(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In)

A TRAINWRECK

Written by

Nicole Bangkili

Copyright (c) 2023

no drafts here we die like men

0696969420
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In)

INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY

We enter an overly-saturated, overly-exaggerated depiction
of high school.

STACY (stereotypical mean girl) stands in the hallway. She's

just cornered JENNY, her favorite victim.

STACY
Nice shoes, loser.

JENNY
Excuse me?

STACY
I said, nice shoes. Did you fish them
out of the dumpster or something?

JENNY
Um, no, I...I got them at the mall.

STACY
The mall?
(scoffing)
You're probably too poor to afford
anything that's not from the
clearance aisle.

Jenny looks down, clearly hurt.

JENNY
But- I thought they were cute...

STACY
(laughing)
You know what's cute? The fact that
you try sooo hard to fit in. Have fun
catching up with the rest of us.

Stacy begins to walk away, before--

JENNY
(interrupting her)
You're- you're wrong.

STACY
(looking back)
What? I'm wrong?

JENNY
(firmly)
Look, it doesn't matter where my
shoes are from, or how rich I am.
(MORE)
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In) 2.

JENNY (cont'd)
Bullying isn't cool, Stacy. It's time
we all stopped pretending it is.

Jenny walks away, leaving Stacy in shock.

CUT TO:

INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY (LATER)

ADRIAN (quiet, studious "nerd") walks while reading a book.
He's minding his own business until he bumps into TRENT,
(jock, total douche-bag) and drops his book.

TRENT
Watch where you're going, nerd!

ADRIAN
(stuttering)
I am so sorry--

TRENT
Shut up.
(picking up dropped
book)
What is this, Fight Club? Pfft, do
people even read books anymore? The
movie was better anyways!

ADRIAN
Hey, could you give that back..?

TRENT
(mocking)
Or what? You're gonna cry? Tell your
mommy?
Trent starts walking backwards, waving the book in the air.

ADRIAN
C'mon, Trent, you don't have to do
this....

TRENT
(laughing)
Get it yourself if you're so tough
then!

Adrian hesitates, before weakly lunging at Trent. He somehow

manages to grab the book, but not before Trent pushes him
down.
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In) 3.

TRENT (cont'd)
What a wimp! My two-year-old brother
fights better than you do!

Adrian gives the scene a once-over: Trent is standing with

his feet apart and fists balled up, looking ready to beat
him to a pulp. They are clearly attracting attention, as
students begin to surround them, some even pulling out their
phones to record.

STUDENTS
Fight! Fight! Fight!

TRENT
Well? Do something, you wuss!

ADRIAN
(gaining confidence)
I...
(firmly)
No.

The students surrounding them go silent, shocked from his

rebuttal. They watch the scene, interested.

TRENT
What did you just say?

ADRIAN
I'm not fighting you. I've had enough
of this. I won't let you bully me
anymore.
(standing up)
Picking on other people doesn't make
you cool, Trent. Standing up for
yourself does. It's something you
should've learned a long time ago.

An enthusiastic chorus of "Woo! Go Adrian!" "Worldstar!!!"

can be heard from the students watching them. They cheer him
on and hi-five him as he walks away, leaving an incredulous
TRENT behind.

CUT TO:

Our NARRATOR in frame, directly addressing the camera,

students cheering behind her. We lose the saturated,
dramatic quality of the previous shots and the cheering
starts looking a lot more ridiculous.

NARRATOR
If only bullying worked like that.
Life would be so much easier...
(MORE)
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In) 4.

NARRATOR (cont'd)
(after a pause)
Unfortunately, people don't always
follow the logic of a Lifetime
original/Disney Channel movie...

Narrator looks behind her.

ETHAN/ADRIAN (O.S.)
And scene!

ETHAN, who is the director/Adrian's actor, walks into the

shot behind Narrator. He begins to SHOO the other students
away, and we see them leave, bored, their fake enthusiasm
nowhere to be seen.

ETHAN
We're done here, you guys can go now,
thank you...

TARA, the scene's camerawoman, follows him, holding a phone.

She is an offbeat, withdrawn girl, in contrast with the
overconfident Ethan.

ETHAN (cont'd)
(grabbing the phone)
Lemme see...oh, that's a good shot.

TARA
Ethan, about the project, I was
thinking--

ETHAN
(dismissive)
Just...shoot me a message after class
or something. Go take a break, I know
we're all tired from filming and
stuff.

TARA
Oh. Okay. Gotcha.

NARRATOR (V.O.)
Sometimes it's less obvious. Or
people just don't care.

Tara walks away. We follow Ethan, who joins his friends--

MAXINE (who plays Jenny), MATTEO (who plays Trent), ANDREA
(who plays Stacy), NATE, and CASSIE (who are both extras).
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In) 5.

INT. CLASSROOM
MAXINE
(on her phone)
I better get a good grade for that.
With the amount of retakes you made
us do...

ETHAN
Pfft, don't worry. None of your
grades are in jeopardy.

MAXINE
(snorting)
Yeah, right.

They fade into conversation.

CUT TO:

Tara, sitting alone in a corner of their classroom,

absentmindedly scrolling on her phone.

NARRATOR (V.O.)
This is Tara.

She comes across an Instagram reel posted by Maxine, and a

barely on-tune rendition of "Happy Birthday Drea!" sung by
the entire class rings from her phone.

She swipes back to some messaging app. Maxine's chats. Below

an invite to Andrea's party-- we see the last text Maxine
sent:

MAXINE (V.O.)
hey. i think it's better if u don't go. it'll be a small
party and drea just sent an invite to be nice lol. see u in
class though :)

Narrator appears in frame, right beside Tara, who is

seemingly unaware of her presence.

NARRATOR
She's used to it by now, of course,
but isolation never gets any better.
You know how it starts. Someone
thinks you're too weird, too quiet,
too different. And the rest just
falls into place.

NARRATOR (cont'd)
But...the funny thing about bullying
is that anyone can be a victim.
(MORE)
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In) 6.

NARRATOR (cont'd)
Even if you're at the top of the
social ladder...

]CUT TO:

The group resumes their conversation. They eventually get to

talking about Andrea's birthday, which happened just last
Saturday.

ANDREA
I didn't forget to invite Tara to my
birthday, did I?

MAXINE
Nah, she probably just didn't wanna
go.
(muttering)
You know what she's like.

ANDREA
Hey, I'm sure she probably just had
something come up that day.

MAXINE
Well, yeah..but don't you think it's
weird? She just...sits by herself
like, all the time. And she never
speaks. I'm pretty sure we haven't
exchanged more than two words ever
since she transferred here.

CASSIE
We think she has a disorder or
something. Like, anxiety, y'know? But
I mean, look at me. I have it too,
and I don't go around acting like...
that.

ANDREA
Alright, since when have you guys
known Tara that well? You don't even
bother talking to her.

MAXINE
We do try! It's just that, well, she
doesn't exactly make it easy.

NATE
(scoffing)
Yeah, it's like talking to a wall or
something.

Laughs and murmurs of agreement from the group, except a

certain someone--
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In) 7.

ANDREA
(indignant)
Okay--

MAXINE
Plus, she dresses so weird all the
time, like she can't decide whether
she wants attention or not.

ANDREA
Hey--

ETHAN
(laughing)
Yeah--

Then, FREEZE FRAME on Ethan.

NARRATOR (V.O.)
This is Ethan.

Another montage. A shot of him putting up ANTI-BULLYING

posters on the wall. Of him giving out a speech in front of
the class--

ETHAN
It's just sad how bullying is still
so rampant in our generation.
Especially considering the fact that
statistically, females are targeted
more often.

Of him helping out Tara, whose books are splayed across the
floor.

NARRATOR (V.O.)
What a nice guy.
(pause)
But I'm sure you know better by now.

We cut back to him talking.

ETHAN
Okay, so, right after we finished
shooting, she was hanging around me
acting all clingy and stuff. It was
honestly kinda creepy.

NATE
Dude, you don't think she likes you,
does she?
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In) 8.

ETHAN
(fake gagging)
Eugh. She probably just agreed to
the group project so she could have
an excuse to stare at me or
something.

This earns another round of laughter, until Andrea cuts them

off--

ANDREA
Alright, I get it. You guys don't
like her. But you don't have to be
such a jerk about it.

ETHAN
Drea, I'm just being honest here. Her
behavior makes all of us
uncomfortable and I feel like it's
something we need to discuss.

Andrea, shaking her head, walks off in a huff.

Matteo starts going after her. Maxine grabs his hand,

shaking her head. Ethan steps up.

ETHAN (cont'd)
I'll go talk to her.
(sighing)
Hey-- Drea-- I'm sorry-- we didn't
mean any of that!

INT. CLASSROOM
The next day. Andrea walks in, and almost makes a beeline
for her usual table, before walking over to Tara's table.

We FREEZE FRAME.

NARRATOR (V.O.)
This is Andrea.

A third montage. [WIP]

We cut back to her sitting.

TARA
(confused)
Do you, um, need anything?

ANDREA
(shrugging)
Just changing seats.
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In) 9.

A moment of eye contact with Maxine. There is clearly some

friction between them. Tara notices this, but does not press
further. She just quietly flips through a book, and the two
girls sit there in silence.

Eventually, Andrea breaks the ice.

ANDREA (cont'd)
What book are you reading?

TARA
Oh, this? Fight Club. The one Ethan
borrowed for the, uh--

ANDREA
That one scene, yeah.
(chuckling)
God, I just wanna get that thing over
with.

TARA
(curious, as a
follow-up)
Hey, um, what happened between you
guys, by the way..?

ANDREA
Hm?

TARA
I mean it's just that you..you guys
seemed really close before, and now
it's like, you're here sitting with
me.

ANDREA
Um, well.

NARRATOR (V.O.)
Here's what happened.

Flashback to yesterday: Andrea walking away in a huff. Ethan

trailing after her, we catch a glimpse of the subsequent
argument. Of him placing an arm on her shoulder, and Andrea
shoving it away. Cut back to present--

ANDREA
It's nothing.
(grateful for her
ticket out)
Oh, class is starting. Sorry.

Tara leaves it be for the moment, because their teacher has

just walked in.
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In) 10.

CUT TO:

Lunch break. Tara and Andrea are exchanging friendly

conversation. Maxine, from a distance, glances at them
occasionally. Matteo catches this.

MATTEO
Just go talk to her already.

MAXINE
Drea wanted this. Plus, I wouldn't
wanna hang out with her either. Too
much drama.

MATTEO
Max--

MAXINE
Cut it.

She gives Matteo a look that shuts him up immediately.

FREEZE FRAME.

NARRATOR (V.O.)
This is Maxine. And her boyfriend
Matteo. To the rest of their school,
they're the kind of couple that looks
like they've never hit a rough patch
in their life.

We enter a quick montage. It starts with Maxine yelling at

and belittling Matteo, finger pointed at him.

NARRATOR (V.O.) (cont'd)

...at least on the surface level.
Shots of Maxine slapping him. Dumping the contents of his
bag on the floor. Pushing him. Then of her talking with him,
clearly frustrated.

NARRATOR (V.O.) (cont'd)

But, you know what people say--

MAXINE
(to Matteo)
...it was just a joke.

Cut back to present.

MATTEO
I'm just saying--
(Printed with the demonstration version of Fade In) 11.

MAXINE
I said cut it. God, do your ears even
work?