WHAT IF? - SEASON 3 EPISODE 18 - THE TIES THAT BIND
WELCOME BACK AFTER THE SERIES HAD IT´S SMALL NEW YEAR´S HIATUS. WE START OFF HOT AND HEAVY WITH THE FIRST EPISODE HERE, WHICH FEATURES PAIGE´S DRUG STORYLINE, JUST SO YOU´RE WARNED. THE OTHER STORY IS MORE OF A CLASSIC DEGRASSI STORYLINE, FEATURING SAV AND HOLLY J.
1. Int. Paige and Ashley´s Room. Evening.
Paige and Stone are lying on their backs on the floor next to each other, both of them so high that they aren´t able to move. Paige laughs to herself.
Paige:
I´ve completely screwed my entire life up!
Stone laughs along with her.
Stone:
Join the club!
Paige:
The loser´s club is more like it!
Stone:
Didn´t they already use that name for the kids in that movie "It"?
Paige:
I think, they did. It fits us too, though.
Stone:
I don´t care. Not that I care about anything, when I´m this wasted.
She rolls around on her stomach and looks him in the eyes, getting serious for a moment.
Paige:
I care about stuff. I feel sorry for you, if you don´t.
Stone:
It´s not entirely true. I care about my parents and my sister. She´s kinda like me.
Paige:
What´s her name?
Stone:
Her name is Star. As you can probably guess, my folks are total hippies!
They laugh together.
Stone:
They´re the kind of people, who are nice to everyone, but they weren´t exactly roll models as parents.
Paige:
I´d like to meet them. They sound like the complete opposite of mine.
Stone:
What are they like?
Paige:
Two miserable people, who have accepted that being miserable is the fate, life has dealt them. All they do is spread that misery to anyone, who´s unfortunate enough to cross paths with them.
Stone:
Sounds depressing.
Paige:
It is. Maybe it´s no wonder that they have such a messed up daughter, who´s so desperate to escape reality, that she´ll fill her head with drugs to get there.
Stone:
Is that the only reason why?
She smiles to herself.
Paige:
It probably won´t surprise you that I love this feeling.
Stone:
It´s a scary feeling to love.
Paige:
Which is why I´m gonna try to quit cold turkey after tonight.
Stone:
Good luck. I don´t think, I could do it the hard way.
Paige:
My brother is coming to visit this weekend. If that can´t help me to stay clean, I don´t know what will.
She looks determined to kick her habit.
OPENING CREDITS
2. Ext. Bus Station. Day.
Dylan comes out from a bus with his fellow passengers. Paige is there to greet him with a big smile.
Paige:
Come here, sight for sore eyes!
They hug.
Dylan:
I could say the same to you. It almost looks like our parents´ divorce is doing you good.
Paige:
It´s all for show, if that´s the case. Inside I´m still so mad at them, that I want to scream out all my anger right into their stupid, selfish faces.
Dylan:
I´ve felt that way too, but I´m thankfully getting past it, little by little.
Paige:
If you don´t mind, I´d like to spend this weekend pretending that nothing has changed and enjoy what time we have together, without them ruining this for us too.
Dylan:
I couldn´t agree more. What´s on our agenda?
Paige:
I thought that we´d start with lunch, followed by me giving you a tour of our beloved campus.
Dylan:
You´re not gonna hide that new boyfriend of your´s away from me, are you?
Paige:
You´ll meet him tonight, when we have dinner with him and Ashley. He´s as excited to finally meet you, after everything I´ve told him about you, as you are to meet him. I just know you´re gonna love him, as much as I do.
Dylan:
If he´s good to you and treats you right, that´s all that matters to me.
Paige smiles at his sweet words.
3. Int. The Dot. Day.
Holly J is on her phone and looks annoyed. Sav and Anya are with her.
Holly J:
Yes, I will! I said I would, mom, so lay off it! Urgh!
She angrily hangs up and puts the phone on the table.
Anya:
Is that how you end all of your phone conversations with your mom, because mine usually end with the word "Bye" and not "Urgh"!
Holly J:
Your parents are so sweet and nice, that I´d personally vote for them, if there was a "Parents of the Year" contest! Not like my incredibly messed up family!
Sav:
What now?
Holly J:
Apparently it "Wouldn´t be proper of a young lady of my age", my mom´s words, not mine, to show up without a date for Hermione´s engagement party. It´s just another way of her saying, that she´s scared that Hermione´s parents will think of me and therefore by proxy also her as a loser, if I showed up alone.
Sav:
Who´s Hermione again?
Holly J:
The world´s worst cousin. You´re among the lucky 99.99999 percent of the world´s population, who haven´t been exposed to her toxic presence!
Anya:
She can´t be that bad. Everyone has some good in them.
Holly J:
If she does, she´s been a master at hiding it this long! If it was up to me, I´d show up solely to give her the finger right to her face, before strutting proudly out of there, never to talk to her again!
Sav can´t stop himself from laughing and so does Anya. Eventually Holly J herself has to give in and laugh along with them.
Holly J:
My life is so terrible!
Sav:
You still have us.
Anya:
We´re not gonna leave you to deal with this on your own.
Holly J:
Can you conjure up a Prince Charming for me, that would impress everyone at Hermione´s party and seeing as I have less than four hours to find one, can you make it snappy too?
Sav:
There are a few guys I could ask for you, but as for them being a Prince Charming, those are harder to come by.
Anya:
If you find a tree where they hang on, will you let me know?
Holly J gets an idea.
Holly J:
I just thought of something.
Sav:
What is it?
Holly J:
A way to ensure that I´m never invited to any of Hermione´s parties again. How would you like to be my date tonight, Sav?
Sav nods and goes along with it. Holly J looks pleased.
4. Int. Sav´s Room. Evening.
Sav is in his suit and is checking himself out in the mirror. Alli is sitting on his bed.
Alli:
It doesn´t bother you, that she only wants to take you there because of your skin color?
Sav:
It´ll be fun!
Alli:
If you think getting racist remarks behind your back all evening is fun, it will be!
Sav:
Were making a stand against the obvious apparent racism within her family. That nobody in their entire family history has married or even had a child with someone, who´s not white, tells me everything I need to know about them.
Alli:
I´m as anti racism, as you are. The fact that almost all of my friends are white girls, should prove that. I´m with you on the "We´re all one race" and that stuff.
Sav:
Are you getting to a point?
Alli:
I fail to see how provoking a bunch of people, who you´ve never met before, is going to accomplish anything positive. It sounds like it could lead to trouble.
Sav sits down next to her and puts his arm around her.
Sav:
I can take care of myself, Alli.
Alli:
Do you promise, you´ll be careful?
Sav:
I promise, Alli. You don´t have to worry about anything.
They smile at each other, but she´s still clearly a little worried.
5. Int. Campus. Day.
Paige is showing Dylan around the school.
Paige:
In there is where I take advanced calculus.
Dylan:
How is that going for you?
Paige:
I would be lying, if I said that I haven´t second guessed my decision to take it a time or two.
Her teacher, Mr. Hudson, comes out from the auditorium.
Paige:
I guess, you´ll also get a chance to meet my teacher! What are you still doing here, Mr. Hudson?
Mr. Hudson:
I had work to do, before I could start my weekend. I´m actually glad, I caught you, miss Michalchuk.
Paige:
Couldn´t have a good weekend without wishing me one, could you? Well, the same to you!
Dylan can´t help smiling to himself.
Mr. Hudson:
We need to have a talk on Monday. It´s about your performance on the last three tests, you´ve taken in my class.
Dylan´s face turns to worry, but Paige tries to stay chipper for show.
Paige:
I know that they weren´t my best work, but was it really that bad?
Mr. Hudson:
It´s your yearly average, I´m very worried over. If you´re going to work your way up to a passing grade, you´ll have to seriously step things up in the last part of this semester, I´m afraid. Have a nice weekend, miss Michalchuk. We´ll talk more on Monday.
Him and Dylan give each other a small nod and he leaves them. Paige now can´t hide her worry either.
Paige:
I wish, you hadn´t heard that.
Dylan:
Now I´m staring to get, why this isn´t your favorite subject. How bad is it?
Paige:
We´re talking me needing to pull off a B plus average.
Dylan:
What´s your average now?
Paige:
I´d rather not ...
Dylan:
Paige, I can´t help you, unless you tell me.
Paige:
D minus. It feels so embarrassing to say it out loud! I have a new found respect for JT, for taking all of his bad grades in stride now!
Dylan:
Adjusting to life in college can be hard for everyone. My grades took a slip too, compared to high school.
Paige:
Not like mine!
She almost starts to cry, so he gives her a comforting hug, that she clearly needed.
Dylan:
It´ll be okay, Paige. It´s just one subject out of many, you have to work on.
Paige:
No, it isn´t. It´s more than half of my classes, where I´m having trouble keeping up. In the rest of them, classes where I got straight A´s in high school, I´m okay at best.
They break the hug and he gives her a re-assuring smile.
Dylan:
It´s not over yet. We Michalchuk´s are fighters, right?
He gets a small smile out of her.
Paige:
Right.
Dylan:
What do true fighters do?
Paige:
They never give up.
Dylan:
We´ll start figuring all of that out tomorrow. Tonight is about us enjoying ourselves and hanging out for the first time since last summer. That´s why I came here.
Paige:
I´m sorry that you have such a screw up for a sister, Dylan.
Dylan:
You´re many things, but you´re not a screw up. It might not seem that way now, but it is a solvable problem.
She tries to smile it off.
6. Int. Car. Evening.
Holly J and Sav are in the back seat of a taxi, dressed their best.
Sav:
It isn´t too unfashionable to show up in a taxi?
Holly J:
It would be, if my uncle didn´t own the taxi company. We get rides for free, whenever we want them. Isn´t that true, driver?
Driver:
That is true, miss Sinclair.
Sav looks impressed.
Holly J:
I might as well take advantage of it. He has more than enough money, as it is.
Sav:
Is he Hermione´s father?
Holly J:
Yep, the man, who spawned Satan herself!
Sav:
Is there anyone in your family, that you like?
Holly J:
There is Heather.
Sav:
I´ve heard stories about her.
Holly J:
Most of them aren´t true. She´s been bullied by Hermione, even worse than I have. She´s actually a very nice girl, when you get to know her.
Sav:
At least it won´t be a complete lion´s den, we´ll be walking into.
Holly J:
Oh, how wrong you are!
He looks a little worried now.
7. Int. Fancy House. Evening.
Sav and Holly J come into the huge lobby, where many of her family members are, including her mom, who´s talking to Heather and the queen bitch herself, Hermione, who´s with a tall and athletic looking guy with teeth that are so white, that he could be in a toothpaste commercial. She unwraps a large present and looks to be enjoying herself. It is a pasty white room except for Sav however, so him and Holly J get plenty of stares and whispers for most people. Her mom sees them and hurries over to them, looking flustered.
Holly J´s Mom:
I told you to get a REAL DATE, honey!
Holly J:
What are you talking about? He IS my REAL DATE.
Her mom tries to take it in, but is clearly having trouble with it. Holly J and Sav both find it a little amusing.
Sav:
Sav Bhandari, Mrs. Sinclair.
He offers her a handshake and she only barely touches his hand, as she shakes it.
Holly J´s Mom:
Is that an Indian name?
Sav:
It is.
Holly J´s Mom:
Heavens to Betsy!
Holly J:
Sav, tell her what your parents do for a living.
Sav:
My father is an electrician and my mother is a home maker. She also does home care for elderly people in our community, who don´t have families of their own to help them. For free, of course.
Holly J:
They´re honest, hard working people. Wouldn´t you agree, Sav?
Sav:
Absolutely. What do you do for a living, Mrs. SInclair?
Holly J:
She´s never worked a day in her life.
Holly J´s Mom:
Holly J! Where are your manners?
Holly J:
Sorry, mom. We should go over and say hi to Hermione.
Sav:
It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Sinclair.
She rushes out of there, to Holly J and Sav´s amusement. Someone else, who´s amused too, even if they didn´t see it, is Heather.
Holly J:
You have to admit, that was fun!
Sav:
We should try this on my family some time.
Holly J:
You know where to find me. Are you ready for the main event?
Sav:
After you.
They walk over to Hermione and her new guy. She opens another present and is two plane tickets.
Hermione:
Two tickets to Brazil! Nice one, aunt Hervina!
Guy:
We can go there in the fall.
Holly J:
Good idea. I hear that it´s extremely hot there in the summer.
Hermione almost starts to laugh at the sight of Holly J and Sav together, holding hands.
Hermione:
Good one, Holly J! Where´s your real date?
Holly J:
This is my date. Sav, meet my dear cousin Hermione.
Hermione:
No, seriously! You can´t bring one of those to MY PARTY and expect me to accept it!
Sav:
"One of those"? One of those what?
Hermione:
How do I put this nicely? There´s one element in here, that doesn´t fit with the rest and it´s you!
Guy:
You should leave, the both of you.
He gets between the two girls, seeing as they´re getting a bit feisty.
Holly J:
We just got here! Are you really kicking me out, because I brought a black guy?
Hermione:
Don´t pretend like you weren´t expecting this reaction from me! I´m never inviting you to anything again!
Holly J:
You´re such a racist!
Sav:
We´d rather go somewhere, where we´re welcome anyway!
Guy:
That´s it!
He tries to grab Sav arm, but Sav won´t let him.
Holly J:
We can find the door on our own. Have a nice life, Hermione!
Hermione:
You too and by the way, thanks for destroying the purity in our family, Holly J!
Holly J and Sav walk away from them and smile at each other. They´ve almost reached the door, when Heather comes over to them.
Heather:
That was the greatest thing, I´ve ever seen! Can I come with you guys?
Holly J:
Is it okay with you, Sav?
Sav:
Yeah, sure. You´re Heather, right?
Heather looks pleased and nods.
8. Int. Andy´s Apartment. Evening.
Paige, Dylan, Ashley and Andy are having dinner, some classic pasta dish, that looks quite delicious. Everyone´s enjoying themselves except for Paige, who´s starting to get withdrawals and isn´t eating much.
Andy:
Doesn´t it taste good?
Paige:
Yeah, it´s not that.
Dylan:
It´s better than what I usually eat. Me and half the guys on my floor pretty much survive on Pot Noodles.
Ashley:
On our floor it´s mainly Spaghetti and Ketchup, I think.
Andy:
I used to have an entire cupboard, that I filled with cans of ravioli once a month.
The three of them laugh. Paige gets up from her seat.
Paige:
I´ll be back in a moment.
Andy:
Are you okay?
Paige:
It´s nothing.
She leaves them.
Andy:
You guys must have a ton of cute stories from her childhood, she keeps a secret from me.
Ashley:
Did she tell you the story of her 8th birthday party?
Andy:
I don´t believe she has.
Dylan:
That´s a good one!
Paige almost staggers into the bathroom.
9. Int. Bathroom. Evening.
Paige throws up the food she has eaten and is sweating profusely now. She flushes the toilet and puts the seat down, before sitting. The withdrawals are starting to hit her hard, as she fights to stand up and washes the taste of puke out of her mouth. Looking herself in the mirror, it´s hard to hide that she´s not doing well.
10. Int. Andy´s Apartment. Evening.
The other three are enjoying themselves, when Paige comes back in.
Ashley:
Terri was laughing so hard, that we were afraid, she was gonna choke to death!
Dylan:
She wasn´t the only one!
They stop laughing, when they see how sick Paige looks. Andy gets up and helps her to sit down.
Andy:
You´re not okay!
Paige:
I don´t want to be sick again!
Ashley:
It´s been happening a lot lately. You need to see a doctor.
Dylan:
You haven´t told me about this.
Paige:
It´s bad luck, nothing else. I keep catching one germ after another.
Andy:
It´s not normal. Next week, I´m taking you to a doctor, whether you like it or not.
Paige:
Why, when I don´t need to? I´ll be fine in a day or two. It´ll be a waste of his time and ours.
She looks defiant, but the others still worry about her.
Ashley:
It could be stress related.
Andy:
I read that too. People with high stress levels often suffer from weak immune systems as a side effect. Are you stressed out, Sweetie?
Dylan:
Tell them about your grades. They should know.
Paige doesn´t look happy that he brought it up, but not angry either.
Paige:
They´re not good. Another way of putting it would be, that I´m flunking out, if things don´t improve soon.
Ashley:
With your parents getting divorced on top on it, it´s no wonder, that you´ve been stressed to the max!
Dylan:
We´ll find a way. You have my word.
Andy:
Now that we know what the issue is, we can start working to fix it. I won´t rest easy, until you´re happy again.
Paige:
I love you, Andy.
They kiss and Dylan and Ashley look happy for them. Paige tries to gather herself, so they won´t suspect that she hasn´t told them everything.
11. Int. The Dot. Evening.
Sav, Holly J and Heather are hanging out and having fun.
Heather:
You guys aren´t really a couple?
Sav:
My girlfriend would mind!
Heather:
Is she ...
Sav:
The same skin color as you and Holly J? Yes.
Holly J:
People at school are a lot more accepting of mix race couples, than our family is. That is one positive thing, I´ll say about them.
Heather:
Do your parents accept it?
Sav:
I wish, I could tell you that it´s smooth sailing. My parents have nothing personal against her, but they´re still in denial, that I won´t do as they say and break up with her. Her parents aren´t happy, that she´s dating a Hindu, more than it´s about my skin color. They´ve been nice enough though, the times I´ve spoken to them.
Holly J:
What´s with the interrogation, Heather?
Heather smiles to herself.
Heather:
I´ve met someone. His name is Tyrone.
Holly J and Sav look happy for her.
Sav:
Met, as in ...
Heather:
As in. I´ve never me anyone, who makes me feel as good, as he does.
Holly J:
I´m so happy for you!
Heather:
It´s all great, except I´ve been worried how our family will react.
Sav:
Now you know. Did it scare you off from telling them?
Heather shakes her head.
Heather:
If anything, it made me more eager to. It´s more than due time, someone broke the mold in the Sinclair family.
Holly J:
Ain´t that the truth!
They smile at each other.
12. Int. Stone´s Room. Evening.
Stone lets Paige in and she sits down.
Paige:
Can you help me?
Stone:
You´ll have to start paying me soon. I´m not made of money.
Paige:
Can I worry about one thing at a time?
He gets a small mirror out and prepares a line for her. She rolls up a money note and quickly snorts it. It immediately does the trick and she´s looking much better.
CLOSING CREDITS