Scene 1

[We open in the middle of a highschool campus on a cool October day. It's before hours, and kids are scattered about the school grounds. Tiffany is walking

up to the school and notices a small crowd in the courtyard. Natasha runs up to her]

NATASHA: Tiffany!
TIFFANY:  Hey, Tash. What's goin' on? [Looks over at the crowd]
NATASHA: Carl grabbed Bea's ass and she snapped on him!

[Tiffany and Natasha run over to the crowd and shove their way through it. We see Beatrice straddling Carl's stomach, with him on his back on the ground.

She's punching him in the face. Her hatred for Carl is obvious. No teachers can be seen and every punch thrown by her seems to be harder than the one

before it]

TIFFANY:  Bea!

[Tiffany leans forward and grabs Beatrice, pulling her off of Carl. Natasha runs over and grabs Bea's legs to keep her from kicking Tiffany]

BEATRICE:  [Angry and grunting from the struggle] Tiff! Tash! Let me go!

[As Bea struggles, Carl gets up from the ground. His nose is bloody and both of his eyes are swollen. He backs away from Bea slowly]

TIFFANY:  Carl, go! Get outta here!

[Carl runs to the parking lot, getting into his truck. Bea breaks free of Tiffany and Natasha's grasp, running after him. She throws a rock at Carl's back glass

as he tears out of the parking lot. The glass shatters, but the truck doesn't slow down. Beatrice, Tiffany, and Natasha are now in the parking lot]

BEATRICE:  That's right! You better run!

[Amy and Mattie Tyler pull up in a pick-up truck. They quickly get out and run to the three others, immediately realizing something's not right. Amy has a

concerned look on her face]

AMY:  What'd we miss?
TIFFANY:  [Rolls eyes, has a annoyed tone of voice] Tasha...
NATASHA: [Gets the hint and quickly starts explaining] Carl grabbed Bea's ass and she beat the crap out of him!
AMY:  [Eyes widening] Oh my God! Where is he?!
NATASHA: Took off. I guess he went home.
MATTIE:  [Throws her books to the ground angrily] And I missed it! GOD!

[Tiffany walks over to Bea and puts a hand on her shoulder. The crowd had now gone and things were more on the normal side]

TIFFANY:  Bea? You okay?
BEATRICE:  [Turns to Tiffany and smiles] Yeah. Come to my locker with me?
TIFFANY:  [Puzzled] Uh... sure. [Walks with Bea to the hall, shrugging at the other three girls as she passes them]

[The two enter "Jr. High Hall": The hall that contains the lockers of 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. It has few kids it in at the moment, and only one teacher

traveling from her room to the break room. They head to their lockers, which are located in the far end of the hall, next to each other. Bea kneels to get into

hers]

BEATRICE:  So, whatcha got planned for this weekend?
TIFFANY:  [Annoyed] Don't ask.
BEATRICE:  [Smiles wider] Done did.
TIFFANY:  [Sighs] Fine. I have to suffer through a weekend of Bill.
BEATRICE:  Bill?! Bill STANFORD?!
TIFFANY:  [Sighs again] The one and only.
BEATRICE:  All weekend?!
TIFFANY:  [Sarcastically] Thanks, Bea. You make me feel a whole lot better about this.
BEATRICE:  I'm sorry, Tiff. It's just... I can't believe you have to deal with Bill Stanford ALL weekend.
TIFFANY:  I know! It sucks!

[Tiffany gasps as a guy wraps his arms around her waist from behind. She turns her head slightly to see who it is, then sighs from relief when she realizes that it's only her boyfriend Darrel. She pulls away from him and shoves him playfully]

TIFFANY (cont.): Damn it, Darry! You scared the shit out of me!
BEATRICE:  [Laughing] Hey, Darrel. Louis here yet?
DARREL:  [Pointing down the hall] In the office. Done got in trouble today.
BEATRICE:  [Shaking her head] Tiff, you mind if I go see him?
TIFFANY:  Go, Bea. It's fine.

[Bea walks down the hall, and as soon as she exits the doors Darrel looks around the empty hallway, then playfully slams Tiffany up against the lockers, kissing her. As the two kiss, the trigonometry teacher, Mrs. Cruise, storms down the hall toward them, her high heels clicking against the cold hall floor]

MRS. CRUISE: Mr. Curtis! Miss Donnahue!

[Darrel jerks away from Tiffany, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Mrs. Cruise is glaring at them]

MRS. CRUISE (cont.): You both are well aware that PDA is forbidden at school.

[Darrel and Tiffany both look at the floor]

TIFFANY:  Sorry, Mrs. Cruise...
DARREL:  Yeah, sorry, Mrs. Cruise...
MRS. CRUISE: You know PDA gets you two weeks of detention, right?
TIFFANY & DARREL: Yes, ma'am.

[Mrs. Cruise looks around the hall, and seeing that it's empty, turns back to Tiffany and Darrel]

MRS. CRUISE: Just get out of this hallway. Don't let me catch you again and I won't report it, deal?

[Darrel and Tiffany nod and jet for the doors. When they get back outside, their friends were sitting at one of the yellow tables by the soda machines. Allison was talking to Mattie and Natasha was talking to Amy. As Tiffany and Darrel walk up, the four girls fall silent]

TIFFANY:  What's wrong? Did I piss y'all off?
NATASHA: No... Carl's back.
TIFFANY:  Is he alright?
NATASHA: Yeah. He came over to us askin' for Bea.
TIFFANY:  Are you serious?!
NATASHA: Yeah. I think he's finally lost it.
DARREL:  He wants to apologize to her. I was talkin' to him right before I got here.
TIFFANY:  [Shaking her head] If he had any sense, he's stay the hell away from her.

[The six look at the ground all wondering the same thing: What if Beatrice tells Louis? The bell rings and the six part to go to their first hour classes. Amy and Allison head to middle hall, Mattie heads to senior high hall, and Tiffany, Darrel, and Natasha head to the back of the grounds for Agri. When the three get to the Agri building, they take a seat next to Tracy. Tracy winks at Natasha as she takes the seat next to him. Eddie walks into the room]

EDDIE:  Okay, guys. Quiet for a minute! Mr. Greene is out sick today and I'm fillin' in for 'im.

[The kids cheer. Eddie is their favorite sub. As he begins roll call, Darrel, Tiffany, Tracy, and Natasha begin talking]

TRACY:  We still on for tonight, Tash?
NATASHA: [Nodding] Sure. Where are we gonna go?
TRACY:  [Shrugs] We'll figure something out.
DARREL:  You two better be good. Don't make me whop ya, T.
TRACY:  [Scoffs] I'd like to see you try.
DARREL:  [Raises an eyebrow] If you fuck with my girls, they'll be scrapin' your ass off the pavement.
TRACY:  [Rolls eyes] Tiffany, shut your boyfriend up. God.
DARREL:  [Smacking Tracy in the arm] Don't tell her what to do, God damn it.
TIFFANY:  [Putting a hand on Darrel's arm] Baby, calm down. Quit being a butt. They'll be fine.
EDDIE:  For the third time, Wilkonson? Has anybody seen T.W. today?

[Tracy throws up his hand, rolling his eyes. He hated Eddie with a passion for dating older sister]

EDDIE (cont.): Ah, there ya are. A'ight, class. The note he left says to do vocabulary in Units 1, 2, and 4.

[The entire class groans in unison]

EDDIE (cont.): Tiffany, how many words is that?
TIFFANY:  [With a sigh] 72.
EDDIE:  72?! Is he crazy?! [Rips the note, letting it fall in the trash can] I didn't see an assignment. You kids keep it down and you can talk.
TIFFANY:  Thank God!
DARREL:  Can we go out in the shop?
EDDIE:  Yeah. Have fun. Just don't cut anything off, alright?

[In case you didn't know. Power tools + teenage boys = disaster. Every single time]