Save the Last Dance Script
JUNE 11, 1999
FADE IN:
1 EXT. PENNSYLVANIA COUNTRYSIDE - LONG SHOT - DAY 1
of an empty stretch of land parted down the middle by
railroad tracks. An Amtrak Commuter crests the horizon,
heads TOWARD us. As it gets CLOSER, we GO IN TIGHTER to
see --
2 FACE OF SARA JOHNSON 2
17, pressed at one of its windows.
3 REVERSE ANGLE - REFLECTION IN TRAIN’S WINDOW - 3
SARA’S FACE
distant and lovely and sad. SUPERIMPOSED against an
endless stream of sky and trees. The train speeds up and
SARA’s face flies by, disappearing FROM FRAME.
4 INT. AMTRAK TRAIN - MOVING - DUSK 4
A zaftig BLACK WOMAN clumsily negotiates the aisle.
Stops at the first of a few empty seats left in the car.
WOMAN
This seat taken?
ANGLE ON SARA
looking up, around. She shakes her head, clears her
backpack and magazines from the seat beside her. The
Woman drops down, settles in. A long silence. The Woman
glances at the American Ballet magazine on Sara’s lap.
Tries to make conversation.
WOMAN
I love ballet. Never had the body
for it. Do you dance?
Sara folds her arms, turns away mumbling under breath.
SARA
Used to.
Sara gazes out the window. The world outside begins to
dissolve melting into images from another time, another
place. Her eyes stare blankly OUT AT us, blinded by her
memories.
2.
5 FLASHBACK - INT. AUDITORIUM - KINDERGARTEN RECITAL - DAY 5
A stage full of five-year-olds in tights and tutus. A
little girl performs center stage. She’s remarkably
poised, remarkably good. CAMERA PANS TO the audience. A
woman in an Irish clover necklace springs to her feet
clapping loudly. The little girl’s eyes catch the glint
of the necklace’s gold. Mommy. She flashes a megawatt
smile, ends the dance with an unscripted bow, as we...
DISSOLVE TO:
6 INT. BALLET CLASS - EVENING (FIVE YEARS LATER) 6
Young Sara, lithe and earnest, dances. A budding beauty
blessed with long limbs and natural grace, she makes it
look easy. Gliding past the envious stares of
classmates, she scans the hall for a glint of gold.
Finds it in the back of the room where her mother, Glynn,
stands watching her. Their eyes connect with mutual
smiles and those smiles CARRY us TO:
7 INT. SARA’S EXETER HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY 7
A pair of flexing feet in ballet slippers on a hardwood
floor. PAN UP and PULL BACK to reveal Sara at 17,
dancing in the space opened up by cornered furniture and
rolled up rugs. As Glynn looks on, Sara completes the
routine with a pirouette. She spins out of it with a
preoccupied frown on her face.
GLYNN
What’s the matter? It was good.
SARA
(checks her
stance in mirror)
Everybody there’s going to be
good, Mom. I have to be better.
(then, beginning
again)
My knees still knock when I do my
free form. Did you notice that?
GLYNN
I noticed that it was fine.
SARA
(escalating
frustration)
It’s not supposed to be fine.
It’s supposed to be special.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
3.
7 CONTINUED: 7
SARA (CONT’D)
And it just lays there, it doesn’t
do anything. I bet they notice
that. That it doesn’t do
anything. That I don’t do
anything special enough to get in.
GLYNN
Sara. You’ll get in.
SARA
Don’t lie because you love me. My
free form sucks.
GLYNN
(giving up that
battle)
I’ve got something for you. Come
on. Sit. Mouth closed, eyes
shut. No pouting. No peeking.
Sara flops down on the sofa beside her. Closes her eyes.
Glynn removes the clover chain from her neck, fastens it
around Sara’s.
GLYNN
For luck tomorrow. Not that
you’ll need it. You dance like an
angel.
The necklace is Glynn’s talisman. Sara knows what it
means to her. She throws her arms around Glynn, holds
onto her tightly.
SARA
I love the necklace but you’re
still the best luck I’ll ever
have.
Glynn, not one to choke up, chokes up. They cling to
each other.
8 INT. AMTRAK TRAIN (MOVING) - ON SARA - DUSK (PRESENT) 8
In the blink of her eyes, the memory fades. She pulls
the window shade, shifts in her seat. Her fingers travel
to the clover necklace at her throat. Linger. The Woman
regards her.
WOMAN
Nice... the necklace.
(CONTINUED)
4.
8 CONTINUED: 8
SARA
Oh. It’s a good luck charm.
Doesn’t always work.
The Woman’s wearing a crucifix. She indicates it.
Smiles.
WOMAN
Mine either.
9 FLASHBACK - INT./EXT. BUS/RURAL ROAD - MORNING 9
A sea of young white faces. A jock entertains the troops
with two straws up his nose. Sara sits next to her best
friend, LINDSAY, 17. Lindsay, chomping on a wad of gum,
turns from the jock to Sara with a bubble in bloom,
bursts it with her teeth.
LINDSAY
Wanna pray? You’re leaving for
Philly after first period. I
won’t see you. We should pray.
SARA
(stupefied)
Lindsay... no. Not here.
Lindsay grabs Sara’s hand and bows her head. Sara,
embarrassed, aligns her head with Lindsay’s. She’s
praying nobody sees them.
LINDSAY
’Awesome, Father, S.J. auditions
today. She’s ready for them.
Please make them ready for her.
Even if she screws up. Thanks.
Amen.’
(sure shrug; another
bubble)
God’s gotten me outta all kinds of
shit. He oughta be able to get
you into Juilliard.
10 EXT. EXETER SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL - LATER THAT MORNING 10
Sara exits with a bouquet of roses, takes the steps two
and three at a time. Glynn’s waiting in a flower van at
the curb.
5.
11 INT./EXT. FLOWER VAN (DRIVING)/RESIDENTIAL STREETS 11
Sara and Glynn. The back of the van is filled with
flower arrangements. Glynn takes note of the roses in
Sara’s hand.
GLYNN
Where’d you get those, traitor?
SARA
Ellison -- Mr. Ellison. He
actually told me to break a leg.
GLYNN
Roses from the principal, even
droopy, out-of-season yellow ones,
is beyond cool, kiddo. You’re
definitely movin’ up in the world.
Sara looks through the windshield. It’s starting to
drizzle.
SARA
Know what would be great? If you
didn’t drop me off at the bus
station. If we just kept going
until we get to Philly.
GLYNN
Ruin everyone’s Valentine’s Day and not have a shop when I get back. That’s your definition of great? I can see the headline now: ’Starving Artist Kills Unfit Mother.’ (gently) Sweetheart, we talked about this. I’ll get there as soon as I can. Sara looks at her and Glynn instantly feels guilty. SARA
Right. This is the hardest, most
important day of my life and all
you can do is get there as soon as
you can. Thanks, Mom.
12 EXT. GREYHOUND BUS STATION (READING, PA) - 12
CONTINUOUS ACTION
Glynn pulls the van into the parking lot. Smiles at
Sara. Sara doesn’t smile back. She’s too angry. Too
scared.
(CONTINUED)
6.
12 CONTINUED: 12
SARA
So I guess I’ll see you later.
GLYNN
I won’t miss your audition, Sara.
I’ll be there, okay? If I have to
swim the Susquehanna, I’ll be
there.
SARA
Swim? You can’t swim, Mom.
GLYNN
I’ll float then.
A moment. They look at each other. Sara finally smiles.
They embrace and she hops out the van. Glynn calls after
her.
GLYNN
Hey... Happy Valentine’s Day.
13 INT. AMTRAK TRAIN (MOVING) - ON SARA - NIGHT (PRESENT) 13
Feigning sleep. From the corner of her eye, she watches
the Woman beside her flip through the American Ballet
Magazine. We move back in time through their pages.
14 FLASHBACK - INT. UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - WAITING 14
ROOM - DAY
Sara, in costume, flips through a magazine. She taps her
toes, checks her watch. A phalanx of parents and dancers
are clustered around a sign posted on the door:
JUILLIARD SCHOOL OF DANCE AUDITIONS. Sara stares at it.
Re-checks her watch. An official with a clipboard walks
toward her. Where’s her mother?
15 INT. UNIV. OF PENNSYLVANIA - STAGE/AUDITORIUM - 15
MOMENTS LATER
Sara on stage. She looks past a row of Juilliard JUDGES
into the audience. No glint of gold. MOZART’S "Elvira
Madigan" (Andante) CUES UP. Sara begins her technical.
She transforms her nervousness into a notable, powerful
performance. The Judges are mutely but clearly
impressed. One of them looks directly at her.
(CONTINUED)
7.
15 CONTINUED: 15
JUDGE
Is there anything you’d like to
share about your free form before
you begin? A motif... a theme?
Sara’s stomach drops to her feet. Her mother’s not there
and her free form sucks and she doesn’t have a theme.
Shit!
SARA
Well, it’s um, pretty self-
explanatory. The theme.
The Judges exchange a look. New MUSIC CUES UP. Some
driving, CLASSICAL NUMBER. Sara tries to elevate her
body above the music, but she’s nervous, unsure on her
feet. She keeps glancing in the back of the auditorium
for Glynn. Searching for her port in the storm.
Wondering where her mother is and knowing how badly she’s
dancing. Knowing but somehow continuing, stumbling,
recovering, and finally finishing with those damned
knocking knees. The Judges, eyes like stones,
perfunctorily nod. Their equivalent of maybe next year.
Sara chokes two words out...
SARA
Thank you.
16 INT. AUDITORIUM - BACKSTAGE
... Rushes backstage. Fighting tears, she hurries past
waiting dancers angrily unhooking the clover leaf chain
from her neck.
17 INT. DRESSING ROOM - DAY 17
Sara in street clothes. Cramming her ballet gear into a
duffle bag when the official (of the clipboard)
approaches her. She touches Sara’s shoulder gently.
Says something we do not hear.
18 INT. OFFICE (UNIV. OF PA) - CONTINUOUS ACTION 18
SHOOTING THROUGH office window. A state trooper in a
rain slicker offers Sara a chair. She sits. The trooper
talks. As he does, dread and disbelief spread over
Sara’s face. She shakes her head, attempts to stand.
Her legs buckle beneath her. The trooper and the
official catch her as she falls.
8.
19 EXT. AMTRAK TRAIN - NIGHT (PRESENT) 19
A glowing moon in a clear, star-specked sky.
20 TRAIN 20
CHUGS toward Baltimore’s Penn Station, which is visible
in the f.g.
21 EXT. PENNSYLVANIA TURNPIKE - INTERCUT - MORNING 21
A torrential rain. A flower van -- Glynn’s van -- caught
in it. SHOOTING THROUGH the driver’s side window, we can
see Glynn’s face, intense and determined, squinting
through the downpour.
22 TRAIN’S WHEELS 22
GRINDING.
23 VAN’S WHEELS 23
Hydro-planing, slip-sliding.
24 TRAIN 24
It’s SQUEAL OF BRAKES as it maneuvers into the station.
25 VAN 25
The SQUEAL of its BRAKES as Glynn loses control and
smashes into the back of the eighteen wheeler in front of
her.
26 TRAIN 26
across space and time, the SOUND OF SQUEALING BRAKES
commingle as the Amtrak Commuter pulls into Penn Station.
27 INT. AMTRAK TRAIN - NIGHT 27
Sara. Holding her breath, clenching her fists. Waiting
for the sound to stop, oblivious to the stare of the
Woman beside her.
9.
28 EXT. PENN STATION (BALTIMORE) - PLATFORM - NIGHT 28
ROY JOHNSON, 37, a handsome, laconic man of uncertain
style, takes a last drag from his cigarette, drops and
stomps it. Passengers disembark from the train. Roy
searches their faces. They all look like strangers.
29 EXT. AMTRAK TRAIN - SAME TIME 29
A conductor helps Sara to the platform. Steam from the
train’s engine is sucked into the fog. She walks through
it. Sees him. They see each other. Roy weakly waves.
Walks toward her. Sara watches his bow legs stiffly
advance. She wants to run. Can’t.
ROY
Hi.
SARA
Hi.
ROY
Have a good ride?
Sara self-consciously tucks her hair behind an ear.
SARA
Slept through most of it.
A beat. Roy looks at her.
ROY
Guess you got stuff. Baggage.
SARA
Two suitcases. One big one.
ROY
Looks like they’re unloading.
-- You hungry? We can stop
somewhere if you want.
SARA
I’m kinda tired.
Roy takes her backpack. They walk.
30 INT./EXT. ROY’S PICKUP/STREET - SARA AND ROY - NIGHT 30
A heavy silence. Roy starts to turn on the radio, stops
himself. He lights a cigarette, cracks the window.
(CONTINUED)
10.
30 CONTINUED: 30
ROY
I didn’t like leavin’ you so soon
after the funeral. I wouldn’t
have if you hadn’t asked me to go.
I mean, I could’ve hung around.
Helped you say good-bye. That’s
what you were doin’, wasn’t it?
SARA
Uh-huh.
Roy takes another drag, nods thoughtfully to himself.
ROY
That’s what I figured you were
doin’.
Sara peers out the windshield. Baltimore City. The
neighborhoods are changing. The streets are getting
progressively gritty and dirty. It surprises her. It
worries her. Roy worries her.
ROY
Look. Sara. I feel bad too. I
mean, we both got hit by the same
bolt of lightning. You don’t have
to pretend this is easy.
(off nothing)
Everything’s upside down right now
but don’t worry. We’ll work this
bachelor-father thing out. Hell,
it ain’t like we’re movin’ in with
strangers. We got a pretty good
idea about each other, right?
Sara looks askance at him, her expression indicating
otherwise. A moment. Roy’s too new at this to hold up
both ends of the conversation. The silence deepens. Roy
switches on the radio.
31 EXT. BOND STREET (SOUTH BALTIMORE) - NIGHT 31
Roy’s truck pulls up to a string of disrepaired rowhouses
with pristine white marble steps. He and Sara each lug a
suitcase from the truck. Her eyes wander up and down the
street. They’re on the fringes of a ghetto. A few
people roost on their stoops, hang on the corners. All
of them have black faces.
SARA
Thought you were moving to Fells
Point.
ROY
Fell through.
11.
32 INT. ROY’S APARTMENT - NIGHT 32
The second floor of a two-story house has been turned
into a one-bedroom studio. A partition separates the
living area from the bedroom. Sara walks past a
collection of saxophones and several framed pictures of
herself. Aside from the saxophones and the pictures,
there’s hardly any furniture. Roy lights a cigarette.
ROY
Not much of what you’re used to.
But the water’s hot and the fridge
is full. And I made room in the
closets for you. Girl’s gotta
have closets, right? You even get
your own bed. I’ll crash on the
couch.
SARA
You bought a bed?
ROY
(slight bow)
Pardon me. Your own futon. Check
it out. On the other side.
Suitcase in hand, Sara walks around the partition. Her
"room" is an old futon, an ancient set of drawers. She
stands in the middle of nothing, wanting something to do.
She removes framed photos of Glynn from her backpack,
places them around the room.
33 INT. ROY’S APARTMENT - LIVING AREA - MINUTES LATER 33
Sara walks in. Doesn’t see Roy. Calls out.
SARA
Do you have a phone?
Roy emerges from the bathroom drying his hands, walks
past her.
ROY
Of course I have a phone.
SARA
You didn’t at the last place. The
last place I saw anyway.
ROY
Things change. You’ve changed.
You grew up on me. Overnight.
(CONTINUED)
12.
33 CONTINUED: 33
SARA
Over the summer. You blew me off
for some gig on the road,
remember?
(before he can
respond)
Can I call Lindsay? Let her know
I got here alright.
ROY
Are you alright, Sara?
(off the scowl
in her eyes)
I just wanna know how you feel.
SARA
I feel fine. I feel like calling
Lindsay.
She’s a wall. A brick wall. Roy’s head aches from
knocking into it. He goes to the couch. Drops down.
Mutters at her.
ROY
Phone’s in the kitchen. Knock
yourself out.
34 INT. SARA’S ROOM/BATHROOM - LATE THAT NIGHT 34
Sara lying in bed... wide awake... her stiff upper lip
quivering. She slips out of bed, creeps on tiptoes into
the bathroom. Closes the door oh-so-quietly behind her.
She flips on the light, crosses to the sink, turns on
both faucets. As the water flows and the PIPES RATTLE,
the brick wall shatters. Sara crumbles to the floor.
Buries her head in her arms. Cries like a baby.
35 INT./EXT. ROY’S PICKUP (SOUTH BALTIMORE) - 35
NEXT MORNING
Roy and Sara. Barreling through the south end, tongues
stuck in gear. A Pop-Tart grows cold on Sara’s lap.
Then, finally.
SARA
I can take the school bus.
Tomorrow.
ROY
School bus? That’s the other Oz,
Dorothy. Patterson kids ride the
city Metro. Or walk.
(CONTINUED)
13.
35 CONTINUED: 35
SARA
Well, I know how to do both.
ROY
Not around here you don’t. Not
until you get the hang of things.
Sara looks out the window at a full-fledged ghetto. It’s
all to obvious, the hang of things. Roy glances over at
her.
ROY
I called about your transcripts.
You’re all set. Patterson’s got a
pretty good Humanities program.
No ballet, but we can find a
studio someplace close for after
school --
SARA
-- I don’t think I’ll have time.
I have to study, I’ll be busy.
Roy can hear the lie behind her words. The pain too. He
lights a cigarette, cracks the window. He wants to say
the right thing.
ROY
Good idea. Take a break. Not too
long a break though. You’re a
dancer. You should dance. Stay
on top of your art.
SARA
Like you stay on top of yours?
ROY
Maybe I ain’t playin’ no grand
ballrooms or fancy jazz festivals,
but I’m playing.
SARA
(unconvincingly)
I didn’t mean it like that.
ROY
S’alright. Hell, I wish I had
half the time I wasted gettin’
wasted. But those days are over.
You’ll see. I got my life on
track.
14.
36 EXT. PATTERSON HIGH SCHOOL (SOUTH BALTIMORE) - MORNING 36
Formidably large and surprisingly well-kept, Patterson
serves the nearby, predominantly black O’Donnell Heights
Projects. Kids malinger outside on the front steps and
lawn.
37 FROM ANOTHER ANGLE - PARKING LOT 37
Roy’s pickup pulls in. Roy CUTS the ENGINE. Sara looks
at him. Or through him. She won’t let his eyes connect.
SARA
You don’t have to go in with me.
Since I’m all set. I mean, I have
done this before. Gone to school.
I’ll be fine. I am fine. Really.
Roy regards her with weary resignation. Sara climbs out.
He calls after her.
ROY
-- Pick you up. Three-thirty.
SARA
(over a shoulder)
Yeah. Sure. Whatever.
38 EXT./INT. PATTERSON HIGH - MORNING 38
Sara moving TOWARD us PAST a floating mosaic of black
faces. This is a near out-of-body experience for her.
She walks like a well-rehearsed soldier in a stiff
straight line to the school’s entrance. It’s clogged
with students. Inside the doorway, two security guards
flank a metal detector. When it’s Sara’s turn to pass
through, one of the guards grabs her backpack and
wordlessly begins searching it. He hands it back to her
on the other side of the detector where Sara stands
obtusely and mutely amazed.
39 INT. ADMINISTRATION BUILDING - MORNING 39
THROUGH a window, Sara seated across from an
ADMINISTRATOR. We PUSH IN.
ADMINISTRATOR
... It’s no fun being uprooted in
the middle of your senior year.
We realize that and we’ll do what
we can to help with the
transition.
(CONTINUED)
15.
39 CONTINUED: 39
There’s a KNOCK at door. MRS. GWYNN, the Guidance
Counselor, steps in. The Administrator introduces her to
Sara. Sara regards Mrs. Gwynn with polite petulance.
MRS. GWYNN
Any questions? Concerns?
SARA
About school? No. Not really.
MRS. GWYNN
Not even about Baltimore?
SARA
I’m not gonna be here that long.
Besides, it’s just a city, right?
Mrs. Gwynn looks at her squarely. But the brick wall
doesn’t move an inch. Sara feels too safe behind it.
40 INT. HALLWAY - MORNING 40
Clutching new textbooks, Sara starts down the hallway.
She’s hoping nothing in her face reveals the rising panic
in her heart. She’s surrounded. Alone. Every inch of
her feels afraid.
SARA’S POV
as she MOVES FORWARD. A crush of KIDS -- mostly black
with a sprinkling of white and Latino faces thrown in.
Kids like her. Only they don’t dress like her. They
dress like commercials for Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin
Klein. And they definitely don’t sound like her...
TEENAGER #1
Yo, man, check it, the
muthafuckers wasn’t playin’, they
was jackin’. Ten rides in five
days. For real.
TEENAGER #2
Fools got caught for real too.
Ten years in five days. Stall
that shit!
Sara walks on, taking this netherworld in, eavesdropping
on other conversations. It’s not just the words. It’s
how they say them: Loud. Matter-of-fact. Cool. A
cooler cool. Like they breathe static electricity.
(CONTINUED)
16.
40 CONTINUED: 40
That’s it! The entire student body is energized. Sara’s
thoughts are jolted by two black girls squeezing by. One
clips Sara’s elbow as she passes, knocking it against a
locker. They keep going as if they don’t see her. No
one seems to see her. Welcome to mass avoidance at
Patterson High.
41 AT SARA’S LOCKER - LATER 41
Sara’s back is to a black girl striding purposefully
toward her. CHENILLE -- tall, pretty, with about a
million braids in her hair -- swoops Sara’s backpack from
the floor. Thrusts it at her.
CHENILLE
That’s how easy it is to give to
charity around here. Don’t put
your shit on the floor.
SARA
(cautions a smile)
Thanks.
She closes her locker, starts to say something else.
She’s eager to make a friend. One friend. But
Chenille’s gone.
42 ANOTHER CORRIDOR 42
Sara memorizes the schedule of classes in her hand. She
passes a clutch of students who surround a kid in the
middle like a horseshoe. Sara gets a fleeting glimpse of
him.
SARA’S POV - PATRICK REYNOLDS
Eye candy: Tall. Dark. Heartbreakingly handsome. If
Patterson were a monarchy, Patrick would be king. He
sure holds court like one, turning on his dazzling smile
and abundant charm for the crowd. One gets the sense
that the All-American Home Boy is almost as enraptured
with himself as the sycophants around him.
43 INT. JURASINSKI’S CLASSROOM - MORNING 43
The room’s seen better days. Probably better teachers
too. MR. JURASINSKI looks out at his American Literature
class and sees nothing but tenure.
(CONTINUED)
17.
43 CONTINUED: 43
JURASINSKI
In Cold Blood represents a turning
point in our country’s literature.
Take the cap off and tell me why
that is, Mr. Ricard.
WIDER to include the class. FAVOR "SNOOKIE" RICARD. We
recognize him from the hallway kids wrapped up in
Patrick. Snookie, a flagrant Patrick wannabe, sits next
to him now. He removes his baseball cap. Thoughtfully
twirls it on a finger. He truly believes he’s being
profound.
SNOOKIE
Gay rights. That Compote dude who
wrote it? Sweet tooth. Straight-
up fag, Mr. J.
JURASINSKI
Thank you, Mr. Ricard. Your
genius grant is in the mail.
Anyone else?
No volunteers. Jurasinski looks for someone to put on
the spot. Sees the new girl in a back corner. Johnson.
He gets into her line of sight. The class shifts in
their seats, peeping her.
JURASINSKI
Ms... Johnson. You can catch up
later. If this is over your head.
Everyone looks at her. The way kids look at new kids.
SARA
It’s a non-fiction novel. The
first of its kind. Capote mixed
true events with things he
couldn’t know, so he made them up.
A small murmur goes up. Over this, the voice of a
dissenter.
PATRICK (O.S.)
White folks back then felt safe.
Capote scared ’em. He took hard
core crime out the ghetto and
dropped it in America’s back yard.
That’s what makes the book
special.
(CONTINUED)
18.
43 CONTINUED: 43
Sara cranes to see him. God. It’s pretty-boy. He’s
sitting on the other side of the classroom. Looking...
pretty. Looking at her. He has nice eyes. Not that she
noticed.
SARA
Yeah. That is part of it.
PATRICK
That’s all of it. Capote wasn’t
first. Richard Wright and James
Baldwin did the same thing.
Wasn’t nobody tryin’ to read them
though.
SARA
Lots of people read them.
A defensive save. Patrick sees right through it.
PATRICK
Lots of people like who? You?
Hello. Didn’t think so.
SNOOKIE
Mr. J.! Girl needs to bone up.
Give her a pass to the lib’ary.
The room erupts in laughter.
ON SARA
flushed in the face. Embarrassed. Pissed.
ANGLE WIDENS as Jurasinski quiets the class. Then.
JURASINSKI
She can have your pass, Mr.
Ricard. Since you obviously never
use it.
44 INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE OF CAFETERIA - NOON 44
Lunchtime. PICK UP Sara among a cattle drive of
boisterous students.
45 CAFETERIA - FOOD LINE - LATER 45
Hundreds of voices unleashed in pure, unadulterated
teenage cacophony. Sara’s in a queue of kids, working
her way down the line.
(CONTINUED)
19.
45 CONTINUED: 45
She’s as invisible and anonymous as ever. CAMERA TRACKS
her FROM the line, TO the cashier, INTO the heart of the
dining hall. She stands with a food tray, looking for a
place to sit.
HER POV
Table cliques of the cafeteria.
SERIES OF SWEEPING SHOTS
46 JOCK TABLE 46
Two tables pushed together. Full.
47 NERD TABLE 47
Barely, pathetically populated but surprisingly diverse.
48 HIP-HOP TABLE 48
Loud, overflowing, fun. King Patrick and his loyal
subjects horse around.
49 POPULAR TABLE 49
Over which a glacial beauty we will come to know as NIKKI
DAVIS presides. Girls only.
50 WHITE TABLE
Notable for its glaring absence of color. A girl we will
come to know as TONI sits there.
And then PUSHING IN ON --
51 CHENILLE’S TABLE 51
She’s there with a group of girls who eschew pretense.
They, like Chenille, are rugged and regular. They know
who they are.
END OF SERIES OF SWEEPING SHOTS.
20.
52 ANGLE ON SARA 52
eyeing Chenille’s table. Screwing up courage as she
approaches it. She gets there but two black girls are
faster. They sit down in the only empty seats. Sara
backs off, invisible again.
ON CHENILLE
glimpsing Sara from the corner of her eye as Sara walks
away.
53 AT NERDS’ TABLE - LATER 53
Time has passed. The cafeteria is half as full, half as
noisy. Sara sits among the NERDS, a friendly if verbose
group. She’s trying to eat but a snooze button is
talking her to death...
WONK
... I know you’re new to the
table, but think about it. We’re
the Y2K generation and nobody
takes us seriously. We don’t take
ourselves seriously. Just look
around. Half the student body is
D.O.A. -- and that’s from the neck
up, Clara.
SARA
Sara. It’s Sara.
CHENILLE (O.S.)
Yeah. It’s Sara. And you’re
boring her from the ears down.
Sara looks up, surprised to see Chenille standing there.
She flashes a knowing smile at her, indicates Sara’s
tray.
CHENILLE
You finished?
Sara leaps up with a quick, grateful nod. Beats a hasty
retreat from the table. As she and Chenille walk through
the cafeteria, Sara shudders with relief. She feels
rescued.
SARA
God! Thank you!
(CONTINUED)
21.
53 CONTINUED: 53
CHENILLE
&nbs