DEGRASSI: AFTERMATH - S03E06 - BOYS DON´T CRY PART 2

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

Author´s Note: Since this is a double episode, I decided to release them at the same time.

1. Int. Hospital room. Day.

We open with a shot of Charlie lying in his bed. He has an IV in his arm, but apart from that, you wouldn´t think there was anything wrong with him as he´s lying there. Taylor comes in to the room and sits down on a chair next to the bed. She takes his hand and holds it with both of hers.

Taylor:

I´m gonna leave soon, but I promise I´ll be back tomorrow. I´m so sorry ...

She starts to cry and squeezes his hand.

Taylor:

I´m so sorry, I didn´t come sooner. Look, there´s something I´ve been meaning to tell you for a while. I don´t know if you can even hear me, but maybe it´ll make you want to fight harder. I´m pregnant, Charlie. You´re gonna be a dad, so you can´t just go off and die on me like this. I have no idea how I´m gonna get through this without you.

She stares at his immovable and stoic face and sees a sudden very tiny twitch.

Taylor:

Charlie?

He begins to come to and her face lights up. He opens his eyes and looks confused.

Charlie:

Taylor?

Taylor:

I´m here. I can´t believe, you´re awake.

Charlie:

Where am I?

He tries to sit up, but can´t. He groans in pain.

Taylor:

You probably should´t move too much. You´re in the hospital, Charlie. You got shot in the back. I thought you were gonna die.

She very gently hugs him. He still looks a bit confused.

Charlie:

Huh?

OPENING CREDITS

2. Int. Auditorium. Day.

The auditorium is busy, with kids and adults alike setting up for the unity concert. Lisa and and Jack are on ladders hanging the No Regrets backdrop banner up, while Julie is checking if it´s straight from the stage. Jack and Lisa look like their arms are getting tired.

Lisa:

Come on, Julie. It´s not that hard.

Julie:

But what if it´s crooked and everyone notices?

Jack:

I can´t hold it much longer.

Jay comes up behind her carrying an amplifier.

Jay:

A little up on your side, Lisa.

She does and he gives them a nod. They fasten it and climb down.

Julie:

Sorry, guys. My head just isn´t in this today.

Lisa:

Because of a certain ex-boyfriend and the pretty female, he´s been seen with a lot lately?

Jack:

I´m sure Simon would have told me, if they were more than that.

Julie:

I thought that if I went here and helped out, I´d get them off my mind.

She looks over at them, working on making a banner and seemingly having fun.

Julie:

Great plan that was!

Lisa:

As your friend, I´m not gonna allow you to sulk the day away.

Megan, Suey and three other girls (Sandy Kramer, a 15 year old redhead carrying drum sticks, Michelle "Mickie" Hamilton, who´s carrying a bass and Nancy Whitford, a 15 year old blonde girl with her guitar) come on stage. They stop to check the backdrop out.

Sandy:

Where´s our backdrop?

Mickie:

She asked you a question.

Julie and Jack look nervous, while Lisa is more cool about it.

Julie:

We don´t have one.

Nancy:

What do you mean, you don´t have one?

Jack:

You didn´t give us one?

Sandy:

Oh, crap! I forgot to give it to them.

Nancy:

Way to go, Sandy. Jeez!

They start getting ready for the soundcheck. Julie and Jack ease up a little bit. Suey and Megan come over to them.

Suey:

I hope they didn´t scare you too much.

Julie:

Me getting scared by them? I was so not scared!

Megan:

Next you´ll be telling me, that you´re fine with you eks getting all flirty with Skatergirl.

Lisa:

Ease up on her, Megs. I remember a time, when you got all teery eyes over Jackie Boy here dumping you.

Lisa puts her hand on his shoulder and Jack tries to look brave. Suey thinks it´s funny.

Suey:

You actually dated him?

Megan:

Yeah, but he couldn´t handle having a real girlfriend. He´d much rather play Lisa´s pretend boyfriend at school and get the benefits, when they´re alone.

Jack:

We´re just really good friends.

Lisa:

A boy and a girl can be friends and nothing more. We´re proof of that.

Megan:

So you didn´t go semi-psycho on me that time, because of your big crush on him?

Lisa:

Had. I´ve moved on.

Jack:

We like each other, just not in that way.

Megan:

What´s your call, Suey?

Suey:

The way they got all defensive just now, looks like a dead giveaway to me.

Megan:

Go back to your semi-pretend or whatever screwed up relationship, you two have. Tonight, we get to rock the house and all you get to do is watch.

Lisa:

Yeah? I´m putting my own band together. One that´s much better than yours!

Megan:

Whatever. Now get off the stage, so we can show you how it´s done.

Lisa´s actually a little worked up, but Julie grabs her arm and pulls her off stage. Jack follows them.

Jack:

She can´t still be mad about the break up. It´s been three months now.

Lisa:

Just ignore her. She doesn´t know what she´s talking about. I don´t have a crush on you, that´s silly!

She laughs nervously and Jack buys it, but Julie sees right through her. She looks over at Simon and Allison and realizes that her own situation isn´t much better.

3. Int. Car. Day.

Bianca is driving. Manny is in the passenger seat.

Manny:

I can´t help getting a strange feeling of de-javu.

Bianca:

I know what you mean. Did you get any sleep last night?

Manny:

Maybe two or three hours. If I hadn´t had Eddy there ...

Bianca:

You´re lucky to you have him.

Manny:

I feel so lucky, that I don´t have to deal with this on my own.

Bianca:

I don´t think, I slept at all. I feel like I should go and say goodbye to him, before they cremate him and put him in an unmarked grave. We wasn´t the terrible man, they make him out to be. He deserves to at least have someone, who knew him, say goodbye to him.

Manny:

I can´t handle seeing him again. Something must have gone completely wrong in his head, while he was in that institution.

Bianca:

We´ll probably never know.

Manny:

We need to give Deb and Seb all the help we can. We owe them that much.

Bianca:

I visited yesterday, but they didn´t feel like talking.

Manny:

That´s understandable. I thought, I had it tough, when I was 14. Compared to them, my life was a trip to Disneyland.

4. Int. Hospital Room. Day.

Charlie is sitting up and eating ice cream with great joy. Taylor´s still over the moon, that he´s awake and doing good. Jamie and Chrissy come in. Both of them smile, when they see him.

Jamie:

I should have known, a bullet wouldn´t keep you down.

Charlie stops eating and grins from ear to ear.

Charlie:

And I get all the ice cream and jello, I can eat.

Jamie:

Sounds like a sweet deal. How are your parents dealing with it?

Charlie:

They´re happy, I´m alive. I think, they´ve forgiven for me everything, I´ve ever done. You wanna see my new trick?

He pulls up the covers to show his feet and wiggles his toes. It´s not easy for him, but at least he can move them.

Jamie:

So you´re not gonna end up disabled?

Charlie:

I´ve got a lot of rehab ahead, after I´m done healing. After that they can see, how it´s gonna affect my future. They said that I could still end up with a limp or something.

Jamie:

If you get one, I´ll get one too. We´ll make people think, it´s the new fashion.

Chrissy sits down next to Taylor.

Chrissy:

Were you here, when he woke up?

Taylor:

I was about to leave and then it happened.

Charlie:

Taylor´s my angel.

Taylor:

Stop it with that!

Charlie:

You are. You´re also the best person, I´ve met. You´re caring and honest. I feel like you and Jamie are the two people, I always know, I can trust.

Taylor isn´t taking his praise well and Chrissy sees it.

Chrissy:

You used to say nice things like that to me, when we started dating.

Jamie:

Yeah, but that was before I got to know you.

Charlie laughs, but it clearly hurts him. Jamie looks worried.

Jamie:

Are you okay?

Charlie:

It only hurts when I laugh or try to move.

Chrissy:

Do you remember it?

Charlie:

All I remember is being at the show. I heard a bang, felt a pain in my back and fell down. I passed out from the pain, but I don´t remember it.

Jamie:

We can leave, if you want.

Charlie:

No, stay. I´m glad to be with friends right now.

He looks over at Taylor, who shyly smiles back at him.

5. Int. Auditorium. Day.

Megan´s new band are getting ready to start their soundcheck and the auditorium looks much better than it did before. The volunteers, including Lola, Zoe, Maya, Jonah and Kayla are looking up at the stage. Eddy comes up to the microphone and they applaud him.

Eddy:

Thanks guys, but the ones you should be applauding are yourselves. You´ve done an amazing job here, so give yourselves a hand too.

They applaud again.

Eddy:

Were about to start the soundcheck, but before that, I´ve got some fantastic news for all of you. Charlie Howerton is awake.

There´s a much larger applause this time. We see the happy reactions of the people in the crowd.

Eddy:

From what I´ve been told, he´s with friends and family right now. I´ve also been told, that given the circumstances, he´s in good shape and there´s no signs of paralysis. With those news, I want to thank you for your support and we´ll see you tonight!

People begin to fill out. Jonah takes his place at the mixing board, with a curious Lisa watching everything he´s doing. Lola, Zoe, Maya, Jay and Kayla also stay to watch. Julie sees that Allison is heading towards the girl´s room and follows her.

Jonah:

Anytime you ready.

Megan:

We are "DFF". "Degrassi´s Finest Females"!

Sandy counts them in and they play the M2M song "Everything That You Do". Megan is the lead singer, while Suey plays keyboards and sings backing vocals. Lisa can´t help but be a little jealous, but she´s more impressed with them than anything else. The adults are digging them as well.

6. Int. Girl´s Room. Day.

Allison is washing her hands, when she notices Julie coming in the door, looking ready for a showdown.

Julie:

Maybe you didn´t get the memo, but Simon´s taken.

Allison plays it cool and slowly dries her hands, making Julie even more angry.

Allison:

You know, there´s nothing more pathetic, than a girl who just can´t get it through her dumb little head, when her ex has moved on.

Julie:

Me and him aren´t finished yet.

Allison:

Why? Because you´re still hung up on him?

Julie:

You can´t just move in and ...

Allison:

And what? Steal him away from you? From what I heard, you broke up with him.

Julie:

Because my parents made me. It´s wasn´t because ...

Allison:

You stopped loving him?

Julie:

Stop interrupting me!

Allison:

You had him and you blew it. He´s fair game now.

She tauntingly smiles at Julie on her way out. Julie´s still mad, but you can see, she knows that Allison wasn´t all wrong.

7. Int. Hotel Room. Day.

Manny and Bianca are with Deb and Seb. Needless to say. the mood is very low.

Bianca:

Have you thought about some of the things, we talked about? Like where you´d like to live?

Deb:

I don´t know about Seb, but all I can think about is, you know ...

Seb:

We know that you can´t house us here forever, but can we have another day or two to think about it?

Bianca:

Of course, but I´m afraid we´ll need a decision soon. There´s really only two choices, either you go to live with your aunt in Calgary, if she agrees to take you in or we find you a place in a group home.

Deb:

You mean like an orphanage?

Bianca:

We don´t call it that anymore, but yes. That´s basically what it is.

Seb:

I´ve heard horror stories about those places.

Manny:

It´s not as bad as it sounds. You´ll grow up among other kids. Some who have gone through things, like you have and others, whose parents for some reason couldn´t take care of them.

Deb:

Can any of them say "My father was a mass murderer"?

Seb:

Deb´s right. When they find out who we are, we´ll get bullied for sure.

Bianca:

That´s something you´ll always be at risk of, no matter where you are. It´s not something I´d usually recommend, but you might want to consider changing your last name, to your mother´s maiden name or something else entirely.

Deb:

So now we have to go around and be ashamed of who we are?

Bianca:

That´s not what I meant.

Deb:

We never hurt anybody, so why should we have to pay for what he did?

Seb:

Because that´s how the world works. When something like this happens, they all want someone to blame it on. Do you think anyone at Degrassi would ever talk to us again? They hate us now.

Deb:

We have friends there. I can´t just leave them.

Seb:

We had friends. We can´t go back to Degrassi after this.

Deb:

But ...

Seb:

I heard about this kid named Johnny DiMarco, who went to Degrassi years ago. He was there when another kid got stabbed to death and almost everyone hated him, the entire time he went there. They couldn´t care less, that he had no blame in it. It´ll be the same for us, if we go back. Probably worse.

Deb is obviously having a harder time handling it all, than Seb is right now.

Bianca:

I wish I could give you all the answers, I really do. But changing schools is a big step and I want you to think hard about it, before you decide anything.

Manny:

What if Jamie and Charlie forgave you? Would you still want to change schools, then?

Seb:

Of course not, but that´s never gonna happen.

Manny gets an idea.

8. Int. Auditorium. Day.

No Regrets have taken over the stage and are in the middle of their soundcheck, with Lisa standing in for Eddy, who´s busy organizing. Lisa, of course, is having the time of her young life playing with the adults. They in turn, can´t help be impressed by her skills. Down at the Mixing desk, Jonah, Zoe and Lola are loving it too. One person, who isn´t having a good time is Julie, who looks like she´d rather be anywhere else right now. She sees Simon come throught the door, obviously looking for something. Looking determined, she walks over to him.

Julie:

Looking for something?

Simon:

My keys. My dad´s gonna go berzerk, if I don´t find them.

Julie:

I thought you might have been looking for your new girlfriend. No wait, she´s easy to find, because you´re always together with her!

Simon looks puzzled.

Simon:

What?

She grabs him by the arm and leads him out to the hallway.

9. Int. Hallway. Day.

The hallway is busy with people setting up the food and drink stands, but they manage to find a half way quiet place.

Simon:

Can this wait? I need to find my keys!

Julie pulls them out of her pocket and hands them to him.

Simon:

Did you steal them from my jacket?

Julie:

I had to find a way to get you back here without her, so I could find out, what´s going on.

Simon:

Julie, that´s pretty messed up! It´s taken me over an hour to retrace my steps all the way back here.

Julie realizes, that maybe her plan backfired a little and smiles nervously.

Julie:

Okay, I´m sorry I stole them. It just drives me crazy to see you two together. I know it´s not fair on you, but it´s how I feel.

Simon:

One of my friends got shot a few days ago and because of your dad and his rules, I can´t talk to you about it. Jamie´s been with him in the hospital and when I talk to Jack, it´s been about death and all this heavy stuff. Allison´s been the one good thing to happen. With her, we just talk and skate and act like things are normal. That helps me feel normal.

Julie:

Is she your girlfriend?

Simon:

I´ve never really talked to her until three days ago.

Julie:

Do you like her?

Simon:

I don´t know. She´s easy to talk to. She´s got this weird sense of humor and I don´t know why, but it makes me laugh every time. And she´s taking me to all these great skating spots, I never knew existed.

Julie:

Do you think she´s prettier than me?

Simon:

That´s not a fair. Look, my mind´s all kinds of messed up right now, with us breaking up and Charlie getting shot. Maybe she could be someday, but I´m not anywhere near ready to start dating again. I feel like wouldn´t be fair to her to start something, before I am.

They shyly smile at each other.

Julie:

I kinda went cuckoo bananas on you today, didn´t I?

Simon:

If that means, you did something a little crazy, then yes, you did. I´m not blaming you for anything. I´m guessing, you´re as messed up in the head about the break up as me, so you´re getting a free pass today.

Julie:

What if I do it again?

Simon:

I´ll probably forgive you again.

Julie:

And the time after that?

Simon:

Don´t push you luck. But I´ll still forgive you. You mean a lot to me, Jules. I doesn´t matter who we date and don´t date. We´ll always be friends.

Julie:

Promise?

Simon:

Promise.

The two of them hug, but it´s more of a friend hug this time.

9. Int. Hospital Room. Evening.

Chrissy and Jamie are getting ready to leave.

Jamie:

See you tomorrow.

Chrissy:

Thanks for a great afternoon, guys. I never thought you could actually have fun in a hospital.

Charlie:

It´s been better than the last few days, I´ll say that for it. If you see Deb and Seb, tell them there´s no hard feelings on my part.

Jamie:

You got it, buddy.

Taylor:

We should hang out some more, Chrissy.

Chrissy:

You don´t think your classmates will make fun of you for hanging with 7th graders?

Taylor:

I´d still prefer to have them make fun of me, than the "poor girl" looks everyone´s been giving me.

Charlie:

When I come back, I´ll make them say "lucky girl" in stead.

Jamie:

Are you coming with us, Taylor?

Taylor:

There´s still a tiny bit of visiting time left. I´m not missing a second of it.

Chrissy:

We gotta get going, if were gonna catch the bus.

Jamie and Chrissy leave as they wave goodbye to each other.

Taylor:

I wish, I could stay all night here.

Charlie:

It won´t be much fun. I loved having you all here, but I gotta admit that I´m kinda beat.

Taylor:

Talk about a big day, huh?

Charlie:

So, what´s your plan for tonight? It is Saturday.

Taylor:

I haven´t planned anything. There´s a Unity Concert against violence at Degrassi tonight in your honor.

Charlie:

Then you have to go.

Taylor:

I don´t know, if I wanna be around all those people.

Charlie:

There´s three things, I want you to do for me.

Taylor:

What?

Charlie:

Record a message from me on your phone and get it played there. If it´s in my honor, they should at least get a word from the man himself, don´t you think?

Taylor:

You got it. What´s the last thing?

Charlie:

Enjoy yourself. You´ve looked like you´ve been carrying the world on your shoulders for weeks.

Taylor:

Charlie, there´s a good reason for that. I ...

The nurse, a man in his 20´s, comes in.

Nurse:

I´m afraid visiting hours are over.

Taylor:

We were in the middle of something.

Nurse:

It´ll have to wait until tomorrow. I assure you, that he´ll still be here in the morning, when you get here.

Charlie:

You can tell me tomorrow. It´s nice to have a mystery to look forward to.

Taylor is disappointed, but also a bit relieved by the looks of it.

10. Int. Locker Room. Day.

DFF are warming up for their concert. Megan looks pretty nervous.

Megan:

Remind me, why we volunteered to do this?

Suey:

So, we could play our first gig. You said, you played lots of gigs with your old band.

Megan:

I might have bent the truth a little.

The other girls stop playing and look at her.

Nancy:

What does that mean?

Megan:

I´ve played a gig. As in one. We only played three songs.

Sandy:

As if I wasn´t nervous enough.

Lisa pops in.

Lisa:

Ten minutes until you go on.

Megan:

Oh, god! We´re gonna stink it up out there, I can feel it!

Lisa:

I thought, you sounded great.

Megan:

Really?

Lisa:

You´ve got this cool mix between old and new, that people will like. I know, I liked it and so did my friends. The adults looked pretty impressed too.

Mickie:

Thanks. You sounded pretty good out there. How long have you been playing?

Lisa:

About eight months.

Nancy:

Eight months! You´re joking, right?

Lisa shakes her head.

Suey:

Maybe you should come and jam sometime.

Nancy:

I always wanted it to be a two guitar band.

Lisa:

Find me at school and tell me the where and when´s. Don´t worry guys, you´ll do great.

Lisa leaves them. Megan looks a little braver now.

11. Int. Hotel Room. Evening.

Seb and Deb are spacing out in front of the TV, but don´t look any happier, than they did earlier. There´s a knock on the door. The siblings eye each other suspiciously, but both go to answer it.

Seb:

Who is it?

Manny (voice over):

It´s Manny. Open up. I´ve got a surprise for you.

Seb opens the we see Jamie, Chrissy and Manny, who´s got two big plastic bags with her.

Jamie/Chrissy:

Surprise!

Deb and Seb are both completely overcome with joy and surprise.

Manny:

I thought, you could use a little cheering up.

Seb:

I´m sorry, Jamie.

Deb:

Me too.

Jamie:

What for? It wasn´t any of you, who shot Charlie.

Seb:

How is he?

Jamie:

Doing better.

Deb:

I´m so glad to hear that.

Jamie:

If he were here, he´d tell you the same thing I did. You guys are our friends, right?

Manny puts the bags on the table.

Manny:

There should be enough sodas and snacks there to last you a week.

Chrissy:

This was a great idea. Thanks for setting it up.

Manny:

Don´t mention it. You guys enjoy yourselves. I´ve got a concert to get to.

She leaves them and the kids begin to dig in.

12. Int. Auditorium. Evening.

The auditorium is packed for the Unity Concert. Julie, Lisa and Jack are waiting for the show to start. Julie´s mood has improved a lot, since we last saw her.

Julie:

Am I alone in hoping, that they suck just a little bit?

Jack:

I know what you mean. It feels like we´re gonna watch our former singer show off her new toy and it´s much better than the one she had, when she was with us.

Lisa:

Oh, oh. Red ex-boyfriend alert.

They look to the entrance to see Simon and Allison arriving together.

Julie:

I´m fine with it.

Lisa:

This morning, you wanted to strangle her. What´s changed?

Julie:

While you were playing with the grown-up´s, I had a talk with Simon. They´re just friends.

Jack:

What if they become more than that?

Julie:

Then I deal with it. She´s far from my favorite person, but it´s not fair, that he should be alone because of me.

Lisa:

Maybe I should try my luck with him.

She winks at Jack, so he knows that she was only kidding. Julie gets her "I Mean It" face on and waves her finger at her.

Julie:

Ah,ah! Don´t even think about it!

Eddy comes out on stage, microphone in hand.

Eddy:

Good Evening and welcome to Degrassi´s first ever Unity Concert.

People applaud. We see that Taylor comes up to Jack, Lisa and Julie, who greet her.

Eddy:

Before we start tonight´s entertainment, we have a special surprise for you. One that even I, had no idea we´d get until a few minutes ago. We have a message from Charlie Howerton, recorded less than an hour ago by his girlfriend, Taylor.

He nods to Jonah (flanked by Lola, Zoe, Frankie and Amy), who starts the video. We see the reactions of several people in the crowd during Charlie´s voice over.

Charlie (voice over):

Hey everybody. I thought, I should send you a little message, since I´m supposed to be the center of attention and I´m not even there. I know that for many of you, the first thought you had when you heard the news, was that you hated the guy with the gun. I want you to know that I don´t hate him. I pity him, because he´s someone that should have been helped, but wasn´t. I´m friends with his kids and I know they´re afraid, they´ll be hated too, which isn´t fair on them. The thing is, you can´t fight hate with more hate. At some point, someone has to be the bigger person and say "stop the madness". Tonight, that person is me. So, thanks for listening and party a little extra for the ones, who can´t be there.

The crowd applauds loudly.

Eddy:

With that, I say we get this show started. First off, making their stage debut as a band here tonight, Degrassi´s Finest Female´s, also known as "DFF"!

The band come out on stage to cheers.

13. Montage - music: "People Are People" by Depeche Mode (played by DFF in a more modern and rockier version). Throughout the montage, we switch between various characters. First the band playing and those in the crowd enjoying the show, then Bianca arriving at the morgue, then the siblings enjoying a night off from their troubles, then Charlie sleeping in his hospital bed and finally Bianca seeing Ed´s body and saying her emotional goodbyes to him at the morgue.

Megan/Suey:

People are people so why should it be

You and I should get along so awfully

People are people so why should it be

You and I should get along so awfully

Megan:

So we're different colours

And we're different creeds

And different people have different needs

It's obvious you hate me

Though I've done nothing wrong

I never even met you

So what could I have done

Suey:

I can't understand

What makes a man

Hate another man

Help me understand

Megan/Suey

People are people so why should it be

You and I should get along so awfully

People are people so why should it be

You and I should get along so awfully

Megan:

Now you're punching and you're kicking

And you're shouting at me

I'm relying on your common decency

So far it hasn't surfaced

But I'm sure it exists

It just takes a while to travel

From your head to your fist

Suey:

I can't understand

What makes a man

Hate another man

Help me understand

Megan/Suey:

I can't understand

What makes a man

Hate another man

Help me understand

CLOSING CREDITS