N I N E T E E N
I overheard that she was 19, with a fake ID and a nose ring. Those kind of girls tend to know things better than I do. And I'm dying to figure out what she's hiding. She's playing it cool but she's lying.
PEYTON TOSSED HER LOCKER CLOSED. She wasn't upset she was lost. Really lost.
"What am I supposed to wear to the Patterson's house?" She asked Julie and Flynn as the three walked to the cafeteria. "I can cut my hair and dress up as Natalie Wood and then Luke's mom will drown me."
"What are you talking about? Emily is a sweetheart!" Exclaimed Julie as the three sat down at their table.
"Yeah, with you! I'm always going to be the little neighbor girl who would carry her son around like her dog. I've been to that house four times in my entire life, the four times when I was little, and she would always call my mom for her to pick me up. Once I spent thirty minutes there before my mom showed up. I was nine, what horrible thing would I have had possible done to her little boy?"
"Sounds like she really hates you."
"I know. That's why Luke is always at my house. It's not because of my awesome family, it's because his mother hates me. The last time I saw her was in eight grade when I had to get Luke his assignments because he was sick. I could swear she had a water gun behind her back when I walked into his room to give Luke his books."
"Why would she have a water gun?"
"To spray me and for me to melt! Did I forget to mention that she thinks I'm the freaking Wicked Witch of The West!?" Peyton seemed nervous, at the edge of a breakdown, in fact. "And again, what I'm going to wear? My normal clothes have a "punk literature bitch ready to take your precious son off your hands" kinda vibe."
"Maybe it's the boots," joked Julie, making Peyton exhale.
"I'm the first relationship Luke brings home and I'm so scared to screw it up. It seems very important to him his mom's opinion. He hasn't even told her about the labels and the Fonda Theatre because he's afraid of her reaction. And I'm actual bad news! The gig and the records companies are excellent news! In the Peyton packet you only have a stupid leather jacket, some old copy of a Charlotte Brontë novel and some lame pop culture references that are nothing like Luke's because he actually knows about movies."
Julie and Flynn looked at each other before looking at her.
"You need to play the part."
"What do you mean?" She asked them. "Is this going to be a Princess Diaries transformation because my glasses are new and I don't want you to break them."
"No, you just need to wear a pretty outfit and act nicely. The last time they saw you, you were fourteen. You are a grown woman now. You have a job, you are doing great in school, you are applying to a fancy art academy in New— why are you writing this down?"
Peyton look up from her notebook to Flynn. "So I don't forget."
"It's your life, how could you forget!?"
"I'm nervous! I've never met a guy's parents before, ok? It's tricky. Besides, I feel like they know me but at the same time they don't know me at all."
"That's what you are going to change tonight."
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As soon as the door opened and saw Luke standing there, her nerves went away.
"Hey... you look pretty," he said to her. "I don't recall the last time I saw you with a dress with flowers."
"Flynn and I went shopping. Can I come in?" She asked him and he nodded, stepping aside and letting her enter. "This place hasn't changed at all."
"No, I don't think it has. The bathroom upstairs does not work, do not ask why." He grabbed her jacket and put it on the entrance, following her inside to the living room. "I hope you like italian. Mom made pasta."
"I love pasta," she told him with a smile.
Suddenly, Mrs. Patterson enter the room holding some plates. Luke stood up to help her and quickly put them on the table, while Emily walked towards Peyton.
"Hello, Peyton," she said softly as Peyton stood up.
"Long time no see, Mrs. Patterson." She noticed how she said that with too much energy, so she cleared her throat. "I like what you did with the place."
"I haven't done anything to the place."
Peyton opened her eyes. "Right, uhm, it's great to see you again." She chuckled. "Remember when I was twelve and my dog Stacy jumped your fence—"
"And ruined the flowers, I recall." Good anecdote Peyton. "Why is she named Stacy?"
"Oh, because of that Fountains of Wayne song."
"Oh, the rock band, right. Well, I'll go look for the food."
As soon as she left towards the kitchen, Luke walked towards her while raising his eyebrows.
"You haven't even spent five minutes and you are already mentioning rock music? Bold, yet really risky."
"She asked!" Peyton sighed. "I'm nervous, I'm sorry."
"Just, don't mention the Fonda Theatre, I'll tell her." Peyton nodded, just in time to see Luke's dad entering the living room. "Hey, dad. Remember Peyton?"
"Oh right! Your friend!"
"She's my girlfriend now." Mr. Patterson nodded, giving her a tiny smile.
"Right, right. Luke, I got that replacement for your truck you asked for." Luke nodded. "You have to be careful next time you reach that speed. We can go place it now if you want."
"That'd be great." Mitch Patterson left through the front door. Luke quickly turned around to look at her.
"Was I the one that reached that speed? Does your dad hate me too?"
"Don't worry about the truck. Just stay here, and make small talk. Talk about Emily Dickinson!"
And with that, he left the same way his dad did. She let herself fall on the couch, playing with her feet as she awaited for Mrs. Patterson.
As soon as she entered the living room from the kitchen, Peyton stood up, walking towards her with a nervous smile.
"Thanks for inviting me, Mrs. Patterson."
"Luke invited you." Peyton nodded.
"Right... so... have you read The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson?"
"Never thought you were a poems girl."
"Oh, I'm not. But it's my sister's favorite book."
"You should bring her. She has good taste. Does she like Luke?" Peyton cleared her throat.
"No... she's dating Reggie. And I'm dating Luke."
"Right," Emily whispered. "So, what is your favorite book?"
"Oh! That's easy. On The Road by Jack Kerouac. But I have a soft spot for Charlotte Brontë."
"The Beats promoted sex, drugs, prostitution and alcohol."
"Well that's true... but Jack Kerouac—"
"Lacks ethic," interrupted her again. "Luke is a good reader."
"Better than I could ever be."
"That we agree on."
Both looked at each other in silence, not saying anything.
"Mhm!" Exclaimed Luke as he entered the dining room with his dad. "Smells delicious." He kissed Peyton's cheek before grabbing a piece of bread that was on the table. "What were you talking about?"
"Books," replied softly Peyton.
The four sat down on the table, looking at their plates of pasta. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Mr. Patterson talked.
"So, Peyton, where are you going to study?"
"I'm applying for the Art Academy of New York." Mitch put down his fork in surprise, such as Emily.
"That's got to be one of the most prestigious art schools in the country." She nodded.
"I know. Kinda nervous."
Luke was almost choking on his pasta. He wanted to be eating all the time so he could avoid the conversation.
"New York?" Asked Emily before looking at Luke. "I imagine this doesn't have anything to do with the application for the NYU Music Program that arrived two weeks ago. Is it related, Luke?" He pointed at his mouth, which was full with food. "Swallow, son, swallow."
He listened to her, swallowing his food before looking at his mother. "Maybe," he admitted.
Peyton knew that was the wrong answer.
"NYU?" Asked his dad. "I thought we agreed that you were applying to Berkeley. That's where I studied."
"So did I," added Emily. "Besides, Berkeley has a lovely music club. You could still follow your... hobby, while you study."
"It's not... a hobby, mom." Emily scoffed.
"This again? Honey, we've talked about this a lot of times: music is not going to get you anywhere." Peyton looked at them before looking at her boyfriend. "Now your constant wish of NYU makes a lot of more sense. I didn't know that Peyton was going to go there, and now that I know, it's clear that you aren't as passionate as music, you want to follow her."
"Mom—"
"I knew it as the minute I saw the new neighbors twelve years ago that it was going to cause trouble—"
"Mom," he repeated but she continued.
"What? Luke, you are really smart, you are top in your class. Are you going to deny it? I bet that Peyton is thrilled about the New York idea."
"Actually, I'm not," admitted Peyton, surprising Luke's parents.
"Please, Tay..." he asked her, but she continued.
"I think Luke should stay in Los Angeles, and I have told him that several times. He needs to be here for the band."
"The band?" Asked Luke's dad.
"Yeah! The band has never been better! He made a compromise to the guys and they aren't going to follow him to New York. Neither would Columbia Music Records."
Luke's parents raised their eyebrows, staring at their son.
"You signed with Columbia Music Records!?" Exclaimed Mitch. "And you didn't tell us?"
"I haven't signed yet," admitted Luke. "We were going to pick label after... we perform at the Fonda Theatre."
His mother scoffed. "Why didn't you tell us you were performing at a theatre?"
"Would you guys be okay with it? Would you guys even go? You guys don't care!" His parents looked at each other. "Even Reggie's parents are going! Are you guys?"
"Son, I don't think—"
"Don't even finish that sentence. Let's just... change topic." He ended saying, finishing to eat his past.
He stood up, grabbing his and Peyton's plate and walking towards the kitchen to leave them there.
"I'll... go to the bathroom," whispered Peyton. "Excuse me."
She quickly stood up from the table, running upstairs. Luke came back to the dinning room, looking at them.
"Someone has to tell her the bathroom upstairs doesn't work," said Luke's dad.
Oh, she knows that, thought Luke to himself before going upstairs.
He entered his room, catching Peyton with a leg outside of the window. She turned around to look at him, exhaling.
"I'm not bailing."
"Then what are you doing?"
She looked at her hands. "Well, I was trying to bail, but I'm more worried about the dress. I feel like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's."
He helped her get down from the window, landing in the floor of his room. She exhaled, looking at him.
"I'm sorry for trying to escape. I just thought it would be better if I stay out of it, you know? It looked more like family issues, and I'm not your family, but they do have issues with me and I can't handle that kind of pressure."
"They can be... tough. But you did good. Better than I expected."
"What? You expected me to fail?"
"I expected you and my mom screaming at each other and fire coming from your mouths."
"What am I? A dragon?"
Both laughed for a little while, looking into each other's eyes.
"Well, thanks for helping me give them their last chance."
Peyton looked strangely at him as he walked towards his closet, opening it and taking a suitcase from it.
An already packed suitcase.
"I just wanted to give my parents one more chance to support my decision. And since they failed completely, I'm out."
"Luke—"
"You don't have to worry about me. I've already talked to Julie and I'm staying in the garage."
"How long have you had this planned?"
"Too long," he whispered. "Ladies first."
She slowly stepped outside of the window, holding herself to the tree and slowly crossing it, before arriving to the roof underneath her window, opening it and entering her room.
She turned around to look at Luke throwing the suitcase outside the window and landing on the floor. He held on to the tree and climbed it down, landing on the grass and grabbing the case.
"I'll see you tomorrow," he said to her before putting on his baseball cap, walking towards his truck and getting in, driving away.
She turned around, sitting on the seat underneath her window. What now?
POP CULTURE REFERENCES GUIDE
chapter nineteen
"I can cut my hair and dress up as Natalie Wood and then Luke's mom will drown me."
Natalie Wood was an American actress who began her career in film as a child actor and successfully transitioned to young adult roles. She died from accidental drowning but there are theories that her husband killed her.
"Did I forget to mention that she thinks I'm the freaking Wicked Witch of The West!?"
The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, created by American author L. Frank Baum.
"Some old copy of a Charlotte Brontë novel"
Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of English literature. One of her famous books is Jane Eyre.
"Is this going to be a Princess Diaries transformation because my glasses are new and I don't want you to break them."
The Princess Diaries is a 2001 American coming-of-age teen comedy film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and directed by Garry Marshall. Based on Meg Cabot's 2000 young adult novel of the same name, the film stars Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews. The film follows Mia Thermopolis (Hathaway), a shy American teenager who learns she is heir to the throne of a European kingdom.
"Why was she named Stacy?" "Oh, because of that Fountains of Wayne song."
Fountains of Wayne was an American rock band that was formed in New York City in 1995. The band consisted of Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter, and Brian Young. The band is best known for its 2003 Grammy-nominated single "Stacy's Mom", which is the song that Peyton is referring to.
"Oh! That's easy. On The Road by Jack Kerouac."
"The Beats promoted sex, drugs, prostitution and alcohol."
The Beat Generation was a literary movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era. The central elements of Beat culture are the rejection of standard narrative values, making a spiritual quest, the exploration of American and Eastern religions, the rejection of economic materialism, explicit portrayals of the human condition, experimentation with psychedelic drugs, and sexual liberation and exploration. Allen Ginsberg's Howl (1956), William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch (1959), and Jack Kerouac's On the Road (1957) are among the best known examples of Beat literature.
Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac, often known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist of French Canadian ancestry, who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. On the Road is a 1957 novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across the United States.
"Well, I was trying to bail, but I'm more worried about the dress. I feel like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's."
Breakfast at Tiffany's is a 1961 American romantic comedy film directed by Blake Edwards, written by George Axelrod, adapted from Truman Capote's 1958 novella of the same name, and stars Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, a naïve, eccentric café society girl who falls in love with a struggling writer. There's a scene where she escapes from her window and breaks into the writer's apartment.