Tell Me Lies

Stephen quickly learns that seeing Lucy while continuing to have sex with Diana is not easy. Diana’s friend Keaton Banks sees him kissing Lucy goodbye and tells Diana, and later she comes into Stephen’s dorm room and screams at him. He tells her that since they are not dating at the moment, he can have sex with whomever he wants, but she is unwilling to get back together with him as long as he has sex with other women. When he mockingly begs her to trust him, she angrily leaves. Soon after, Lucy comes over, and they have sex. He wants to continue seeing her but knows that he would have to end things with Diana for good. He is reluctant, believing love to be a choice and not a feeling. While he does not see himself as conventionally attractive, he has mastered charming his way into sex with women, something he did in summer camp and with his high school girlfriend Jenna Landry, with whom he had a turbulent relationship until they broke up before going to separate colleges. Shortly before his breakup with Jenna, he accidentally killed an unnamed girl in a car accident. Wanting to focus on the future, he is hoping that he will continue being able to have sex with Lucy for a long time if he does and says the right things.

Lucy, her friends, and Stephen attend a “Wild West”-themed party, stopping first at a pre-party get-together organized by Wrigley. There, Lucy and Bree decide to try cocaine. Lucy is encouraged when Pippa tells her that cocaine, like coffee, is an appetite suppressant. She snorts a line, and when she misses a small amount, Stephen smears it on her gums. She likes the feeling, and Stephen then tells her how attractive and small she is. This makes her happy, as she has been trying to avoid the “freshman fifteen” and has been losing weight. She talks about her strict diet and skipping breakfast before rationalizing her disordered eating by stating that food is not that important and that the anti-colonialist leader Mohandas Gandhi survived without food for 21 days.

After learning from Wrigley that Stephen had sex with Nicole while seeing Lucy, Pippa angrily corners him in the library and tells him to leave Lucy alone. He thinks to himself that women should not be taken seriously, as their hormones dictate their feelings. He tells Pippa that he did have sex with Nicole, but it was just sex, and they mostly did cocaine together. Silently, Stephen congratulates himself for his ability to fix situations like this by flattering women to keep them coming back to him. He recalls never feeling an emotional response to things he was supposed to, including when he accidentally killed his cousin’s turtle as a child. In addition, he admits that hurting people when he wants to gives him delight and excitement. He calls Wrigley, who reveals that he told Pippa that during an argument to hurt her, and Stephen demands that he tell Pippa that he lied about it, even though Wrigley and Pippa broke up and Wrigley does not want to talk to her. Wrigley reluctantly agrees to do it.

Lucy is preparing for her date with Stephen. Pippa is confused about why Stephen is taking her out on a date on a Saturday, when Delta Gamma is holding a keg party. Lucy tells her that she will meet them at the party after the date, but Jackie admits that she does not trust Stephen. Jackie then mentions Diana being a Delta Gamma, and Pippa mentions that Wrigley said they had a strange relationship. Lucy asks Jackie if she wants her to be happy, and Jackie apologizes. Lucy then goes with Stephen to the Italian restaurant Guiliana’s. She mentions what Wrigley said but says that she knew Wrigley was lying. They then take a cab, and Lucy considers going to the Delta Gamma party, but Stephen does not want to go. She asks if it is because Diana is a member, and he says no. Noticing him becoming agitated, she drops the subject and apologizes. They then return to his dorm room as Evan is leaving. There, they have sex. He tells her to start birth control because he wants to ejaculate inside her and hates condoms. She thinks to herself that she will not need it, as she has stopped menstruating due to her rapid weight loss.

Stephen is at the Hawaiian luau end-of-the-year party thinking about how ridiculous it was that his fraternity, Chops, was shut down because a student overdosed on cocaine when the other houses had drugs as well. He is snorting lines when Diana arrives and asks to talk to him. She tells him that the Chops house, known as Slug, will be reopened. She also says that she has thought about their relationship and loves him enough to forgive him and get back together with him. She kisses him, and Stephen tells her that he loves her. Diana tells him that he should tell Lucy, but he does not want to talk to her. They then leave, calling a safety van to take them back to her house. As they wait and she starts kissing him, Stephen starts once again losing the enthusiasm he briefly felt toward her.

Lucy is enjoying the Hawaiian luau party with Stephen. They go into the bathroom, where Stephen gives her cocaine and is about to have sex with her when someone knocks on the door. They leave, and Stephen tells her that they will have sex later. Lucy goes to hang out with her friends. After a while, she notices that Stephen is still gone and looks for him. She eventually finds Stephen holding and kissing Diana in the hallway. Shocked, she tries to walk back down the stairs but loses her footing and falls. Stuart helps her up, and after throwing up from drinking too much, she tells Pippa about Stephen and Diana. Pippa then calls for a safety van and insists that Lucy eat. They see Diana and Stephen in the safety van, and when they arrive at her house, Pippa confronts Stephen. Lucy and Pippa then watch Stephen and Diana enter her house.

During the summer, Stephen’s paternal aunt Amy throws a 58th birthday party for his father to show sensitivity for the anniversary of his divorce, which Stephen finds ridiculous. He is staying with Amy’s daughter Vivian and her fiancé, Rod, while he completes an internship in Washington, DC, and they travel to Long Island for the party. He feels disdain for his father’s continued desire to reconnect with his estranged wife. Stephen believes that Nora has never been a good mother or wife, having always ignored Stephen’s father and endangered the children during her manic episodes.

As the guests start arriving, so do Stephen’s older brother, Luke, and his girlfriend, Kathleen. Kathleen asks about his love life, and he tells her that he is trying to make his relationship with Diana work and that he loves her. They then start eating, which Stephen enjoys nearly as much as sex. However, as he finishes his meal, his mind starts to go into a dark place, and he thinks back to the accident where he killed the girl, now identified as a “redhead.” He thinks about calling Diana but does not think it will help. Instead, he sees his still-depressed father, and his father’s pain makes him feel better.

Lucy attends her former schoolmate Kelsey’s birthday party with Lydia and Helen, and CJ picks her up from the train station after the party. As CJ is driving Lucy home, she asks her about the party. Lucy saw Parker with his new girlfriend, who still seems to hate Lucy. She found the party boring, though she tells CJ that it was okay.

CJ expresses concern about Lucy’s weight, and Lucy assures her that she ate before the party. When they get home, Lucy greets her father and Georgia. She acts uncharacteristically rude, for which she later feels guilty. Her father cooks shellfish, which she has loved for a long time, but Lucy lies and says she is allergic; in reality, she just wants to avoid eating fried foods. CJ then has her weigh in on the scale. CJ is concerned that she has an eating disorder and tells Lucy that she needs to gain some weight back. Lucy dismisses this suggestion, and CJ becomes enraged. She chastises Lucy for her rudeness and ingratitude over the summer. Knowing that she is right, Lucy shuts down and stares at the floor tiles. She then looks in the mirror, and though her bones are quite visible, she hopes that her thinner appearance will attract Stephen and convince him to leave Diana for her. On the way to the airport, CJ tells Lucy about her cousin’s battle with anorexia and advises Lucy to eat more carbs and protein.

Stephen goes on a date with Diana at Guiliana’s. When Diana arrives, they talk about how much they love each other and how they are both hopeful this year will be better for them. Knowing that Diana loves turquoise jewelry, Stephen gifts Diana a turquoise necklace that he found among his mother’s belongings after the divorce. He lies and says that he got it at a store in Washington, DC. Following the date, Diana is tired and wants to rest before the busy day she has ahead of her, but he promises to join her in her bed later that night. After hanging out with Wrigley and Charlie, he sees Lucy. The two stare at each other until Lucy turns away. Too drunk to leave, Stephen falls asleep and does not answer his phone. Diana becomes angry and storms into the house as a result.

Lucy goes to a yoga class to lose the weight that CJ made her gain during the summer. She then hangs out with her friends. Bree thinks about how handsome Evan Donovan is but laments that he has a girlfriend. Lucy sees Stephen and becomes upset. Her friends suggest that Lucy try to find another man to hook up with to forget Stephen. Jackie encourages Lucy to try hooking up with Topher. Though Lucy is initially hesitant because he is short, she decides to go to his dorm room after drinking some vodka and doing cocaine. She enjoys Topher’s company, and they talk about the show Breaking Bad. They then start kissing, and Lucy does not like how slow and gentle Topher is. He then puts his hand down her pants and clearly does not know what he is doing. Not feeling aroused or satisfied, Lucy leaves. She then thinks about encountering Stephen at the Slug party the previous month and wonders if he truly misses her. She realizes that she is in love with him.

Stephen fills out his application for Columbia Law School. When the application asks if he has been charged with, arrested for, or convicted of a crime, he recalls the driving under the influence (DUI) misdemeanor that he received shortly before the accident. Angrily, he thinks that this charge would not have happened if his father had not forgotten to fix his headlight. He then recalls the accident, his affair with Macy Petersen, and his good fortune in avoiding arrest for the accident that killed Macy. Diana enters the room in a flapper costume and tells him they will be late, and Stephen realizes that today is the Gatsby party. At the party, Stephen sees Lucy hanging out with Pippa, and he starts talking to her about the jazz music playing, noting that his mother listened to jazz. Lucy asks about his thesis, and he apologizes for his actions. Lucy tells him that it is too late now, and he appreciates and respects her honest display of vulnerability. He considers kissing her but does not, noticing that Diana is watching him. He explains that he has a long history with Diana, but Lucy is not interested, soon walking away. Stephen then goes to reassure an angry and jealous Diana, who tells him that she will kill him if he ever touches Lucy again.