Cate reaches over and slaps her alarm clock off. It's 5 a.m. and she figured she'd go to work this morning, even though it meant seeing Ryan.
Baze opens Lauren's bedroom door, and sees that Lauren and Lux were still sleeping. It had been a long weekend for all of them. They all went shopping for new things for Lux, like a bed, dresser, etc. Cate kept calling them, but they would never answer, and eventually Baze called Cate and told her to chill out. They'll talk to her when she is ready.
"Schooooool tiiiiiime!" Baze yells. Both girls groan, annoyed at their new alarm clock. "Come one. You're going to be late!" He says walking out.
"Does he do this all the time?" Lux asks Lauren tiredly.
"Only on school days." Lauren mumbles as she gets up and walks to the bathroom.
Lux groans once more and throws her covers over her head.
At the studio, it was work as usual for Cate and Ryan. They didn't speak much, unless they were on air.
"Ya know, sometimes, when you're having sex, in bed, doing other stuff..." Cate says.
"What? You suddenly shy now?" He asks her, rudely.
"Not shy. It's just awkward, when a guy is down there. I mean do you really want a guy looking up at you, begging for approval?" Ryan was becoming very uncomfortable with their conversation on air. "I'm just saying."
"Hey, if we don't work out, you should hand out a manual on the do's and don'ts on dating Cate Cassidy."
Cate smirks. "Yeah, I will. Ya know, if we don't work out." She says looking away awkwardly.
At school, Baze drops Lauren and Lux off. They both stop when they see the banner that some kids are putting up about Winter Formal for the high school.
Lauren chuckles. "Winter Formal. Are you going to going to go?" She asks Lux.
Lux stares at the banner and shrugs. "Dances really aren't my thing."
Jones walks up from behind her. "And what is?" He asks her in her ear. Lux turns around and smiles.
"I don't know." She says looking over at Lauren.
"I'm going to go." Lauren laughs. "See you later. Bye, Jones."
"See ya, Lauren." He says nicely.
Lauren shakes her head, laughing, as she walks away.
"So, what's up?" Lux asks him.
Jones looks around, nervously. "You want to go to Winter Formal tonight?"
"Wait. Are you like asking me?"
"Uh, well, I don't know. Um, yeah. I mean as friends." He says weirdly. Lux made him so nervous, he wasn't completely sure why. "I mean unless you're taking your boyfriend?"
"You're dateless? The day of?" Lux asks him. She couldn't believe the quarterback of the football team, the most popular guy in the school, didn't have a date to Winter Formal, but was asking her to go with him. Something was definitely off.
"Well, you do owe me one?" Lux gives him a questioning look. "Oh, the party. It was ruined." He laughs. Lux smiles, nodding. Yeah, she did kinda owe him, she thought.
Lauren walks down the hallway to the library, where she is suppose to be meeting her tutor. She was far from happy about this. Lauren takes a deep breath and walks into the library. She sees a guy sitting alone at a table with a math book. She figured he was Jake, so she walks over to him.
"Jake?" She asks.
Jake looks up and smiles. "Lauren Bazile." He says standing up, and extending his hand out.
Lauren takes it and smiles. "So, I guess your my tutor."
"Yeah, I guess so." He says sitting back down. "So, lets get started."
Lauren takes the seat next to him and sits down. "You know I'm not failing, right?"
"Well, by the looks of your test, your pretty damn close to it." He says opening his math book and pushing it towards her. "I hear you suck at Geometry."
All Lauren could think about was how cute he was, but how annoying he was forcing this math on her. Shouldn't they be getting to know eachother?
Back at the studio, Cate and Ryan are just getting off the air, and now the awkwardness was finally settling in between them.
"You okay?" Ryan asks her.
"I'm a little tired. When you're driving everyone you love out of your life it's pretty exhausting." She tells him, sadly.
Ryan looks away, unsure on what to say. "Um, have you talked to Lux and Lauren?"
"I tried calling them all weekend, but they wouldn't take it. You know, I wanna make things right with them, but the only way to do that is to talk to them."
Ryan leans in onto the desk. "You don't have to take no from them."
Cate rolls her eyes. "Only with you."
Ryan showed no emotion. He didn't think Cate deserved anything he felt at the moment. "Yeah. We're back." He says putting the headphones back on. Cate sighs and does the same.
At Baze's bar, Baze is fixing things up behind the counter as Lauren sits at one of the tables, doing her homework, and Lux is on her phone texting.
"Geometry is so stupid. I mean, really, when will we ever use this stuff?" Lauren says throwing her pencil down in frustration.
"You'll get it, kid. How was the first tutoring session?" Baze asks her.
Lauren rolls her eyes, thinking back to how boring it was. Jake was so cute, but his cuteness was wearing off since all he talked about was math. "Lame. Like right when I got in there he wanted to start working right away."
Lux laughs. "That's usually what you do when you're tutoring someone."
"Ha. Ha." Lauren says mocking her.
"So, I was thinking we all do something tonight. Movies? Putt-putt? Anything." He tells them.
Lux puts her phone down and starts sqirming in her chair, nervously. "Uh, I can't. I'm sorta going to the Winter Formal." She tells him, stumbling on her words a little.
Lauren and Baze both drop what they are doing. Baze starts laughing. "No way! With who?"
"With Jones." She says sheepishly as she stares up at Baze.
Baze smiles. "Like quarterback Jones?"
"So, what are you going to wear?" Lauren asks her, happily. She wasn't sure why she was so happy for Lux, but she was.
"I don't know. Maybe one of those dresses Cate got for me?" She asks confused. "Are these things dressy?"
"Well, it is called a formal." Lauren tells her in an obvious tone.
"Very funny."
"And you're going with the quarterback!" Baze says happily, as he hugs Lux tight.
Lux laughs. "Alright, I'm going to go upstairs, and look through my closet and stress." She says walking away up to the loft.
Lauren and Baze look at eachother. Lauren couldn't help but laugh at how excited Baze looked. "Looks like it's just you and me, Dad."
Baze was about to say something, when the doors opens and Cate walks up to them.
"Hey. Hey, Lauren." Cate says nervously. Lauren just looks at her and gives her a little smile. "How are you doing?" Lauren just looks away. She really wanted to talk to Cate, but she was still so angry with her. "I miss you." Cate says trying again.
"I'm going to go upstairs and help Lux find a dress." Lauren tells Baze. She walks up to the loft leaving Cate and Baze alone.
"Where is Lux going?" Cate asks him, curiously.
"Well, Lux is going to Winter Formal." He says not able to hide his excitement.
"No way!" She says, surprised.
Baze smiles. "Yeah, with that kid, Jones. The quartback."
"Wait. Does she need a dress?"
"Yeah, actually. And you should really get on that before she stresses out and kills our other daughter, who may not ever see her Winter Formal." Baze tells her, jokingly.
Cate rolls her eyes and walks away, up to the loft to find Lux.
Math comes downstairs. "Hey, what's Lux stressing out for up there? And why is Cate here?"
"Lux is going to the Winter Formal, and since she refuses to talk to Cate, I insisted she bring Lux to get a dress."
"Wow. That was really nice for you to do."
"I didn't do it for Cate. Do you know how expenses dresses are?"
Math rolls his eyes. "Jackass."
Upstairs, Lux is throwing dresses around the room, as Lauren tries to shield herself from them. Cate knocks on the bedroom door, and lets herself in.
"Whoa. Did the closet blow up?" She jokes. Lauren and Lux just look at her. "Um, okay, Lux I heard you're going to Winter Formal. I thought we could go find a dress, ya know, together? If that's okay with you?"
Lux sighs. She knew she would have no other choice. "Sure." She says walking out of the room.
"Lauren, do you want to come with us?" Cate asks her daughter, who was looking somewhere else, trying to avoid Cate's gaze on her.
"Um, no thanks." She says quickly, turning away.
Cate sighs, knowing she couldn't force her. That would just pull them away more. So, she walks out of the room, shutting the door quietly. Lauren sighs, and closes her eyes tightly as tears begin to fall slowly.
At the dress store, Lux is looking through some dresses, as Cate is walking around aimlessly trying to figure out a way to start up a conversation with Lux.
"So, it may not be talking, but standing in the same room is a good start." She laughs nervously. Lux just looks at her not amused.
"You promised, we look, you buy, we leave, no talking." Lux says coldly.
"Okay, okay, okay, no talking.." Cate whispers as she follows Lux around. "So, you and Jones?"
"Wow. A whole three seconds." Lux says sarcastically.
"Well, it's just since when there's a you and Jones?"
"Since never. So, can we please leave it alone?"
"Are you and Bug still together?" Cate asks her.
Lux rolls her eyes. She didn't even want to be here, and Cate was clearly proving her reasons why she didn't want to be there. Lux grabs a dress, quickly, that wasn't too appealing. "How about this one?" She says changing the subject.
"Well, you'd want a dress sexy enough to remind people that you are woman, but not so revealing that they forget your a lady." Cate tells her, pretty satisfied with her answer.
"You could have just said no." Lux puts the dress back on the rack.
Cate walks over to another rack where a short, but pretty and less revealing pink dress was hanging. She knew it was Lux. "How great is this one?" She says picking it up and showing Lux.
Lux chuckles. She looks at the price tag and lets go of it. "No, you don't need to spend that much on me." She tells Cate.
"No, no. I want to, Lux. This dance is a big deal. I want your night to be perfect." Lux turns away. "And I just want to be apart of it." Lux snorts. "How long are you going to punish me for not taking in Tasha? Lux, what you were asking me, no responsible parent would have taken her in."
"Baze would have." Lux spats out.
"Yeah, exactly."
Lux laughs. "Wow, Cate. You are a broken record. All roads lead back to slamming Baze. Pick whatever dress you want. I'll be in the car." Lux says walking away.
Cate sighs as she looks down at the pink dress.
Back at the loft, Lauren is laying down in her bed staring up at the ceiling. She wasn't paying attention when her door opens, and Baze crawls through slowly, but quietly. He peeks up at Lauren from her bed.
"Hey."
Lauren smiles and turns her head down towards Baze who is sitting on his knees, uncomfortably. "What are you doing?" She laughs.
"I'm bored. So, I want you to come hang out with me." He tells her. Lauren sits up, and Baze could tell she had been crying. "Are you okay?" He asks, concerned.
Lauren wipes her face with her sleeve. "Yeah, I'm fine. What do you want to do?" She says putting on her happy face.
"I don't know. Anything you want to do. It's our night together. Just you and me."
Lauren instantly puts on a big smile. "Hotdog race?" She says kinking her eyebrows.
Baze laughs. "Lets do it!" He says as Lauren jumps on his back and they run out into the kitchen, laughing.
Soon Baze, Math, and Lauren have a plate of hotdogs in front of them.
"Okay, one minute on the timer." Lauren says fixing the timer. "Ready, set, go!" She yells.
All three of them are stuffing their mouths with as many hotdogs as they can before the timer goes off. Lux walks in and sees them. She starts laughing as she walks over to them.
"What the heck are you guys doing?"
The timer goes off and Lauren and Baze were almost even, but Math could not even finish half of his plate.
"Dude, you just got beat by a girl!" Baze laughs as he and Lauren high-five eachother.
"Oh, I think I have a food baby." Math says grabbing his stomach. "I gotta go." He walks away to the bathroom.
"How was the shopping trip?" Baze asks, as he turns to Lux.
Lux shrugs. "So, what were you doing?" She asks, sitting next to Lauren.
"Hotdog race. It's a classic." Lauren tells her.
Baze points to Lauren. "And this girl here can eat just like her good ole' dad."
Lauren laughs. "Wanna try it?"
Lux laughs. "Sure."
And they were off again, without Math.
An hour or so later, Lauren is in her bedroom helping Lux get ready for the dance, while Math and Baze sit in the living room playing video games.
"You know I didn't mean to sleep with Cate, again." Baze says to Math. He knew it was about time to apologize, since Math has and always had a crush on Cate. Math was pretty mad about his Baze had been treating her. "We were going through a lot that day." Math doesn't say anything. "Look, if you're that upset, she's single now. If you like her so much, do something about it."
"You're not going to try to date her?" Math asks him.
Baze pauses their game. "Hell no. I rather date Satan. He'll go easier on me." He laughs. "Dude, this parent thing is way easier than Cate made it out to be. I mean we had Lauren for twelve years now, and I think I'm doing pretty good with her. I mean this is the first time she's actually stayed here for much longer than a week, and the first time she's ever been mad enough at Cate to leave, but she seems content here. Drama free. And look at Lux, she's going to Winter Formal with the quarterback. She's only been with me for a few months, and she already has a good head on those good shoulders of her's."
Math laughs. "I gotta say I'm surprised you and Cate want her to go to the Winter Formal." Baze looks at him confused. "Ya know, like the flask we snuck in, the twelve pack of beer, the trojans from Mobile, and the sex that most people had."
"Yeah, but I think kids are probably very different now." Baze tells him.
"Uh, no, they're worse. That's why they have a bunch of teachers chaperoning the dance."
"No, Lux is a good kid. She isn't like that."
"Cate was a good kid, and look what happened to her. Twice." Math reminds him.
Baze stops their game again, and puts the controller down. He hesitates for a second before getting up, pacing back and forth. "She got knocked up, by the quarterback. Twice."
"Maybe you need to talk to Lux about sex. Maybe even Lauren."
"No, I can't talk to them about sex. That's weird." Baze says disgusted at the thought.
"Ya know what would be even weirder? Being a grandfather. Twice!"
Baze stops walking and looks at Math, terrified at the thought.
In their bedroom, Lux takes out the dress to show Lauren.
"Whoa. That is gorgeous." Lux smiles. "Let me guess. Mom picked it out?"
Lux laughs. "Yeah. You think Jones will like it?"
Lauren looks at Lux confused. "I thought you didn't like Jones like that."
"What? No, I don't. But he's my date, ya know?"
"Yeah.." Lauren says not buying it. "Have you talked to Bug? Does he know that you are going to the dance?"
"Um, no." Lux says grabbing her shoes out the box, that Cate also insisted on buying. "I haven't really talked to him."
"Why not?"
"He's been really busy with work." Lux lies. Lauren knew she was lying, but she wasn't going to question her anymore.
"Hey." Lux looks at Lauren. "I think Jones will like it." Lauren tells her. Lux smiles at her little sister, then back at the dress. "I know we're not really close, or really know eachother all that well, and usually I'd talked to Mom about this, but, can I ask you something?" Lauren asks her.
Lux knew this had to be serious if Lauren was wanting to talk to her about it. She puts the dress down and walks over to her bed and sits next to Lauren. "Yeah, what's up?"
Lauren sighs, thinking of a good way to put it. "Um, is it wrong to have a crush on your tutor?"
Lux was definitely not expecting that. "Seriously?" She says surprised.
Laure nods. "Yeah, like I don't know. I just have that feeling."
"Wow." Lux says trying to think of the right words to say. "It's not wrong. Unless he's way older than you, then I won't allow it."
Lauren laughs. "No, he's my age."
"Okay, good." Lux says relieved. She did not want to be kicking some older guys ass for hitting on her little sister.
"Lux.."
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for finding us." Lauren wasn't expecting to get close to Lux the way she had. They weren't really close enough to really know eachother's secrets just yet, and they never really got into eachother's past, but just being there now, with eachother, felt pretty good. It felt right.
"No problem." Lux says smiling down at her and throwing her arm around Lauren's shoulders.
At Cate's, Cate walks to the door when she hears her doorbell ring. When she opens it Math is standing on the other side.
"Oh, hey, Math."
"Hey." He says nervously.
"Is everything okay with the girls?" She asks suddenly becoming worried.
"Oh, yeah, everything is fine. Um, can I come in?" He asks her.
Cate steps aside. "Uh, yeah, come on in." Math walks in slowly. He sees that the house is a mess and tries to walk over the clothes and other things on the floor.
"Oh, sorry, I haven't had much time to clean." Cate says shamely.
"No, I haven't noticed." He says kindly as they both sit down on the couch. "You got a nice couch."
"Thanks..So what's up?"
"Well, I've been thinking a lot, and I know you've been really down lately, so I've thought of something that may cheer you up."
"Well, if it involves mounts and mounts of tequila, then I'm in." She says half joking and half serious.
"I thought you might want to be a chaperone a the Winter Formal. It'll get you out of the house, give you something to do, with me." Cate looks surprised. "And I know you really miss seeing Lux, so this would be a chance not to miss a big milestone."
"That would be amazing, but I've already crashed one party of Lux's, so I don't think showing up at her formal would help things."
"Well, then that's when you say the school called you, and I begged you to chaperone with me. You are just doing a favor for a friend."
Cate smiles. She was thinking really hard about it. "I really want to see her in that dress." Math smiles. "Okay, yeah." She laughs. "Let's do it." Math couldn't help but smile from ear to ear.
