Tell Me Lies

Stephen has been rejected by every law school he has applied to because of his DUI. He angrily blames Officer Gonzales, the police officer who arrested him, for his troubles, but he soon comes up with a backup plan. He calls his older brother, Luke, and tells him that he wants to take a year off before going to law school. He says that he instead wants to work and pay some of his student loans, hoping that Luke will use his connections at his bond-trading job. Luke gets Stephen connected with Doug Richter, the CEO of a brokerage firm in New York City. Doug is impressed with Stephen’s transcript, and Stephen tells him that he works well with people and is driven to make money for himself and the company. Doug then says that he will tell the hiring manager and keep in touch with him. Wanting to distract himself after the phone call, Stephen texts Lucy and asks to see her. She agrees but tells him that she only has 30 minutes until she meets with her advisor. They have been sleeping together for three months, but Lucy has grown impatient and angry because he is still with Diana. She asks him if he truly intends to end things with Diana after graduation, and he says he does, as Diana is returning to her native Wisconsin for an internship and then to graduate school in Saint Louis. He then invites her to a graduation party that he is having on June 14 in Bayville. They then angrily have sex, with Stephen’s anger over Officer Gonzales causing him to accidentally ejaculate inside Lucy. Before she leaves, he tells her to use the Plan B emergency contraceptive pill. He hopes that Doug will contact him again.

Lucy visits her advisor, Mr. Levy, following sex with Stephen. He informs her that she has made it into the Writers on the Riviera program. Though this program has been her dream since before she started college, Lucy has to feign happiness when she realizes that the program starts in May and is a month long. The program schedule will conflict with Stephen’s party, and she decides that she will not do the program. Later, Pippa and Jackie remind her that the ’80s party is that night. Lucy says that she will not go but denies that the reason is because the party is at Slug. Jackie does not believe her and tells Lucy that she is not the woman she met. When Lucy insists that she is just busy, they begrudgingly leave her in the dorm room. Lucy listens to Fleetwood Mac on her headphones as she thinks back to her memories of her family, including CJ and her father, and of Stephen. As this happens, she notices the Fleetwood Mac song “Little Lies” playing and thinks about the chorus, in which Stevie Nicks sings, “Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies” (187).

Doug hires Stephen as an equity research analyst at BR3 Group following graduation. Stephen informs Diana and her family that he cannot visit their cabin in Winnebago. Diana considers moving to New York at some point because she still loves Stephen. However, she is already enrolled in classes at Washington University, and Stephen knows that she hates New York and is content with a stable, ordinary life in the Midwest. Stephen says that they should keep their relationship open-ended and possibly revisit things in the following months, to which Diana agrees before Stephen kisses her. Two weeks later, Stephen starts his job, enjoying Manhattan. That Friday, he is sitting in the apartment he shares with Luke and Luke’s friend Geoff. He texts Lucy, asking her if she will be able to attend the graduation party. He thinks about how she has sacrificed many things for him and how he can now reward her for her devotion to him.

After the school year ends, Lucy has returned to Long Island and, after two weeks, is hanging out with Lydia and Helen by the Montgomerys’ pool. Lucy has an internship with Vanity Fair and has chosen to wait for Stephen to take initiative in the relationship. She soon gets his text, however, and shows it to Lydia and Helen. To her relief, they do not judge her, but they encourage her to wait a day before replying so that she does not look desperate. Lydia and Helen eat from a bag of potato chips, and Lucy mentally disapproves as she observes their weight gain. They are concerned about her weight loss and ask if she has anorexia or a cocaine addiction. She denies both of those concerns. A few days later, she prepares for a date with Stephen. When he arrives at her house, CJ meets him, and Lucy can tell that her mother does not like him. Stephen takes her to his childhood home, where she meets his father. Then, he surprises her by taking her on the Kiss Me Kate boat like he promised her. As they sail at night, they smoke marijuana, and Stephen gives Lucy a slice of pizza, which she eats so that he will not suspect that she has an eating disorder. She marvels at the stars, and Stephen tells her that he was wrong to remain with Diana but felt obligated to do so. Lucy reveals the pain it caused her, and he apologizes. He then says that he and Diana have broken up for good and that he could grow to love Lucy. They then have sex, and he gifts her a “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” poster as an early birthday present.

Diana’s mother gifts her two tickets for the Broadway show Wicked, which she and Stephen plan to see together when she visits him. Lucy is concerned that she and Stephen won’t see each other as much when she returns to Baird. Meanwhile, Stephen is growing tired of their fighting and Lucy’s constant need for validation. As he is writing a report for work, Lucy calls, but he is expecting a visit from Diana. After finishing his report, he sees Luke and Kathleen watching a romantic movie. They announce that they are engaged. He then calls Diana, who tells him that she is seeing a man in Milwaukee and is no longer interested in getting back together with Stephen. She gives him both tickets to Wicked. Though he is angry, Stephen understands, knowing that he was never going to marry her. He then plans to find another girlfriend soon and texts Lucy that he has two tickets for Wicked.

Lucy finds CJ making pizza for dinner when she returns from her weekend with Stephen. Lucy’s parents dance to their wedding song, and her father tells Lucy that she has the most wonderful mother. Lucy secretly feels disgusted. She starts packing for the trip back to Baird and recalls that morning. She is concerned about Stephen seeing other women while she is in school and not coming to visit, but he said that he would be busy with work. They had sex, and then he said goodbye to her at the station. She dreads returning to Baird without him but is forcing herself to do so. As CJ helps her pack, she tells Lucy that she does think Stephen appreciates her, and Lucy becomes defensive. She closes her eyes and starts crying. When she opens her eyes, she sees her mother also crying. CJ then asks what happened to them and leaves her room.

Stephen’s friend Carl invites Stephen to his girlfriend Beth’s dinner party. There, he meets Beth’s co-worker Alice, to whom he immediately becomes attracted. Though she is quite different from Diana and Lucy, Stephen talks to her throughout the night. The following morning, Stephen gets Alice’s number from Carl and then calls her and sets up a dinner date. They enjoy each other’s company, and when Lucy texts him during the date, he starts to feel exhausted by the long-distance relationship. After the date, Stephen and Alice share a kiss before she leaves, and he gives her the nickname “Alice in Wonderland.” Having learned that she likes red carnations, he sends her a bouquet with a note.