ACT TWO

FADE IN:

INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY - LATER

Natalie and Lily are walking along the hall.

LILY
I think you'll really like social
studies. Our teacher is very
cool, and class is like—well, you
have to be there.
(pause)
Hey, do you mind if we take a
little detour?

NATALIE
(shrugs)
I just think of it as getting the
tour.

LILY
Great—come on.

Lily veers off up the stairs, with Natalie in tow.

CUT TO:

INT. ZAPRUDER REPORTER OFFICE - MOMENTS LATER

Lily raps on the open door.

LILY
(calling)
Sam?
(to Natalie)
Sam was the editor of the school
paper...now she's busy working at
a real newspaper.
(pause)
SAM?

SAM (O.S.)
Coming!

Sam appears from a connecting room, carrying a cardboard box.

SAM (CONT'D)
I swear, I'm gone two months, and
I can't find anything anymore—

She stops dead at the sight of Natalie.

LILY
Oh, um, Sam, this is Natalie
James. She, uh, Nicole's...
(searching)
...birth—cousin? Natalie, Sam
McPherson.

Sam blindly sets the box down on a desk.

SAM
Wow...I mean...wow.
(shakes her head)
Sorry, uh, but...wow.

NATALIE
It's all right. I've had worse
reactions today.

LILY
(explaining)
She got attacked earlier.

SAM
My God, are you okay?

NATALIE
Well, I had my wits scared out of
me, but other than that, I'm all
right.

LILY
We're all escorting Natalie around
today, letting everyone know that
she's not Nicole reincarnated or
anything.

SAM
Yeah, I can see that would be a
good idea.

NATALIE
(to Sam)
Are you sure we look THAT much
alike? Lily can't see it.

LILY
Well, I see it a little, but not
like everyone else, I guess.

SAM
(nodding)
Ohhh, yes. You definitely could
be Nicole's twin.
(pause)
Hang on a sec.

Sam goes to a filing cabinet and rummages through one of the
drawers for a second. She pulls out a book, flips it open and
hands it to Natalie.

SAM (CONT'D)
(pointing)
See?

INSERT: THE BOOK

open to a color photograph of the Glamazons from two years
past: Brooke, Nicole, Mary Cherry and Carmen.

Natalie stares at the photo, her mouth hanging open. Finally
she hands it back to Sam.

NATALIE
Ewww.

LILY
What?

NATALIE
(gesturing)
That's what I would look like
blonde? Yuck.

The girls crack up over that.

CUT TO:

INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY - LATER

Brooke, Natalie and Lily are coming down the hallway, with
Brooke whispering in Natalie's ear. As they stop outside an
open classroom door, Natalie pulls back and looks at Brooke,
an astonished look on her face.

NATALIE
Really?

Brooke nods, wagging her eyebrows. Natalie turns the other
way.

NATALIE (CONT'D)
Lily?

LILY
(considering)
Wellll...normally I would say
no...

BROOKE
Lily...

LILY
(with a little grin)
But, just this once...

Brooke claps with delight.

BROOKE
This is gonna be killer. Come on.

Brooke peeks through the doorway, then motions he three girls
go through—

CUT TO:

INT. CHEMISTRY CLASS - CONTINUOUS

Miss Glass is looking through a file cabinet, her back to the
door. Brooke and Lily head for their seats—with Brooke
staying as far away as possible from Sam. At seeing Natalie,
Josh gapes, and starts to say something; Lily gets there just
in time to clamp her hand over his mouth and make a shushing
motion. Meanwhile, Natalie stands quietly at the teacher's
desk, hands clasped in front of her, waiting. After a moment,
Miss Glass pulls out a file and straightens up.

GLASS
(turning)
All right, now—

At that instant, she comes face-to-face with Natalie, and goes
completely white. Her voice sticks in her throat; she makes a
couple of gulping, urking noises, before staggering backwards,
clutching her chest. She misses her stool and winds up
landing on the floor on her rear, to an uproar of laughter
from the class.

Natalie just stands there innocently, leaning a bit to peek
around the edge of the desk.

NATALIE
(innocently)
Miss Glass? Is something wrong?

Miss Glass manages to wave a shaky finger at her.

GLASS
Y-y-you—you—

NATALIE
I'm sorry...is there a problem?

Miss Glass struggles to her feet.

GLASS
What—what—what are YOU doing
here?

NATALIE
Transferring. From Minnesota.
This is my first day.

She lays a couple of forms on the desk.

NATALIE (CONT'D)
That's my record from my old
school, and that's from Principal
Krupps.

Miss Glass, after managing to get her breathing under control,
takes a look at the papers. Then she glares out at the still
snickering students, realizing that they were in on the joke.

GLASS
All right, you bunch of juvenile
delinquents... You may have had
a little fun—but don't think I
won't remember this when finals
roll around!
(to Natalie)
You—find a seat!

Natalie obediently goes and takes the empty seat next to Sam.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. SOCIAL STUDIES CLASS - LATER

As usual, Mr. Osbourne is conducting class in his own distinct
style.

OSBOURNE
I trust you've all read
yesterday's handouts containing
some of Goethe's thoughts on youth
and society.
(to Natalie)
Not to worry, Miss James.
Allowances shall be made in your
case.

Natalie favors him with a wan smile.

OSBOURNE (CONT'D)
Not to digress, but has anyone
seen Miss Fererra? Unless my
eyesight has begun to fail—which
I doubt—I saw her this morning.
Yet she is not present now.

The kids all look at each other, and the result is a
collective shrug.

OSBOURNE (CONT'D)
Well, I suppose a certain amount
of...shall we say, goofing off?...
must be expected. After all, in
the words of another noted
philosopher—

He switches to German for the quote:

OSBOURNE (SUBTITLE) (CONT'D)
—"youth is a disagreeable time."

From the side of the room, Natalie snorts—an oddly Nicole
like sound. Osbourne raises an eyebrow at her.

OSBOURNE (CONT'D)
Yes, Miss James?

Natalie shrugs at him.

NATALIE (SUBTITLE)
(in casual German)
Goethe was an artist. Nietzsche
was an idiot.

Osbourne focuses on her, and continues the conversation in
German.

OSBOURNE (SUBTITLE)
Indeed?

NATALIE (SUBTITLE)
"All Too Human" was especially
obtuse.

OSBOURNE (SUBTITLE)
You've read the original, I
assume.

Natalie just raises an eyebrow.

OSBOURNE (SUBTITLE) (CONT'D)
Your German sounds flawless,
incidentally—no accent at all.

NATALIE (SUBTITLE)
Thank you. Five years, junior
high and high school. I had very
good teachers.

OSBOURNE (SUBTITLE)
I commend you on your educators,
then. We shall have to discuss
Nietzsche sometime, though.

Natalie tilts her head in acknowledgement.

NATALIE (SUBTITLE)
Whenever you'd like, Mr. Osbourne.

The other kids, watching but not understanding this exchange,
trade significant looks. Osbourne refocuses on the class,
switching back to English.

OSBOURNE
Well—this school grows curiouser
and curiouser.
(to Brooke)
Miss McQueen, you may have
competition.

Natalie shrugs at Brooke apologetically.

CUT TO:

INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY - LATER

Brooke and Natalie are walking down the corridor, when a
couple of kids passing by give them a stare.

BROOKE
(sharply)
Hey, she's not Nicole, okay?

The kids back off, and Brooke and Natalie continue on.

NATALIE
So, this Nicole...you knew her,
right?

BROOKE
She used to be my best friend. Of
course, she did sleep with my
boyfriend—ex-boyfriend—while we
were split up for about a week.
And then on prom night she hit me
with her car.

NATALIE
(doing a double-take)
You mean, hit, like...tapped?

BROOKE
No, more like, at about fifty
miles an hour. I spent most of
the summer in the hospital.

Natalie gives her a very strange look.

NATALIE
And—this was your best friend?

BROOKE
I know, I know... But then, I
used to not be very nice myself.

Natalie looks her up and down, and nods knowingly.

NATALIE
Ah...Julie Stanton.

BROOKE
Who?

NATALIE
She's a girl, at my old school.
Head cheerleader, homecoming
queen, center of the ultra-popular
clique—prize bitch.

BROOKE
(laughing)
That was me, all right.

NATALIE
And Nicole—she was, like, the
number-two person in your circle?

BROOKE
Uh, yeah?

NATALIE
(nodding)
Okay. I know EXACTLY who you're
talking about, now.

BROOKE
I guess things are the same all
over.

NATALIE
In high school, I think so, yeah.

They walk along for a couple of moments in silence.

NATALIE (CONT'D)
You know, this is really weird for
me.

BROOKE
Ha. You're not the only one.

NATALIE
I mean, Aunt Louise was always
kinda the black sheep of the
family—but I don't ever remember
anyone mentioning her having a
baby.

BROOKE
Maybe nobody knew. From what I
heard, Nicole's mother just
abandoned her.

NATALIE
That's so sad...

They stop at an open classroom door.

NATALIE (CONT'D)
Well, here's my English class.

Brooke puts her hand in the chest of a boy about to go in,
stopping him.

BROOKE
(pointing at Natalie)
Hey. Natalie—not Nicole.
Completely different person. Got
it? Good. Spread it around.

After she lets the boy go, Natalie shakes her head.

NATALIE
I was going to say something about
being baby-sat, but I'm actually
kinda grateful.

BROOKE
Hey, it's the least we could do,
after...

NATALIE
It's okay. If someone tried to
kill me, and then I saw her face
on someone else...I might go a
little nuts, too.

Brooke grins for a moment.

BROOKE
Okay, Lily's going to meet you
here after class, and then we'll
have lunch.

NATALIE
(cautiously)
And lunch would be...?

BROOKE
(sighs)
Some things really ARE the same
all over.

NATALIE
Oh, well.

Natalie goes into the classroom, and Brooke turns and jogs
back down the hallway.

CUT TO:

INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER

Further along the corridor, Lily is standing at the pay phone,
making a call. After a moment, she hangs up, puts in a
quarter, and dials again. A few seconds later, she hangs up
again, a frustrated expression on her face.

Brooke jogs up behind her, and Lily catches her by the arm.

LILY
Brooke, did Carmen tell you where
she was going?

BROOKE
Nope. I guess she musta skipped
after chem.

LILY
It's really odd...her line is
busy, but I tried downstairs and
the machine picked up.

BROOKE
(thinking)
Well...maybe she was online this
morning, and forgot to log off.
(tugging at her)
Come on—we're gonna be late!

Brooke takes off down the hall, and as the bell rings, Lily
hustles after her.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. CARMEN'S BEDROOM

Carmen, as it turns out, is sitting at her computer, typing
away furiously, completely absorbed.

FADE OUT.

END OF ACT TWO