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FREDDIE hears ALISON walking back inside her bedroom. Silence.

Cut to
INT. – FREDDIE’S BEDROOM – MORNING

FREDDIE is laying on his bed, asleep. He slowly opens his eyes. He gets to his feet and stands in front of the mirror. He sees a few minor scratches on the side of his face. He touches them.

Cut to
INT. – RICKY AND ALISON’S HALLWAY – MORNING

FREDDIE walks down the stairs. He has his rucksack on his back, which he places on the floor. He hears the television playing from inside the kitchen.

Cut to
INT. – RICKY AND ALISON’S KITCHEN – MORNING

RICKY and ALISON are sitting at the kitchen table, eating their breakfast. The television is playing quietly in the background. FREDDIE slowly walks inside the room.

ALISON
Morning, love. Sleep well?

FREDDIE nods.

RICKY
Made quite a lot of noise last night. Was everything all right?

FREDDIE
Yeah. I just couldn’t sleep.

FREDDIE sits at the table. He watches the television.

RICKY
I could’ve sworn I heard a car stop at the house. Around midnight. (faces FREDDIE) Know anything about that?

FREDDIE
No. I don’t.

RICKY spots the scratches on the side of FREDDIE’S face.

RICKY

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Cor, what have you been getting up to?

ALISON also notices the scratches. She gets to her feet and walks to FREDDIE. She examines the scratches.

ALISON
What happened?

FREDDIE
It’s nothing.

ALISON looks across to RICKY, who shrugs. FREDDIE picks up the television remote and changes the channel. The news is playing. FREDDIE switches the volume up as the NEWS REPORTER speaks into the camera.

NEWS REPORTER
This news has just come in. A body was discovered in the small village of Willingford last night.

RICKY
That’s where we live.

ALISON
Shush.

NEWS REPORTER
Police identified the victim as nineteen year-old Calvin Philips. He was found brutally beaten in what appears to be the worst attack the village has ever experienced. Police are asking for witnesses to come forward as to what happened.

FREDDIE quickly gets to his feet and he runs out of the room. ALISON picks up the television remote and switches the television off. She places them back on the table.

ALISON (whispering)
Do you think Freddie had something to do with it?

RICKY
You can’t suggest something like that.

ALISON
Ever since we’ve moved here, Freddie’s been acting out of character. The scratches on his face. Maybe Freddie got caught in a fight with him.

RICKY

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Alison, do you know how ridiculous that sounds? You need to stop making wild accusations.

Cut to
INT. – RICKY AND ALISON’S BATHROOM – MORNING

FREDDIE bursts inside the room. He runs to the toilet and vomits inside it. He flushes the chain, then turns the tap on and washes his hands.

Cut to
EXT. – FRONT OF COLLEGE - MORNING

FREDDIE walks towards the entrance of the building with his hands inside his trouser pockets. He is listening to music on his iPod. JJ, BENNY, APRIL and ZACK are standing by the front gates. They watch FREDDIE as he walks inside the building.

JJ
(faces ZACK) Did you bring it?

ZACK nods.

Cut to
EXT. – QUAD – MORNING

FREDDIE and BECKY are sitting at a bench, talking quietly. BECKY’S handbag is on the table.

BECKY
I can’t get my head around what happened to Calvin. We only spoke on Saturday. (pauses) Are you okay?

FREDDIE
I’m fine. Just haven’t slept much.

BECKY
If you wanna talk…

BECKY holds out her hand. FREDDIE holds it.

BECKY (continued)
I’ll listen.

FREDDIE smiles.

Cut to
INT. – OUTSIDE MR SMITH’S CLASSROOM – MORNING

Page 42
BENNY is standing with his back against the wall, patiently waiting. MR SMITH walks down the corridor, towards the classroom. He has a bottle of water in his hands.

MR SMITH
You’re here early.

MR SMITH unlocks the classroom door. He walks inside the room. BENNY follows him inside the room.

Cut to
INT. – MR SMITH’S CLASSROOM – MORNING

MR SMITH sits at his desk. He faces BENNY, who stands in front of him.

MR SMITH
So what can I do for you?

BENNY
It’s not me. It’s Freddie. He’s really struggling on his coursework at the moment.

MR SMITH
If he’s got a problem, why can’t he talk to me about it?

BENNY
He was embarrassed. He was getting so uptight about not getting his work done on time for today’s lesson.

MR SMITH
What part’s he struggling on?

BENNY
I dunno. From the looks of things, pretty much all of it. Can you go talk to him?

MR SMITH
I’ll see what I can do.

BENNY
Thanks. This’ll mean a lot to him.

BENNY turns and walks out of the room. MR SMITH sighs.

Cut to
INT. – OUTSIDE THE COLLEGE LIBRARY – AFTERNOON


Page 43
FREDDIE and BECKY are holding hands as they walk down the corridor. They stop outside the library.

FREDDIE
I’ll see you at the end of the day.

BECKY
See you.

They both kiss. BECKY walks inside the library. FREDDIE walks down the corridor. He sees ZACK standing at the end of the corridor. Terrified, FREDDIE turns and runs down the corridor. He accidentally runs into MR SMITH, who is carrying a folder. He drops the folder on the floor.

FREDDIE (apologetically)
I’m so sorry.

MR SMITH
Not to worry. Accidents happen.

FREDDIE crouches down and picks up the folder. He turns and sees that ZACK is nowhere to be seen. FREDDIE hands the folder back to MR SMITH.

MR SMITH (continued)
You seem to be a little jumpy today. Nothing bothering you, is there?

FREDDIE
No, just feeling a little rough.

MR SMITH
I trust it won’t affect your performance tonight. I’m counting on you.

FREDDIE
(laughs) I have to get going now.

FREDDIE walks past MR SMITH, who watches him.

MR SMITH
Oh, Freddie. That reminds me.

FREDDIE turns back to face him.

MR SMITH (continued)
Benny spoke to me this morning. He said you were having trouble with your coursework.

Page 44
FREDDIE
No. Everything’s fine.

MR SMITH
I wonder what came over him. (pauses) Oh well. I’ll let you carry on.

MR SMITH watches FREDDIE as he walks away.

MR SMITH (murmuring)
Strange.

Cut to
INT. – COLLEGE CORRIDOR – AFTERNOON

JJ, BENNY and APRIL are standing in the corridor, quietly talking to each other. ZACK comes into the corridor. He walks over to them.

JJ
How’d it go?

ZACK
I can’t do it here. Too many people.

APRIL
It needs to get done.

JJ
(faces BENNY) You do it.

BENNY
Why me?

JJ
Because Freddie trusts you.

BENNY
I can’t.

JJ grabs hold of BENNY and pushes him against the wall.

JJ
Do you wanna go to prison?

BENNY shakes his head.

JJ (continued)
If we don’t take care of him now, we’ll be spending the

Page 45
rest of our fucking lives there. (lets go of BENNY) Give us a call when it’s done.

Cut to
EXT. – FRONT OF COLLEGE – AFTERNOON

FREDDIE walks out of the building, with his hands inside his trouser pockets. He walks towards the entrance of the college grounds, but stops when he sees JJ, APRIL and ZACK standing there, staring at him. BENNY comes up behind FREDDIE.

FREDDIE
They’re always following me.

BENNY
Come on. I know a place we can go.

BENNY leads FREDDIE through a passage.

Cut to
EXT. – WOODS – AFTERNOON

FREDDIE and BENNY are walking slowly across the woods. FREDDIE is walking slightly ahead of BENNY.

FREDDIE
How much further do we have to go?

BENNY
Just a little more.

BENNY stops walking. FREDDIE takes a few further steps. He realizes that BENNY has stopped walking. He turns to face him.

FREDDIE
Benny.

BENNY
They told me to take care of you.

FREDDIE
Will you?

BENNY
Do I really look like the type of person who’d take a life? (pauses) I’ve been looking out for you all day. Making sure they couldn’t get to you.

Page 46
FREDDIE
I never asked for this.

BENNY
And you think I did? I don’t enjoy hurting people.

FREDDIE
Then why do you do it?

BENNY
I don’t have a choice. I used to get bullied a lot. But then I met JJ. He promised me that he could put an end to it, so I let him help. I didn’t realize what that meant at the time. I was only fourteen. (pauses) The bully’s name was Jack Parker. They brought him to the exact place you’re standing now.

FREDDIE
What happened to him?

BENNY
JJ gave me a knife. He wanted me to cut out Jack’s tongue so he couldn’t speak again. He said that I refused, the bullying would continue. I looked Jack in the eye and for the first time ever, I was in control. He was the one afraid. Not me.

FREDDIE
You didn’t.

BENNY
I put the knife in his mouth and cut from one side of the tongue to the other. I knew it was wrong, but at the same time, it felt good. I thought it would stop after that, but it still went on. Look at me now. There’s nothing left of me.

FREDDIE
You could’ve refused. You never had to let it get this far.

BENNY
If I’d refused, I’d be in the same position as you are now. Running.

FREDDIE
There’s always a way out. No matter how hard things get.

BENNY

Page 47
You don’t get it, do you? Even if I don’t kill you, they’re still gonna come after you. They’re not gonna stop until you’re dead.

FREDDIE (reluctantly)
So what happens now?

BENNY
I don’t have a choice, do I? If I let you go, they’d come after me.

FREDDIE
So that’s it? You’re just gonna kill me and hope that everything’s gonna get better again? What about my parents? How do you think they will feel?

BENNY picks up a log from off the floor.

BENNY
I’m sorry, Freddie.

FREDDIE
You would be, wouldn’t you? You’re all caught up in your jumped up little world to realize that you’re not the best. You’re the worst especially after what you’ve done. Fucking scum.

BENNY cries. He wipes the tears away from his eyes. FREDDIE also gently cries.

FREDDIE (furiously)
Oh so now you’re crying, I’m supposed to feel sorry for you? You’re gonna fucking kill me! It’s not fair! (exhales) I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.

BENNY
Freddie.

FREDDIE (tearfully)
You don’t have to do this. I’ll go. I promise you’ll never see me again. I’ll keep my mouth shut.

BENNY
How do I know I can trust you?

FREDDIE
Have I let you down so far?

BENNY shakes his head.