Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

INT - RECAP MONTAGE - VARIOUS

RHONDA (V.O.)
Previously on “School Spirits”

QUICK CUTS - VARIOUS SCENES

ZOEY sits in MS. CHUNG, the grief counselor’s office. WALLY stands behind her, unseen. ZOEY is fidgety and tucks her hair a lot.

ZOEY
The day she died I only locked and unlocked my locker once.

MS. CHUNG
Do you usually-

ZOEY
Three times. Just so nothing bad happens. I’m sorry. I didn’t…

MS. CHUNG
You’re okay. It’s not your fault.

ZOEY
(fully sobbing)
But it is. It is. It is. It…

WALLY watches MS. CHUNG take a note on her computer. “Signs of OCD, subtype checking”. He looks at ZOEY’s tearstained cheeks. ZOEY frantically tucks her hair behind her ears repeatedly. As we think back, ZOEY has done this in previous episodes too. WALLY can’t watch anymore. He leaves the room.

Cut to another scene. MR. MARTIN and SIMON stand in SIMON’s scar. MR. MARTIN’s eyes narrow at SIMON.

MR. MARTIN
Fine. Have fun fending off your devils then, Simon.

MR. MARTIN gives a little smile, and goes through the door to the bunker. He doesn’t come out. SIMON is left alone in the hellish red light of his scar.

MADDIE’s body stirs on the ground at SIMON’s feet and he kneels by it.

SIMON
Maddie?

When he gets down there, MADDIE opens her eyes. But in them aren't MADDIE’s hazel eyes. It is hellfire. SIMON blinks and looks around. Suddenly, there are more bodies on the ground around him. NICOLE. Two people who look like they might be SIMON’s parents. Possibly a sibling. Much to his shock, if he looks further afield, we see SANDRA’s body.

SIMON backs away into a wall. He is breathing hard.

SIMON
Maddie? Maddie! MADDIE ARE YOU HERE? MADISON NEARS?

He whirls around. He is surrounded on all sides by red light. Not fire. Just bright walls of red light. SIMON screams and runs blindly through it. We see him crash through the bunker door.

Cut to another scene. CLAIRE and NICOLE walk through the halls of Split River High.

CLAIRE
You still haven’t told me about… um… Shredhead. Xavier. What’s… going on there?

NICOLE doesn’t say anything right away.

Cut to another scene. SIMON stands in the dark in a school office, on the phone. It beeps.

PHONE VOICE
You’ve reached the office of university admissions. Our office is currently closed. Please leave a message after the beep.

The phone beeps.

SIMON
Hi. This is Simon Elroy. Uh, we met a couple weeks back. I’m sorry I’m calling this late. Hoping you get this first thing Monday morning. Look, I’m calling because I’d like to redo my interview. Uh, I lost a friend recently, and it’s been very hard. So if you could call me back at your earliest convenience… I don’t wanna lose this opportunity because it means a lot to me. So, uh, please call me back. Thank you.

Cut to another scene. ZOEY and CARTER sit together in their living room. ARDEN’s door can be seen, shut, up the stairs.

ZOEY
(getting angry)
Do you even know why you’re here?

CARTER
Of course I know why I’m here.

ZOEY
Then why are you being so goddamn normal?

CARTER
What do you want me to do?

ZOEY
I want you to acknowledge that you’re in town because our sister fucking died.

Cut to another scene. CHARLEY and JANET are together in the wheelthrowing room. JANET is throwing a pot on the wheel. There are pieces of clay on the floor.

JANET
I want to find everyone first. Because it’s not a quick explanation. And I don’t want to butcher it. You can come with me, if you want to know. If you’re not just going to keep hiding in the art room.

CHARLEY
I’m not hiding.

JANET
You are.

CHARLEY
No, I’m not.

JANET
He loves you, Charley. I don’t know what was said, but he loves you. And you’re an idiot if you can’t see that.

CHARLEY blinks, tears welling in his eyes again.

Cut to another scene. QUINN is playing guitar on the lawn. RHONDA watches the band, their marching is slowing. The oboe has dropped out. QUINN keeps singing, her voice shaking with emotion a little bit.

QUINN
So tell me when you’re gonna let me in? When you’re gonna let me…

The band has stopped marching. Stopped playing. RHONDA stares at them, still gathered in a circle. The oboeist, her instrument at her side, steps forward looking at QUINN.

ERIN
(softly)
Quinn?

QUINN’s breath catches in her throat. The band blinks at QUINN. Only one of them, STEPHANIE, who holds her bassoon loosely in her hand doesn’t look like she might explode in one way or another. Pan back to QUINN, who is crying so hard. Then over to TYLER.

TYLER
What the fuck?

Cut to black.

1 - EXT - SCHOOL GROUNDS - NIGHT

We are maybe slightly later than when we finished last episode. QUINN, RHONDA, TYLER, JONAH, RACHEL, ERIN, MARCI, ZACH, and STEPHANIE all sit on the bleachers by the edge of the school yard. The grounds are silent for the first time in twenty years.

They all sit very awkwardly, until JANET comes out of the school doors. Behind her are YURI, CHARLEY, ARDEN, WALLY, and MADDIE. Big old ghost reunion.

JANET notices the silence and looks over at where the band kids usually are. She looks up, confused.

JANET
What the hell?

YURI
(noticing)
Bleachers.

Everyone’s gaze goes over to the bleachers, where the band sit, quiet, but aware. Everyone is silent for a moment. Then WALLY breaks it.

WALLY
(calling out)
Rhonda? Quinn?

RHONDA
(calling out)
Yeah. Get your ass over here, meatball. We have some introductions to make.

WALLY wastes no time. He glances at MADDIE. They walk purposefully towards the band and the bleachers. JANET and ARDEN follow. YURI looks over at CHARLEY, who has been staring at him, but when YURI’s eyes find CHARLEY’s, CHARLEY looks away abruptly. YURI sighs as CHARLEY walks away towards the band. But he follows.

We flash over to the bleachers. There is a distinctly awkward moment as people settle onto the bleachers. ZACH looks up and around at the group.

ZACH
Well… we’re a dead silent lot.

A beat. Everyone looks at him. ZACH smiles a bit hesitantly, but with so much mirth. He hits a rim shot on his drum.

RACHEL
Must you?

ZACH
Must I what? Lighten the mood? Bring laughter to the masses?

TYLER
Y’know what? If that’s what he’s gonna call it, let him knock himself out.

ZACH
I will! Thank you!

ZACH takes one of his drumsticks and mimes hitting himself in the head. RHONDA takes the stick from him.

RHONDA
Okay. That’s enough out of you, Bozo the clown.

ZACH
What did she just call me?

WALLY
You’ll get used to it.

MADDIE
Guys?

WALLY
Hmm?

MADDIE
Are we gonna address the fact that three ghosts have moved on in the last two days, and now the band is awake for the first time in twenty years? And, like, I don’t even know who you guys are.

TYLER
And who are you? Any of you?

JANET
Maddie’s right. Introductions really are in order.

CHARLEY
So what do you want to do? Go around in a circle like we’re at an AA meeting?

TYLER
If that’s what works.

MARCI
(trembling)
Is the… is she telling the truth? Are we dead?

JONAH
Seems like it.

STEPHANIE
It makes sense.

MARCI
(starting to cry)
No it doesn’t.

ERIN wraps an arm around MARCI’s shoulder.

ERIN
Breathe.

ZACH
Well? We doing this?

Literally no one says anything.

ZACH (CONT’D)
Fine then. I’ll start. Hi, I’m Zach Kerry, I’m seventeen years old, and I’ve been sober for… well… actually, I don’t know.

RACHEL
This isn’t a joke, Zach. We’re dead.

JONAH
Apparently.

ERIN
(to MARCI)
You’re okay.

JANET
No, thank you… um… Zach? We should… I’m Janet Hamilton. I died in a fire that Mr. Martin and I set by accident in 1958. Who’s next?

MARCI
(a bit hysterical)
Why can you just… say that?

ERIN
Shh. Breathe.

RHONDA
Circle might be our best method. Yeah, okay, fuck it. Rhonda. Murdered. 1963.

QUINN
I mean… You know me.

TYLER
We do. But who are they?

RHONDA
I’m sorry, “who are they?” Who are you?

QUINN gestures at the respective band kids as she mentions their names. She’s quiet, almost apologetic about it.

QUINN
Tyler, trumpet section leader. Jonah, bari sax. Rachel, soprano clarinet, Erin, oboe. Marci, flute. Zach, drumline-

ZACH
‘Sup fuckers?

QUINN
And Stephanie. Bassoon.

TYLER
And these guys?

WALLY
We’re dead. Like you.

RACHEL
Yeah, no, we know. Names? Deaths?

CHARLEY
(bitterly sarcastic)
I love how everyone just skips right to that. No “hi, how are you, nice to meet you.”

ERIN
What’s your name?

CHARLEY
Charley.

ERIN
(kindly)
It’s nice to meet you, Charley.

RACHEL
Okay shut it, Erin. You wanna tell us when you died, at least? So I can… I don’t even know. This is surreal.

CHARLEY
1997. Peanut allergy. Happy?

RACHEL
That’s not really the right word, but I suppose if you’re gonna be an asshole-

YURI
I’m Yuri. I had an asthma attack in 1977. Arden? Wally? Are you…?

WALLY
Yeah. Wally Clark, class of ‘84.

STEPHANIE
The football pitch kid.

WALLY
Pitch?

STEPHANIE
Field.

We might notice now that STEPHANIE has a subtle accent. She’s an exchange student.

WALLY
Yeah. Arden, are you doing ok?

ARDEN
(quiet)
Yeah. Sorry. Arden. 2023. I… um…

WALLY
She got sick.

ARDEN
(tightly)
Don’t do that, Wally. I killed myself.

WALLY
Arden, you said-

ARDEN
I did. Doesn’t matter if I meant to. I screwed everything up.

WALLY puts a hand on ARDEN’s shoulder. She shrugs it off.

WALLY
Ards…

ARDEN’s breath catches at the nickname. She curls into WALLY’s arms. He holds her. MADDIE stares at them, unsure.

RACHEL
And blondie here? What’s your dead girl damage?

MADDIE
I’m not dead.

JONAH
You’re not?

MADDIE
I was. That’s why I can see you. Almost all of you.

MADDIE looks over at WALLY again. We see from her POV that ARDEN is not there. There’s just an odd space that WALLY’s arms are around.

JANET
Alright. Are we writing a book?

QUINN
What?

RHONDA
She’s asking if you’re done.

TYLER
Done? With processing our death?

YURI
He’s right, Janet. Give them a second.

JANET
We don’t have a second.

JONAH
I thought we had eternity.

JANET
Oh, put a lid on it. That’s beside the point.

MADDIE
I agree. Why’d you drag us out here, Janet?

CHARLEY
Because she finally got some answers.

Beat. Everyone looks at JANET. Because this is huge.

JANET
And I have some questions too.

RHONDA
Okay, those can wait. What did you find out?

JANET
Why we’re here. Mr. Martin said it’s a Greek theory.

ZACH
Like, we ate some bad spanakopita?

RHONDA
Do you ever shut up?

RACHEL
He doesn’t.

JANET
The idea has to do with the rivers of the underworld. The simplest way I can think of to describe it, is we crossed the wrong river. Spirits are supposed to cross the Styx. But the river… splits here.

WALLY
Split River.

YURI
So which river did we cross?

JANET
The Acheron.

MADDIE
Which means…?

YURI
It’s the river of misery.

MARCI
So… this is hell?

ERIN
It’s not hell, darling. Don’t worry.

JANET
Not in a traditional sense, no. But I don’t think it matters what you call it.

STEPHANIE
Yes it does.

RHONDA
Shut up! Everyone shut up! Janet, get to the fucking point, please?

MADDIE
Rhonda, calm down.

RHONDA
How do we get out?

JANET
We cross the right river. We wade through the Cocytus, the river of wailing, our scars, and emerge on the other side.

QUINN
And what’s on the other side.

Beat.

JANET
I don’t know.

Another beat. This is the crux of it all, really. Uncertainty. Just like living people have about death.

RHONDA
But what about Arden’s thing?

WALLY
Yeah. Maddie and I used Devin’s girlfriend to get him out, and Yuri said Sam just had to… confront her bully?

YURI
Not quite, but that’s the idea.

RHONDA
Right, so where to people factor in?

JANET
I think it’s part of the key. It’s like a multi-part thing. You have to have your key, the physical object, but there’s an emotional object too, I guess.

CHARLEY
And it’s a person.

JANET
It appears to be.

YURI looks at CHARLEY. CHARLEY nods bitterly.

CHARLEY
Lovely.

The ghosts all sit in silence for a moment. They don’t know what to do next. Finally, ZACH hits another rim shot.

RHONDA
Hey, Ronald McDonald, if you make another dead joke, I will slug the shit out of you.

ZACH
Okay. Jeez.

MADDIE
Janet?

JANET
What?

MADDIE
What do we do now?

JANET
I don’t know. Keep trying to move on, I suppose.

CHARLEY
Just like we have forever.

QUINN
But we have the way out now.

JANET
We have a flashlight for the path.

STEPHANIE
You have hope.

And all the ghosts sit there, stunned. Being closer is almost harder than the neverending monotony of trying and failing. CHARLEY avoids YURI’s gaze. ARDEN is still curled in WALLY’s arms. ERIN’s arm is around MARCI. RHONDA takes QUINN’s hand. And MADDIE looks at JANET. They both nod.

Chapter Text

2 - INT - SPLIT RIVER MIDDLE SCHOOL HALLWAY/SPLIT RIVER HIGH SCHHOL HALLWAY/COUNSELOR'S OFFICE - DAY

The camera follows ZOEY through the hallways of Split River Middle School. It looks similar to SRHS, clearly in the same district, if a bit smaller. The kids around her are all aged 11 to 14. ZOEY has headphones in, but she’s not really there. Juliet by Cavetown plays. We’re not sure if that’s what is playing in ZOEY’s headphones or not. But the lyrics do seem to match her state as she trudges, not seeing the world around her, through her school hallway.

"I need to cry, but I can’t get anything out of my eyes, or my head, did I die? I need to run, but I can’t get out of bed for anyone. Not for you. No one."

We flash to ARDEN, sitting in the high school’s hallway. She also has headphones on. We don’t know where she got them. She’s sitting in DAWN’s alcove above the book drop, scanning the crowd listlessly.

"My sour boy is a pain, I wanna shoot him in the brain, but I’d miss him in the morning."

Back to ZOEY. She sits in class, her headphones still on. A teacher drones in the background, but ZOEY is paying no attention. And back to ARDEN. We flash back and forth between the two sisters, both lost, grieving, and numb.

"But I need to understand when I can power through and when I need some help from you. When I should stand my ground and when I need to just sit down. Sometimes I act like I know, but I’m really just a kid, with two corks in his eyes and a bully in his head."

We end on ARDEN on the line “And a bully in his head.” ARDEN’s forefinger and thumb loop around her wrist and she pulls her sweatshirt tighter around her. There is a tap on the book bin, and ARDEN looks down, expecting to see some high schooler dropping a library book off, but instead, it’s WALLY. He knocks again and ARDEN takes her headphones off.

WALLY
Hey.

ARDEN
Hi.

Beat. WALLY stares at her, ARDEN stares back.

ARDEN (CONT’D)
Do you want something?

WALLY
Just thought I’d check on you. Are you okay?

ARDEN
I’m fine.

WALLY
Just… you haven’t been…

ARDEN
Helping with the band kids?

WALLY
Yeah.

ARDEN
Not my place. I don’t know them.

WALLY
None of us know them. Except Quinn but she’s already been out there for four days nonstop. She can only take so much.

ARDEN
I’m sorry, I just don’t think you want my help.

WALLY
Is this because…

ARDEN
Because… what? Because Maddie’s friends basically reported my sister is catatonic, my brother is a rock, and my parents are just gone? Yeah. That might have something to do with it.

WALLY
She didn’t say your sister’s catatonic.

ARDEN
Well how am I supposed to know anything Wally? I never see her.

WALLY
I know. And I know that sucks.

ARDEN
That’s it? That’s all you got? You and your forty years of ghostly wisdom?

WALLY
Look, Ards-

ARDEN
Don’t call me that.

WALLY
I’m sorry.

Long beat.

WALLY (CONT’D)
You can come find us when you’re ready. Doesn’t need to be now. Or soon even. But you cracked this mystery open. We could always use your brain as we’re figuring shit out.

ARDEN
No you couldn’t. My brain is clinically broken.

WALLY
It’s not.

ARDEN
Can… you just leave me alone? Please?

ARDEN doesn’t say it with any venom. She’s just tired. WALLY nods kindly.

WALLY
‘Course. We’ll be on the lawn if you need anything.

ARDEN
Thanks.

WALLY walks away. ARDEN watches him go as the bell rings. She sits there for a long moment, then ARDEN goes to put her headphones back on. But before she gets them on, she hears music, the same music coming from down the hallway, blasting out of headphones that are clearly turned up too loud.

"I wanna make a color that no one else has seen before, I wanna be so much more. I hope that she looks at me…"

ARDEN looks to the end of the hall, and her breath catches in her throat as she sees ZOEY, headphones blasting, walking down the hall. She’s wearing the same sweatshirt. The one that says “Hell is empty and all the devils are here.” The cuffs have started to fray.

ARDEN
Zoey? Zo? Hey, hey I’m here.

But ZOEY can’t hear her. ARDEN jumps down from the book alcove and follows ZOEY as she walks through the halls. Classes are getting out, but ZOEY pays no attention to the high school kids that give her weird looks, likely because she’s both so young, and because they can hear her music. She opens the door to the grief counselor’s office and heads in.

ZOEY walks into the counselor’s office, continually tucking her hair behind her ears. ARDEN is behind her, unseen. ZOEY walks into MS. CHUNG’s office, pausing her music as she goes in. She pulls off her headphones and curls into the chair across from MS. CHUNG’s desk. MS. CHUNG looks up as ZOEY enters.

MS. CHUNG
Hey Zoey, I’m glad you could make it. How are you?

ZOEY shrugs. ARDEN settles into a corner where she can see ZOEY’s face. ARDEN is dead silent.

ZOEY
Fine.

MS. CHUNG
Yeah? How has the last week or so been? Is there anything you want to talk about?

ZOEY
I don’t know.

MS. CHUNG
That’s okay. I can ask you questions if you want? Or we can just sit here. Up to you.

ZOEY
What kind of questions?

MS. CHUNG
Whichever kind you want. Do you want to talk about Arden? Or do you want to be distracted?

ARDEN, in the corner, winces at hearing her own name. ZOEY answers with no hesitation.

ZOEY
I wanna talk about her. There are already too many people trying to pretend she never existed.

MS. CHUNG
Do you want to tell me about that?

ZOEY
Not much to tell, really. Our brother came home from college and he’s like, totally normal. Going on runs. Accepting casseroles from our neighbors. It’s just bizarre. Like he doesn’t know she’s dead.

MS. CHUNG
A lot of people do find that to be a helpful way to grieve.

ZOEY
But he’s not grieving. He’s just… not caring.

MS. CHUNG
I’m sure that’s not true.

ZOEY
Oh, you are, are you? Have you met him?

MS. CHUNG
No, I haven’t met your brother.

ZOEY
There you go.

There is a long beat. ZOEY fiddles with the cuffs of her sweatshirt. Then tucks her hair behind her ears. And again.

MS. CHUNG
You were wearing that sweater last time.

ZOEY
It was Arden’s.

MS. CHUNG
Is it comforting to have that piece of her?

ZOEY
Not anymore. Doesn’t even smell like her anymore and it’s been like a week.

MS. CHUNG
What did she smell like?

ZOEY
I don’t know. Ketosis?

ARDEN lets out a strangled sob from the corner.

MS. CHUNG
Did she always smell like that? Or was that just something you associate with her being sick?

ZOEY
I don’t really remember her not being sick. I mean, I know it only started like 15 months ago, but it’s all that’s there.

MS. CHUNG
And how does that make you feel?

ZOEY
Thank you therapist 101.

MS. CHUNG
You don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to. Maybe you could think about what you’d want to say to her?

ZOEY
I don’t know.

Long beat.

ZOEY (CONT’D)
I kinda wanna scream at her.

MS. CHUNG
Yeah? What would you scream at her?

ZOEY
Fuck you? I don’t know. Just… everything is… hell.

MS. CHUNG
What do you mean by that?

ZOEY
I mean, when she was… sick… I could still… do shit, you know? Like I still went to school. It was a routine. School, rehearsal, visit Arden, homework, sleep. And when she got out, there was routine. School, rehearsal, walk home with Arden, homework, sleep. But everything’s just broken now. There’s no one there when I get home anymore.

ZOEY’s voice breaks on her last line.

MS. CHUNG
Your brother isn’t there when you get home?

ZOEY shakes her head, wiping her eyes.

ZOEY
He’s always running. Says he needs to stay in shape for when he goes back after the funeral.

MS. CHUNG
And you? What have you been doing when you’re home?

ZOEY
Nothing.

MS. CHUNG
What does that mean?

ZOEY
I mean I do nothing. I stare at the same red dot on the TV for hours. I haven’t done my homework in a week. I’ve skipped rehearsal twice. I skipped school three times. I don’t even really sleep. I just know that if I look away, Carter’ll be next. Or one of my friends.

MS. CHUNG
And you know that comes from what we were talking about last time, yes?

ZOEY
You can say it out loud. It doesn’t scare me. You can say my brain is just as broken as my sister’s was.

MS. CHUNG
Having OCD doesn’t mean your brain is broken. And having anorexia didn’t mean your sister’s brain was broken.

ZOEY
(scoffing)
Right.

MS. CHUNG
It doesn’t. I promise you. And giving in to your compulsions isn’t going to do anything. It’s not going to stop disaster.

ZOEY
Yeah? Then why’d Arden fucking die the one day I didn’t do them all?

MS. CHUNG
Correlation is not causation.

ZOEY
Except when it is.

ZOEY tucks her hair again. MS. CHUNG stands and crosses over to her side. She crouches by ZOEY. She gestures to the hair just above ZOEY’s ears.

MS. CHUNG
May I?

ZOEY nods, slowly. MS. CHUNG lifts the hair to reveal a raw, red, slightly balding patch above ZOEY’s ear from where she’s tucked her hair so many times. ZOEY lets out a sob.

MS. CHUNG
Are you rubbing it raw on purpose?

ZOEY shakes her head.

ZOEY
(crying)
I don’t wanna hurt myself. I saw where that got Arden.

MS. CHUNG
It’s just repetition then?

ZOEY nods.

MS. CHUNG (CONT’D)
How many times a day do you do it?

ZOEY
Depends. Today? 64.

MS. CHUNG
Because…

ZOEY
It’s eight squared.

MS. CHUNG
And eight is…

ZOEY
The number of days she’s been dead.

MS. CHUNG
So it’s going up exponentially?

ZOEY
I guess.

Long beat.

MS. CHUNG
Zoey? Are you in therapy right now?

ZOEY
Yeah. I have been since I was ten.

MS. CHUNG
And do you think it helps?

ZOEY
It did. And then my sister died and now nothing’s real.

MS. CHUNG
You know, you could consider a more intensive program, like an IOP or something.

ZOEY
No. We sent Arden to treatment and it didn’t do jackshit. It made it worse.

MS. CHUNG
Zoey, I understand that, but-

ZOEY
Why can’t I just use you? Isn’t this your job too?

MS. CHUNG
Yes, but I don’t specialize in OCD.

ZOEY
You’re a grief counselor. Help me grieve. Please.

MS. CHUNG
Of course. You’re always welcome here, Zoey.

Long beat.

ZOEY
I have rehearsal soon.

MS. CHUNG
At the high school?

ZOEY
Today, yeah. We’re all over the place. Community theatre uses the spaces it can find. But can I come back?

MS. CHUNG
I have sessions open on Friday if you’d like to take one.

ZOEY
Yes please.

MS. CHUNG
Of course. I’ll email you, does that sound good?

ZOEY
Yeah. Thank you.

MS. CHUNG
Take care, Zoey. And stay safe.

ZOEY
I will.

As ZOEY picks herself up to leave, we pan to ARDEN in the corner again. Her cheeks are streaked with tears. Her eyes are bloodshot. Her forefinger and thumb are so tight around her wrist that if she wasn’t dead, the circulation would be cut off. She looks like she might be sick. As ZOEY leaves, ARDEN takes shuddering breaths, unable to get enough air into her lungs. But she still says nothing. Just as ZOEY makes her way through the outer door to the hallway, ARDEN unfreezes. She sprints after her sister.

Chapter Text

3 - INT - DEVIN’S SCAR/RHONDA'S SCAR - INDETERMINATE

SIMON is still mostly where we left him in DEVIN’s scar. But instead of simply lying on the ground, he now sits, his head in his knees, in a patch of marigolds that appear to be growing inside the body of a disassembled car. He’s breathing shakily. We don’t know how long he has been there.

JANET enters the scar through some liminal type of doorway. We don’t know fully where she came from, though the assumption is the band kids’ scar. JANET looks like she’s just going to walk through, until she catches sight of SIMON.

JANET
Simon?

SIMON looks up. His eyes are red. The ticket stub is clutched in his hand, wet with sweat. JANET is a little stunned but she quickly comes to his side.

JANET (CONT’D)
Woah, hey. What happened?

SIMON clears his throat roughly.

SIMON
Nothing. I’m fine.

JANET
Like hell you are. How long have you been here?

SIMON
I don’t know. Time’s…

JANET
I know. It doesn’t make much sense in here. Simon… what…?

SIMON
I just… tried to go through mine and it was… not fun? I ended up here. Dunno where I am, but at least it’s not…

JANET
That’s right. Devin would have been right before you and Maddie.

SIMON
Who’s Devin?

JANET
He was another ghost.

SIMON
Was?

JANET
Yeah. That’s the news, Simon. Arden? The new girl? She took what Mr. Martin and I had been experimenting with for decades and she cracked it. Three ghosts have moved on.

SIMON
To where?

JANET
We don’t know. Out of this high school purgatory though.

SIMON
And Devin…

JANET
He died in 2011, crushed in the auto shop by a car body. Maddie and Wally helped him cross. I guess that’s why there’re flowers now. Like the scar healed itself.

SIMON
Maddie… and Wally? Together? Like as a unit?

JANET
I don’t know. I wasn’t there.

SIMON
But they’re…

JANET
Again, I don’t know, Simon.

There is a long beat. SIMON picks a marigold up off the ground and pulls the petals off one by one. Like he’s doing a “she loves me, she loves me not” game but he says nothing.

JANET (CONT’D)
Wait, Simon, where’s Mr. Martin?

SIMON
I don’t know. Somewhere in the scar network. I wouldn’t give him the watch, so he left me in my scar instead of staying with me.

JANET
And then…?

SIMON
I don’t know. I watched the people I love become fuckin’ zombies in a hellscape I didn’t know belonged to me and I ran. And now I’m here.

JANET
I thought he said he’d help you through.

SIMON
Yeah, well, I insulted him and he told me to have fun fighting off my demons or some shit. I guess he’s only helpful as long as he’s feeling guilty.

JANET
He did… what?

SIMON
I don’t see why any of this surprises you. That man killed you.

JANET
And then spent 65 years trying to atone for it.

SIMON
I don’t understand you. Half the time you’re convinced he’s evil incarnate, and the other half you’re trying to convince me that he’s a good man, Charlie Brown! Who is he?

JANET
I don’t know! It’s complicated!

SIMON
Why? He killed you!

JANET
And he was also the best, most thoughtful teacher I ever had. He saw potential in me where no one else did.

SIMON
That doesn’t make sense.

JANET
I know!

There is a long beat. SIMON stares at JANET. She stares back. Finally she breathes, slowly, calming herself.

JANET (CONT’D)
I have to find him.

SIMON
Why?

JANET
I just do.

SIMON looks skeptical but he nods.

SIMON
Do you want me to come?

JANET
No. I’ll be okay. He can’t kill me again.

SIMON lets out a wry laugh.

SIMON
That is true.

JANET
Wait here. I’ll be back.

SIMON nods and JANET stands up. She walks out of the scar.

MR. MARTIN is sitting in a desk chair across from a man that we might vaguely recognize. The office windows are foggy. The air is stale and red. When the other man picks up a Berkeley flag, we know. It’s MR. MANFREDO. RHONDA’s murderer.

MR. MARTIN
Why did you do what you did to her?

MR. MANFREDO doesn’t reply right away. He’s not a real person. Just a reincarnation of RHONDA’s trauma.

MR. MARTIN (CONT’D)
I mean… you hurt a student… on purpose. You… and it was different when I… right? I never…

MR. MANFREDO
(in a sort of trance)
Are you really going to leave me, Rhonda?

MR. MARTIN
I’m… not Rhonda… I’m sorry… I…

MR. MANFREDO
(entranced)
I thought we had something here. That you’d stay with me. Show me the love and support that I showed you.

MR. MARTIN
I don’t understand. Rhonda never… said…

JANET
What?

MR. MARTIN turns around to see JANET standing in the doorway of the office, haloed in red light.

MR. MARTIN
Janet. I didn’t see…

JANET
Rhonda never said what, Mr. Martin?

MR. MARTIN
Just… she said she trusted him. Completely. She never said he… anything before he…

JANET
You mean he never assaulted her before he murdered her.

MR. MARTIN nods, a bit pathetically.

JANET (CONT’D)
Why are you stuck on that?

MR. MARTIN
Because if he didn’t… what makes me different from him?

JANET
Intent.

MR. MARTIN
Maybe once.

JANET
What do you mean?

MR. MARTIN
Being dead, stuck here so long… it’s changed all of us, but I never… Maddie’s teacher… he said he taught… he said he could see I loved it too. But he said he’d never hurt a student. And I always thought the same thing. Until I hurt you. And then I kept doing it. I didn’t mean to, I just…

JANET
Couldn’t stop?

MR. MARTIN
Do you think Mr. Manfredo thought the same thing? Do you think he thought he’d never hurt a student before he killed Rhonda?

JANET
This is because you left Simon in the scar on purpose.

MR. MARTIN doesn’t say anything for a bit. It is. He nods.

JANET (CONT’D)
So stop.

MR. MANFREDO
(entranced)
Rhonda… I thought you loved me.

JANET
I don’t think you’re a bad person, Mr. Martin. I think you’re a good teacher. And I think you’re a good man. And I think you’ve been dead too long. We’ve all made really bad choices. Did you see how badly I fucked up Maddie’s life? Just… turn around. I know you’re trying. You wouldn’t have told me the answers you have if you weren’t. Simon’s… he’s hurting too. He lashed out, you lashed back. But you don’t have to keep doing that.

MR. MARTIN
You want me to forgive and forget? To help that boy get back to his body, back to life, and let him curse at me the whole time?

JANET
No, I’ll keep him in check too. But this isn’t a one person job and it never has been. Life wasn’t. Why do you think the afterlife would be?

MR. MARTIN
I didn’t think there would be an afterlife. And certainly not one like this.

JANET
You and me both.

There is a long beat.

MR. MARTIN
Where is he now? Simon?

JANET
Devin’s scar. Devin crossed. So did Mina and Sam. We’re figuring this out.

MR. MARTIN
I’m so sorry, Janet.

JANET
(a bit angry)
Stop saying sorry. It doesn’t fix what you did. Just move forward. So that way you’re never Mr. Manfredo. You’ll never be a saint, but you don’t have to be a devil either.

JANET stands and heads towards the door.

JANET (CONT’D)
Well?

MR. MARTIN nods.

MR. MARTIN
I’m coming.

He follows JANET out of the scar. MR. MANFREDO calls after them. They ignore him.

MR. MANFREDO
Rhonda! Get back here!

Chapter Text

4 - EXT - SCHOOL GROUNDS - DAY

The whole band marches in a circle on the lawn. We might think they’re back to looping for a moment, but then we see YURI up on the bleachers. He holds a baton. He is conducting poorly. The band plays, but they’re completely out of sync. CHARLEY and RHONDA are standing behind YURI. RHONDA is counting under her breath.

RHONDA
One, two, three, four, one…

CHARLEY
You missed it again.

YURI
Sorry.

CHARLEY
It's just a downbeat.

YURI keeps conducting, and below them, RACHEL stumbles into QUINN, her clarinet screeching. The rest of the band comes to a halt.

RACHEL
What the hell was that?

QUINN
Sorry. I just… I got out of step.

RACHEL
Yeah, no shit.

ERIN
Rachel, deep breaths, darling.

ZACH
Ooh, Tyler, watch out! She just called your girlfriend “darling.”

TYLER
Shut up. Rach? What’s up?

RACHEL
Jacqueline can’t fucking march? That’s my problem.

QUINN
I said I’m sorry-

ERIN
I know. I know. You’re okay.

RACHEL
She’s not! If we’re gonna ignite memories or whatever and like, get out of here, I can’t be tripping over my bandmates.

JONAH
Well, why don’t we go again? We can try a different song.

ERIN
Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.

RACHEL
No, stop! I don’t think-

The band kids continue arguing indistinctly in the background. Up on the bleachers RHONDA looks at YURI.

RHONDA
I’m sorry Stoner Boy, but there’s no way you know how to conduct. That was atrocious.

CHARLEY
Figures.

YURI
Sorry. Here, do either of you…

CHARLEY
No, none of us know how to freaking conduct. We didn’t all become shut ins and learn new skills when we died. Some of us actually like other people.

YURI
(wounded)
I do like you.

CHARLEY
(sarcastic)
Right.

RHONDA
Oh my lord! Stop!

CHARLEY
Tell him!

RHONDA
No, I’m telling you. We’ve been at this long enough that I’m sick of both of you.

YURI
We can get the next rotation in. I think Wally’s supposed to take over in a couple hours anyway.

RHONDA
Nope. Fuck rotations. Charley, either stop sniping at your boyfriend-

CHARLEY
He’s not my boyfriend.

YURI presses his lips together, but he doesn’t say anything.

RHONDA
Guess what? I don’t give a shit. Those band dorks down there have got to discover keys and tethers and shit if they’re gonna get into that mass scar. Quinn said she found hers by playing. So we’re getting them to play. But it’s not gonna work if you guys are fighting just as much as they are.

STEPHANIE
Maybe it’s because we’re fighting that we can’t find your answers.

RHONDA jumps. STEPHANE, still holding her bassoon, has climbed the bleachers and is now sitting next to CHARLEY, YURI, and RHONDA.

RHONDA
Where the hell did you come from?

STEPHANIE points at the band kids, who are still squabbling down on the lawn.

STEPHANIE
There.

RHONDA
That’s not what I meant, Queen Elizabeth.

STEPHANIE
I’m actually from France.

RHONDA
Shut up!

STEPHANIE
I’m sorry-

RHONDA
Nope! Everyone shut up!

Down below the band freezes. Beat. ZACH hits a rim shot.

RHONDA (CONT’D)
Hey, Bozo? I will kill you again, don’t test me.

ZACH
Jesus.

RHONDA
Okay. Here’s how this is gonna go. Quinn, can you conduct?

RACHEL
No. Girl can’t even play her damn mellophone.

JONAH
She didn’t ask you.

RACHEL
Whose side are you on here?

ERIN
Guys…

MARCI
Quinn can conduct. She did our chamber piece in middle school.

QUINN
You remember that?

MARCI
Yeah. Felt cool that the 8th graders wanted me in their group.

QUINN
I don’t think anyone’s ever described me as cool.

RHONDA
Hey! Veronica Mars! Love it, but can you conduct?

QUINN
Yeah.

RACHEL
Oh my god.

TYLER
Rach.

RACHEL
What?

TYLER
Not helpful.

ERIN
That’s not… he’s just trying to say-

RHONDA
Hey! What part of SHUT UP do you not understand? Quinn, get your ass up here and wave this stick around. Maybe the rest of you can march properly then. Steph, get your ass back down there. And you two-

RHONDA indicates CHARLEY and YURI. YURI is staring at CHARLEY. CHARLEY won’t look at him.

RHONDA (CONT’D)
You figure out this boyfriend… not boyfriend… shit, I don’t care how, but get yourselves together. We’re dead in a school, but that doesn’t mean we have to act like children!

Everyone stares at RHONDA for a moment.

TYLER
Okay! You heard her! Back to one!

TYLER lifts his trumpet and makes his way back to the head of the line. QUINN starts up towards RHONDA and STEPHANIE moves to join the band. YURI looks at CHARLEY.

YURI
Char?

CHARLEY
(sharply)
What?

YURI nods at a patch of grass a ways away from where the band is marching.

YURI
Can we just talk?

CHARLEY
(snide)
Yeah? English or Russian?

YURI
Please?

CHARLEY sighs but he does follow YURI to a more secluded spot. The band keeps playing in the background.

CHARLEY
Okay. What is it?

YURI
I don’t know. You tell me.

CHARLEY
What do you mean?

YURI
You just… we were trying to help Sam and you just left. I don’t…

CHARLEY
You don’t what? Understand? Or care?

YURI
I obviously care!

CHARLEY
(voice breaking)
Then why did you even bring me?

YURI
What? Where?

CHARLEY
To help with Sam! You didn’t even… when you explained it to her, you said it was you and Arden because you…

YURI
Mean brains.

CHARLEY is crying now.

CHARLEY
Yeah.

There is a long beat. CHARLEY’s next line is said between gasps, which is kind of poetic, even though this time it’s because he’s crying.

CHARLEY (CONT’D)
I thought… because we both… died… through… not…

YURI
Hey, breathe.

CHARLEY
Yes!

YURI
What?

CHARLEY
I felt… it was connected… the dying… with no… air… and then… you just…

YURI
I connected my death with other peoples’ in a different way.

CHARLEY
Mhm.

YURI
I see.

CHARLEY
So why… did you even… bring me along… if you thought… we didn’t… share any…

YURI doesn’t even take a beat. He lifts CHARLEY’s head, and kisses him square on the lips. They’re both crying.

YURI
Because I like your company, dingus!

CHARLEY
What did you just call me?

YURI
Sorry… I… You’re an idiot. I didn’t bring you with me and Arden to help Sam so I could show you how I connect with other people. I just brought you because I like being with you.

CHARLEY
But… you were so strategic with… that doesn’t make sense!

YURI
What do you mean that doesn’t make sense?

CHARLEY
I mean, you’re always so… cool.

YURI
Is loving you not cool?

CHARLEY
Decidedly not.

YURI
I beg to differ. I don’t even believe in this crossing thing, Char, but I’m willing to pursue it. You know why?

CHARLEY
Why?

YURI
Because of what Quinn said. You deserve that… heaven… or whatever.

CHARLEY
And what if you’re not there?

YURI
I will be. Charley, if there is a single person in my heaven, it’s you.

CHARLEY kisses YURI. We zoom out to see the band kids still practicing. Something is glowing in QUINN’s breast pocket. Similarly, we see light coming out of STEPHANIE’s pocket.

Chapter Text

5 - INT - NICOLE’S BEDROOM - DAY

NICOLE and CLAIRE are sitting wordlessly in NICOLE’s bedroom. NICOLE has her portfolio open on her desk again. CLAIRE is twirling her pencil, not paying attention to her homework.

CLAIRE
Does Diego have class on Fridays?

NICOLE
Maybe? I don’t know.

CLAIRE
Okay.

Beat.

NICOLE
Why?

CLAIRE
Nothing.

NICOLE
You miss him?

CLAIRE
No.

NICOLE
You don’t need to lie.

Another beat. CLAIRE drops her pencil.

CLAIRE
Do you think he really heard us?

NICOLE
No. He’s an asshole. He was messing with us.

CLAIRE
Are you-

NICOLE
Sure? Yes, Claire. I have known the man my whole life. I’m sure.

CLAIRE
Fine.

Another beat.

CLAIRE
And he’s not an asshole.

NICOLE
Maybe not to you.

NICOLE flips another page in her portfolio. We can see over her shoulder. It’s a photo of MADDIE and XAVIER at a football game. In the background, barely distinguishable, is CLAIRE, mid-flip. XAVIER is looking at CLAIRE, awed.

NICOLE (CONT’D)
Hey look! You’re in this one.

CLAIRE stands and makes her way over to NICOLE’s desk.

CLAIRE
Huh.

NICOLE
What?

CLAIRE
Nothing… just… Xavier…

NICOLE
What?

CLAIRE
He’s looking at…

NICOLE
Oh. You. Not Maddie.

CLAIRE
Yeah.

A long beat.

CLAIRE
When was this taken?

NICOLE
Probably late August. You guys were already…

CLAIRE
We started towards the beginning of the school year.

NICOLE
Did you know? About Maddie?

CLAIRE
Of course I knew.

NICOLE
And it didn’t stop you?

CLAIRE
Obviously not.

Another long beat. CLAIRE sits on NICOLE’s bed. NICOLE gets up from the desk and sits with CLAIRE on the bed.

CLAIRE (CONT’D)
You know that if I could take it back, I would in a heartbeat, right?

NICOLE
Yeah, no, of course.

CLAIRE
I just… Maddie hurt me once. It felt like revenge.

NICOLE
What did Maddie do?

CLAIRE
It’s stupid.

NICOLE
I mean, I didn’t even know you guys knew each other until…

CLAIRE
That’s the thing. You remember what Chloe said at that like… teambuilding thing?

NICOLE
Chloe’s full of shit.

CLAIRE
About most things, I agree with you. But… not… I do ice people out when they don’t help me. Maddie… she and I were neighbors before my parents got divorced. And I mean, you know. I wanted to hide from them. She didn’t let me in.

NICOLE
I’m sorry.

CLAIRE
No, you don’t… none of that was anyone’s fault or anything. It’s just…

NICOLE
Shitty?

CLAIRE laughs. A real laugh.

CLAIRE
Yeah. Shitty as hell.

Another beat.

NICOLE
Did it happen a lot?

CLAIRE
What?

NICOLE
I mean… I’m sorry… You’ve been living here for… two weeks? Ish? Do you…

CLAIRE
Run away a lot?

NICOLE
I didn’t mean…

CLAIRE
No, no, that’s a pretty accurate way to look at it.

Another beat.

CLAIRE (CONT’D)
I don’t know if I’d say a lot, but… enough. My mom didn’t talk to me for three months after I first went to live with my dad. So… I mean… this is nothing.

NICOLE
It’s not nothing.

CLAIRE
I just didn’t… my stepdad is pissed because of all the break in stuff. I mean, it’s his property. And my mom is just generally pissed.

NICOLE
So you’re here.

CLAIRE
Yeah.

Another beat.

CLAIRE (CONT’D)
I mean, you had every reason not to let me… so… thank you.

NICOLE
Of course. Are you kidding?

CLAIRE
Ugh! I never even liked him. I just…

NICOLE
Wanted to hurt Maddie?

CLAIRE
Not even! I just wanted to feel something!

NICOLE
Xavier’s dick?

CLAIRE looks at NICOLE. NICOLE looks at CLAIRE. And then they both start laughing. Hysterically. CLAIRE careens over into NICOLE’s lap.

CLAIRE
No! It’s not even…

NICOLE
Don’t say it!

CLAIRE
It’s like… really small.

NICOLE
Stop!

CLAIRE
What? It is! I honestly did Maddie a favor!

NICOLE
Well, he has other good traits.

Their laughter dissolves gradually. CLAIRE sits up. She’s grinning at NICOLE, a glint of mischief in her eye.

CLAIRE
Yeah? Like what?

NICOLE
I don’t know… I just…

CLAIRE
He’s a good texter?

NICOLE
Claire!

CLAIRE
What?

NICOLE
I didn’t know it was him!

CLAIRE
Well, duh!

NICOLE
He’s got… good…

CLAIRE
Music taste?

NICOLE
I mean, yeah. It’s on repeat in my playlist.

CLAIRE
(teasing)
I know. I hear you crying in the shower.

NICOLE
Shut up! Sometimes that’s what you need.

CLAIRE
(more serious)
No, I know.

NICOLE
But he’s… he gets it, y’know?

CLAIRE
Missing Maddie?

NICOLE
No, like, everything. Like, the college apps, and feeling out of place, and not being able to afford shit, and art and everything.

CLAIRE
I’m sorry.

Beat.

CLAIRE (CONT’D)
You know, I’d get my stepdad to pay for your college if I could even talk to my parents. Lord knows he has enough-

NICOLE
No, Claire, don’t… sorry, I didn’t mean-

CLAIRE stands up and goes over to NICOLE’s photography portfolio. She flips some pages, landing on a stunning picture of MADDIE.

CLAIRE
No, I mean, you’re talented as shit. And I’d love to help, but like, if they don’t give you a scholarship, they’re the ones missing out.

NICOLE
Thanks.

CLAIRE
All you.

Another beat. NICOLE climbs off the bed and looks at CLAIRE’s homework, which we can now see is Spanish homework, untouched on the floor. There’s the word “fuck” scribbled out at the top.

NICOLE
Did Mr. Figueroa personally harm your pony or something?

CLAIRE
What? I don’t have a pony?

NICOLE
Or did he just not teach you guys how to swear in Spanish?

NICOLE holds up the homework.

CLAIRE
Oh, yeah, no. Just… I mean, Nicole, this is the most normal conversation I’ve had in a week. And that was not a normal conversation, I just didn’t happen to mention ghosts.

NICOLE
I know. It’s weird.

CLAIRE
Beyond.

NICOLE
We’ll be done soon. We just have to get Simon out. And then we’re done.

CLAIRE
But are we? Maddie can still see them.

NICOLE
And we can support her with that, but there aren’t any problems to solve after that. Everyone who’s there died. There’s not a way to get them back. And if we can’t see them…

CLAIRE
We’re free to talk about boy drama like normal teenage girls?

NICOLE
Yeah!

CLAIRE laughs again. NICOLE walks over to her and puts the Spanish homework down on the desk.

NICOLE (CONT’D)
And “fuck” in Spanish is “joder” by the way. I mean, there’s like conjugations and-

CLAIRE interrupts her by just laughing. NICOLE laughs too. They laugh together.

Chapter Text

6 - INT - SCHOOL THEATRE - DUSK

We’re in the school theatre as ZOEY’s rehearsal wraps up. There is a wolf puppet that is being disassembled into a large duffel bag. EMILIO is thumbing through a script booklet. ZOEY stands near him, kind of frozen. ARDEN is sitting in the front row of the audience, unseen. EMILIO looks over at ZOEY.

EMILIO
Doing okay there, Zoey?

ZOEY snaps out of her trance. She tucks her hair behind her ear. Just once.

ZOEY
Yep. Yeah. I’m good.

EMILIO
Okay.

There is a long beat. ZOEY blinks and grabs her backpack, putting her script in it. She rifles around a bit, finally pulling out her phone.

ZOEY
Shit. Okay.

EMILIO
Everything okay?

ZOEY
Yeah, sorry. My mom just got held up at work, and my dad’s out of town.

EMILIO
Do you need a ride home?

ZOEY
That’s okay. I just texted my brother.

EMILIO
Oh! Carter’s in town?

ZOEY
(quietly)
Yeah.

EMILIO
(realizing)
I’m sorry, Zoey.

ZOEY
It’s fine.

EMILIO
You know it doesn’t have to be.

ZOEY
Then it’s not? I don’t know.

EMILIO
I’m sorry.

ZOEY
It’s fine.

Another long beat.

ZOEY (CONT’D)
Does it ever get fine? Like with Charley did it? Or at least… get…

EMILIO
I don’t know Zoey. I mean, it’s been, what? Almost thirty years? I wouldn’t say I’m over it.

ZOEY
No, not over it, like… okay.

EMILIO
I’m alive. I’m happy most of the time. But do I miss him? Of course I do.

ZOEY
Are you… married?

EMILIO
Not married, no, but I’ve been dating.

ZOEY
So… in terms of moving on from… Charley… how…

EMILIO
I don’t know. I think it’s always a little different. For you… you can’t just find a sister on the street.

ZOEY
No, I know, just…

EMILIO
It helped knowing more about him. Like getting into character almost. Getting in his head. Seeing what he saw. Almost made me more compassionate towards myself.

ZOEY
But I don’t wanna die.

EMILIO
No, I’m not saying-

ZOEY
Mr. Figueroa, my sister killed herself. Sorta. I don’t know.

EMILIO
I’m sorry.

ZOEY
Stop saying you’re sorry! Everyone’s sorry! I’m sick of sorry! Tell me what to do!

EMILIO
I just… I don’t know. Maybe… try exploring more of her, not her…

ZOEY
Her disease?

EMILIO
Yeah.

Another long beat.

EMILIO (CONT’D)
You’re sure you don’t need a ride home?

ZOEY
Yeah. I’m good. I don’t wanna make Carter drive out for nothing. God. How am I gonna deal with this when you’re actually my teacher?

EMILIO
I’ll give you permission to call me by my first name and you’ll eat lunch in my classroom?

ZOEY laughs. A real laugh. The first one we’ve heard out of her. She hasn’t tucked her hair since the beginning of the scene. ARDEN, watching from the audience lets out a sob.

ZOEY
Deal. Emilio…?

EMILIO grins at her then swings his bag over his shoulder.

EMILIO
Get home safe, okay Zo?

ZOEY
I will.

EMILIO, bag over his shoulder, walks out of the auditorium. It is empty now, except for ZOEY, and ARDEN’s spirit. ZOEY takes a deep breath. The house lights are out but there’s the ghost light on the stage. She drops her backpack and moves to stand in the pool of light it casts. ARDEN follows her sister to center stage.

At the back of the theatre, MADDIE and WALLY open the door quietly. WALLY sees ARDEN down by the stage. MADDIE doesn’t.

MADDIE
Who-?

WALLY
The kid on the stage? Arden’s sister.

MADDIE
Is Arden here?

WALLY
(pointing)
There.

We’re back with ZOEY onstage. She fiddles with the fraying sleeves of her sweatshirt. Then takes a breath and looks out at the empty audience. She doesn’t see MADDIE in the back

ZOEY
To be… or not to be…

MADDIE
What is she doing?

WALLY
I don’t know.

ZOEY
Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing…

ZOEY’s voice is shaking.

WALLY
Is that Hamlet?

MADDIE
I mean, yeah, I just don’t get why…

ZOEY
(voice breaking)
End them. To die…

We focus on ARDEN in the front row, staring at her sister. ARDEN is crying. Back to ZOEY. She tucks her hair. Once. Twice. Three times. She takes a breath and stops.

ARDEN
(crying)
Zo…

ZOEY
(crying)
To sleep… Ay, there’s the rub. For in that s-sleep of d…

ZOEY doesn’t get the word “death” out. She wipes her tears and pushes the ghost light away from her. In semi-darkness, ZOEY kneels, sobbing. She is wringing her hands like she wants to do something with them but is stopping herself. ARDEN climbs onstage beside her sister.

ARDEN
Zoey? Zo, breathe. Breathe with me. Please. Stop… you’ve gotta…

ZOEY’s phone, sitting beside her, dings and we see a text from CARTER light up the screen. “At door 5… wya?” ZOEY wipes her tears quickly. She takes some breaths.

ZOEY
Okay. Okay. Whew. Stop crying. You’re fine. Stop crying.

ZOEY does stop crying. She wipes her eyes again, then picks up her backpack and heads purposefully out of the theatre, not even seeing MADDIE hiding at the back of the theatre. ARDEN is left alone onstage. WALLY looks at MADDIE after ZOEY leaves.

WALLY
C’mon.

WALLY leads MADDIE down to the stage. Down to ARDEN. Flip to MADDIE’s POV. The stage is empty. But WALLY climbs up and kneels beside ARDEN. She’s crying.

ARDEN
(sobbing)
I fucked up everything. I broke everything. And now she’s gonna…

WALLY
She’ll be okay.

ARDEN
But she’s NOT! Wally, she’s gonna die young just like me and it’s gonna be all my fault and then Carter and my parents and-

WALLY
Hey, Ards-

ARDEN
(screaming)
I said not to call me that!

WALLY
Okay. Okay. Breathe. I’m sorry.

MADDIE
Wally?

WALLY
She said not to call her that. I don’t…

WALLY just kind of shrugs at her. MADDIE climbs on the stage and looks where she thinks ARDEN would be. She kneels.

MADDIE
Why don’t you want him to call you that?

A long beat. Finally…

ARDEN
Carter did. Even when he’d yell at me. He called me that when he carried me home when I…

WALLY
(to MADDIE)
Her brother called her that.

MADDIE
Arden? Are you scared to see Wally as your brother?

WALLY
She’s nodding.

MADDIE
Because you think you’ll hurt him.

WALLY
(voice catching)
She’s still nodding.

MADDIE
(softly)
Okay. Arden, what do you want to tell your brother? Or your sister. Is there anything you want to say to them? Because I can write it. I can write to them. From you. You tell Wally to tell me what to write? Like an extended game of telephone.

WALLY
Mads…

MADDIE
I wanna help her.

Another long beat. ARDEN’s tears are drying as they well up in WALLY’s eyes instead. She looks at him. She blinks.

ARDEN
I’d like that.

Another beat.

ARDEN (CONT’D)
Here… I’ll give you two a sec. I’ll meet you…

WALLY
Gym?

ARDEN nods, then leaves, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. WALLY looks up at MADDIE.

MADDIE
What?

WALLY
(earnest)
Thank you.

MADDIE
Yeah, of cours… I’m sorry.

WALLY
Why are you sorry?

MADDIE
I didn’t realize… I thought you…

A long beat. WALLY blinks, understanding. He almost laughs.

WALLY
You thought I…? Mads, she’s a baby.

MADDIE
Right, sure, but… I don’t know. Time is weird here. And now I’m alive again, and I’m running back to you with Simon shit and Xavier shit and everything-

WALLY
Hey, hey, Maddie, I don’t care how many… guys are in your life. I mean, Charley’s always here, right?

MADDIE
He doesn’t-

WALLY
No, I know. That was a joke.

MADDIE laughs. It’s good to hear her laugh.

MADDIE
I guess I was just… relieved?

WALLY
You’re allowed to be relieved.

MADDIE
And I’m confused.

WALLY
You’re allowed to be confused. You don’t have to… I don’t know. You want to help Simon. I get it, I under-

MADDIE
No! Damnit Wally! I’m confused on how to love a ghost!

WALLY
What?

MADDIE
Simon’s not… it’s not like that. He’s my best friend. And you’re…

WALLY
I’m dead.

MADDIE
You’re everything.

She reaches her hand towards his face. It hovers over his cheek. He leans into it and breathes in the warmth even though he can’t touch her.

Chapter Text

7 - INT - DEVIN’S SCAR - INDETERMINATE

SIMON is still seated in his patch of marigolds. He stares ahead at the exit sign that DEVIN left through. He can’t follow. He doesn’t know if he wants to. He looks up when a light shines from off somewhere else. JANET enters the scar from another liminal space. Possibly the band kids’ scar.

JANET
Simon?

SIMON
Janet? Hey. Did you…

SIMON doesn’t have to finish his question. He trails off when MR. MARTIN steps out from behind JANET.

MR. MARTIN
Simon.

SIMON
You found him then.

JANET
I did.

There is an awkward beat of MR. MARTIN and SIMON staring at each other. JANET sighs.

JANET (CONT’D)
Dear lord, you are adults. Behave like it.

Another beat.

JANET (CONT’D)
Simon, Mr. Martin has something to say to you. Don’t you?

MR. MARTIN
Simon… I’m sor-

SIMON
You’re sorry about leaving me in a personal hellscape. Okay. Great. I don’t forgive you.

JANET
Simon…

SIMON
What?

JANET
Cool it. He’s here to help.

SIMON
Oh? Again? How long are you gonna give him before it turns south this time?

MR. MARTIN
Simon, that… when I… it was a mistake. I never-

SIMON
Meant to? I think you damn well did mean to.

MR. MARTIN
I was going to say, I miscalculated.

SIMON
Miscalculated? I’m not a chemistry equation!

MR. MARTIN
I miscalculated myself. I thought… if I… I thought if I was helpful enough, something would come of it. I thought I was more than a prisoner of war.

JANET
You’re not a prisoner of war. No one is at war here.

SIMON
Janet, you might have to reteach him. This is the worst apology ever.

MR. MARTIN
Simon. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I left you there.

SIMON
Bull. Shit.

MR. MARTIN
Fine! What do you want?

SIMON
I wanna get out of here!

MR. MARTIN
That’s what I’ve spent the last sixty five years working on!

SIMON
Oh, so you just suck at it then?

MR. MARTIN is fuming. JANET cuts in.

JANET
(frustrated)
Yes. We do suck at it. That’s why we need you. You and Maddie have made more progress on this in two months than we have in over half a century. I’m tired of this game. Convince one of you that it’s worth it to swallow your pride and work on this, and then turn around just to have the other one refuse. It’s a sick kind of dance and I’m done. Simon, Mr. Martin. Do you want to get out of here?

SIMON
Duh!

MR. MARTIN
(at the same time)
Of course.

JANET
Great! I don’t need you to shake hands or be tight or anything, just be… cooperative!

The ellipses serve as JANET wanting to swear but not being able to bring herself to do so. A long beat. JANET is panting. SIMON and MR. MARTIN look a little ashamed at how she just had to yell at them. JANET takes a deep breath.

JANET (CONT’D)
Are we clear?

SIMON
Yes ma’am.

JANET
Right then. Come on.

JANET turns on her heel and SIMON and MR. MARTIN look at each other for a brief moment. MR. MARTIN almost offers SIMON his hand, but SIMON brushes past him to follow JANET before he can. MR. MARTIN sighs and follows them.

INT. SCARS - VARIOUS

JANET walks purposely through a door out of the auto shop. What follows is an anthology of scars. All the ghosts of Split River High, in reverse order. We’ve seen SIMON’s and ARDEN’s, who would be the only ones left after DEVIN. JANET leaves the auto shop, SIMON and MR. MARTIN in tow. They’ve all seen these scars before, but we haven’t.

The first place we see is the interior of a bus. There are flames all around. A tuba is overturned on top of someone, the rim cutting into their neck, their hand clawing at the ground. If we look closely we might see that the person is JONAH, but the camera doesn’t get that close. There is a haunting rendition of the Split River fight song playing and a woman’s voice pleading with someone to wake up. They don’t linger. JANET leads them out the back door of the bus.

Suddenly, we’re in a scar we recognize. A vending machine of peanuts sits in the center of an otherwise empty cafeteria. Beside it is a table of boys in hoodies. When they turn, we see that they are all YOUNG EMILIO FIGUEROA. They laugh as JANET nears the vending machine, expecting her to start choking like CHARLEY does. But she doesn’t. She walks up to the front and yanks off the glass. She steps inside without looking at them.

Another scar. A girls bathroom, covered in tiny marigold flowers. They grow around hairline fissures in the mirror, covering the cracks themselves. A bouquet of marigolds grows in a toilet, and another in a pill bottle on the sink ledge. There is red writing on the floor that is now illegible, and forms a path to the toilet of marigolds. JANET doesn’t look at anything. She and SIMON and MR. MARTIN walk through.

They enter a dark space illuminated by a single tungsten light. The last time we saw this space, a demonic DEE DEE CAREY was holding that light by a thin rigging rope. Now, it is held up by a net of marigolds. Each dent on the stage is a small collection of the flowers. JANET scales a ladder over by the side of the stage, SIMON and MR. MARTIN follow her wordlessly. Up on the catwalks, the bolts of the clamps holding the lights in place tighten on their own as the ghosts walk by. JANET leaves this scar too.

She exits onto a football field. We hear BEATRICE CLARK yelling in the background, but we don’t see her. And suddenly, a line of massive football players are running at them, full speed. JANET doesn’t even slow down, she steps aside, letting them barrel past her and into the figure behind them who goes flying, landing with a sickening crunch. WALLY. JANET doesn’t look back at his unseeing eyes, but SIMON does. He looks as though he might be sick.

JANET
Simon!

SIMON
Yeah. Sorry.

SIMON leaves WALLY’s body there and follows JANET and MR. MARTIN out.

Another scar. A gym. It is stifling. The windows are fogged over, and yet somehow not able to be opened. The sun sits in the middle of the ceiling, surreally. A group of girls we don’t recognize run in circles around the gym. Many of them wear sweatbands. Voulez-Vous by ABBA plays loudly. JANET leaves before we can even figure out which girl is KIM.

And then we’re back in the greenhouse. The place smells like marajuana and anxiety. The air is thick. The plants reach out for JANET’s neck but she bats them away and keeps walking. The door to the greenhouse is wedged shut.

JANET
Shit.

MR. MARTIN
Here.

MR. MARTIN hands JANET an inhaler that he found on the ground. YURI’s inhaler. JANET understands. She throws it at the window of the greenhouse, hard. The whole greenhouse shatters around them, and they’re somewhere else.

An equipment room. Lightbulbs blink, but not threateningly, like a disco. There’s an exit sign over a door and yet more marigolds. The radios shift from upbeat song to upbeat song. It’s a party. JANET doesn’t stay to celebrate. She leaves and enters…

A guidance counselor’s office. MR. MANFREDO stands, glassy-eyed in his office. JANET doesn’t so much as look at him. MR. MARTIN does. He stops. But when MR. MANFREDO looks at him, MR. MARTIN shudders and looks away. SIMON glances over at MR. MANFREDO, who is emerging from the office, hands outstretched. JANET leads them away before he can open the door.

INT. JANET AND MR. MARTIN’S SCAR - INDETERMINATE

Finally, they’ve made it to their destination. They’re back in the flaming hellscape of MR. MARTIN and JANET’s death. ALICE’s demonic figure sits by the window. JANET turns to SIMON.

JANET
Simon. Do you have the watch?

SIMON
Yeah. I do.

SIMON pulls the watch, the ghostly version out of his pocket.

JANET
And the ticket stub?

SIMON
Here.

He pulls the ticket stub out of his pocket. He’s now holding a key in each hand.

JANET
Can I have the watch?

SIMON hands her the watch.

SIMON
And the ticket stub?

JANET
Just a second.

JANET crosses to MR. MARTIN. She presses the watch into his palm. He looks up at her, surprised, grateful, and ashamed, all at once.

JANET (CONT’D)
Don’t make me regret it, yeah?

MR. MARTIN
Of course not.

SIMON
Janet, what are you doing?

JANET
I’m trusting him.

SIMON
Why? That-

JANET
Killed me last time? I know. I’m going to lead you through your scar-

SIMON
So why didn’t we just stay there after-

JANET
Simon! Let me finish! Because you have to enter from your afterlife. This scar. That thins the barrier. Gets you into the regular afterlife, but once you’re there, we need someone holding the door open.

SIMON
I don’t understand.

JANET
I don’t either! I’m just throwing stuff at the wall at this point.

SIMON
What?

JANET
I know that Devin’s door stayed open when those boots, the physical ones in the real world, were at the site. He was in flux until they took his body. I had Maddie leave the real life watch in the boiler room to hold the door from that side. Mr. Martin’ll hold it from this one with the ghost watch, and the ticket stub gets you into your scar to thin that barrier and get into our scar.

JANET says all of this very fast. A really attentive viewer might clock all the logic that JANET has gone through to get here, but most won’t. SIMON certainly doesn’t. But MR. MARTIN does.

SIMON
What the fuck?

JANET
You don’t have to get it.

SIMON
But I-

MR. MARTIN
How did you manage to…

JANET
I befriended our test subjects. I got them to help me, not just be our lab rats. Double blind this and double blind that, Mr. Martin, they’re people.

MR. MARTIN
So you’ve said.

JANET
They’re smart.

MR. MARTIN
I suppose so.

SIMON
Janet!

JANET
Simon, I do not have the bandwidth to explain the afterlife mechanics to you. I’ve tried. I don’t even fully understand myself, but I do know how to get you out of here. Do you trust me?

SIMON
I don’t… know.

MR. MARTIN
Young man… it’s now or never.

JANET holds out her hand to SIMON. He hesitates, but finally, he takes it.

MR. MARTIN (CONT’D)
I’ve got you from this side.

JANET nods at him, her hand still in SIMON’s. The room around JANET and SIMON begins to glow and pulse. JANET guides SIMON over to the window where ALICE is. They don’t look at her, they just climb through.

INT. SIMON’S SCAR - INDETERMINATE

We’re back in the boiler room. Simon’s scar. It’s just SIMON and JANET as far as we can see. And a blonde figure on the ground. MADDIE. SIMON’s breath catches in his throat.

JANET
It’s not real. Remember that.

SIMON
It’s not real. It’s not real. God! Janet, what do I even have to do in here?

JANET
Hold on.

JANET lifts up her hands, as if feeling the air around her. She breathes deeply. Her fingers comb through the air around her, almost as though she’s searching for something.

SIMON
Janet?

JANET
Close your eyes.

SIMON blinks, but he does. JANET closes hers too. The screen goes black as she does. We see nothing but we hear voices. And the sounds of sirens. They overlap. It is disorienting.

MR. MARTIN (V.O.)
No! Please! Don’t leave me in here!

NICOLE (V.O.)
Let him go.

RHONDA (V.O.)
But what if-

SANDRA (V.O.)
That’s my kid!

CLAIRE (V.O.)
Let them do their job!

WALLY (V.O.)
Go, Maddie. It’s time to-

JANET (V.O.)
I can teach you.

SIMON (V.O.)
Maddie? MADDIE? MADISON?

The other voices fade out and we only hear SIMON. He’s calling for MADDIE. Over and over and over again. The sirens fade. The music stops. We just hear footsteps. And then the screen flashes bright red.

INT. MR. MARTIN’S SCAR - INDETERMINATE

We’re back in MR. MARTIN and JANET’s scar. The red light presses in, almost suffocating. SIMON spins in place. Out of the reddish fog comes ALICE, her dress is smoking at the bottom. She offers SIMON her hand.

ALICE
Simon?

SIMON
Who are you?

ALICE
That doesn’t matter, love. Come see your girl. She misses you.

SIMON
I don’t…

JANET (O.S.)
Simon!

SIMON
Huh?

JANET (O.S.)
Simon, run!

ALICE
Don’t worry, love, we’re right here.

MR. MARTIN (O.S.)
Simon! Follow our voices!

JANET (O.S.)
SIMON!

SIMON looks from ALICE’s hand towards where JANET’s voice is coming from. He looks back at ALICE.

SIMON
My girl?

ALICE
The one you were calling to?

MADDIE (O.S.)
Simon?

SIMON
Maddie?

JANET (O.S.)
Simon, she’s not there! She’s out here!

ALICE
Darling…

SIMON closes his eyes tight. The flames rage around him. The red light. ALICE’s hand remains extended. Trophies JANET never won fall out of the cabinet as the wood is eaten through by the fire. MR. MARTIN and JANET are calling to SIMON. He runs blindly towards their voices.

ALICE (CONT’D)
Simon!

But he’s already gone. Smash to black.

INT. BOILER ROOM - DAY

SIMON lies on a dusty floor. He’s not sure where he is. There are a pair of smart oxfords beside him. MR. MARTIN looks down at SIMON, panting on the floor of the bunker in the boiler room. JANET stands a bit ahead of them, holding the cracked watch face.

JANET
Simon?

SIMON
Janet?

MR. MARTIN
Janet. He…

JANET
Holy shit.

Chapter Text

8 - EXT - SCHOOL GROUNDS - NIGHT

QUINN, STEPHANIE, TYLER, and RHONDA sit on the bleachers. QUINN holds a baton loosely in her hand. STEPHANIE is holding eight field markers and a bassoon.

TYLER
I just don’t understand. It worked, right? Just for a moment?

RHONDA
A moment isn’t enough, golden boy. Unless you’re the Flash.

TYLER
But you think every time the markers glow, those doors open?

STEPHANIE
We can’t know.

TYLER
But you said you felt something?

STEPHANIE
Something.

TYLER
And you’re not bullshitting me?

QUINN
(quietly)
Why would we?

TYLER
I don’t know!

STEPHANIE
Tyler, deep breaths.

TYLER
But it’s like playing fucking whack-a-mole! One’ll light, then another, and then they go out and another one lights.

RHONDA
Well, I don’t know. Maybe talk to your girlfriend. She’s the only one whose chip has been consistently dark.

TYLER
That’s not fair and you know it.

RHONDA
Do I?

TYLER
I’d assume so! Because at this point, your little pet’s chip isn’t being very glowy either!

QUINN
I’m sorry.

RHONDA
Don’t apologize to him! He doesn’t deserve your apologies. Yours lit up first!

TYLER
And then stopped!

QUINN
Maybe it’s a timing thing. Maybe they need to line up?

TYLER
So what? We just wait for Rachel’s? How long will that take? What if we miss it? Or it doesn’t line up?

STEPHANIE
I don’t think it’s timing.

TYLER
Yeah? Pray tell, why not?

STEPHANIE
That last run… mine, Erin’s, Marci’s, yours, and Jonah’s lit, right?

TYLER
Yeah.

STEPHAINE
So we missed Zach, Quinn, and Rachel.

TYLER
Yes, I can do math.

STEPHANIE
But the time before that, Jonah’s was out too. And before that, Marci’s and yours, but Zach’s was on.

TYLER
Yeah, whack-a-mole.

STEPHANIE
I’m saying, who has lit up consistently?

TYLER
Hell if I know.

QUINN
Stephanie and Erin.

TYLER
Oh, so you’re gloating. Real helpful Steph.

RHONDA
Jesus Christ. When do I get to hit these dorks with their instruments?

STEPHANIE
I’m-

QUINN
I don’t think she’s bragging.

A moment of silence. RHONDA looks at QUINN.

RHONDA
Okay. Then what’s happening?

QUINN
Can I try something?

TYLER
Quinn, we’ve been trying things!

QUINN
Humor me?

Another long beat. Finally TYLER picks up his trumpet.

TYLER
Don’t take too long, Quinny.

TYLER stands and leaves RHONDA, QUINN, and STEPHANIE on the bleachers.

RHONDA
Hey, Ms. Mars, what’s going on?

QUINN
Look.

QUINN points at RACHEL a ways off from the rest of the group. MARCI is beside her, and RACHEL seems to be yelling at MARCI. MARCI’s flute is loose in her hands.

RHONDA
So? Rachel likes to yell. We established that.

QUINN
Just wait.
We hear TYLER’s voice from below.

TYLER (O.S)
Back to one!

RACHEL gestures over to where TYLER is, and MARCI walks over slowly. STEPHANIE looks at QUINN.

STEPHANIE
Here or there?

QUINN hesitates for a moment.

QUINN
Here. For now. I need you to conduct.

RHONDA
Wait, what about you?

QUINN
Just… let me try this.

RHONDA blinks, but doesn’t say no. STEPHANIE lifts the baton and cues the band. They play a song. Same one they’ve played all these years. The Split River fight song. Behind STEPHANIE, QUINN squeezes her eyes shut.

QUINN (CONT’D)
(softly, to herself)
I forgive you. I forgive you. I forgive you. I forgive you.

She keeps repeating this. RHONDA looks confused. The chips start glowing again. Just some of them. Like they have been. STEPHANIE has laid them out on the bleachers, and we see that two are unlit. They hold the song for a little longer. QUINN stops whispering to herself and suddenly, another chip goes dark.

QUINN (CONT’D)
Ok! Stop!

We don’t see them, but the band comes to a crashing halt down below.

QUINN(CONT’D)
How many?

RHONDA
What?

QUINN
How many lit up. Or didn’t?

RHONDA
Two didn’t. And then a third went dark.

QUINN
Do you know whose?

RHONDA
I can’t tell them apart! I’m not a 2000s band dork!

QUINN
When did the one go dark?

RHODNA
I don’t know? Around the chorus?

STEPHANIE
That’s when you stopped whispering, yeah?

QUINN
Yeah.

RHONDA
So…

Long beat. QUINN says nothing.

STEPHANIE
We’re each others’ tethers. That’s what you’ve been calling them, right? Tethers?

RHONDA
All of you? For all of the rest of you?

QUINN
I think so. So if we’re holding grudges against each other…

STEPHANIE
No one moves.

QUINN
Right.

A long beat.

RHONDA
And that Rachel girl? She’s the one… she’s the reason you’re still stuck? Because she’s a bitch?

QUINN
(quiet)
She’s not a bitch.

RHONDA
Oh yeah? I beg to differ.

STEPHANIE
She isn’t always.

RHONDA
I’d say she is.

QUINN
You don’t know her.

RHONDA
Who’s her grudge? Who matters enough that she’d stay this mad?

QUINN
Me, I’d expect. I lost us state.

RHONDA
Yeah, twenty something years ago! You are ghosts! Everyone else’s goes away after another play or two. Hers is fucking stubborn.

TYLER (O.S.)
It’s not you, Quinn.

QUINN turns to see TYLER behind them.

STEPHANIE
It’s you. Isn’t it?

TYLER hesitates. Then he nods.

QUINN
I don’t get it. You’re the only one she likes.

TYLER
That’s the problem, isn’t it?

STEPHANIE
Do you know who told her?

QUINN
Told her what?

TYLER
No, I don’t. God! I made it… almost four years.

STEPHANIE
But didn’t you feel bad?

TYLER
Of course I did.

QUINN
Feel bad about what?

STEPHANIE
And you’d have waited another… however many years? Your whole life? Would you have married her?

TYLER
I just…

QUINN
For what?

TYLER
I was in too deep.

QUINN
What-

RHONDA
Hey! Dipshits! Care to clue us in?

A long beat. TYLER looks at STEPHANIE.

STEPHANIE
It’s your story, love.

TYLER
I don’t…

STEPHANIE
You don’t have to.

TYLER
I do if we wanna leave, yeah?

A long beat. Finally, TYLER looks at RHONDA and QUINN.

TYLER (CONT’D)
Rachel and I started dating freshman year.

QUINN
I know.

TYLER
No, I… Quinn, I’m gay.

QUINN
Okay. So what?

TYLER
I’m gay, and I’m still with her, and I don’t love her like that, and she knows. And I don’t know how she knows, I don’t know who told her, but… I thought I could hide. My parents… they’d’ve…

RHONDA
She was your cover.

TYLER nods again.

TYLER
But she’s a person! And I…

TYLER cries.

STEPHANIE
It’s okay, love. You didn’t mean to hurt her. None of us knew… we’d end up here. We thought we could graduate and leave it all behind and grow up.

A long beat.

QUINN
We still can.

TYLER
What do you mean? We’re dead. Rhonda’s been eighteen for sixty years.

QUINN
If we move on-

RHONDA
Quinn, you don’t know that moving on will solve anything.

QUINN
And you don’t know that it won’t!

RHONDA
Don’t I? It’s like ghost suicide! It’s throwing away everything you have here for a chance at the great beyond!

QUINN
What do I have here?

RHONDA
You have me, you stupid fuck!

A long beat of silence.

RHONDA (CONT’D)
If… if we get… marching band’s not-so-golden couple to reconcile, and those doors open… and then… you cross… and I’m here…

QUINN
You’ll cross too.

RHONDA
(bitter)
Yeah? Who do I have from my life who loved or even hated me enough to be my tether? I can hold that glowing goddamn letter all I want, it doesn’t change the fact that I left this world with nobody!

A beat.

STEPHANIE
Do you think maybe Rachel feels that way? Betrayed?

RHONDA
Don’t talk to me about betrayed. Her boyfriend came out of the closet. The only person in my life worth shit murdered me in cold blood. We’re not the same.

STEPHANIE
Or did she just lose the only person she thought she had?

TYLER
But she didn’t… lose me. I want her in my life. Just not… I don’t know! I want her to be my kids’ aunt, not their mother!

STEPHANIE
So tell her that.

RHONDA
Don’t! Don’t you dare!

QUINN
Rhonda…

RHONDA
Only if you promise you’ll stay.

STEPHANIE
You can’t make her do that, Rhonda.

RHONDA
Watch me. Quinn. Stay.

A long beat.

QUINN
Tyler, go tell Rachel. Anything. Everything. Get those doors open.

RHONDA
And you-

QUINN
I’ll stay.

But there is no joy in QUINN’s voice. Only defeat. STEPHANIE looks from QUINN to RHONDA. She doesn’t know what to do.

Chapter Text

9 - INT - ARDEN’S HOUSE - NIGHT

We see CARTER’s car pull into the driveway through the window, ZOEY in the front seat. A moment later, the back door opens, and CARTER and ZOEY walk in. ZOEY puts her backpack on the counter and makes for the stairs.

CARTER
Zo?

ZOEY
What?

CARTER
You… um… dinner?

ZOEY
Did mom order something?

CARTER
I was… gonna make you mac-n-cheese.

ZOEY
The good kind? From the purple box?

CARTER
Of course.

ZOEY smiles, just barely, but CARTER’s happy to see it.

CARTER (CONT’D)
You can do your homework down here too if you want.

ZOEY
That’s okay. I wasn’t going to do my homework anyway.

CARTER
Zo, you should do your homework.

ZOEY
I don’t wanna.

Beat. CARTER isn’t going to make her do it.

ZOEY (CONT’D)
Call me down when you’re done?

CARTER
Yeah.

CARTER begins busying himself with making mac-n-cheese. He puts the pot on the stove and lets the water boil. We follow him to the front door where he picks up the mail. He gets back to the kitchen and puts the mail down on the counter, putting the noodles in the pot. Then he flips through the mail. Bills. College advertisements. Finally, a handwritten letter. CARTER furrows his brow, and opens it. His breath catches in his throat. It’s in MADDIE’s handwriting if we can recognize that as an audience. If not, we’ll know soon enough.

FLASHBACK SEQUENCE - INT - VARIOUS, CIRCA 2015, AND ALSO NOW - DAY

Funeral by Phoebe Bridgers begins playing over the flashback. We’re in the same house that we just left, so we can safely assume that it’s still the Lively household. We see YOUNG ARDEN LIVELY stands on a small living room table, a blow up microphone in her hand. She’s singing, but we can’t hear her. Just the Phoebe Bridgers music over it all.

I’m singing at a funeral tomorrow.

We pan over from YOUNG ARDEN to YOUNG CARTER LIVELY and YOUNG ZOEY LIVELY seated on the couch, watching their sister. YOUNG ZOEY looks restless.

For a kid a year older than me. And I’ve been talking to his dad, it makes me so sad when I think too much about it I can’t breathe.

YOUNG ZOEY clambers up from the couch and joins YOUNG ARDEN on the coffee table. YOUNG CARTER fishes another fake microphone out and tosses it to YOUNG ZOEY. She leaps for it and misses, falling off the table. YOUNG ZOEY looks like she might cry for a moment, until YOUNG ARDEN begins laughing. They all laugh. YOUNG ARDEN crawls onto the floor with her sister and they laugh.

Flash to another scene. YOUNG ARDEN, and YOUNG ZOEY are sitting in inner tubes on a river. YOUNG CARTER is waist deep, pulling them along.

And I have this dream where I’m screaming underwater, while my friends are waving from the shore.

We pan over to the bank and see two adults standing there. We don’t look long enough, but we can assume these are ARDEN, ZOEY, and CARTER’s parents.

And I don’t need you to tell me what that means, I don’t believe in that stuff anymore.

Flash to another scene. A modern day CARTER paces through hallways lined with wood and blue painted swirls. We might see some nurses in the background and it quickly becomes clear that he’s in a hospital. He’s wearing a Marquette track hoodie.

Jesus Christ I’m so blue all the time, and that’s just how I feel, always have, and I always will.

CARTER keeps walking, we see a sign behind him that says “Visitors.” CARTER doesn’t look at it as he walks in.

Always have and I always will.

Flash to another scene, a current ZOEY comes barrelling into CARTER’s room.

I have a friend I call.

She shakes him and he pulls out a headphone. We don’t hear what she says, but the look on her face is pure panic. CARTER is up in a moment, grabbing a Gatorade from his bedside table.

When I’ve bored myself to tears.

Flash to another scene. YOUNG ZOEY and YOUNG ARDEN are sitting on a mat on the floor of the bathroom. They have a book open in front of them and a plate of cookies, half consumed, beside them. YOUNG CARTER watches them from the doorway. They don’t see him.

And we talk until we think we might just kill ourselves, but then we laugh until it disappears.

Flash to another scene. A modern day CARTER is driving, his knuckles white on the wheel. He looks to his side, and ZOEY sits in the passenger seat, her arm extended behind her. ZOEY’s eyes are red, and when we follow her arm, we see her holding someone’s hand. We don’t see anything else, but we know it’s ARDEN’s hand. ZOEY squeezes. ARDEN squeezes back.

And last night I blacked out in my car, and I woke up in my childhood bed.

A modern day CARTER standing in front of the three kids’ bedroom doors. ARDEN’s is closed. Flash to YOUNG CARTER standing in front of the same three doors. But this time, YOUNG ARDEN and YOUNG ZOEY are inside ARDEN’s room. YOUNG ZOEY points at YOUNG CARTER and says something. YOUNG ARDEN giggles uncontrollably.

Wishing I was someone else, feeling sorry for myself.

We’re back with modern day CARTER. His hand hovers over the door to ARDEN’s room. Flash to another scene. CARTER’s hand hovers over another door handle. We pull back to see that it’s the door to a hospital room. ARDEN’s name is on the door on a clinical-looking clipboard.

When I remembered someone’s kid is dead.

In the hospital scene, ZOEY looks up at her brother, smiling encouragingly, and pushes the door open. We don’t see what’s inside.

Cut to another scene. YOUNG CARTER, YOUNG ZOEY, and YOUNG ARDEN are dancing around the kitchen. YOUNG CARTER holds a whisk with something blue on it. YOUNG ZOEY has the same blue in a dollop on the tip of her nose. YOUNG ARDEN goes over and licks it off, prompting YOUNG ZOEY’s giggles.

Jesus Christ I’m so blue all the time, and that’s just how I feel, always have and I always will. I always have and always will.

Flash to another scene. Modern CARTER sits in his dorm room at Marquette and his phone lights up. He picks it up, and we don’t hear anything, but CARTER’s face falls more and more the longer the phone is at his ear.

And it’s four AM again, and I’m doing nothing.

We zoom on CARTER’s face. He looks devastated, but his eyes are totally dry. He nods and puts the phone down. We stay close up on his face.

Again.

We fade from CARTER in his dorm to CARTER standing in the kitchen reading ARDEN’s letter, written in MADDIE’s hand. His face holds the same devastated expression, but now, there are tears leaking down his cheeks. He puts down ARDEN’s letter. He just stares at it, closed on the counter for a moment, until he hears a voice behind him.

ZOEY
Geez. How long does it take you to make mac-n-cheese?

CARTER turns to face ZOEY, and she takes a moment, taking in the tears on his face. Tears well in her eyes too and she wraps her arms around him. Tight. He’s taller than she is but he still buries his head in her shoulder, soaking her shirt. He cries and she does too. The siblings hold each other for another moment. We don’t know how long, just that when CARTER’s phone dings, they finally break apart. CARTER grabs his phone and looks at the text.

CARTER
(wiping his eyes)
Mom’s staying over at work tonight.

ZOEY
I figured she would.

CARTER glances over at the stove, where noodles and water are at the rim of the pot.

CARTER
Shit!

He turns off the stove quickly and grabs a potholder. ZOEY pulls a colander out of the cupboard.

ZOEY
Here.

They strain the pasta together in the sink. And then they look at their overcooked noodles.

CARTER
Sorry.

ZOEY
Don’t worry about it.

CARTER
I can make another box.

ZOEY
I think we’re out.

CARTER
Shit. Sorry.

ZOEY
(laughing slightly)
Legal adult and still can’t make boxed mac-n-cheese. You’re a disaster.

CARTER
(laughing through tears)
Yeah. God. I am.

They sit there for a beat.

CARTER (CONT’D)
This was the kind Arden liked, though, right?

ZOEY
That’s why I asked for it.

CARTER
But she never ate it.

ZOEY
‘Course not.

CARTER
You think she’d eat it if I overcooked it for her?

ZOEY
(laughing)
Carter, she wouldn’t eat it if you made it from scratch with your own blood.

CARTER
Well duh! She’s not a vampire!

ZOEY
You’re a goddamn idiot.

ZOEY is laughing though. And CARTER is laughing too. CARTER’s laugh dissolves into tears in a couple moments though.

CARTER
Fuck, Zo, I miss her.

ZOEY
Yeah.

CARTER picks up the card on the table.

CARTER
Did you see this?

ZOEY
What is it?

CARTER
Says it’s from Arden, but it’s not her handwriting. Totally her voice though. Couldn’t read it without hearing her.

ZOEY’s breath catches in her throat.

ZOEY
Is it to…

CARTER
You. And me.

ZOEY
And mom and dad?

CARTER
No. Just us.

A long beat. ZOEY tucks her hair behind her ear. She goes to do it again, but CARTER catches her hand.

CARTER (CONT’D)
Don’t.

Another beat.

ZOEY
Thanks.

CARTER
We have like… aloe and shit upstairs… do you…

ZOEY
I’m okay.

CARTER
You sure?

Another long beat.

ZOEY
I tried to do “To Be Or Not To Be” after rehearsal today.

CARTER
Why?

ZOEY shrugs.

ZOEY
To feel close to her. It was the last role she ever played.

CARTER
And?

ZOEY
Shitshow.

CARTER
I doubt that.

ZOEY
I couldn’t get through it. I don’t know how she even like… walked around. Hamlet’s heavy. Everything else was heavy.

CARTER
She wasn’t.

ZOEY
I know. I saw.

Beat.

CARTER
Did you feel closer to her?

ZOEY nods.

ZOEY
Too close.

Beat. ZOEY fidgets with her hands like she wants to do something with them but is restraining herself.

CARTER
I’m gonna go grab that aloe. I’ll be right back.

ZOEY
Carter, really, it’s fine-

CARTER
I’m not letting you fall through the cracks too.

Beat. Then ZOEY nods gratefully.

ZOEY
I’ll finish the mac-n-cheese.

CARTER
Oh, don’t worry about it. We can make something else.

ZOEY
The hell do you mean? This soggy-ass mac-n-cheese was made with the tears of Carter Lively. Those are a rare commodity.

CARTER
(chuckling)
Zoey, it’s mush.

ZOEY
Rare mush.

CARTER
You want rare mush for dinner?

ZOEY
I do.

CARTER smiles at his sister and then runs upstairs to grab the aloe he promised. ZOEY fishes a packet of fake cheese powder out of the box and pours it into the overcooked noodles. She picks up ARDEN’s card from the table, she doesn’t read it, but she does stand it up so that ARDEN’s name, written in handwriting that’s not her own, is visible.

Chapter Text

10 - INT - SCHOOL CLASSROOM - DAY

XAVIER is sitting alone in MR. ANDERSON’s old classroom. He has a school lunch, a paper plate with a sorry looking sandwich on it. He’s scrolling aimlessly on his phone when he hears a knock on the doorframe. He looks up to see MADDIE standing there.

MADDIE
Hey.

XAVIER
Hi.

An awkward beat. Finally, MADDIE sits beside him. The desks are a little far apart, but she turns to face him.

XAVIER (CONT’D)
What’s up?

MADDIE shrugs.

MADDIE
I dunno… I… I mean, first of all, I’m sorry about… leaving you at the hospital with my dad. I just…

XAVIER
You were overwhelmed. I get it.

MADDIE
Yeah. I guess.

Beat.

XAVIER
You doing okay now?

MADDIE
I… um… mostly.

XAVIER
No, just because you’ve like, been MIA ever since, and I didn’t know…

MADDIE
I’ve just been wrapped up. There’s… a lot of updates from the ghostly side of things.

XAVIER
Yeah, I mean, Nicole mentioned you had them make a house call for a dead girl’s sister?

MADDIE
And that’s the least of it.

XAVIER
Do you… wanna talk about it?

MADDIE
It’s not like… I don’t know. It’s not my world in there. I’m just an interloper now, so I don’t know how much it affects me.

XAVIER
But you’re still able to see them, talk to them. You’re still in the world.

MADDIE
I guess. There’re just dead kids who woke up from some kind of afterlife loop for the first time in twenty years and all the old ghosts are making headway moving on, whatever that means, and now Janet thinks she knows why we even ended up in this awful high school purgatory and I don’t know. There’s a lot happening.

XAVIER
And Simon?

MADDIE
Janet’s working on it. But actually that’s what I need your help on.

XAVIER
Mads, I can’t see them. I can only see your dad and those guys.

MADDIE
No, no I know. This is more… practical.

XAVIER
Enlighten me.

MADDIE
Simon bombed his interview with Northwestern the first time, because… well… he was convinced you killed me and was a little preoccupied with that.

XAVIER
Y’know Mads, I was really trying to forget about that bit.

MADDIE
Sorry.

Beat.

XAVIER
It’s fine. It’s not your fault.

MADDIE
Thanks.

Beat.

MADDIE (CONT’D)
Anyway… he called to do a makeup interview. And they scheduled it for today.

Another beat while XAVIER seems to realize what MADDIE is asking of him.

XAVIER
Oh! Maddie, I don’t know if you’ve gone blind or something, but I do not look like Simon in the slightest. You could at least get another guy who’s like… not white?

MADDIE
No, you don’t need to look like him. It’s just over the phone. I just need a man’s voice.

XAVIER
Well… I’m your man.

He cringes at the way he just phrased that.

MADDIE
Thank you.

Beat.

XAVIER
So… when’s the call?

MADDIE
In like ten? I totally forgot about it until I got an email through Simon’s account at lunch.

XAVIER
You have Simon’s email login?

MADDIE
Yeah. I offered him mine too but he thought that was weird.

XAVIER
It is weird.

MADDIE
No it’s not. He’s my best friend.

XAVIER
And? I’m your boyfriend… was your boyfriend and you don’t have mine.

MADDIE
I think the addition of “was” to that sentence tells you everything you need to know.

XAVIER
I’m so sorry.

MADDIE
(laughing a little)
And I said I forgive you, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to go running back. Nor do I even particularly think you want me to.

XAVIER
I don’t think so either! I just… I am so sorry.

MADDIE
I know you are. And it’s okay.

Another long beat.

MADDIE (CONT’D)
Okay, so I’m having them call my phone, I told them Simon’s broke… which is technically true. I didn’t say a ghost from the 1950s in his best friend’s body threw it in a pot of boiling water though. That didn’t seem relevant. Or plausible.

XAVIER
Because under most circumstances, it emphatically is not. What… what is Simon even interested in? Like, what does he want to do at Northwestern? Why there? I mean, those are the questions they’re gonna ask.

MADDIE
He likes books, movies, games, that kind of thing. He says he doesn’t know what he wants to do, but I think he’d be a killer media scholar or something. Maybe teach. I don’t know.

XAVIER
That’s so niche.

MADDIE
He’s not a categorizable guy.

XAVIER
He’s one of a kind.

MADDIE
More than that. He’s… I don’t think there’s ever been anyone like him, nor do I think there ever will be.

XAVIER
You love him.

MADDIE
Of course I love him.

XAVIER
But…

MADDIE
No. Because that’s always a gamble and I’m not gonna gamble away my soulmate.

XAVIER
“Soulmate,” though?

MADDIE
Yeah. There’s a little ghost girl who’s teaching me that love doesn’t always mean romance. She’s pretty damn smart.

XAVIER
The new girl? The one you can’t see?

MADDIE
Yeah. I wish I could see her.

XAVIER
I’m sure she does too.

Another long beat.

MADDIE
Sorry. Okay. Is there anything else you feel like you need to know? Like, extracurriculars, or academic achievements, or-

XAVIER
Mads, they can see all of that on a transcript. They wanna know who he is. And you know that better than anyone. I trust you, and he trusts you. Just tell me what to say.

MADDIE
God. Yeah. Okay. My best friend’s entire future is riding on my back. Cool.

XAVIER
Maddie, you’ve been dealing with literal ghosts. This is just college. You can handle this.

MADDIE
(hyping herself up)
Yeah! Of course I can!

MADDIE’s phone rings. It’s an unknown caller from Evanston Illinois. MADDIE screams a little bit.

XAVIER
(laughing)
Oh my god!

MADDIE
Shit!

XAVIER
Pick it up!

MADDIE
You pick it up!

XAVIER does. He puts it on speaker.

XAVIER
Hello?

ADMISSIONS OFFICE
Hi, is this Simon Elroy?

XAVIER
Yes! Yes, um, yeah, that’s me. Hi.

MADDIE
(whispered)
You suck at this!

XAVIER
(whispered)
Shut up!

ADMISSIONS OFFICE
Is something wrong, Mr. Elroy?

XAVIER
No, no, sorry. I’m just… in the library. It’s a little loud.

ADMISSIONS OFFICE
It’s loud in the library?

XAVIER
Yeah, I mean, it’s a high school library. There are a lot of people getting work done or doing meetings here.

ADMISSIONS OFFICE
Right of course. Well, thank you for your call Mr. Elroy, we’re so glad you reached out. You are a very promising candidate and we are ever so sorry for your loss.

XAVIER
Yeah, I… um… thank you.

ADMISSIONS OFFICE
So, for starters, Mr. Elroy, why did you reach back out? Were you unsatisfied with something in the first interview?

MADDIE begins whispering frantically in XAVIER’s ear. We don’t hear what she says.

XAVIER
Yeah, yeah, no, I um… I kind of left that interview pretty abruptly, none of my answers were as… articulate as I would have liked them to be… I just… my friend had gone missing literally days earlier and I was distracted.

ADMISSIONS OFFICE
That is totally understandable. Did you have a particular reason you rescheduled this interview? I know you have other schools you’re applying to.

More whispering from MADDIE.

XAVIER
I mean, if I’m being completely transparent, you guys are my top choice. The city location, the liberal arts curriculum, it just gives me an incredible amount of freedom to figure out who I am and what I want to do with my life.

ADMISSIONS OFFICE
That is really what we strive to do. Is there anything at Northwestern especially that stands out to you?

More whispering from MADDIE.

XAVIER
Yeah, totally, I love the idea of a quarter system because it really gives me a lot more time to take a lot more classes, and the gen-eds give me room to explore but still force me to take every kind of class and explore everything. I think… explore might be my operative word here. I’m curious about the world and I think Northwestern is a great place to learn about it.

ADMISSIONS OFFICE
That’s wonderful, Mr. Elroy. I see here that your parents went to UW Madison?

XAVIER
That’s correct.

ADMISSIONS OFFICE
Any particular reason you wouldn’t want to go there?

More whispering from MADDIE.

XAVIER
It’s just… not my vibe. It’s too socially focused. I guess. I’m not looking for a school where popularity determines anything. I want to be able to pursue things I enjoy without the barrier of popularity culture that I feel like lives at big state schools, but I also don’t want to go to a school so small that we have class and that’s it. Northwestern really combines those optimally for me.

ADMISSIONS OFFICE
That’s really lovely to hear. Do you have any friends at Northwestern? Or what have you heard?

A beat. MADDIE whispers something and XAVIER parrots it back.

XAVIER
It’s my best friend’s top choice too.

MADDIE goes to whisper something else to XAVIER but he brushes her off.

MADDIE
(whispered)
Xavier, what are you doing?

XAVIER
(whispered)
Trust me.

XAVIER takes a beat, he breathes.

XAVIER (CONT’D)
(normal volume)
She’s… the smartest person I know. And she’s unfailingly kind and supportive and forgiving. You could literally send this girl to hell and she’d be the one to pull you out. She’s been through more than anyone should have to go through, and I want to see what she does. I want to see her grow and become something she could never imagine but I’ve seen all along. I would follow her to the ends of the earth. I have. And I would do it again and again, and forever.

XAVIER looks over at MADDIE. Tears are streaking silently down her cheeks. He smiles at her. She smiles back.

ADMISSIONS OFFICE
Has your friend submitted her application yet?

XAVIER
Not yet. She… just got back.

ADMISSIONS OFFICE
Got back from…? I’m sorry, I don’t follow.

XAVIER
We don’t know. She was missing for a month. And now she’s back. And I’m just grateful she wasn’t gone for good.

ADMISSIONS OFFICE
Oh, Simon, I didn’t… realize…

XAVIER
It’s okay.

ADMISSIONS OFFICE
Well, I’m so grateful that your friend is okay, and thank you for your time today Simon. It really was a pleasure to talk to you. You are a very honest and caring young man, and I don’t have sole authority over this, but I know I would love to meet you on campus.

XAVIER
Thank you. Thank you very much.

ADMISSIONS OFFICE
Have a good day, Simon.

XAVIER
Thanks, you too.

ADMISSIONS OFFICE
Buh-bye.

The phone clicks off and XAVIER looks up at MADDIE, who is still crying.

XAVIER
Hey, are you okay?

MADDIE
(wiping her eyes)
Did you say that as him, or as you?

XAVIER
Both. Neither. All of them. I said it as him. As me. As Wally. Nicole, Claire, your mom even. I said it as anyone who knows you.

MADDIE
I don’t understand.

XAVIER
Madison Nears, you are an incredible human being, and I will never stop loving you.

MADDIE
Xavier, I said-

XAVIER
I know what you said. And we’re on the same page, don’t worry. I have… nevermind. Not important. But your little ghost girl is right. Love doesn’t just mean romance and I will love you forever.

MADDIE takes a beat, fighting tears, and then she gives XAVIER a massive hug.

MADDIE
Thank you.

XAVIER
Nah. Thank you.

MADDIE
For what?

XAVIER
For coming back.

MADDIE
How could I not?

They pull apart from the hug. MADDIE wipes her eyes and looks at XAVIER. She pauses for a moment, thinking, then she smiles.

MADDIE (CONT’D)
Wait, who is this… is it Claire?

XAVIER
What? I never said anything about-

MADDIE
You said, “I have” and then cut off like a coward.

XAVIER
I don’t even know what it is, Mads.

MADDIE
Okay, let me help you figure it out.

XAVIER
How?

MADDIE
I don’t know. I could get to know her. Become friends. Wingwoman this shit.

XAVIER
My ex-girlfriend is going to be my wingwoman?

MADDIE
Yeah! Why not?

XAVIER
Somehow this is weirder than the ghosts.

JANET (O.S.)
Speaking of…

MADDIE whirls around to see JANET in the doorway. XAVIER can’t see or hear her, but he does see MADDIE’s shock and replicates it.

XAVIER
What is it?

MADDIE
Jesus Christ, Janet. You scared me.

JANET
And I didn’t even have to say “boo!”

Beat. MADDIE studies JANET.

MADDIE
Was… that a joke?

JANET
It was, indeed.

MADDIE
You… do that now?

JANET
When I’m in a good mood.

MADDIE
And you’re in a good mood?

JANET
The best.

MADDIE
Why?

JANET
(grinning)
Come with me and find out. Boiler room. ASAP.

JANET leaves the room, and MADDIE hesitates, but then she takes XAVIER’s hand. She leads him out of the classroom, presumably following JANET.

Chapter Text

11 - EXT/INT - SCHOOL GROUNDS/BAND KIDS SCAR - DAY/INDETERMINATE

TYLER and RACHEL sit across from each other on the grass outside the main entrance of the school. ERIN is between them, mediating the conversation. They are mid-conversation.

TYLER
Who did tell you then?

RACHEL
Does it matter? They’re alive, we’re not, we’re never gonna see them again.

TYLER
I still want to know.

RACHEL
Too bad.

ERIN
Rachel…

RACHEL
What?

ERIN
There’s a more polite way to say “no” there.

RACHEL
Fuck polite. You used me for four years.

TYLER
I know. And I’m so sorry, and I can’t say it enough.

RACHEL
Yeah. You can’t.

TYLER
What can I say then?

RACHEL
I don’t know.

TYLER
That’s not helpful!

ERIN
Hey-

TYLER
No, shut up! I wanna get out of here. We all wanna get out of here. And the reason we can’t is because you think I’m evil or something.

ERIN
She doesn’t think you’re evil-

TYLER
Then what do you think?

RACHEL
That you’re an asshole?

ERIN
Rach, do you think-

RACHEL
Nope. Fuck both of y’all.

RHONDA (O.S.)
Erin! C’mere!

ERIN
Coming! Just a sec guys. Don’t… kill each other.

RACHEL
You’re worse at jokes than Zach.

ERIN just shakes her head and jogs over to RHONDA. RHONDA, QUINN, CHARLEY, WALLY, ZACH, STEPHANIE, MARCI, and JONAH all sit in kind of aimless groupings a short ways away from where RACHEL, TYLER, and ERIN were.

RHONDA
What’s taking so long, Mrs. Freud?

ZACH
I’m still trying to sort out where these nicknames come from, because that one it seems like you pulled out of your ass.

WALLY
No one knows. But hey, I’ve gotten attached to mine.

RHONDA
Shut it, meatball. Erin?

ERIN
I’m sorry, they’re just… I don’t know. It runs deep.

CHARLEY
What? The homophobia? I’ll say.

ERIN
Not even that, just the whole thing.

RHONDA
Well can she just swallow her damn pride and let the rest of these assholes move on?

QUINN
Almost all the rest of us.

STEPHANIE
Quinn…

QUINN
It’s fine.

ERIN
Is it?

RHONDA
It is. She said it was, so drop it and focus on Rachel, yeah?

ERIN
I’m trying, Rhonda.

RHONDA
Try harder.

STEPHANIE
That’s not fair.

RHONDA
None of this shit is fair.

CHARLEY
Woah, hey, Rhonda-

RHONDA
Nope. Fuck it.

WALLY
Rhonda, give it a-

But RHONDA has already stood up and is making her way over to where TYLER and RACHEL are sitting.

RHONDA
Hey, queen bee, get over here.

RACHEL looks up at RHONDA.

RACHEL
Yeah? Why?

RHONDA
Or don’t. Fine. Tyler?

TYLER
What?

RHONDA
Go away.

TYLER
O…okay?

TYLER looks confused but he makes his way over to the larger group of ghosts. ERIN greets him and he sits with her. RHONDA plops herself down in front of RACHEL.

RACHEL
What?

RHONDA
I don’t know. You tell me, princess. We’ve been out here for days and you’re our sticking point.

RACHEL
Oh, am I being an inconvenience to your little afterlife rendezvous? I’m so sorry.

RHONDA
Cut the crap. You can hide behind sarcasm as much as you want, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re butthurt and it’s keeping a whole lot of people stuck.

RACHEL
Cut the crap? Is that what you’ve done for the last, what? Sixty years? Because as near as I can figure, Rhonda, you’re the closest thing to a mirror I’ve got here.

RHONDA
Bullshit.

RACHEL
You felt betrayed, and now you’re holding people back. Seems the same to me.

RHONDA is speechless for a moment.

RHONDA
I was murdered-

RACHEL
I’m not talking about your freaky guidance counselor. Is Quinn really gonna stay here for you?

There is a long beat. RHONDA looks over at QUINN. Then back at RACHEL.

RHONDA
What did Tyler tell you?

RACHEL
Tyler didn’t tell me anything. I happen to have ears.

RHONDA
What’s your point?

RACHEL
How are you better than me then? You feel betrayed because you thought she loved you, and now, she’s leaving? Sounds pretty familiar to me.

RHONDA
No, no, you don’t get to play all self-aware here.

RACHEL
Why not? Even if the rest of us get the green light, even if that door opens for her, she’s gotta stay because you say so? Sounds pretty selfish to me.

RHONDA
So do you!

RACHEL
Because he doesn’t even LOVE ME! She at least loves you enough to give up her FUCKING HEAVEN!

RHONDA
Yes he DOES! GOD! Are you not LISTENING? He’s just not IN LOVE with you!

They sit there, facing each other, two angry, betrayed, dead girls.

RHONDA (CONT’D)
Walk me through the crash.

RACHEL
What?

RHONDA
Walk me through the crash. What happened?

RACHEL
I died, fuckface.

RHONDA
No, I mean order of events. Quinn told me she was the only one who didn’t die on impact, yeah? So what do you remember before the impact?

RACHEL
I don’t-

RHONDA
Yes you do. Think.

RACHEL
Quinn was singing. God, that was annoying. And then we hit the ice… the bus spun… Jonah… he…

RACHEL is tearing up now. RHONDA nods at her.

RHONDA
I know it hurts. You suppressed that memory for a reason, but I need you to unearth it now.

RACHEL
You do it!

RHONDA
I have! I have stared my murderer in the eye. Or some form of him, at least. It’s your turn, princess. What happened to Jonah?

RACHEL
He was crushed by a tuba case… I think… I think he died first.

RHONDA
Keep going.

RACHEL
(fully crying)
I don’t want-

RHONDA grabs RACHEL’s hand. Tight.

RHONDA
(firmly)
Keep going.

RACHEL
The bus… kept spinning… Marci was screaming… Erin was holding her… Zach tried to jump ship… and he was crushed between the lamppost and the bus. The rest of us… I don’t… Steph… I think a window shattered? I remember her being… blood-

RACHEL chokes. RHONDA squeezes her hand tighter.

RHONDA
Keep going. You and Tyler. What happened there?

RACHEL
I don’t… he… he was on top of me…? And when the bus made contact with the lamp… it like… it bent around it? He pushed me out of the fold… place… he… and then I… something fell…

RHONDA
You’re okay. Keep going.

RACHEL
There’s nothing else! It’s all…

RHONDA
Then you died.

RACHEL nods, tears streaming. She looks at RHONDA.

RACHEL
Did he save me? Did he save my life?

RHONDA
I mean, no he didn’t, because you’re dead, but-

RACHEL
Did he try?

RHONDA
I don’t know. I wasn’t there. But that’s what Quinn said. She said when she sees it happen in her head… There’s the tuba case, the lamppost, the bend… and she says he tried to save you. And that’s why he died. If he’d stayed closer to the front of the bus…

RACHEL
What?

RHONDA
Love doesn’t mean IN love, Rachel. That boy didn’t want to marry you like you thought he did, but he did give his life to try and help you. That’s love if I’ve ever seen it.

As RHONDA and RACHEL have been talking, QUINN, STEPHANIE, ERIN, and TYLER have made their way over. RACHEL looks over at TYLER.

TYLER
Rach?

RACHEL
So… if we’d lived…

ERIN
You’d have made the best lavender marriage in this conservative Wisconsin town.

TYLER
Or I’d’ve let you… Not let you, that’s not right… you… I’d ask?

ERIN
Go ahead.

TYLER
I’d ask if you’d marry me to save me. Because if there was anyone I’d want it to be…

RACHEL
Ty… you died to save me. Knowing what I know now, I’d marry you in a heartbeat.

ERIN
And, apparently, gay marriage was legalized eleven years after we died. You wouldn’t have had to wait long.

STEPHANIE
The game of what ifs.

RACHEL
But this doesn’t have to be a what if. Yeah?

TYLER
What do you mean?

RACHEL
I mean pick up that trumpet.

TYLER smiles at her. She smiles back.

TYLER
Hey! SRHS Marching Band? One more song?

ZACH, JONAH, and MARCI make their way over.

ZACH
Ugh. Just when I thought I was rid of you assholes.

ERIN
Never.

MARCI
Who’s got the baton?

RACHEL
Quinn? Take it?

QUINN
What?

RACHEL
Conduct us outta here.

QUINN smiles gratefully at RACHEL. A kind of reconciliation. TYLER, RACHEL, JONAH, MARCI, ERIN, ZACH, and STEPHANIE line up on the grass. QUINN climbs to the bleachers with RHONDA. WALLY and CHARLEY are there waiting for her. RHONDA stops QUINN before they get to the top.

RHONDA
Go with them.

QUINN
What?

RHONDA
When that door opens, go with them.

QUINN
But what about you?

RHONDA
Hey, Veronica Mars? I said I was getting those fantastic plastic pants to the great beyond. I’m not going back on my promise now.

QUINN nods shakily and picks up the baton. They climb to the top of the bleachers and WALLY and CHARLEY each take one of RHONDA’s hands.

RHONDA (CONT’D)
Sappy assholes.

WALLY
We got you.

CHARLEY
No matter how many times you tell us to fuck off.

QUINN raises the baton and begins to conduct. The band plays. Again. Like they have for years. The field markers are laid out on one of the steps of the bleachers. We can’t really tell whose is whose but as the band plays, they begin to glow. First, just one. Then two, and soon, all eight have lit up.

QUINN closes her eyes and keeps going. A pinkish light begins to emanate from around the bus stop, right by the lamppost there. TYLER takes a breath from his trumpet.

TYLER
Met!

He starts leading them in a very choreographed formation towards the pink fog. RHONDA drops WALLY and CHARLEY’s hands, and guides QUINN that way too. And suddenly, we’re in the band kids’ scar.

When we reach the scar, it’s the same scar we went through with JANET earlier. The world seems to bend into a donut shape as they march in. There is fire and the vague sound of someone begging them to wake up. It smells of burning flesh, but there, in all its glory is a bright white door with an exit sign above it.

The band stops playing and just stares in awe. QUINN’s baton clatters to the ground. TYLER steps towards the door, holding his hand up to it.

ZACH
Fuck yeah! The great beyond bitches!

JONAH
It’s… bright.

MARCI
Is it… heaven?

STEPHANIE
We don’t know.

ERIN
We can hope so.

MARCI
Can… we go?

JONAH
I don’t see why not.

MARCI
I’m scared.

ZACH
I’m not! I’ll see you in the great beyond!

ZACH bounds towards the door, but just before he goes through, he looks back. He gives a grin and a little salute and does a sort of trust fall into the light. He doesn’t reappear.

MARCI
Oh my god!

JONAH
Leap of faith, I guess.

JONAH walks through too. Very calmly. MARCI screams a bit.

ERIN
Here.

ERIN offers MARCI her hand.

ERIN (CONT’D)
You wanna find your heaven?

MARCI
I don’t… know.

ERIN
I’ve got you. C’mon.

ERIN gives MARCI’s hand a squeeze. She lets it go briefly, just long enough to give QUINN a hug.

ERIN (CONT’D)
If you take a bit longer, don’t worry. We’ll be waiting. And thank you.

QUINN
Of course.

ERIN takes MARCI’s hand again, and walks through the door.

RACHEL
(to TYLER)
Our turn?

TYLER
I think so.

RACHEL
Let’s do it.

Beat. RACHEL stares into the light. Then she looks back at RHONDA.

RACHEL (CONT’D)
Rhonda? Thanks.

RHONDA doesn’t say anything. But she nods. RACHEL and TYLER walk through the door. STEPHANIE turns to QUINN.

QUINN
Ready?

STEPHANIE
I don’t think I’m going.

QUINN
What?

STEPHANIE
There’s a whole… afterlife here, that I haven’t explored yet. The door will be there. And you, Quinn?

QUINN hesitates. She looks at RHONDA.

RHONDA
Go. Before I change my mind. Don’t give up your heaven for me. I’m not worth that.

QUINN
You’re worth that and more. But you’ll meet me there. Yeah?

RHONDA
I don’t know…

QUINN
I do. You’ll be my Logan.

RHONDA
What?

QUINN
You heard me. I’m Veronica Mars, right? So you’re my Logan.

And without hesitating, QUINN kisses RHONDA on the lips. RHONDA blinks. She is stunned.

CHARLEY
Wow. Sixty years and no one has ever managed to render Rhonda Rosen speechless. Quinn, you will go down in history.

QUINN
(to STEPHANIE)
You got her? Until she crosses?

STEPHANIE
Of course.

QUINN
(to CHARLEY and WALLY)
And you?

WALLY
We always have.

QUINN
(to RHONDA)
And you. I’ll see you soon.

RHONDA finally blinks again, just as QUINN turns.

RHONDA
Wait!

QUINN turns back to RHONDA. RHONDA kisses her. They pull apart, tearful but smiling.

QUINN
You better kiss me like that in our heaven, okay?

RHONDA
Okay.

QUINN looks back one last time, then she walks through the door. We end on a shot of RHONDA, holding CHARLEY’s and WALLY’s hands. She’s crying, but she’s incredibly grateful too.

Chapter Text

12 - INT - SCHOOL BOILER ROOM - DAY

XAVIER is chasing MADDIE down the steps to the boiler room. She’s moving so quickly that despite the fact that he’s taller, she’s easily outpacing him.

XAVIER
Maddie! Slow down!

MADDIE
Or you could keep up!

XAVIER
I’m trying!

They come to a kind of comical stop at the bottom of the stairs. We’re seeing XAVIER’s POV so what’s wrong isn’t immediately apparent, but MADDIE is frozen.

XAVIER (CONT’D)
Mads? What’s up?

MADDIE
(tightly)
Janet? I thought you said you had good news.

We flip to MADDIE’s POV. We see JANET.

JANET
It is good news.

MADDIE
Then why is he here?

The camera angle widens, and we see MR. MARTIN, out of the scar, holding his watch next to JANET.

JANET
Because he helped us out.

MADDIE
What?

MR. MARTIN
I know you don’t trust me, Maddie, but I’m not here to hurt any of you.

MADDIE
Janet, what happened in there?

JANET
He gave us the answers he had. I filled in some blanks. Arden made some discoveries. And your and Simon’s experiments did the rest.

MADDIE
Our experiments? What do you mean?

MR. MARTIN
It’s hard for people who are fully dead to grasp the breadth of their afterlife. You and Simon are only somewhat dead.

MADDIE
Only somewhat dead? What the hell does that mean?

XAVIER
Like in the Princess Bride? Mostly dead is slightly alive?

MR. MARTIN
What?

MADDIE
Xavier, that movie is like thirty years after their time.

XAVIER
They never saw Inigo Montoya? That is a tragic state of affairs.

JANET
What on Earth…?

MADDIE
Xavier, please shut up.

XAVIER
Got it. Sorry.

MADDIE
But why is he out?

JANET
Because without his help, we wouldn’t have a chance at getting out.

MADDIE
You mean the moving on stuff?

JANET
Yes, but also out of the scars.

MADDIE
But you weren’t stuck. So wait then who’s “we”?

MR. MARTIN
Me, and Simon. The spirits trapped in… scar land, as it were.

MADDIE
Simon? Is Simon out? Where is he?

JANET gives MADDIE a small smile. MADDIE is holding her breath. She doesn’t dare hope that something is going right. JANET inclines her head towards the bunker. Standing there, in all his ghostly glory, is SIMON.

MADDIE (CONT’D)
Simon! Oh my god!

MADDIE rushes to SIMON. She tries to give him a hug, but forgets that she can’t. Her arms go through him.

SIMON
Hey Mads.

They don’t know what to say. They feel like they’ve been looking for each other so long that an actual discovery will become unreal if they prod it too hard.

XAVIER
What the- is he out?

MADDIE
Kind of? I don’t get it. He’s outside of the scar, why is he still…

MR. MARTIN
Unreachable?

JANET
Because that was layer one. We got him out of the scar, now we need to get him back in his body.

MADDIE
(remembering)
The scar within a scar.

JANET
Right.

MADDIE
So, wait… Back in his body?

XAVIER
Back… what? The one that’s in the hospital? How are we going to do that if his spirit can’t leave the school?

MADDIE
Oh my god.

JANET
Well, that’s the question, isn’t it?

BLACKOUT.

CREDITS.