We open in Creepitri's classroom, where he's scrawling something on the board and asking why John Gardner bothered writing Grendel, which is a retelling of Beowulf from the monster's perspective. Grace slowly raises her hand, confident no one else will. Alexa, sitting behind her, nearly gives herself a hernia throwing her arm up. Creepitri calls on Alexa, and Grace looks a little miffed. She grits her teeth as Alexa suggests that maybe Gardner "just liked Grendel...maybe he just sort of identified with, you know --" Creepitri interrupts that he doesn't know, and is about to ask her to clarify her response when Grace butts in to say that Gardner "felt like a monster." Creepitri smiles faintly and praises, "Exactly." Alexa gripes that she was, you know, about to say exactly that, but Creepitri cut her off. He apologizes, but not really, saying it may have seemed as though he was cutting her off. His explanation is cut short by the bell. As the classroom bursts into action, Creepitri warns them all that, despite his earlier promise that there'd be no more pop quizzes, there will be.
Grace makes her way to Creepitri's desk. Creepitri hands her an old, hardcover book with a clumsy, "Oh, um, here." Alexa's eyes threaten to scorch a hole in the cover. Grace accepts the book shyly, while Creepitri casts a furtive glance in Alexa's direction, conscious that he's being watched. Grace starts to say something about tonight, but Creepitri cuts her off, loudly saying, "Yes, Alexa?" Alexa strides up to his desk and tries to think of a reason for hanging around eavesdropping. She says she was just wondering whether he's still accepting stories for extra credit. He is. Grace stares uncomfortably at his desk, waiting for Alexa to leave. Instead, Creepitri does. Alexa asks Grace what the book is. Grace mutters that it's just something he said she could borrow. "So, you're going to his house tonight?" Alexa demands. Grace tries to convince her that she goes there a lot, but it's not a "big deal." She chalks it up to the Gay/Straight Alliance. "Oh, so maybe I'll come tonight," Alexa says belligerently. Grace hems that that "probably wouldn't work" because there's a group of them going to see a movie, and there's a limited number of tickets. Grace tries to walk away, but Alexa's on her like stink on a monkey, demanding to know who's going. She's behaving rather territorially. Grace says it's "just a bunch of people" and adds that it's been planned for a while. "Sorry," she says, squirming away and not sounding sorry at all. Alexa stares after her with narrowed eyes. She whips out her decoder ring and translates Grace's message: "b-u-l-l-s-h-i-t."
When we return from commercials, we're at the radio station. Lily's in the middle of offering a caller advice. The camera pans from her to Grace, who's waiting outside the booth. Grace is turning over Creepitri's book in her hands, staring at it reverently. She flips open the cover, and Lily's voice is abruptly silenced, as the outside world vanishes.
We cut to Soliloquy Grace, reading the inscription and then quickly closing the book. She looks up at us with wide eyes and says, "He wrote me an inscription." She opens the book again, slowly, and savors the words. "Oh my god," she murmurs. She looks into the camera and says she "can't believe he wrote that." Wrote what, wrote what?!
We cut back to Lily, who's just signing off the air. She sounds much less earnest now when she says, "I'm no expert." The guy in the booth -- her producer? -- enthuses that the show was amazing. Lily breathlessly agrees, smiling that it felt really amazing. She's pleased with the faster pace of the show, saying she's been working on trying to "keep things moving." She exits the booth to a high five and a muffled, "That was great, Lily!" Lily gives Grace a hug and thanks her for picking her up. Presumably in her own truck, but I guess that's beside the point. Grace says they have to hurry up, because she's going to see "that movie" tonight. Lily has no idea what she's talking about. Lily frets that it's a school night, and Grace says the movie's only playing for one night, "and Mr. Dimitri thinks it's important that [they] see it." Lily says she doesn't remember Grace mentioning it. Grace insists that she did, saying, "It's like this whole group of us, from English?" She spots the Curmudgeon looming in his office door and beams a hello. Lily spins around and smiles at Les with anticipation, asking if he heard the show. Absently, he signs something Lily's producer hands him on a clipboard, and says it felt a little "frantic." Lily can't believe what she's hearing, whining that she wasn't trying to rush the callers. Les cuts through it: "I mean, you know, where's the fire?" Lily tries not to look crushed. The Curmudgeon says that some people from Radiovation just called. Lily's producer exposits that Radiovation is the "top syndication group." Lily tries to follow along. Les says he sent them some tapes, and now they want to meet her. Lily is stunned speechless. Grace nudges her shoulder and congratulates her. Lily manages to gape, "But!" The Curmudgeon snaps, "What?" He adds that the Radiovation people will be there on Friday. The Curmudgeon retreats into his burrow, and Lily's producer gushes, "Wow! A star is born!" Lily doesn't look so sure.
Cut to Manning Manor, where Grace and Lily are carrying groceries through the back door. Grace is saying, "So Mom, this is your big opportunity," as if they haven't said anything about it since leaving the station or while getting groceries. Grace says that she's really proud of Lily, which I'm pretty sure Lily wasn't expecting. Lily looks touched and says that she's proud of Grace, too. Grace, rummaging through a cupboard, doesn't get it. Lily yanks a sheaf of papers from under a grocery bag and holds it up, saying, "Well, if you're just going to leave brilliant short stories lying around..." Grace spins around, locked and loaded, and snaps, "What?" Seeing the story, she softens and asks if Lily really liked it. Lily says she couldn't put it down. "Yeah, I sorta don't hate it," Grace says shyly. Lily gushes about the title -- "What You Need to Know" -- saying how it pulls you in. Grace says that Creepitri really liked it, too. Lily raves about the ending, and how Grace "tied it all together." She sums up the ending, and Grace corrects her, telling her that she got it backwards. "Oh. I didn't get that," Lily frowns. Grace says that she sent out the story to a magazine. Lily's awed by the news, and starts to get smothery with the affection. Oh, and speaking of magazines, did you know that Creepitri knows about all kinds of magazines that no one's ever heard of? Yeah, he's good like that. Lily, touched, studies Grace's excitement and says, "Grace, that's wonderful. You have a real mentor." Grace says she guesses so, and they hug. Pulling away, Grace can't keep the smile off her face and says, "Well, I'd better go get ready." She quickly adds, "For Rashomon." Hmmm, a little quick to clarify, there.
Cut to Grace in the bathroom, pressing her glossed lips together and examining her extremely made-up face in the mirror. Can I just inject a quick PSA here? Whenever you feel the urge to pick up a crimping iron, as our unfortunate young friend here has done, I want you to take a second and really think about what you are about to do. No, really. Don't do the crimp if you don't have a pimp, okay? She picks up the book from Creepitri and rereads the inscription. She glances into the mirror again, as if comparing herself to whatever is written in the inscription. She closes the book with a satisfied smile.
Meanwhile, down in the dining room, the rest of the brood is seated around the table having dinner. With Katie, I might add. Zoe asks Lily what it means to be syndicated. Since Lily's busy guzzling her beverage, Jessie answers that it's "when they take your show and air it all over the country, right?" Lily sets down her glass, swallows hard, and says, "Yeah, which is sorta terrifying." Zoe spears a piece of meat and asks whether they're saving it for Grace. Lily tells her to go ahead, since Grace is going to a movie with her English class. "She is?" asks a surprised Katie. Lily asks why. Katie explains that she's in Grace's class, and Lily's confused that Katie didn't know about it. Jessie pipes up, "Well, maybe they planned it while you were absent," and shoots Katie a "cheese it" look. Katie quickly agrees. Lily says that now that she thinks about it, Grace did mention that it wasn't the whole class, just a group. Katie concurs that makes sense, adding that she never pays attention in class anyway. "And yet you still get As," Jessie teases, giving Katie a playful shove on her shoulder. Katie, embarrassed, laughs and denies it, but you just know she's loving the attention.
Cut to the kitchen, where we're camped out in the refrigerator. Jessie yanks open the door just long enough for us to spy, from the butter dish, the quick kiss Jessie plants on Katie's cheek. Katie turns, and they peck each other surreptitiously on the lips. They toss a couple baggies of leftovers into the fridge, and the door closes. That's right, move along. Nothing more to see here.
So we head over to the living room, where Lily, Rick, and Zoe are playing cards in front of the fire. I don't know where Jessie and Katie are, but I'm sure you'll all be happy to use your imaginations. Zoe asks if Lily's syndication means they'll be rich. Lily says that it's only a meeting, and she's about to add another self-defeating comment, but loses her concentration when she sees the crap hand she's been dealt. Rick, impatient to get the gambling rolling, tells her to "quit stalling." She plucks a card from her hand and slaps it on the table. Delighted, Rick snaps it up. Zoe prompts Lily to finish what she was saying about syndication. Lily says she's not sure she even wants to be syndicated, saying it'll mean more work. "So...what?" Zoe says, not seeing the problem. "Well, I'm overextended as it is, right?" Lily says, looking to Rick to back her up. He tears himself away from his cards with a distracted "What?" Lily repeats that she's not even sure she wants to be syndicated. "Well, yeah, it would be a lot more pressure," Rick says. Lily snaps to attention: "You think I can't handle the pressure?" she demands. Rick backpedals furiously, but doesn't really get anywhere because he's clumsy enough to add that it's just a meeting, anyway. He says Lily shouldn't worry, since nothing may happen. Lily decides darts may be more fun than cards, and proceeds to shoot a few from her eyes. "So, you're saying they won't want me?" she asks. Rick, cornered, looks from her to Zoe, and tries to think of a way out. He stammers that he didn't mean...Zoe matter-of-factly informs Lily, "They're gonna want you, Mom." Lily turns on the wattage and smiles at her daughter, thanking her for the support. Rick, having had a second to formulate his sentence, says, "I just mean, why worry about these things until they become real? And if you don't even want this, then that's all right, too." Dispirited, Lily agrees and thanks him. She looks like she's about to say something more, but Zoe interrupts by slapping her cards on the table and crowing, "Gin!" She beams at the two of them, clearly no stranger to the winner's seat.
Meanwhile, Grace arrives at Creepitri's. She waits outside his sliding glass door, looking nervous. She taps and he calls out from the sink -- where he's up to his elbows in suds -- that the door's open. He apologetically says that he just wants to finish up the dishes before they go, and Grace says it's no problem -- she's early. She peels off her jacket oh-so-casually and reveals a skin-tight blue sweater and a black pleather miniskirt. It's tarty. It's trashy. It's painful. He asks if she's hungry. Oh, she's hungry, all right. She says no, but throws open the door to his fridge anyway, which strikes me as a very familiar thing to do. She oh-so-casually informs him that Lisa and Russell can't come to the movie, so it looks like it's just the two of them. She steals a glance to catch his reaction. He doesn't really have one. He changes the subject to her story, but Grace isn't listening. She wrinkles her nose and pulls something from his fridge, disgustedly saying that he should throw it out. He tells her to go ahead, and finishes putting away the last of his dishes. He dries his hands on the dishtowel and wanders over to hand it to her, so she can wipe hers clean. He says he has a great idea for the ending of her story. She says she already sent it out to a magazine, and he counters, "So what? Does that mean you have to stop working on it?" She says that she likes the ending already; she's happy with the way everything ties together. He suggests that its neatness might be the problem. She catches him looking closely at her face and, forcing a little air into her lungs, nervously asks what he's looking at. He peers a little more closely and says that her eye makeup is smudged. "Oh. Shoot," she says weakly.
Grace turns and heads toward a doorway. He asks where she's going. Without turning around, she stops and says that she's just going to fix her makeup. He tells her there's a mirror in his car and tries to hurry her along. Grace turns and steels herself, saying she just realized that she's never seen the rest of his house. He pulls on his jacket and says that she has. "But I've never seen where you sleep," Grace blurts. The sentence hangs in the air for a few seconds. She fiddles with her hands. "Grace," he says, trying to sound stern. She stammers that she hasn't, and she really wants to. He registers this with an open mouth and a slow blink. She stares at the floor and warns, "If you laugh at me right now, I swear I will never speak to you again." He closes his eyes to keep the room from spinning and slowly says that he's not laughing. Grace takes a couple of tentative steps toward him and asks softly, "So, can we just...not go to the movies?" Creepitri looks at her hard for a second, cocking his head better to hear the devil on his shoulder. The angel on his other shoulder senses the weakness and twists Creepitri's ear, hard. Creepitri shakes his head sadly, and says that they can't. Grace actually begs. She pleads, "I know I'm doing this really stupidly..." He wryly assures her that she's doing it "alarmingly well," and adds that he's "honored" by the offer. She cringes and begs him not to say that. She starts lobbing another pitch, but Creepitri cuts her off, saying that they really have to go to the movie. He says, "It's a groundbreaking movie, and it's part of your education." He explains that the director, Akira Kurosawa, showed an event (it's a rape and murder, by the way) from four different perspectives, to show how each person has his or her own version of what happened. Grace couldn't give a crap. "I made a fool of myself just now, didn't I?" she croaks, her voice straining to hold back tears. He emphatically tells her that's not how he sees it. He helps her on with her jacket and asks if she's ready to go. She complains that she's a little hungry. He promises to buy her popcorn.
Outside on the sidewalk, Creepitri stops Grace. Standing far too close, he says that it's still a bit cold out, and then he zips up her jacket. Oh, but that's not creepy. Grace somehow manages not to swoon. Maybe it's because she's wondering what the fuck the deal is with this guy. I know I am. They climb into his car, and the camera pans across the street, where Alexa's watching the whole scene from her car. She turns her head slightly as Creepitri's car drives past. Speaking of creepy...this does not bode well.
When we return from commercials, it's the morning, and Grace is just walking into Creepitri's class. She finds Alexa holding court among a cluster of girls, who all turn and stare maliciously at Grace. Well, you know how bad girls get. Grace takes it in stride, walking up to her desk and waiting for the little bitch who's sitting in it to vacate. She doesn't. Grace makes a little gesture with her head, and the girl finally takes the hint. Alexa just sits there righteously glaring at Grace. I could punch her right in her smug face. Grace has trouble meeting Alexa's stare, and quickly settles into her seat. Creepitri breezes in, brandishing a sheaf of papers and gloating about the pop quiz they're about to endure. "So, Mr. Dimitri, is this what you were doing last night?" Alexa asks with exaggerated sweetness. Her cronies titter. "What?" he asks, clearly not knowing what she's talking about. Alexa glances around, all innocence, fighting the urge to smirk. Grace glances around, wide-eyed and freaked that everyone is on to her.
"Oh, my god!" Katie exclaims, rushing up to Jessie at her locker. "Did you hear? It's all over school!" Jessie anxiously glances over each shoulder and asks, "What, about us?" Katie says no, and Jessie breathes an almost imperceptible sigh of relief. Katie says that everyone is talking about Grace and Creepitri: "Apparently, they practically had sex!" Jessie: "Are you serious?" Before Katie can respond, Jessie adds, "At the movies?" Katie says she doesn't know, but she does know that "Tad said that Russell said that Alexa said that she saw them." Jessie's mouth is hanging open, but Katie still feels the need to ask whether she's stunned. Jessie says, "Actually, no, not totally." "Anyway, why would anybody be talking about us?" Katie asks mockingly. Jessie smiles, "I don't know. No reason."
Cut to the radio station. Lily finds Les bent over in front of the snack cupboard, rummaging through package after package. Hesitantly, she tries to convince him that Friday is way too soon for a meeting with the syndication people. She says that she knows it's a "great opportunity," but that if they syndicate her, they'll want to control her show and tell her what she can and can't talk about and she "kind of like[s] the show the way it is." The Curmudgeon finally abandons the search and hauls himself to his feet, responding, "I think we're out of those cookies with the stuff in the middle." No wonder he's frantic. Lily gently breaks it to him that she doesn't buy the cookies anymore. That's news to him. She says she hasn't since she started doing two shows a week. The Curmudgeon sees no further need to speak with the person who doesn't buy the cookies, and walks away. Lily chases after him, prodding him for a reaction to her concerns. She finally gets him to stop, and he says they're good questions. The phone starts ringing. She's about to voice even more concerns, but he cuts her off with the advice that she should bring them up in the meeting on Friday. After a few more rings, Les grumbles, "Are you going to get that, or is answering the phone like buying cookies?" Lily snaps back to reality and grabs for the phone with a muttered apology. Les turns his attention to more important matters, snagging the first person he sees, and bringing her up to speed on the butterscotch-cookie crisis. "Oh, hello, Alexa's mom," Lily says breezily into the phone. She freezes. "What?" she says disbelievingly. "What do you mean? What kind of action?" Lily's face falls. "What?" she says faintly.
Cut to Grace's bedroom, where she's sitting on the bed with books spread out in front of her. Lily knocks at the half-open door and asks to come in. Trying to sound nonchalant, she asks what Grace is working on. Grace answers that she's working out a new ending for her story. Lily absently folds a towel and says she thought Grace already sent it out to a magazine. "That's no reason to stop working on it," Grace says, parroting Creepitri but trying to sound like an expert. Lily spots the book from Creepitri on the bed and picks it up, smiling, "Since when did you start reading Chekhov?" Just before she can open it, Grace snatches it from her, trying to keep her voice calm as she says that she needs it. Lily asks if it's a library book, knowing full well that it isn't. Grace says, "It's just this book that Mr. Dimitri lent me." "Oh, really," Lily says heavily, taking a seat on the bed. Grace babbles that he thinks she should start reading Chekhov, since her work is "in that tradition." Oh, brother. Lily abruptly changes the subject, asking, "How was that movie last night?" Grace senses a trap and asks what she means. Lily says she's just wondering who was there. Grace straightens up, warily asking why Lily would want to know that. Lily levels with her, telling her about the phone call from Alexa's mother. Grace rolls her eyes and storms off the bed, saying she knows what Alexa has been saying, and that the girl is insane. Grace scrambles to tell Lily that she and Creepitri haven't done anything wrong: "I mean, we went to a movie. Big deal!" Lily looks as if it is, in fact, a big deal, so Grace barrels on, saying that other kids were supposed to go, but that they backed out at the last minute. Lily buys it. "You do?" Grace asks, shocked. Lily says she knows how these things get started, "when a teacher singles out a certain student." She says she thinks it would be best, though, if Grace stopped seeing Creepitri outside of class for a while. Grace can't believe it. She sets her jaw and starts her head swinging indignantly, and Lily tries to convince her that it's not a punishment. Grace snaps, "Okay, fine. Fine! I'll come home every day after school, and I won't go anywhere or see anyone without checking with you first." She's totally snotty, which Lily clearly doesn't appreciate after trying so hard to be understanding. Lily clenches her jaw and torpedoes Grace's sarcasm: "Well, thanks. I'd appreciate that." She turns and walks out, much to Grace's disappointment. I have to sit back for a second, so overcome am I by a strange new sensation. Why, I think I'm actually rooting for Lily.
Cut to Rick and Lily in their bedroom, putting fresh sheets on their bed. Rick's all, hold up a minute: he took her to the movies? Lily, unconcerned, assures him that other kids were supposed to be there. She admits that Grace probably has "a little crush" on her teacher and purrs, "I mean, look at him!" I have. I don't see it. Rick asks what she's going to tell Jake. Why, she's not planning to tell Jake anything. Rick says that if it were Jessie, he'd want to know. Those sound like famous last words, don't they? Anyway, Lily says she doesn't think she should say anything to Jake, since she doesn't even know what to tell him. As far as she knows, nothing has happened apart from a "vicious" rumor started by a "malicious" girl. Rick just looks at her. "What?" Lily demands. He starts to say something but stops himself, saying he's sure everything is fine. He clicks off the lamp and starts pulling up the blanket. "So, wait a minute. You're saying you think it might be true?" Lily asks incredulously. Silence. She tells him to answer her. Rick makes a thoughtful face and asks, "What movie?" His question troubles Lily, who frowns and fidgets.
The day at school, Grace barrels around the corner, carefree and eager to see Creepitri. It soon becomes apparent that she's either entered the Twilight Zone, or that everyone is talking about her and staring. Not seeing any sign of Rod Serling, she starts to suspect the latter. She spots Creepitri standing at the end of the hallway, hands shoved in his pockets. Would it kill him to tuck in his shirt? He looks toward her, and she quickens her stride, her mouth open as if she's got something to tell him. Pointedly, he turns his back to her. She stops dead. The vice-principal approaches him and asks that he follow her into her office. Grace watches, crestfallen.
When we return from commercials, Lily and Judy are having coffee at Booklovers; Judy is trying, I think, to make Lily feel better. Judy jokes that this student-teacher thing means Grace probably isn't a lesbian. Lily chides her, and Judy realizes that the comment was in really poor taste. Lily tries to make her see the gravity of the situation, working herself up over the thought of Creepitri taking advantage of his authority in order to seduce Grace. Jake wanders over to their table, and Lily wipes the horrified look off her face. She tries hard to put a smile in its place and act as if he hasn't just interrupted a conversation about some old pervert taking advantage of their baby. She tells him that everything is "great," and asks about Maddie. He says that everyone is fine, stands there awkwardly for a few seconds, and then asks if they need anything. Yeah, for you to take a powder. As he walks away, his expression makes it clear that he thinks they're insane. Judy is incredulous that Lily isn't going to tell Jake. Lily's all, okay smart-ass, what do I tell him? Judy relents and says she sees Lily's point. Lily tries to convince Judy and herself that there may not be any cause for concern: maybe nothing happened and Creepitri really is just a mentor who takes Grace to Japanese movies. Lily forces a chuckle, but it's not even halfway out before she's all intense and wound up again. She says she can't tell Grace that she doesn't believe her, even though part of her doesn't. For some reason, Judy thinks now is the perfect time to tell Lily about the affair she had with her Art professor in her freshman year of college. Lily's not surprised: "After all, he was one of the men there." Ha! Judy pays no heed to Lily's exasperation, but just drones on about the guy and his obsession with Georgia O'Keeffe. Oh, that's not too obvious. Lily hisses, "Don't tell me this!" Judy just smiles sweetly and continues turning the knife, oblivious to Lily's torture. Payback? Or just more evidence that Sam Blue causes brain damage? She blathers that the prof "came along at a moment in [her] life when [she] really just needed a man to fall in love with [her]." And that moment differed from every other moment of her life because...? Wistfully, Judy says she'll always be grateful to him. Lily's had enough of the touchy-feely-feel-good hour and snaps, "Well, I'm sorry, but it's just wrong!" She's damn adamant about it, too. She grits that, no matter what, a teacher should never get involved with a student. Okay, so there's one take on the whole thing. Again, I experience the strange sensation of backing Lily. Judy says it may have been wrong, but she'll never be sorry it happened. Okay, Judy? You are so not helping here.
Cut to Creepitri entering his classroom. Wearily, he pulls the door closed after him. He spots Grace waiting for him by the window and wordlessly pushes the door open again. She says she was hoping they could talk. She quickly adds, "About my story. I'm having trouble figuring out how to end it." He plunks his satchel on his desk and, with a warning edge in his voice, says, "Not. Right. Now. Grace." She bounces from one foot to the other and chews her lip. A few seconds pass before she asks, in a roundabout way, why he wasn't in class. He snarks, "Yeah, I wasn't able to attend class today due to being interrogated by Mr. Brooker." "You're kidding," she murmurs. He goes on as if she never spoke, "And Mrs. Conway, head of the school board." Grace petulantly points out that they didn't do anything. Is she really this naïve? Incredulous, she asks if he's really in trouble. He stares at her as if she's from another planet and says he could lose his job and possibly never get hired to teach anywhere again. Grace just stares at him, unable to comprehend how all this trouble started over "nothing." Creepitri closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and says he thinks it would be best if they didn't speak outside of class anymore. He grabs his bag and turns for the door. Grace starts to protest and goes after him, but he stops short to bark, "No!" He heaves a sigh and then marches out of the room. As if he hasn't done anything to get himself here.
"I can't believe that woman called you!" Lily shrills. Jake fumes that he can't believe Lily didn't tell him about it herself. They're in the middle of the radio station, but the surroundings aren't enough for Jake to keep his voice down. Lily mutters that she didn't know for sure what was going on. "Oh, you want to know what's going on? I'll tell you what's going on! That teacher is a dead man! That's what's going on." Lily pleads with Jake to calm down, as her co-workers eavesdrop and snicker. Jake rages on, "And after I kill him, I want him fired! Permanently! In that order: fired, and then dead!" Lily shushes him and shepherds him out of the office. Roused by all the yelling, the Curmudgeon lumbers to his office door and watches curiously as Jake storms out. Lily apologizes to the Curmudgeon, then throws her arms open, saying, "You see?" He says he didn't say anything. Frazzled, she lays it out for him: "See, this is the problem: I have two kids; two stepkids; I have a marginally employed husband, and a rage-aholic ex-husband, and a job I barely know how to do." The Curmudgeon is unflappable. He says he knows, and that it's exactly the sort of thing she should tell the syndication people on Friday, because it's exactly what they're looking for. Lily's eyes well up. "Listen to me, I can't do it anymore!" she cries. The Curmudgeon tilts his head like a puzzled dog. Lily says she can't do it, she's not ready, she just can't meet with those people. It's a much longer tirade, but I'm too lazy to transcribe it. At the end of the rant, Les says, "Fine." He backs into his office and closes the door. I love that man.
"You have to help me!" Grace pleads, barging into Eli's garage. She finds Jessie there, hanging out, and apologizes for interrupting. Jessie says it's okay; she'll leave. Grace says she may as well stay, since she's probably heard all about it at school anyway. "Heard about what?" Eli asks. "Oh, so she hasn't told you. I'm having an affair. With Mr. Dimitri," Grace snarks. Eli guffaws, and Jessie tells him to can it. Grace boo-hoos that she can never go to school again. Eli pops up off the bed, saying, "Are you serious? Do you know how old he is?" Heh. Actually, I looked it up, out of fear that I might be in the neighborhood, and it turns out that Eric Stoltz is, like, forty-one. Forty-one! I would have guessed mid-thirties, so there you go, Mr. Stoltz. My gift to you. Grace emphatically tells Eli to shut up. Jessie jumps to her feet and tells Eli it might be a good idea for him to leave. He protests that it's his garage. "Leave, Eli!" Grace barks. Jeez, if she doesn't make it as a writer, Grace could have a brilliant future as a drill sergeant. Eli curls his tail between his legs and slinks out. Grace flops on the bed, and Jessie takes a seat on the edge of it. Grace asks whether people are "really talking about this." Jessie lies that they aren't. "And now he's in trouble. I got him in trouble, which is just the worst feeling. I can't take this feeling!" Grace wails. Jessie watches her sympathetically. "And now he won't talk to me at all! What am I going to do?" Grace cries. Jessie assures her it will be okay. She reaches out and puts her hand on Grace's shoulder. The camera moves in for a lingering close-up, to make sure we didn't miss it. "We'll figure something out," Jessie promises. Awww. Grace takes a deep, shuddering breath, and wishes she could believe it.
Cut to a computer screen, showing some version of MS Word. The camera pans back to reveal Grace at the keyboard, typing frantically and nodding her head, pleased.
The sound of Grace's typing carries us over to Creepitri's place, where she's knocking on the sliding door and calling out his name. She bounces nervously and yells that it's important. Finally, his reflection appears in the door. She begs, "Could you please just open the door?" Reluctantly, he does. She tells him that she rewrote the end of the story and then waltzes into his place. Because her story couldn't possibly wait until, oh, I don't know, their Creative Writing class the day? That's some pretty selfish behavior for someone who claims to be torn up about wrecking his life. He glances out to see if anyone could have seen her enter. Oy, don't even get me started.
Fade to Creepitri reading the rewrite while Grace anxiously clutches a glass of water and waits for him to finish. "This isn't an ending," he scoffs. Immediately, she's defensive. "What, it was all a dream? That's your ending?" he says derisively. ["Ew. That is weak." -- Wing Chun] Grace defends it, saying that it makes you question the nature of reality, as if that's never been done before. He tells her, "At least be specific. Suddenly realizing that the most memorable moment of your life was only an illusion, you only made it up, what does that feel like, specifically? But this is just...it's like you're backing away, disowning it, as if you'd do anything to be rid of it, like none of it mattered!" He slaps the pages down on the counter and insists, "It's not an ending." He paces over to the sink, telling her to read the Chekhov stories he gave her. Grace shoves the story in her bag and zips it closed.
Creepitri's voice softens, and he asks if Grace would like something to eat. Spinning to face him, she spits, "Oh! If you're angry at me, just say it! Don't take it out on my story." Taken aback, he looks at her for a second without saying anything. She flies over to the fridge, wrenches the door open, and grumbles, "At least I'm trying! I don't see you sending your poetry out to any magazines." Wearily, he reminds her that he doesn't write anymore. "My point, exactly," she snaps. He mutters that he has "some of that cheese" she likes. Is that weird? I think that's weird. Grace backs away from the fridge like it's a time bomb, grousing that she probably shouldn't be opening his fridge, "since it's obviously this punishable crime!" "Just take the cheese," he orders. He realizes how ridiculous it sounds, and laughs. The tension broken, he finally admits, "I am somewhat angry with you. I'm even angrier at myself. That doesn't change the fact that your ending doesn't work." No kidding. What's weaker than "it was all a dream"?
Anyway, Grace finally sees past herself and asks, "Are they really going to take away your license?" She suggests that if he talks to Alexa, he might be able to convince her that she's wrong. Wearily, he says that things have gone "way past Alexa." "But we have to tell people!" she cries. "Tell them what?" he retorts. "The truth!" she cries. "Uh huh," he mutters cynically, "and what's that?" Grace is stumped. See? There's that whole Rashomon thing coming into play here. Very clever. He smiles faintly and holds out a piece of cheese for her. She snatches it from him, griping that she hates them. "I mean, what gives them the right?" she whines. "Well, state laws," Creepitri says, stealing the words right out of my mouth. Grace starts crying and wails that it's so "unfair they can just control [their] lives like that." Creepitri looks at her sympathetically, and softly starts explaining that it isn't unfair, given his position. She cuts him off: "No! It's unfair to me!" Well, someone certainly is her mother's daughter. I know, I know, Lily's been pretty cool the last couple of episodes. What can I say? Old habits die hard. Grace explains that everyone thinks the two of them got it on, and she never even had a taste of the action because he wouldn't let her. Creepitri sort of smiles, and she brats, "Don't laugh at me!" He sighs and says he can't help it. With a tear rolling down her cheek, Grace says, in a tiny little voice, "I read what you wrote -- in that book you gave to me. Thank you." Her face crumples a little but she steels herself and then plunges headlong at him, locking her lips against his. For far too long. He starts to kiss back, and she holds up a hand before reluctantly pulling away. They stand there looking at one another. Grace laughs lightly and whispers, "Oh my god." "Uh huh," Creepitri breathes, smiling a little. She says she's going home now, and grabs her bag. Creepitri just stands there, his chest heaving. Part of me is heaving, too, but it isn't my chest.
Meanwhile, back at the Manor...everyone but Grace is gathered in the kitchen, eating pizza, when Lily comes in the back door. She asks where Grace is. Jessie squirms, "I don't know. Do you want me to check her room?" Eli hedges that he thinks she said something about going to the library. Lily's already got steam pouring out of her ears when Rick tries to calm her down. She steams past him, fuming, "She's not at the library!"
Cut to Grace's room, where Lily's ransacking it for anything incriminating. She rifles through the dresser, scattering stuff everywhere, including a trashy paperback romance called Princess. Rick appears in the doorway, and she snaps, "How could you let her leave?" Rick says that he didn't "let" Grace do anything; he just got home ten minutes ago. Lily moves on to the bedside table and starts emptying the contents of the drawers on Grace's bed. "Lily, you don't want to be doing this," Rick says. She shoves her hand under the mattress and says, "Yes I do, because I want to know the truth." Gasping, she pulls out the book of Chekhov stories. She flips it open and stares at the inscription. "What, what is it?" Rick asks, taking a few steps into the room.
"Oh, my god!" Soliloquy Lily despairs.
"What are you doing? Get out of my room!" Grace wails, jolting Lily back from her Soliloquy Self to her Snooping Self. Grace flies into the room and claws at the book, ordering Lily to give it to her. She tells Lily that it's private. "So I see," Lily grits. Grace makes another grab for the book, but Lily wrenches it away. She reminds Grace that they had an agreement. Grace says she never promised anything. Lily says Grace agreed to check in with her before going anywhere. "I'm sorry, I couldn't keep that promise," Grace says glibly. She adds, "Actually, I'm not even sorry." Lily shows far more restraint than I would. She just stares at Grace, her eyes sparking with silent fury. Rick wisely ducks out of the room. Grace tries to hold Lily's gaze with a defiant stare of her own, but she can't. She lowers her eyes and her voice, saying, "Mom, give me back my book, please." Lily flips open the book and reads scornfully, "For the girl with the loveliest eyes." Grace pleads with her to stop. She doesn't: "Love always, August." Lily slaps her hand against the book and says Creepitri shouldn't be writing things like that to Grace. Grace gets all weepy and wants to know why not. Lily says she knows why not. Grace whispers, "Please Mom, just give me back my book." Lily obliges. Grace says, "And it's not 'the girl with the loveliest eyes.' It's 'the girl with the loneliest eyes.' You read it wrong." She turns and storms out, leaving Lily to think about how many more things she read wrong.
After commercials, we return to Lily and Rick's bedroom. She's huddled up on the bed with her head in her arms, while he's on the phone lying that she's working late. He promises to pass along the message to Lily. He hangs up and relays that there's going to be a meeting the day with "all of [them]. He'll be there." She doesn't move or say anything. "Look, Lil, I know it's horrible, but we have to. And I'll be there with you, okay? Lil?" She remains unresponsive. He sighs and says they have to be at the principal's office at four o'clock and asks what time her meeting is with the syndicators. "Never mind about that," she says, sounding about a thousand years old.
Fade to Grace, staring sleeplessly at her ceiling. Fade to Rick, rolling over in his sleep and snuggling against a sleepless Lily. Fade back to Grace, still staring sleeplessly at her ceiling. The camera pans past her, to her bedside table, where an unopened letter rests. She reaches for the letter opener.
Cut to the kitchen, a little later. Grace wanders in and finds Lily sitting at the table in her robe, with a marble pound cake and a glass of milk in front of her. Grace asks if she's nervous about the day. Lily admits, "A little. Are you?" Grace asks why she would be, and Lily asks what they're talking about. Grace mentions the meeting with the syndicators, and Lily says she decided not to do that. Grace tries to pour a glass of milk, but the carton is empty. Lily reaches over and pours most of the milk from her glass into Grace's. Which is nice, right? Lily starts to talk about the meeting at the school, but Grace interrupts, saying she can't believe Lily isn't even going to talk to the syndication people. Lily says, "It's just not the right timing." "Well, that's just crap," Grace says vehemently. Lily chides, "It's not like I don't have a lot going on tomorrow, as you well know." Grace hangs her head. After a second, she tries broaching the subject of syndication again. "You know, if you're scared, you should just admit it and not pretend." Lily insists that she isn't scared; she's just way too busy to "pursue" this right now. "When will you want to pursue it?" Grace challenges. Lily doesn't have an answer for that, but just insists that she isn't scared. Grace pulls the letter out of her robe pocket, and hands it to Lily. She says it came the day before, but she was too nervous to open it right away. Lily pulls the letter out of the envelope. It's from the magazine. She scans the page silently, then finally says, "Oh, honey, I'm sorry. I thought it was a good story." Grace asserts that it "is a good story. It's a really good story. I'm just so glad that I actually sent it somewhere. I mean, you don't realize this, but with a magazine like this, it's actually an honor to get rejected. At least that's what..." She trails off, so Lily finishes, "Mr. Dimitri says?"
Soliloquy Lily muses, "She used to be afraid of spiders. And of the vacuum cleaner. And being left alone in the house. She used to be afraid of so many things. But she's not afraid anymore. And I'm not sure how that happened, but I know I can't take all the credit." No kidding.
Lily tells Grace, "I want to be fair. I want to respect your privacy, but the thing is, in this particular situation, I need to know. I need to know exactly what happened." Grace says, "Except exactly what happened isn't the whole story. And I don't think it's right that I should have to answer all these private questions." Lily breaks it to her that Grace has to answer the questions whether she likes it or not. Grace wants to know why, and Lily finally gets fed up with her naïveté, crying, "'Why'? Because what if he touched you?" Grace looks mortified and turns her back, saying, "Oh, god, Mom!" Lily tries to explain that in order for them to protect her from Creepitri, they need to know what he did. "I don't need to be protected from this person!" Grace exclaims. She adds that she doesn't need to be protected at all. Emphatically, she insists, "I'm fine! Look at me. Don't you realize that?" Lily looks at her sadly, realizing that, in fact, she doesn't.
"I used to really know her," Soliloquy Lily laments. She flips through a book and says, "I knew her story. But now, I mean, are her eyes really that lonely? Because I didn't know."
Lily looks at the rejection letter again and quotes, "Shows promise." Grace smiles and says that's her favorite part. Lily says they should frame the letter.
The morning, Lily strides up to the Curmudgeon, who is again raiding the snack supply. "Les, I was an idiot," she says. "Which time?" he asks. She says she shouldn't have told him to cancel the meeting, and admits that she was scared. She rhymes off: "I mean, what if they reject me? What if they don't reject me? What if the show fails? What if the show doesn't fail?" She smiles, waiting. "Yep, that pretty much covers it," the Curmudgeon says. She says that her point is that she blew it, and she wants him to let her know when another opportunity arises in the future, because she's "there." "Good, because they're here," he says, jerking a thumb toward his office. Lily's not following. He says the people from Radiovation are in his office, and explains that he's just trying to find some cookies for them. "But, I told you I didn't want to meet with them," Lily says. He says he didn't pay any attention to that. He finds the cookies and tries to hurry her along, reminding her that they're waiting. She stops him, marveling, "How did you know?" "Because I left 'em in there!" he says. She clarifies, "No, how do you know the things you know about me? I mean, I came in here for an assistant's job, and you put me on the air. How did you know I could do that? How do you know I can do this?" The Curmudgeon's not about to get sucked into all this sentimentality. He simply says, "Okay, their names are Tom and Roger. Tom's the one with the mustache." Lily smiles and follows him into the office.
Fade to the meeting in the principal's office, where Creepitri is sprawled in his chair, looking gravely inconvenienced by the whole thing. Lily, Rick, Jake, and Grace occupy chairs in the background, against the office walls. "And, how many time have you seen Miss Manning off-campus?" the principal asks. Creepitri says two. That seems kind of low to me, considering he's seen her twice in the past couple days alone. And he did give her those rides home. "And your explanation for the so-called date that occurred?" the principal asks. Jake's head is about to launch off his shoulders. Lily holds out a hand to calm him down, but he waves her away. Creepitri answers, "First of all, there was no 'date.' I accompanied her to a film for educational purposes." The principal flips through the pages on her clipboard and says she can't recall the name of the film. "Rashomon," they all answer in unison. She asks whether it had sexually explicit content. He says he guesses so. She repeats the answer derisively. He says it depends on your point of view. One of the interrogators mutters that they could screen the movie. Creepitri patronizingly says that Rashomon is an extremely important film, and it "happens to pertain directly to what [they're] studying." The principal asks why he didn't take the whole class, then. He says he knew only a few of them would be able to appreciate it. For some reason, this sends Jake over the top. He flies out of his seat and asks Creepitri to step outside. Creepitri looks up from his chair and, oozing condescension, mockingly repeats the question. Grace begs Jake to calm down, and Rick hops up to hold Jake back. He ushers Jake outside.
The principal asks if there is anything else they should be aware of, if anyone has anything else to say. "And, Grace, this includes you," she adds. Grace folds her arms and snorts, "You don't want to hear what I have to say." Oh, get over yourself. The principal asks if there were any other inappropriate actions, and specifically mentions gifts and written communications. Lily glances at Grace, who nervously returns the look. "Mrs. Manning?" the principal asks. Lily reminds her that her name is "Sammler." The principal corrects herself and asks Lily whether any other incidents come to mind. Lily thinks hard for a second, then says no. Grace breathes an obvious sigh of relief. The principal is about to move on. "No, there is one other thing," Lily says, and Grace clenches. Lily says, "This teacher changed my daughter's life by believing in her, in a way that's really hard to describe, and rare, and valuable." Not to mention disturbing. Sorry, but I just don't feel the Creepitri love so many others do. We'll just have to agree to disagree. Lily says that's all she wanted to say. The principal says that, under the circumstances, they have no choice but to suspend him with pay for the rest of the semester. She says his status will be evaluated by the board at the end of the term.
Out in the hallway, Grace falls into Jake's arms. He asks what was decided, and Lily says, "He's out." Jake is relieved, but still wants a piece of Creepitri. Rick talks him out of it and ushers him toward the parking lot. Lily and Grace are about to follow, when Grace sees Creepitri emerge from the office. She stares after him, and glances sidelong at Lily, waiting to be released from her leash. Lily relents, and tells her to go say goodbye.
Grace finds Creepitri in his classroom, packing up the rest of his things. She tries to convince him that the school will have to let him back, because all the students will protest when they hear what happened. Resolved, he says he's not coming back. She tries to argue, but he says he's decided. He launches into a speech about what a fraud he's been, telling her to send out her writing while he hasn't been doing anything himself. "I've been scared. In a way, I guess I used you," he adds. Urgently, Grace tells him not to say that. He sighs, "Come on, let's be honest here. Of course I did. Some part of me knew that something like this might happen, but I needed my life to change. And I used you to change it. Which doesn't mean I won't miss you." Anyone else thinking back to Grace's story, and his contempt for "disowning" an experience, and thinking he's a hypocrite? While some part of him may have been passively-aggressively using Grace to give himself a kick in the ass, I seriously doubt that's all there was to it. Anyway, Grace lets him off the hook with a soft "okay." He starts to walk out, and she asks him to wait, not wanting this to be it. She asks if she can still send him her story, if she ever figures out the ending. He smiles and says, "Read 'On Love.' It's in that book I gave you. Read it. More than once." She's like an eager puppy, asking, "Why? Why? I mean, is there a message in it? You know, about you and me?" He chuckles and says, "No. I'm saying, it's important for you read it as a writer." Lily walks up to the doorway, slapping down her heel to make her presence known. Creepitri glances at her, then turns back to Grace, saying, "Don't worry. You'll figure out your ending." He approaches the doorway and hesitates, saying, "Mrs. Sammler --" "I don't want to hear it," she grits, refusing to look at him. Go Lily. He heads out, and Lily moves to put her arm around Grace.
Soliloquy Grace reads aloud a passage from the story: "'And with a burning pain in my heart, I realized how needless and petty and deceptive were all those things which had kept us from loving one another. I came to realize that when you were in love, then in all your judgments about love, you should start from something higher and more important than happiness or unhappiness, virtue and sin and all their accepted meanings, or you should make no judgment at all.'" She chokes up and closes the book, stroking the cover.
Soliloquy Grace continues to read, voicing-over as we flash to Creepitri, heading down the hall with his box of crap. "'I kissed her for the last time, pressed her hand, and we parted forever. The train was already in motion.'" He fades away like a ghost. And I was just about to tell him not to let the door hit him in the ass on his way out. Oh, well.
On her bed, Grace is still hunched over the Chekhov, devouring it, when Lily finds her. She hovers in the doorway for a moment, feeling Grace's pain. "Oh, sweetheart," she sighs. Grace glances at her, then goes right back to the book and starts sobbing. Lily sits to her on the bed and pulls her into a hug, crying along with her. "I know," she whispers. Grace says she doesn't understand. "I do. It's okay," Lily says. Grace pulls away so she can look at her face and explain, "I know. It's just that...Mom...it's just such a beautiful story." She sobs, and Lily pulls her close again.