WHAT IF? - SEASON 4 EPISODE 6 - YOU´RE MY BEST FRIEND (PART 2)
1. Int. Hall. Day.
Bianca comes home from school and hears voices coming from inside the living room, one of which being a man´s voice, that she´s not used to hearing. She becomes curious and decides to see, who it is.
2. Int. Living Room. Day.
Bianca comes into the living room to find Snake and Spike speaking to a rather handsome man in his early 30´s. This is Adrian, a man with several noticeable physical traits in common with her. They don´t notice her at first.
Adrian:
When I heard, I felt like I had to do something. I feel so guilty over not having been here for her.
Spike:
I can´t tell you, if she´s ready to accept you into her life again.
Bianca:
What do you mean again?
They look up at her. Adrian and Bianca make eye contact and it´s a tense moment for sure.
Bianca:
It´s not like you´ve ever been there for me before, dad!
She storms out.
3. Int. Basement. Day.
Bianca lies down on her bed and sulks. Snake comes down the stairs to join her.
Bianca:
I´m not talking to him!
Snake:
I won´t make you, if you don´t want to, so relax.
Bianca:
He doesn´t deserve to call himself my dad. He´s a sperm donor, nothing else!
Snake:
He gave us a phone number, you can reach him at. He´ll be in town for a few days, in case you change your mind.
Bianca:
I won´t!
Snake:
There´s no way, I could begin to put myself in your shoes. All I ask, is that you consider it as an option. You´ve lost the first years of your life with him. It doesn´t mean that you have to lose the rest of them.
She looks like her mind is pretty set on it though.
OPENING CREDITS
4. Int. Hallway. Day.
Bianca and Imogen are heading to class. Bianca is still annoyed over the day before.
Bianca:
If he thinks that after 14 years of pretending, I was never born, he can weasel his way into my life and I´ll forgive him, it´s time for him to stop dreaming!
Imogen:
I´m sorry, that you have such a loser for a dad.
Bianca:
It´s not like my mom is any better.
Imogen:
You´ve never had contact with him until now?
Bianca:
My aunt told me, that he showed up at the hospital for about ten minutes on the day I was born. That should tell you all about how little cared about becoming a dad for the second time. By the age of 19, I might add!
Imogen:
It sounds like he was quite the player back in his day.
Bianca:
That´s the way my mom described him. Not that she´s the most credible source, I will admit.
Imogen:
You really had a sucky childhood, didn´t you? Now I feel bad for having a relatively good one.
Bianca:
It can never be your fault, that I got saddled with the two of them as my parents.
Imogen:
My mom can be a huge pain, especially when she wants me to be like everyone else. But my dad is the sweetest man in the world. I thoroughly believe that.
She gets a small smile out of Bianca.
Bianca:
It sounds like, I need to meet him sometime.
Imogen:
What about after school today? You could come over to my house and we´ll hang out.
Bianca:
Can we do it tomorrow? It´s time that I paid someone a visit, who I haven´t seen in a long time.
Imogen:
Sure. Who is it?
Bianca:
My mom. It´s time that I found out how I was made.
Imogen:
If she won´t tell you, there´s plenty of on-line "Instructional Videos"!
Bianca looks glad to have made a friend like Imogen.
4. Int. Classroom. Day.
JT is trying his hardest to pay attention, even though the subject being taught is about as interesting to him as watching grass growing. The subject is "Nepotism" and the teacher is Petrino.
Petrino:
It isn´t a coincidence, that we have the son of a former president in charge of the US at the moment. Even before most of the royal houses started to lose power, you had rich and powerful families, who were close to being as powerful as the Kings and Queens themselves. Today those former noble houses live off their past glory or have switched to calling themselves by a different name: Politicians!
We cut to JT, who has a just as bored looking Danny sitting next to him.
Danny (whispering):
It´s a shame that your dad isn´t someone, who can help you to get places in life.
JT (whispering):
The only place he can get me to is a bus stop!
They try to pay attention to the lesson, but it´s a hard struggle.
5. Int. Hallway. Day.
JT and Danny come out from the classroom, both looking like they just did 72 hours of pole sitting, in a figurative sense.
Danny:
I´m pretty sure that at some point, time actually stopped!
JT:
Minute 32 to 33?
Danny:
You saw it too?
JT:
That was a long minute. For the life of me, I couldn´t tell you what Petrino was talking about. What I can tell you is that it was boring as sin!
Danny:
Only five lessons to go and three days until the weekend!
JT:
I would give anything for something to distract me!
He sees Emma coming towards them. Danny smiles cheekily at him.
Danny:
Have you ever suggested to Manny, that you two and Emma ...
JT:
Of course I have! Wouldn´t you?
Danny:
Don´t think, I haven´t suggested it to Chantay!
JT:
How did that go?
Danny:
I´ll let you know, when she starts speaking to me again! Later!
The two boys fist bump and JT stops to talk to Emma.
Danny:
Hi, Emma. You look amazing today.
Emma:
Thanks, Danny!
She smiles at the unexpected praise. Danny leaves them.
Emma:
It never hurts to hear!
JT:
Any reason for this visit to these halls of shame, I still inhabit?
Emma:
It´s not that terrible, is it?
JT:
If you thought sitting through those classes one time was bad, you wouldn´t last a day in my shoes!
Emma:
I didn´t think, it was!
JT:
You´re also a weirdo!
Emma:
I came to see, if you were okay. My parents told me, that your dad is in town.
It clearly isn´t a subject, that JT likes to talk about, but he goes along with anyway.
JT:
It´s not like the guy means anything to me. He couldn´t even be bothered to pay child support, so why should I give him the time of day?
Emma:
Because I´m also worried over, how Bianca is dealing with it. Have you talked?
JT:
He´s a subject, we´ve both silently agreed to ignore. It´s too painful to bring up all those feelings of abandonment and hundreds of hours wondering, why your daddy doesn´t love you, when your friends have fathers, who do.
Emma:
Before I found out the truth about my dad, I was convinced that the reason I hadn´t seen him, since I was a baby, was because he didn´t want to see me.
JT:
Your dad can´t help being who he is. If that tragic accident hadn´t happened, things would no doubt have looked very different. Mine and Bianca´s made a choice to be an absentee father. There´s a big difference.
Emma:
Can you talk to her, for me at least?
JT:
I was going to anyway.
Emma:
She needs her brother. You´re the only one, who can understand what she´s going through.
He gives her a small nod.
6. Int. Computer Lab. Day.
Bianca is surfing on a PC, when JT comes sauntering through the room. She smiles to herself and looks glad to see him. He smiles back at her.
JT:
There´s the "Queen of Degrassi´s Current Freshmen"!
Bianca:
Not in this world! Have a seat, bro.
JT:
Don´t mind, if I do!
He takes a seat next to her. She´s pulled up their father´s Face Range profile on the PC and for her sake, JT tries to remain calm, as they look at it.
Bianca:
Recognize that mug?
JT:
He looks different from the old picture, I have of him.
Bianca:
I have three pictures of him. Lucky me, huh?
JT:
Do you hate him?
She looks him in the eyes and can see, that he´s being serious.
Bianca:
I´ve spent so long trying to forget about him, that I don´t know how I feel anymore. There´s parts of me that does, but at the same time, I don´t feel like he´s worthy of my hatred. Does that make sense?
JT:
That´s kind of how I feel too. I can´t let bygone´s be bygone´s either.
Bianca:
I´m going to visit my mom today, to find out more about him. Do you want to come?
She looks at him pleadingly and he easily gives in.
JT:
Sure, sis. We can both agree that he´s a sorry excuse for a dad. He did give me you though and for that, I need to thank him. Because now that you are in my life, I can´t imagine it being without my little sister in it. Even if she is wilder, than the wildest episodes of "Red Dwarf"!
He smiles warmly at her. She looks glad to have her older brother in her life too.
7. Ext. Apartment Building. Day.
JT and Bianca come up to a rather run down apartment building in a part of Toronto, that clearly isn´t one that people choose to live in, more than being forced to by circumstances. Bianca is wearing a hoodie, that hides her face. JT looks around.
JT:
Was the place I first visited you nicer, or am I remembering it wrong?
Bianca:
Same place, just far more run down. Everyone´s poor down here, so it´s been allowed to decay. Back when I was a kid, it was still a pretty safe place to grow up.
They reach the door and she presses a button on the panel for the door phones.
Bianca:
Today the war starts on the playground.
JT:
She can´t be living here out of choice!
Bianca:
Do you think anyone does? They live here, because it´s one step above living on the streets.
Bianca´s Mom (voice over):
If you´re trying to sell something, you can find yourself some other sucker!
Bianca:
It´s me, mom.
There´s a short silence, as Bianca nervously awaits her answer.
Bianca´s Mom (voice over):
Bianca? What are you doing here?
Bianca:
Can we talk? I have my half brother JT with me and we´d like to ask you some questions about dad.
There´s a short silence again, as Bianca´s mother considers it.
Bianca´s Mom (voice over):
I guess, it´s the least, I can do for you.
They hear the buzzer and Bianca presses the door open. She looks at JT.
Bianca:
A quick warning, before we go up there. What you´re about to see won´t be pretty. It never is, when it comes to her.
JT:
How long has it been, since you saw her?
Bianca:
Close to a year. When you meet her, you´ll see why I´ve had to cut her out of my life.
JT brazes himself and at the same time feels sorry for Bianca, that she had to live like this.
8. Int. Bianca´s Mother´s Apartment. Day.
The apartment is as sad of a sight, as you would imagine it to be. The furniture is old and worn, it´s very dusty everywhere except for the TV (a remnant from the early 90´s), that looks like it´s the only thing that gets a wipe down regularly. A quick clean up has clearly taken place, but Bianca´s mother Alyssa (a woman who´s only 31, but has clearly been aging rapidly and stopped taking care of herself long ago) is still putting beer cans into a garbage bag, when JT and Bianca sit down on her couch. Alyssa is wearing sweat pants and a T-Shirt that looks like it hasn´t been washed in ages.
Alyssa:
Sorry for the mess. I don´t get many visitors these days.
JT:
It´s okay. You should have seen my old room!
Alyssa gets done with her clean up (or as much as she´s willing to do right now, anyway) and puts the bag away.
Alyssa:
Do you guys want a beer?
JT looks surprised that Alyssa would offer one to her 14 year old daughter, bet Bianca isn´t surprised at all.
Bianca:
I´m not allowed to get drunk anymore.
Alyssa:
What about you, JT? You´re old enough to drink, aren´t you?
JT:
I´m driving, so thanks, but no thanks.
Alyssa:
Suit yourselves! I´m getting one.
Alyssa leaves them.
JT:
She´s pretty lax, when it comes to rules.
Bianca:
The first time she got me drunk, I was six! By the time child services took me away, I was drinking with her almost every day. To her, that had become perfectly normal parenting. I don´t know if she was more sad that she lost her daughter or her drinking buddy.
JT:
I´m sorry. No child should grow up like this.
Bianca:
There´s nothing anyone can do about it now. Can you understand now, why living in my new surroundings has been hard to adjust to?
JT:
All things considered, I would call it natural.
Alyssa comes back with two beers, that she puts on the table in front of, where she´s going to sit.
Bianca:
Aren´t you the efficient one?
Alyssa:
If you know you´re gonna drink two, why only get one? That´s what I always say!
Bianca:
It´s not like I haven´t heard you say that a million times.
Alyssa:
You look like you´re doing alright. Are they treating you good, where you are now?
Bianca:
It´s like living with a real family. My new school is a lot nicer than my old one too.
Alyssa looks glad for her. She´s a terrible mom for sure, but she´s not a terrible person. Just one, who sadly doesn´t know any better. Bianca knows this.
Alyssa:
You deserve it, after paying your dues living here. What are these questions, you have about you dad?
Bianca:
He turned up at my host family´s house yesterday. I have to know exactly what happened between you, to make him decide to abandon me.
Alyssa opens one of her beers and takes a large sip.
Alyssa:
I´ve spent a long time being afraid of when this day would come.
Bianca:
All I want is the truth. You owe me that much. JT knows as little about him, as I do.
JT:
Maybe it would help me to understand, why he did it to me.
Alyssa:
Your own mother never told you?
JT:
She died, when I was nine. She must have though that I was too young to understand. My grandmother can only tell me the parts she knows, which is far from everything.
Bianca:
You would be doing both of us a huge solid. Please, mom.
Alyssa looks ready to tell Bianca the truth.
9. Int. Car. Evening.
JT is driving Bianca back to Emma´s House. The radio is turned off, as they ride on in contemplative silence.
JT:
Do you feel any different about him now?
Bianca:
Knowing that he spent his teens jumping from one girl to another, probably leaving us with more lost siblings across the city? It doesn´t make me want to meet him more, no!
JT:
That was a long time ago. He could have completely changed by now.
Bianca:
No one ever completely changes! You are who you are and that´s that!
JT:
I´ve changed a lot these past years. Manny and me like to joke about what a terrible couple, we would have been, if we´d gotten together, when we were 14. The immature dumbass I was at that age, would have scared her off within a week!
His comment gets a small smile out of Bianca.
JT:
I was nowhere near ready to have a girlfriend like her. But then me and Paige found out that we liked each other and she helped me to grow up immensely in the time, I was with her. Who you know can make a big difference in who you turn out to be.
Bianca:
Are you saying, that I should give him a call?
JT:
Today, we heard your mom´s version of what kind of guy, he was when she knew him. I don´t think you should dismiss him completely, before you find out, if that´s who he still is.
Bianca:
I will, if you do it with me.
JT shakes his head, not being sure about it, when it comes to himself.
JT:
I don´t know. There´s a ton of deep rooted issues there, that I´ve ignored for a long time.
Bianca:
JT, I´m starting to see this more and more like a gift, that´s been given to me. A chance to move on without wondering anymore. Isn´t that what you want too?
JT can´t deny, that she´s right.
10. Int. Manny and JT´s Room. Evening.
Manny and JT are getting ready for bed.
Manny:
Are you more excited or scared over meeting your dad for the first time?
JT:
Half of me wants to get it over with.
Manny:
What about the other half?
JT:
It´s torn between wanting to feel what it´s like to hug him and wanting to tell him off, for abandoning me and my mom without giving us a chance.
Manny:
He was only 15, when he had you. That should be taken into account.
JT:
You were younger, when you had Julia. Craig was his age and at least, he´s trying to be a dad to her. My old man decided that it was someone else´s problem and went on with his life, like nothing had happened. How can I respect a man like that?
Manny gets under the covers and pulls them up for him. He gets underneath them with her and she gives him a kiss.
Manny:
You´ll feel better, after you´ve talked to him.
JT:
Are you sure?
Manny:
As someone, who carried around her share of daddy issues for what felt like the longest time, I know what I´m taking about.
He smiles to himself, hoping that she´ll be right.
11. Int. Classroom. Day.
Bianca and Imogen are talking before class starts.
Imogen:
Did he sound happy, when you called him?
Bianca:
He did. We talked for over half an hour about all kind of things.
Imogen:
Like?
Bianca:
It was pretty obvious, that he didn´t know anything about what had happened to me, until he read my name in the news. I think he was shocked and that was with me leaving out the worst parts.
Imogen:
The ones, you refuse to tell me about too?
Bianca:
You´re innocent and unspoiled, Imogen. I want to keep it that way for as long, as humanly possible. Let me deal with all of the BS, this world will throw at us.
Imogen smiles at her nice words.
Imogen:
You´re meeting with your dad tonight, then?
Bianca:
I´ll have to push our plans for another day, sorry.
Imogen:
It´s okay. This is something that´s potentially life altering, you´re going through. I´ll always be there for you.
Bianca:
I can´t believe, that I´m friends with someone, who´s as sweet as you are!
They smile at each other, which doesn´t go un-noticed by Katie and Marisol.
Marisol (whispering to Katie):
It looks like, you won´t have to worry about her stealing Drew anymore!
Katie (whispering to Marisol):
You don´t think they´re ...
Marisol (whispering to Katie):
It would explain, why we´ve never seen Imogen with a boy and why Bianca has turned down every guy, who´s asked her out, since she got here.
Katie (whispering to Marisol):
Plus, there was that whole thing with Bianca needing an alibi for staying out late?
Marisol (whispering to Katie):
Perhaps it wasn´t a boy after all.
Katie and Marisol smile knowingly (or so they think anyway) at one another.
12. Int. Living Room. Evening.
JT and Bianca are meeting with Adrian at Emma´s House. The air is a bit tense, to say the least.
Adrian:
I suppose you´re both wondering, why I didn´t try to be a father to either of you. It´s not something I´m proud of, but it was what I felt was best for everyone, you included.
JT:
That´s the best, you could come up with, after all these years?
Adrian:
I would have made for a terrible father, you have to believe me.
Bianca:
The thing is that you didn´t even try.
Adrian:
I should have, I know that now. Once I became older and grew more responsible, I wanted to seek you out. I guess I was too ashamed to face you.
JT and Bianca look at each other and nod.
JT:
We´ve talked it over and if you want to ...
Bianca:
We´re willing to give you a second chance.
Adrian looks so happy, that he could cry.
Adrian:
There´s nothing, I could possibly want more!
Bianca and JT look happy with their decision.
13. Ext. Emma´s House. Evening.
JT and Bianca are saying goodnight.
Bianca:
Thanks, JT. I know that I say it a lot, but I really mean it this time.
JT:
I could say the same to you. It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, that somehow had been there for so long, that I´d forgotten about it.
Bianca:
I don´t know when I´ll be ready to call him dad and not Adrian, but it´s nice to not be hating his guts for once.
JT:
Your mom needs help too.
Bianca:
She´s close to being a lost cause. Anyway, I need to get my own life in order, before I start fixing other people´s, wouldn´t you agree?
He nods in agreement and smiles at her.
JT:
I wouldn´t blame you, if you do.
Bianca:
Anyway, I´m allowed to have some fun times, don´t you agree?
JT:
What kind of fun did you have in mind?
Bianca smiles to herself.
14. Int. Imogen´s Dad´s Kitchen. Day.
Bianca and Imogen mime and dance to The Temptations "Ain´t Too Proud To Beg" to end the episode, with Imogen´s dad and their dog Volta getting in on the fun too. The final freeze frame is of Bianca´s smiling face.
CLOSING CREDITS