WHAT IF? - SEASON 2 EPISODE 40 - HUMAN NATURE PART 2
Disclaimer: I don´t own Degrassi or the characters from it.
1. Int. Marco´s Parents´ Kitchen. Morning.
Marco comes down to the kitchen, stepping in carefully. His mom is making them breakfast.
Marco:
Where´s dad?
Marco´s Mom:
He left early for work.
Marco looks disappointed and has to sit down.
Marco:
I was hoping, we would get a chance to talk before school.
Marco´s Mom:
I´m afraid, it´ll have to wait for later.
Marco:
Did he say anything about me last night?
Marco´s Mom:
I tried, but he was quick to change the subject every time.
Marco:
He hates me now, doesn´t he?
Marco´s Mom:
He just needs time. Right now, that´s all you can give him.
Marco:
What if he never gets used to it?
Marco ponders his own question and looks depressed.
OPENING CREDITS
2. Int. Hallway. Morning.
Marco is talking to Paige by her locker.
Paige:
No one said, it would be easy, Hon. My mom took her time to adjust, but her and Dylan are fine now.
Marco:
Me and my dad have always been close. Now it feels like, we´re further away from one another than ever before.
Paige:
You told them and that´s a major step in itself.
Marco:
I don´t know why, but I pictured that once I came out, it would mean the worst of it was over with. Feeling guilty afterwards for letting my dad down, wasn´t in the brochure!
She closes her locker and they notice Terri coming towards them, off in her own little world and almost walks past them.
Paige:
Earth calling Terri! Is anyone there?
She notices them and comes over to them.
Terri:
Hi, guys. I didn´t see you there.
Paige:
There´s a first time for everything!
Marco:
How did it go at the agency?
Terri:
They´ve alerted social services. It´s out of my hands now.
Marco:
You did the right thing. In this case, it´s infinitely better to be safe, than sorry.
Paige:
Can you give us a second for a girl talk, Marco?
Marco:
About what?
Paige:
PMS.
Marco:
Enough said!
He hurries away from them, as fast as he can!
Paige:
Works every time! Did something happen last night with you and Spinner?
Terri:
We ... ehm ... sort of made out.
Paige looks happy for her, but her smile quickly fades, when she sees how worried Terri looks.
Paige:
That´s a positive, isn´t it?
Terri:
Is it? He´s gone from one girl to another and the only time I had a boyfriend, it ended in disaster.
Paige:
Okay, so he has had more girls, than the average guy our age, but he´s generally stayed with them for a long time. And you can´t compare him to Rick. That isn´t fair on him. Spinner isn´t perfect, but he´s never hurt anyone.
Terri:
I´m gonna tell him, that it was a mistake.
Paige:
Are you sure, that´s what you want to do?
Terri:
It´s what I have to do.
She looks torn over it.
3. Int. Classroom. Morning.
Spinner and Jimmy are talking, while waiting for class to start. Marco sits down with them.
Marco:
Morning, boys!
Jimmy:
Can you tell Spinner, that he´s crazy?
Marco:
Is that anything new?
Spinner:
Tell me, Marco. Why should I waste another year of my life on a diploma, I might not even get next year and will most likely never need for anything, when I could be in culinary school and spending my time doing something useful for my future?
Marco:
It does make perfect sense, when you put it like that!
Jimmy:
Do you know what another word for a high school drop-out is? Loser!
Spinner:
Is every original member of Guns N´ Roses, except for Izzy Stradlin, losers? He´s the only one of them, who finished high school.
Marco:
Kurt Cobain didn´t finish it either and dropping out worked out fine for him. Until he shot himself, of course.
Spinner:
If he shot himself! I still think, foul play was involved.
Jimmy:
Can you even cook?
Just as he says that, Terri comes in with Paige.
Spinner:
Why don´t we ask someone, who has tasted my cooking? TERRI?
Her and Paige come over to them.
Spinner:
Terri, will you tell this non-believer in my talents, that I can cook?
Terri:
Oh, he can cook alright! You need to try it sometime.
Spinner:
See, mister negative all the time? I´m making the decision, that makes sense for me!
Jimmy:
If you think, it´s what´s right for you ...
Spinner:
I´ve never been more sure of anything!
Terri:
Can we talk after class?
Spinner:
Definitely!
He smiles at her, but is a little disappointed when she doesn´t return it and goes to sit with Paige behind them.
4. Int. Hallway. Day.
Terri is talking to Spinner. She looks a little nervous.
Terri:
About last night ...
Spinner:
I was wondering, who would be the first of us to bring it up.
Terri:
We let ourselves get swept up in the moment, didn´t we?
Spinner looks disappointed.
Spinner:
Is that all, it was to you?
Terri:
I was feeling emotional because of the whole big sister thing and we both needed someone.
Spinner:
You don´t need to say anymore.
He starts to walk away from her, making her frustrated.
Terri:
I didn´t mean it like that!
Spinner turns around and looks her in the eyes.
Spinner:
You don´t need to say anymore. I was just someone, who was there for you to use. End of story!
He walks away from her, looking rather angry, while she´s left contemplating, if she made the right decision.
5. Int. Girl´s Room. Day.
Terri comes in and stares herself in the mirror.
Terri:
Way to go, Terri!
Alex comes out from one of the stalls.
Alex:
Are you so lonely, that you need to talk to yourself?
She starts washing her hands and Terri looks annoyed with her.
Terri:
It´s none of your business.
Alex:
Pardon me for existing!
Terri:
Sorry. I´m in a bad mood today.
Alex:
No worries. We all feel that way sometimes. Ashley told me about the girl, you´re helping. I wish, I´d had someone like you ten years ago.
Terri:
A bitch, who uses boys for her own amusement?
Alex laughs a little.
Alex:
You? Try saint in stead! Anyway, boys deserve what they get.
Terri:
Not his one.
Alex:
But you dumped him? Why would you do that, if he´s so amazing?
Terri:
He has a past, that speaks against it.
Alex:
Why do you think they call it the past?
Terri:
You got me!
Alex:
Because it´s not the present! Did he kill someone?
Terri smiles at her.
Terri:
No, he didn´t kill someone.
Alex:
Has he been violent towards women?
Terri:
He would never dream of hitting a girl. He has made out with his share of them, though.
Alex:
So what? If you can check those first two boxes and you don´t think, he´ll cheat on you, it sounds like you made a huge mistake!
Alex leaves her and Terri sees, that she´s probably right.
6. Int. Cafeteria. Day.
Spinner is talking to Jimmy and Liberty.
Spinner:
I don´t get girls! I never have and I never will!
Liberty:
What happened this time?
Spinner:
There´s this girl ...
Jimmy:
Terri?
Spinner:
How did you guess?
Jimmy:
You were over the moon this morning over the culinary school idea and you´ve been moping, ever since you talked to her alone in the hallway. It doesn´t take a rocket scientist to figure out.
Liberty:
I don´t know her that well, but she´s always seemed nice to me.
Spinner:
She is, or at least I thought, she was! It turns out, that she was only using me.
Liberty can´t help giggling a little.
Liberty:
Sorry, but you sound as anti-macho, as you possibly can right now! It´s weird seeing you like this.
Spinner:
Guys have feelings too, you know? Girls don´t have a patent on them.
Jimmy:
I should explain. Spinner and Terri are the couple, who should have been, but never was.
Spinner:
In stead, I got snatched up by Paige! The biggest mistake of my life!
Liberty:
It wasn´t all bad, was it?
Spinner:
No, but looking back, I should have given Terri another chance. I really thought, this would be the one to last.
Jimmy:
I´m sorry, buddy. You´ll meet the right girl before you know it.
Spinner:
I was so sure, I already had.
He looks depressed and they feel sorry for him.
6. Int. Classroom. Day.
Miss Oh is teaching social studies for the seniors, including Marco and Ellie.
Miss Oh:
Today´s topic is what we call a hot potato. Gay marriage. I want to hear both arguments for and against.
Many hands come up.
Miss Oh:
Ellie. Let´s hear from you first.
Ellie:
To me, it´s ridiculous, that it´s still even being discussed. Of course, gays should be allowed to marry each other.
Miss Oh:
Many religious groups don´t think so. Are they wrong in their opinions?
Ellie:
They are, when they base them on a book, that´s over a thousand year old! They need to get with the times!
Miss Oh:
Let´s hear from someone with a different point of view.
Most of the hands come down again, but not Marco´s.
Miss Oh:
Marco. Why are you against gay marriage?
Marco:
I´m not against gay marriage. Let me make that clear. I also don´t think, it should be imposed on those, to whom religion matters the most. I believe, that it will become a reality some day, but the way forward isn´t through forcing people to think the way, you want them to. That´s oppression.
Miss Oh:
You don´t think, gays are being oppressed, by society treating them differently?
Marco:
The key word is diplomacy. You can´t force someone to think the way you want them to, just by telling them to. It´s been tried and tested, that doing that will only lead to conflicts and those most fanatical rebelling against it.
Miss Oh:
Don´t you think, the end justifies the means in some cases?
Marco has to take a moment to think about it and it´s like he has a small epiphany.
Marco:
Take the American civil war for example. No one today would say that slavery was a positive, but without it, the south had no way of supporting the cotton industry, that was their life blood. They simply didn´t have the manpower, they needed to fill all of the jobs, they needed filled and their entire economy had been built on cheap labor. Faced with the abolition of slavery, what choice did they have, except to rebel against the union? It wasn´t as if an alternative was put on the table to replace it. It was "Now you do it our way, whatever problems come with it are your own and by the way, please don´t bother us with them".
He gets a laugh from some of the class and Miss Oh has to smile too.
Marco:
Fast forward to now, where it´s thankfully far in the past and no one could ever imagine bringing it back. Change takes time and real change in people´s minds takes even longer. In that respect, homophobia and racism are the same thing.
Miss Oh:
Well said, Marco. Let´s hear from someone else.
Marco suddenly realized how what he said applies to his own situation.
7. Int. Hallway. Day.
Marco hurries to catch up with Ellie.
Marco:
You´re not mad at me, are you?
Ellie:
A little surprised, but I´m not mad at you. We can have different opinions, without it getting between us.
Marco:
I got to thinking about my dad.
Ellie:
That does surprise me! Why him?
Marco:
I sprung my coming out on him out of nowhere. I can only imagine the thoughts, that must be going through his head right now. I took his entire world and turned it upside down.
Ellie:
Like the north did with the south in the civil war?
Marco:
Something like that. I can´t change who I am, but I can try to be more understanding.
Ellie:
It isn´t always easy. Jay likes Pauly Shore movies!
Marco laughs.
Ellie:
If I have to sit through another "Encino Man" or "Bio-Dome", I might have to run for the hills, to save my own sanity!
Marco:
Here I thought, I had problems!
Ellie:
He´s a very lucky man, that I love him so much!
Marco:
The things we do for love, huh?
Ellie:
I´ll get back at him with an Ingmar Bergman marathon soon enough!
Marco:
Maybe even a Jean-Luc Godard movie?
Ellie:
Now you´re talking my kind of language!
Marco just shakes his head to himself.
8. Int. Foyer. Day.
Marco meets up with Paige, as the school day is coming to an end. He´s looking in a better mood now, than he was when the day started.
Marco:
Hi there, sight for sore eyes!
Paige:
Someone´s in a much better mood, than they were earlier.
Marco:
I had a moment of clarity in social studies.
Paige:
Someone had to be the first. Tell?
Marco:
I realized that the way forward with my dad is through promoting understanding, rather than sparking conflict.
Paige:
It sounds clever enough, but are you sure it´ll work in practice?
Marco:
Only time will tell. All I know is that if I want to keep having a close father/son bond with him, it means giving as well as taking.
Paige:
Good for you, Hun. I´ll keep my fingers crossed, that it works out like you want it to.
Marco:
I´ll be a little late to the Dot. I have to stop by the library first.
Paige:
Okay. Have fun!
Marco:
Since when do the words fun and library belong in the same sentence?
Marco leaves her and she looks out the windows to see Terri sitting at a bench and talking on her cell phone. She goes out to meet her.
9. Ext. Degrassi. Day.
Terri is on her cell phone with someone.
Terri:
That´s great. I mean, not great in the sense, that it´s good, but thanks for telling me. Bye.
She hangs up and Paige comes over to her.
Paige:
Was that the people from the agency?
Terri:
Yeah, that was them. Apparently I wasn´t the only one, who was getting suspicious. Her school counsellor asked her and it all came out in the open. It´s been happening for a while, from what they told me.
Paige:
That´s great, isn´t it? You saved a girl from getting beat by her parents and now things can hopefully move in a positive direction for her.
Terris forces a small smile, but it quickly fades.
Terri:
If only, I could do the same.
Paige:
Are we onto the Spinner situation?
Terri:
Why did I say, that it was just the heat of passion? I´m such a dope!
Paige smiles warmly at her.
Paige:
Four and a half years ago, I did the one thing, I´m more ashamed of than anything else, I´ve ever done. Well, there was a recent incident, that definitely ranks up there, but that´s a different story!
She gets a small smile out of her.
Paige:
Considering some of the things I´ve done, that´s quite a list to top. I got between you and Spinner, when I knew it was you, he really wanted. It was so incredibly selfish of me and I´ve never stopped feeling guilty over it since.
Terri:
It´s water under the bridge. We were just big kids.
Paige:
Be that as it may, but there´s one thing, that hasn´t changed. You and him would still make the perfect couple.
Terri:
It doesn´t matter now. I blew my chance with him, like I did the first time too.
Paige:
Has high school ended and they just forgot to tell me?
Terri:
No, but ...
Paige:
Then it´s not over! It will be though, unless you do something about it!
Terri:
Like what?
Paige:
Tell him how you feel, Hon. If you don´t, you end up asking yourself for the rest of your life, why you didn´t, when you had the chance.
Terri gets an idea.
Terri:
Do you still have your guitar?
Paige:
Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?
Terri:
If I look up the chords on how to play a certain song, you can play it, can´t you?
Paige:
Unless we´re talking some ultra hard song, I probably can.
Terri:
Good, cuz I´m gonna need your help. I have a crazy idea, that will either sink or swim! One or the other.
Paige:
Ooh, I love those! Fill me in.
The girls smile at each other.
10. Int. The Dot. Day.
Spinner is serving Darcy, Mia and Chantay, but his head isn´t in it. He´s looking down.
Spinner:
For you, for you and for you.
He puts plates with food in front of them, but they switch them all around, when his back is turned.
Mia:
I´ve seen that look before!
Chantay:
I wonder, who the girl is this time?
Darcy:
There´s nothing wrong with playing the field!
The two others eye her suspiciously. Spinner joins Jane behind the counter.
Spinner:
Have you ever felt like, you´d rather be anywhere else?
Jane:
Only every time, I´m forced to be in the company of my brother!
The door opens and Paige comes in with her guitar, making Spinner and Jane bat an eye.
Spinner:
Are you here to entertain us, Paige?
Paige:
Not me, Spin!
They look surprised at her answer, as she begins to play "To Grow Old With You" from "The Wedding Singer". People in there naturally stop talking to pay attention to what´s going on, as a nervous looking Terri comes in. It makes Spinner smile, as she looks him in eyes.
Terri (singing):
I wanna make you smile, whenever you're sad
Carry you around, when your arthritis is bad
All I wanna do, is grow old with you
I'll get your medicine, when your tummy aches
Build you a fire, if the furnace breaks
Oh it could be so nice, growing old with you
I'll miss you
Kiss you
Give you my coat, when you are cold
Need you
Feed you
Even let ya hold the remote control
So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink
Put you to bed, if you've had too much to drink
I could be the girl, who grows old with you
I wanna grow old with you
He comes over to her from behind the counter and they smile at each other.
Terri:
Did you mean, what you said last night?
Spinner:
Every word of it.
Paige starts a slow clap and soon everyone (except for Spinner and Terri of course) join in. They both get a little embarrassed.
Terri:
Is there anything more corny, than a slow clap?
Spinner:
Don´t pretend, you don´t love this!
Terri:
You´re right. I am and I will always be a hopeless romantic!
Spinner:
How´s this for romantic?
He takes her in his arms and they kiss, as the slow clap turns into an applause with plenty of wooing from Paige, who looks happy for them, that they finally got each other. Marco comes in, just a little too late and sees Spinner and Terri still kissing.
Marco:
What did I miss?
Paige:
Only the most romantic moment, I´ll ever see with my own two eyes!
Terri and Spinner finally break the kiss and smile lovingly at each other.
11. Int. Marco´s Parents´ House. Day.
Marco comes home with a smile on his face. His dad comes out to meet him.
Marco´s Dad:
What´s got you smiling?
Marco:
Two of my friends finally found each other. They´re now well on their way to eternal love and happiness.
Marco´s Dad:
That´s nice. About yesterday ...
Marco:
You don´t have to say anything.
Marco´s Dad:
I do. I won´t pretend, that this is something I can adjust to right away. You have to give me time to get used to it.
Marco:
Take all the time you need, dad. It´s not like it was easy for me either. The stage you´re in now, took me many, many months to get past.
Marco´s Dad:
I still love you. You are and you always will be my son.
Marco:
I love you too, dad.
They hug it out and Marco looks relieved.
CLOSING CREDITS