REDEMPTION FALLS - SimplyScripts



REDEMPTION FALLS

“ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE” (PILOT)

BY

Brendan L. Heldenfels

Final Draft

Revised 6/10/2006

All episodes are a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are used fictitiously or are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), pet, locales, or business establishments is entirely coincidental. Copyright (c) 2005-2006 Brendan L. Heldenfels. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work, or portions thereof, in any form.

TEASER

FADE IN:

INT. FENN’S CABIN – NIGHT

Black. A steady breathing, interrupted by a slamming door.

LAUREN (O.S.)

Fenn! Get up! Get. Up!

Lights fill the small, retro cabin. SHEPARD “FENN” FENNESY, twenty-three and Australian, rolls his neck and shoulders.

LAUREN KEEZHEKONI, TWENTY-TWO, NATIVE AMERICAN, A FLUID, READY ADRENALINE JUNKIE, MOVES THROUGH THE CABIN.

NEVER STAYING IN ONE PLACE, SHE WAITS FOR HER FRIEND.

LAUREN

Franklin wants us up at the office in ten. That was five minutes ago.

She tosses him a flashlight.

LAUREN

Gabby’s gone AWOL. We’re at level two.

Fenn sighs. His shoulders slump as we slide into—

EXT. SERVICE TRAIL – NIGHT

The pair runs side-by-side, carrying flashlights, sweeping them towards the woods. Lauren has the grace of a seasoned runner while Fenn is steady and persistent.

LAUREN

Christ. How are we supposed to find anyone in this? It’s darker than a crate of Tennessee assholes.

FENN

I’d just like to know how we wound up pulling the worst section on site.

(off her look)

OH, COME ON. THEY’RE NOT STILL PISSED?

LAUREN

You decided to replace the diving dummy—

FENN

That diving dummy wasn’t the proper weight.

LAUREN

Did you honestly think that we—and by we, I mean you—were going to get away with that?

FENN

You know, I honestly thought that we—and by we, I mean us--were going to get away with most of that.

LAUREN

You replaced it with a dead pig. How did you intend to get away with most of it?

FENN

Well, for starters, I figured we would pull off everything but the whole “Coach finding out where we got the dead pig” part.

LAUREN

Maybe that’s why we wound up pulling the worst section on site, then.

Lauren turns to the woods, calls:

LAUREN

Hey, Gabby! Can you hear us?! Are you okay?

(beat)

I DON’T GET THIS. SHE WASN’T ACTING UP. WHY’D—

The brights of a green pickup truck stop their pursuit.

SERA LUCAS, TWENTY-SEVEN, GETS OUT. SHE’S HANDSOME AND RUGGED. HER COWORKERS NICKNAMED HER “THE LAST COWGIRL.”

SERA

It’s over. They got her.

FENN

Where?

Sera smirks. This’ll be funny in a day or so.

LAUREN

Where?

Sera

Apparently, and this is only what Fiona got out between f-bombs, sje doubled back and was hiding behind her cabin—your cabin—while we ran around. Looking for her.

INT. SERA’S TRUCK – NIGHT

Lauren lights up a cigarette, growling:

LAUREN

Behind my cabin. I’m going to kill her. I will snap her neck.

FENN

“Why’d she do it? She wasn’t…”

LAUREN

Stow it. Correction: I’m going to make her explain why she thought it’d be fun to make us run around at three in the morning, and then I’m going to snap her neck. That sound all right to you?

No response. Fenn and Sera can only laugh.

SERA

Yes. Yes, it does.

She starts the car, and with it, Nanci Griffith’s cover of “Across the Great Divide.”

EXT. TRAIL – NIGHT

As the truck pulls away, a logo becomes clear:

CAMP DOVETAIL FALLS. “FUTURE LEADERS AT WORK AND PLAY”

MAIN TITLES

FADE OUT.

ACT ONE

FADE IN:

EXT. CAMP – DAY

Bagpipes playing “Amazing Grace” over a PA system echo over the grounds of Camp Dovetail Lake:

-COOLIDGE LODGE, THE OLDEST BUILDING AT CAMP.

-A LARGE FIRE CIRCLE, STILL SMOLDERING, WITH BLEACHERS CUT INTO THE EARTH.

-A LARGE, GREEN BATHHOUSE CALLED THE KYBO (“KAI-BO”) AND ‘C’ FIELD, SLOPING DOWN TOWARDS A VOLLEYBALL COURT.

-THE FOUR CABIN UNITS: WOLF PACK (BOYS), DOVETAIL (GIRLS), BRIDLE VIEW (RANCH), AND LAKE GROVE (TEENS). WHILE IDENTICAL, SOME ARE IN MUCH BETTER SHAPE THAN OTHERS.

-THE WATERFRONT, WITH ITS SHORE THAT’S MORE LIKE A HILL, METAL DOCKS, FLOATING WATCH POINTS AND TRAMPOLINE.

-THE DINING HALL AND OFFICE, BOTH NEW BUILDINGS, AND ‘A’ FIELD, THE MAIN AREA FOR FREE PLAY.

EXT. COOLIDGE LODGE – DAY

Campers ranging from seven to seventeen watch one of the boys’ cabins raise the flag. Their counselor, TOM, leads them.

LYDIA “ELLIE” BERNSTEIN, TWENTY AND THE RANCH UNIT DIRECTOR STANDS BEHIND SOME KIDS. SHORT AND DARK HAIRED, SHE’S BEEN COMING TO CAMP SINCE SHE WAS SIX MONTHS OLD.

LAUREN STANDS NEXT TO HER, BUT NEITHER OF THEM PAY MUCH ATTENTION.

INSTEAD, THEY FOCUS ON CORNE “C.B.” BUTCHER, TWENTY-THREE, SOUTH AFRICAN, AND A VERY SMOOTH TALKER.

HE LEANS IN TO SAY SOMETHING TO ONE OF THE JUNIOR COUNSELORS, HOPE REDDING-GILL, TALL FOR SEVENTEEN WITH AN ARISTOCRATIC BEAUTY. THEIR CONVERSATION LOOKS INTENSE.

LAUREN

I can’t believe we’re letting them get away with that. She’s six years younger than him.

ELLIE

We can’t accuse them of getting away with something they haven’t tried to get away with, you know.

Lauren points.

LAUREN

Look. Right there. Does that look like a pair of people who aren’t getting away with something?

FIONA DUNNE, twenty-one, Irish with angular features and gold-grey eyes, walks up between them as flag ends.

TOM

Go to the dining hall!

FIONA

Do you guys have floating dock during g-swim today?

EXT. MAIN TRAIL – DAY – CONTINUOUS

The staff and campers head down through camp in a formless mass.

ELLIE

Gate. And I want it.

LAUREN

Guarding. I think Rudy has boats.

FIONA

And where’s he?

Lauren gestures back behind them. Fiona walks in that direction and so do we.

LAUREN AND ELLIE CONTINUE TALKING-

ELLIE

I need you to do something-

LAUREN

Do I even want to guess—No. Aw, no!

Fiona strides through the rambunctious kids towards Tom, twenty-five, bespectacled, an ex-Army Ranger, and RULON “RUDY” WALLER, twenty-two and the black sheep of a Mormon fundamentalist family.

RUDY

I’m not saying, I’m telling you, there is no way in all of—well, Antarctica—she’d quit-

TOM

She isn’t quitting, she’s leaving.

Fiona falls into step behind them.

FIONA

You have to quit in order to leave. You just can’t, you know, not show up. Who are we talkin’ about?

TOM and rudy

Sera.

FIONA

Sera?

(beat)

I AGREE, NO WAY IN ALL OF ANTARTICA.

TOM

Hey, I’m just saying what I heard. WRI wants her. Jake Starkey’s been out here. Multiple times.

FIONA

Wadewater Riding Institute? No shit?

RUDY

Mmm-hmm.

FIONA

Okay, I take that back. No way in all of Antartica, and, oh, eighty-seven percent of Hell does she leave us for them. No. Way.

She points to one of Tom’s campers.

FIONA

Your camper’s got away from you.

Tom looks, shouts:

TOM

Hey, stay together!

FIONA

Say, who’s got boats today?

RUDY

I do. Can I ask why?

She almost pouts. Almost.

FIONA

Rulon…

RUDY

Hey! Not! During! Camp!

TOM

“I hate the sun?”

FIONA

See, I’d stop short of calling it hate. More like…feverishly loathe.

RUDY

And you’d be damaging that Irish skin that your ancestors decided to curse you with—

FIONA

Bless me—

RUDY

Bless you with on the floating dock today?

She looks at him with big feminine eyes. Awwww

RUDY

Sure, all right. Check with Fenn.

She beams, continues back. Turns as an afterthought.

FIONA

Oi. Who’s idea was it to play that music on Monday, with the horns and the cymbals and the thing?

TOM

The ‘Sports Center’ theme? Danny’s.

FIONA

That’s so much like him.

RUDY

Da-da-da, da-da-da.

Fiona continues walking towards the end of the line. She passes Hope and C.B., overhearing:

C.B.

So I’m not on rove tonight…

HOPE

Seriously, do you want to get me fired?

(soft)

THAT’D BE NICE…

Fiona cocks her head, curious, then continues walking.

SHE MEETS UP WITH FENN, WHO’S TALKING TO NICK “COYOTE” FOXBOROUGH, THIRTY-TWO AND THE SUMMER CAMP DIRECTOR. HE’S A TALL ENGLISHMAN WHO WALKS LIKE A TIRED GUNSLINGER.

FENN SEES FIONA COMING.

FENN

No.

(to Coyote)

DON’T START. I MEAN IT, NOW. MY SISTER LOVES THAT INSIPID SHOW. SHE GETS THE DVDS IMPORTED.

COYOTE

That’s kind of sick.

FIONA

Why not?

He turns off the main road and heads down a secondary one. He points to Fiona.

COYOTE

You come find me later.

She nods, rotates back to Fenn.

FENN

(sing-song)

SOMEBODY’S GETTING A BEATIN’…

FIONA

Hey, is it true?

FENN

Sera? Damned if I know—and no.

FIONA

Tom says Jake Starkey’s been out here multiple times, why can’t I trade with Rudy, and there’s a camper—

FENN

Where are your two buddies?!

(to Fiona)

THE SUN WILL BE GOOD FOR THAT DELICATE IRISH SKIN, AND IF SHE LEAVES THEM FOR US, THEN I’M A BLOODY CITIZEN OF ENGLAND INSTEAD OF AUSTRALIA.

Beat.

FIONA

Hey, who helped you guys pull a dead pig off the side of the road on her night off? In heels, no less?

FENN

All right. You can trade. This once.

She circles around him and kisses him on the cheek.

FIONA

You’re too nice!

She jogs back up through the crowd until she re-encounters Hope and C.B.

C.B.

(to campers)

GUYS, I’M NOT GOING TO ASK YOU TO STAY TOGETHER AGAIN…OKAY, BUDDIES?

HOPE

You know they never do.

Fiona pokes Hope in the arm.

FIONA

You, come with me. I need to borrow her, okay?

The two women walk off. Fiona pulls Hope inward and down, a couple of conspirators.

FIONA

So. Are you two snogging?

HOPE

Snogging?

FIONA

You don’t like that word?

HOPE

Well, I suppose I’d have to know what it meant before I made up my mind.

FIONA

You and Corne. Are you two together?

HOPE

Oh.

FIONA

Yes.

HOPE

No.

FIONA

You’re not kissing him behind the KYBO?

HOPE

You know, that’s just one of those phrases that sound dirtier than they actually turn out to be. Like “reading your water meter” or “riding shotgun in fire engines.”

FIONA

I saw you guys last night, that’s why I ask. Who rides shotgun in fire engines?

HOPE

Firefighters.

FIONA

Why’d you lie to me just then?

HOPE

I wasn’t lying so much as I was trying to tell you it was none of your business.

FIONA

If you guys get caught—

HOPE

We’re not going to—

FIONA

So you are snogging behind the KYBO.

HOPE

Now that’s downright pornographic.

FIONA

Seventeen. Twenty-three. Seventeen. Twenty-three.

HOPE

I know. It was one time.

FIONA

One time?

HOPE

Okay, when I say one time?

FIONA

Yeah…

HOPE

That’s, like, my special code for seven times.

FIONA

Seven?!

HOPE

Oh, and then there was that one time at Cedar Point, and then last week in the hospital parking lot. So nine. Nine times.

Fiona shakes her head.

FIONA

Okay. I’m gonna let that last one go because of the circumstances. You know, the whole dying co-worker thing.

HOPE

That’s it?

FIONA

As for the rest, well, I don’t think it’s any of my business.

HOPE

Didn’t I say it’s none of your business, like, six seconds ago?

FIONA

The only reason I wanted to make it my business was to see if it happened to be true.

HOPE

Oh. Okay. You gonna tell anybody?

FIONA

Now, do I look like the sort? I’m only lookin’ out for you.

Hope doesn’t answer, instead focusing on a figure standing outside the dining hall they approach.

FIONA

Oi, are you hearing what I said?

HOPE

Isn’t that Dave’s brother?

FIONA

Who now?

HOPE

Dan. He was a counselor when I was here. Tied my first rag and everything. Dan!

The figure waves.

HOPE

It is him! Dan!

She runs towards the dining hall. Fiona shrugs.

FIONA

Okay, well, I’ll see you later. Whatever.

Lauren and Ellie walk by as Fiona slows her pace. Their conversation from earlier is now more of an argument.

LAUREN

Ellie-

ELLIE

Lauren-

LAUREN

Does Coach wants me to talk to her before or after her parents come back from Bermuda?

ELLIE

Jamaica.

LAUREN

Jamaica. Coach called them?

ELLIE

No, he called the emergency contact number and they called Jamaica.

LAUREN

Why doesn’t the emergency contact come pick up Gabby, then?

ELLIE

Take a guess. Pick a number.

LAUREN AND ELLIE

Because they’re not authorized to.

LAUREN

Cute. We can be friends. And this whole talking to her thing, was that before he called down there?

ELLIE

Don’t you start-

LAUREN

Three years, Ellie. Three years I’ve been her counselor. Grief every time.

ELLIE

She’s a good kid.

LAUREN

I don’t doubt that she’s a good kid. But I don’t do psychos.

ELLIE

Lauren, she’s right up there!

LAUREN

Oh, I get it now. This is one of Coach’s “tests”. His “how much do you care” things. I’m good at these. Okay.

ELLIE

You’ll talk to her—find out why she ran away? Find out why she wrote that letter?

LAUREN

The “camp sucks and I’m being abused by being made to clean the KYBO” letter?

ELLIE

You really shouldn’t have read that, you know.

They are getting closer to the dining hall by the minute.

LAUREN

Gee, I’m sorry. But when, by mystical intervention, a camper’s letter falls out of the envelope that is clearly too small for it—and I know this, of course, because I take an interest in my campers and have conversations about proper envelope size—when that letter falls to the ground and I just so happen, just so happen, to see the word ‘abuse’ next to not my name, and not your name, but Sera’s name and Coyote’s name and—this part is still hilarious to me-Rudy’s name, well, I just got to admit: We got lucky.

ELLIE

Wow. You just did a whole little thing there. All by yourself. And with campers around.

LAUREN

You’re missing my original point—and who is that guy?

She refers to the figure talking to Hope in the distance. He’s a handsome man with dark hair and a goatee. He wears slacks and a polo. This is DEAN LYDELL, twenty-six.

ELLIE

You know who that is, you met him on Monday. At the thing. Dave’s brother?

LAUREN

Asshole.

ELLIE

Lauren, campers!

LAUREN

They diagnosed Dave way before he died. The guy could have pulled himself away from the hellhole called L.A. for a few days.

She sizes him up from a distance.

LAUREN

So. In conclusion. I don’t do psychos. But assholes like that, I do them fine.

ELLIE

I’m going to ignore how that sounds and remind you that Coach wants you to talk to Gabby before her parents get in tomorrow. You’ll talk to her?

EXT. DINING HALL – DAY – CONTINUOUS

They’ve arrived at the dining hall. Dave and Hope, along with some other staff and campers, are inside. Other counselors get the kids lined up outside the hall.

LAUREN TURNS ENERGETIC AND EXCITED TO DIRECT HER CAMPERS.

LAUREN

‘Kay, team, let’s get lined up so we can go get some grub.

(to Ellie)

WAS THERE EVER ANY DOUBT?

Ellie smiles. She strides away towards a side entrance.

INT. WOMEN’S RESTROOM – DAY – CONTINUOUS

Sera finishes washing her hands as Ellie enters.

SERA

Hey.

ELLIE

Thomas says Jake Starkey’s been out here multiple times. WRI offer you anything?

Sera pulls a set of folded papers out of her back pocket.

SERA

Full contract. They want a decision. Soon.

ELLIE

You won’t take it.

SERA

Never been one to be told what to do. Not about to start now.

ELLIE

Sure. I get it.

SERA

Yeah. Well, I should probably go get something to eat with my girls.

She starts to walk off, a slight limp in her left leg.

ELLIE

How pissed is Coyote?

Sera pauses.

SERA

Oh, you know him. Pretty pissed, I’d say.

She leaves Ellie leaning against the sink.

ELLIE

Shit.

FADE OUT

END ACT ONE

ACT TWO

FADE IN:

INT. BAR – EVENING – TWO WEEKS EARLIER.

A jazz piano. L.A. The Hollywood Hawaiian Hotel, which is neither a hotel nor all that Hawaiian.

THE FEW SCATTERED PATRONS HAVE THAT “COULDA MADE IT ONCE” SLUMP IN THEIR SHOULDERS.

SITTING IN A CORNER BOOTH IS DEAN. HE’S DRINKING WITH MEGHAN, WHO MIGHT BE A FAN OR A HOOKER. THEY’RE BOTH PRETTY SHITFACED. DEAN LAUGHS AT SOMETHING SHE’S JUST SAID.

DEAN

You’re a mystic.

MEGHAN

Not quite. I might be something like that. If I were the topic of conversation at the present. The topic is you.

DEAN

Funny. Here we are, both pissed out of our skulls—

MEGHAN

Oh, how I do like that phrase—

DEAN

--and we’re just now getting around to telling each other what we do for a living.

He looks over his shoulder at the piano player in the corner. He gestures towards him.

DEAN

That. I did that.

MEGHAN

You played piano?

DEAN

That, and…I wrote. I wrote musical theatre.

MEGHAN

And that begs the question: Were you good at what you did?

DEAN

They said I could have been very good. Someone disagreed.

MEGHAN

That’s no excuse.

DEAN

It is if you heard it from who I heard it from.

MEGHAN

Who did you hear it from?

DEAN

My brother.

(beat)

HE WAS BETTER.

MEGHAN

So. If you don’t write and you don’t play, what’s your job now?

Dean doesn’t answer.

INT. DINING HALL – DAY

Lunchtime! The kids chow down. Their counselors eat with them, as do some support staff, like Fenn and Coyote.

AT ONE TABLE, DEAN SITS WITH HOPE AND HER GROUP OF GIRLS.

HOPE

So, do you know how long you’re back for?

DEAN

Yeah, the summer.

HOPE

Awesome!

DEAN

Yeah, I’ve got this special contract—

One camper, an eleven-year-old named AMBER, looks at Dean.

AMBER

Are you married?

DEAN

No.

AMBER

Do you have a girlfriend?

DEAN

Not at the moment, no.

Another camper, sitting next to him, elbows Dean in the ribs. Her name is JANEL.

JANEL

Why not, huh?

DEAN

Why not what?

JANEL

Why don’t you have a girlfriend?

Dean looks to Hope. She smiles.

HOPE

They’re just curious.

AMBER

Come on. I want to know. Why don’t you have a girlfriend?

DEAN

Um, I’m not-we’re not-supposed to talk about our personal lives. Right?

HOPE

He’s right. We’re supposed to be role models for good behavior.

JANEL

You are. He don’t work here.

DEAN

Doesn’t work here. And yes, I do.

AMBER

But you don’t start until after lunch.

DEAN

Good memory.

He grins.

JANEL

You gonna tell us?

DEAN

Tell you what?

AMBER

Why you don’t have a girlfriend?

DEAN

Because I used to be married.

HOPE/AMBER/JANEL

Really?

DEAN

No.

Janel and Amber are silent. They get it, but they don’t get it.

JANEL

Hey, what are we doing for cabin acts?

AMBER

I don’t know. Terri and Tammy want to go spillway sliding, but I want to go to the climbing wall…

Hope leans over to Dean.

HOPE

What have you got going on now?

DEAN

I’m supposed to meet Rudy for the grand tour.

He looks at his watch, pats his pockets.

HOPE

“Watching the ducks.”

DEAN

Excuse me?

She laughs.

HOPE

It’s code. I can see you looking for one. You know, that thing you do after every meal?

DEAN

It’s called “watching the ducks?”

HOPE

You got it. Back behind the dining hall.

He moves away.

AS SOON AS HE WALKS OFF, C.B. SITS DOWN ACROSS FROM HER.

HOPE

Go watch your kids.

C.B.

Eh, my co’s with them. I want to talk to you.

HOPE

I will talk to you later. Go watch your kids.

INT. DINING HALL – STAFF TABLE- DAY – CONTINUOUS

From their corner table, both Tom and Fenn watch C.B. get up and stalk back over to his table.

TOM

We’re gonna have to talk to him.

FENN

I’m his mate, you’re his unit director. It might sound better coming from me than from you.

TOM

You think I can’t be nice?

FENN

I’m just saying, he’s the kind of guy who’d read it as “do this or you’re fired.”

TOM

He will be fired if he doesn’t do it.

Pause, or, as we like to call it, beat.

FENN

I know.

EXT. DINING HALL – SMOKING PATIO – DAY

Lauren sits on a wobbling chair. Her face presses into one hand, a cigarette dangles from the other.

LAUREN

Chriiiiiiiiiist.

Dean comes around the corner.

DEAN

Hey.

LAUREN

Hey.

He pulls out a pack of smokes and lights one.

DEAN

Have we met?

LAUREN

Oh, yes.

DEAN

Oh. You sang at Dave’s funeral.

lauren

I did.

DEAN

Warren Zevon, right?

LAUREN

Your brother loved him. Seemed fitting.

DEAN

I know he loved him.

They smoke there in silence.

LAUREN

You should know something. I don’t like you.

DEAN

Excuse me?

LAUREN

I don’t like you. I’ve heard things, from your brother, from staff who used to know you when you worked here.

She stands up and looks at him.

LAUREN

I don’t care if your novel failed or your record flopped. I don’t care if you’re on some deep emotional journey and I don’t know if you’re doing this so you don’t have to do whatever it is you do anymore. I don’t…

(beat)

I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT I DON’T LIKE YOU.

She pushes by him to leave.

DEAN

Is this about the kids?

She looks at him and laughs.

LAUREN

You know, pal, there’s a saying here at camp that you better learn. “It’s all for the kids.”

She walks towards the dining hall and runs into Rudy. Rudy bops back to the porch as Dean finishes his smoke.

RUDY

Hey, man, how you doing?

He shakes Rudy’s extended hand.

RUDY

Hey. Come here.

He pulls Dean towards him and envelops him in a hug.

RUDY

It’s a hard thing. I know. But you keep getting up and that’s all you can ask for, right?

DEAN

I guess. Yes.

RUDY

You need anything, you know what the deal is. Let me know, all right?

They look at each other.

RUDY

Okay. Now. You ever ridden shotgun in a Snapper?

Dean finally smiles.

DEAN

Sounds like something dirtier than it actually might turn out to be.

As they walk towards the office, Sera’s personal truck, grey, bruised, and battered, pulls away from it. Two large herding dogs, LUCINDA and BELTRAM, ride in the back.

EXT. EQUESTRIAN CENTER – DAY

The truck pulls into the driveway next to two large buildings: one a barn, the other an indoor arena. Horses graze in the distance.

BEFORE SHE CAN GET OUT OF HER TRUCK, AL WARNER, A DIMINUTIVE FORTY-TWO, THE EQUESTRIAN DIRECTOR, TAPS ON THE GLASS.

AL

Jake Starkey’s here to see you.

She gets out of the car.

SERA

He is?

AL

Don’t play cute with me, Sera. You know the rules.

SERA

I’m not “playing cute.” I’m genuinely surprised.

AL

No job interviews on camp.

SERA

Gee, how many years have I been here?

AL

Gee, how many years have I had this job?

SERA

You mean at camp or as Equestrian Director?

AL

I say again: Don’t play cute. He’s in your office. Get him out of here. If Franklin sees that guy, he’ll flip.

SERA

You know, I’ve only been here seven years. I think I have a handle on the rules.

AL

I really don’t care what you have a handle on. Take care of it.

INT. EQUESTRIAN CENTER – SERA’S OFFICE – DAY

Sera shoves open her door.

JAKE STARKEY, THIRTY, DRESSED IN DESIGNER COWBOY WEAR, SITS IN HER CHAIR WITH HIS BOOTS UP ON HER DESK. HE’S A SNAKE—BUT A GORGEOUS ONE.

SERA SIGHS AND SLAMS THE DOOR. BESIEGED ON ALL SIDES.

JAKE

Hey, baby.

SERA

One: Don’t call me baby. Two: If you’re going to insist on calling me baby, don’t do it here. Three: I will have an answer for you when I have an answer for you. So don’t, you know, just show up!

JAKE

I wanted to see you. You look nice today.

SERA

After all that, the best you can come up with to make me feel better is “you look nice today?”

JAKE

What are you doing tonight?

SERA

Hanging out with some of the boys. Fenn and Tom want me to do rove with them. They invited this new guy, Dave’s brother.

JAKE

So you’re going to do what?

SERA

My job, for starters. I’m going to sit around a fire and wait for kids to try to sneak out. It is, after all, part of what they pay me for.

JAKE

How much is that again?

SERA

Nice.

He touches her shoulder.

SERA

This weekend, maybe. We’ll see.

His hand runs up and down her arm, intimate without being obvious.

JAKE

I just wanted to stop by to see how you were doing and to let you know…

They kiss, sexy and hungry, blah, blah, blah. You get it.

SERA

Yes?

JAKE

Was that a “yes” to this weekend or a “yes” to something else?

SERA

This weekend.

She smiles. They kiss again.

JAKE

I should tell you my boss wants an answer soon. They’re already looking at somebody else.

She pulls away.

SERA

You should go.

JAKE

Wow. That-that was sudden.

SERa

Jake, I like you. I like being with you. I’m just not sure if I’m ready to leave yet. Here.

JAKE

I heard your boss. Real jerk.

SERA

They really like me here. And Coyote says Al’s not going to be around much longer, which means I can take this program and make it…

JAKE

Let me ask you something, Sera, okay? Every time we get together, you talk about leaving, but then you don’t want to. So is this because of me or is it because of my camp or is it because of, oh, I don’t know, your accident? What is it?

Pause.

SERA

I think you should go. I told Al that I’d take care of some stuff before the afternoon trail rides show up.

He just looks at her. It’s awkward yet mysterious.

THEN, HE PUSHES-NOT SLAMS, THE DOOR TO HER OFFICE OPEN.

SHE WATCHES HIM GO. THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE WATCHING EACH OTHER IN THIS SHOW. I LOVE NON-VERBAL ACTING, THAT’S WHY.

EXT. MAIN TRAIL – DAY

Rudy drives the Snapper, a small yellow ATV for carrying supplies around camp. Dean rides shotgun next to him.

RUDY NARRATES THE KEY LOCATIONS OF CAMP AS THEY FLY BY.

RUDY

So yeah, this is pretty much camp. Over there’s Wolf Pack-our boys cabins, where you’ll be staying. Do you know who your co is?

DEAN

No. I’m staying in Wolf Pack 2

RUDY

That’s a good cabin! You get an average age, not too old and smart-mouthed, but not too young and homesick. Plus, you got Fenn backing you up. You met him?

DEAN

Not yet.

RUDY

You met anybody?

(pause)

I’M KIDDING. YOU’LL REALLY LIKE FENN. HE’S INTO MUSIC, TOO. YOU PLAY?

DEAN

A little bit.

RUDY

Thought so. Didn’t you play on the first Products of Indubitable Silence album?

Dean

That was as a session guy and as a favor to a friend—you knew that?

rudy

I got to tell you, that band, that album, that was what made me want to pick up a guitar and play. Made me dream. So you could say I owe you one.

Dean

Guitar, huh?

EXT. COOLIDGE LODGE – DAY – CONTINUOUS

Rudy pulls the Snapper up to the flagpole, stops it.

RUDY

Coolidge Lodge. Oldest building on camp. The basement will be your home. Good place.

They get out and head down the steps.

RUDY

Yeah, I play guitar. Got a band and everything. Lotta people here get together to jam. You should join us.

DEAN

Maybe. I don’t know how long I’ll--

RUDY

Hey, man, you know what? We’ve been talking about music and I never asked you the most important question: Top ten albums. The only way to get to know a man. Go.

DEAN

What? I mean, come on, you can’t do that—

RUDY

Go.

They enter a large room, the arts and crafts area at camp—

INT. COOLIDGE LODGE – ARTS AND CRAFTS – DAY – CONTINUOUS

It’s gray and cold, the tables covered with paint and corners occupied by crafts only found at camp.

DEAN

Bob Dylan, Blood on the Tracks. Nanci Griffith, Other Voices, Other Rooms. Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. Joni Mitchell, Court and Spark. Bruce Springsteen, Darkness on the Edge of Town. Billy Joel, The Nylon Curtain. Neil Young, Harvest. Rolling Stones, Let it Bleed. U2, Joshua Tree. And the original Playwrights Horizons cast of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins.

Beat. Also known as the “pause” in some circles.

RUDY

The Nylon Curtain, man?

DEAN

You asked.

He smirks.

FIONA (O.C.)

Rudy?

Before either of them can respond, Fiona comes out of the supply closet, sees them both, and starts talking. She’s frazzled.

DEAN SEES HER. CAN YOU SAY “ELECTRIC”? I KNEW THAT YOU COULD.

FIONA

Oh, there you are. Good. You’re Dean? Okay, hi, I’m Fiona, it’s very nice to meet you, your brother was a lovely man. He really impacted us all, you know? Annnnnnnyway, here’s the deal: I understand that you were going to be arts and crafts director and a co-counselor, basically taking over what Dave was doing, right? Okay. Well, turns out that they’re a little—just a little—short staffed this summer, and they want me to take over the day camp as the director. So what they’ve asked me to ask you to do is to take over both arts and crafts and drama clinics for the summer. If you don’t want to, that’s okay, I can do both, but I’d really prefer to, you know, put all my energy into making sure that the day campers go home happy so I don’t have angry parents yelling at my staff. Is that okay with you?

DEAN

Yeah.

FIONA

Great. I’ve actually got to go, right now, they need me to spot at G-swim—even though I asked them to allow me to be down here for boats—do not get me started—but I’ve got to get changed. The supply closet is right. Back. There. You should have everything you need. And really, let us know if you can’t handle this. But knowing your family, that’s not going to be a problem.

She runs up to him, kisses him on the cheek.

FIONA

You are, of course, the best.

She exits. Dean stands there, struck by the tornado. Get used to this, because you just met our Josh and Donna, our Sam and Diane, our ‘will they or won’t they’. Rudy grins.

RUDY

I got to go, too. They need me to guard. Like she said, look around, get yourself situated. You glad to be here?

DEAN

Yes.

RUDY

That’s what I like to hear. Laters.

Dean looks around the room. He pulls out a chair. It scrapes against the cement floor. He sits, and—

EXT. WATERFRONT – DAY

Swim time! You’ve got kids on the shore, kids on the floating dock, on the trampoline, and kids wailing on one another with fun noodles in the shallow end.

VARIOUS STAFF (INCLUDING LAUREN, ELLIE, AND RUDY) LIFEGUARD WITH THEIR ADORABLE RECTANGULAR LIFESAVERS AND SUNGLASSES.

LAUREN WATCHES THE SHALLOW END AS FENN WALKS UP TO HER. IN HIS BOARD SHORTS AND WRAPAROUNDS, INTRICATE TATTOOS COVER MOST OF HIS ARMS AND CHEST.

LAUREN BLOWS HER WHISTLE AND SHOUTS:

LAUREN

Hey, I’m not going to tell you again! If you don’t keep your head above the water, you will come out of the water!

FENN

Way to go. Lay the hammer down.

LAUREN

I’m doing my job.

FENN

I know. That’s why I said “Way to go.” Understand you had a little run in with Ellie this morning.

LAUREN

It wasn’t a run-in, it was more of a spirited conversation and why do you care?

FENN

She’s on my team, you’re on my team. I care when my team isn’t getting along. For the kids.

LAUREN

She just wants me to do something that I don’t want to do. For a kid.

He softens.

FENN

Gabby’s right up on the shore. I’ll take over. Go talk to her.

LAUREN

No, I’m fine. I’ll do it later.

FENN

Go talk to her.

Lauren sighs.

EXT. WATERFRONT – HILLSIDE – DAY

GABRIELA “GABBY” PORTER, fourteen, reads a book under a tree. She’s thin, pale, and says she doesn’t care what anyone else thinks.

LAUREN SITS DOWN NEXT TO HER.

GABBY

You know Sally from Lake Grove Five was smoking behind the KYBO last night, right?

LAUREN

What are you reading?

Gabby shows her the book.

GABBY

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. It’s like Harry Potter for kids who are tired of 500 pages where nothing happens.

LAUREN

So. Why’d you do it?

Gabby shuts the book.

GABBY

I don’t want to talk about this.

LAUREN

Gabby, you’re going to have to, either to me, or to your parents, but you’re going to have to talk to somebody. This staff was up from three to five looking for you. You caused a lot of trouble.

GABBY

Because I’m a troublemaker. Right?

LAUREN

Hey, I didn’t say that—

GABBY

But you thought it. You did! I mean, like, I know I messed up. I did. But I have been coming here just as long as everyone else, I have just as much money as all these kids, and every counselor, from Quintana to you, has ignored me. I don’t like to play Nuke ‘Em, and I don’t like to swim. I like to read and I like to sing and do arts and crafts. But I never got to do any of those things. Never. This place can’t afford to do anything else.

She sighs, looks at Lauren, continues:

GABBY

So I don’t do that, you know, and I get called a troublemaker. I get called fat, even though I’m not, and I get called stupid, even though—look what I’m reading. Whatever, man. I just didn’t want to be ignored.

LAUREN

So you wrote a letter to Child and Family Services.

GABBY

Yeah, but I was going to deny the abuse stuff. You don’t get it. I mean…Man. I just wanted to talk to the social worker, here, where it was safe. Okay?

Lauren stars to put shit together now.

LAUREN

Safe?

Gabby rolls up her sleeves. There’s a wicked-looking burn on her wrist.

GABBY

This is from the time I dropped the dishes. It’s a butter knife and I’ve got another one just like it on my shoulder from the time I spilled Dr. Pepper in the back of the Mercedes.

She turns, slightly, and pulls up her shirt so no one else sees. A bruise runs across welts and scars on her back.

GABBY

Mom pushed me into a chair. Took a belt or a piece of cord and told me to choose after I mouthed off to my history teacher. There was this other time she gave me a nosebleed when I was late from school, by, like, two seconds. Two seconds. God forbid I talk to a cute boy!

Lauren starts to open her mouth—

GABBY

Yeah, people know. They don’t care. You’ve got my file, you know how rich we are. They check my calls, if and when I get to use the phone, so--

LAUREN

That’s why you wanted to talk to the social worker here. But—Gabby—I mean, why not tell someone? Why not tell me?

GABBY

None of you guys acted like you gave a crap about me before, so why would now be any different?

Ouch.

GABBY

Are we done? I’m gonna go read somewhere else.

She picks up her book and towel and walks away. Then turns:

GABBY

Hey, I hear my parents are picking me up tomorrow. What do you think’s gonna happen now that you called them home from Jamaica?

Lauren watches her go.

LAUREN

Oh. Well. Shit.

FADE OUT.

END ACT TWO

ACT THREE

FADE IN:

EXT. OFFICE – NIGHT

It is, you guessed it, bedtime. Nothing you care about happened between the last scene of act two and now.

FROM INSIDE THE LIT-UP OFFICE, LAUREN AND ELLIE ARGUE.

ELLIE

I know, I know, I know. And you think—

LAUREN

You don’t believe me?

INT. OFFICE – COYOTE’S OFFICE – NIGHT

Coyote sits, fingers interlaced behind his head. Lauren and Ellie stand in front of his desk.

ELLIE

Yes. But I have to believe her—and I don’t. Not right now. She lied before. How do we—how do you—know she isn’t lying about this?

LAUREN

Her parents are kickin’ the crap outta her!

ELLIE

So she says.

LAUREN

God, when did you become such a fu-

COYOTE

That’s enough.

He looks at Ellie, then at Lauren.

COYOTE

We’re obligated to report this, and we will. But Coach wants to talk to her first.

LAUREN

But I-

COYOTE

I read the letter, too, Lauren. I read the letter.

He turns to Ellie, nods. Ellie leaves.

COYOTE LOOKS TO LAUREN.

LAUREN

She’s telling the truth. I know.

COYOTE

You can bring her by after breakfast tomorrow. When’d you last sleep for more than six hours?

LAUREN

Sunday.

COYOTE

I need you to do your job.

LAUREN

I a-

COYOTE

I need you to do your job.

LAUREN

Hey, look, I want to help her—

COYOTE

You’ve got to make the call. It’s policy.

LAUREN

It has to be now?

COYOTE

It has to be now.

He indicates the phone.

COYOTE

It has to be now.

EXT. OFFICE – NIGHT

Lauren and Ellie walk out together.

ELLIE

I know what’s going on. Lauren!

LAUREN

Sure, you do. I mean, you’ve only been here since you were, what, two months old?

ELLIE

Six months. And that’s not what I meant. You know that’s not what I meant. Don’t huckle me, Lauren!

Lauren sighs.

LAUREN

Is this gonna get any better?

ELLIE

I can’t tell you that.

LAUREN

I thought, after five years of doing this, I would have gotten down the whole philosophy behind “for the kids.”

ELLIE

It’s a plural. Gabby’s a good kid, sure. She’s got a lot of problems, but she’s a good kid, and we’re going to do what we can to help. We are. I am. But she’s just one kid.

LAUREN

And the difference is…

ELLIE

Camp is for the kids. All of them. We have to make sure that they can come back next year. Money here’s tight enough as it is. You know we’re hurting, you know what Gabby’s parents could do.

LAUREN

Yeah. But I tried that, you know? And I guess I have to care about each one. They’re not just names or faces to me. They’re people. They’re kids.

ELLIE

Of course they’re kids! Why do you think I’m doing this? Why do you think I come back? I care about Gabby, too. I care about all of them. I want them all to come back. I want them to do this.

LAUREN

I know.

ELLIE

It’ll work out.

Lauren gets up, starts to walk away.

ELLIE

It’s not about you, Lauren. It’s about her.

Lauren turns. She and Ellie look at each other for a long moment.

ELLIE

It’ll work out.

INT. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CENTER – NIGHT

In an empty cabin lit only by the exit sign, Hope and C.B. are making out on a bunk. It is, in a word, intense. (And that’s all you’re going to get because I’m no perv.)

C.B.

I lo-

HOPE

Shhh. Don’t. It’s summer.

They start to make out again.

THE DOOR SLAMS OPEN, MUCH LIKE IN THE TEASER.

HOPE AND C.B. PULL APART, HALF-FALLING OFF THE BED. THEY LOOK TOWARDS THE DOOR.

IT IS LIKE THE TEASER. EXCEPT FENN’S THE ONE CURRENTLY POINTING A FLOODLIGHT IN THEIR FACES. HE GRINS.

FENN

Bus-ted. Yeah, I don’t know if you heard, but rove ends in twenty. So you might want to put a shirt on, there, and get back to your cabin. Ellie’s gonna be checking.

HOPE

How do you know?

FENN

She told me.

Fenn and Hope understand each other. He whispers--

FENN

Go.

EXT. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CENTER – NIGHT

Fenn shuts the door. It rattles.

C.B.

Rove doesn’t end for another hour.

FENN

It doesn’t. She didn’t have a watch.

(beat)

ALL RIGHT. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

C.B. reaches into his pocket, lights a cigarette.

FENN GRABS IT OUT OF HIS MOUTH. IT GOES, UNSMOKED, INTO THE GRASS.

FENN

You know me, man. I like you. I like Hope. It happens all the time. Know how long I’ve been doing this?

C.B.

Months?

FENN

Years. And the schtupping that goes on between staff—

C.B.

Is that because you’re Jewish, or because Ellie—

FENN

Shut up. I mean it. Really, dude. I see you with these kids—you’re a great counselor. What exactly is going on with you?

Long pause.

C.B.

I don’t know.

FENN

Well, you had better figure that out soon. The schtupping going on between toey underage counselors and hot foreign nationals happens—

C.B.

Nothing is happening.

Fenn looks at him. He shuts up without being told to.

FENN

After what I saw in there you’re going to tell me nothing is happening? You think nobody knows where everybody goes to make out?

He gives him a long hard “it would be in your best interest to unfuck yourself” stare.

FENN

Figure out what’s going on. You can lie to me and you can lie to everyone else. But please, please, please, don’t let me find out you’re lying to the people you don’t want to lie to.

C.B.

Is that an ultimatum?

FENN

Your ultimatum is to stop being a dick. I’m just saying—you don’t want to lie to the people you don’t want to lie to.

He goes up to him and takes the cigarettes out of C.B.’s pocket.

FENN

And you should quit smoking.

He crushes them. It’s cliché, but brotherly, and there’s still that hint of a threat there.

INT. WOLF PACK THREE – NIGHT

Dean looks up at the ceiling, unable to sleep.

HE ROLLS OVER ON HIS SIDE.

EXT. WOLF PACK UNIT – NIGH

Fiona, Sera, Rudy, and Tom sit at picnic tables around a dying fire. They’re here to make sure the campers don’t do what campers do: sneak out for late-night hijinks.

RUDY PICKS AT HIS GUITAR, MESSING AROUND, PLAYING BITS AND PIECES OF “BLINDED BY THE LIGHT.”

FIONA SMACKS TOM ON THE THIGH.

TOM

That kinda hurt.

FIONA

Ooh, is the big bad ex-ranger scared of the poor little Irish waif? What do you think of the new guy?

Tom

Dave’s brother? I guess he’s all right.

FIONA

Not very social, is he?

RUDY

Come on—his brother just died.

TOM

We were all there. We know.

RUDY

Just sayin’—cut him a little slack.

FIONA

Aren’t you going to ask me what I think of him?

TOM

What do you think of him?

FIONA

He’s got plenty to live up to, but I think he’s gonna be fine. You know?

Rudy continues picking at the guitar, watching Sera think.

HE STARTS PLAYING A VERSE OF ‘BLINDED BY THE LIGHT.’”

RUDY

(singing)

SOME MANAGER’S SISTER WITH HER SILICONE MISTER—

SERA

Okay, hold up. That’s not how it goes at all.

RUDY

Sure, it does.

SERA

Not if you’re doing the Springsteen version.

TOM

I think he was doing the Manfred Mann version.

SERA

Well, you can’t play Manfred Mann on that is one, and the only line they change in the Manfred Mann version is making “deuce” sound like “douche.”

FIONA

It’s not “cut loose like a douche another runner in the night?”

TOM

No, it’s not.

RUDY

It sure sounds like “cut loose like a douche.”

SERA

Rudy, what makes more sense to you? Cutting loose like a Deuce, as in the classic automobile the Deuce Coupe, or cutting loose like a douche, as in a hygienic product?

TOM

Although you could, conceivably also cut loose like a douche.

RUDY

Who the hell came up with this song?

FIONA

The mighty mighty Boss, Bruce Springsteen.

TOM

What was he on when he wrote it?

SERA

The Boss doesn’t do drugs.

FIONA

He used a dictionary.

TOM

That’s a fouled-up dictionary.

SERA

It was a rhyming dictionary.

She thinks about this moment for a second. (I should really stop telling you how to act.) She smiles.

SERA

I’m gonna go for a swim.

TOM

You’ll freeze your ass off.

SERA

I’m unpredictable.

The door to Wolf Pack Three opens, then shuts as Sera walks off.

THE REMAINING THREE WATCH DEAN HEAD TOWARD THE KYBO. THEY LOOK AT EACH OTHER.

TOM

You want this one?

FIONA

Yeah. I got it.

EXT. KYBO – BACK – NIGHT

Dean leans against the wall, smoking. Fiona walks around the corner.

FIONA

That’s it, then?

DEAN

I can’t do this.

She looks at him. She really looks at him. Then:

FIONA

Coward.

DEAN

I’m not.

FIONA

You are.

She starts to walk up to him.

FIONA

What? You think people are going to keep comparing you to your brother if you stay here? You think they’re going to start? Is that it? Are you afraid whatever happened—

DEAN

How do you?

FIONA

I hear stuff. I know you got fired.

DEAN

You don’t know a thing.

FIONA

Well, then, why don’t you tell me? Why don’t you tell me whatever it is you’re so scared of.

DEAN

I’m not scared.

FIONA

Then tell me.

DEAN

Why the hell should I?

FIONA

Because I care just as much about this place as David did!

DEAN

And that’s a—

FIONA

You’re goddamn right it is.

They’re really close now. Face to face. Spittle can be seen.

DEAN BACKS AWAY.

DEAN

You’re right. I did get fired. My first summer here. That was—jesus christ, eight years ago. I loved camp. I wanted to work here the rest of my life, you know? I had music and I had camp. I was set. But I was a ninteen year old guy who bought a porno mag on his night off. I know. You thought it was something bigger than that.

(beat)

AND THEN DAVEY FOUND IT. HE WAS ONE OF THOSE CAMPERS WHO WORK BUT DON’T GET PAID—WHAT DO YOU CALL THEM?

FIONA

Counselors in training.

dean

Yeah. One of those. And he forgot to put the magazine away. So do you get what happened when my co walked in that afternoon with a bunch of kids coming back from swim time? And then…then, well, the shit hit the fan and I lied. So when they asked Davey about it…

FIONA

He told them where he got it?

DEAN

He told them where he got it. And that was the end of it.

Pause. She takes it in.

FIONA

Dean. Was that when you left for Los Angeles?

He doesn’t respond.

FIONA

Was that the last time you spoke to your brother?

DEAN

I was done. Gone. And I don’t know what I’m still doing here. I mean, they throw away the files after five years, sure. But after what I did…It’s a pretty piss poor role model who lets campers find his porn stash, right?

FIONA

Well. I don’t think you did anything wrong. And neither did your brother.

DEAN

He did. He did!

FIONA

Then why the hell did he specifically request you come back and take over his old job? You weren’t there, Dean. I was there!

Another exchange of looks.

FIONA

Hrum. Okay. You do what you want. I know you’re on some special contract where you can leave whenever, and that’s not up to me. I’m just the Day Camp Director. But if you’re afraid you’re not going to live up to your brother, or you’re afraid that somebody’s going to find out about something you never did wrong, or any of the many things I can assume are going through your pretty little head right now, I stick by my original assesment: You’re a coward.

Dean sighs, slumps against the wall.

FIONA

Oh, please. Really, now. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Get some sleep. Then, tomorrow, go teach arts and crafts. Do it again for the next nine weeks. This is a second chance your brother gave you, you know? Not everybody gets that. Not everybody gets to come to camp.

She sits down next to him

FIONA

And I know I’ve been talking your ear off, but you better get used to it, because I’ve decided to take an interest in you, Dean Lydell. One more thing. Don’t you, even for a second, don’t you ever take put yourself ahead of these kids. They demand everything and more. And you know what? In thirteen years, or ten years, or however many years, they’ll be smoking behind the KYBO, schtupping underage staff, and yes, buying porno mags on their nights off. They’re us. If you get that—the way your brother did—if you do, you’ll be fine.

DEAN

I can’t. I don’t know. I really don’t.

FIONA

Do you think your brother did?

She stands up.

FIONA

I’ve got to go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.

She walks off, leaving him there.

FADE OUT.

END ACT THREE

ACT FOUR

FADE IN:

INT. LAKE – NIGHT

A full moon refuses to pierce the surface. Someone enters from above, cutting downwards through the water.

SERA DIVES THROUGH THE WATER, WHITE SKIN AGAINST BLACK. NO, SHE’S NOT SKINNY-DIPPING, PERVS.

SHE’S FREE-DIVING, TRYING TO GET TO THE BOTTOM IN A SINGLE BREATH.

SERA CONTINUES TO SWIM. SHE’S ELEGANT. PEACEFUL.

EXT. WATERFRONT – NIGHT

Sera climbs out of the water onto the dock. She doesn’t see Tom sitting cross-legged until she reaches for her towel.

SERA

Thought you thought I was crazy for going in this late.

TOM

Like a fox.

SERA

You should stick your feet in.

TOM

No chance.

SERA

In all of Antartica?

She smiles. So does he.

SERA

How long have you known?

TOM

Since Monday. At the funeral.

Beat.

SERA

We’re…we’re talking about two different things.

SERA

So, you’re not going to ask me how long I’ve been with Jake Starkey?

TOM

It’s none of my buisness.

She sits down on the dock.

TOM

How long have you been sleeping with him?

SERA

That’s none of your buisness, Thomas.

He grins. They sit there in silence for a few moments.

TOM

So.

SERA

Am I going to take the job?

TOM

Are you?

SERA

Are you trying to get me to stay?

TOM

I am not.

SERA

You came down here to the water to get me to stay. Right?

TOM

I was just, you know, wondering if they argue about the words to Springsteen songs at Wadewater. If they know any Springsteen songs at Wadewater.

They watch her. Sera reaches over and takes Tom’s hand. It’s friendly and nothing more.

SERA

Okay.

Tom looks at her and knows. He smiles.

INT. DINING HALL – LOBBY – NIGHT

Lauren comes out of the bathroom, drying her face. She starst to leave, then hears someone playing the piano.

HER HEAD COCKS. SHE KNOWS THIS SONG.

INT. DINING HALL – NIGHT

Dean sits at the far end, playing the piano. It’s “I’m Not Afraid of Anything” (from Songs for a New World). He thinks he’s the only one here.

HIS VOICE IS SMOOTH AND PRECISE. HIS PLAYING IS SPECTACULAR.

DEAN

(singing)

JENNY’S AFRAID OF WATER

I mean she swims so well, but still

So she won’t go near the sea—

He hears Lauren and hits the next line.

DEAN

Not me.

He stops.

LAUREN

Keep going.

He turns around.

DEAN

I thought you didn’t like me.

LAUREN

Well, Jason Robert Brown—I’m weak.

DEAN

Yeah.

LAUREN

Let me.

He starts to play again, going right to the song’s emotional climax.

LAUREN CAN SING. AS IN “SHE COULD DO THIS PROFESSIONALLY IF SHE DIDN’T LOVE CAMP SO MUCH.”

LAUREN

(singing)

AND I HEAR THE CALLING OF ADVENTURE,

And I hear the ringing in my ears

The lights are glaring,

Trumpets blaring,

I’m right here

And I hear the calling of tomorrow

And I Hear the stirring in my bones

And David lov-

She stops. So does he.

LAUREN

Keep going. Come on, keep going.

He continues.

LAUREN

(singing)

AND DAVID LOVES ME

He’s afraid to hold me

Listen to the calling of excitement

Can you hear the pounding of my heart

Lights are ready,

Pulse is steady,

I can start

Never stop the calling of a challenge

Blessing on the water and the stones

And-and David loves me

He’s afraid to trust me

He’s afraid to hold me

And he’ll—he’ll always—

They stop together. He sits there, awkward. Her shoulders heave but she doesn’t cry. She’s done her crying.

DEAN REACHES OVER AND PUTS A HAND ON HER SHOULDER. HE’S TRYING.

LAUREN

Thanks.

She turns to look at him.

LAUREN

Did you know?

DEAN

I guessed. How long—

LAUREN

Two years, six months, five days and eighteen hours.

DEAN

That’s-that’s precise.

She smiles.

LAUREN

I’m a precise gal.

DEAN

Have you talked to anybody about Dave’s death? I know that’s an odd question, but—

LAUREN

It’s a precise one, too.

DEAN

Yeah.

LAUREN

There’s a reason I like this song. I’m big girl. I don’t need therapy. I don’t need saving. I don’t need protection and I don’t need some shining knight in silver armor. You’re not him.

DEAN

I didn’t say I was.

LAUREN

I’m glad we understand each other. Because I still don’t like you.

She smiles, looks at the clock.

LAUREN

I should go. You going to stick around?

DEAN

Don’t know yet.

LAUREN

You know, you’re not your brother. Nobody ever really will be. I don’t think. But I think you care. I hope you care. You know?

Before he can respond, she walks off.

LAUREN

Well, I’ll see ya.

She exits. As she does, Dean starts to play again behind her.

DEAN

(singing)

I’M NOT AFRAID OF ANYTHING

Be it growing old or going out of style…

ext. camp grounds – night

Over Dean’s singing:

-SERA AND TOM SIT ON THE DOCK, FEET IN THE WATER.

–FENN SITS OUTSIDE THE WOLF PACK UNIT, WATCHING THE CABINS.

–AT THE BRIDLE VIEW UNITS, FIONA AND ELLIE DO THE SAME. ELLIE WORKS A CROSSWORD, FIONA READS.

–COYOTE SITS IN HIS OFFICE, FEET UP ON HIS DESK, THINKING.

-RUDY TRIES TO SLEEP AND CANNOT. OOOOH MYSTERY!

DEAN (V.O.)

(singing)

WHO WOULD GIVE UP WHAT THEY WANT WITHOUT A TRIAL?

Another mile

I’m not afraid…

He hits the small instrumental break and—

INT. OFFICE – COACH’S OFFICE – MORNING

A white luxury car pulls into the gravel lot.

A TALL MAN WATCHES GABBY’S PARENTS, MATTHEW AND KITTY PORTER, EARLY FORTIES, GET OUT. THEY’RE RICH ENOUGH TO OWN THIS CAR BUT NOT RICH ENOUGH TO HAVE A DRIVER.

THE MAN TURNS AWAY FROM THE WINDOW, REVEALING COACH LOUIS “LOU” FRANKLIN, FORTY-SIX AND A FORMER MEMBER OF THE BOSTON RED SOX.

(YES, IT’S A SORKIN HOMAGE. HAVE YOU NOT PICKED UP ON THESE YET?)

GABBY SITS NEXT TO ELLIE IN FRONT OF COACH’S DESK, COYOTE IN THE BACKGROUND. THE SHELVES HOLD MEMORABLIA FROM LOU’S PRO BALL DAYS AS WELL AS THE CAMPS HE’S DIRECTED.

COACH

Ellie tells me you’re reading an interesting book. Any good?

GABBY

It’s pretty good. Like Harry Potter for people—

COACH

Who don’t like five hundred pages where nothing happens?

His smile is wide and passionate. Comforting.

COACH

Yeah, I don’t like that either.

He sits down.

COACH

Everything okay at home, Gabby?

Beat.

GABBY

Yeah. It’s lovely.

COACH

Lovely?

GABBY

Yeah. I like it.

Lou considers this.

COACH

Well, I’m not going to lie to you. You caused a lot of trouble for my staff. I don’t like that and I wish it didn’t have to…

He trails off.

COACH

You’re being sent home for the rest of the week. But you can come back, okay? You can always come back.

GABBY

Really?

COACH

You’ve been coming here since before I started, right?

GABBY

Yes, sir.

COACH

Well, that’s who camp is made for.

He looks to Ellie and Coyote, then sighs, saddened.

COACH

You can go meet your parents now. Ellie?

Ellie gets up and leads Gabby out. Coyote and Lou look at each other.

COACH

Lauren called Children’s Services?

COYOTE

Last night.

COACH

Then there’s nothing more we can do. They’ll look into it. Our hands are tied.

(beat)

WE’LL GET HER BACK, NICK.

COYOTE

Let’s hope.

COACH

We will.

They’re both disappointed but committed to the end.

EXT. OFFICE – PARKING LOT – MORNING

Gabby walks down the office steps and runs into Lauren.

LAUREN

Did you tell them?

GABBY

No.

LAUREn

Why?

GABBY

(sad, ironic)

WHAT DO YOU THINK’S GONNA HAPPEN NOW THAT I CALLED THEM HOME FROM JAMAICA?

Lauren softens.

SHE WRITES A NUMBER ON A SCRAP OF PAPER, TEARS IT.

LAUREN

We’re…we’re not supposed to do this, but this is my cell. Call it.

GABBY

Okay.

LAUREN

Call it.

It’s understood. They both come from the same place.

LAUREN REACHES OUT AND HUGS HER.

EXT. DINING HALL – MORNING – CONTINUOUS

Hope and C.B. approach the office, arguing.

C.B.

Well, if you didn’t tell them, you told somebody.

HOPE

Everybody knows. You think somebody wasn’t going to tell somebody who mattered?

C.B. mutters something in Afrikaans.

HOPE

Excuse me? That’s what I thought.

INT. OFFICE – MORNING

They enter. Ellie and the Porters talk, Coach’s office door still closed. Sera picks up a phone Coyote hands to her.

SERA

(into phone)

HELLO?

intercut with:

INT. WADEWATER RIDING INSTITUTE – JAKE’S OFFICE - DAY

This one room is nicer than the whole of Dovetail. Jake sits with his feet on his desk.

JAKE

Hey, baby.

INT. DOVETAIL FALLS OFFICE – DAY

Sera stiffens, then smirks.

SERA

Hey, who’s my favorite musician?

JAKE

Bruce Springsteen. You thought I wasn’t going to know that?

SERA

I did. I did. Hey, you know that song “Blinded by the Light”?

JAKE

Yeah…

SERA

What’s the first line?

JAKE

Oh, baby, you know that I don’t really like Springsteen. I mean, “Born to Run” is great, but…

Sera’s reaction says it all. The Porters are gone. Ellie watches her from the background.

SERA

Listen, I’m actually pretty comfortable here. I like it here.

JAKE

I’m going to ask again: Is this about what happened to you, or is it because I didn’t know “Blinded by the Light”?

SERA

Well, it has absolutely nothing to do with what happened to me, and mostly everything to do with “Blinded by the Light.”

(beat)

YOU HAVE MY CELL IF YOU NEED TO GET IN TOUCH. DON’T CALL THE OFFICE AGAIN.

She hangs up the phone. Coyote looks at her and grins.

COYOTE

Sticking around?

SERA

For a little while.

COYOTE

Because we know the words to ‘Blinded by the Light’?

SERA

Where else am I gonna get the chance to argue about them?

C.B.

A Springsteen concert?

They all sort of look at him.

COYOTE

I’m still pissed at you.

SERA

I heard you were. But right now, Al and I have a ranch to run.

COYOTE

Good. Go.

She leaves just as Coach’s door opens.

COACH

Hope, C.B.

int. office – coach’s office – day

They enter, conversing.

COACH

C.B., Coyote tells me our baseball clinic’s looking pretty good. Enough to put a team together, you think?

C.B.

Maybe. I guess.

COACH

In a couple of years, though, right? You know my little league’s always looking for good assistant coaches, and I see how the kids respond to you.

C.B.

Yeah, I’d be up for something like that.

COACH

Not if you went home, though, right?

And there it is. He closes the door and gets serious.

COACH

I could have you both fired right now, you get that? Seventeen and twenty-three. Seventeen and twenty-three.

C.B.

Everyone el-

COACH

I’m not talking about everyone else. You two are the subject at hand.

(beat)

I DON’T WANT YOU ARGUING ABOUT WHO I HEARD IT FROM OR HOW I FOUND OUT. I WANT IT TO STOP, AND I WANT IT TO STOP NOW. I’VE GOT WAY TOO MUCH TO DEAL WITH—WITHOUT TRYING TO KEEP TRACK OF WHICH OF MY COUNSELORS ARE COMMITTING ILLEGAL ACTS BY SCHTUPPING BEHIND THE KYBO. IT STOPS.

He sits back down behind his desk.

COACH

That’s it. You’re broken up.

HOPE

But, Coach—

COACH

You’re broken up.

He smiles again.

COACH

Now, go be good role models out there!

C.B. gets up, storms out. Hope is a little slower to the door.

COACH

You should know better.

She turns. It sinks in. He nods.

EXT. OFFICE – DAY

Hope exits the office. In the background, yellow schoolbuses unload day campers onto ‘A’ Field.

C.B. GRINS.

C.B.

Well. I thought that was amusing.

HOPE

C.B., the idea of me getting fired is not amusing. Why’s it to you?

He shrugs.

C.B.

Because I like you and it’s summer and everybody does it and we were the only ones to get caught. Many reasons.

HOPE

Look. Look. Look. You and the Spaniards and whoever else can act like this is a summer vacation. It’s not. This is not your chance to see America. Who wants to see America from Ohio? This is a job, okay? This is—this can be—the best job you’ll ever have. And you are futzing it up.

C.B.

I’m not—

HOPE

You are. You’re fuzting it up.

She moves in, quiet.

HOPE

Despite…despite what Coach said in there, I do like you. I think you’re a great guy. I just…I don’t know if what we’ve been doing is the best—is the right idea anymore.

C.B.

You breaking up with me?

HOPE

We can’t break up if we were never together.

C.B.

We can’t break up if we were never together? Are you kidding?

HOPE

I can’t. I can’t do this. I can work with you, but I can’t be with you. Not now.

C.B.

Why the hell not?

Hope considers this. Lot of considering going on in this show, too.

HOPE

Because I love this job. And I have to go do that now. Okay?

He waves her off. She shrugs, then walks towards the day campers.

EXT. DINING HALL – BACK PORCH – DAY

Dean has one last cigarette before the morning starts.

FIONA STICKS HER HEAD AROUND THE CORNER.

FIONA

Oi! You should quit smoking.

DEAN

That’s what the studies tell me, but don’t I look cool?

She sits down next to him.

FIONA

You know what I think?

DEAN

What’s that?

FIONA

I think your brother was a great guy. I think you can be one too. But you gotta answer this question. Ready?

DEAN

Yes.

FIONA

Whatcha doin’ now?

DEAN

Well, I was going to see if there were any day campers who needed my help.

She smiles. They get up and start walking.

AS THEY HEAD OUT TOWARDS A-FIELD, JONI MITCHELL’S “FREE MAN IN PARIS” STARTS.

DEAN

So what are we doing today, Irish?

FIONA

Who said you could call me Irish, Los Angeles?

DEAN

Techinically, I’m from New York.

FIONA

Who said you could call me Irish, New York?

DEAN

I’m Irish-American, you know. I can do that. We have a bond.

FIONA

In your dreams. In your sweet little dreams.

The campers start to stream out of the dining hall, the whole of main camp coming into view…

THE MANY COUNSELORS AND SUPPORT STAFF SPREAD OUT ACROSS A-FIELD AND DOWN THE ROADS, HEADED TOWARD ANOTHER GRAND AND GLORIOUS DAY AT CAMP DOVETAIL FALLS…

JONI MITCHELL

You know I’d go back there tomorrow…

…Where every day’s a holiday…

…AND EVERY MEAL’S A FEAST.

FADE OUT

JONI MITCHELL

…But for the work I’ve taken on.

END OF SHOW

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download