Speechless – S-T-Star W-Wars

By: Taylor Gates

Maya (Minnie Driver) announces that she got two free tickets to Star Wars: The Last Jedi’s premiere from a Cerebral Palsy Foundation contest. Though Ray (Mason Cook) assumes that JJ (Micah Fowler) will take him since they’ve seen all the movies together and he’s the biggest fan, JJ tortures him by making the whole family compete in a trivia quiz. During this, Ray is horrified to hear that Taylor (Sedona James) has never seen any of the movies.

At school, India (Kaylee Bryant), an international model JJ has a crush on, inquires about his Star Wars shirt. When he tells her he has tickets to the premiere, she tells him she would give anything to go. JJ abandons Ray without a second thought, eager to take her instead. Ray rants to Taylor about this, and she tells him to try and find a different way to go. Taylor’s brother Logan (Cole Massie) hates JJ and agrees to help him out. Kevin Smith gets the two of them in.

India offers Ray some of her drink, but he refuses. He can’t drink anything or else he will have to go to the bathroom and India doesn’t know how to help him do that. Ray taunts JJ as he and Logan get to sit in the VIP section while JJ is a few rows behind. JJ has made friends with a guy dressed up like Captain Phasma and pays him to sit in front of Ray so he can’t see the screen. When, Ray goes back to confront JJ, JJ drinks some of India’s soda to prove she likes him, and the two of them end up fighting with the lightsabers they got in their goodie bags.

Although they’re in a fight, Ray helps JJ go to the bathroom when he asks later. Ray asks JJ why he would ditch him for a girl, but JJ says he ditched him for a girl first. He’s jealous that Ray has been spending so much time with Taylor, which flatters Ray. They agree to see the movie again together.

Meanwhile, Dylan (Kyla Kenedy) is excited to have the boys out of the house and spend quality time with Maya and Jimmy (John Ross Bowie). Maya and Dylan pick several activities for the three of them to do but Jimmy doesn’t want to choose anything, just going along with whatever. Maya tells Dylan she thinks they’ve broken Jimmy. He always gives but refuses to take anything for himself. She suggests they try and give him something he wants without him knowing.

Maya and Dylan ask Jimmy to teach them about the history of punk while they listen to vinyls together. Jimmy is ecstatic to share his music knowledge and passion with them. Once Maya tells him his old band was good, he gets suspicious and realizes they’ve been doing things for him. They admit that has been their plan but say he deserves it. They take him outside to show him the mailbox they fixed up, but Jimmy mistakenly thinks they bought him a fancy red car parked in front of their house. Before they can tell him it’s not his, he takes it for a spin.

Jimmy is having a great time driving around until the cops pull him over. Luckily, they are lenient and realize it’s a misunderstanding, giving them all a ride back to the house. Maya says she liked seeing Jimmy so happy and knew the mailbox couldn’t really measure up. However, Jimmy is extremely excited about the mailbox and promises to be better about asking for things.

Kenneth (Cedric Yarbrough) goes to Lafayette High under the guise of picking up a notebook JJ left there. However, it turns out that he has kept the keys from when he was a groundskeeper and uses all the school’s amenities including the gym, showers, and frozen yogurt machine. The next morning, Dr. Miller (Marin Hinkle) warns the staff about the vandal that broke into the school and left the frozen yogurt machine running, ruining the floor. Kenneth admits he’s the one who was trespassing in the school because he thinks it’s a good hangout spot. Dr. Miller is flattered, telling him to come back any time but to be more careful.

That night, Dr. Miller shows up while Kenneth is playing basketball in the school after hours, but Kenneth finds it hard to have fun and relax while she’s there watching him. Dr. Miller finally agrees to leave and let him have alone time. Feeling bad, Kenneth tells her not to go and shows her the Lafayette After Dark experience. They get froyo, play dominos with the books at the library, and look up at the balloons in a net on the ceiling. Dr. Miller hopes someday one of their sports teams will win something so they can release them in celebration.

The next day, Kenneth rounds up all the students into the gym to thank Dr. Miller for all her hard work making Lafayette High a great school. He pulls the balloon drop, and even though they’re all deflated and there are dead birds mixed in with them now, she’s honored.