Episode Report Card Niki: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT The Scarlet Letter Jacket
By Niki | Season 1 | Episode 3 | Aired on 10.04.1999
Cut to Grace and Eli, who are facing a massive eruption of popcorn that's threatening to overwhelm them. As Grace giggles and tries to box some of it, three girls approach. They look smug and stern. One of them is Eli's girlfriend, Jennifer. Things do not look good for Grace, folks. Although, they couldn't possibly look worse than Jennifer's hair, which is being forced into two tiny, Shitzu-inspired ponytails on top of her head. One of the girls asks if the popcorn is falling on the ground, and the other spits, "That is gross!" From the way she says it, you know she really means Grace. Jennifer tells Eli he's got to get in touch with a friend of his to convince him that Eli is driving to the game on the weekend. Or some crap. It's obviously not important, but Jennifer wants a reason to pull Eli away from Grace's seductive wiles. "I think you should talk to him now," she adds for emphasis. Her bitchy little friends exchange a look. Grace touches his arm and tells him to go ahead. Jennifer stares, coolly appraising Grace for several seconds before walking away with Eli and one of her friends. The other friend lingers, and you just know what's coming -- the humiliation scene. Grace has her back to the girl, who's watching her with a reptilian smirk and licking her chops. She waits for Grace to turn around and says, "You think you're going to get him to like you," as if it's the cutest thing she's ever heard. "He's being nice to you because of your mother and his father." Grace's smile fades and she looks dazed. "What?" The bitch goes in for the kill: "He thinks your butt's okay, but your legs are too fat and your breasts are too small. That's what he said." Grace forces air into her lungs, stares at her attacker, and demands, "To who?" The girl stares back and answers, "You're a ninth-grader." She helps herself to a box of popcorn and backs away with a sarcastic "thanks." Grace spins around and steadies herself against the popcorn machine, trying not to cry.
Soliloquy Lily pops up to share the story of her friend, Deb, from high school. Deb had a boyfriend, "Robby...." Lily's at a loss for his last name, which "is upsetting. This destroyed our lives and I can't remember his name."
Back at the balloon booth, Lily's tapping a kid with an inflatable hammer, admonishing him to stand behind the line when he throws his dart. Karen mutters that they can't have any more winners -- they're running out of prizes. Lily points out that when they're out of prizes, they can go home. "Oh, you're right," Karen mumbles, rellishing the naughtiness of it all. "Move them up closer." Lily tells the kid to lean right in.