Episode #421 "Space Camp Oddity"

It’s the last day of school and Jimmy is intrigues by an inscription in his yearbook. Right under the picture of the girls’ chorus is written: “Jimmy, you’re so funny. Call me.” There’s a girl out there who thinks he’s funny, and Jimmy doesn’t know who she is. Hope and Claudia are making plans to get together. Claudia tells Eddie she really likes Hope, but she knows what’s going to happen. Claudia and Hope will become good friends then Eddie will dump Hope and Claudia will never see her again. Eddie assures her he’s serious this time. He wants it to work out. Lily and Brad are talking about the time they’ll be spending at the shore with Lily’s friends Ashley at her grandfather’s house. Ashley’s parents are never around, and her grandfather’s out of it. They’ll have a great time. Brad’s not so sure. He always spends summers at space camp. He doesn’t need to now, says Lily. He has a girlfriend right here on earth. Brad reminds her that he had a girlfriend at space camp too-Lana. Right, says Lily, humoring him. Sean and Eddie enter. Brad tells Lily that actually Lana will be in New York this weekend to catch the bus to camp. Again humoring him, Lily says that’s great; she’ll finally get to meet Lana. Brad will try to arrange something, he assures her as he exits. Lily tells Sean that the guys at school used to tease Brad a lot, so he invented this girl as a defense mechanism. Later, Claudia confides to Sean that Hope is unsure of her relationship with Eddie. She gave him the key to her apartment, and he didn’t reciprocate. If the relationship moves forward, Eddie is going to have to be the one to initiate it. Claudia swears Sean to secrecy, because Hope asked her not to tell anyone. Jimmy’s calling all the girls in the yearbook photo but hasn’t found out who signed his book. When Brad tells Lily that Lana can’t come over, because her grandmother is sick, Lily smugly tells him that she knows there’s no Lana. Lana’s the imaginary space camp girlfriend. Fine, says Brad, don’t believe it, and he exits. Sean tells Eddie what Hope said, and when she comes over he immediately offers her a key to his apartment. Furious and embarrassed, she exits, slamming the door. Lily’s talking to an angry Brad through his mail slot, when a very attractive girl walks up. It’s Lana, and she’s looking for Brad’s house. Brad introduces her to Lily. Wow, says Lana, no one at space camp thought Lily existed. Lily tells her parents that Brad’s “imaginary girlfriend” is real. They all went to the planetarium together. Lily couldn’t have been more bored and resentful, while Lana and Brad had a great time. Afterward, Lily abruptly ends the evening by hailing a cab for herself and Brad, while Lana hurries off on her own. Brad accuses Lily of being rude. They argue, and Lily says maybe Brad should just go ahead and go to stupid space camp. That’s fine with Brad. Claudia tries to apologize to Hope, but Hope is still furious. Eddie comes in and asks to talk to Hope for two minutes. She agrees. Jimmy’s crushed to discover that Mr. Kersey, the music teacher, is the one who wrote in his yearbook. He wants to cast Jimmy as Puck in “A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream,” because Jimmy’s so funny. Eddie and Hope talk, and she realizes that in fact they’ve been virtually living together at her place for several weeks and that this is kind of cool. Lily has to borrow the car. Brad’s leaving for space camp, and she has to stop him. They can’t spend the summer apart. At the bus station, Brad sticks his head out the bus window to talk to Lily. He’s sick of being taken for granted. Lily demands that he get off the bus, but he refuses. Lily can’t order him around anymore. Hey Lily, says Lana, have a nice summer. The bus pulls away leaving Lily standing by herself.