- Mary Camden: [to Corey] How did you hide this from everyone?
- Corey Conway: It wasn't easy. I couldn't have anyone over to my house. I couldn't go to parties or stay out late. Forget about dating. With taking care of a baby I barely had time to go to school or play basketball. When I think about it, I actually don't even know how I was able to finish high school. Most teen mothers don't. I do know that I couldn't have done it without my mom. She's been there for me every step of the way since... the day I told her I was pregnant.
- Mary Camden: Man, motherhood at fourteen.
- Corey Conway: You know what's harder than motherhood? Your friends talking and whispering behind you back.
- Mary Camden: Not everyone is talking about you.
- Corey Conway: Please, this spring I'm graduating Magna Cum Laude. I'm the top score on a championship basketball team and I've been accepted to 3 Ivy League Colleges. But now, thanks to Maggie, the only thing that everyone cares about is that at 14 I had a baby.
- Rev. Eric Camden: [to Lucy] Hey, how was the attendance office?
- Lucy Camden: It was fabulous, fun, fantastic.
- Annie Camden: Teenagers.
- Rev. Eric Camden: Yeah, if you don't like their mood, wait 10 minutes.
- Rev. Eric Camden: [to Jeff] Look, I'm the minister at the Glenoak Community Church. And if there's a problem, I can help, I can...
- Jeff Patterson: No, thank you, but I think you should mind your own business.
- Rev. Eric Camden: When your son brought drugs into my house it became my business.
- Ruthie Camden: So, what kind of fun stuff do we have planned for tomorrow?
- Annie Camden: [to Eric] Teacher Work Day. No school for Ruthie.
- Ruthie Camden: Yes!
- Annie Camden: Okay, let's see. Tomorrow, you can help me clean the bathrooms, do the laundry, repair the kitchen sink, iron the socks, reorganize the linen closet, and go shopping.
- Ruthie Camden: Toy shopping?
- Annie Camden: Food shopping.
- Ruthie Camden: Man, this is gonna be worse than school!
- Ruthie Camden: Mom, can I have $29.99? I just have to have these walkie talkies I saw on TV! Then I can call all my friends, and they can call me back, and it only costs $29.99!
- Annie Camden: But if you use the phone to call your friends and pretend the phone is a walkie-talkie, it'll cost less.
- Ruthie Camden: [rolls eyes] Parents!
- Rev. Eric Camden: [to Ruthie] So have you reconsidered my offer? 'cause if you really those walky talkies getting an allowance is the only way to go.
- Ruthie Camden: No, thank you. I don't need an allowance. I have a plan. And it's a lot easier than taking out the trash for the rest of my life.
- Annie Camden: She has a plan, should we be concerned?
- Rev. Eric Camden: Not concerned, afraid. Very afraid.
- Elaine: [to Mary] Did you hear the rumor? It's all over school.
- Mary Camden: I just saw you this morning. How could anything be all over school?
- Elaine: Well, what can I say the real juicy stuff has a life of its own. Corey Conway had a baby when she was fourteen.
- Mary Camden: Corey had a baby?
- Elaine: Yeah, Maggie the new girl, said that there was a Corey Conway who went to her junior high school, and that Corey got pregnant and dropped out of school and had a baby.
- Mary Camden: I'd really like to thank the local businessman's association for this honor, but I can't. Excellence in sports and in life to individuals we have future generations see as role models. I've never thought of myself as a role model. I go to school and get good grades. I go to basketball games and score points. But a role model, I don't think so. But there was a real role model who was supposed to receive this award with me today. But at the last minute the committee changed their minds. You all know who I'm talking about, because for the last 24 hours most of you have done nothing but talk about her. She's my friend, my teammate. She's Corey Conway. And when she was 14, she had a baby. Corey Conway is a person, not an issue. And the only statement made by celebrating her achievements is to honor that someone who didn't take the easy road in life and did what few others could have done. Finish high school... With honors... While raising a baby. I want to let you know how I feel before I bring Corey out on stage and give her my award. Because even if she's not a role model for the local businessman's association or for some of the students ate this school, she is for me.
- Lucy Camden: [to her parents] You have to help me. I don't want to work in the attendance office tomorrow!
- Annie Camden: Well, maybe you shouldn't have volunteered.
- Lucy Camden: But at the time I volunteered, I didn't realize I'd have to give up my study hall. I thought it was before school or something. I need my study hall!
- Rev. Eric Camden: To study?
- Lucy Camden: Yeah, sure. Plus, it's the only time I have before lunch to catch up with my friends and re-touch my makeup.
- [long pause, Eric and Annie are baffled]
- Lucy Camden: So you're not going to help me?
- Mrs. Patterson: [to George] I should have kicked you out. I should have told you that if you did drugs, you couldn't live with me, but I thought turning my back on my son made me a bad mother. But I was wrong. It made me a bad grandmother. Look, if you won't straighten up for me, do it for Lee. He's your son! You need to act like his father, and if you don't make me a promise, right that you will take the steps to clean up your life, then I will take custody of Lee, and you'll never see us again. And I don't want to do that. I just can't sit by and watch my grandson turn to drugs, the way my son did.
- Rev. Eric Camden: Admitting you have a problem is the first step. I think it's the hardest step, too.
- Mrs. Patterson: I'll be there for you every step of the way, and as long as you're clean and sober, you can live with me. But you've got to get a job. You've got to start contributing to the household.
- Jeff Patterson: I just... I don't know if I can do it.
- Lee Patterson: Dad, please. I already lost a mom. I don't want to lose you, too. I love you.