, I see.” Starry Love Dream Episode 19: Now
everybody knows who I really am Mr. Wilkins was at home having his breakfast.
When he got the newspaper, he immediately looked for the entertainment
news section, and when he found it, he took it out and he saw the front
page story that was on it. There were several pictures of Starry~en~Luv
and her concert. “This
is amazing…” he whispered and smiled.
“You’ve finally made it, Melanie.
And now you’re on the newspapers all over the country.” He
looked at the title of the lengthy news article that started on the
front page. It seemed very appropriate
for a major entertainment news story such as this. “Girl Power! Kid Power! The Debut of Starry~en~Luv!” The
telephone rang and he didn’t move at first.
After it rang a few more times, he sighed and stood up from his
chair and he headed for the telephone that was in the living room. “Hello,”
he said as he answered the phone. “Mr.
Wilkins, this is Miss Hartford calling,” said Grandma Annabelle. Mr.
Wilkins was surprised. He didn’t
remember the last time Grandma Annabelle Hartford called him at his
house. In fact, this was probably one of the very rare
times that she would actually call anyone on the phone in this neighborhood. “Yes,
Miss Grandma
Annabelle hesitated. “Mr. Wilkins,
I’m calling to find out if you’re busy this morning, because I have
a request.” “You
have a request? What is this
about?” asked Mr. Wilkins. “It’s
true that you and my granddaughter Melanie have become pretty good friends.
Am I right?” “You
could say that. She likes to
bother me and my garden and she has helped me out with it. She’s a good girl, Miss Hartford, and I’m very
thankful.” Grandma
thought that was typical of Mr. Wilkins.
He always seemed to know how to make a good thing seem bad when
he chose to, but she knew that he was thankful anyway for Melanie’s
help. “That’s good.
I’d like to ask you to do something for her this morning, if
that’s fine with you.” “What
is it?” “Can
you drive her to school this morning?” Mr.
Wilkins was a little puzzled by that.
Then he wondered what was going on.
Before he could ask what was going on, he remembered the concert
that Starry~en~Luv just had and he knew that was when her true identity
as Melanie Thompson of this neighborhood was revealed.
He realized that this might have something to do with it. “I
see. Alright, fine, I’ll give
her a ride to school.” Mr. Wilkins was driving his car and Melanie
was on the passenger seat at the front.
He had just left his driveway half a minute ago. Melanie had told him about the people who have
been stopping in front of her house today. “Is
that so?” Mr. Wilkins began to
laugh. “That shouldn’t surprise
you, Melanie.” Melanie
looked a little confused. “Huh? What do you mean?” “Well,
think about it. You just had
your first public performance on Saturday night.
That’s when it was revealed to everyone that Starry~en~Luv is
actually you. And people in this
neighborhood know that you live in this neighborhood.
All of a sudden, there’s an idol pop singer living in the same
area as they are. They’re going
to be very curious about you. Melanie
thought about that and she thought it made perfect sense. “Oh, I see.” Mr.
Wilkins looked over at Melanie with a smile.
“Hey, these are your star-struck fans.
When you get to school today, you’re going to have a lot of people
who suddenly became your fans.” “Oh,
right. A lot of people are going
to be paying a lot of attention to me.
Oh, you know, I’m a little nervous about it.” Mr.
Wilkins laughed. “Oh, that’s
normal. Don’t worry, you’ll be
fine. Just take it gracefully
like you always do with everything else.
Never brag about it. Just
be discrete. Just act like you always normally do and act
like nothing’s really different, like everything is perfectly normal.” Melanie
smiled and she nodded. “You’re
right. I’m a singer, so I have
to act like everything is normal,” she said softly. “That’s
good,” said Mr. Wilkins. “Good
luck with today, okay?” “Thank
you!” After
a minute, they arrived at the school and Mr. Wilkins dropped her off. It was still early and Hazel had not yet arrived
at the school. Melanie decided
that she would wait for Hazel and Justin near the entrance of the school. Grandma came out of the house and saw four
adults standing in front of her house.
The adults were all in their middle ages and were all mothers. “Good
morning, Miss Hartford,” said one of the women. Grandma
approached them and stood near the front gate.
“Good morning. What brings
you all here this early in the morning?” she asked. The
four ladies were Mrs. Dobson, Mrs. Lagazo, Mrs. Weston, and Mrs. Rayne. Esther Lagazo was the mother of Justin, who
is Melanie’s friend. Julie Weston
was the mother of “Oh,
we were just wondering how you were doing,” asked Mrs. Lagazo. “That’s
right. You must be very proud
of Melanie,” said Mrs. Weston. Grandma
Annabelle looked puzzled. “What
do you mean?” “Melanie
is becoming famous, Miss Hartford. I
think that’s pretty amazing,” said Mrs. Rayne.
“I’m sure you would be very proud of her.” “What
do you mean she’s getting famous?” Mrs.
Dobson sighed and she smiled. “Miss
Hartford, have you read the newspaper today?” “I’ve
read some of it. Why?” asked
Grandma. “Have
you read the entertainment news section yet?” asked Mrs. Lagazo. “I was really surprised. I actually found out while I was at the concert.
Because newspapers don’t get distributed on Sunday around here,
it didn’t appear on the newspapers until this morning.” “Yeah,
but it was also on the entertainment news last night on television,”
said Mrs. Weston. “Well,
if you missed the entertainment news last night, that’s okay, because
now it’s all over the newspapers,” said Mrs. Rayne. All
of them were in a great mood and it made Grandma Annabelle look suspicious.
“What on earth are you talking about?
And, no, I haven’t read the entertainment news section of the
newspaper yet. That doesn’t always interest me.” “You
probably should,” said Mrs. Dobson. “Yeah,
I think you should,” said Mrs. Lagazo.
“I mean, I was really surprised when she was one of my son’s
friends at school.” “I
was surprised, too. It’s a little
girl who attends my daughter’s school and I think you know her,” said
Mrs. Weston. “My
daughter also attends the same school as she does,” said Mrs. Rayne. Grandma
looked at all of them with a strangely puzzled face. “If you’re not going to tell me what’s going
on, I might as well just look at the newspaper.
That’s what you keep telling me anyway.
Does it have anything to do with people who have been stopping
in front of this house and looking lately?
It’s been a slight inconvenience.” “Oh,
I think so,” said Mrs. Lagazo. Without
saying anything, Grandma Annabelle quickly walked back to the front
door. The four ladies all glanced at each other and
began to giggle together. “Why
do I have the feeling that she’s going to be the last to find out?”
asked Mrs. Weston. Grandma closed the door and she went to
the kitchen. She began to flip
through the newspaper that was on the table and searched for the entertainment
news section. Her eyes went wide
open. It was on the very front page of the entertainment
news section. “Girl Power! Kid Power!
The Debut of Starry~en~Luv!” Melanie. She was dressed in an elaborate white costume.
She was holding a microphone.
She looked like she was singing.
Grandma began to read the lengthy news article about it.
A singer named Starry~en~Luv had a concert on Saturday night. Her pop song on the radio has been number one
for a while. And it looks like…Starry~en~Luv
is her granddaughter Melanie! “Melanie!”
Grandma shouted with shock. All
those activities that she had after school in the last month of school
in the previous school year must have had something to do with this. They probably include all those mysterious activities
that Melanie had during the summer vacation. She still has mysterious after-school activities
now. “So,
this is what it is all about? That’s
what you’ve really been doing?!” Grandma shouted. Melanie’s
grandmother was not in a good mood at all.
She grabbed the newspaper and she quickly walked to the front
door and opened it. The four
ladies were still outside talking and they were smiling, but when Grandma
came out of the house, one look was all it took for them to find out
that she was in a very bad mood. Grandma
quickly approached them with a face that looked very strict and very
stern. “So this is what’s going
on?” she shouted, holding the newspaper up for the ladies to see. “What? You mean to tell us that you didn’t know anything
about it?” said Mrs. Dobson, looking at Grandma with a puzzled face. “That’s
what I’m saying! How could this
be? That child was doing all…this…under my nose?!”
Grandma shouted. Mrs.
Lagazo looked a little puzzled. “Now,
Miss Hartford, I don’t think the situation is that bad. I don’t think it’s bad at all, in fact.” “Yeah,”
said Mrs. Weston. “I mean, come
on. Your granddaughter is a singer that a lot of
people love, especially kids and teenagers.
That has to be a good thing.” “Even
you do have to admit there’s something good about it,” said Mrs. Rayne. Grandma
stared at each one of them with great disappointment. She paused for a moment and she took a deep
breath. “I
will not deny that there’s something good in it. I’m sure it is nice for a child to be a singer,
if that’s what she likes to do. I
would be proud of any child who does this! But in Melanie’s current situation…and the methods
she employed to do something like this…this is not acceptable!” The
four ladies looked at her with puzzled faces.
They were not sure what was going on.
Grandma realized that she may have said too much. She began to walk back to the house and she
closed the door hard. The four
ladies sighed. “Oh,
my goodness, I think she’s not in a good mood,” said Mrs. Rayne. “That’s
kind of obvious, don’t you think?” said Mrs. Lagazo. “I
think she’ll get over it,” said Mrs. Dobson. “Yeah,
but Melanie might become a casualty when she does get over it,” said
Mrs. Weston. The
four ladies nodded to each other about that, all agreeing with what
Mrs. Weston said. Justin and his little sister Helen were
walking to school. Helen was
in a very good mood as she skipped along beside Justin, who held her
hand. Justin was as calm as always. Then
Helen stopped skipping. “Justin,
look over there.” Justin
looked up at the school in front of them.
There was a large crowd of kids in front of the school and they
were all gathered around something, but he could not see what or who
they were surrounding. He wondered
what was going on. “What’s
going on over there?” asked Helen. “I
don’t know. Let’s find out,”
said Justin. The
two of them went over to the crowd.
Justin tried to look over the students, but some of them were
taller than he was so it was difficult. “They’re
too tall. I can’t see,” said
Helen. Justin
tried to speak to some of the people there.
“Excuse me. Can someone
tell me what’s happening? What’s
going on?” he said, as he kept on trying to look over people’s heads,
even jumping a little bit to try to look over them, but it was no use. “There’s
too many of them,” said Helen, in a calm way, almost like her brother,
but she had a look over a little bit of worry on her face. “There’s
still a way to find out. Come
here,” said Justin. “What
are we going to do?” asked Helen. “Helen,
we have to do one of our special double techniques to try to get through
this crowd. It’s the only way. Are you ready?” Helen
suddenly looked serious and very determined.
“Okay, I’m ready.” “Okay. Come over here.” He had Helen stand in front of him and very
close to him and he held her. “Okay.
Here we go! Special double attack! Crowd Buster!” Justin and Helen went through the crowd with
a strangely comical move that made people move out of their way and
the two of them ended up in the middle. “Justin!” Justin
and Helen looked up and they were surprised.
It was Hazel and Melanie. “Hey,
you two, what’s going on?” he asked them. “Melanie
is signing autographs,” said Hazel, with a big and cheerful smile on
her face. Justin looked very
puzzled. He glanced at Melanie, who had a bit of blush
on her face. She was a little
embarrassed and feeling rather shy as students around her asked for
autographs. There
were 5 students who were from Grade 4.
“Starry~en~Luv, could you please sign these for us?” they all
said at the same time. They all
held out their school agenda books.
They were special issue Melanie
smiled at them softly. “Oh, of
course, no problem,” she said softly.
She wrote her stage name on the back of their school agenda books
and a cute little smiley face. “There
you go, all done.” “Thank
you, Starry~en~Luv!” said all 5 of the kids. “Hey,
Melanie, do you recognize those kids?” Hazel whispered so that the kids
wouldn’t hear. “Yeah,
I think I do.” The
children were laughing, except for Hazel.
“ Melanie gasped. The children who were standing around the frightened
little boy Lawrence were all in the Grade 3 class. There were a few older and younger children
nearby, including those from Melanie’s class, who noticed what was happening
and they all kept their distance but stuck around to watch what was
happening. They were not doing
anything about it. Melanie
smiled at Hazel and she shook her head.
“They’re not doing that anymore.
They haven’t made fun of Hazel
smiled. “Yeah, that’s right.” Melanie
turned towards the 5 kids again and she smiled at them. “Please, you can call me Melanie while I’m at
school,” said Melanie, with a sweet smile. “Okay!”
said all 5 of the kids. Justin
went over to Hazel and Melanie. “Wow.
You sure have a lot of fans all of a sudden.
It was like overnight, almost.” “I
know! Isn’t it cool?” Hazel shouted
excitedly. Justin
looked up and saw someone approaching.
“But I think the party is over.” Melanie
and Hazel glanced at him. “Huh?”
they both said. “Hey,
hey, hey, what’s going on here?” Every
single one of the 20 or so students who were gathered at the front of
the school looked in the direction of that voice and they saw the school
principal, Mr. Peter O’Reilly. All
the students quieted down and looked up at him. “You
all shouldn’t be crowding in front of the school like that. Besides, it is 5 minutes before classes are
supposed to start. Let’s all
get going before we’re all late, shall we?” said Mr. O’Reilly. He looked extremely professional in his suit
and tie. “Yes,
sir,” said several students. They
began to disperse. After several
seconds, all of them had left, and the only ones who were left behind
were Melanie, Hazel, Justin, and Helen. Mr.
O’Reilly looked at them and he smiled a little.
“Well, Miss Melanie Thompson.
It looks like you’ve gotten very famous around here all of a
sudden,” he said to her. Melanie
blushed and smiled slightly. “Oh. I guess…I couldn’t really imagine it was going
to be something like this…” “I
see. Could you come to the main
office for a little bit?” Hazel
and Justin were puzzled. “What? Is Melanie in trouble?” asked Hazel. “Oh,
no, she’s not in trouble. Please
come with me, Melanie,” said Mr. O’Reilly. Melanie
put a hand on Hazel’s arm as if to keep her from worrying. “Yes, sir,” she said, as she looked back at
her friends. “I’ll see you in
class a little later.” “Okay,
Melanie,” said Justin. Melanie
was led to the main office of the school, which was not very far from
the main entrance. “Is
there something you wanted to talk to me about, Mr. O’Reilly?” asked
Melanie. “Oh,
that’s her!” said the receptionist with a bright smile on her face. She looked around at the other staff members
who were nearby. “Everyone, look! It’s our very own Melanie Thompson!” “Huh?” Melanie was a little confused. “Actually,
there is something,” said Mr. O’Reilly, as he took out his wallet and
took out a picture of his teenage kids.
“Can you sign your name on the backs of these pictures?
My kids really love your songs.
They were actually at the concert that you performed on Saturday
night and they really loved it.” Several
staff members were starting to crowd around her as well, mostly teachers. One
of them was Miss Langley, who was Melanie’s teacher in the previous
school year. “Melanie, I know
that we probably didn’t get along at first, but later on, I realized
you were a brilliant student. I’d
really like it if I could have your autograph, too,” she said to Melanie. If
Melanie was in a cartoon, she’d have question marks flying around her
and confusion all over her face. She
was really puzzled and she was quite embarrassed as she blushed and
laughed. “Okay,
I’ll sign them,” said Melanie. “Well
now. The students were very star-struck.
But I guess teachers can get very star-struck, too.
This is really…really interesting.” In the Grade 5 classroom, Melanie, Hazel,
and Justin were sitting at their desks.
But very few of the other students were actually sitting at their
desks. The rest were crowded around Melanie and her
friends. They were all either
asking for autographs or asking a lot of questions. “Could
you please sign this for me, Melanie?” asked Joanne Leighton, one of
their classmates, offering Melanie the back of her diary. “Sure!”
said Melanie with a smile. Using
a pen with sparkling purple ink, she wrote a short message and her stage
name and drew a few little hearts and stars and a cute smiley face. “Here you go.” Melanie gave it back to her. Joanne
took it back and was totally excited that she nearly screamed. She read it out loud. “’Dear Joanne. Thank you for listening to my songs. With love, Starry~en~Luv’.” She looked up at Melanie again. “Thank you so much!” Melanie
smiled with delight. “You’re
welcome,” she said softly. “Hazel,
you’re so graceful about this,” said Susan Lockhart, another one of
their classmates and a member of the newsletter committee that Melanie
and Hazel were part of. “You
should brag a little more. I
mean, you’re a pop singer now.” She
laughed a little bit. “But
that’s the reason why she shouldn’t brag.
It’s easier to love a star that isn’t full of hot air,” said
one of the other students, Jimson Reeve.
“Some of those older pop singers, they’re so full of hot air
and that’s why only a few people actually like them.” Martha
Truong, another one of their classmates, stood beside Susan. “I can’t believe it,” she said, looking very
happy and star-struck. “It’s
like a dream. Somebody please
pinch me because I think I’m dreaming all this!” Some
of the students laughed. “Do
it yourself! You’re not dreaming,
Martha!” said Hazel, who laughed as well. “Wow! I knew it! I
knew that Starry~en~Luv would be cute!” said Jim Castro, and more students
laughed, while Melanie blushed. Justin
looked up at Jim with a strangely calm look for a second, and then he
looked away. In
one part of the classroom, two girls, Anita and Karen, were at their
seats and they talked and smiled at the students who were around Melanie. “Don’t
you think it’s cool? I still
can’t believe it,” said Karen. “Uh-huh! Starry~en~Luv really does go in our school.
Some of us suspected that from the start because of a girl named
Starry~en~Luv who writes the advice column in the newsletter,” said
Anita. “Now
everyone knows who she is, both as the singer and as the writer in our
newsletter.” Natasha,
one of their classmates, was sitting by herself as she watched the scene. She looked at Kelsey who was sitting next to
her. Kelsey was looking the other
way, at the door of the classroom. “Hey,
Kelsey,” Natasha called out. There
was no answer. Natasha was puzzled. Then she looked down at saw Kelsey’s hands.
They formed fists and they shook slightly as if she was ready
to hit someone. Natasha was starting
to worry about her. “Kelsey?” Natasha tried to place her hand on Kelsey’s
shoulder. “Just
leave me alone…” Kelsey said softly. Natasha
stopped and she drew back her hand.
She decided to leave Kelsey alone for now. Miss
Patel, the Grade 5 teacher, walked into the classroom and she saw the
scene around Melanie. “Alright,
people, let’s all get back into our seats.
Starry~en~Luv is going to be a student in our school for a very
long time, I’m sure, so you have plenty of time to get her autograph
and bother her with all your millions of questions,” she said with a
smile. Some
of the students laughed as they all went back to their seats. “Melanie?” Melanie
looked up. “Yes, Miss Patel?” “I’ll
ask for your autograph later.” The
students started to laugh again. Hazel
laughed very, very loudly and Justin looked at her shook his head, thinking
she must have gone crazy. “Okay,
Miss Patel,” said Melanie, with a smile and a blush. Hazel
held Melanie’s hand. “Hey, you
know what, I was just thinking. No
offense, but your dad kind of has a bad reputation, right? This might change things, don’t you think?
You’re a singer now and a lot of people like you.
And I’m sure that your dad is going to find out very soon that
you’ve become a famous idol pop singer.” Melanie
smiled at that and she nodded slightly.
“Oh, that’s right. I’m
sure he’ll find out soon, I guess. I
hope something good will happen. I
want good things to happen from now on.” Grandma was watching the news at “…an
amazingly talented little girl. She
has the voice of an angel and the cool moves to go along with it. She’s Starry~en~Luv, also known as Melanie Thompson,
the daughter of the Ontario Premiere, Mark Thompson. As you all know, Mark Thompson is alleged to
have defrauded the The
television screen went dark. Grandma
hit the power button. The newsletter committee members, minus
Hazel, who was busy taking pictures elsewhere, were all in the computer
lab during lunch period, but they were unable to get any of their work
done. It wasn’t really a problem, however, because
something rather fun was happening.
There were 10 or so students in the room who were not in the
committee. They were there because
they wanted to know more about what had happened with Starry~en~Luv,
Melanie, and the school newsletter. “So,
it’s true then!” said one of the students, Dinah, who used to be Hazel’s
friend. “Wow! I can’t believe we didn’t treat you the right
way back then, too. We must have
been so stupid, Melanie!” said Tara, another student, who also used
to be Hazel’s friend. “We’re
so sorry. That won’t happen again.” Too
bad Hazel wasn’t in the room with them.
She would have a lot to say at this point. But to Melanie, it was probably good that she
wasn’t here. Melanie smiled at
the two of them. “Oh, it’s okay. It’s not a big deal.” Erin
and Adrien were there, too, from Tara and Dinah’s Grade 6 class. “I guess our friend Danny really made a big
fool out of himself back then,” said “I
know. He spilled food all over
an idol pop singer,” said Adrien, and he and Melanie
thought back to a time a few months ago. Danny
was about to pass by the part of the cafeteria where Melanie was sitting. Erin and Adrien were behind him, hoping he wouldn’t
spill anything. Melanie did not
even notice him. However, she
most definitely noticed him when he cried out. Danny tripped. “Look out!” he shouted. Adrien and The tray of food fell forwards, spilling
all of its contents, including the very tall glass of grape juice that
was on it. Melanie closed her
eyes as the food and drink spilled all over the table in front of her
and all over her as well! “I
remember that. But that’s okay. I forgave him about that a long time ago, so
it’s okay. But where is he?”
asked Melanie. “Who
knows? He’s probably hiding from
you.” Adrien and Erin laughed
again and so did a few other students who were with them. Jeffrey
and Rachel Flynn came into the room and Melanie saw them both. Rachel let go of her brother’s hand. “Melanie!”
she exclaimed and ran towards Melanie and hugged her so tight that Melanie
nearly fell over. Kathy, who
was one of the newsletter committee members, had to hold Melanie to
keep her from falling. But Melanie
smiled down at her and hugged her. Jeffrey
came closer to Melanie and she looked up at him, almost worried about
what he was about to say. But
he smiled and Melanie was relieved.
“I’m sorry,” said Jeffrey. “She
insisted that I take her here to see you.
I hope we’re not bothering you.” “Oh,
no, it’s nothing. Thank you for
coming.” Rachel
looked up at Melanie. “We saw
you at the concert! You were
so pretty! You were so awesome! I wish my brother had a camera but he was too
lazy to bring one,” she said quickly and very excitedly. Jeffrey
felt that in his heart and he put his hand there. “Oh, my God, that hurts,” he said softly. Melanie
smiled. “It’s okay. I’m just happy that you had a good time.” Jeffrey
looked up at Melanie, and she suddenly looked like she was sparkling
with beauty and there were roses around her and pastel colors behind
her. He looked at her as if he was in awe for a second,
then he shook his head, trying to get back into reality. “The
school newsletter, Havenly Times, became a lot more famous, too, Melanie,”
said Terry, who was their leader in the committee.
“Mr. Summers told us that we may have to increase the number
of copies that we have to print by Friday.” “I
predicted that there would be an 89.6 percent chance that this situation
would occur,” said Yung with a soft voice, who was the super-smart Grade
4 student in their committee. She
was wiping the lenses of her eyeglasses with a pretty pink handkerchief
and then she put them back on. She
looked up at Melanie and smiled. “So
we have made the necessary provisions.” “I
thought they don’t teach you percentages in Grade 4 math, Yung,” said
Kathy. “They
don’t. But I got curious when
I was looking at the Grade 5 math book, so I studied it.” Kathy
looked amazed. “Well, that makes
sense.” Melanie
looked at everyone. “Thank you
so much for coming to the concert on Saturday night.
I’ve always dreamed of becoming a singer, and now it’s finally
happened. I hope that good things
will happen and keep on happening from now on.” It was a large group of kids gathered around
a picnic table that was in the school park during the afternoon recess
period. Melanie, Hazel, and Justin
were sitting at the picnic table, along with some of their classmates,
including Jim, Joanne, Jimson, Martha, and Susan.
Little Helen was sitting with Justin.
Erin and Adrien were also with them, standing around them, because
there was no place to sit. Jeffrey
and Rachel were also there. Everyone was either talking to each other or
talking to Melanie and her best friends. “Hey,
Melanie, don’t think that you don’t have many friends around here,”
said Martha. “I mean, Hazel and
Justin may be your best friends, but I think by now, you have a lot
of other friends, too. You just
don’t know it yet.” “That’s
right. This time, they won’t
hide themselves anymore. A lot
of people do like you, you know. I
think you’re starting to realize that just now.
But it’s all good,” said Jim. Melanie
nodded to that and smiled slightly.
“You’re right, Jim. Thank
you. I didn’t notice it, I guess. I was just too depressed back then to notice.” “Well,
that’s good, but I know there are a few people around here who still
don’t like her. Like that evil
witch Kelsey Rayne,” said Hazel. “You’re
always calling her the evil witch. Is
she really that bad?” asked Susan. “Like
totally! She hates Melanie’s
guts. She’s just jealous because Melanie’s become
a famous idol pop singer while she’s nothing,” said Jimson. “I can’t blame you if you call her the evil
witch.” Melanie
saw something at the corner of her eye.
There was a large tree some 20 feet away and beside that tree,
Kelsey was standing and leaning on the tree.
She stood with her arms crossed and with an angry look on her
face. Her friend Natasha was also with her. Melanie became worried. Hazel
saw that worried look on Melanie’s face and saw where she was looking. Hazel sighed and closed her eyes and shook her
head. “The evil witch is here…” “What?”
Jimson said. “Where is she?” They
all looked at where Melanie and Hazel were looking and that’s where
they saw Kelsey Rayne. They all
stopped talking and just stared at her for a while.
Kelsey started to walk slowly towards them calmly. Natasha hesitated, then followed her but stayed
close behind. “So
I’m the evil witch now?” said Kelsey, looking at Hazel. “When did you get so stupid that you have to
call people names like that?” The
temperature of Hazel’s temper became as hot as a stove on high. “Well, that’s what you are!” she shouted.
“You’re always saying bad things about Melanie and treating her
like dirt! That makes you the evil witch around here!” Justin
suddenly put a hand on Hazel’s arm and Hazel glanced at him. He shook his head, as if telling her to stop
immediately. Hazel seemed to
cool down a little. Justin’s
calm nature always seemed to have that effect. “Oh,
well…I don’t care,” said Kelsey, who seemed to smile a little. “I don’t care if she’s a famous idol pop singer
like you said she was before. I
don’t care if she’s the famous Starry~en~Luv that everyone’s talking
about. I hated her songs. Her songs were totally bad! They totally sucked! I can’t believe I wasted my money going to that
stupid concert of yours, Melanie!” “Then
why did you go to her concert in the first place if you think her songs
suck?” asked Martha. “I
know. I think that’s kind of
stupid. Don’t you think?” said
Jimson. “It’s
totally stupid. Only a stupid
person would do that,” said Joanne. Kelsey
defended herself quickly. Her
hands formed fists but she hid them in her pockets.
She forced herself to smile in a sarcastic way. “I…was hoping…just a little…that maybe, just
maybe, her other songs might be good.
Everyone was talking about ‘Dream’.
I hated it. I was hoping
her other songs would be good, but I guess they weren’t.” She looked at Melanie again. “You’re a big disappointment. I thought you would be a good singer.” “That’s
not what you were saying last time!” Hazel shouted as she stood up. “You said before that you would never listen
to any of her songs! But you
still went out and did anyway! And
now you’re saying all these things!
That’s a sign of jealousy!” Kelsey
gritted her teeth as she glared at Hazel.
For a long moment, she did not know how to talk back to her,
when she usually did know how, because of her extremely high confidence. It
was quiet for a while. Hazel
smiled a little in a sarcastic way.
“Now you’re quiet all of a sudden.
Did I hit a soft spot?” Kelsey
suddenly smiled at that and she began to laugh and that made Hazel even
more furious. “You’re such a
joke, Hazel! You’re too funny! Melanie sucks! Starry~en~Luv sucks! There’s nothing in the universe that’s going
to make her a good singer. Just
watch. In a few months, if we’re
all lucky, everyone’s going to stop listening to her because they’ll
get bored of her. It’s going
to happen, because people do not last in the music industry, and there’s
nothing you can do about it.” After
that, Kelsey turned around and began to walk away. Natasha went after her. “What
a loser!” Jim shouted, making sure that Kelsey
would hear it. “Don’t
listen to those things that she’s saying, Melanie. She doesn’t know anything,” said Jeffrey. “What
a mean person,” said Helen. “I
think she’s very scary,” said Rachel. Hazel
stood behind Melanie and hugged her.
“Are you okay?” she asked. Melanie
smiled and she nodded. “I’m fine. You can’t expect everyone to like your songs
if you’re going to be a famous idol pop singer.
That’s what my manager told me.” “Wow. You’re so wise, too,” said “That
totally makes sense,” said Adrien. Justin
sighed and stood up. “Well, I
guess that makes Kelsey Rayne very, very unpopular now.
I think there’s going to be a lot of people in class who aren’t
going to like her anymore. It
all started with that trick she did to try to get Melanie in trouble
with Miss Langley last year. I
think any of the things that she does or says isn’t going to work anymore.
So, no more worries, Melanie,” he said, as he
put a hand on Melanie’s shoulder. Melanie
put a hand on his arm gently. “You’re
right. Thanks, Justin.” “What the hell is the matter with you, Kelsey?
Who cares if she sucks? Who cares if her songs suck? Who cares about any of that stuff anyway?
Just leave her alone. You’re just stressing yourself and that’s like
suicide!” said Natasha as Kelsey kept on walking. Natasha kept on following her. Kelsey
stopped walking and glared at Natasha.
“Natasha, you don’t know anything, okay?
So don’t try to preach to me!” Natasha
was angry at her, but as they stood there glaring at each other, there
was silence for a long time. Natasha
sighed and crossed her arms against her chest.
“Look. Something’s bugging
you. Now, I’m your friend, okay? Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” “What
makes you think something’s going on?” “Because
of the way you act. You never
get that mad about anyone unless something big happened.
Did Melanie hurt you or something?” For
a second, Kelsey’s eyes looked like they were misty. Natasha was puzzled. Kelsey’s
voice became very soft. “You
don’t know anything. Leave me
alone. You wouldn’t understand…” she said, and she
continued walking away. Natasha
was left even more confused but she was also frustrated. She groaned loudly with frustration. “What’s going on, Kelsey?” she whispered. Mr. Wilkins was bringing out the garden
hose from the garage next to his house.
He was making preparations to water the garden at his house. Then he noticed something that was totally unexpected
when he looked up. It
was Grandma Annabelle Hartford standing on the sidewalk in front of
his house. “Why
do I have a bad feeling about this?” he whispered. He dropped the hose on the ground and walked
closer to the gate entrance. “What
are you doing here? I thought
I was a mean-spirited old man and you didn’t want to be anywhere around
me.” “Mr.
Wilkins, could you please explain something to me? You used to be part of a record company called
Regal Records, isn’t that right?” said Grandma Annabelle, with a very
serious tone of voice. But her
face was even more serious. “So
what if I was?” Mr. Wilkins said sternly.
He talked exactly the same way he did before he met Melanie Thompson.
He talked like a mean-spirited old man.
But that was only because one of his neighbors was here.
He didn’t like most of his neighbors. “You
were part of Regal Records. Then
you met Melanie. She’s been spending
a lot of time with you. And now
all of a sudden, I find out that she’s become a famous singer!” Mr.
Wilkins suddenly felt uncomfortable. “I
demand that you tell me what’s going on here!” Grandma exclaimed. Mr.
Wilkins sighed and looked down for a moment to collect his thoughts. He looked back up at Grandma Annabelle, who
was waiting impatiently. “This
shouldn’t even be a surprise to me.
You would find out eventually that Melanie had become a singer.” “What
is going on, Mr. Wilkins?” “Melanie
is a very good singer. When I
learned of her dream to become a singer, I told her about Regal Records
and the audition that they were having.
She wanted to take part in that audition to see what her chances
would be. But you turned her down. You forbade her. But Melanie went anyway. And because she went anyway, she was chosen
because the ones in charge of the audition were amazed by her singing
talent. In fact, amazed would
be an understatement. And it
continued from there.” Grandma
Annabelle looked shocked. “So
that’s it! After I told her not
to participate in the audition, she went out and did it anyway! She disobeyed me?! And all these mysterious after-school activities!
All these visits to the Callaway’s household!
These were all lies, weren’t they?!
She was working behind my back to become a singer?!
And all of you kept this massive conspiracy from me?!” “I
am sorry, Miss Hartford. But
it seems that it was the only way for her to follow her dream,” said
Mr. Wilkins, no longer sounding mean-spirited. “That
was the only way to follow her dream?!” “It
would seem so. It’s always been
Melanie’s dream to become a singer!” said Mr. Wilkins, speaking a little
more loudly. “I am sure you know
that, being her grandmother. Nothing
should stop this little girl from fulfilling her dreams.” Grandma
Annabelle was even more furious, but now she wasn’t sure what she wanted
to say. “I
wanted Melanie to fulfill her dreams.
Every child deserves the chance to make their dreams come true. And they must definitely try their best to do
that! Melanie wanted to fulfill
her dream of becoming a singer and I helped her do that. I wanted this little girl to fulfill her dreams
of becoming a singer.” Mr. Wilkins’
voice became softer as he spoke. Grandma
Annabelle still looked strict and stern but she was also puzzled. “Mr. Wilkins?” “Sure,
you might say that I could have refused to help her, since I’m supposed
to be the mean-spirited old man that a lot of people in this neighborhood
think I am. But, no, I decided
to help her. I helped her fulfill her dreams because I believe
that all children should follow their dreams and do their best to make
them come true. But that’s not
the only reason. The other reason
why I wanted to help Melanie fulfill her dreams was because I wanted
her to do what I could not.” Grandma
Annabelle was surprised by that and stood closer at the gate. “I
wanted Melanie to fulfill her dreams…because I was not able to.” There
was a long silence between the two of them for a long time. Grandma Annabelle sighed and closed her eyes
and shook her head with great disappointment.
“This is unbelievable. Mr.
Wilkins…you’re still thinking about what happened back then?” she asked. She looked up at him. “You’re still thinking about that?” Mr.
Wilkins looked up and sighed. “I
think about it all the time.” Melanie had a wonderful day at school today.
She was running down the sidewalk not too fast.
Pigeons that were walking on the sidewalk in front of her flew
away as she ran. She carried her suitcase at her side and she
felt the wind blow at her long dark brown hair. She
felt extremely happy. Many good
things happened at school today. Not
even in Melanie
went to the front door and opened it with her keys. “Grandma, I’m home!” she called out with a delightful
sound to her voice. She took
off her shoes at the front door. “Melanie.” She
turned towards the entrance to the kitchen and saw Grandma Annabelle
there. Melanie smiled at her
and she quickly walked towards her.
She wanted to give her a hug but she stopped herself, because
she always felt that Grandma Annabelle didn’t like to hug anyone. “Grandma,
did you have a good day today?” Melanie asked sweetly. Grandma
suddenly had a very strict and very stern look on her face and Melanie
stopped bouncing on her heels and lost her delightful smile. “No, Melanie.
I am not having a good day. And
the reason why I am not having a good day is you.” Melanie
felt terrified. She felt a cold
wind blowing around her. Grandma
looked angry. “Grandma, what
do you mean?” “Don’t
pretend to know that you don’t know what I mean! All those after-school activities! All those times that you went to the Callaway’s
residence! All those things you
said you were doing with your friends during the summer! They were all lies, weren’t they?!” Melanie
gasped, her hands covering her mouth, her eyes widened. “All
this time, you were working as a singer?!
And how did you become a singer, Melanie? Is it because you went to the audition that
you told me about a few months ago?
You went to the audition after I made it clear to you that I
didn’t want you to participate in it!
You disobeyed me!” Melanie
felt and looked very scared. Her
heart was beating so fast that she felt like it was going to explode. “Grandma…I…” she started, but didn’t know what
to say. “What
have you been doing, Melanie? I
demand that you tell me everything!” Melanie
started to speak very softly as she looked down. “I…always…wanted to be a singer,” she said,
fearfully and shyly. “It’s my
dream to be a singer. I found
out about the audition from Mr. Wilkins and so I wanted to be in it. I asked you if I could go but you said no, so
I asked Mr. Wilkins if he could get me into the audition anyway. Hazel helped me, too, by recording my singing
so they can hear it. I went to
the audition and I won the audition.
They wanted me. They said
I was their perfect singer. It…went
on from there. I went to after-school classes at Regal Records,
like dance classes and modeling and photo shoots and dress rehearsals
and recording sessions and singing lessons and…so many other things. They had me sing a debut song, and I wrote it
myself. I have a manager who’s
really nice to me and takes care of me.
My song was on the radio, too, and, Grandma, you even said it
was good. Lots of people said it was good. And then on Saturday night, I had my first concert.
My identity was secret until that night.
That’s when everyone found out that I’m the singer called Starry~en~Luv.
They…helped me become…a singer.
They all helped me make my dream come true, Grandma…” There
was a long moment of silence between the two of them. Melanie looked up at Grandma for a second.
For a moment, Grandma seemed to look not so angry anymore.
But the anger came back very quickly.
Grandma was furious! “Melanie,
you have disobeyed me! You were
hiding many things from me! You
were lying to me! I told you
not to go that audition and you still went.
And now look at what’s happened!” Melanie
was terrified even more. What
was Grandma going to say next? “Melanie,
I forbid you from continuing to be a singer!” Melanie’s
heart broke to a million pieces, as if it was totally made of glass
and someone crushed it with a million tons of bricks.
She was frozen with shock as she looked up with a horrified expression
at Grandma, who had just told her to that she could not sing anymore. The End (to be
continued) Ending theme song “Family Love” by
Starry~en~Luv The love of family (the love of family) Always be in your heart (in your heart) Forever and ever (family love forever) Good memories of fun little things Bedtime stories read while in your bed They come tuck you in with a goodnight kiss Sweet dream wishes always said If you get hurt, they will always take care Make you feel better, always be at your
side Staying with you when things get unfair Stories of wisdom from generations’ wise Old times and good times, nobody else will
know Telling the little ones unforgettable stories To be loving to you and to be caring for Times of family love, those are real treats Children who live in a very happy home (very
happy home) But for some, it’s something they can’t
have (they can’t have) If I had the power to make people happy
(make people happy) I’d show them there’s always family love
(always family love) Even if you might have done something bad They’re always going to love you Even if they think you’re bothering them They’re always going to love you Even if they say things you don’t like They’re always going to love you You can have all the friends that you want But you’ll always have one family Always be together and support each other Because you’ll always have one family For the love of family (for the love of
family) We shall always be together (we shall always
be together) Forever and ever (forever and ever) Living so far away from each other now I haven’t seen my parents for a long time They’re busy with lots of things and lots
of work I wonder how they’re doing, if they are
fine I don’t have a sister, I don’t have a brother I wish I did so I could play with them I have friends who care for me and love
me But family is different and it’s just not
the same I don’t know my grandparents because they’re
gone All that I have left is one grandmother Even if she gets mad at me for so many things That’s okay, no matter what, I’ll always
love her I must never forget them no matter what
happens (no matter what happens) Memories of togetherness that we’ll always
have (we’ll always have) If I had the power to make things better
again (make things better again) We could be together again with our family
love (with our family love) Even if you might have done something bad They’re always going to love you Even if they think you’re bothering them They’re always going to love you Even if they say things you don’t like They’re always going to love you You can have all the friends that you want But you’ll always have one family Always be together and support each other Because you’ll always have one family For the love of family (for the love of
family) We shall always be together (we shall always
be together) Forever and ever (forever and ever) (The love of family) The love of family (Always be in your heart) In your heart (Forever and ever) Family love forever Oh, we’ll always have our family love For the love of family (for the love of
family) We shall always be together (we shall always
be together) Forever and ever (forever and ever) For the love of family We shall always be together Forever and ever Preview for Next
Episode Hazel and Justin’s narration: Hazel: “Hey, Justin, what the
heck happened? Melanie was so
sad when I saw her. What happened
to her? She just had her first concert. She was all happy after school today and now
she’s like totally depressed or something.
What happened?” Justin: “I think it would be
better if you left her alone for a little while.” Hazel: “What?! How can I leave her alone? I’m her best friend! What happened?” Justin: “It was her grandmother.” Hazel: “What? What about her grandmother? What does she have to do with any---? Oh, no, you don’t mean that---“ Justin: “I think you know what
I mean. Her Grandma Annabelle
would be very mad at her now, even if she found out that Melanie is
the famous new pop star singer Starry~en~Luv.” Hazel: “Oh, no! You mean all those times that she said to her
Grandma that she was going to my house or staying at school late with
me and you and going to the library and things like that? We both know and she knew that she had to lie
to her!” Justin: “I guess those lies are
finally catching up.” Hazel: “But she had no choice!
This is horrible. She had to lie to her! That was the only way she could do the things
that she did! She had a dream
to fulfill!” Justin: “I know. I know. But
now there’s no avoiding it.” Hazel: “Oh, my God. What are going to do now? Isn’t there anything we could do?” Justin: “I don’t know, Hazel.
I don’t even know what’s going to happen.
Let’s just go along with it and see what happens for now.
Maybe things will work out somehow.” Hazel: “I hope you’re right.” Hazel and Justin: “Next time
on Starry Love Dream! Episode 20: Grandma won’t let me sing anymore!” |
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