Lulu in Honolulu by Elisabeth Wolf Read Free Book Online Page A

clapper.
    FIONA
    That’s a print!
    Ohana kids mob Linc. They whoop and high-five. Linc flashes them each a picture-perfect smile. He slaps the boys on the back and hugs the girls.
    Lulu leaps from the stage and runs toward Alexis.
    LULU
    Lex! You got them here.
    ALEXIS
    An hour away from the set on a Saturday, no big deal. I knew I could pull it off.
    LULU
    (putting out her hand to high-five her sister)
    Here’s to Sister Power!
    ALEXIS
    (slapping Lulu’s outstretched palm)
    Here’s to Payback.
    INT. ’IOLANI PALACE, GRAND STAIRCASE—THIRTY MINUTES LATER
    Knowing about a small side door, Liam and Maleko sneak the Ohana kids into the grand, four-story palace. Inside, it’s quiet and cool. Fearing being caught, the kids scamper up the wide, wood staircase. At the top floor, they flop down, laughing and talking at once.
    KENNA
    Wow, Lulu! I’d never met a real actor before.
    KAPONO
    Neither have I.
    The twins look at each other and crack up.
    MALEKO
    Guess who actually won the hula-off?
    With his hands, Maleko drums a ta-da drum roll on the wood banister.
    ALL KIDS TOGETHER
    Island School of Hula.
    All laugh.
    LIAM
    Who would want to be as boring as them?!
    Noelani huddles by herself on a stair. She turns her body into a tight ball by hugging her legs to her chest. Lulu smooshes in next to her friend.
    LULU
    (to all the kids)
    I’ve found where all of Hawaii’s koa trees went. (Waves her hands over the stairs.) Look at this staircase! How many do ya think they had to chop down to make this?
    Liam gives a here-she-goes-again look to Maleko.
    LIAM
    We perform the greatest hula in history, and you want to talk about dead trees?!
    MALEKO
    Our Hilarious Hula already has more than five hundred YouTube hits. And it’s only been up for, like, twenty minutes!

    LULU
    Well, my sister doesn’t waste time getting anything out into the cyber world.
    Ohana kids huddle around Maleko’s iPhone screen and watch their now-famous performance. Noelani, however, remains on her stair, squeezing her knees and staring at her toes.
    NOELANI
    (softly to Lulu)
    It’s my fault.
    LULU
    (joking)
    What’s your fault? Chopping down a zillion endangered trees to build this grand staircase?
    NOELANI
    Everything. I told you I wasn’t brave. I just couldn’t dance up front.
    LULU
    (talking softly to her friend)
    Don’t worry about it, Noe. Geez peas! No one’s bummed. Ohana Camp put on a great hula show!
    Noelani hides her face in her folded knees. Lulu rests her hand on her pal’s shoulder.
    Lulu watches Noelani’s tears run down her leg. The drips slide from her eyes, stream down her face, over her knees, and continue slipping down to her ankles.
    LULU
    You’re turning into a waterfall.
    NOELANI
    (into her knee caps)
    My mom is so brave. She’s a Marine, training people on an aircraft carrier. And me? Today I hid in back like a total chicken!
    LULU
    No one thinks that except you.
    The Ohana kids wander around the palace. Lulu and Noelani listen to their friends chuckling and chatting as they explore.
    LULU
    I know you’re really brave. It’s just today wasn’t your brave day.
    Lulu reaches into her I USED TO BE A PLASTIC BOTTLE bag and yanks out a green, heart-shaped li hing mui lollipop. Lulu unwraps and starts licking.
    NOELANI
    You’re not supposed to eat in the palace.
    Lulu offers Noelani a lick.
    NOELANI
    Lulu, you’re the Ohana Camp hero today. You saved us from total embarrassment and bitter defeat.
    LULU
    Not me. It was my whole family. They came through because that’s what families do—they support each other.
    HAWAII FIVE-0 MUSIC RINGTONE comes from Lulu’s bag. She reaches inside and withdraws an iPhone in a SAVE THE EARTH case.
    LULU
    (into the phone)
    Hi, Lex. (pause) I thought you left with Mom and Dad? (pause) OK, I’m coming right now.
    Lulu hangs up, then stares right into her friend’s deep eyes.
    LULU
    (speaks