The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Season 1

The Secret Life of the American Teenager is an American teen drama television series, which premiered on ABC Family on July 1, 2008.

Ashley:
(about her school) Why do these people think there's something wrong with a belly button? It's not like everyone doesn't have one. I mean, I have one. They have one. You have one. Personally, I don't see the big deal if it shows. I mean, it's not like anyone else is covering their buttons.

Anne:
Well, they're supposed to. It's in the dress code.

Ashley:
Yes, Mother, but no one pays attention to the dress code. Of course, not until today, when I get hauled into the principal's office and asked to put on a sweatshirt. I mean, why should I follow the rules if no one else does?

George:
I'll tell you why. Because I don't want to get another call from the principal's office, and neither does your mother. We don't like being embarrassed by our 13-year-old daughter, who insists on dressing like a streetwalker when we take our hard-earned money to buy you decent clothes to wear that fit the dress code requirement. Forget the school dress code. We have our own dress code. You didn't just break the school's rules. You broke our rules, and rules of good taste. What are you trying to prove, that you're not 13? You're 13. That you're sexy? You're not sexy! I mean, do you even know what sexy means? It means you're ready to have sex, and you are not ready to have sex. Neither of my daughters are ready to have sex, and you two will not be ready to have sex for a long time! Whoo. A very, very long time! Maybe after you've been married for a couple years. We want to make sure it's gonna work out first. (chuckles at himself)

Ashley:
Funny.

George:
Am I right?

Anne:
He's right, although I doubt you'll get your father's permission even after you're married.

Ricky:
Aren't I supposed to tell you how I feel?

Therapist:
You've been coming here enough years to know that I'm not that kind of shrink. Come on. Tell me how you feel.

Ricky:
I feel like my f...my fricking father stole my childhood and then dumped me on another family and said, "You take him. I don't want him. He's damaged goods."

Therapist:
I like the way you started out, although I'd love to hear a little more anger in your voice, because you have a right to be angry. Because your father did steal your childhood by sexually abusing you. But he didn't dump you anywhere. The gigantic hand of Social Services reached down and plucked you out of a deplorable situation, and placed you in a family that doesn't see the damage. They just see the potential, and they love you. And I know you love them, but it's the loving yourself I'm trying to get you to come around to.

Ricky:
I thought you were trying to get me to come around to not having sex with every girl I meet.

Therapist:
Can you see how these two things are related? Can you see how you are constantly fighting to prove your masculinity all because your father was some sick bastard? Can you see how you have it within your power to not let what he did have anything to do with who you are at this point in your life?

Ricky:
I'm not sure I want to see it. How do you feel about that?

Therapist:
I feel like you don't want to see it, because if you do, you'll lose your motivation for having sex. And without constant, indiscriminate sex, you'll be a new person. A better person. A person you might actually like, even love.

Anne:
I also found out today that you're trying to get money for Amy's baby, so I don't know. Maybe it's the doctor's appointment or everything else that's happening, but that news just kind of upset me.

Bob:
Well, it's not just her baby. There's a father, and that's my son, so it's actually your daughter's baby and my son's baby. So who knows? Maybe someday, we'll be in-laws.

Anne:
We are never gonna be in-laws, and you're not gonna go anywhere near my daughter or your son or their baby. You got that? Because if you do, if you go near him or her, or the baby, you're gonna regret it.

Bob:
Really? Regret it, you say?

Anne:
Listen to me. I'm a woman on the verge. My 15-year-old daughter is having a baby. My husband's having an affair. I'm getting a divorce after 16 years of marriage. I've got to get a job, and my mom has Alzheimer's, and I can't take it anymore. I can't take it like if one more bad thing happens to me, like if I find out you're sending couples over to try to adopt the baby, and you're somehow making money off of it.

Bob:
So what are you saying, Anne? Are you saying...are you threatening me? It's not nice to threaten people.

Anne:
I'm not threatening you. I don't even know how to threaten a man like you. But I figure you're afraid of me. I figure you're afraid of everything and everyone, because what kind of a man hits his own wife and child? I'll tell you what kind. A coward. What kind of a man preys on innocent children? A coward. That's right. You're a coward. I bet you get high so you can forget that, but you're a coward. Am I right?

Amy:
This is not some weird group project, Ashley. This is a human being, and I am responsible for this human being. He's my son. I have to do the right thing. I have to do what's best for him. I have to find him a home.

Ashley:
Think about yourself. Think about doing the best thing for yourself, because maybe it's the best thing for you and your baby to stay together.

Amy:
I can't think about that, because it's not...it can't be.

Ashley:
Why can't it? Why do you insist on believing that this is a bad thing that happened? Because that's what other people think? Please listen to me, Amy. Please. I know you want to be in the band, but it's not the band that's important to you. It's music. You love music, and you can still play your French horn when the baby comes. And I know school is important to you, but really, isn't it education that's important? You'll get the education that you want somehow, Amy. I know you will, because you're smart. You've always been smart, so you'll figure out school. You'll figure out a way, and you'll find some work, something where you can earn some money. You can do this, Amy. You really can. It's possible that this baby's a good thing for all of us. It's possible that we can all learn how to live from this and be happy. Come on. so Mimsy has Alzheimer's, and Mom and Dad are getting a divorce, and the family's splitting up, and you got pregnant the first time you had sex. So what? Maybe it's all good. Maybe if it isn't, let's just say it is.

Amy:
When did you move away from the dark side?

Ashley:
As soon as I could.


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