thanks for the 10k !!!! glad u like the story
also tonight I'll be posting a new luke fic so
go check that out
probably won't be posting so often as I do
now but I will be updating the other one
enjoy !!!!
T W E N T Y F O U R
so if you want to piss off your parents, date me to scare them, show them you are all grown up
PEYTON WALKED DOWNSTAIRS THE NEXT SATURDAY, BEING SURPRISED BY THE FIVURE STANDING ON THE KITCHEN.
"Dad?" She asked and he turned around with a big smile.
"How's my little princess?"
"Snoring like an elf," interrupted Ella as she appeared behind her sister, entering the kitchen. "Could you tell her to close the door when she sleeps, dad?"
"I don't snore," she lied. She did snore. Luke has told her she snores a lot of times. "What are you doing here so early, dad?"
Jack Hayden was a tall man with black hair and green eyes. He has a bright personality and normally wears leather jackets (that day wasn't the case), and used to rode a motorcycle but stopped a while ago. He wasn't for sure a typical parent figure.
"Your dad wanted to come early so you guys could spend more time together," explained her mom with a smile.
"Well, dad, I find that sweet but I have work. I thought we would meet at five at the coffee shop and hear the band."
"I can make you company. I own a coffee shop, don't you remember, princess?"
"Yeah, princess, don't you remember?" Mocked Ella, making Peyton look at her angrily. "I, for the record, have to study today, so I will indeed meet you at five at the coffee shop. Enjoy your dad day, Pey."
And with that, Ella left the kitchen holding her books, walking towards the backwards exit of the house.
Her dad turned around to look at Peyton with a wide smile. This day was going to be really long.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Peyton unlocked the coffee shop door, letting her dad enter.
"It's eleven pm, aren't you supposed to be open right now?"
"We open later on Saturdays," replied Peyton, leaving the keys on the counter. "I have to put down the chairs so, take a sit on the counter while I do it if you like."
He listened to her, sitting down on one of the tall chairs while Peyton accommodated the chairs and tables.
"So, uhm... anything new?"
"I have a boyfriend." Too soon to tell him that.
"A boyfriend? What's his name?"
"Luke..."
"Well that's a coincidence. When you were little you had a friend named Luke. He lived next door."
"Dad..."
"You won't believe this!" Someone bursted into the cafeteria, making Peyton and her that turn around.
Alex, followed by an annoyed Reggie and a serious Julie.
"What's wrong, Alex? Weren't you guys supposed to be—"
"I can't believe they had the audacity to do that!" Yelled Reggie, interrupting Peyton. The three put down the chairs of their usual table and sat down, really angry. "That blue parrot is going to pay.
"He... they... he... sucks!" Exclaimed Julie before looking around.
"Woah, Julie, go easy on him," replied Alex before looking at Peyton. "Sorry, Peyton... It's just that—"
"I'm gonna kill him!" Exclaimed Luke bursting into the coffee shop.
His grey shirt now had a pink stain all over it, like he had spilled a drink on him, a really pink drink.
"What happened to your shirt?"
"Band meeting!" Shouted Luke taking off his shirt and putting it on the table.
Reggie gave him another one and he took it, putting it on as he sat down.
"What's going on?" Asked Jack to his daughter, and she only shrugged.
"That's the band," was the only thing Peyton said before they listened to Luke's voice again.
"They stole our songs, they stole half of our gigs next week and they have the freaking audacity to appear in their whole Backstreet Boys act and set themselves at the studio next to ours!? I'm tired of them! That blue haired Lloyd Christmas spilled a smoothie all over my shirt! That just makes me..."
"Incredibly upset?"
"Angry?"
"Mad?"
"Furious!" Exclaimed Luke as he stood up. "We have to change recording studios, I can't record our album while he is just next door like a lousy neighbor, Kramer wannabe, just waiting to knock on or door like a kid selling cookies and just... I'm really upset right now."
"How can we even change studios?" Questioned Julie. "The people at Columbia assigned it to us."
"We can say that there's bad acoustic there," offered Alex.
"Or that our lead guitarist is about to have a breakdown and start picking the walls with knifes so he can hurt the vocalist of the other band," told them Reggie as he saw how angry Luke was.
That's when Peyton interrupted.
"I can talk to them and ask them to change studios. I'm sure it won't be a big deal," she said with a smile.
"You would do that?" Luke asked her and she nodded. "Thanks, Tay."
"And I can also clean your shirt."
"Oh you don't have to—"
"You clearly had a bad day. Cleaning is not the way of making it better. Besides, I've been wanting to clean this shirt forever."
Luke rolled his eyes while his bandmates bursted out laughing. "Ha, ha, very funny," he said with sarcasm.
"Peyton," her dad called her and she quickly turned around. So now was the time. "You gonna introduce me?"
"What? Oh! Yeah... Uhm... guys... this is my dad... Jack Hayden."
Peyton has never seen more panic as the one he saw in Reggie and Luke's faces.
"Your dad?" Asked Reggie. "So... Ella's dad too?"
"No, man, why would you think that? It's not like they are sisters or anything," said Alex sarcastically. "I'm Alex."
"Julie," the girl introduced herself with a smile.
"I'm... Reggie," said nervously the boy and Jack nodded.
"I assume Ella's boyfriend. She has talked about you. Don't worry." Jack smiled at him before looking at the last member of the band. "I'm Jack... what's your name?"
"I'm Luke," he replied, making the man raise his eyebrows.
"So you are the famous Luke." The guitarist nodded.
"Has Tay... Peyton," he corrected himself, "talked about me?"
"Not a single word." Peyton exhaled. "Wait... you are the same Luke that was friends with her... you still live next door?"
"No, not... not anymore," he answered, still looking at Peyton.
"Well, I'll let you guys get back to your band meeting. I'll go to the bathroom. It's been a pleasure, guys."
And with that, Jack left. As soon as Luke heard the bathroom door, he started talking.
"You didn't tell your dad we were dating? Or that we've been friends for the last twelve years?"
"I did tell him! Like... thirty seconds before you guys bursted in," she admitted honestly, making him nod his head, turning around.
"How did he know about Reggie and not me?"
"Because Ella talks to him like every week."
"And you?" She dry swallowed.
"So do I... but we only talk about school and for like five minutes. Ella talks to him for hours. They have a way better relationship than we do."
Luke scoffed. "And in any of those weekly calls have you told them one story about me? I have done nothing relevant in the last twelve years. What about when I do something funny at school? He could've remembered me as the "funny guy named Luke thats friends with my daughter" and not "neighbor Luke who used to be friends with my daughter when they were five and now is her boyfriend." I don't know, something like that."
Peyton looked at him for a few seconds before exhaling.
"I'm sorry, I was going to tell him after he sees you guys perform but he decided to visit me earlier. I didn't have a lot of time to create a plan B."
"I mean... have you told him about your other boyfriends?"
"I think I have but I don't remember."
"Well that's just... great." Luke exhaled. "I haven't had the best day today so just... I'll see you guys later."
And with that. He left.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
"So, your friend is weird," said her dad to hell as they walked through the streets of Hollywood Boulevard. "Los Angeles is weird so I won't hold it against him."
"He is my boyfriend," she corrected, "and he had a really bad day. There's this rival band that stole their songs some while ago, it's complicated. And he is looking for a place to live."
"And his parents?"
"Still live next door. It's a whole complicated thing. A story for another day."
"Right... how long does your lunch last because I don't want to be keeping you up from work," she chuckled.
"It's okay, dad, I have a few minutes more. How's Las Vegas? Dry?" He laughed.
"It's great, uhm, Florence says hi."
"Who's Florence again?"
"My girlfriend." She nodded.
"Right." She's never heard of that woman before. "Well we'll better get going if we want to see the band."
"Luke's band," she nodded again. Sometimes it was easier not to talk to him. "Are they any good?"
"Signed with Columbia Records so yeah, they are good."
"That sounds serious..."
"Well it is." Peyton opened the door to the coffee shop.
"I'm going to the house for a bit. Say hi to the guys for me." Peyton nodded with a smile, watching her dad leave.
She entered slowly, noticing how the band was assembling the stage for their performance tonight.
"Where's Luke?" Asked Peyton and Alex look at her.
"He, uhm, had to go for some stuff at the garage."
"Why are you lying to her?" Questioned Ella as she stood next to her sister. "He's filling up applications."
Peyton stared at her for a few seconds before looking at the band. Applications?
"What? College applications?" Ella nodded.
"We think that maybe this Trashedies thing is affecting him a bit and... he's recruiting the plan C."
"What's plan C?" Asked her sister to her and she just exhaled.
"Berkeley."
While this was happening, Luke was in his dinning room, for the first time in three weeks.
His parents were sitting in front of him, with the envelopes resting on the table.
"If they want you, why do you have to fill them up?"
"So I don't get the private school ego up my head," answered the guy. "So... Berkeley, we can afford it since you've been saving for it all my life, you are dying for me to go there, it's close to home..."
"Luke..."
"Yale, we definitely can't afford it, it's far away from everyone, it's cold up in Connecticut, that's a bummer. It's one of the best schools in the country... that's about it. I have to do an essay on... well, the person I admire the most. I guess Sarah Michelle Gellar is not an option for that."
"Son..." his dad said but he interrupted again.
"NYU... well I gotta admit that's my favorite of the batch. Peyton is going to New York, you know teenage love, you've seen movies. Also, Tandon is good I mean, if you really want me to pack my Leonardo DiCaprio in Wolf of Wall Street persona and become the engineer/business man/fancy man you always wanted me to be."
"Luke, you don't want this," intervened his dad, looking at him.
"Well, how did I let that show? Maybe was the «running away, I don't want to you to plan my future» bit I pulled off a month ago."
"Why are you here if you don't want this?"
"Well, what can I say, mom. This was my plan C. My plan A was going to New York with my girlfriend and study music in NYU, but guess that's a no-go. My plan B was staying in LA with the band and becoming the best rockstar this world has ever seen but, that looks kinda risky today. My plan C is becoming an engineer, because trust me, I can if I want to. Now, I've had a really bad date, and pardon my french, but I have to pick a stupid school so I can become a boring man with a suit."
Luke knew he was being rude, and he felt bad for it. He especially felt bad for having that attitude with his mother, but he couldn't help it.
This was the last thing he has ever seen himself doing. He ran away from home in order to avoid this, yet still, he was sitting here, on board with filling up applications for his future. A future he didn't want.
"You can still apply to NYU," whispered her mother. "And take music as an elective or..."
"That's it, I'm out!" He exclaimed, grabbing his bag and all of the envelopes. "Not gonna let these hanging around for you to fill behind my back." He put them all on his bag and ran upstairs towards his bedroom.
He opened the window completely, stepping out to the roof.
He was upset with Peyton right now, yet he couldn't talk to anyone but her in that moment.
Luke knocked on the window even though he already had a foot inside. He looked around, waiting for an answer.
"Here's Johnny," he said, but no reply. He finished getting in, closing the window and the curtains, taking off his Vans and throwing himself onto the bed.
He emptied his bag, letting all the brochures and forms fell onto the bed, looking at them sighing.
"Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night," he murmured before opening the brochure of Yale. "Ugh, I hate this."
"May I help you?" That voice almost made Luke have a heart attack. He looked up, noticing the figure of Jack Hayden looking at him closely. "Anything you want to say?"
"Uhm... Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown?" Jack stepped into the room, looking at the boy. "Suddenly I feel the need for speed."
"You and I should talk," said Peyton's dad as he sat down on her chair.
"What? Some keep your friends close enemies closer kinda thing? It's not that Al Pacino much?"
"You have an attitude that I don't like."
"Not really, actually. I just... I had a real bad day. My girlfriend, you know her, she didn't tell her dad that I existed in her life for the past twelve years. You should know that you are her dad. And then, my parents want me to become an engineer, well that just sucks. And some blue haired troll stole my songs which did not make things easier. And now, I have to pick a four year prison, for that matter."
"You really think you could make a life from music?"
"Woah, you sound just like my dad. Do you guys go to a club every time your child is born? Can I have their number? I have some complains."
"My daughter likes you."
"Not enough to tell you about me."
"Don't hold her onto that, she doesn't tell me anything. Our weekly phone calls are a hello and a goodbye, it's nothing personal. The last time I met a boyfriend was when I visit by surprise and caught him kissing her on the backyard."
"You must be talking about Daniel. He had some amazing skills to climb up fences."
Jack exhaled. "But you are different. From the other guys I have met."
"Probably that's why she didn't want me to meet you. I mean... I see dead people," he imitated the character of the movie, making Jack chuckle.
"You aren't afraid of me or... trying to pretend you are better than you are."
"Well, I was afraid of you, that was before I had thee worst day ever. And besides, I'm not afraid to admit I'm a great person. I don't like to brag, but I'm deciding between private schools here."
"Private schools you don't seem to want to go to."
"Because I don't. I want to do music. I think we are kinda going on a loop here."
"You are a good kid. And maybe that's why she didn't want to introduce you to me. All of her boyfriends are to piss me off. Revenge for going away when she was little."
"Well, maybe she picked me because I'm not a Las Vegas fan." The man laughed a little. "I'm not much f a threat, I make hearts with paper clips and I cried at the end of La La Land even though I didn't not get it."
"They didn't end up together."
"I was afraid of that," he mumbled to himself before looking at Yale's info. "Taxi Driver's Jodie Foster went here didn't she? That's cool."
"Are you used to breaking into my daughter's room?"
"I've been doing it since I was ten, so yeah."
Jack slowly stood up. "Don't break her heart."
Luke didn't come up with any smart response to that. The man slowly approached him, reaching to him the NYU Music Program brochure that he found in Peyton's room half hour before he found Luke in the room. Luke stared at it in confusion.
"That's how you don't break her heart," he pointed at the cover. Luke chuckled.
"This was always the plan A."
"The plan A is the best plan," he said before turning around and leaving the room.
Luke glanced at it, opening it and starting to read it.
Suddenly, the other colleges didn't matter.
POP CULTURE REFERENCES GUIDE
chapter twenty four
"That blue haired Lloyd Christmas spilled a smoothie all over my shirt!"
Lloyd Christmas is Jim Carrey's character in the 1994 film Dumb and Dumber. It tells the story of Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne, two dumb friends who set out on a cross-country trip to return a briefcase full of money to its owner.
"I can't record our album while he is just next door like a lousy neighbor, Kramer wannabe"
Kramer is one of the four main characters of the American sitcom Seinfeld, played by Michael Richards. Kramer is the friend and neighbor of main character Jerry Seinfeld.
"The person I admire the most. I guess Sarah Michelle Gellar is not an option for that."
Sarah Michelle Gellar is an American actress, producer and entrepreneur. She is best known for her portrayal of Buffy Summers on the drama series Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
"Also, Tandon is good I mean, if you really want me to pack my Leonardo DiCaprio in Wolf of Wall Street persona"
Leonardo DiCaprio is an American actor, producer and environmentalist. He portrayed Jordan Belford in the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street, who landed a job as a Wall Street stockbroker.
"Here's Johnny."
This is a famous catchphrase that actor Jack Nicholson says in the movie The Shining, based on the Stephen Kind novel.
"Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night,"
This is a quote from the 1950 film All About Eve, which is about Margo Channing, a Broadway star, and Eve Harrington, an ambitious young fan who maneuvers her lead into Channing's life, ultimately threading Channing's career and her personal relationships.
"Uhm... Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown?"
This is a quote from the 1974 film titled Chinatown. This movie starts Jack Nicholson as JJ "Jake" Gittes, a private investigator, who is hired by Faye Dunaway's Evelyn Mulwray to follow her husband because she believes he's having an affair.
"Suddenly I feel the need for speed."
This is a quote from the movie Top Gun (1986) directed by Tony Scott. The movie stars Tom Cruise as Lieutenant Pete "Maverick' Mitchell, a young naval aviator.
"What? Some keep your friends close enemies closer kinda thing? It's not that Al Pacino much?"
This famous quote is first said in the movie The Godfather II (1974). Al Pacino is an American actor and filmmaker, known for playing Michael Corleone in The Godfather film series.
"I mean... I see dead people"
This is a quote from the movie The Sixth Sense (1999), directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The movie stars Bruce Willis and tells the story of Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment), a boy who is able to see and talk to the dead, and Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), a child psychologist, who tries to help him.
"I make hearts with paper clips and I cried at the end of La La Land even though I didn't not get it."
La La Land is a 2016 American musical romantic drama directed by Damien Chazelle. It stars Ryan Gosling as a jazz pianist and Emma Stone as an aspiring actress, who meet and fall in love while perusing their dreams in Los Angeles.
"Taxi Driver's Jodie Foster went here didn't she? That's cool"
Taxi Driver is a 1976 American psychological thriller drama directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster. The film tells the story of Travis Bickle, a lonely taxi driver who descends into insanity as he plots to assassinate both the president candidate for whom the woman he is infatuated with works.