WHAT IF? - SEASON 4 EPISODE 3 - GOOD COMPANY
1. Int. Angie´s Room. Evening.
Craig is playing guitar with Angie, who´s improving at a rapid rate. He can´t hide how impressed he is with her and loves to see her enjoying herself, while she´s playing, more than anything. They make eye contact to set up the ending, but they mess it up a tiny bit and don´t finish at the same time.
Craig:
So close!
Angie:
We´ll get it next time.
They smile at each other.
Craig:
You are gonna be the next Nancy Wilson at this rate!
Angie:
Who´s she?
Craig:
Her and her sister Ann have a band named "Heart", that were huge in the 80´s. A big part of why, was that Nancy was as good of a guitar player, as any guy you could put up against her. Add Ann´s awesome voice and you had a winning formula.
Angie:
A sibling duo, huh? That´s unusual.
Craig:
Not really. The Carpenters were brother and sister and they were the biggest thing in music, for a while there in the 70´s.
Angie:
Maybe we should start a band.
Craig can´t help loving her go to attitude.
Craig:
We will someday, Ange. When we do, we´re gonna travel the world together and sell millions of CD´s.
She smiles to herself at the thought of it.
2. Int. Joey and Caitlyn´s Living Room. Evening.
JT are Manny are chilling out on the couch and are watching TV, when Craig comes in.
Craig:
It´s nice to see that you two are staying active!
Manny:
I´ve done enough today!
JT:
If I´m gonna find the energy to not pay attention in my classes tomorrow, I need to load up!
Manny:
Did you have fun with Angie?
Craig:
She´s incredible, that kid! I had no idea, how much I would miss her, until I went away.
JT:
There´s no place like home, eh?
Craig nods in agreement, when his cell phone rings. He puts it to his ear.
Craig:
Craig here.
He listens for a handful of seconds.
Craig:
I guess, I can. See ya.
He hangs up.
Manny:
Who was it?
Craig:
My manager. It´s the first time, I´ve heard from him in months.
He looks pleased.
OPENING CREDITS
3. Int. Hallway. Day.
Craig is talking to Sean on their way to class.
Sean:
What did he want to talk about?
Craig:
There´s a band, a signed band, who´s looking for a guitar player, that can do some background vocals too.
Sean:
What´s holding you back?
Craig:
First of all, they´re based out of Vancouver. It would mean, that I´d have to move again.
Sean:
So?
Craig looks annoyed, that Sean isn´t getting it.
Craig:
So, the last time I did, I ended up being miserable all the time!
Sean:
Do you still want music to be your future?
Craig:
I guess so. It´s always been my dream.
Sean:
Maybe it´s time you asked yourself, if it really is what you want to do with your life. I wouldn´t do it, no matter how much you paid me.
Craig:
Why not? Stardom, girls, money, all of it sounds good in my ears!
Sean:
You´re talking being away from home almost all the time, being hounded by the press, every time you go outside and if there´s one saying I believe in, it´s that more money brings more problems. I prefer being an anonymous nobody, any day of the week.
Craig doesn´t look like he entirely agrees with him, but can´t argue with Sean´s point.
4. Int. Gymnasium. Day.
Manny is looking over a sketch, while work is going on all around her to get the gymnasium ready for the evening. JT comes over to her.
JT:
Have you regretted saying yes to this yet?
Manny:
Only the first fifty times, at least!
He puts his arm around her and smiles at her, which cheers her up a little.
JT:
Let this be a lesson to you. Whenever anyone asks you to volunteer for something, you say no!
Manny:
Even if it´s to taste test gourmet food?
JT:
Free food is always great food, gourmet or otherwise!
Manny:
JT, how am I gonna put on talent show on in less than ten hours, when all we have are four acts and all of them were terrible in rehearsal?
JT:
Don´t worry. The bar has been set incredibly low in this competition, when you look at the winners of the past years.
Manny:
Remember our freshman year, when that girl won, because she could take off her bra, without taking her shirt off?
JT:
Hey, that girl got a thunderous applause from the male segment of the audience, myself included! The year after it was the guy, who balanced a very dead looking slug on his upper lip, that took home the coveted prize of "Possibly Being Degrassi´s Least Untalented".
Manny:
That was a Charlie Chaplin impression!
JT:
Was it? Anyway, there´s no way you can do worse than last year´s show, so don´t stress too hard. When expectations are set this low, there´s no way you can fail!
He gives her a kiss on the cheek and leaves her to her work.
5. Int. Classroom. Day.
Craig and Sean are goofing off before class starts, but Craig stops when he gets a text. He smiles widely to himself, as he reads it. Sean finds it funny.
Sean:
Could you like her more?
Craig:
I don´t know who you´re talking about!
Sean:
Janice, the girl with the nasal voice from "Friends"! Who do you think, I´m talking about?
Craig:
She´s cool and everything, but she´s into classical music and I´m a rocker.
Sean:
As long as you have a set of working boy´s parts and she has a set of working girl´s parts, that´s all you need to have in common!
Craig smiles at his remark. Manny practically comes running in and has to catch her breath.
Craig:
Cutting it a little close there, aren´t we, Manny?
Manny rolls her eyes at him and goes to sit with Emma. We keep the focus on them.
Emma:
How are the preparations going?
Manny:
Can we talk about anything else?
Emma:
That bad, huh?
Manny:
Our best act is Anya and Holly J´s comedy routine and I´m being nice, if I say that it needs a little work to be perfected! Can´t you do some of your stand-up material?
Emma:
And get detention every day, that isn´t named Sunday, from now until graduation? I´ll pass!
Manny:
Please? Plus, someone has to keep JT company for the next months, while he does his detention for cheating on that test last week.
Emma:
He´s got plenty of company in all his class mates, who got busted along with him. Find someone else.
Manny thinks hard about it.
Manny:
There´s Craig, but he´s already turned me down once.
Emma:
You can´t blame him. It´s not like this is a competition you want to be linked to in people´s minds! If you gave him some extra incentive, though ...
Manny sees what she means.
Manny:
Maybe our new violin prodigy could do the trick.
Emma:
It´s worth a shot. If knew that a guy I liked would be somewhere, I would be more inclined to go to that place.
Manny nods in agreement.
6. Int. Music Room. Day.
Allison is practicing her violin on one of the breaks, when Manny comes in. Allison stops playing and looks a little embarrassed.
Allison:
You´ve found out my deep, dark secret!
Manny:
That you come here to get a break from the madness outside that door?
Allison:
When I´m playing, I block everything out and it´s like I become one with the instrument. You won´t believe how liberating it feels, to be in complete control of something like that.
Manny:
Complete control can be over rated. Take me and Craig, for example.
Allison looks very interested, now that Manny brought Craig up.
Allison:
It sounds like, you want to tell me a story.
Manny:
Once upon a time, there was a 15 year old boy named Craig Manning. He was a sweet and kind boy, who like most other boys his age, had begun taking a liking to girls. Which would be fine, except that he liked two of them at the same time. To make it worse, both of those girls liked him back.
Allison:
A dangerous combination!
Manny:
First, there was this one girl. She was a year younger than him, hadn´t tried anything wild in her sheltered upbringing and was painfully shy, when it came to boys, she didn´t know well. She´d liked Craig from afar for a long time, but she never actually thought, that he could like her back. That all changed, when he asked her to dance one evening. Everything would have been great for them, except for girl number two. She was Craig´s age, had much more life experience and on the surface, they seemed like they were meant to be together.
Allison:
Does girl number one and two hate one another, she asked curiously?
Manny shakes her head.
Manny:
They weren´t friends or anything like that, but they never hated each other. But after girl number one became pregnant with Craig´s child, she couldn´t help asking herself, if he only stayed with her, because he felt that it was his obligation. That the shadow of the second girl would always be looming above them, as a ghost of the past, that they couldn´t escape from.
Allison:
I´m sorry.
Manny:
You figured out my brilliant code, huh? Anyway, what I´m trying to say, is that if it hadn´t been for that girl, whose real name was Ashley, we would still be a couple, because he´s a great guy, It saddens me, that we couldn´t make it work, but it saddens me even more to see him alone and being so unlucky, when it comes to love. He likes you.
Allison gets shy, which the perceptive Manny of course picks up on.
Allison:
Did he say that to you, in so many words?
Manny:
When have you gotten a straight answer from a boy, when it comes to matters of the heart?
Allison:
Good point!
Manny:
As not only his ex-girlfriend, but someone who´s known him for years, I can tell. The question is, are you gonna wait for him to do something about it, which spoiler: could take him a while, or are you gonna grab the bull by the horns?
Allison looks sold on the idea. Manny smiles to herself, knowing that she has her girl.
7. Int. Gymnasium. Day.
Sean, Emma and Craig have been hi-jacked to work on setting up for the show. Manny is with them.
Sean:
When you asked if we wanted an extra free period, I didn´t think you meant working!
Craig:
You cheated us!
Manny:
You´re not in class right now, are you?
Emma:
I guess not, but ...
Manny:
How is it not a free period, then?
Craig:
Free implies that you get to do what you want to, not what someone else tells you to.
Manny:
Emma, take Sean with you and make yourselves useful, while I have a chat with Craig.
Emma:
Sure thing, General Santos!
Emma salutes her and leaves with Sean. Craig looks annoyed.
Craig:
That still wasn´t nice, Manny.
Manny:
No one says that you have to work, if you don´t want to. We´re still short on acts for the show and having you on would raise the bar considerably.
Craig:
You can´t blackmail me into performing!
Allison comes over to them with her violin case.
Allison:
Do I just tell them to let me backstage, now that I´m in the show? Hi, Craig.
Her and Craig smile at each other.
Craig:
Hi, Allison. You´re entering the competition?
Allison:
I wasn´t going to, but Manny talked me into it.
Craig:
You do know that last year´s winner won for perfectly packing his laundry basket, that he brought from home, dirty laundry included?
Allison makes wide eyes at Manny over Craig´s remark.
Allison:
Huh?
Manny:
He did pack it perfectly, there´s no denying that! Think of it this way, you two will be the saviors of this year´s competition, the ones who make it rise above all of the other talent competitions, that this fair gymnasium has seen over the decades!
Allison:
Does this mean, that you´re entering too, Craig?
Manny:
It would mean that you would have spent a lot of time together today ...
Craig:
Yeah, of course, I am!
All three of them look pleased at how this day is turning out.
8. Ext. Degrassi. Evening.
People are coming up to the school, where a banner has been hung by the entrance announcing that there is the annual talent show on tonight. In a twist of irony, they mis-spelled the word "Talent" to give it two L´s. A lot of people find amusing and among them are JT and Toby.
Toby:
If that isn´t an omen, I don´t know what is!
JT:
Ah, the annual talentless show! The one evening a year, where I sit in the crowd and feel better about my crummy grades and lack of academic potential, because at least I´m not up on that stage! It could be the one part of going here, that I´ll miss, when I graduate.
Toby:
Not with your latest set of grades, you won´t!
JT:
Laugh it up, Nerf Herder!
Toby:
Isn´t that why we came here?
JT nods in agreement.
JT:
If I don´t see at least three things, that fall into the so bad it´s good category, I´ll be seriously disappointed!
Toby:
After that kid who tried juggling with flaming torches last year, I just hope that no one ends up in the hospital.
JT:
Like I said to you, right after we saw it happen live, let´s be thankful, that he didn´t try it with any sharp objects!
They both wince, when thinking back on it and head inside with the crowd.
9. Int. Backstage Area. Evening.
Manny is trying to gather the troops for a pep talk, before the show goes on. The contestants are: Craig, Allison, Anya and Holly J (performing as a duo), Peter, Danny and Derek (performing as a trio), Mia and Chantay (in their Spirit Squad uniforms, performing as a duo) and some very lazy looking boy, who´s holding a laundry basket with a big top on it, that´s filled with what looks like very dirty clothes that have been thrown in indiscriminately. On the very top is a pair of white underpants, that have a wide and very visible skid mark on them. It almost makes Chantay gag, when she sees it. Many of the others have to hold their noses, because of the smell coming from the dirty clothes. Manny only releases the grip on her own nose, to talk to them.
Manny:
We´ll have last year´s champion starting us off, followed by Anya and Holly J, then the Jackass boys, followed by Mia and Chantay, before we have Craig on and finally Allison. Everyone got that?
Chantay:
Just get that thing out of here, before I barf!
Manny:
I couldn´t agree more! Usually I would say "Break a Leg", but in this case I´m saying "Try Not to Break a Leg"! You´ll have to settle for "Good Luck". Laundry boy, come with me and stay a few steps behind!
Manny and "Laundry Boy" leave them and Mia sprays some air freshener into the air.
Holly J:
You´re a life saver!
Mia:
I heard from one of last year´s contestants, that it wouldn´t hurt to bring a can of air freshener.
Peter smiles teasingly at her.
Peter:
Are you ready to get your butt handed to you?
Mia:
By you three dumbasses? Don´t make me laugh!
Peter and Mia get aroused by their rivalry and kiss wildly, getting them whistles from Chantay and Peter´s friends. Allison and Craig take a more cool approach to it, though and go to talk, a bit away from the others.
Allison:
What kind of guy gets turned on by being called a dumbass?
Craig:
Guys like him, apparently!
They laugh together.
Allison:
Are you nervous?
Craig:
A little. I haven´t performed live since I came back here last summer.
Allison:
Why haven´t you?
Craig thinks about it.
Craig:
Because it reminds me, that I failed. That I wasn´t good enough to make it, when push came to shove.
Allison:
Craig, you´re only a year older than me. You have decades to make it in the music industry, if that´s what you want to do. You can still become a rock star in your 30´s, as long as you don´t look it.
Craig looks surprised in a good way.
Craig:
I thought, you only liked classical music.
Allison:
Just because it´s by far the music, I prefer to listen to, doesn´t mean that I don´t listen to anything else. We get VH1, where I live.
They smile at each other.
10. Int. Gymnasium. Evening.
We get a montage of the night´s acts.
First up is the "Laundry Boy". The crowd looks on in utter amazement, as he manages to fold the huge amount of dirty laundry just right and gets in packed absolutely perfectly in the laundry basket, so that it only just reaches the edge and not a quarter of an inch above it! He holds the laundry basket up and gets a rousing ovation from the crowd!
We cut to JT and Toby in the crowd.
JT:
He could take that show on the road!
Toby:
He should!
JT nods in agreement, as they clap enthusiastically.
Next up we have Anya and Holly J´s comedy routine.
Anya:
I wonder what´s on the menu in the cafeteria today?
Holly J:
Today is Lasagna day.
Anya:
How do you know?
Holly J:
Because they run all of their dishes on a two week rotation!
Anya and Holly J stops to wait for laughs, but none are coming. Even JT face palms at how bad they are.
Next up are Degrassi´s Jackass crew. Derek has his legs spread, while Danny is holding a basketball. Peter has a microphone.
Peter:
For our first stunt of the evening, Derek will take a basketball to the nuts. Are you nervous, Derek?
Derek:
Let´s do this!
Peter:
Can I get you wonderful people here tonight to count down along with me?
Peter/Crowd:
5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ...
Derek braces himself, as Danny throws the ball hard down on the stage, so that it ricochets right up into Derek´s "Most Sensitive Area". He goes down, as the crowd applauds them.
Derek:
Ahhhhhhhhhh!
Peter:
Thank you! I´m sure that Derek would say the same, if he were able to talk. Next up, we have "The Human Cannonball", where we test Danny´s abs to the extreme!
Derek moans, as he lies there holding his nuts in pain. Toby and JT find it hilarious.
Next on the ballot are Mia and Chantay, who are doing a dance routine to the song "Dirty" by Christina Aguilera. Dirty is also a very good way to describe the dance itself, while some would describe it as bordering on child porn. What is for sure though, is that they´ve won over every teenage boy in the audience, based on the amount of wide open mouths there are among many of them, often to the annoyance of their girlfriends, who they´re sitting with. JT and Toby are among those with their mouths wide open.
Craig and Allison watch them from the side of the stage.
Craig:
How am I gonna follow that up?
Allison:
Beats me! I´m straight as an arrow and even I´m getting turned on a little!
He bats an eye at her last remark and gets an idea.
Next up we have Craig performing Monty Python´s "I Bet You They Won´t Play This Song on the Radio" to the amusement of the crowd.
Craig (singing):
I bet you, they won´t play this song on the radio.
I bet you, they won´t play this new (beep) -ing song.
It´s not that it´s dirty or even controversial, just that the (beep) -ing words are awfully strong.
You can´t say (beep) on the radio.
Or (beep) or (beep) or (beep).
You can´t even say "I´d like to (beep) you someday"
Unless you´re a doctor with a very large (beep).
We cut to Toby and JT enjoying the song in the crowd. Toby turns to JT.
Toby:
I´m actually entertained for real this year!
JT:
He´s good, but my money is still on "Laundry Boy"!
Finally we have Allison and where as the other acts were entertaining in their own way, she plays that violin as if the angels themselves were singing. Even this crowd, who aren´t exactly the most cultured group of people you´d meet, are taken by it´s beauty and stay perfectly quiet throughout the performance. It makes Toby so emotional, that he sheds a tear, which he quickly wipes away with his hand. JT gives him a pad on the shoulder to tell him, that it´s okay.
Allison is clapped off stage and Manny comes on to take her place. She has a microphone in her hand.
Manny:
Let´s hear it for our contestants this year!
She gets a very nice applause from the crowd.
Manny:
Remember that you can either cast your vote at one of the tables we have set up in the lobby or by texting the number on your programmes. We´ll be back in half an hour with the results.
She gets off the stage and we cut back down to Toby and JT, who get their phones out.
Toby:
I´m voting for that last girl.
JT:
Same here. I didn´t know that music could make me feel that way.
Toby:
Does this mean, you´ll start listening classical music now? It wouldn´t hurt you to get any tiny bit more cultured.
JT:
Let´s not get ahead of ourselves!
They get to work on casting their votes.
11. Int. Lobby. Evening.
The contestants are trying to secure some last minute votes. People are being allowed to take pictures of themselves posing with the laundry basket, while Peter and Danny are trying their best to hold off horny boys from hitting on their girlfriends. Craig and Allison are standing together and aren´t making much of an effort. The only ones who are, are Anya and Holly J.
Craig:
Who do you think will win?
Allison:
The dancing girls. Nothing sells like a bit of jailbait TNA among teenage boys!
Craig:
I don´t know. That laundry folder was impressive!
They smile at one another.
Allison:
We may have seen the future of entertainment tonight!
Craig:
Hopefully not.
Allison:
Is it weird, that I want to see it done as a competition?
Craig:
I´d pay to see it!
Allison:
You can sign me up to go with you! I hope that you win.
Craig:
I don´t.
Allison:
Why not? Don´t you like winning?
Craig:
Not when I know there was someone, who was on a different level than I was.
She smiles shyly at his sweet words.
Allison:
The dancing girls?
Craig:
Fourteen year old me would have voted for them. Then again, fourteen year old me was an idiot, who only cared about touching his first set of puberty boobs.
Allison laughs.
Craig:
The guy I am now knows true talent, when he sees it. You have a gift.
Allison:
There´s probably five thousand violinists, who can play that piece.
Craig:
I don´t believe, that any of them can play it like you can.
Allison is flattered. His praise is clearly hitting home with her.
Allison:
Yeah, but my song didn´t have every swearword in the book in it!
Craig:
It did leave a few out.
Allison:
Not more than a few! Do you think, you´ll get detention?
Craig:
If they go hard on me, I´ll be banned from performing at this competition again!
Allison:
What a tragedy!
Manny comes over to them.
Manny:
We´re making the announcement in five.
Craig:
Thanks.
Manny:
You were amazing, Allison! Thanks so much for doing this!
Allison:
My pleasure.
Craig:
How was I?
Manny:
Entertaining.
Craig:
If we had still been dating ...
Manny:
You wouldn´t have been allowed to touch me for two weeks! But we´re thankfully not.
Manny and Craig nod at each other.
12. Int. Gymnasium. Evening.
The contestants are gathered on stage, along with Manny. The crowd are back in their seats.
Manny:
It´s time to reveal, who our winner or winners are. In third place and winning a twenty dollar gift certificate to the cafeteria: Laundry Boy!
Laundry boy takes his gift certificate and there are some boos, that he didn´t win.
Manny:
In second place, winning the forty dollar gift certificate: Allison Myers!
Allison looks pleasantly surprised, as she gets her prize. Craig applauds for her louder than anyone.
Manny:
The winner of first prize and the sixty dollar gift certificate is ... The Jackass Boys!
Mia and Chantay look very disappointed, as they get to watch their boyfriends celebrate their win, along with a very sore looking Derek. Craig, as well as Anya and Holly J look okay with it.
13. Int. The Dot. Evening.
Craig is discussing the evening´s events with Jane, who´s working.
Craig:
Allison sort of won in the end, since she won the most prize money.
Jane:
I would have thought, Mia and Chantay had every boy in the crowd voting for them.
Craig:
They probably did, until their girlfriends saw who they were voting for.
Jane:
They probably didn´t do too well in the female vote either! Although, was the girl´s Lacrosse team there, because they could have gotten at least a few votes from those girls?
Craig:
I didn´t see them, but I wasn´t looking.
Jane:
Were you busy looking at someone else? Perhaps someone, who I hear plays a wonderful violin and has a name, that begins with an A?
Craig:
You don´t think I would be crazy to pursue a relationship with someone, who´s different from me in such a fundamental way? Music is a big part of my life, just like it is in hers. Only the two types of music are like night and day.
Jane:
Say the first thing that comes to mind. Which do you prefer, apples or pears?
Craig:
Pears.
Jane:
Who´s your favorite guitar player, Clapton or Hendrix?
Craig:
Hendrix.
Jane:
What´s the worst movie, you´ve seen?
Craig:
Meatballs 3.
Jane winces.
Jane:
That does sound bad!
Craig:
It´s an hour and a half of my life, that I want back!
Jane:
Who´s the hottest girl in the world?
Craig:
Jessica Alba.
Jane:
Would you rather kiss her or Allison?
Craig:
Alison.
Jane smiles warmly at him, making him smile too.
Craig:
You are so good, that it´s getting scary!
Jane:
You would rather kiss Allison, than the girl, who by your own definition is the hottest in the entire world?
Craig:
I´m sure that Jessica is nice, but I´ve never met her. She could turn out to be horrible. Allison I already know that I like and she´s not too far behind, when it comes to looks.
Jane:
There you have your answer.
She goes to tend to a customer, as Craig mulls her answer over.
14. Ext. Degrassi. Morning.
Craig and Sean are walking up to the school.
Craig:
I´ve decided to say thanks, but no thanks to that audition.
Sean:
It could be your big chance.
Craig:
Something tells me, that it isn´t. I´ve had a lot of time to think about, what went wrong that first time around.
Sean:
What´s your conclusion?
Craig:
That I need to get better, both as a guitar player and as a song writer, before I´m ready.
Sean:
It has nothing to do with a certain girl, that you don´t feel like skipping town?
Craig:
It could have.
He smiles to himself.
CLOSING CREDITS