Melinda’s Journal

Tuesday, March 6

Lights flash in my face

Heart flutters in excitement

It’s red-carpet time

Melinda’s Story

As we drove, Miss Kara distributed our passes. “So, when we pull up to the carpet, Pat’s going to get out first. Then Dad and I. Walter, we’re letting you and Melinda decide if you want to get out at the limo drop off or walk onto the carpet.”

I turned to Walter. “What’s the difference?”

He shrugged. “If you get out at the limo drop, everyone will see us get out with Pat and there’s cameras everywhere. If we get out at the corner, we can walk onto the carpet at the same spot. But no one blinks twice at us. Or we can even just go in the side entrance and avoid the carpet altogether.”

“Well, I don’t want to sound like a crazy fan, but—”

Pat smiled. “You want to walk the carpet.”

I nodded and turned back to Walter. “Only if it’s okay with you.”

“Oh, it’s fine. I like the carpet. It’s fun watching all the interviews and crazy fans.”

Pat squeezed my hand and closed his eyes. I knew he was transforming himself into Patrick McGregor. Across the car, I could see his mother doing something similar. I tried to look at the sights outside the window, but we were stuck in traffic on the freeway and there was nothing to see.

When we pulled off the highway, Pat turned to me. “You ready, Mae?”

I took a deep breath. “I think so.”

“Excited?”

I nodded. “And nervous.”

Pat squeezed my hand. “Walter will take care of you. He’s a pro. I’ll meet you inside, okay?”

He kissed my forehead again as the car slowed in front of the theater. The right-hand lane had been blocked off and only celebrity limos were being permitted through. I could hardly see the theater with all the people crowding the sidewalk. Eventually, we reached the drop off point. An usher opened the door and immediately the limo was flooded with flashbulbs from the cameras lining the carpet. Pat climbed out of the car and a moment later, his parents followed.

“What do you say?” Walter asked as he came to sit beside me. “Here or the corner?”

“Definitely not here.”

Walter tapped the partition behind us, and the car moved forward a hair. As soon as the ushers closed the door, the limo continued up the road and turned onto a side street. The driver idled long enough to open the door. Walter climbed out first, reaching a hand back in for me. As the car pulled away, I pointed to a crowd of people under a white vendor tent erected on the sidewalk.

“What’s that?”

Walter held up the pass dangling around his neck. “If you don’t have one of these, that’s where you pick it up. It’s also the back entrance if you don’t want to do the carpet.”

“Walter? I know you do this all the time, but it’s a once in a lifetime thing for me. I want to walk the carpet.”

Walter proffered his elbow, which I took. As we showed our passes to the security guards at the start of the carpet, Walter turned to me. “You’re wrong, you know. You’re gonna get to do this again.”

The security guard held us back a moment to allow someone out of the next limo. I looked at Walter.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because you and my brother? You’re going to be together forever. Besides. You’re my best friend. You’re going to be my plus one forever.”

I giggled. “You’re going to have a girlfriend someday.”

“Then we’ll double with you and Pat.”

The guard let us pass, and we proceeded down the aisle. Promotional posters for the movie lined the wall of the theater. On the opposite side of the sidewalk, barriers kept the fans away. In between, cameras were everywhere.

The person in front of us paused in front of a poster for a moment to take his picture, then moved ahead a few more steps before stopping again.

I gestured to the man with my head. “Who is that?”

“Gregory Alden,” Walter answered immediately. “Costume designer.”

The cameras soon gave way to video cameras. All along the carpet, people were stopping in front of screens to be interviewed by various television and internet personalities. The man in front of us turned as he waited to speak to the first camera. Walter went up to him.

“Hi, Mr. Alden. Wally McGregor. Hannah’s grandson.”

“Little Wally? Why I haven’t seen you since you were this big.” The man held a hand near his knee as he laughed at his own joke. “Where’s the rest of your family?”

Walter pointed to an interview just up the carpet where fans were screaming at the top of their lungs. “I think I see them up there.”

“Oh, yes. Well, I’ll see them inside. Tell your grandmother I said hello.”

“Of course.”

“Mr. Alden, a moment?” asked the interviewer.

Walter and I walked behind the camera to continue toward the theater, pausing to watch each interview as we passed. When we caught up to Pat, I was a little surprised to see his arm around his costar. I couldn’t quite prevent the uneasiness I felt in the pit of my stomach.

“Thanks so much,” the host said as she put down her microphone.

“Of course.” Pat gave her one last smile before joining Walter and me. “Having fun?”

I smiled. “I am.”

Walter looked around. “Where are Mom and Dad?”

Pat gestured further along the carpet. “Up there somewhere.”

“Patrick McGregor, a moment?”

Pat winked at me as he turned to the next host. Walter and I continued our journey, eventually reaching the main entrance of the theater. The small, old-fashioned theater that reminded me of an old movie. The ticket booth was empty, but both sets of doors on either side of it were open. We walked under the marquee into the two-story building.

The rich red carpet in the lobby was speckled with gold flakes that complemented the gold trim on the wood-paneled walls. A red concession stand stood at the opposite end, with buckets of popcorn and cups of soda lined along the white marbled countertop. The room was buzzing with activity as people gathered in small groups chattering excitedly with one another.

“Wally!”

I saw a middle-aged woman appear by Walter’s side. Her blue dress was just a little too tight, revealing unflattering rolls of fat around her midsection.

“Cynthia.” Walter hugged the woman, kissing her on her cheek. The look on his face suggested he would rather greet his smelly great-aunt than this woman. I had a feeling I knew who she was and wasn’t upset at not being introduced. My suspicions were confirmed when the woman sent a sweet smile toward Walter.

“I was disappointed to hear you found a new agent.”

“Yeah, well—”

“No hard feelings. I get it. You’re no longer a kid and you need an agent who can help you make that transition. Wouldn’t want to become one of the washouts, would you?”

“Oh, look.” I put one hand on Walter’s shoulder while using the other to point toward the corner. “Tony’s over there looking for us.” Without waiting for a response, I grabbed Walter’s hand and dragged him to the opposite side of the room.

“Who’s Tony?” Walter asked.

“Meghan’s imaginary friend that gets her out of sticky situations.”

“Well, he’s my new best friend. Second only to you, of course. Popcorn?”

“I’ll wait for the movie. Should we go save ourselves some seats?”

Walter shook his head and held up his pass. “We have assigned seats. Since we’re with Pat, we’re probably in some of the best seats in the house.”

“I’m thirsty. I’m going to go buy a soda.”

“You don’t buy them. Just grab one.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but you probably only want one.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Why?”

“There was this one time, Meghan had like three. She had to pee like ten minutes into the movie. But she was in the center of the row, so she couldn’t walk over everyone to get out. Nearly wet her pants.”

I giggled. “And you, being the caring and compassionate brother, did everything in your power to help her do just that?”

Walter shrugged. “I just tried to get her to laugh. Pat was the one whispering things like waterfalls and toilets.”

I hit his shoulder. “You are so cruel! And now I have to pee.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“Wally, I think you’re taking this girlfriend thing a little too far.”

Walter pretended to sneer. “I meant, I’m going to the men’s room.”

Pat’s Story

As we drove to the theater, Walter explained to Melinda the various methods of getting inside. He even gave her the option to completely skip the red carpet altogether if she wanted. I wasn’t sure who was more nervous, me or her.

I squeezed her hand and closed my eyes, performing my breathing exercises. I tried to transform myself into Patrick McGregor, but it was surprisingly difficult with Melinda beside me. Shifting my thinking, I realized I was sitting beside Mae. That knowledge made the transition easier.

As we approached the theater, I turned to her and reminded her that Walter would help take care of her. I kissed her forehead just before the doors opened.

---

The flashbulbs glared before I even got out of the car. I stepped into the blaring lights with the smile that had helped make me famous. I walked a few yards along the carpet to the first promotional poster, where I paused while the photographers did their thing. A moment later, I moved on to the next one.

People were calling me from every direction. Fans were shouting my name on the other side of the barrier. I made a point to look at them as I posed, waving between photographs. Photographers were telling me how to pose, but I ignored them and did my own thing, since it was impossible to please them all.

I knew somewhere in front of me was a handler announcing that I was nearby and scheduling interviews for me. But I ignored whoever it was. This was my first solo premiere, and I wanted to do things my way.

When I reached the final poster, I glanced back to find my parents. I thought it might be nice to have at least one photo with them. I saw my costar Hana just behind them.

“You okay?” Mom asked as we posed together.

“Yeah. I thought it would be nice to get a picture with you guys. And I figured I’d wait for Hana before doing the interviews. She’s new to this.”

Mom patted my cheek. “That’s very thoughtful of you.”

My parents went ahead of me, skipping most of the interviews, although I did see them stop once or twice. I wondered to myself whether they would discuss Dad’s tour, Mom’s latest movie, or tonight’s premiere.

“Hi, Patrick!”

I kissed Hana’s cheek. “Hey, Hana. I thought maybe you’d like some company for the interviews.”

“Oh, thank you! My parents didn’t want to do the whole carpet thing.”

As we approached the first interview station, the host finished interviewing the casting director and spotted Hana and me. “Patrick McGregor. Celebrity Weekly.”

I smiled and stood with my arm around Hana’s waist as the host spoke to her camera.

“I’m here with Patrick McGregor and Hana Yama—I’m sorry.”

Hana giggled. “Yamamoto.”

“A name we will surely all remember by the end of this evening. Now, you two play Kevin and Akari in the film. Is that correct?”

I explained a little about the film, making sure the stress the point that the story was more about our on-screen brothers than it was about us. After a couple of minutes, the interviewer thanked us and let us move on to the next station.

Thankfully, several hosts were busy interviewing other people, so we skipped them. Our next interviewer wanted to ask questions about working with our director. Another host focused on filming in Hawaii. Then we reached the host from Good Morning, LA.

“So, Patrick. Rumor has it you underwent an intense immersion class to learn American Sign Language.”

“I did. I spent several weeks living at a local school for the Deaf and taking classes. I learned about the culture and the language.”

“There have been some critics who suggested that your role should have been played by someone from the Deaf community.”

The casting director had been one of those critics, I remembered. I explained to this reporter what I had told him over a year ago.

“Kevin would have had to learn sign language just like me in order to communicate with his brother. I may not know every word in the dictionary, but I certainly know enough to hold a conversation, just as my character would.”

“And you, Hana. You speak a lot of Japanese in the film. Was that difficult?”

As Hana smiled, I wondered if she was sick of this question yet. “It felt like home, really. My mother and Tommy’s mother were always on set and they would let us know if we needed to correct our accents, but it really wasn’t difficult.”

I saw my brother leading Melinda along the carpet and couldn’t help smiling. She was looking in every direction and she appeared to be enjoying herself. The host put down her microphone and signaled to her camera and sound man.

“Thanks so much,” she said to Hana and me. I moved out of the way, letting Hana go ahead of me as Melinda and Walter approached. I tried to talk to them, but the host beside me had caught me.

“Patrick McGregor, a moment?

I winked at Melinda before turning my attention to the man, who spent the next two minutes asking me about my relationship with Hana. When he was done, I skipped ahead a few more stations to catch up with my parents.

“Oh, and here he is now,” announced the woman with the microphone. I stood between my parents, placing an arm around each of their shoulders. “Your parents were just telling us about filming on location. In your opinion, what was the hardest thing about filming in Hawaii?”

My answer was automatic. “The time change. My family and friends were all on the East coast. I remember one day I texted my brother before lunch and he called me a few minutes later saying he was getting ready for supper. It was really confusing.”

Everyone laughed, and the host dismissed us. We walked away from the cameras and Mom pulled me aside.

“That was a nice, honest answer. Good job. Martin was frustrated that you weren’t following his directions.”

“Who’s Martin?”

Mom nodded her head to a man nearby holding a piece of paper with my name on it.

I shrugged. “Whatever.”

“Let’s get through the final interviews and then we can head inside and relax.”

Attention Hammerheads

Melinda is always trying to build her vocabulary. What were some words in this episode that were new to you? She will add them to her vocabulary journal.