Open on Lydia laughing while watching TV.
Pepper Ann: Good evening, Mother.
Oh, hello my little Pep-u-la!
Mother, I'm very excited about a party I'd like to attend. Um, with your permission, of course.
Lydia: Oh, well, I'm not opposed to a good ol' fashioned shindig. When is it?
Uh, I'm sorry for the short notice, but it's... it's actually tonight.
Lydia: Oh, then where is it?
On the football field, behind the rusted-out tackle dummies.
Oh, well, it's nine o'clock. When does this party start?
Pepper Ann: Later.
Lydia: Peppie. (Steve the cat meows.) No, you're too young to be staying out so late.
Pepper Ann: (whines) But mom! Nicky's parents and Milo's parents are letting them go.
Lydia: (firmly) Well, Pepper Ann's parent says no! That is that, young lady.
Pepper Ann: This is so unfair.
Life is unfair sometimes, Peppie. Ask Amelia Earhart!
Milo:
Nicky:
Cut to Pepper Ann humming and returning home from school, but when she sees her mother pouting at her, she becomes shocked.
Pepper Ann: Where did you get that?
Lydia: (furious) Never you mind where I got it! You deliberately disobeyed me and snuck out in the middle of the night.
Pepper Ann: But...
Lydia: What if something terrible could happen? I have no idea where you were. A goal post could have fallen on you. You could've gotten tetanus from those rusty tackle dummies!
Pepper Ann: But... but...
Lydia: Take your buts up to your room this instant! You are grounded for two months!
Pepper Ann: Mom!
Lydia: NO!
Pepper Ann: (upset) You just don't understand!
Lydia: Go to your room!!
Lydia: Peppie... take this back up to the attic where you got it!
"Property of Lydia Lilly. No peekies."
Lydia: March 28, 1968. Dear Diary, I wish I wasn't so weird. Ugh, Why can't I just stop thinking sometimes? I was at my locker today and John Memminger and his friends were walking by. Before I knew it, they invited me, seventh grade square me, with eighth grade groovy them to the Late-Nite Neon Carpetbaggers hootenanny. I broke Mom and Dad's trust like a dime store piggy bank and snuck out. It felt like I didn't even have a choice. But when I got there, I froze. I was with the keenest kids in school, watching my favorite group, and I couldn't move. What if I goofed up, or said something stupid or knocked over my Colabomb? Then, when I saw everyone groovin', I froze even more. Because no one felt like me. No one was weird like me. No one was alone like me. Well, gotta go... mom's calling. Yours truly, Lydia Lilly. P.S. Keep on truckin'!"
Hey, wait a minute!
-Mom, I...
-[LYDIA SOBS]
I hadn't read the whole article until now.
Oh, Peppie, even though it doesn't always seem like it, I do understand.
Oh, do you?
We've been butting heads so much lately, but the thing is, we're not so different.
I even snuck out once when I was your age.
-Exact...
-And I got caught. Janie saw me and tattled like the baby she... Anyhoo, I got grounded for two months.
It was definitely tough.
But it wasn't unfair.
But it was unfair
that I didn't hear you out.
Maybe you weren't too young to go.
I should have talked to you instead of saying no right off the bat.
But you have to give me
a little more notice, okay?
Okay. I'm sorry, Mom. I shouldn't have broken your trust like that.
-It was a stupid thing to do.
Oh, you're my little Pep-u-la.
Mom, I'll always be your little Pep-u-la. Just not around my friends. Or within a mile of school.
Oh, honey. Go to your room.
PEPPER ANN: No TV. No blading. No hanging with friends. I'm grounded. And you know what? I deserve it because I broke my mom's trust. Sure, she sometimes does things that make me want to run out of the room screaming, but when it comes down to it, we're really not so different. And when we talk about things, well, we can work anything out. The thing is, not only is she always there for me but she's "been there," too. So I'll say it... I love my mommy.
-So, what'd you think?
-Let me put it this way.
If I wanted mainstream propaganda,
I'd read Hazelnuts 'N Bolts.
Ah... mm-mm.
Oh, Pepper Ann! It was twice as touching! Three times as tender!
Alas, I think this, kind of, emotional openness
is too truthful for the masses.
They're just not ready yet. I love it!
The only good 'zine
is a barely read 'zine.
With a circulation plunge like this,
Within The Nutshell will become stuff of HMS legend.
Great, glad to help.
MAN ON TV: Kids Say
Absolutely Ridiculous Stuff
will be back, so don't zap ya...
Hi, Mom.
Peppie, I read your new article, and... [SOBS] ...and... and I'm so proud you're my daughter!
-So am I still grounded?
Lydia: Oh, honey. Of course you are. Here, I made you this scrapbook. [sobbing] I need to collect myself... tissues!