Lulu in LA LA Land by Elisabeth Wolf

Great.
    Lulu covers up forgetting what Sophia was supposed to bring. Her head spins with Alexis’s demand that Sophia not be part of the Spa-tacular.
    Sophia picks up one of the glass jars beside her.
    SOPHIA
    The ladybugs came in the mail yesterday. Perfect timing so we can release them on the roses today. They’re so cute, but they’re losing their buzz.
    POW!! The great day they’d planned slams back into Lulu’s memory. When she was in charge of her party, Lulu planned to mix up a batch of rose perfume as her party favor. When she and Sophia went to collect the petals, they found tiny bugs munching up the rosebushes. Ugh, that all seems like another lifetime!
    LULU
    (now excited)
    Geez peas! Let’s get outta here and bring the ladies to their new home.
    Lulu grabs both jars and dashes out the front door. Sophia follows, pulling on her shoes before heading outside.
    EXT. HARRISION ESTATE ROSE GARDEN—CONTINUOUS
    LULU
    What else did Good Bugs say? If I remember, the ratio was: ten ladybugs cover twenty feet, so if we need to cover an area of a hundred feet, we gotta release fifty bugs. That’s what you ordered, right?
    SOPHIA
    Exactly. You worked out the math last week.
    LULU
    We need these ladybugs to be mucho hungry to eat the aphids. Hernandez said aphids are what’s destroying the rosebushes. Look, they’re eating everything except the thorns.
    The girls inspect the tattered plants.
    SOPHIA
    We could also release spiders. They eat aphids too. And they won’t harm the roses since they’re carnivores.
    LULU
    Yah, but can you imagine my mother knowing I was releasing spiders near her house?
    The girls giggle.
    SOPHIA
    Your dad wouldn’t be bothered.
    LULU
    You’re right. He’d probably threaten to let them out in Mom’s bathroom just to see her freak out. Then he’d laugh about it, so she’d get madder…
    Thinking about the bitterness between her parents, Lulu loses her giggly-ness. Lulu and Sophia sprinkle water and gently toss ladybugs onto the rosebushes.
    SOPHIA
    You know, Lu, you’re lucky to have a mother and a father. Even if they fight. My mother’s worst day of the year…
    (pause)
    â€¦is Father’s Day. She feels so s’bad—remember, we made that up for sad and bad?
    LULU
    â€™Course I do.
    SOPHIA
    Well, my mom feels so s’bad that I don’t know my father. And I can tell she’s lonely. She’d love to have someone to tease her about spiders.
    LULU
    Sophia, you’re really brave. I’m a wimp.
    SOPHIA
    Nah. I just don’t know anything different.
    LULU
    Well, that just shows what a weakling I am, because my parents have been fighting my whole life, and I’m still not used to it.
    How could Lulu explain to Sophia that when her dad teases her mom there’s a sharp bite to it? Like it’s meant to draw blood. How can she explain that her mom is so busy and demanding that she doubts her mom has ever hugged her dad? Sensing Lulu’s distress, Sophia changes the subject.
    SOPHIA
    So now that our ladybug army is on the attack, let’s go check the cilantro plants. Your garden-grown salsa is gonna be the hit of your birthday party, Lu.
    As if this day could get worse! Between dealing with Alexis and the Spa-tacular and worrying about Sophia, Lulu’s done, wiped. Her stomach starts its nervous swirling.
    LULU
    Soph, I’ve gotta lie down.
    Lulu drops the watering can she’d been holding and sinks onto the thick, freshly cut, Technicolor-green grass.
    For a moment, Sophia is puzzled. Then Sophia falls to the ground next to her friend.
    TIGHT SHOT ON THE GIRLS as they rest on their backs watching the bright blue sky. Not a cloud to be seen.
    LULU
    There’s nothing in the sky except sunlight and ultraviolet light that we can’t see with our naked eyes.
    SOPHIA
    I remember when Mr. Ling taught us that last year. You were SO excited to learn about rainbows!
    LULU
    How