Lulu in Honolulu (2 page)

EXT. WAIMANALO BEACH PARK, GRASSY AREA UNDER TREES—MONDAY MIDMORNING

CUT!! Hey, just so you know, I've written a screenplay once before. It was about my life in L.A. So I'm getting the hang of it. In case this is the first screenplay you've ever read, here's some script lingo you should know. Before each scene, I'll write where it's happening. If I put “EXT” that means what's gonna happen is outside or “exterior.” If I put “INT” that means what's gonna happen is inside or “interior.” Most of the other stuff you'll get just because you've probably seen movies or TV shows. What I'm writing is like what actors and directors read before they film a movie. OK, back to: ACTION!!

FADE IN ON:

A tattered blue flag that says “OHANA DAY CAMP” whips back and forth in the wind. It's stuck between the slats of a wooden picnic table.

The hot, bright summer sun filters down through tree limbs. The patchy sunlight falls on twelve kids ranging in age from eight to fourteen. They shuffle, stamp, turn, and wiggle in two horizontal lines. All wear bathing suits and are barefoot except one. LULU, an eleven-year-old girl, thrusts her hips from side to side as she tries to follow the movements of the girl in front of her. Clothing covers her from head to toe. Her enormous swarm of brown hair is mashed under a white and red baseball cap that says “ALOHA,” but the “O” is shaped like a heart colored in with a rainbow. AUNTIE MOANA, an older Hawaiian woman with short black hair and warm cocoa-colored eyes that match her skin, softly calls out movements as she herself does them.

AUNTIE MOANA

One, two, three, tap. Sway. Sway. Sway. One, two three, tap. Sway. Sway.

A man, UNCLE AKAMU, with salt-and-pepper hair, strums a ukulele as he watches the waves crashing onto the beach behind the dancers.

AUNTIE MOANA

(to kids in the back rows)

Follow the person in front of you if you're lost.

(to all the kids)

And…step up, forward. Step up, back.

LULU

(slightly out of breath)

I'm so lost I don't know forward from backward.

Next to Lulu in the back row, NOELANI, a slim girl about Lulu's age, slides her feet and floats her arms to the hula music. Her rhythm and motions are one with the breezes blowing through the trees and the waves washing onto the shore. She wears a stretched-out tankini top and board shorts that have faded from blue to almost gray. Noelani's long, black braid hangs down her back and thwacks her brown shoulders as she turns from side to side.

NOELANI

(giggles)

Lu, forward is what's in front of your nose.

Lulu looks up from her feet and watches KHLOE. Khloe's smooth waving arms and swaying match the ukulele's melody. And even though the wind blows her long, straight blond hair, not a strand looks out of place. She wears a skimpy leopard bikini with pink straps.

LULU

(quietly to Noelani)

Khloe better be right in front of me at the hula-off next week or else I'm gonna mess up a zillion times.

Uncle Akamu finishes the song, HUKILAU. Auntie Moana lightly claps to get the children's attention.

CUT!! Scripts don't usually do this, but I have to break into the story to tell you something Hawaiian. Auntie Moana isn't really my aunt or an aunt to anyone at Ohana Camp. All us kids just call her Auntie. One thing I love about Hawaii is that Hawaiians treat neighbors, friends, and even friends of friends as part of their family.
Ohana
means “family” in Hawaiian. And, in Hawaii, you call someone Auntie and Uncle if they're older than you. It's a sign of respect. Auntie Moana was born in Hawaii, in the same house in the Waimanalo neighborhood where she lives now. And wanna know something else cool? Her name means “ocean” and her husband, Akamu, his name means “earth.” Uncle Akamu told us kids that he knew Moana would complete his life the moment they met 'cause they would be the perfect joining of the earth and the sea. Wow! Now, that's so much more romantic than any gross, kissy stuff my sister Alexis thinks is love. OK, now back to: ACTION!!

AUNTIE MOANA

(addresses all the kids)

Before we do the dance again…

Several children groan.

AUNTIE MOANA

(ignoring them)

…let's remind each other about hula basics.

KHLOE

(jumping right in)

The movements should be smooth and delicate. And our feet do something different than our arms so, like, arms and feet go in different directions.

LULU

(out loud)

Geez peas! No wonder I mess up. I have a hard enough time getting my arms and feet to go in the
same
direction.

Campers around her crack up. Uncle Akamu winks at her.

KHLOE

And our hips never stop moving while our upper body…

AUNTIE MOANA

Mahalo,
Khloe. Thank you. Anyone else?

CAROLE, a skinny, tall girl with deep black hair and eyes, wearing a tiny leopard-print bikini, yells out.

CAROLE

Hands and arms tell the story.

AUNTIE MOANA

Yes,
mahalo
. Hands and arms paint the picture.

CATE, a petite blond wearing the same leopard bikini as Carole, leaves her line and walks up near Lulu.

CATE

Always be on your flat feet. And…

(looks down at Lulu's orange-and-white checkered Van's shoes)

…hula is performed barefoot.

LULU

Well, I just don't want to burn the tops of my feet.

AUNTIE MOANA

Keiki
, children, there is something important you are not yet telling me.

No one says anything. LIAM and MALEKO, two tall boys, flick each other's arms as they goof around.

Noelani clears her throat. Lulu turns to look at her. She's never heard her best pal speak up in the group before. Noelani mostly saves her ideas and her jokes to share with Lulu.

NOELANI

Ummmm.
Kumu
?

Hearing her friend use the Hawaiian word for teacher, Lulu smiles. Noelani knows so much stuff, but she's SO quiet about it.

Noelani hesitates, nervous now that everyone in the class is looking at her.

LULU

Hey, what were ya gonna say?

Noelani looks down at her bare feet.

LULU

(in a loud voice)

I bet you were gonna say that the most important part of dancing hula is not to look at me, so I don't mess you up.

All the kids giggle, except Khloe, Cate, and Carole, who call themselves KHLOE AND THE Cs. They exchange glances.

Noelani lifts her eyes from the ants crawling over her left toe. She finds courage in Lulu's clowning.

NOELANI

I think the most important part of performing hula is
akua
.

Uncle Akamu continues to look out at the surf, but his brown eyes crinkle in the corners, his way of smiling.

Auntie Moana takes a moment to answer. She pauses—not like she's thinking, more like she's listening to the wind and a message it's sending through the trees.

AUNTIE MOANA

Mahalo,
Noelani. Yes,
akua
. Spirit. That's the only way to dance hula. You must feel the
akua
.

Uncle Akamu plays the hula music again.

The kids shuffle into the starting hula stance: knees slightly bent and heels together.

Lulu looks down at her feet.

AUNTIE MOANA

OK, feel the music.

LULU

(talking to herself, but loud enough for all around her to hear)

Right, together. Right, tap. Left, together. Left, tap.

AUNTIE MOANA

Now sway, sway, sway.

Suddenly, a LOUD VOICE SCREECHES from the parking lot.

LOUD VOICE

KHLOE!! KHHHHLLLOOOEEE! CAROLE and CAAATE!!!!

EXT. WAIMANALO BEACH PARK—CONTINUOUS

Uncle Akamu continues to strum the
hukilau
on his ukulele. The kids and Auntie Moana stamp, flutter, and rock to and fro.

The calling of KHHLOOOE, CAROLE, and CAAAATE gets louder. Khloe's mother, MRS. CLARISSA LYONS, wearing tight pink pants and matching pink lipstick, approaches the Ohana Camp flag.

Khloe and the Cs break ranks and scramble over to Mrs. Lyons.

MRS. LYONS

(to Khloe and the Cs)

You're in. Now, hurry. Get your stuff.

Khloe and the Cs dash off to grab their beach bags and flip-flops.

The music comes to an end. Ohana Camp kids drift over to Khloe and the Cs, but no one knows what to say. Well, except one.

LULU

What's going on? Where are you guys going?

Khloe tosses her plush pink towel around her neck. Lulu notices that “KHLOE” is embroidered on the towel in red and that Cate and Carole have the same towel with their names stitched on.

KHLOE

(squealing with delight)

We're going to the very best-est dance school, Island School of Hula!

CATE

So we're gonna be on the team that wins the hula-off.

CAROLE

And we'll perform onstage at the Ala Moana Center all during the summer.

(squeals excitedly)

And we'll win the prize money too.

Lulu tugs her long-sleeved sun-protection shirt so that she's covered all the way to her wrists.

LULU

I wish you guys weren't leaving. Today I brought taro chips and my homemade mango salsa. I wanna share it with everyone.

At the mention of salsa, the redheaded twin sister and brother, KENNA and KAPONO, perk up.

KENNA

Ohhh. Can I try if it's not really spicy?

KAPONO

I want it to be extra spiced!

LULU

(to Kenna and Kapono)

You'll both have to try it and tell me what ya think.

(to Khloe and the Cs)

I spent lots of time making the salsa. You guys are gonna miss it.

KHLOE

Well, maybe instead of wasting time chopping up mangos, you should work on your hula.

KHLOOOOOE, CAROLE, and CAAAATE cut through the warm beachy air.

Carole and Cate scamper toward the parking lot. Khloe pauses to put her feet in her rose-colored flip-flops.

NOELANI

(softly so that she can barely be heard)

Hey, good luck, Khloe. You're a great dancer.

KHLOE

You too, Noelani.

Khloe runs to catch up to Carole and Cate.

EXT. ON WAIMANALO BEACH—FIVE MINUTES LATER

Waimanalo's smooth sand bakes in the midday sun. Rough waves fling tropical-green and sapphire-blue water onto the shore, where it turns quickly to bubbly, white foam. The beach is quiet. Other than the Ohana Camp kids, there aren't many others around.

Lulu and Noelani sit next to each other on a straw mat. Lulu's under an orange beach umbrella. She peels away big, damp leaves, the wrapping for what looks like a meatball, and takes a bite. Noelani studies a Hawaiian language workbook.

Lulu waves the half-eaten ball in Noelani's direction.

LULU

(with mouth full)

Sure you don't want any
laulau
?

NOELANI

(looks up)

OK.

Lulu hands Noelani her piece. Suddenly Kapono pelts Noelani with a WET SAND BALL. It EXPLODES on her book.

LULU and NOELANI

Hey!

LULU

(to Noelani)

Maybe Kapono could ruin
my
Hawaiian workbook. I'm terrible at learning Hawaiian. How can a language that only has twelve letters be soooooo complicated?

NOELANI

It's not hard, especially for me, 'cause I grew up hearing it.

LULU

Maybe it's hard 'cause of all those vowels.

NOELANI

(laughing)

Hawaiian has the same vowels as English.

LULU

Then maybe only having seven consonants makes all those vowels too much for my mouth.

Noelani rolls out from under the shade of the mat into the hot sunshine.