Episode Report Card Ragdoll: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT It's His Party, He'll Cry If He Wants To
By Ragdoll | Season 1 | Episode 7 | Aired on 11.03.2003
Haley and Nathan are in the library, studying. There are books open. Nathan bitches, "Ugh, this is so stupid, why do we have to study history anyway?" Oh, you're so asking the wrong person. Haley thinks for a minute. Then she blurts, "So we're not doomed to repeat it!" He doesn't get it. She tries another angle: "Don't lose hope, okay, tomorrow's a teacher's work day, so you've got an extra day to study." Nathan wears a cute striped shirt. He's a handsome kid. Not as pretty-boy as CMM, but still rates on the hot-o-meter. Lord, I'm embarrassed for myself that I just wrote that sentence. He says, "Minus my dad's annual kiss-his-ass jamboree." Very proud Nathan used the word "jamboree" in a sentence -- see, he can't be all that dumb. Then he says, "Then, I would invite you Haley, but it's kind of a b-ball crowd." Haley shakes her head. "Oh, please, like I'd want to kiss your dad's ass anyway." She pulls out a cute metal container and passes it to him: "And, everything you need to ace your history exam is in this little box of tricks here." Nathan smiles. "No Doz, number two pencils, eye drops." He jokes, "Why don't you just text-message me the answers?" Um, no. She gets up to leave and tells him to call her if he needs anything. Then she thanks him for cutting Lucas some slack. Nathan shakes his head and says, "A deal's a deal, right?" Exactly. Boy, these two are sure smiling at each other a lot. In fact, Nathan even turns his head to watch Haley as she walks away. Yup, I think they like each other, don't you?
Keith's reading the paper at Karen's Café. They're hiding Moira behind the counter. That hide-the-baby technique is so old; I was expecting something far more inventive. She asks him if there's anything interesting in the paper as she pours him a cup of coffee. He mentions something about some team winning something. Karen interrupts him when she notices Deb come into the Café. She's making that a habit these days. Keith turns around and says hello. Deb says, "I never heard from both of you about Dan's party tomorrow. For the team sponsors?" Keith deadpans, "Somehow, when I think of Dan, I just don't think of the word 'party.'" Karen moves to the counter to pull out the invitation as Deb smiles blandly at Keith's smart-ass remark, and says, "Oh, I'm sorry, Deb, I had the invitation here. I was thinking about going but after everything that happened last week…" Exactly. That Small Business League dinner was a nightmare. Especially the part where Keith told you he loved you. Whatever. I'm not buying it. Deb says, "Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. Dan feels horrible about that, if you believe it or not." Insert Keith's positively bitter, one-note, "Not," as Deb continues, "And so do I, anyway it would mean a lot of you would both come. It starts at three but stop by anytime." Keith bids her adieu as Karen leans onto the counter and says, "I think Deb's right. We're not living in a 1950s movie. I am the single mom of a player on the team. I don't have to skulk around the town wearing a head scarf and dark glasses." Chalk up some more points for the word "skulk" -- damn, I love that word. Keith tells her that Luke'll never go to the party. She says, "Even if you go too?" Nope, not a chance. Blah doesn't want anything to be weird blah. How is it weird? Keith replies, "After dinner the other night, I said some pretty crazy things." It's very warm in Karen's Café. Everything is yellow or orange. Even her skin looks warm. Karen looks into the air and says, "I don't remember anything crazy." Pause. "Well, I'm going to go, you let me know if you change your mind." Waddle. Waddle. Waddle.
I have absolutely no idea what class the kids are in. Maybe biology? There are slides of very pretty purple flowers. I guess I should have taken biology and then I could actually tell you what kind of pretty purple flower the slide contains. Oh well, I think you'll live. For once, Lucas isn't in the same class as the rest of the gang. Peyton doodles in her sketchbook. A nameless, faceless teacher drones on about paying attention to the slides because the information will be on their test. Nathan leans back in his chair and stretches. Scrunches his face all up because he really has a hard time in school. The classroom is set up like a university lecture hall. It's got rows of desks on an incline, so Brooke sits the highest, Nathan under her, and Peyton in the first row. They must be assigned seats or else Brooke and Peyton would have sat together, being best friends who know nothing real about each other's lives and all. Brooke whispers, "How are you doing, Nate?" Nathan tells her he's bored. She says, "And lonely, right?" Nathan scowls at her. She whisper-insists, "Just a smidge." Nathan whispers back, "Whatever drugs you're on, save them for the party, okay?" Brooke whispers coyly, "Ah, the party. Guess whose coming with me? I'll tell you: Peyton." Nathan says quietly, "Whatever. She's off my radar and apparently I'm off hers too." What a strange way to describe your relationship with your ex-girlfriend -- in military terms. Anyway. Brooke's wily. She's trying to get Nathan and Peyton back together so she can have Lucas. Brooke whisper-insists, "That was odd-Peyton, she's totally back on track, and I think the new-old Peyton would be open to discussing a reconciliation." Slides whiz by in the background, but the teacher's stopped speaking. Nathan wants to know if Peyton actually told Brooke she wanted to get back together. Brooke whisper-replies, "She tells me everything." Now, we know Brooke's up to something, because Peyton doesn't tell her much of anything. See, but Nathan's not as dumb as he appears, because he whisper-says, "What are you up to, Brooke?" Brooke acts surprised, like she doesn't know she's being totally catty and manipulative: "What? I just want to see two people who are perfect for each other back together." She smiles. "Is that a crime?" Only now does Peyton turn around and glance back at Nathan and Brooke. Like she didn't hear every single word they said. But whatever, I'll go with it.