Election Page #11

CLOSE ON A DRAIN

as a hand extracts a huge WAD OF HAIR -- stringy, mucousy. fetid.

JIM holds it up for Sherry, who stands behind him in her bathrobe.

JIM:

There's your culprit

He examines it from different angles. Both scrunch their faces

JIM (CONT'D)

Shall we give it a name?

SHERRY:

(not missing a

beat)

Dave.

CLOSE ON AN OPEN TOILET - Plop! The hairwad joins several smaller

stringy friends.

NOW AT THE SINK:

JIM washes his hands. Sherry glances between JIM and the water

running in the shower. It's getting steamy.

SHERRY:

Did you know Dave's a bed wetter?

JIM:

No, I... uh, didn't know that

SHERRY:

All his life. He's tried everything.

JIM:

(about the shower)

Still clear?

SHERRY:

Yep.

JIM:

We'll let it run awhile

JIM turns off the faucet and reaches for a towel. Sherry offers him

another.

SHERRY:

This one's clean.

JIM takes it and dries his hands. Sherry now stands very close to

him. JIM

sets the towel on the sink. It's a little awkward as they look into

each other's eyes, standing so near.

SHERRY (CONT'D)

I guess you'd better get to work huh?

You're going to be late.

She slowly wraps her arms around Jim's neck and pulls him to her, a

hug of gratitude and warmth -- nothing sexual here, just the embrace

of two people in need of shelter from the storm of life. No, nothing

sexual at all.

SHERRY (CONT'D)

Thank you, Jim.

Now sherry begins to cry a little, and things begin to change -- hands

wander, cheek brushes cheek. Finally lips meet, tenderly at first.

And then it is a deluge.

INT. NOVOTNY LIVING ROOMDAY

JIM and Sherry stumble in from the hallway locked in an embrace. They

rove around the room, barely able to keep their balance. Finally,

they fall to the ground.

CLOSE ON LITTLE DARRYL --

playing with his foot in the CRIB. Through the bars behind him we can

discern the murky shape of Sherry and JIM rutting and grunting like

wild boars.

EXT. NOVOTNY DRIVEWAYDAY

JIM starts his car. Sherry leans into his window. She looks around

the neighborhood before kissing him firmly on the mouth.

SHERRY:

Hey Yeah?

SHERRY:

Take me to that motel. Like you

wanted.

JIM:

Right now?

SHERRY:

Easy, tiger. Come by after school.

I'll leave Darryl with the sitter.

JIM:

Three twenty-five.

SHERRY:

Three twenty-five.

EXT. HILLSIDE ROAD -- DAY

VROOM! JIM roars past us in his new RED FERRARI CONVERTIBLE

EXT. ITALIAM RIVIERA (REAR PROJECTIOH)CONTINUOUS

JIM wears a BLACK SUIT and hip HRAPAROUND SUNGLASSES as he drives. He

lights a cigarette. Behind him is a cheesy dated REAR PROJECTION Of a

curvy MOUNTAIN ROAD. Next Stop: portofino!

JIM (VO)

What had blossomed between Sherry and

me was too real, too powerful to deny.

For the first time in years, I felt free

and alive!

EXT. MILLARD HIGH PARKING LOTDAY

JIM'S Ferrari heads up the driveway and into his assigned space He

opens the Ferrari door.

JIM'S FOOT touches the pavement - not a shiny Salvatore Ferragamo

loafer but a worn out Dexter.

WIDE -

JIM is back in his own clothes, and his car has reverted to a Ford

Escort in need of a wash. He heads toward the school.

INT. HILLARD LIBRARY -- DAY

JIM enters the library, walks among the stacks.

JIM (VO CONT'D)

So as you can imagine, my thoughts

weren't on the election that Monday

morning.

JIM takes a BOOK from the shelf

JIM (VO CONT'D)

My thoughts were only on Sherry, on how

perfect she felt inside. There was a

special poem I wanted to read to her

later, at the motel, as she lay next to

me.

Jim flips through the book and finds the poem he seeks. His lips move

silently.

JIM'S VOICE (VO CONT'D)

Close, close the lovers keep. They stay together in their sleep. Close

as two pages in a book That read each other in the dark..

Suddenly -- a grating VOICE from the loudspeakers.

VOICE (OS)

Mr. McAllister to the Principal's

Office. Mr. McAllister to the

Principal's office.

JIM smacks the book closed

INT. WALT ' S OFFICE - DAY

LISA FLAMAGAN - her face streaked with tears from outrage and

confusion.

LISA:

It's not fair. It's not fair

Paul sits next to Lisa on the vinyl sofa. He wants to console her,

but he doesn't know how.

PAUL:

I just don't think anybody would do

something like that on purpose. It must

have been some kind of mistake. Like a

maintenance thing.

JIM enters.

WALT:

Jim, where the hell have you been?

JIM:

Nowhere. I don't have class until

second period.

WALT:

Even tried you at home. We've got a

situation here.

LISA:

If Paul loses tomorrow, it's not fair.

There has to be another election, with

posters.

JIM:

What's the problem?

LISA:

Didn't you see?

WALT:

Somebody tore down their posters.

LISA:

Those posters cost a lot of money we

don't have I There's no time to make

any more posters, there's no --

WALT:

We'll get to the bottom of it.

PAUL:

(to Lisa)

We still have some extra ones, don't

we? Maybe we can just --

LISA:

It was Tammy I That's who it was.

PAUL:

Oh, no, hey. Like I said. Tammy

wouldn't... she...

WALT:

Well, that speech she gave -- it was

pretty, you know, pretty out there. But

we'll get to the bottom of it. Don't

you worry. Mr. McAllister is going to

see to that. Right, Jim?

JIM:

(his thoughts

elsewhere)

Oh yeah, you bet.

LISA:

She should be expelled. Or worse!

WALT:

You two just go back and focus on your

studies. Mr. McAllister's going to

handle this.

INT. CHEMISTRY CLASSROOMDAY

A BUNSEN BURNER --

as a VIAL containing blue liquid is held to the flame. The solution

magically changes from blue to yellow.

Wearing goggles, Tracy holds the beaker with chemist's tongs Her two

LAB PARTNERS observe.

The classroom door and a STUDENT approaches the teacher, MR. BECKMAN,

to deliver a note.

MR. BECKMAN

Tracy?

Tracy looks up through her goggles.

INT. MILLARD HALLWAY DAY

LONG TRACKING SHOT. - of Tracy as she leaves the classroom. AS

she walks through the .desolate halls and descends a flight of stairs,

she holds her head high, suggesting a serene, almost regal confidence.

TRACY (VO)

When I arrived at school that morning,

I was shocked to find that one of my key

banners had been removed by vandals. I

noticed that a few of my rival's posters

had also been tampered with. Of course,

I was outraged, but one day before the

election is not the time to lose your

head over a couple of posters. When

you're in the public eye, attacks like

that just come with the territory.

Finally she reaches the

INT. SCHOOL OFFICEDAY

Upon seeing Tracy, MISS LINDA BEEDER, the "They 're-all-my-kids office

administrator, points wordlessly to an open door of a conference room.

JIM:

is inside.

JIM:

Tracy. Come on in. And shut the door

behind you.

She goes in and closes the door in our face.

INT. LITTLE CONFERENCE ROOM -- DAY

Tracy is seated in a chair. JIM hovers above her, alternately leaning

on a desk and pacing.

JIM:

I guess you know why you're here

TRACY:

If it's about the posters, I think it's

so awful. It's a travesty.

JIM:

A travesty. Huh. That's interesting,

because I think you did it.

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