To All My Fans, With Love, From Sylvie. Ellen Conford

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      We’d been riding for two hours. She must have been pretty bored, not being able to read and all. And with me sitting by the window, she didn’t even have any scenery to look at.

      I folded my letter and put it in my pocketbook.

      “Oh, don’t stop writing on my account,” she said. “I didn’t mean to bother you.”

      “That’s okay. I was finished anyway. Would you like to sit by the window for a while?”

      “Well, thank you, dear, that would be nice.”

      We switched places. “It’s such a long trip,” she said. “Maybe we could change every two hours.”

      “Okay.”

      She settled back in the seat and turned toward me. She hadn’t even peeked out the window. I guess she wanted to talk. I didn’t mind. I’d bought a movie magazine at the bus terminal, but I’d read the whole thing already.

      I bought it because there was this big headline on the front cover: JAMES DEAN DID NOT DIE! I couldn’t wait to read the article, so I sat right down on a bench in the waiting room and turned to the page where the story was, and of course it turned out that what they meant was James Dean’s memory lives on in the hearts of his fans. I was pretty annoyed, but there were a lot of pictures with the article, so that was something.

      Some of these magazines can be really sneaky. Like, for instance, I bought this magazine once because it had a story called “Why Tab Is Taboo to Me,” by Natalie Wood. Well, of course I thought it would be all about why Natalie wouldn’t get serious with Tab Hunter, even though all the magazines were running pictures of them on dates together, but what it turned out to be was that “Taboo” was Natalie’s nickname for Tab. It wasn’t so bad, though, even if it was sneaky, because there was a lot in it about Natalie and the kind of life she lives in Hollywood, and the actors she pals around with, like Nick Adams and Dennis Hopper and a lot of the younger up-and-coming stars.

      I got to thinking how maybe, once I started working in movies, we would become friends, Natalie and me, because we were almost the same age and even if she is a little older, everyone in Hollywood would think I was eighteen, because that’s what I was going to tell them. And I’d go around with her and have double dates and go to premieres together and meet all the teenage actors she knows.

      Maybe even Tab Hunter. That would be okay with Natalie, because in the article it said she was only good friends with him. They are like brother and sister, so she wouldn’t mind if I dated him, I’m sure.

      I’m not all that hot to go with Tab Hunter, though. He’s cute and all, but not one of my absolute top favorites. But I wouldn’t turn him down if he asked me out.

      But anyway, like I was saying, being a real expert on movie magazines, I know some of them can be very misleading. I keep buying them anyhow, but for the real truth about the stars you can only depend on Photoplay and Modern Screen. You know if you read it there you’re getting the true facts.

      “I’m going to Springfield, Ohio, to visit my son and grandchildren,” the woman next to me said suddenly. “He’s an assistant manager at the Sears, Roebuck store. I go twice a year to visit them.”

      “How many grandchildren do you have?” I didn’t really care all that much, but I could see she wanted to talk.

      “Well, John has twin boys—”

      “Isn’t that funny!” I said without thinking. “I have—” I stopped myself just in time. I’d been going to tell her about Honey and Bunny and that would have been a big goof. What if the police managed to track me down to the Greyhound bus station, even though I’d done such a good job of faking them out? If they started questioning people who had been on Greyhound buses, and this lady told them about sitting next to a girl who talked about twins named Honey and Bunny, they’d be hot on my trail.

      “You have what? What were you going to say?”

      “Nothing. I was just wondering if we were ever going to stop anyplace. I’m kind of hungry.”

      She nodded. “I think we’re stopping in about an hour. You’ll be able to freshen up and get something to eat then. How far are you traveling?”

      Since she was getting off in Ohio, she wouldn’t know I was going to Los Angeles unless I told her. Just in case, I thought I’d better not give her my real destination. But besides Los Angeles, I couldn’t think where the bus might stop after Springfield. I’m not very good at geography and the only state I could think of between Ohio and California was Texas.

      “Texas,” I said. “To visit my aunt. They have a big ranch there.”

      “Really? Do they have cattle?”

      “Uh, yeah, but I think oil wells too.” The only thing I know about Texas is that James Dean’s last movie, Giant, is about this big ranch in Texas where they discover oil. I can’t wait for the movie to come out. James Dean was killed while he was working on it, so it’s the last James Dean movie there’ll ever be. Anyway, if I’d seen the movie already, maybe I would have known something more about Texas, but I hadn’t.

      “Oil wells. My, my.”

      I looked sideways at her. I don’t know if she believed that part about oil wells. Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea. Maybe she thought I was making it all up. Or maybe just bragging or exaggerating.

      “Actually, I think just one oil well,” I said. “I mean, they’re not really rich or anything.”

      “It sounds exciting.” She leaned her head back against the seat. “I think I’ll just see if I can catch a little nap before we make our stop.” She turned to look at me. “By the way, I’m Ruby Durban. Forgot to introduce myself.” She held out her hand.

      “I’m Venida Meredith,” I said, hearing how it sounded for the first time. I shook her hand.

      I wasn’t positive I would keep that name, but there was time to change it again before I got my first part in the movies.

      “What an interesting name. I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone named Venida before.” She settled back in her seat.

      That was good. That meant my name would be unique and memorable. I picked it from a hair-net advertisement in a drugstore. I’d stopped to have a Coke after I bought my bus ticket and the sign was right there in the front window: VENIDA HAIR NETS. I thought it was a very interesting name.

      I tried a lot of names with it while I was sipping at my Coke. Like Valli. I really liked Venida Valli, and the two same initials I thought was good, like Marilyn Monroe. Really eye-catching. Only there’s a singer, June Valli, and I didn’t want to get mixed up with her.

      Then I thought since Venida was such an unusual name, I ought to have a sort of exotic last name to go with it, maybe a French-sounding one, like Darcel. But there’s already an actress named Denise Darcel, so that was no good. Too bad, because I really liked Venida Darcel.

      Finally I came up with Meredith, because it sounded kind of smooth and like a name a rich person would have. And I decided that if I had such an unusual first name, I wouldn’t need an unusual last name too.

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