A shaking Caitlyn Kisney stands in front of her mom in the empty BRAZEN locker room. It is a few days after DEF 189.

Aurora Kaye:
Ready to talk?

Caitlyn nods with customary meekness.

Caitlyn Kinsey:
Mom… I… I am so sorry for how I won that match. I, I was just so scared. JJ left and I thought for sure I was going to lose and… well, have to go home.

Aurora Kaye:
Oh, I know. That is what my mother has done ever since I was born — play people like a puppet. And while I’m happy that you and your grandmother are getting to know each other, that’s why I told you to be careful. Because she is going to manipulate you and get you in the middle of all this.

Caitlyn nods as she can’t bare to make eye contact. 

Aurora Kaye:
All JJ was doing was to try and help. He cares about you. He cares about his friends. He cares about Teri. That is why I like JJ. But all of this between Teri and your grandmother… it is too much. 

Another pause.

Aurora Kaye:
I know you said yes. And I absolutely want you and JJ to be together. But if you want to put off the wedding until all of this ends, and focus on yourself, I am sure JJ will understand.

Caitlyn Kinsey:
No. That would… that would break him. I can’t do that to him. And I can’t do that to me, either.

Aurora nods. 

Aurora Kaye:
As long as you make your choice.

Another pause.

Caitlyn Kinsey:
Mom… you never told me why you hate Teri. 

Aurora sighs. 

Aurora Kaye:
It’s really, really complicated. And I don’t want to… I can’t… get into it all right now. But just where it all started…

We see a filmstrip of a teenage Aurora Kaye all by herself in her plush bedroom, which is messy and decorated with posters of cooler alternative rock bands of the era, along with a poster of the TV show “My So-Called Life.” Aurora is busy painting watercolors on an easel. A scowling Tabitha walks in, and Aurora rolls her eyes and gets back to her homework.

Aurora Kaye:
You know how hard it was for me growing up. Your grandmother put so much pressure on me. She wanted me to be this perfect little girl, going to debutante balls and marrying into a family with a name. But that was never me. I wanted to be an artist. But, that was the exact opposite of what Mom wanted for me.

Then we see Teenage Aurora putting on a Joy Division shirt and some spike punk brackets, and she looks noticeably young. 

Aurora Kaye:
You know that band The Cure I love?

Caitlyn Kinsey:
Yeah, JJ just put them on a new mix tape for me.

♫ "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure â™« 

Aurora Kaye:
I like him even more now. Well, they were playing at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. I had to go. I never went to a concert before. And nobody at the prep school I went to was a fan. They were all way too into Madonna. So, I had to sneak into the city by myself.

We see Teenage Aurora climbing out of a window and then hopping onto a SEPTA train by herself.

Aurora Kaye:
So I went to the show….

A young Aurora is in the stands, bobbing her head to whatever sad song The Cure is playing on stage. 

Aurora Kaye:
This was a guy in my aisle. I don’t know how old he was, but he was older. No guy ever talked to me before in my life, but he came up with a smile and introduced himself.

A guy with a creepy smile, a backwards white baseball cap, and a tucked in golf shirt says.

Rick:
Hey, I’m Rick. 

Aurora Kaye:
Rick stood next to me, he kept telling me how cute I was. He asked if I wanted a beer. Something didn’t feel right… but I started to sip the beer. And then it became another. And another. I thought that was what I was supposed to do. Plus, I knew it would piss your grandmother off so much. But…

The show ends and a very drunk Young Aurora is stumbling around. Rick smirks and nods to some friends.

Rick:
Hey, Aurora. How about I drive you home?

Aurora Kaye:
My head was spinning and, well, I felt Rick drag me by the arm. Then I heard this voice yell out —

There is a shadow of a curvy woman with hair in the style of Robert Smith.

Goth Woman:
Stop, you creep.

Aurora Kaye:
Rick tried to act like to nothing was happening. And then she apologized to Rick and took a few steps to him and then…

Goth Woman knees Rick in the balls. He hunches over and drops to the ground as his friends all laugh at him. The woman turns around to Young Aurora and it’s a beautiful woman in her early 20s with black eye shadow, lipstick and an aura of hip cool as she says --.

Goth Woman
Hi. I’m Teri. Let me take you home.

Aurora Kaye:
We got into her car. We started to make our way back to my house. We stopped three times along the way so I could puke. 

The car is pulled over on a dark road with Young Aurora doing just that.

Aurora Kaye:
We got to the house and there was this kind of sparkle in her eye where she saw the giant pillars.

The car is parked on the cobblestone driveway. 

Goth Teri:
Wait, is your last name… Kinsey?

Aurora Kaye:
She then told me we should hang out sometime. And she gave me a hangover cure.

Goth Teri:
Drink a whole bunch of Gatorade. Eat some pasta. Take some aspirin. And, most importantly, sleep on your side. 

Young Aurora goes stumbling out of the car.

Young Aurora:
I thought she was just the coolest person I had ever met in my life. I thought that I found someone who got me. Who would protect me. I thought I finally had a friend. 

Young Aurora picks up the antique phone in her room and smiles.

Young Aurora:
She called me the next day to check up on me. She also asked what I was doing that evening. I told her I had to train under Mom’s watch. She said she’d love to watch. And the. She arrived…

The doorbell rings. It opens. And Teri is now dressed like a mini-me Tabitha in a preppy Tweed fashion.

Aurora Kaye:
Well, that was how she met Mom. She was attached to Mom’s hip immediately. Always so willing to help my mom out with anything she needed. And she never once talked to me. Or even made eye contact with me. Mom was of course smitten…

Young Aurora is at the dinner table looking miserable.

Tabitha Kinsey:
I wish you were more like Teri. She’s just so appreciative of all I’ve given her. Not like you, you spoiled brat. 

Aurora Kaye:
Teri just made an already bad relationship that much worse. She used me to get into my mom’s good graces. Your grandmother was headed out on her last tour. She was going to have her retirement match in Tokyo. 

Teri stares at the title she is polishing for Tabitha with a mischevious glint in her eyes before packing it into luggage.

Aurora Kaye:
I was working on some art in my room when I heard a knock on the door. It was Teri. 

An apprehensive Young Aurora opens the door.

Young Teri:
Hey, Aurora… I… I need to tell you something.

Before she can get the words out, we hear:

Tabitha Kinsey:
Teri! I need you now. My pilot just called. We have to head to the airport immediately. 

Young Teri stares at Aurora and doesn’t say anything before she leaves.

Now we see Aurora and Caitlyn in our timestream.

Aurora Kaye:
That was the last time I saw her until you came here. 

Caitlyn Kinsey:
Geez, mom. That’s a lot. But it was all so long ago.

Aurora Kaye:
I know. But it’s even more complicated. Teri has been through so much in her life. I know JJ loves her, but you know how their relationship started. Teri is just as manipulative as your grandmother. I don’t want anything to do with her. I want you to be careful with her, too.

Caitlyn Kinsey:
Maybe she’s changed, Mom.

Aurora Kaye:
People don’t change that much, Caitlyn. 

The two of them hug.
FTB.

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