"My mom thought bringing in an exchange student would improve my status at school," "Loser." "but change was slow to come." "I mean, I loved Raja, but his strange ways seemed to confuse people." "Oh, no pork, please." "Now I've seen everything." "Like in class, he actually paid attention." "...Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863." "Um, yes." "Roger?" "Raja." "Did the Emancipation Proclamation apply to all slaves or just those in the South?" "That's more of a college question." "Now, although the Emanc..." "And at home, he helped out and told my mom all about his day." "What?" "!" "There was a boy on the bus smoking marijuana?" "!" "I'm on the toilet!" "Don't try and change the subject, mister" "After that, my mom kind of lost all sense of boundaries." "Gary... is this a marijuana leaf?" "I think it's the Canadian flag." "My mom had even cranked up our computer's Web filter... to Victorian." "Hon, why can't the kids have doorknobs anymore?" "Might as well hand them a bong and a lit Zippo." "Ugh, another one." "Full of action figures." "I used to beat up kids like this." "The only real freedom I ever got was ce a week at Rocket Club." "Which didn't even exist." "You see, Craig, Doey and me just made it up as a cover one time 'cause we wanted to see" "Charlize Theron naked in the movie North Country." "Who told you there was nudity in this?" "Look at her." "She's filthy." "I mean, eventually she has to shower." "Turns out, strip mining was not what we thought it was." "But it worked so well, that we kept it going." "And after a while, a whole fake Rocket Club mythology sprang up, supervised by Mr. Matthews and attended by Dan Archer, the most popular kid in school." "Maybe you and Dan Archer should to go space camp this summer, huh?" "Yeah, I'll ask him about it." "It was fun hanging out with Dan Archer, even if it was just in my mom's imagination." "Dad, you're still not finished?" "I want to be a cheerleader this year." "It's a lot to read after three beers." "All it says is you can't sue if something happens to me." "My sister had always dreamed of being a cheerleader." "And a spot on the team had suddenly opened up." ""Head trauma, paralysis."" "What kind of cheerleading is this?" "Fine." "Don't sign." "I just won't be a cheerleader and I'll end up exactly as popular as Justin." "Okay, I made a dozen cupcakes for your meeting tonight." "Is that gonna be enough?" "No coconut this time?" "You told me Dan Archer likes chocolate." "No, I just said" "I think he'd like you to mix it up a little." "Dan Archer is in Rocket Club?" "He's varsity quarterback." "Claire going to the same school kind of complicated things, but I could handle it." "I know, Claire, but he's got other interests." "I mean, it's not like he's just some dumb high school jock." "Yeah, Claire, don't stereotype the high school athlete." "That's the same kind of small-mindedness" "I had to put up with when I was the district's leading rusher." "That's right." "I remember." "You wrote that wonderful term paper on dolphins." "They're a majestic creature." "Justin, uh... what is this Rocket Club?" "Okay, Raja plus Rocket Club would be a disaster." "For one thing, he'd expect a Rocket Club." "Uh, it's nothing." "Ju..." "I mean... you wouldn't like it." "Actually, I have been long intrigued by modeled rocketry." "You have to take him, Justin." "This is why he came to America." "He came halfway around the world to hang out with Justin's douchey friends?" "Dan Archer is not a douche." "Well, no, I mean,I would love to take him." "We'd love to have you, but the club is literally full." "Oh." "I'll just call Mr. Matthews." "I'm sure I can get him in." "±¾×ÖÄ"½ö¹©Ñ§Ï°½"Á÷£¬ÑÏ½ûÓÃÓÚÉÌÒµÓÃÍ¾" "=ÆÆÀÃÐÜ×ÖÄ"×é=- ·­Òë£º¸öÈËID Ð£¶Ô£º¸öÈËID Ê±¼äÖá£ºdingding Â¼ÖÆ£º¸öÈËID" "No, no, I won't tell, Annie." "I've been out with my boyfriend." "Boyfriend?" "So how is this better than building rockets?" "We're the king?" "This is a waking coma." "Yeah, but without moms and with doorknobs." "Hey, check out those knobs." "Think they're real?" "Of course they're real." "They all were back then." "Who cares either way?" "Real ones feel better." "If that's true, it was a lucky guess." "I do not think that this woman would appreciate us talking about her in this fashion." "Have you heard of Rack Rankers yet?" "What?" "Girls send in pictures of their racks... and you rank them." "What were you saying?" "You should check it out." "You have all these freedoms." "Yet you use them only to look at filth." "It's a Muslim thing." "Whoa, whoa, whoa, uh..." "Hey, before we go in there, you know, my mom's probably gonna be allver you about tonight." "So we should just, uh, kind of get our stories straight." "You know?" "So you want me to lie?" "Just be quick, general, and as soon as you can, change the subject to, like, how hungry you are." "But I just ate six cupcakes." "Turn it off.Raja's here." "Wha...?" "!" "It's a Woody Allen movie." "It's set in New York." "Look who splashed down." "We're just gonna go grab a snack and then go to bed 'cause we're tired, so..." "Hey, Raja, how was Rocket Club?" "the moment of truth" "Rocket Club was, um the grandest club in the whole school." "Yes!" "I agree." "And tonight... we built the largest model of rocket that has ever been built in any such a club." "Really?" "Mm." "Ten feet tall." "This big around." "Uh, Raj?" "Well, I hope that's not dangerous." "Oh, it is." "Mrs. Tolchuck." "It is very dangerous." "Well, are they going to send you home with permission slips or what?" "They already have an Everest Mountain of permission slips..." "Yeah, and, actually, we-we left them there." "We..." "But I'm ready-to-pass-out hungry." "You said you were hungry, too, right?" "Yes, I am famished because we have built such a glorious rocket, and for next week, we will be taking pictures for our Web site and also unveiling our brand-new uniforms." "You have a Web site and uniforms?" "Mm-hmm." "Oh, um, just for the... the launches and..." "Well, bring it home, I'll tailor it." "No." "Mom, Mom," "Mr. Matthews won't let us." "Oh." "Well, we'll see about that." "Mom, uh, Mom, I'm-I'm sure that we can, like, sneak it out or something." "What was that?" "I do not know." "I have never lied before, and I lost all sense of scale, and then" "I kept on going and going in the vain hope that I would stumble upon that one lie that would make sense of all the others, but I never did." "Uh, okay." "It's okay." "It's okay." "We just..." "I mean, we have some things to figure out." "All our moms talked, so I got Craig and Dooley on web cam to strategize." "Why do I have to sew?" "Because I'm doing the Web site, and they're forging the forms." "Yeah, plus you know how." "No, I don't." "There's no time." "I stayed up all night making Rocket Club versions of Claire's cheerleading forms, which, by the way,no loving parent should ever sign." "Rocket Club would live another day." "Whether Claire would was more of an open question." "Claire, if you don't hold your head straight, how am I supposed to land on it?" "This is Becky Himmler." "Her great-grandfather was tried for war crimes at Nuremberg." "She's not much nicer." "I thought I heard something snap." "Yeah, Claire, my patience." "You're acting like you don't even care." "I don't know what's going to happen when it comes time for the interview." "There's an interview?" "Cheerleading isn't just about cheering." "It's also about leading." "So, when you yell, "Go Muskies,"" "what you're actually saying is," ""In this country, there is absolutely nothing any boy can do that a girl can't cheer for."" "Let me try it again." "Meanwhile, Rocket Club was becoming more trouble than it was worth." "There." "Before you just looked ridiculous." "Raj had even ruined TV for me." "I started thinking shows like this did objectify women, really hot women with really big racks." "And then I started wondering if Mom had gotten to Raja's computer." "I sensed something really important was about to happen." "Raja, meanwhile, had decided that if he actually built a model rocket, he wouldn't be lying." "Can I help you, son?" "Yes, please." "Um, I need some flame-resistant wadding, uh, reinforced cylinders, a really long fuse, uh, detonation caps, and, uh, a radio-controlled timing device, or simple alarm clock." "Can you, uh, wait right here?" "Certainly, sir." "Back home, I was doing some browsing of my own." "It was amazing." "It actually made me realize why Raja loved our country." "Here women could exercise their freedom to show their racks, and guys were free to check them out." "It was our legal right, and no one could do a thing about it." "Or maybe I needed to pay more attention in Civics class." "How did they...?" "Ma'am?" "I think we might have a situation." "i'm so confused." "He was shoplifting?" "No, ma'am, he was purchasing some items which, uh, quite frankly raise some red flags, given his, uh, ethnic-religious what-have-you." "I was buying parts for a model rocket." "What?" "Of course, for Rocket Club, which he's in at school with Dan Archer and my son." "But you looked surprised." "No!" "No." "I'm saying what, like-like, "What?"" "Like, 'cause I-I get hard of hearing from all the rocket launches at Rocket Club.Right, Raja?" "I prefer not to answer." "Hmm." "Ma'am, if it's all right with you, I'd like to, uh, separate them and turn up the heat a little bit." "Oh, this is ridiculous." "I'm calling Mr. Matthews." "Mom arranged an emergency meeting at Mr. Matthews' office with Dad and her,Raja and me," "the cop,and for some reason, Dan Archer." "I'll bury you." "Can we make this fast?" "I am entertaining a lady friend." "She is in my convertible, top down." "No problem, Carl." "I just need you to explain to this officer that you instructed Raja to buy bomb-like parts for your Rocket Club." "We don't have a Rocket Club here." "You don't?" "He's delusional." "Dan, you were there last night." "Tell him." "Uh, last night was football practice." "Your dad come?" "Sometimes." "Course he does." "Justin, I'm confused." "Um... there's no Rocket Club." "There's no Rocket Club?" "This doesn't look good, Raja." "May have to take you down to the station." "You..." "lied." "To your birth mother." "Mom, please don't blow this out of proportion." "Do you love me, or is that just another one of your lies?" "Excuse me." "I think the priority here should be determining this boy's intended target and any possible collaborators." "I researched model rockets online so that I could build one, and the club would no longer be a lie." "Oh, maybe a quick look at his computer would help clear all this up." "Raja's computer?" "But that means they'll find..." "What?" "Why?" "What-what-what good is that gonna do?" "I mean even if Raja were a terrorist he's smart enough to delete his Web browser history and trash any incriminating cookies." "And also I am not a terrorist." "Well, you can't hide anything from the boys in the lab." "There had to be a way out." "I could sense it." "Something I'd heard, or maybe even dreamed..." "Civil rights." "Civil rights!" "What about his civil rights?" "Does he have any?" "I mean, between being a minor and a foreign national..." "But doesn't the law say innocent until proven guilty?" "And I'm," "I'm pretty sure that the Constitution guarantees a certain degree of privacy?" "I'm mean just because he's from another country, these things don't count?" "Justin, it is fine." "Let them look at my computer and they will see that I am innocent." "No, you know what?" "It's not fine." "Because you came to America to experience our freedoms." "And sometimes that means standing up to those who mean to crush them." "Am I crazy, or is there some hope here?" "Raja,without a warrant they can't make you do anything." "Well, that's true, but..." "So I would urge you to consider your options carefully." "Mm-hmm." "But you don't have to take all day." "If my friend feels this strongly, then I do, too." "Can I go now?" "Yeah." "But this isn't over yet." "It certainly is not." "The next day news had gotten out, and things were different." "People were scared." "Secretly..." "I kind of liked it." "Mr. Lester is sick today." "I'm Mr. Mayweather." "I have a wife and two small boys who need a father." "but it was?" "Medora Muskies!" "We can't be stopped!" "Very good, Claire." "Thanks!" "Becky really helped me blot out my fear of death." "Well, that's so important, but as cheerleader, you'd be representing your school." "Well, except when you're here." "Because then the school represents itself." "What Jill is trying to mean is, we just don't want anyone thinking the squad is soft on terror." "Because we have an exchange student?" "This is crazy." "Monica's father got arrested for dog fighting and she still made the squad." "I want to believe you, Claire." "I really do." "But the stakes are so high." "At home, Mom had gone from angry and hurt to just embarrassed something like Rocket Club could happen under her nose." "How's that?" "Left." "Too far." "Perfect!" "Her supervision went into overdrive." "He's gonna notice this." "Claire!" "Can I not be seen with you right now?" "Yes, uh, of course." "So, how did you do on your tryout?" "I was secretly watching, but could not hear the oral portion." "They have to think about it." "You were so graceful, Claire." "What is there even to think about, huh?" "You." "They think I'm soft on terror." "But that is not true." "I am not a terrorist and, uh, you are not soft on me." "You can't explain complicated stuff to cheerleaders." "May I come in?" "Can he, Mom?" "Yeah, but no TV." "You're grounded." "I was hoping to speak in private." "Limit your gestures." "She still has visual." "Justin, you have taken such a courageous stand for me, but others are now being hurt, too." "So I want to give my computer to the police." "Raja, you can't." "Please, I feel too bad already." "You are so passionate and I want to be strong, too." "But the pressure, the unknowable consequences." "This whole freedom thing sounds wonderful but it is such a headache." "I knew what he meant." "I couldn't let him go on feeling terrible about not living up to me." "I used your computer to go on Rack Ranker." "Ay!" "You, you, you did that?" "You did that on my computer?" "I'm sorry." "Um, I mean you, you, you have a very rich inner life." "I mean you don't need to do these things." "But I get these urges and, you know, some nights I wake up sweaty and..." "I needed to see racks, Raja." "I needed to see a lot of them." "Justin," "I am tired of being looked at like a terrorist." "So I'm going to give the police my computer." "We'll return this as soon as possible." "Or come back for you." "Either way, we'll see you soon." "Sir..." "You should know that you are not going to find any evidence of terrorism." "But you are going to find some very bad things on there." "And that is because" "I used my computer to visit naughty Web sites of naked women." "You look at pornography?" "Oh, yes!" "It is very exciting to me to see women being made to flaunt..." "I couldn't believe what Raja was willing to do for me." "...imagine it is I who am taking the pictures..." "I never had a friend like that before." "...tricked them into believing" "I am M. Night Shyamalan." "I tell them to hit five emotions using only their breasts..." "Which is why I couldn't let him do it." "...full of bursting..." "I did it!" "Uh..." "I did it." "I looked at the, the Web site." "Not Raja." "Gar," "I want you to go next door to the Bryants and get our liquor out of their safe." "Hon... all guys look at that kind of thing." "Until they outgrow it." "I'm sorry about the Rocket Club, and I'm sorry about the-the computers, and, uh..." "Yeah, I'm just, I'm sorry about everything." "Justin, it is all right." "Now this doesn't clear Raja of anything." "He could still be a terrorist." "Unhook the other one." "Oh, no, officer, that's our computer." "He could have used it just as easy." "But Gary, our family photos are on there." "Our financial information, our medical information." "You can't just come in our house and take our computer." "Suddenly, it wasn't just Raja having his privacy invaded." "It was all of us." "We felt helpless and ashamed for no good reason." "Some good did come out of that day, though." "Mom actually started to trust us more... baby steps, but still." "And to make up for all the ying and deception to Raja" "I got Mr. Matthews to start a real Rocket Club." "And as we launched our rocket that day, it reminded all of us that for all our country's faults..." "Go, Muskies, go!" "...it's still a place where amazing things can happen." "* Go, take a step outside" "* See what's shaking in the real world... *" "Yep, it's a pretty great country."