FREEZE

written by

Taylor Staples

Gardiner ENG 310 May 1st, 2022

FADE IN:

INT. CHARLIE'S BEDROOM - NOON

CHARLIE, 21, a scrawny, tall girl. Awakened from the

aggressive buzzing of her alarm, she jumps up from her pillow
and frantically looks at her surroundings. She sighs after a
few moments and puts her head in her hands, turning off the
alarm on her phone.

Charlie lazily strides across the room stepping over a bunch

of clothes covering the floor, she winces when she spots
herself in the mirror.

CHARLIE
Oh my god, I look terrible.

She attempts to mat down her bed-head and wipes her eyes. She
turns to look at the clock on her wall above her, her eyes
widen.

CHARLIE
Oh crap! How did I sleep until noon?

She drags herself to her closet and grabs sweatpants that

have holes at the bottom of them and a baggy, stained tee-
shirt.

Once she changes, Charlie takes a long look at the clock on

the wall, shuts her eyes, and concentrates. The little hand
stops moving entirely. Time is frozen.

CHARLIE
I don't know how I keep forgetting I
can do that.

INT. DOWNSTAIRS BATHROOM - MORNING

With the clock still frozen, Charlie heads to the bathroom

downstairs and starts rummaging through all the drawers to
find her toothbrush, she finds it in the last drawer she
looks in.

The mirror is stained with fingerprints and hard water and

the walls have brown stains all over them.

She starts brushing her teeth and looks at her police uniform
hanging on the doorknob with a badge on it that said "JR.
POLICE ACADEMY" on it. She rolls her eyes.

She concentrates hard again and closes her eyes. She watches
 2.

the time on her phone to make sure the time rolls over and
goes to shoot a text to her friend.

CHARLIE (TEXT)
Hey Veronica, i'm on my way.

Charlie spits out her toothpaste, wipes her mouth and heads
for kitchen.

INT. KITCHEN - MORNING

There's pots and pans all in the sink and various holes in
the wall by the front door. She struggles to move around her
small kitchen and rams into the tv stand that she was using
as her kitchen table. Charlie winces

CHARLIE
Ow...

She reaches for her keys sitting by the sink and shuffles her
way through the kitchen to exit through the front door.

EXT. VERONICA'S FRONT YARD - AFTERNOON

Charlie parks in the driveway, gets out and sees VERONICA,

21, tall and lanky with brown hair, laying on a blanket in
the grass. Veronica lifts her head when she sees Charlie and
pats the ground next to her.

CHARLIE
Sorry I'm so late, I totally lost
track of time and my house is falling
apart more by the day.

VERONICA
Girl, you're totally good! Hey
speaking of losing track of time....

CHARLIE
Yes, yes I can still do the thing.

Charlie closes her eyes and thinks really hard. When she
opens them, the bird that was flying above them was stuck in
motion and the breeze around them halts.

VERONICA
Woah. This is still insanely cool,
dude.
 3.

Charlie shrugs.

CHARLIE
It's convenient when I'm running late.

VERONICA
Running late? Girl, the possibilities
of things you could do with this are
endless. I mean hell, you could rob a
bank and no one would blink an eye.

Charlie looks up at Veronica sternly.

CHARLIE
I'm literally in police training right
now. I will not be doing anything like
that.

Everything around them goes back to normal.

Veronica looks at Charlie with puppy dog eyes.

CHARLIE
Look, I know that doing stupid shit
was fun when we were teenagers, but I
promised my parents I'd quit it with
that stuff.

VERONICA
Why do your parents even have a say in
what you do? You haven't talked to
them in months.

CHARLIE
I don't want to get caught up in crap
like they did, why do you think i'm
even at the police academy in the
first place? I'm trying not to repeat
their mistakes.

VERONICA
C'mon! Live a little before you go off
in the world....at least for me?

CHARLIE
...I don't know. I could get into
serious trouble.

Veronica puts her arm around Charlie's shoulder.

 4.

VERONICA
Not when nobody knows it's happening.
Also, you're apartment is three days
away from collapse, you need this
money more than anyone.

CHARLIE
Hey!

Charlie punches Veronica in the shoulder playfully.

DISSOLVE TO

EXT. CITY BANK - EVENING

Veronica and Charlie are outside of their local bank watching

people go in and out of the big glass building. Both of them
wearing colorful hoodies.

CHARLIE
This is so stupid-

VERONICA
(whispers)
Shh! Just follow my lead!

Veronica pretends to be having a conversation with Charlie

while the bank SECURITY GUARD greets people coming up the
stairs. Veronica ushers Charlie to go up the stairs. Charlie
reluctantly agrees and heads up the stairs while pulling down
her hood slightly.

She waves a polite hand to the guard and everything around

them freezes.

Veronica walks up to the security guard and pokes him. He

doesn't respond and she tries to slap him lightly a few
times.

VERONICA
(light chuckle)
Like I said dude, this is insanely
cool.

CHARLIE
Let's just get this over with.
 5.

INT. CITY BANK - EVENING

They both walk into the building and split up in opposite

directions. The interior is nice, everything seems polished
from the finished wood on the floor to the shiny marble on
the counters.

They eventually meet up in the center of the main hall after

scoping out the place.

VERONICA
You take the registers on the left, I
take the ones on the right, move out!

Charlie nods in agreement. She climbs over the counters and

looks for the key to unlock to registers.

CHARLIE
Aha!

Charlie finds the key hanging on the side wall. Veronica is

already shoving a bunch of money into her tote bag. Charlie
shakes her head but does the same.

EXT. CITY BANK - EVENING

Veronica and Charlie high five as they exit the building and
walk down the steps. Something white drops from Veronica's
pocket onto the ground. They both put their hoods up and run
towards the car on the other side of the building.

Charlie closes her eyes for a moment again as they hop into
the car. All the cars on the road start driving again.

CHARLIE
There's no way anyone saw us, right?

VERONICA
No, you got it, girl! We were so
discreet not even the FBI could know
we were here.

Charlie gives a slight smile of relief and closes her eyes.

The adrenaline is still pumping.

CHARLIE
I will admit that was kind of fun.

VERONICA
Soooo do you want to do more? Or are
you good? Because we could totally
 6.

just stop here...

CHARLIE
I mean...I don't see why not?

They both laugh at the ridiciulousnous of what they both just

said and Charlie speeds off.

MONTAGE - VARIOUS -

A) EXT. BANK - MORNING - Charlie freezes time again as they

rob another bank and escape successfully.

B) EXT. PARK - MORNING - Veronica and Charlie steal candy

from a baby. They high five.

C) INT. CASINO - AFTERNOON - Veronica and Charlie are

gambling. They win multiple times after Charlie starts
freezing time and cheating.

Charlie can be seen crossing her fingers behind her back as a

joke.

Veronica is still smiling and fist bumps to the air.

D) EXT. STREET - AFTERNOON - Charlie steals someones purse

and Veronica gives Charlie a slightly worried glance.

END OF MONTAGE

INT. LIQUOR STORE - AFTERNOON

Charlie and Veronica stumble into a liquor store. Both

clearly high on adrenaline while they're laughing and
breathing sighs of relief.A wave of realization comes over
Veronica as she realizes where they are.

VERONICA
No way.

CHARLIE
Um, yes way! We did a lot of work
today, let's celebrate!

VERONICA
(dramatically)
Look at you! I've created a monster.
 7.

They both laugh again.

The store has dimmed, yellow-tinted lights and half empty

aisles of liquor. Charlie starts pacing up and down the
aisles. She thinks closes her eyes as if she's in deep focus,
then furrows her eyebrows in concern.

She opens one of her eyes to peak at the store and sees an
overhead light in mid-swing.

CHARLIE
That took longer than usual.

Charlie shakes her head and grabs a bottle from the shelf in
front of her, and comes around to the aisle where Veronica is
holding up the huge bottle of liquor with a smile on her
face.

CHARLIE
Score.

EXT. LIQUOR STORE - LATE AFTERNOON

Both Veronica and Charlie slump down on the steps right

outside of the liquor store, each taking turns taking swigs
straight from the bottle. Veronica turns to Charlie.

VERONICA
So this has obviously been super fun,
but I feel like maybe this shouldn't
become routine.

CHARLIE
I can't believe you're the one saying
this. Miss maturity out here.

VERONICA
I know it's a little out of character
for me, but I do actually care about
you. I know you have your job and all
to worry about.

Charlie gives her friend a sympathetic glance. Then looks up

to the sky.

CHARLIE
(sighs)
I know, you're right. It's just...the
police force hasn't been as fulfilling
as I hoped and I feel like im right
back at square one.
 8.

VERONICA
Char, that's okay! We're 20-years-old!
Everyone feels that way right now I
promise you. Screw everyone else, just
do you.

There's a moment of silence between them.

CHARLIE
This...was a bad idea. I didn't ask to
have this ability in the first place
and now look what I'm using it for.
I'm turning out just like my parents.

VERONICA
Stop! What you can do, is so dope. I
dreamed of being able to do something
as cool as stopping time when I was a
kid. You just need to start using it
for the right reasons. Let's go home.

Charlie nods. They both put their arms around each other, and
head to Charlie's car in the parking lot.

EXT. VERONICAS HOUSE - NIGHT

Charlie pulls into the driveway and is greeted with the sight
of a POLICE OFFICER standing in front of Veronica's door. Her
body freezes up.

CHARLIE
(panicked)
What the hell are the police doing
here?!

The officer starts to walk up to her car and Veronica

whispers in Charlie's ear.

VERONICA
Oh crap! Hey, why aren't you using
your power? We gotta go!

Charlie is aggressively opening and shutting her eyes.

CHARLIE
I-i can't! I think we used it too much
today, I don't know whats happening!

The police officer walks up to the window as Charlie rolls it

down.
 9.

POLICE OFFICER
Excuse me miss? Is this your driver's
license? We found it outside of the
city bank shortly after two grand was
stolen. I'm gonna need to bring you in
for questioning.

Veronica and Charlie both cringe at the mistake.

POLICE OFFICER
Charlie, is that you? What are you
doing with a criminal?!

CHARLIE
Officer, I can explain, this was all
my-

VERONICA
-my fault. I told her to bring me home
first so I could grab my things and
then turn me in, I got greedy, im
sorry.

CHARLIE
What the hell are you-

OFFICER
You can just come with me then ma'am.

Veronica steps out of the car with her hands in front of her
ready to be cuffed. The officer looks away for a second to
talk into his radio.

VERONICA
(whispers)
Charlie, you have a great gift, and a
good job. I can't let you blow this
over something that was my idea.

CHARLIE
Roni, no!

VERONICA
I'll be fine. Just promise to visit
me?

Tears well up in Charlie's eyes as she watches her friend get

into the back of the cop car.
 10.

INT. OUTSIDE OF POLICE - MORNING

TEXT ON SCREEN: "2 WEEKS LATER"

Charlie's in uniform sitting on the steps of the doors to the

police station holding an empty coffee cup in her hands and
holding her head down. A co-worker walks up to her.

CO-WORKER
It's good to have you back Charlie.
Sorry to hear about your friend.

CHARLIE
Oh it's fine, better that she's behind
bars than in the streets, right?

Charlie laughs nervously but has a look of guilt in her eyes

as she says it. Her co-woker shoots her a sypathetic glance.

CO-WORKER
Have you talked to her since?

CHARLIE
Yeah, I visit everyday. It seems like
she gonna get out on good behavior in
a few months.

The office nods and walks away.

Charlie gets up to throw out her coffee cup when out of the
corner of her eye, she sees a figure in a hoodie sneaking up
the stairs of the city bank with a gun.

Charlie furrows her brows in determination and starts

shouting. She speaks into her walkie talkie for backup.

CHARLIE
Hey...hey! Stop right there!

She runs across the street and starts bolting after the
figure on the stairs as she struggles to get the handcuffs
she had off of her belt loop.

The figure reaches for his gun but fumbles it and the
security guard grabs him from behind. Charlie draws her gun.

CHARLIE
Freeze, dirt-bag!

FADE TO BLACK