Lulu in LA LA Land (11 page)

Officer Gale smiles and returns to his car but soon rolls down his window.

OFFICER GALE

Hey, Lulu! Mrs. Gale and I will be dining at your friends' Taco Truck ASAP. And tell them we're coming hungry!

INT. CROSSWINDS SCHOOL SCIENCE CLASS—AFTERNOON

Mr. Ling stands in front of the class.

MR. LING

My favorite class of the week. Kids Teach Today, K.T.T. Who'd like to start?

No one moves.

MR. LING

Anyone? Any interesting science topics on your minds?

Lulu squiggles and squirms. Sure. She's thought about one hundred zillion scientific things, but maybe being something of a Pop Girl, she shouldn't volunteer.

MR. LING

Lulu. Why don't you break the ice?

LULU

Ice? Hummmm. OK.

All eyes on her, Lulu slowly gets up from her desk and grabs a fistful of ice from the science lab's freezer and heads to the front of the room. If there's one thing that's certain, it's that she's not letting Mr. Ling down.

LULU

Anyone ever been to Lohachara?

SAM

The Chinese restaurant?

LULU

The Indian ISLAND. It's an island in the Bay of Bengal. Or at least it used to be! It doesn't exist anymore. Ten thousand people used to live on Lohachara but now it's gone. It disappeared in 2006 and that makes it THE numero uno inhabited island to be washed off the earth.

The silence in the class is only broken by creaking seats while bored students shift their weight. Meanwhile, Lulu continues on while the ice she's holding melts into a puddle onto the floor.

LULU

The very first island to be washed underneath the ocean was Kirbati. It was in the Pacific, but no one lived on it. As oceans keep rising, bigger islands and whole chains of islands are in serious danger, like the Maldives and the Marshall Islands.

The class further zones out: doodling, whispering. Ignoring Lulu. Without Sophia to keep her moving along, Lulu doesn't know how to stop.

LULU

And not only tropical islands way out in the middle of the ocean but really close islands near the United States could disappear too. Like Assateague! Did you guys read
Misty of Chincoteague
? That's one of our…

(looks at Sophia)

Ummmm, I mean, my favorite books. Assateague and Chincoteague are islands off the coast of Maryland or, ummm, Virginia where real-life wild ponies live. Those ponies could drown!

NO RESPONSE.

LULU

We can't let this happen, and we can all help. The ice I was holding all melted. There's a puddle on the ground that didn't used to be there. While the ice is kept cold, it doesn't melt, but because the atmosphere is heating up, glaciers and icebergs are melting and their melt is adding tons more water to the seas, and when the ocean rises—

MR. LING

Excuse me, Lulu. So much of this excellent information is in the essay you wrote for the California Global Warming Conference. I'm going to put a copy out in the classroom for anyone to read. Now, though, I'm going to ask if there's anyone else ready to teach.

LULU

(embarrassed)

Thanks, Mr. Ling.

Lulu, shuffling back to her desk, passes Sophia. Lulu keeps her head down but hears Sophia whisper.

SOPHIA

You should clean up your mess.

Sophia points toward the puddle of melted ice on the floor.

INT. HARRISONS' “FAMILY” ROOM—WEDNESDAY NIGHT

Lulu twists uncomfortably on the leather and metal director's chair. She reads a tattered copy of
Misty
. Her orange book light is clipped onto page 145.

A TELEPHONE RINGS.

ELANA

(over intercom)

Lulu, pick up line one, por favor.

Lulu reaches for a cordless telephone.

LULU

(hesitantly, unsure who would call her)

Ummmm. Hi, it's Lulu.

MIGUEL

(off screen)

Will you talk to my dad about painting the truck?

LULU

(relieved)

Oh, Miguel. Hi. Sure. Paint the Taco Truck? What do ya mean? It's always been plain white with the red and green writing.

MIGUEL

That's the problemo. All the newer trucks have totally cool paint jobs. They look like street art, ya know. Pictures. Cartoons. Graffiti.

LULU

Oh yeah. I've seen those around. They have really bright colors too.

MIGUEL

Exactly. So you gotta talk to my dad.

LULU

Why don't you?

MIGUEL

I did, but he won't consider it.

LULU

What'd he say? There's got to be a really good reason. Your dad's really smart AND a great chef.

MIGUEL

He won't say, but I think it's because of his mom.

LULU

Did she paint it or something?

MIGUEL

Exactly.

LULU

But I thought she—

MIGUEL

Yes. She painted it with my dad just before she died.

LULU

I get it.

MIGUEL

Hey, I loved
mi abuela
mucho, but this is business. Dad's gotta move on.

LULU

Nope. No way. There's meaning and magic in the truck because of your abuela, and it's gotta stay that way.

MIGUEL

But then the whole truck's gonna go! Be sold to someone who'll paint it over themselves.

LULU

Well, repainting the Taco Truck isn't the right answer.

MIGUEL

There's still NO answer. But, hey, I kinda knew you'd agree with my dad.

LULU

(seriously)

You got a great,
fantastico
dad.

MIGUEL

You got a great,
famoso
dad.

LULU

Yeah, but he sure can't make a tamale.

(draws a breath)

Miguel? Hasn't business picked up lately?

MIGUEL

Nope. Not really. Not enough.

LULU

Haven't had any more customers?

MIGUEL

A few new ones. But it's really weird. They've all tried to order churros.

LULU

Geez peas!

MIGUEL

Oh well. Bye, Lu.

CUT!! Note to my readers: always CHECK the menu before you decide to hand out free stuff to advertise your friend's food truck! Make sure you offer something they actually sell. Back to: ACTION!!

INT. LULU'S BEDROOM—THURSDAY EVENING

Despite wearing super-tight, colored, skinny jeans, the Pop Girls lounge around Lulu's room. Jade sits on Lulu's bed with her back up against the pillows and her legs under the duvet. Jana lies at the foot of the bed. Jenna sprawls on the furry beanbag. Lulu, in her usual orange skirt and surf T-shirt, sits with her elbows propped on her desk and her head resting on her hands.

JADE

(working her iPhone screen)

Can you believe how many likes this girl got from a dumb photo of her hand with fake nails pasted on?

JANA

Lemme see.

Jana grabs Jade's phone, looks at the screen, and then passes it to Jenna.

JENNA

Well, she has each one painted a different color.

JADE

That's like a Sesame Street experiment.

(Turns on a mocking tone)

How many colors can you paint on five fingernails, kids?

LULU

May I see? I still don't get how the insta-pictures work.

JADE

Lulu, for someone so totally into science, you sure don't know anything about modern technology.

LULU

(thinks a moment)

Ya know, that's right. I can learn, though.

JADE

How'd you get into science-y stuff anyway?

JENNA

Did you have one of those volcano erupting kits? I had, ummm, I mean, my brother had one of those.

LULU

'Cause I tried an experiment that went grande wrong. When we first got Watson, his poops smelled beyond disgusting and gross. My mom got convinced there was something wrong with him and wanted him gone. But he was my Christmas present, and I begged her NOT to give him away. But, ummm, no one can really argue against my mom. So, the night before he was supposed to be given away, I decided to cure him of stinky-poop-itis.

JANA

Really? That's a disease?

LULU

Nah. But that's what I diagnosed.

JENNA

What'd you do?

LULU

OK, don't laugh. Remember, I was desperate.

JADE

Come on.

LULU

Well, I knew peppermint was supposed to make your breath fresh, right? So, Sophia and I gathered up all the peppermint we could find. We ended up with a shoebox overflowing with candy canes and peppermint sticks. Then, at night, I ground them all down and mixed it with leftover turkey and fed it to Watson.

JADE

That is HILLLLarious.

LULU

Now it kinda is. See, I thought the clean minty-ness would pass right through him and make his poop fresh.

JANA

Did it?

LULU

No. It almost killed him.

JENNA

How'd you save him?

LULU

I didn't. The vet did. And our dog manny, Johnny. Well, at the time Johnny worked for the vet and sat up with Watson all night long.

JANA

Well, you're way into dogs.

Jana rolls her eyes and tilts her head toward snapshots of dogs stuck onto a puffy French message board.

LULU

Oh, I wanna show you guys something.

Lulu reaches under her bed and slides out a mega-sized rectangular plastic bin filled with greeting cards. Each card pictures an adorable doggie. Lulu hands bunches of cards to each Pop Girl.

LULU

'Cause I almost killed my dog at Christmastime, I try to save other dogs. Johnny drives me to the pound, and I take pictures of dogs who need homes. We make the pictures into these holiday cards and send them to everyone, asking if they'd want a dog for Christmas.

JADE

Anyone EVER say yes?

LULU

(pointing to the wall)

Sure. All those pictures there are Christmas pooches.

JENNA

(glances over at Jade and Jana on the bed)

K. That does it. You guys, we've gotta show Lulu how to Instagram and group text. It'll be WAY easier for her to get people to eat tacos and rescue dogs.

JANA

Did you say “eat hotdogs and rescue tacos”?!

JADE

Lulu, do you even have an iPhone?

LULU

(softly)

Nope.

JADE

Any phone?

LULU

(even quieter)

Uh-uh.

JANA

Well, so much for that plan.

JENNA

I could show you on my iPhone.

Jenna pulls her iPhone covered in a purple sparkle case from her Burberry purse.

LULU

(still sitting on the floor surrounded by mini-mountains of doggie holiday cards)

Really? It's, ummm, fine for me to learn on yours?

JADE

NO. It's NOT.

(to Jenna)

Put that away! Lulu could break it.

JENNA

iPhones are pretty hard to mess up.

JADE

Are you forgetting? I GAVE you that iPhone case.

Jenna stashes her phone back in her purse. Jade gets up and heads toward the door. Jana follows.

JADE

I heard a car. Could be my mom. Or maybe your parents? I wanna see who's here.

Jenna gets up, grabs her purse, and exits. Lulu, tripping over doggie Christmas cards, stumbles toward the door.

INT. ENTRANCE HALL—CONTINUOUS

Jenna sits a on a round mauve velvet bench and waits for her mom. The other Pop Girls have already gone.

Lulu plunks down beside Jenna.

LULU

(talking in her speedy way)

Hey, maybe you can show me how to use your phone another time? Ya know, I can use it to tell people about important things.

CUT!! This is a moment I've gotta break in on. Sorry, but look: I've NEVER had any interest in a cell phone before. I mean, I'm ONLY (almost) eleven! But, all of a sudden, what I do want is for the Pop Girls to be my friends, especially Jenna. It feels
mucho
important because she could teach me stuff that could help me be a better me! We could team up to rescue dogs or Mr. Garza's business or zillions of other people and animals and trees and plants and water that need saving. Now, back to: ACTION!!