Night Road

The next morning, Jude runs numerous errands before taking the ferry to downtown Seattle to have lunch with her mom at her mom’s art gallery. She enters the gallery and goes with Caroline to the rooftop to eat. Caroline asks if Jude would consider taking over the gallery after the twins go to college, but Jude says no because she and her mother would not work well together. They eat lunch and continue their meaningless small talk for 45 minutes. Jude leaves the gallery and returns to her car. She sees a beautiful gold ring in a store’s window. She enters the store and buys the ring as a graduation gift for Mia and a watch for Zach.

In mid-November, Lexi crunches numbers and knows that a four-year college isn’t an option for her without a full-ride scholarship. Eva enters the room and tells Lexi that she’s considering moving to Florida to live with her sister, Barbara, and escape Seattle’s cold weather. She tells Lexi that she should go, too, but Lexi wants to stay close to the Farradays. Eva leaves for work, and Zach knocks on the door. They make out on Lexi’s bed but stop before things go too far.

By December 23rd, Lexi has submitted most of her college applications and knows that she must now await the responses. At work that night, Mia calls to tell Lexi that she, Zach, and Tyler will arrive later to take her to a classmate’s party. They arrive at the party, and all four teenagers start drinking. Mia quickly becomes drunk, and Lexi and Zach go to the beach and make out. Mia then appears, and Zach tells her that he doesn’t want to leave Lexi behind to go to college, suggesting that they all go to the University of Washington together. Tyler then stumbles over, drunk, even though he is the designated driver. When the teenagers are ready to leave, Zach calls Jude because she said that they could call on her for help without getting in trouble. Jude picks them up and takes all four teenagers back to her house. She thanks them for calling her and goes back to bed. Lexi crawls into bed with Mia, and Mia tells Lexi that she and Tyler had sex at the party. Mia falls asleep, and Lexi regrets pushing Zach away, worrying that he might find someone else to love. She falls asleep and wakes up to Zach standing over her. He takes her to his room and gives her a promise ring as an early Christmas gift. Lexi is overwhelmed with love and tells Zach that she’s ready to have sex with him.

On Christmas Day, the Farradays open gifts and eat their traditional breakfast. As they eat, Zach tells his parents that he gave Lexi a promise ring. Jude and Miles are shocked but expect the situation to resolve when their son leaves for college. Mia mentions going to another party, but Jude says no because they drank at the last party. Zach reminds his mom that she promised that they wouldn’t get in trouble if they called on her for help, feeling betrayed that she’s going back on her word.

On the last day of winter break, Lexi and Zach are at Lexi’s house, and Lexi reminds him that he promised Jude to finish his college applications today. She doesn’t want to upset Jude again and wants her to continue liking her and allowing her to be part of their family. The two teenagers get to work so that they can go sledding later with their friends.

Zach and Mia turn 18 in February, and they begin testing limits and wanting more freedom. As the spring weather brings on more parties, Jude becomes exhausted trying to protect the twins. She also stresses about the responses to her children’s college applications. In March, the twins learn that USC has accepted both of them. Miles tells Jude that he hopes that she can now relax.

After school one day, Lexi goes to a school counselor to see what she should do to find more scholarships. The University of Washington and Western Washington University have accepted and awarded her $2,000 in scholarships, but it’s insufficient to cover all her expenses. The counselor tells Lexi that she can apply for more scholarships or take out a loan. When Lexi gets home, Mia calls to tell her about the twins’ acceptance into USC. She invites Lexi to go to dinner with them to celebrate. Lexi accepts the invitation but quickly ends the call and begins to cry. Eva enters the room and tells Lexi about her experience of falling in love when she was a teenager. She then leaves for work, and Lexi prepares to go out, covering all traces of her emotions. Throughout the car ride and dinner, Lexi pretends to be excited. Zach holds her hand and tells Lexi that he doesn’t want to go to USC. Lexi knows that he will, no matter what he says.

On May 15th, Lexi’s birthday, Eva prepares a breakfast of donuts for her. She also has two gifts for Lexi: a sapphire blue sweater and a course catalog for Broward Community College in Florida. Eva then tells Lexi that she can live with her and Barbara rent-free while she attends college. Lexi will also have other family members to meet and spend time with, which reminds Lexi that she’s not alone anymore. The women eat their donuts and go to their respective jobs. At the end of her shift, Lexi goes to the Farradays’ house for a birthday dinner. That night, Lexi and the twins sit on a blanket on the beach and talk about the future, making Mia and Lexi cry. The girls promise to be best friends forever as Zach goes into the house. He returns with a Ninja Turtle Thermos, and each of them places a beloved trinket into it. They bury the Thermos in the sand, promising that, as long as The Thermos remains buried here, they’ll love each other and never say goodbye.

In June, Jude is about to go into her garage when Mia storms into the house and runs to her room. When Jude follows and asks what’s wrong, Mia tells her that Tyler dumped her during class today. Mia’s afraid that no one else will like her, but Jude reminds her that she still hasn’t discovered who she is. Mia then asks if Lexi can come over, and Jude agrees.

10 days before graduation, Lexi, the twins, and the rest of the senior class practice for their graduation ceremony. Afterwards, Lexi and Zach drive to a park and talk. Zach tells Lexi that he wants to attend community college with her instead of USC. They walk to the beach and talk about how life could be for them if he stayed. Lexi reminds him how much Mia needs him, so he says that Mia can join them, too. They drive back to Zach’s house, and Zach tells his family his plan to stay with Lexi. For the first time, Miles is the one who gets angry, telling Zach that if this is what he wants, he can pay for it himself. Jude interrupts the yelling and asks Zach to explain his decision. Mia becomes upset because Zach is willing to leave her but not Lexi, so she runs upstairs. Zach follows her, leaving Lexi alone with Jude and Miles. She asks them not to be angry with her and says that this situation isn’t her fault. Jude believes that if the twins don’t go to USC, they’ll regret it and take it out on Lexi, so she asks Lexi to talk to them. Lexi goes to Mia’s room and tells them that she won’t let them give up their dream for her.

Over the next few days, Jude notices that resentment has entered her family despite Lexi’s ability to change Zach’s mind. He’s furious and doesn’t hide it. Jude stares out her bedroom window when Mia enters the room and asks to talk. Mia says that Lexi and Zach have stuck with Mia all this time, and she feels she needs to be there for them now. Mia tells Jude that she’s not going to USC because it’s the right thing to do. Zach then enters the room and tells Mia that it’s time to go to the senior barbeque. As Mia leaves, Jude says that they’ll continue this conversation tomorrow, but Mia says that her decision is final. When Mia asks if Jude can forgive her, Jude says no. She then reminds the twins that they must be home by one and that Zach is the designated driver, no matter what. The twins agree and leave for the party.

When the three teenagers arrive at the party, Zach says that he needs a drink. When Lexi reminds him that he’s the designated driver, he tells Lexi that she’s not his mom and walks away. Lexi and Mia walk down the driveway to a log cabin deep in the woods. When Tyler walks by with a girl, Mia grabs a beer and gulps it down. Lexi drinks a beer, too. Mia then tells Lexi to meet her on the beach and goes to find Zach. Lexi is waiting on the beach when Zach walks up. They go into the woods and make love. When they return to the party, Mia finds them and says that the three of them need to stay together tonight. By two o’ clock, the party winds down. Zach, Mia, and Lexi are extremely drunk, but when Zach realizes what time it is, he insists that they leave. Mia says that they should call Jude, but Zach says no because of what happened last time. Lexi knows that Mia is correct, but she’s too drunk to concentrate.