Lulu in LA LA Land (6 page)

ALEXIS

Now cut the waterworks.

Alexis pauses just before the kitchen door.

ALEXIS

I'm going to my room and don't want to be bugged. I've got serious planning to do.

Alexis exits. She's clearly on a mission.

LULU

(turning to Elana)

Momny, you and Sophia are the only ones who understand me. All I wanted was a party with my family and best friend. Now Queen Bee has taken over.

ELANA

Niña, your sister is trying to help.

LULU

And, most worst of all, my mom and dad won't come.

Tears flow down Lulu's face again.

ELANA

Lu, give your sister a chance to help you with the fiesta. Maybe you two find ways to get your parents to come, at least for part of it.

Lulu wipes tears and snot on her sleeve.

LULU

Do you think they'd do that? Come for some of it?

Lulu ceases crying. Her animated self slowly returns.

ELANA

Listen, here's what I tell you: don't give up hope so easy! You and Alexis try doing something together.

LULU

Me and Queen Bee? Sophia and I are sure she has ten stingers. One under each of her shiny, polished nails.

ELANA

That's not the way to feel about your sister.

LULU

But she makes me feel freaky geeky. Like I don't even belong in this family.

ELANA

No, niña, my love. Nobody make you feel anything on the inside except you! You the boss of how you feel.

Lulu is quiet while she swirls her fingers in the pancake batter.

LULU

OK, maybe I'll go for it. I mean for once, really trust my sister. Maybe believe…

(sighs)

…in her.

ELANA

She says she wants to make your dream come true.

LULU

Well, here's to Queen Be—

(stops herself)

I mean…to Sister Power!

Lulu sticks two fingers into the pancake batter and licks them clean. She leans over and tightly hugs Elana, who isn't bothered by Lulu's batter-and saliva-coated fingers.

CUT!! See what I mean about my Momny, Elana? She's like Mary Poppins, if Mary Poppins blew in from Mexico and lived in a place where she didn't need an umbrella. Back to: ACTION!!

INT. BRIGHT BLUE PRIUS—SATURDAY MORNING OF THE FOLLOWING WEEK

Elana drives through thick L.A. traffic. Lulu slouches in back. Alexis sits up front.

ALEXIS

Elana, why's there SO much traffic?

ELANA

The traffico? Always the same. Never changes.

LULU

(to Alexis)

Hey, talk about changing, I bet you think I'm gonna beg you to adios the Spa-tacular. Well, just the opposite! Let's go for this party! Make it fantabulous. That's the only way Mom and Dad might come. Lex…

Lulu pauses because she's about to say something she's never said to Alexis before.

LULU

…you're right.

Alexis twists her whole body around to look at Lulu.

Lulu expects a tender or surprised reaction.

ALEXIS

Of course I'm right! Look, I wouldn't get involved with a party if I didn't want it to turn out très perfect. MY name and reputation are on this one.

LULU

And Mom and Dad will wanna come to a party that's, ummm, cool, right?

ALEXIS

It's gonna be über-cool, no matter what! Lulu, I've already sent the invitations. And BTW, you can't call fifty girls and say, “Sorry, I'm not having my party anymore because Mommy and Daddy aren't coming to it.” On Planet L.A., that's not only rude, it's social suicide!

LULU

The Awards are at night, right? My party's during the day. SO, Mom and Dad could come?! Maybe for some of it.

ALEXIS

That's called a “stop by,” and that might work.

LULU

You've gotta ask them! I'm betting one hundred percent that you'll pull off the coolest birthday that any girl in LA LA Land has ever had. The only itty-bitty
poquito
request is that you get Mom and Dad there.

ALEXIS

When it's the right time, I'll call Lilac and…what's Linc's new assistant's name?

ELANA

Leif.

ALEXIS

Right. I'll chat up Lilac and Leif and get some 411. And, BTW, bet one thousand percent on me pulling off the best party ever.

LULU

I'm in for two thousand squared!

ALEXIS

Drop the brainy, whizzy stuff. If I'm gonna make you the reigning b-day princess, you've gotta get with the program.

LULU

(with more confidence than she feels)

Deal!

CUT!! Can you believe that my parents are best reached through their assistants? Lilac and Leif decide when and where my parents go and who they talk to. That's so unfair to me, their kid! Back To: ACTION!!

All day Lulu tags along with Alexis as she whizzes through party shopping and planning. There was Joan's on Third food store (where Alexis ordered tofu skewers, dried berry couscous, and grilled asparagus for the party); Bellacures nail salon (Lex selected nail polish colors); and Balloon Celebrations (Alexis examined every style, size, color, and shape of balloon).

Alexis and Lulu now sit in stylist chairs at Dry Bar, a hair salon that ONLY washes and blows dry hair.

ALEXIS

(to Lulu)

Blow outs totally have to be offered at the party.

Alexis's long hair is just about done. It lies down her back like black silk. Lulu's hair is another story.

LULU

Lex, let's get outta here when your hair's done. I gotta get home and see Sophia. This is taking way too long.

ALEXIS

That's YOUR fault.

LULU

NO it's not. I'm sitting still, even though this blow dryer blasts my scalp and neck with burning air.

Alexis stands. Her hair is done.

ALEXIS

It's your fault because you never brush your hair. It took fifteen minutes just to get your hair combed out.

The STYLIST spins Lulu's chair around so that she sees herself in the mirror. Only the hair on her left side is blown straight. The other side hangs limp and wet.

LULU

I don't even like my hair all flat.

ALEXIS

You will when it's done.

Alexis walks up front to pay. With Alexis not looking, Lulu gets up.

LULU

(to stylist)

I'm done. Thanks. I, ummm, I like curly hair.

Lulu walks over to Alexis, who's twisting and angling herself so she can see the back of her hair. She holds out her iPhone to Lulu.

ALEXIS

Lu, take a picture of the back of my hair.

LULU

I don't know how exactly.

Alexis puts her phone on camera and instructs Lulu how to point and push the screen. Lulu pushes a few times, and Alexis grabs back her phone to look at the photos.

LULU

Now let's go.

ALEXIS

Are you kidding? Right now you look like a reject from a Muppets casting call.

INT. BRIGHT BLUE PRIUS—FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER

Elana drives Lulu and Alexis through Bel-Air's giant gates, past perfectly mowed grass, carefully shaped bushes, and huge houses.

Wearing headphones, Alexis listens to music while checking her Facebook page.

Lulu taps Alexis's shoulder.

LULU

Are you mad at me?

ALEXIS

(sliding headphones off one ear)

Here's how it works with A-1 Hollywood party planners, stylists, and decorators. You get a few precious hours of their time, and they focus their mega talents on you. You drop everything to be available.

LULU

I'm totally in. Geez peas! It's just that I didn't know today was a WHOLE day of party shopping. Next time you book me for a Saturday, I'll just tell Sophia I'm busy.

ALEXIS

(turns to look at Lulu)

You'd tell Sophia that you're too busy for a playdate because you gotta get ready for your birthday bash she's not invited to?

LULU

(trying to not get frustrated)

Not exactly gonna say that, Lex, because she's gotta be invited! Sophia's mom works all day on Saturdays so it's always our play day. We harvest the salsa garden. We bake. Or sew. We just, ummmm…draw and make up games and stories—

ALEXIS

Fine. Then invent a story about why she can't attend your très fab party.

Stung by Alexis, Lulu is quiet a moment and looks out the window. She wonders how to make Alexis understand that NOT having Sophia is NOT an option.

LULU

Saying Sophia can't come is like saying you have to spend a day without your iPhone. She's part of me!

ALEXIS

Puhleese! Drama queen.

Alexis plugs herself back into her iPhone and slides her headphones back over both ears.

Elana expertly zooms the Prius through the Harrison gates, passing Sophia's mother, EVE, exiting the grounds in her yellow Mini Cooper. Eve rolls down her window and waves. Her earth-toned gypsy blouse billows around her arm. Eve is a Japanese woman in her midthirties and naturally beautiful. Her tightly braided hair swings over her shoulders as she turns her head and backs down the driveway.

INT. HARRISON HOME—CONTINUOUS

CUT!! Here's what you should know about going in and out of my house: you're always putting shoes on and taking shoes off. Street shoes inside might scuff up the floors or get dirt specks on the precious antique carpets. My house is cleaner than any hospital. It's dust free, bug free, and dirt free. Built-in humidifiers and air purifiers hum all the time. Fiona hates sneezes. If she can get rid of the dust in the house, she can control how much sneezing is going on. So, you can understand why I spend lots of time outside. Now, back to: ACTION!!

Without taking off her shoes, Lulu bursts through the tall, front doors into the high-ceilinged entrance hall. Dark, polished wood floors look like the surface of a pond at night. A crystal chandelier glimmers high above a sweeping staircase.

Shoeless, Sophia sits on the edge of the bottom stair. She reads a book called
Good
Bugs
. Two jars sit next to her.

LULU

(panting)

Hey, Soph.

Looking up from her book, Sophia seems as if she needs to remember where she is. She looks very small, huddled on the stairs in the grand room.

SOPHIA

Hi, Lu.

Lulu nabs a chip from her tote and munches. An awkward silence settles between the girls. Lulu's sure this is the first time that's ever happened.

SOPHIA

(tentatively)

I brought them.

Sophia glances at the jars sitting next to her.

SOPHIA

Looks like they're slowing down. Probably getting hungry. They need to be let free.

LULU

Ummm…what? Oh, you brought them. Great.

Lulu covers up forgetting what Sophia was supposed to bring. Her head spins with Alexis's demand that Sophia not be part of the Spa-tacular.

Sophia picks up one of the glass jars beside her.

SOPHIA

The ladybugs came in the mail yesterday. Perfect timing so we can release them on the roses today. They're so cute, but they're losing their buzz.

POW!! The great day they'd planned slams back into Lulu's memory. When
she
was in charge of her party, Lulu planned to mix up a batch of rose perfume as her party favor. When she and Sophia went to collect the petals, they found tiny bugs munching up the rosebushes. Ugh, that all seems like another lifetime!

LULU

(now excited)

Geez peas! Let's get outta here and bring the ladies to their new home.

Lulu grabs both jars and dashes out the front door. Sophia follows, pulling on her shoes before heading outside.

EXT. HARRISION ESTATE ROSE GARDEN—CONTINUOUS

LULU

What else did
Good Bugs
say? If I remember, the ratio was: ten ladybugs cover twenty feet, so if we need to cover an area of a hundred feet, we gotta release fifty bugs. That's what you ordered, right?

SOPHIA

Exactly. You worked out the math last week.

LULU

We need these ladybugs to be mucho hungry to eat the aphids. Hernandez said aphids are what's destroying the rosebushes. Look, they're eating everything except the thorns.

The girls inspect the tattered plants.

SOPHIA

We could also release spiders. They eat aphids too. And they won't harm the roses since they're carnivores.

LULU

Yah, but can you imagine my mother knowing I was releasing spiders near her house?

The girls giggle.

SOPHIA

Your dad wouldn't be bothered.

LULU

You're right. He'd probably threaten to let them out in Mom's bathroom just to see her freak out. Then he'd laugh about it, so she'd get madder…

Thinking about the bitterness between her parents, Lulu loses her giggly-ness. Lulu and Sophia sprinkle water and gently toss ladybugs onto the rosebushes.

SOPHIA

You know, Lu, you're lucky to have a mother and a father. Even if they fight. My mother's worst day of the year…

(pause)

…is Father's Day. She feels so s'bad—remember, we made that up for sad and bad?

LULU

'Course I do.

SOPHIA

Well, my mom feels so s'bad that I don't know my father. And I can tell she's lonely. She'd love to have someone to tease her about spiders.

LULU

Sophia, you're really brave. I'm a wimp.

SOPHIA

Nah. I just don't know anything different.

LULU

Well, that just shows what a weakling I am, because my parents have been fighting my whole life, and I'm still not used to it.

How could Lulu explain to Sophia that when her dad teases her mom there's a sharp bite to it? Like it's meant to draw blood. How can she explain that her mom is so busy and demanding that she doubts her mom has ever hugged her dad? Sensing Lulu's distress, Sophia changes the subject.

SOPHIA

So now that our ladybug army is on the attack, let's go check the cilantro plants. Your garden-grown salsa is gonna be the hit of your birthday party, Lu.