(Karen walks into the cafe)

Deb: Oh my God Karen, when did you get back?

K: Early this morning. Keith picked me up.

D: He didn't say anything to me.

K: I wanted to surprise Lucas.

D: I bet that he was glad to see you.

K: I think that I succeeded in surprising him, but I don't think that he was exactly happy to see me.

D: I'm sure that's not true.

(Karen fills Deb in on all that happened while she was gone.)

K: So you see, my son isn't the little angel that everyone thought that he was.

D: Wow! What are you going to do to him?

K: That is the problem that I have been struggling w/ since I got home last night. I didn't sleep all night. (Deciding that she needed to talk to someone about Michael, she decided that she would confide in Deb.) Can I talk to you about something, but I need to know that you will never tell anyone about it?

D: Of course. Anything.

K: All night, I laid there and wondered what I should do w/ Lucas, but I feel like such a hipocrit.

D: Why?

K: I know that he was taking advantage of the fact that I wasn't around. Well, while I was in Paris, I was taking advantage of the fact that he wasn't around.

D: (smiling) Did you get drunk and stay out all night?

K: No, but I did meet someone.

D: What? Who?

K: His name was Michael and he was great and the time that I had w/ him was great, but..

D: But what?

K: But it would never have worked out. We were from different worlds. I ended it a few days before I came back here.

D: I'm sorry.

K: Don't be, it was great while it lasted.

D: This is stuff that only happens in the movies.

K: That's not all. I haven't been feeling good the last few days and I think that I might be...

D: Pregnant?

K: (tears start falling)What am I going to do? What am I going to tell Lucas and Keith?

I'm upset w/ my 16 year old son for taking advantage of the situation, I'm 34 years old. You would think that I would have learned from the first time that this happened. What kind of example am I to Lucas. (Puts her face in her hands and began to sob.)

D: Karen, I'm so sorry. But listen, you don't even know if you are. You might just have a case of the flu. It might have been something you ate in Paris. Don't get so upset about this until you know for sure. Go to the doctor tomorrow and find out.

K: (trying to get a grip) I know that I'm not sure, but I just can't imagine what I would tell Lucas...

D: Stop right now. You will deal w/ that if the time comes. Right now, you need to dry the tears and tell me just how gorgeous this man was. (Trying to get her to smile)

K: (Smiling back) He really was great. (Karen filled in Deb on every detail of her weeks in Paris.)

D: Wow, I'm so jealous. Karen, no matter what happens, you will make it work. You deserved those weeks and don't let anyone tell you differently.

K: Thanks for listening Deb. I really did have a great time. But now I need to figure out what to do w/ my juvenile deliquent son.

How do i punish him for being irresponsible, when I was just as bad?

D: Are you thinking about letting him off the hook?

K: I might be pregnant, but I'm not crazy.

(Both of them laughing). No, he has it coming. Maybe I just won't be quite as hard on him as I normally would.

(Just then the door fo the cafe flies open.)

H: Deb, I am so sorry I was late, I overslept because I was at Luke's...

(Seeing Karen)house.

K: So you attended my son's party Haley?

H: Karen! (giving her a hug) I'm so glad to see you! Welcome back.

K: Thanks. I'm glad to see you too. So back to that whole party thing.

H: I was there, but I swear I was just there to keep things under control.

K: Well thanks for that, I guess.

H: So how bad did you let Luke have it.

K: I'm not finished w/ him yet. He's cleaning right now. Anyway that is what he is suppose to be doing. How have things been w/ you two?

(Deb and Haley filled Karen in on what she missed w/ Nathan and Dan.)

K: Nathan and Haley. I never would have guessed it.

H: I've been hearing a lot of that lately. I'm not sure how I should take that.

K: Deb, it sounds like things are getting better for you and Nathan. I am happy to hear that.

D: (smiling) I really think they are going pretty good. Now the whole problem is that Chritmas is this Thursday and Dan wants to come over. I'm not sure what I should do.

K: That's a tough call. What are you and Nathan doing for Christmas Eve?

D: Nothing.

K: Why don't you join Me, Lucas, Keith and Haley. I'm sure that Haley won't mind since her and Nathan are a thing (Looking at Haley and smiling) and I know that Keith wouldn't mind.

H: But you two are forgetting about Nathan and Lucas. I don't think that any of us want to see Christmas blood shed.

K: Don't worry about Lucas, if he wants to be able to leave the house before St. patrick's day, he will behave himself. He's on thin ice the way it is. I have a feeling he will cooperate.

D: Same w/ Nathan. He will almost be ungrounded at that point, and if he wants to keep it that way, he will go and he will like it. Anyway, when he finds out that you will be there, he will be fine.

K: Then it's settled. How about 5:00?

D: Sounds great. What can I bring?

K: Nothing. I owe you so much for helping out w/ the cafe.

D: It was nothing. It was actually a welcome distraction.

K: We better get to work. The customers are getting impatient.

Lucas is sitting on the couch looking at the note that his mom left for him on the table that morning.

Luke,

I opened the mail before I went to bed and had some interesting reading material. When you are trying to figure out how you are going to expalin the soooo many other things to me, you can add these two to the list. Is there anything else that I need to know about? Don't forget, all the cleaning needs to be done before I get home.

Mom

He looked at the letters from the school and the hospital and then tried to flip them on the table but they missed and they landed on the floor. Karen walked through the back door and looked around.

K: Not bad. I'm glad to see that it's all back to normal in here.

L: I even made your bed.

K: Good, you need all the brownie points you can get right now.

L: Yeah, I know.

K: Let's see it.

L: What?

K: The tatoo!

L: Oh. You sure you want to see it?

K: I never thought that I would be asking you to see your tatoo. Let me see it.

(Lucas lifts up his sleeve and shows her)

L: Well, What do you think?

K: It's big...

L: That's what Haley said too. It means fun.

K: Well I'm glad, because it is the only "FUN" you will be seeing for a long time.

L: How long?

K: That has not been determined yet. I need to meet w/ your counselor and see what he has to tell me. How bad is that going to be Lucas?

L: I dont know, he hasn't talked to me yet either.

K: Luke, you have an idea how you are doing in school. How bad are we talking?

L: I don't know. A few missing and late ****ignments. A few low grades.

K: How low? I have never had to worry about your grades in the past. Why now?

L: (Shrugging) I don't know.

K: Uh uh, not good enough. I want to know what the problem is?

L: I've been busy.

K: Really? With basketball? Brooke? What?

L: I don't know, just busy.

K: Well, after our little meeting w/ your counselor tomorrow, I have a feeling that you will have lots of time to concentrate on your homework. And before I forget to tell you, Deb and Nathan are coming over for Chritmas eve.

L: WHAT?..

K: Before you say anything, let me remind you that I haven't decided your final punishment yet. Now, you were saying?

L: Nothing.

K: Good. (Just then, Karen ran out of the room to the bathroom.)

L: Mom, you ok? (yelling through the bathroom door.) Mom?

K: Yeah, just not feeling so great right now. (comes out of the bathroom.)Touch of the flu I think.

L: Why don't you go sit on the couch and I will get you some crackers.

K: Thanks sweetie.

(the phone rings.)

L: Hello?

B: Hey sexy. How are you?

L: OK. Did Keith get you home ok this morning?

B: Yeah. He didn't say a word to me all the way home.

L: Sorry. I'm sure he is just still mad at me.

B: So how much trouble you in?

L: Not exactly sure yet, but a lot. (Handing his mom the crackers.)

K: Off the phone Lucas.

L: Mom...

K: Now!

L: I gotta go Brooke.

B: Took the phone away?

L: I guess.

B: Still have your cell?

L: Yeah.

B: Go to your room and call me.

L: Ok, I'll see you at school tomorrow. Bye.

B: Talk to you soon.

(Lucas hangs up the phone.)

L: No phone?

K: Not until I decide your punishment.

L: I'm going to do homework.

K: That sounds like a great idea. But I will take your cell phone first.

L: (stops and pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and hands it to his mom.) How did you know?

K: It's my job. Go do your homework.

The Phone rings:

K: Lucas's answering service, how can I help you?

H: Karen?

K: Hi Haley. How is it going?

H: Good, why did you answer the phone like that?

K: This phone has been ringing all night long! Every call has been for Lucas, so I figured this one would be too.

H: (Laughing) So I take it Lucas isn't there?

K: Yeah, he is, but no phone priveleges.

H: Not even for little old me?

K: Not even you sweetie. Sorry. Can I take a message?

H: Just tell him I called.

K: Will do. I'll see you at the cafe tomorrow.

H: OK. Bye.

K: Bye.

(Karen walks up the stairs to Lucas's room. The door is open and the music is on. She leans against the door frame and looks at her a son. He had grown up so fast. She could not believe how fast 16 years had flown by. Her handsome, blonde haired son was staring at the computer screen in front of him. The only thing that she could make out from where she was standing, was a pretty, curly blonde girl staring back at him.)

K: (Clearing her throat to get his attention. Lucas jumps slightly and reaches for his mouse to turn down the music.) Earth to Lucas...

L: Sorry mom, was the music too loud? I was trying to keep it down so you could rest.

K: No it was fine. I couldn't rest because the phone kept ringing. Seems you have become Mr. Popularity while I was gone.

L: Who all called?

K: Haley, of course. Brooke, a few times. She doesn't get the whole grounded concept I don't think.

L: Sorry. Pretty sure that she has never been grounded in her life.

K: Jake and Payton. That's the girl that you saved at that party wasn't it.

L: Yeah. Did she say what she wanted?

K: No, no one really said. They just said that they would talk to you tomorrow in school. (Pointing to the computer screen) That doesn't look like homework.

L: It's not, that's Payton. She has a web cam in her room. She is an amazing artist and has had some things published, I was trying to see if I could get a sneek peek at her latest work.(Lying, he just sort of missed seeing her. They seemed to have been missing each other lately.)

K: She's pretty. Are you guys...

L: Friends! That's it.

K: I see. ( Karen was not really buying what he was saying, but she did not want to push him, so she changed the subject.) And how is the howework coming?

L: Done. You feeling better?

K: Yeah, I think so.

L: Come up to continue yelling at me then?

K: Not that you don't deserve it, but no Lucas. Contrary to popular belief, I don't enjoy yelling at you. But you really have been messing up a lot lately and I'm not sure how to get my point across to you other then yelling.

L: You have been coming in loud and clear the last 24 hours.

K: Sorry. How about we try talking and I will try not to yell. Let's start w/ what is up w/ you? Why all the trouble?

L: (Shrugging) I don't know.

K: Lucas, this whole talking thing seems to work better, if you actually try and participate.

L: (says nothing for a while as if he is choosing his words very carefully) OK, say for example, that Nathan was your son. If he did all the same things that I have done in the last few weeks, would you be suprised?

K: I suppose not. Why?

L: I just feel like you and everyone else hold me on this pedestal and I do my best to stay on it, but lately it just seems like I'm loosing my balance. Nathan and I are the same age, but yet he can do whatever he wants, like everyone expects it of him, but if I do it, you would swear that the world was going to come to an end. I'm sick of trying to be this perfect teenager. Don't you ever feel like just letting loose mom and having fun and say screw the consequences?

K: (This reminded Karen of exactly how she felt when she was in Paris. In Tree Hill, she was always worried about what everyone else was going to think or making sure that she was always setting a good example for Lucas, that she never really had a lot of "FUN". But in Paris, she never had all that pressure and that must have been how Lucas felt when he did not have her constantly looking over his shoulder.)

Believe it or not sweetie, I understand exactly where you are coming from. You have always been a lot more mature and responsible then your class mates. I guess that sometimes I forget that you are just 16. I do expect a lot from you, a lot more then I would expect from Nathan.

L: See, that is what I mean, it's not fair. Before you left, I always thought so much about every move I made. Always thinking about how it would look or if you would be disappointed in me. It's so much pressure. When you left, it's like I said screw it and I stopped thinking so much about everything and just did what I wanted to.

K: I know. And how do you think that it turned out for you?

L: I had fun.

K: Yeah, but at what expense?

L: Never leaving this house again.

K: Probably. But I mean more than that. Lucas if you would have been this screwed up kid your whole life, do you think that what you did the last few weeks would have been ok? It still would have been wrong. I'm not saying that you can never have fun and loosen up, but you need to relize that you are 16. There are things that you can not do. Drinking, staying out all night, blowing off school, all those things are not OK. Normally you would not have even thought about doing them, you would have thought it all out and decided that in the end, it wasn't worth all the trouble. It's called a conscience. Before this you had a pretty good one. But the last few weeks that has not been the case. That's where I have to step in and take over as your conscience. I have to be the one to ask you all the questions that in the past you have been mature enough to ask yourself. Was your so called fun worth getting grounded for? Was it worth the distance that has come between you and Keith? Was the fun that you had worth risking not being able to play basketball for? Because Luke, if you would have been caught drinking, they would have suspended you. I'm sure that the school has to look at your grades too, and if they continue to drop, that could put your playing in jeopardy. Was it worth the lack of trust I have in you now? Usually you go out the door and I know that you always make good decision for the most part and that I don't have to worry, but now I don't know if that is the case. Was it worth it Lucas?

L: Probably not. I think I liked it better when you were yelling at me. It didn't male so much sense.

K: I guess I was wrong, talking gets through to you better then yelling.

(The phone rings.)

K: UUGH! Hello?

B: Hi. I know Lucas can't use the phone, but I have this math question that I need help w/.

K: And let me guess, there is no one else that you can call?

B: No. No one else is home.

K: Brooke, if I let you talk to him, will you promise me that this is the last time you will call tonight?

B: Promise.

K: Hold on. (Handing the phone to Lucas)

2 seconds.

L: Hello?

B: Hey. I told your mom that I had a math question, so play along.

L: (Looking at his mom and smiling.) She's not buying it Brooke.

B: Oh, did I get you in more trouble.

L: You're probably not helping.

B: Sorry, I've been waiting for you to call me on your cell...

L: She took that away too.

K: Wrap it up.

L: Hey, I really need to go. I'll talk to you tomorrow, ok?

B: Fine. Bye.

L: Bye.

(Hanging up)

L: Sorry.

K: She is pretty stubborn, huh?

L: yeah, but she is cute.

K: You guys serious?

L: Not sure. I think I like her a lot.

K: Whatever makes you happy. Just be careful.

L: Mom, I know.

K: It's getting late, you should go to bed. School tomorrow.

L: Don't remind me.

K: I will call your counselor in the morning and set something up. Is there anything else that I need to know about before i walk into that school tomorrow?

L: I hope not.

K: Me too. Good night.

L: Good night.

(Lucas was lying in his bed after his mom left. He was thinking about everything that had happened the last few weeks. He was going over everything that his mom had talked to him about too. But there was one thing that kept nagging at him. Nathan and Deb were going to be coming over for Christmas Eve. One of his worst enemies was coming to his house. He wanted to ask his mom of she was crazy to even think for a minute that this was ok, but he knew that arguing w/ her about it was just going to make his upcoming punishment even worse. She just didn't get it. Lucas thought back to the hazing that Nathan had put him through when he first joined the basketball team. He still resented him for that. But what really got to him was seeing the beach house. Seeing what Nathan had, and what Lucas should have had. But if that wasn't enough he was invading his life a little more all the time. First dating his best friend and now Christmas Eve. The more that he thought about this the more p***ed he got. What the hell was his mother thinking? He looked at the clock before he closed his eyes, it was 4:45.