ACT ONE
FADE IN:
INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY - LATER
Natalie is walking down the corridor, seemingly oblivious to
the stares of the people around her. Then an arm reaches out
and shoves her into the lockers. She quails, wide-eyed, at
Brooke, Mary Cherry and Carmen, who form a menacing semi
circle surrounding her.
NATALIE
Wha—?
BROOKE
What the hell are you doing
here?
CARMEN
Yeah, you've got some nerve
showing your face!
MARY CHERRY
Yeah, did you really think nobody
would notice you?
NATALIE
(shaking)
What...why—?
She tries to take a step forward, but Brooke shoves her back
against the lockers again.
BROOKE
Oh, no, you're not getting away.
You're getting exactly what you
deserve.
Natalie reaches for her bag and tries to open it.
NATALIE
Here—just take whatever you
want—
Carmen slaps the bag away, and as she does, it and all of
Natalie's folders fall to the floor. The momentary
distraction is enough for her to push past Carmen and run,
shrieking, down the hall. The three girls look after her.
CARMEN
Man... What, is she Freddy
Krueger or something?
MARY CHERRY
She's like a cockroach—ya gotta
squish 'em, and then make sure
they're dead!
BROOKE
I still can't believe Nic would
show up here.
Carmen, meanwhile, picks up Natalie's bag and folders.
CARMEN
How do you suppose she got out of
jail, anyway?
BROOKE
(shrugs)
Her mother must have pulled some
strings.
Carmen pulls a wallet out of the bag and flips through it.
CARMEN
Natalie James...Natalie James...
MARY CHERRY
"Natalie James"? Ha! That's
rich! And not in a oil-strikin'
way, either. If she thought some
fake I.D.s and a bad dye job was
gonna fly, then the hoosegow made
her dumber.
Carmen abandons the bag and starts flipping through one of the
folders.
BROOKE
(leaning in)
What's that?
CARMEN
Looks like...transcripts. From
St. Cloud, Minnesota.
MARY CHERRY
I didn't know Nicole's mama could
do THAT.
A sharp breath comes from Carmen, who is still reading.
CARMEN
Uh-oh...
BROOKE
What?
Carmen hands her the folder, pointing.
BROOKE (CONT'D)
(reading)
James, Natalie...Mother, James,
Rebecca...
(gasps)
...mother's maiden name—GROUT?
MARY CHERRY
Grout? Isn't that—?
CARMEN
She's related to Nicole's birth
mother.
MARY CHERRY
Well, that would explain the...
CARMEN
(looking over cautiously)
Brooke?
Brooke throws up her hands fatalistically.
BROOKE
Oh, yeah—we're dead.
(tittering)
We just mugged a girl on her first
day at Kennedy. We're gonna get
suspended...it's going on our
permanent records, we'll never get
into a decent college...
(bleakly)
Maybe they'll put me in the same
cell block as Nic.
CARMEN
Okay, Brooke, chill. We'll just
find her, and Mary Cherry'll
convince her it was all a big
mistake.
MARY CHERRY
Hold on! Why me?
CARMEN
Well...you're better at groveling
than we are.
MARY CHERRY
Well, yeah, there is that...
CARMEN
Okay, then, that's the plan—we
find this Natalie person, and we
fix things.
BROOKE
All right, so...where do you think
she went?
Carmen shrugs helplessly; and they all go tearing off down the
corridor.
CUT TO:
INT. GIRLS' RESTROOM
Lily comes into the Novak and heads for the mirror. She
spends a couple of moments teasing her hair—and then the
reflection of movement behind her catches her eye. She spins
around, and doesn't see anything. But then she hears the
faintest of whimpers coming from the area of the tuffet.
Puzzled, she walks softly over to the tuffet and peers over
it—to see Natalie curled up in the tightest possible ball
behind it. Lily is instantly around the tuffet and on the
floor next to the terrified girl.
LILY
(soothingly)
Hey...hey...what's wrong?
She reaches out cautiously, but Natalie shies away.
LILY (CONT'D)
It's all right...nobody's going to
hurt you...
Suddenly Natalie breaks out into great, wracking sobs, while
Lily puts her arms around her comfortingly. Ever so gently,
Lily lifts Natalie up and sits her down on the tuffet.
LILY (CONT'D)
What happened? Did someone hurt
you?
NATALIE
(sobbing)
There were...these girls...they...
they...and I...they were...
screaming...and...they took...
everything...
LILY
Are you...new here?
NATALIE
(nodding)
It's...it's...my first...day...
LILY
(growing outraged)
Schoolyard bullying—it's becoming
a scourge across America! Well,
this kind of injustice can't be
allowed to go unanswered. You
have the inalienable right to a
free, wholesome and safe
educational environment! Come
on—we'll march right down to
Principal Krupps' office, and make
sure this never happens again!
NATALIE
But...but...what if...what if
they...?
LILY
(stridently)
No! You can't allow them to win!
You're the victim here—you have a
right to be heard!
NATALIE
I...I don't know...
LILY
Look, I promise, I'll be with you
every step of the way. I swear.
Finally, Natalie nods tearfully and allows Lily to help her
up. At just that moment, the door swings open, and Brooke,
Mary Cherry and Carmen walk in.
CARMEN
...I still think we should split
up—
The trio and Natalie make eye contact at the same instant, and
their reactions are instantaneous: Natalie squeaks, and hides
behind Lily; while the other girls all throw their hands up
defensively.
MARY CHERRY
Whoa! Hey, easy now. Steady...
BROOKE
(hissing)
Mary Cherry, she's not a horse!
Lily eyes them suspiciously.
LILY
Guys? What's going on?
The girls stand there, fidgeting nervously.
CARMEN
We, uh...um, we...kind of...um...
accidentally...
LILY
WHAT—DID—YOU—DO?
CARMEN
We...thought she was Nicole.
LILY
WHAT?
Carmen and Mary Cherry look to Brooke for confirmation.
BROOKE
Yeah, we, uh, thought Nic was
back, uh...somehow.
LILY
(incredulous)
Are you all INSANE?
CARMEN
(defensively)
Well, she does look like Nicole...
except for the hair.
Lily turns back to Natalie, holds her at arm-length, and
studies her carefully.
LILY
(doubtfully)
You think?
BROOKE
(gesturing, annoyed)
Oh, come on! She's a dead ringer
for Nic!
After a moment, Lily shakes her head.
LILY
I dunno, maybe a little...
(turning back)
Still, Nicole IS in prison, right?
Which kinda shoulda maybe been a
clue that this wasn't her?
CARMEN
(pleading)
Believe me, we are SO sorry.
She holds out Natalie's bag and folders.
CARMEN (CONT'D)
Here... We didn't take anything,
we swear...
Disgusted, Lily snatches the items away, turns and hands them
over to Natalie.
LILY
(taking a deep breath)
Look, Natalie, I know these girls.
I'm still not quite sure what
possessed them to go off and do
this, but I really don't think
they meant to—
Sensing that Lily has switched sides, Natalie takes a step
back, fear coming back into her eyes.
NATALIE
You—you mean...?
LILY
(hastily)
No! No, this is totally your
decision. If you still want to go
Principal Krupps, I will still go
with you, and I will still be with
you every step of the way.
CARMEN
Lily—
Lily whirls around, jabbing a finger at Carmen.
LILY
You—HUSH!
Carmen subsides meekly; Lily turns back to Natalie.
LILY (CONT'D)
(earnestly)
I'm not pressuring you. I'm
just—asking you to think it over.
Okay?
Natalie looks past Lily to the other girls, who are all trying
to look as contrite and harmless as possible.
NATALIE
Well...
BROOKE
(hopeful)
You won't tell on us?
Natalie thinks about it for several tense moments. Finally
she nods, just slightly.
NATALIE
I guess...
The trio of girls breathe a simultaneous sigh of relief.
MARY CHERRY
I swear to the Lord Almighty, we
thought you were the evil Nicole
Julian!
NATALIE
(puzzled)
Who's Nicole Julian?
CARMEN
She used to go to this school,
before she tried to kill Brooke
here and wound up in prison.
BROOKE
Yeah, and even though her name was
Julian, she was adopted. Her real
mother—her birth mother—was a
woman named Shaggy Louise Grout.
NATALIE
Shaggy Lou—AUNT Louise?
CARMEN
(gesturing to Lily)
There, see, she's Nicole's, um,
cousin!
Lily looks closely at Natalie again.
LILY
I guess there IS a bit of a
resemblance.
MARY CHERRY
Well! I'm sure glad THAT'S
straightened out!
Along with Carmen, Mary Cherry turns to leave.
BROOKE
Guys—hang on.
They stop and turn back.
CARMEN
What?
BROOKE
I'm thinking, this is gonna keep
happening. I mean, Nic made a lot
of enemies around here.
CARMEN
(shrugging)
So, what are we supposed to do
about it?
BROOKE
Look, I think the four of us
should take turns, and make sure
somebody's with...um?
NATALIE
Natalie.
BROOKE
...with Natalie every minute, at
least today. So nobody else makes
the same mistake we did.
LILY
That is a great idea, Brooke.
Brooke steps up to Natalie, still a bit cautious.
BROOKE
So—if we could start over?
(holding out her hand)
Hi. I'm Brooke McQueen.
NATALIE
(smiling)
Natalie James.
The two girls shake hands.
FADE OUT.
END OF ACT ONE