WHAT IF? - SEASON 5 EPISODE 14 - WOULD?
1. Ext. Degrassi. Day.
KC is sitting with Connor on a bench, where Connor is doing a puzzle on his phone at lightning speed. KC is too busy checking out the girls, before they start covering up for the winter. He´s especially having trouble keeping his eyes off Jenna, who´s practicing her guitar playing by herself and is admittedly looking all kinds of cute to someone his age.
Connor:
Done.
KC:
You did that entire test in ten minutes?
Connor:
Most of the answers were obvious.
KC:
What was your score?
Connor shows him the score on his phone and KC doesn´t look too surprised.
KC:
Why did I bother asking?
Connor:
It was too easy, like most of those quizzes are. I only do them to keep my mind occupied.
KC:
It seems like that´s become your mantra, when it comes to school work!
Connor:
I feel like I get challenged sometimes. It doesn´t happen often, but it happens.
KC:
What can possibly be challenging for you?
Connor:
Girls. I wish I was better at talking to them.
KC smiles at him and nods in agreement.
KC:
Even Superman had his Lex Luthor. You look like you´re doing alright, when you´re talking to Alli and Clare.
Connor:
That´s because we´re all in the gifted program and have that in common. I mean the average girls, who aren´t as intelligent, as we are. Why can´t they be exactly like us?
KC:
Girls are a mystery, but that´s what makes getting to know them so exciting! Take Jenna over there as an example.
Connor:
What about her?
KC:
When you look at Jenna, you see just another girl. I see a girl, where I wonder what her life is like, what she likes and dislikes and what her hopes and dreams are.
Connor:
Most of all, you want to kiss her, don´t you?
KC:
Guilty as charged! But what could a kid from a group home with a dad in jail and a mom in a halfway house have to offer someone as beautiful as her?
Connor:
There´s other girls here that are better looking than her.
KC looks a little surprised.
KC:
I didn´t know you thought about girls that way!
Connor:
I don´t think about them the exact same way you do, but I do sometimes.
KC:
Who is the most beautiful girl at school then?
Connor:
Jenna.
KC:
You just said ...
Connor:
I said that she wasn´t the best looking, which isn´t the same as being the most beautiful. Jenna is so beautiful on the inside, that it makes her more beautiful than all the other girls, even those better looking on the outside. She´s special that way.
KC:
You have fantastic taste in girls, I´ll give you that.
KC smiles to himself, as he looks at Jenna who´s off in her own little guitar world.
OPENING CREDITS
2. Int. Hallway. Day.
Jenna puts her guitar in her locker, when KC comes over to her and opens his own next to hers. They smile shyly at each other.
KC:
I heard you playing. You´re very talented.
Jenna:
You´re sweet to say so, but there´s a million guitar players, who can do what I do.
KC:
I can´t, although I wish I could.
Jenna gets a quick idea.
Jenna:
I could teach you, if you´d like. Not that I can guarantee, that I´ll be a good teacher, because I´ve never taught anyone before.
He seems to like that idea.
KC:
Someone has to be the first, don´t they?
Jenna:
We could start after school today, if you´d like? Or maybe I could come over to your place?
Clearly not wanting Jenna to know what his living situation is like, he tries to play it off.
KC:
Today wouldn´t be good. Not for me, for my parents. They have this huge thing at our house. I could come over to visit you, though?
Now it´s Jenna, who´s in the same situation and doesn´t want to scare him off by telling him that she lives in a trailer park.
Jenna:
Our house is being fumigated, so that´s a no go as well.
KC:
What do you say to the bench outside after last bell?
Jenna:
Sounds like a plan.
KC:
Cool. I´m looking forward to it.
Jenna:
Me too.
They smile at each other one last time, before he closes his locker and walks off to class.
3. Int. Classroom. Day.
Jenna sits down next to Gracie and looks very excited.
Jenna:
Guess who´s got a date with KC after school?
Gracie:
Is she blonde haired, plays guitar and is sitting next to me?
Jenna:
And very excited, she must add!
Gracie:
What are you doing on your date then?
Jenna:
I´m teaching him to play guitar.
Gracie:
He won´t spring for dinner and a show, huh?
Jenna:
It was my suggestion. This way he won´t have to find out everything too soon.
Gracie:
Like where you live?
Jenna nods sadly.
Jenna:
Not that I think he´s someone, who would look down on me, but there´s no reason to lead in with the worst parts. I could already tell from our short conversation, that he has two parents and they have a house. I´ve never tried what it´s like to live in one!
Gracie:
He´ll find out the truth sooner or later. Isn´t it better to just get it out of the way?
Jenna:
If I was any kind of brave, it would be! Right now, I like that he doesn´t think of me as trailer park trash.
Gracie:
You´re the furthest thing from that!
Jenna:
I´m definitely among the poorest five percent, we live day to day and hand to foot, there´s zero savings so I can go to college and the only thing of any worth I own is my guitar. What does that add up to?
She looks worried, that it´ll end up ruining things for her with KC.
4. Ext. Degrassi. Day.
KC and Jenna are having their date and are the only ones left outside of the school. She´s teaching him to play a D, but it doesn´t sound that good when he strums it.
KC:
Is it meant to sound like that?
Jenna giggles.
Jenna:
Not entirely, but it´s probably the same as it sounded, when I was learning! Sometimes I think that my brother Kyle deserves an award for having put up with it!
KC:
Is he our age?
Jenna:
No, he´s 20.
KC:
I´m an only child. Does he go to college?
Jenna thinks about it for a second and decides to lie again.
Jenna:
Sophomore at TU.
KC:
Is that where you´d like to go too?
Jenna:
Maybe. We only moved here a year ago, but I like Toronto.
KC:
I´ve never lived anywhere else.
Jenna:
What do your parents do?
KC:
Oh, you know. Business stuff. Yours?
Jenna:
The same.
He hands her back the guitar.
KC:
I´ll have to call it a day. My fingers are starting to hurt.
Jenna:
Don´t worry. It´s the same for all beginners.
KC:
Why don´t you play a song for me?
Jenna:
Yeah, sure.
She gets ready to play by putting on a Capo on the 2nd fret.
KC:
What does that do?
Jenna:
It´s called a Capo and it changes the key.
KC:
A key in this case is?
Jenna:
We´ll get to that tomorrow! This is one of my favorite songs.
She starts playing "The Outdoor Type" by The Lemonheads.
Jenna (singing):
Always had a roof above me, always paid the rent
And I never set foot inside a tent
I couldn´t build a fire to save my life
I lied about being the outdoor type
The lyrics, that are about someone who´s lied to come off better to someone else, clearly hit home with him.
5. Int. Hallway. Day.
Jenna is talking to Gracie about the day before.
Jenna:
I can already tell that it´s not gonna work between us. We´re from two different worlds.
Gracie:
He doesn´t look rich to me!
Jenna:
Maybe not rich, but can you imagine me coming to his house for dinner and me having to tell his parents, that I don´t even have my own room, only a bedsheet that I can put up when I want some privacy? I´ve had enough humiliation in my life, as it is!
We cut to KC, who´s talking to Connor elsewhere in the school.
KC:
I´m not rich enough to be with someone like her and I never will be.
Connor:
It´s a little soon to give up, if you ask me.
KC:
She has a brother in college and a perfect family! Can you imagine the look on her face, when I tell her that it´s been over a year since I saw my mom and that my dad is doing jailtime for aggravated assault? She´ll run for the hills, before I know what´s happening.
Connor:
You won´t know until you try it.
KC:
This is one experiment, that isn´t worth attempting. Sometimes it´s better to accept that you´ve lost and move on, the best you can.
We cut back to Jenna and Gracie.
Jenna:
Maybe there´s a parallel dimension, where we´re more on an even playing field. In this one, he´s a winner and I´m a loser.
Gracie:
Would you stop putting yourself down? You´re not a loser and you´re certainly not trailer park trash! What you are is a great girl, who everybody that gets to know her, can´t help liking. That you should have anything to be ashamed of is ridiculous!
Jenna:
Maybe you think I´m not, but that´s how it feels. I´m a trailer park girl and trailer park girls never get what they want. That´s the way it is and always will be!
Gracie looks sad for her, that she thinks so little of herself.
6. Int. Cafeteria. Day.
Connor is doing another puzzle on his phone at one of the tables. Gracie sees him and gets an idea, so she comes over to him.
Gracie:
You´re friends with KC, aren´t you?
Connor doesn´t react, since he´s so absorbed by the puzzle, making Gracie wonder, if he heard her.
Gracie:
Hello? I´m talking to you!
Connor:
In a moment.
Seeing as she has little other choice, she waits for him to finish moments later. He puts the phone in his pocket and smiles at her in a friendly way.
Connor:
Yes, I´m friends with KC.
Gracie:
Can I ask you a few questions about him?
Connor:
Have a seat and I´ll answer, the best I can.
Gracie sits down across from him.
Gracie:
I´m Gracie and I´m a friend of Jenna´s.
Connor:
I guessed as much. My name is Connor.
Gracie:
It´s nice to meet you, Connor.
Connor:
If you´re wondering if he likes her, he does a lot. Only he´s afraid that he won´t be good enough for her, because he lives in a group home.
Gracie looks surprised.
Gracie:
What do you mean, lives in a group home? He told Jenna ...
Connor:
He´s ashamed of it, even though he shouldn´t be. I keep telling him it isn´t his fault, that his parents can´t take care of him, but he won´t listen.
Gracie:
Believe it or not, it has a very familiar ring to it!
Connor:
That statement requires an explanation.
Gracie:
Let´s just say that KC and Jenna have more in common, than they think they do!
She looks glad on Jenna´s behalf.
7. Int. Classroom. Day.
KC and Connor are working together on a pair´s assignment for English, along with their fellow class mates.
KC:
You have to promise me, that you won´t laugh.
Connor:
I won´t.
KC:
I called it "I Wish".
KC picks up a piece of paper and reads from it.
KC:
"I wish that I had a real home and a room, that I could call mine
I wish that I could go back in time, to before my mom did her first line
I wish that my dad had thought twice, before he nearly killed that man
I wish that he had been a father, who gives a damn
Most of all, I wish I could be someone, who isn´t ashamed
Of not having anything, except for my name"
He puts the paper down and tries to gage Connor´s reaction, while he ponders what he thought of it.
Connor:
It´s very touching.
KC:
For real?
Connor:
You´ll get an A for sure!
KC looks pleased, as Connor gets ready to read his.
Connor:
It´s called "Dumb Things To Do".
KC:
I like it already!
Connor picks up his piece paper and reads from it.
Connor:
"It´s dumb to assume things, when you think you know all the facts
To think that someone is something they´re not, when they´re just like you
Like when you meet a girl, who doesn´t want you to know those facts
Because she´s been led to believe, that something else is true"
KC starts to get who it´s about and smiles to himself.
Connor:
"Who can tell, what a girl is really thinking?
Not me, but to some it´s as easy as blinking
All I can tell you is that giving her another chance is the right choice
Especially considering, that she has such a nice singing voice"
KC:
Are you trying to give me a subtle hint?
Connor:
I talked to one her friends, a girl named Gracie. Which is kind of a funny name actually, because it doesn´t fit her at all! I would more have picked her to be someone with a boyish nickname.
KC:
I´m pretty sure, I know who you mean. Does she have short hair and only wears plain black hoodies?
Connor:
That´s her.
KC:
Is there a romance in the air between you and this Gracie?
Connor:
I don´t think so. We only talked about you and Jenna.
KC:
Please tell me that you didn´t tell her the truth!
Connor:
It´s better if she knows.
KC tries not to get annoyed with him, because he knows that he probably meant well.
Connor:
You´d also be surprised, what I found out about her.
KC:
As if it matters! She´ll most likely spend the next four years ignoring me now!
Connor:
Why would she do that, when she´s completely crazy about you?
KC looks pleased.
KC:
Did her friend tell you that in those exact words?
Connor:
More or less. She´s also not anywhere near as rich, as you think she is.
KC looks surprised, but curious as well.
KC:
Tell me word for word, what her friend told you.
Connor looks glad, that he´s able to help his best friend this way.
8. Int. Hallway. Day.
Jenna is getting her guitar from her locker, while Gracie smiles to herself, as she watches her. Seeing her smile makes Jenna smile too.
Jenna:
Is it because you´re doing something special after school, that you can´t stop smiling?
Gracie:
Nothing out of the usual. I´m just in a good mood because the school day is over, I guess.
Jenna:
At least one of us has a reason to smile. I have to tell KC, that I can´t see him anymore after today.
Gracie:
You´ll still have adjacent lockers, won´t you?
Jenna:
Which will no doubt be the closest, I´ll get to dating him.
Gracie:
Not that I would ever date a guy, but I wouldn´t give up on him right away, if I were you.
Jenna:
Unless something has drastically changed since yesterday, I don´t see it happening!
She closes her locker and locks it.
9. Ext. Degrassi. Day.
KC and Jenna are having another guitar lesson and he sounding a slight bit better than the day before, as he strums the guitar.
Jenna:
Now show me an A chord.
KC:
Which one was that again?
Jenna:
Move all three fingers up one string.
He does it and strums it, but it´s not sounding right.
KC:
Like that?
Jenna:
Close. Remember what I told you about how to tune a guitar and how you tune the B string from the 4th fret of the G string and not the 5th, like you do it with the other strings?
KC:
Yeah?
Jenna:
The reason it´s no sounding right then is ...
She looks to him to answer and he thinks about it for a moment, before he gets it.
KC:
Because I´m half a tone too high on the G string?
Jenna:
Try that.
He rearranges his fingers and it sounds much better this time, making both him and Jenna smile.
KC:
You should do this for a living, when you grow up.
Jenna:
I wouldn´t mind it, if it comes to that.
KC:
I still have no idea, what I want to do after school is over.
Jenna:
Me neither, but I´m not too worried. There´s still plenty of time to find it out.
KC:
I suppose it helps a little to know, that you´ll have to save up for college first before you can go. I know that´s how it will be for me and every other kid at the group home, where I really live. I don´t expect it to be different for a girl, who lives with her brother in a trailer park.
His words make her smile a little.
Jenna:
You already knew and it doesn´t bother you?
KC:
Didn´t you hear what I said about the group home? You´re the one, who´s slumming down!
Jenna:
That´s a first!
They laugh and look more at ease now that both of them know.
KC:
I like you Jenna and I want to be your boyfriend, if you want me to be.
Jenna:
Is this a dream? Because if it is, then I don´t want it to end!
KC:
It´s as real as you and me are. Do you?
Jenna:
Of course I do, KC!
KC:
This is where I have another confession. You´ve just officially become my first girlfriend.
Jenna looks surprised.
Jenna:
What about all of the other girls, who like you too?
KC:
None of them are you. I knew from the first time we talked, who the only girl I was interested in was.
Jenna:
So you won´t think that I´m a loser, if I tell you that I haven´t tried this either?
KC:
You´re many things, but I would never dream of thinking that you´re a loser.
She smiles widely and they make eye contact. Their heads move slowly towards each other and they have their first kiss.
10. Montage - Music: "The Outdoor Type" by The Lemonheads.
We see Jenna bringing KC home to her trailer and showing him how meager she lives. To her delight, he doesn´t look down on her for it one bit and they share another kiss, right before her brother comes home. Jenna introduces them to each other and they shake hands.
We see KC showing her the group home, where he lives with some of the other unfortunate kids in the city, whose parents for whatever reason can´t take care of them either. Some of the boys who are around his own age look a bit jealous of him, while some of the younger girls think it´s romantic and the younger boys think it´s icky, that he would want to kiss a girl, of all things!
He also shows her pictures of his parents, while he tells her the real truth about who they are and what they´ve done. Jenna being Jenna, she only looks at him with sympathy and not judging in any way, which helps him to feel a little better about his situation.
We see them having another guitar lesson and her trying to teach him the right way to switch from one chord to another. Which is easier said than done, when you need a kissing break here and there too!
11. Int. Hallway. Day.
Jenna and Gracie come down the hallway and Jenna is looking so happy, that she´s practically floating on the air!
Jenna:
Did I mention that he´s taking me for a romantic walk at the park after school tomorrow?
Gracie:
Enjoying those free pleasures, are we?
Jenna:
It´s all either of us can afford.
Gracie:
I´ll be sure to tell Connor today, that you told me to say thanks to him.
Jenna:
What´s he like?
Gracie:
Incredibly intelligent and also kind of a weirdo in his own way!
Jenna:
So, like you basically?
Gracie:
If you change the word incredibly to the word average! He´s an interesting guy though, no doubt there.
Jenna:
You´re sure, you don´t like him?
They make eye contact and Gracie laughs.
Gracie:
Only as a potential friend!
They´re met by Imogen, who´s wearing a sweater with a cat design on it, that it looks like she made herself.
Imogen:
Hi, guys!
Jenna:
That´s some cat, you have on your shirt there, Imogen!
Imogen:
One of us has to wear shirts with print on it, now that Gracie refuses to!
Her and Gracie smile at each other.
Gracie:
What´s up?
Imogen:
Oh, not much! I was just wondering, if you wanted to rehearse after school today?
Jenna:
I have to get home straight after school today, sorry.
Gracie:
I don´t have any plans.
Imogen:
Cool! It´ll just be the two of us then!
Jenna:
What about Mo?
Imogen:
He´s ... ehm ... busy! He told me so, when I met him earlier.
Gracie:
I´ll see you after school then.
Imogen:
Great!
Imogen leaves them and heads to her next class.
Gracie:
Why do you have to go straight home today?
Jenna:
I don´t. But if you and Imogen are gonna hook up, then it´s better that I´m not there.
Gracie:
You think that she´s like me?
Jenna:
With as bad as you are at picking up signals, you almost are a guy!
Jenna smiles to herself.
CLOSING CREDITS