INT. COSTA COFFEE – AFTERNOON. BLACKBURN, ENGLAND.
Grace: A 17 year old college student who is a victim
of bullying. She has long, wavy hazelnut brown hair and pale skin. She is of an
average build and wears thick rimmed black glasses. She is sat across from her
best friend James who is also 17 and attends the same college.
GRACE:
She’s awesome.
(She places her phone on the table and reluctantly
smiles at James.)
JAMES:
You talking to her again?
(A frustrated expression stretches along his face)
You have absolutely no idea
who she is, that’s if she even
is a she.
GRACE:
Why do you
get so angry about
this?
She’s the only person who understands
me. Listens to me.
JAMES:
(He sighs, sarcastically.)
So
I don’t listen to you do I? Its dangerous speaking to
someone
online, anything could happen. Even you must see
that.
(Grace stands up, swinging her rucksack over her
shoulders and snatches her phone off the table.)
GRACE:
I’m sick of you getting involved!
(She lowers her voice)
You don’t
know me like she does,
you don’t know what it’s like for
me to come here – everyday. It’s a
living hell and I’m sick of it.
(James glances at the floor, taking into
consideration how bad the bullying is)
CONT’D GRACE
Its alright for you. You’ve never
had to put up with the things I have.
JAMES:
I know you’re having a hard time.
(He pauses)
...But I
don’t like the sound of this
person.
MissAnonymous13? That sounds
freaky enough already? You could be
speaking to anyone. Could be Leonie for all we know.
(Grace moves towards the table and slowly sits down
beside James. She stares at him for a couple of seconds, gathering her
thoughts.)
GRACE:
You’re jealous, aren’t you? C’mon admit it.
JAMES:
Jealous?!
(He becomes quickly frustrated and defensive
and his tone loudness.)
Jealous of you speaking to some creep online?
(He mocks her)
If I’m really being honest it’s
not
like you’ve got many friends to choose
from anyway, you said it yourself! I’m doing you a favour!
GRACE:
Excuse me?
(She stands up quickly, feeling hurt and attacked.)
JAMES:
Being friends with you is a nightmare.
All you ever do is lock yourself away
its no wonder you’re so disliked. I’m forced to listen to all your pathetic problems and you never listen to
mine. I’m sick of defending you
all the...
(Grace interrupts but James continues)
CONT’D JAMES:
You may as well leave now. Run back to
your stupid Youtube Videos and your
weirdo friend!
GRACE:
I can’t believe you.
(Grace storms off; a pained expression stretches
across her face as her cheeks become blushed and hot. She exits the coffee shop
and heads towards the bus stop leaving James sat alone. She reaches home and
rushes to her room. She logs onto a laptop and receives a message from
MissAnonymous13.)
(The scene switches to James walking home, he has
shrugged shoulders and a phone tightly grasped in his hands. His earphones are
dangling as his listens to music to blur out reality. The camera is using a
close up shot to display this characters emotion. A couple of streets from home
James passes a young girl who smiles: he quickly glances down and blinks
quickly feeling uncomfortable and insecure.)
INT. GRACES BEDROOM. BLACKBURN, ENGLAND.
(Grace and MissAnonymous chat online. Grace is using
the username PrettyYoung97)
MISSANONYMOUS13:
Hey girl. What’s up?
PRETTYYOUNG97:
Hey! God am I glad to be speaking
to you. I’ve had the day from hell and my so called ‘bestfriend’ has been vile.
MISSANONYMOUS13:
Who? That looser James? I’ve told you
he isn’t the friend you think he is.
You should just block him.
PRETTYYOUNG97:
(Grace is oblivious to MissAnonymous13’s scheming
and agrees.)
Yeah! He’s jealous because I’ve found
someone who I can relate to other than him! He was sooo cruel to me and some of the stuff he said – well, I’ve never seen him like that.
MISSANONMOUS13:
Urgh. He makes me sick. How can he make
you feel like that? He enjoys making
you feel like you can’t have other friends, he wants to control you and that’s
not
right.
I’ll never do that to you.
Anyway, enough of him! How are you
really?
PRETTYYOUNG97:
Not too good at the moment.
Leonie is still making my life
hell and I don’t know how long I
can
cope with it. My family doesn’t
wanna know, my teachers don’t
wanna
know and now James doesn’t
wanna know.
MISSANONYMOUS13:
Well I want
to know you. Hey, I’ve
just had the best idea hahaha.
(Grace relaxes in her chair, her eyes soaked into
the comfort of the computer screen. She feels happy and comfortable.)
CONT’D MISSANONYMOUS13:
You have to take control and stop
people from walking over you. You like
YouTube right?
PRETTYYOUNG97:
Yeah, guess so.
MISSANONYMOUS13:
Well, do you
remember last week? We
spoke for
hours about our dreams -
you said
yours was to be a number one
internet sensation, yeah? PRANK VS.
PRANK. Have you any idea how many subscribers they have? You could do it! You could become famous then you’d be the one laughing at Leonie.
(Grace freezes as she puzzles to understand how
MissAnonymous13 knows this information. She has not told her internet friend
about her dream of a career on the internet but nevertheless continues as
normal as this may have been easy to guess.)
PRETTYYOUNG97:
I could do pranks? No way. I wouldn’t know where to start and I’m not funny, not to mention creative. What
would I do anyway? Put some gum on
her seat? Lame.
MISSANONYMOUS13:
No looser. That’s armature. I mean
something insane. Something wicked.
Be smart. Do something they won’t
expect. Something no one will expect.
PRETTYOUNG97:
OK, well go on.
MISSANONYMOUS13:
How about if you was to find out
where they lived? Not hard.
PRETTYYOUNG97:
And if I did, then what?
MISSANONYMOUS13:
You need to go when it’s dark. Really
dark. Take photographs of her house
and when she’s walking home. Tell her
you’re coming for her.
PRETTYYOUNG97:
Are you crazy?! She’d kill me. She’d
come
into college the next day and
everything would be made worse. I
can’t do that to her: she frightens me.
MISSANONYMOUS13:
No, silly. How is she supposed to
know it’s you? You create a fake
profile and message her on that. Look
at you now, you’re talking to me and
either of us can be whoever we want.
When we talk we have a blank slate:
you don’t know who I am and I don’t
know who you are. That’s the beauty
of it.
(Grace smiles and agrees with MissAnonymous13 but
also considers the dangers and risks of messing with Leonie.)
PRETTYYOUNG97:
Hmm, I’m not
sure. You have a
good point. I
guess, well... I guess
I’m just a little scared.
MISSANONYMOUS13:
C’mon, its a
great idea. You have too.
If you don’t take control now
it will be too late and get worse,
you don’t want that do you? You don’t want them to hurt other people the same way they hurt you, do you? What about your little sister? For all we know she could be next. You have to do something girl.
EXT. MORNING - ST PAULS COLLEGE. BLACKBURN, ENGLAND.
It is early morning and the clouds that loom above
are grey and eerie. Grace heads towards the college doors to receive a smirk
off Leonie who is stood with a group of friends discussing their weekend plans.
Leonie has shoulder length, glossy blonde hair and
tanned skin. She has a slim build and is wearing a navy skater skirt with flat
black shoes. Her face is thin and heavily coated with makeup.
LEONIE:
What you lookin’ at?
(Laughter erupts from the surrounding girls and
Grace looks at the ground and attempts to scurry away.)
FRIEND 1:
Hey, she’s talkin’ to you. Where do
you think you’re going?
(Friend 1 grabs Grace by the arm and pushes her so
that she is trapped between the wall and the group of bullies.)
GRACE:
Ouch! Please get off, I wasn’t
lookin’ at nothin’. Let me go I’m
gonna be late.
(Grace shrugs herself free from the grip of Leonie
and attempts to move past. Her heart is pounding and her eyes begin to fill
with tears.)
FRIEND 2:
Oh shut up you silly girl! Were only messin’ with ya’. What you crying for?
JAMES:
Hey! What you doing? Get off her now.
(James approaches the group of girls and allows
Grace to scurry off. Grace gives him a look of appreciation.)
GRACE:
(Mouthing)
Thankyou.
(James turns away and a look of disgust is painted
across his face. He exits.)
INT. GRACES HOUSE - KITCHEN – LATE AFTERNOON.
BLACKBURN, ENGLAND.
Grace’s mother, Janet, and father, Kevin, are stood
in the kitchen while Janet is preparing dinner. Kevin approaches Janet and puts
his arm around her shoulder.
KEVIN:
I’m
worried about Grace y’know.
This
is the third time her tutor
has
rang me in the past month.
She
keeps turning up late and when
she
is there she can’t focus…
JANET:
I know darling, but there all the
same.
Girls that age are feelin’ all
over the
place. She just needs some
time to herself.
KEVIN:
That’s just it though – she
is never
out of
her room. She comes home from
college and goes straight up there,
sometimes she doesn’t even say Hi.
(Janet faces Kevin and directs him a comforting
smile to reassure him.)
JANET:
It’s not as bad as that.
KEVIN:
(He sighs)
Her grades have dropped so much
since she started college, you can’t tell me there’s nothing
wrong with that. Maybe she’s
got a boyfriend or somethin’.
(Grace opens the front door and enters the house but
her parents are oblivious to her entry. She can hear them discussing about her
and decides to edge towards the door and listen.)
CONT’D KEVIN:
Look im sick of it. We have two
other children and she just seems to be the odd one out. She’s needlessly moody, failing at
college and she seems to enjoy
making our life difficult
by hiding away and playin’ on that stupid laptop. I’m gonna take it off her until her grades improve.
JANET:
Don’t you think you’re being a
little hasty…Confiscating her laptop
isn’t gonna solve anyt-…
(He interrupts)
KEVIN:
No, she’s a failure and I can’t just
stand back and do nothing. What about
Matthew? He’s so intelligent, I can’t
believe that they are related.
(Grace storms into the kitchen, feeling furious and
betrayed her cheeks are blemished. Kevin and Janet turn around surprised and
speculate whether Grace has heard their conversation.)
JANET:
Hey, darling. I didn’t hear you…
GRACE:
Is that what you really think? Wow thanks dad. If that’s how you feel then I’m leaving right now, I…
KEVIN:
Don’t be stupid, I didn’t mean…I was
just saying that erm…
GRACE:
I know exactly what you was saying,
I just can’t believe…
(Her eyes begin fill with tears as she turns away
and hurries upstairs. She reaches her bedroom and pulls a drawer of clothes out
and takes a handful then throws them onto her bed. She sobs and glances at her
phone screen. She takes out her laptop from under her bed and messages
MissAnonymous13.)
GRACES BEDROOM – LATE AFTERNOON. BLACKBURN, ENGLAND.
(Typing)
PRETTYYOUNG97:
Hey! You won’t believe what just happened. I came home to hear my parents slagging me off, calling me a failure! My dad said he’s
going to take my laptop off me.
MISSANONYMOUS13:
God that’s awful. Your own parents?
Anyway, did you set up that fake
account like I told you? I’m
so excited,
this is gonna’ be such a great plan.
(Grace sulks into her chair feeling ignored.)
PRETTYYOUNG97:
Well, no. Not exactly. Leonie shoved
me up against a wall today, she said I
was starin’ at her when I wasn’t. But, you know what? James came over, he told them to get off me! He’s never done that before, stuck up for me like that! I really hope me and him sort things out soon.
MISSANONYMOUS13:
You can’t keep putting it off, OK?
Do it
tonight, do it now? Set up the
account. I’ve already told you, James
is
a pathetic loser, he’s jealous and controlling and you can’t see that
because
of how blind you are! Get a grip girl
and get rid while you still can.
(Grace feels hurt that her online friend is being
spiteful towards her friend James. She feels uncomfortable defending him as she
knows that MissAnonymous13 is her only friend and someone that she cannot
afford to lose.)
PRETTYYOUNG97:
Ok, I’ll do it now. Speak to
you later.
(Grace closes the chat and creates a new account.
She uses the username ‘RightBehindYou_.’ Feeling agitated, hurt and wanting
revenge she searches Leonie and messages her.)
(Typing)
RIGHTBEHINDYOU_:
I know who you are and I
know
what you
did.
(Seconds after sending the message Grace slams her
laptop shut to hear her mother edging up the stairs and knocking on her door
before opening it at a small angle. Grace, aware that her mother is there,
ignores her appearance and stares at the end of her bed.)
JANET:
How you feeling darling? About before, Dad didn’t mean what he
said. He just cares a lot and
he doesn’t
want you falling behind…
That’s all.
(Grace shrugs – her eyes still focused on the
direction at the end of the bed.)
CONT’D JANET:
I can’t help if you don’t talk
to me, dear.
(Janet walks slowly towards Grace and perches on the
end of the bed. She directs Grace a soothing look and exhales deeply.)
GRACE:
It’s not like you’ve ever
helped
me
before! I’m sick of being treated like second best. Just get
out of my room mum.
(Janet looks surprised but more hurt that her
daughter has spoken to her in this way. She attempts again to comfort Grace by
placing her hand on her shoulder.)
CONT’D GRACE:
I told you! Get
off and get out
my
room! I don’t wanna’ ever talk to you or dad again. I have all the people I need and you’re not one of them.
