Back when they were junior-high-school "geeks," Melissa and Gabrielle (aka Mel and Gabby) were perennial targets for abuse from the prettier and more popular girls on campus -- especially the beautiful but bitchy Cara Cabot. The most crushing humiliation came when Mel was led to believe that the school's handsomest boy, Drew Hesler, was truly interested in her -- only to be told otherwise in the cruelest and most public fashion imaginable. Eleven years have passed, and Mel (Carly Pope) is now a slim, attractive, high-powered public relations executive, with Gabby (Sara Rue) as her equally well-poised partner. Assigned to publicize a new, trendy restaurant, Mel is astonished to discover that the establishment's owner is none other than Drew Hesler (Brian Austin Green) -- who doesn't even recognize her. Thirsting for revenge, Gabby insists that Mel cook up a scheme that will make both Drew and his partner Cara (Gina Tognoni) look as foolish and flustered as Mel had been back in junior high. But Mel threatens to spoil the scheme by falling in love with Drew all over again. The made-for-cable This Time Around debuted June 22, 2003, on the ABC Family Channel.