DEGRASSI: AFTERMATH - S02E08 - YOU CAN´T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT

Disclaimer: I don´t own Degrassi or the characters from it.

1. Int. Prison Library. Day.

The prison library is quite small. They have at most a couple thousand books there. Mary-Ann, an elderly inmate, is the librarian. Maya comes in.

Maya:

Hi, Mary-Ann.

Mary-Ann:

If it isn´t the busiest reader in the prison. You´re chowing through books like there´s no tommorrow. Did you already finish the last two?

Maya:

Yeah, I did. They were great, but they weren´t long enough. I was just really getting into them and then they end. It´s like having bad sex, where the guys finishes too soon.

Mary-Ann can´t help but laugh.

Mary-Ann:

I you want a really long one to sink your teeth in to, I have just the thing.

She goes to the shelves and gets out a very thick book.

Maya:

Stephen King´s "The Stand". It´s thick enough.

Mary-Ann:

It´s a fantastic story about people "standing together" to deal with surviving, after a virus wipes out 99% of the worlds population.

Maya:

Sounds uplifting and depressing at the same time. I like stories about people who have it worse than I do. Thanks.

One of the guards come in.

Guard:

Mary-Ann.

Mary-Ann:

Just a moment, dear.

The guard tells her something, but we can´t hear what. Mary-Ann turns back to Maya.

Mary-Ann:

There´s a phone call for me. Do you want to stay and look or should I lock up? I´m sure it´ll just be a few minutes.

Maya:

I´l stay and look.

Mary-Ann leaves with the guard and Maya glosses over the books. She doesn´t notice Janine and Val come in.

Janine:

Well, hi there Blondiebear!

Maya is immediately frightened and turns around.

Maya

You know what happens, if you don´t leave me alone.

Janine:

I told you that Alex wouldn´t always be there to protect you.

Val:

Me and Janine were talking and for the first time ever, we agree on something!

Janine:

We both agree that were sick and tired of Alex acting like she´s the Queen Bitch around here.

Val:

So we decided to start our rebellion by sending a message so loud and clear, that even her dumbass brain gets it.

Janine:

She can take down one of us, but if we stand against her, she hasn´t got a chance.

They begin closing in on her. Maya tries to use her book as a weapon. but she misses when she tries to hit Val with it and gets punched right in the kidney by Janine. She goes down and gasps for air. Val kicks her in the stomach several times while she´s lying down. Janine begins to undo her pants and Maya is beginning to panic.

Maya:

Please ...

Val:

You can say that all you want. I´s not gonna help you.

They can hear from the hallway that Mary-Ann and the guard are coming back.

Janine:

It´s the guard. We gotta split.

They quickly leave and shortly after Mary-Ann and the guard come back in. Mary-Ann is shocked and goes to tend to Maya, while the guard is a lot more cool about it. She picks up her walkie and talks into it.

Guard:

I´m bringing in an inmate to the infirmary.

Woman (voice over):

Can she walk?

Guard:

Can you walk?

Maya is still trying to recover and shakes her head.

Guard:

Send a stretcher.

Mary-Ann tends to Maya, who´s clearly shocked by what just happened.

OPENING CREDITS

2. Int. Infirmary. Day.

Maya is lying on a hospital bed. She still looks pretty shocked. Alex comes in and rushes over to her.

Alex:

What happened?

Maya:

Janine and Val want to start a rebellion against you. I´m the message.

Alex:

What did they do?

Maya is trying hard not to cry.

Maya:

Janine punched me in the kidney, then I went down. Val kicked me in the stomach and the ribs several times. When the guard came back, Janine was trying to pull my pants off. I´m lucky that Mary-Ann forgot her keys and they had to come back for them.

Alex sit down on the bed next to her. She doesn´t look like the confident tough girl, that she usually does.

Alex:

They jumped you because of me. If you´d never met me, this wouldn´t have happened.

Maya:

If I´d never met you, I´d be crazy or suicidal or both by now.

Alex put her arm around her and Maya winces in pain.

Alex:

How bad did they beat you up?

Maya:

A bruised kidney and two pressed ribs. It hurts like hell, when I try to move.

Alex:

Pressed ribs suck. I tried it once and it was almost two months until I felt normal again. It´s less painful to have broken ribs, believe it or not.

Maya:

What are you gonna do? They´ll be coming after you soon.

Alex:

Let me worry about that. You need to concentrate on healing. Can I do anything for you?

Maya:

I forgot my book, when they stretchered me out of the library. Could you get it for me?

Alex:

You got it. But right now is just wanna sit here and make sure you´re safe.

She ruffles Maya´s hair and manages to get a small smile out of her.

3. Int. Lisa´s Room. Day.

Lisa and Jack are practicing guitar together. She´s improving at a rapid rate, while he´s still having trouble just playing rhythm, while she shows off her skills. He´s clearly very impressed by her. They finish playing.

Lisa:

I think we´ve bothered the neighbors enough for one afternoon.

Jack:

Those solos were incredible.

Lisa:

You think so?

Jack:

Really. You´re so much better than I am already.

Lisa:

I think it´s because I practice every chance I get. I just love playing guitar!

They put their guitars away and pack them in their bags.

Jack:

Do you think we´re good enough for "Battle of the Bands"? We only have two weeks.

Lisa:

I think so. Julie knows she´s the weak link, so we´re gonna rehearse a lot together to make sure she´s ready.

Jack:

So Julie and Simon. They look pretty happy together.

Lisa:

Yeah. She still can´t stop smiling all the time.

Jack:

Do you wish you had a boyfriend?

Lisa:

I don´t know. Do you wish you had a girlfriend?

Jack:

It would have to be the right girl. I think I´m ready to try it, but it can´t be just anyone.

Lisa looks hopeful.

Lisa:

Do you have a crush on someone?

Jack:

I´ve never had one before, so how do I even know if I have one?

Lisa:

When you see this girl, do you feel all warm inside?

Jack:

Kinda. It´s not a bad way to describe it.

Lisa hears her mother come home.

Lisa:

That´s my mom.

Jack:

I need to get home for dinner. My mom´s making her Indian Curry with rice and naan bread.

Lisa:

That sounds exotic. We´re having what ever my mom found that was on sale today.

Jack:

I´ll see you in school.

Lisa:

See ya.

He grabs his guitar and leaves. Lisa lies down on her bed. She looks up at the ceiling and smiles to herself.

4. Int. Holly J´s Office. Day.

Zoe, Shawn and Patrick are sitting across from Holly J. She does not look pleased at all.

Holly J:

I want to know right now, what you plan to do.

Shawn:

I know things look a little bleak right now.

Holly J:

A LITTLE! Those three witnesses they brought in, completely crushed our case!

Patrick:

If these two had properly prepared me for the cross examination, we wouldn´t be in this mess.

Zoe:

You´re throwing us under the bus?

Shawn:

Actually it was your job to do fact checking on the witnesses. If we´d known about this sub-developer that wrote a great part of the code, we could have tried again to get a settlement, before it was too late.

Patrick:

They know they´ve won. There´s no way they´ll negotiate with us now.

Zoe:

So this is all my fault?

Holly J:

You failed as a group, but yes, there´s no doubt that you have a great role in why it went as badly as it did. Honestly I expected much more from all three of you.

Zoe sits back in her chair and looks angry.

5. Int. Prison Exercise Room. Day.

Val is doing bench presses and a girl named Amy Beecher, a pretty 19 year old, who´s one of the innocent girls who´s had to do what she had to survive, that Ellen was talking about, is spotting for her. Amy has a far away and depressed look on her face.

Amy:

7, 8 , 9 ...

Alex comes over and shoves her out of the way.

Alex:

Take a break.

She starts pressing the bar down on Val´s chest. Val is clearly having trouble breathing. Her words are barely audible.

Val:

Guard.

Alex:

Distracted. You´re not the only one, who has allies.

Val:

I can explain. Janine made me do it.

Alex lifts the bar up and puts it on it´s stand. Val tries to get her breath back.

Alex:

Convince me.

6. Int. Prison Cell. Day.

Alex comes in first. Val waits until two other inmates have walked by, until she walks in.

Alex:

Talk.

Val:

My little sister, she´s been locked up for the first time. She grew up far away from me and we were never close, but she´s still my blood.

Alex:

What about her?

Val:

She´s in prison in Montreal. Janine is from Montreal and knows a lot of women in that prison up there.

Alex:

So she threatened her?

Val:

There´s a gang that runs it up there, she used to be in. One word from her and they attack. My sister isn´t like me. She grew up protected and just screwed up and fell for the wrong guy. He´s the reason she´s in there. All she has to do is survive for two months, then she can go on with her life.

Alex:

I get what you´re saying. Here´s how it´s gonna go. Tonight you and your girls back me up. We show Janine who´s in charge and let her know what can happen to her if she doesn´t play nice.

Val:

I guess I don´t have a choice.

Alex:

Not at all.

She leaves the cell.

7. Int. Degrassi Hallway. Day.

Julie, Chrissy and Lisa are talking in between class.

Julie:

Are things getting back to normal with you and your dad?

Chrissy:

We´re getting there. That first dinner after I saw, you know, was so awkward. But I´m sure I´m not the first kid it´s happened to.

Lisa:

And with your mom?

Chrissy:

Couldn´t be better. I´m bringing Jamie over for dinner on Friday, so they can meet him.

Julie:

So Sean is your dad now, right?

Chrissy:

I don´t think of him that way, but technically you´re right.

Lisa:

You don´t hate him?

Chrissy:

He´s a nice guy and he´s good to my mom. Anyway I´m done with hating. I was wasting way too much time on it!

They see Jack come walking down the hall. He stops at the water fountain. Lisa is clearly crushing on him.

Chrissy:

Girl, you have to do something about it!

Lisa:

Yesterday he asked me if I wanted a boyfriend. Then he said that he wanted a girlfriend, but it had to be the right one and he already has a crush on someone.

Julie:

You´re sure it´s you?

Lisa:

Who else would it be? I´m the only girl he hangs out with.

They see that Megan comes up to Jack by the water fountain. The two of them seem to be smiling an awful lot to each other as they´re talking. Lisa´s hopeful look starts to disappear.

Chrissy:

They´re just talking. They barely know each other, right?

Lisa:

They were best friends when they were little, until her parents moved to the opposite side of town.

Julie:

Oooh.

Lisa:

What?

Chrissy:

Talk to him and find out where he stands, that´s the best advice I can give you.

Lisa looks with a sad face over at Jack and Megan, who are clearly enjoying talking to one another.

8. Int. Car. Day.

Zoe is driving home with Emma and is still fuming. She turns the radio down.

Zoe:

This time I´ve had enough.

Emma:

I´ve heard you say that a hundred times before. I keep telling you, that if you´re so unhappy then it´s not worth it anymore. You tried it, it didn´t work, end of story. I wouldn´t have put up with the stuff you have.

Zoe:

Don´t tell me you´ve never had some unpleasant remarks sent your way.

Emma:

And what I get, I give back. They know better than to try to get one over on me by now.

Zoe:

You keep talking about being sick and tired of working there too. Why haven´t you quit?

Emma:

If I had a job I could start at immediately and not lose too much money on it, I would in a heart beat. But right now I´m also pregnant and after that I´ll be busy with the baby, which will mean I need more time off, even after my maternity leave. Employers know that stuff and don´t hire women in my situation. That´s a sad fact of the world, but it´s how it is.

Zoe:

So if you had a job, you´d be ready to start right away?

Emma:

I guess. Why?

Zoe:

Oh, nothing. Just a crazy idea I have in my head right now.

She turns up the radio and Emma grooves along with the song, while Zoe is thinking hard.

9. Int. Rehearsal Room. Evening.

The Dead End Kids (after they decided the name was too long and changed it) are rocking away. They´re playing "Hazy Shade of Winter" by The Bangles. Lisa is barely looking at her guitar, but along with Simon, she´s keeping it together. Megan keeps smiling and is looking at Jack a lot. Jack and Julie are trying to concentrate fully on their playing and keeping up with the others. Julie plays well for most of the song, but makes a mistake at the end, that´s easy to hear. Lisa puts her guitar on it´s stand.

Lisa:

We need to have a band meeting

The others look a little surprised.

Julie:

You´ve never called one before, but okay.

Lisa:

Look, I don´t wanna go out there and make a fool of myself.

Megan:

None of us do, but we´re still beginners. I thought it sounded okay.

Lisa:

But maybe okay isn´t good enough, Megan! Maybe your off key singing isn´t okay and maybe your stupid hair and the way you behave like a cat in heat when you´re around boys isn´t okay.

Lisa storms out and the others look baffled. Megan looks really hurt by what Lisa said.

Jack:

I´m bringing her back here, so she can apologize. That wasn´t okay, what she said.

He follows after Lisa.

10. Int. Hallway. Evening.

Lisa is crying, when Jack comes out to her.

Jack:

Are you crying?

Lisa:

No.

She wipes her eyes and turns to look at him.

Jack:

Why did you say those things to Megan?

Lisa:

I like you, okay?

Jack:

I like you too.

Lisa:

No, I like you, like you.

Jack:

Lisa, I ...

Lisa:

You like Megan, don´t you?

Jack:

Kinda. She´s really pretty and funny and smart.

Lisa:

All the things I´m not.

Jack:

You´re all those things and you´re this amazing guitar player. I´ve never been friends with a girl, the way I am with you.

Lisa:

Then why don´t you like me that way?

Jack:

I don´t know. It´s not like it´s something you can just sit down and decide one day. That now I want to like that person.

Lisa smiles a little.

Jack:

You´ve become one of my best friends. Simon´s busy with Julie and his skating all the time, so he hasn´t had time to hang out. But that means I´ve got to hang out with you and that´s been even more fun than if I´d hung out with him.

Lisa:

So I´m the fun girl. I can live with that.

Jack:

Look at my friend Martin. He´s had 3 girlfriends. the first lasted 2 weeks, the second lasted 3 weeks and the third lasted 4 days. Since then he hasn´t been friends with any of them. I don´t want to risk being friends with you, so that we can go out for a few weeks and not talk anymore, when we break up.

Lisa:

Do you think Megan will forgive me, if I look like I´m really, really sorry?

Jack:

Let´s go back there and find out.

They walk back to the rehearsal room.

11. Int. Prison Recreation Area. Evening.

Janine is sitting and watching TV, when Alex comes up to her, flanked by Val, Amy and Roxy (a pretty tough looking girl, who obviously lifts weights a lot). Janine looks up at them.

Alex:

We need to talk.

Janine:

What if I don´t feel like talking right now?

Alex:

Then the next time I see you, I talk to you through my fists.

Janine reluctantly gets up. The other women in there see that something is about to go down and leave in a hurry.

Janine:

Then talk.

Alex:

You´re staying away from my girl and you´re staying away from Val.

She hears the doors being closed.

Val:

God, you´re easy to fool!

Val, Janine and Roxy begin to close in on Alex. Amy clearly doen´t want to and is scared.

Val:

Amy. I´ve got a present for you. You get to throw the first punch.

Amy looks completely terrified at the idea that she should fight Alex.

Amy:

But Val, I thought ...

Val:

That I´d do all your dirty work and you wouldn´t have to pay me back?

Amy:

But I´ve done everything you told me to, even ...

Val:

Yeah and you´re not as good at it as you like to think you are! The only reason I´ve kept you around is because it´s fun to see how much you´ll degrade yourself. Now do as you´re told!

Alex:

Join me, Amy. Say screw you to these bitches, walk out that door and get the guards. If you attack me, I will hurt you a lot. If you help me now, I´ll see what I can do about getting you some protection, that doesn´t include you getting abused. That´s a guarantee from me to you.

Amy starts walking towards the door. Val looks outraged and begins to go after her.

Val:

I´m gonna break every bone in your body, Amy!

Janine and Roxy are distracted by what´s going on and Alex uses the distraction to strike first. Janine and Roxy are pretty much taken down before they knew what hit them. Val turns her attention back to Alex, giving Amy the chance to escape. Val clearly knows that she doesn´t stand a chance against Alex one on one.

Alex:

So Val, what´s it gonna be?

Before Val can make a decision, 4 guards come in. They subdue both Alex and Val, who willingly give up. We see Amy watching with an anxious look on her face as they´re taken away.

12. Int. Infirmary. Day.

Maya is getting ready to be discharged from the infirmary. Amy is helping her get dressed, when Alex comes in.

Maya:

Hey, you made it! So how bad was solitary?

Alex:

Boring as hell, but at least I didn´t get nearly as much time in there or time added to my sentence, like those other 3 bitches can look forward to.

Maya:

I believe you´ve met Amy. She started as a nurse here the day after they put you in solitary.

Amy:

I can´t thank you enough for saving me from Val.

Alex:

You saved yourself, girl. Don´t go thinking that it´s over. She can be vindictive. I´ll se about getting you that protection, but in the mean time you need to stay close to me and Maya.

Amy:

I don´t know what to say. You´re like totally my hero!

Maya:

So you go straight from being my hero to becoming Amy´s hero too. Are you like a superhero or something?

Alex:

No, I´m just myself.

The 3 women smile at each other as we fade out.

CLOSING CREDITS