Short Term 12 Page #9

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Luis is having a great time, momentarily forgetting about his

riff with Marcus.

The crowd goes wild.

Suddenly, an ALARM goes off.

Grace and Mason exchange looks of confusion.

Grace runs to the girls' side and sees the emergency door

open at the far end of the hall.

She runs to the door.

GRACE:

Everyone sit down please. We havean AWOL!

Mason races after Grace. The other kids get up to take alook.

EXT. GROUP HOME -- LATE AFTERNOON

Grace bursts through the door and looks around frantically.

She sees Jayden running in the distance with her backpack

bouncing, turning the next corner.

GRACE:

Jayden!

She takes off after her

MASON:

Grace!

GRACE:

Stay with the kids! I'll call youwhen I get her!

Mason watches her run.

Nate comes outside.

MASON:

This happens. It’s fine.

EXT. SUBURBAN STREETS -- LATE AFTERNOON

Grace chases Jayden down the sidewalk, but doesn't seem to begaining on her.

GRACE:

Jayden, can you slow down please?!

I feel like I'm gonna barf!

Jayden's visibly tired, her backpack sagging on hershoulders.

Jayden looks back at her and begins to slow down. Grace does

the same.

JAYDEN:

Keep the same distance!

GRACE:

Okay, okay.

They slow at the same pace, and then finally stop to catchtheir breath.

JAYDEN:

You can't touch me outside the

grounds.

GRACE:

Well, can I walk with you?

JAYDEN:

Walk all you want, but I'm not

going back there.

Grace looks at her, still breathing heavily.

GRACE:

Let's walk then.

Jayden takes a few more moments to cool down. Then, shestarts to walk again. Grace follows.

EXT. BUS STOP -- LATE AFTERNOON/EVENING

They sit together at a bus stop.

INT. BUS -- EARLY EVENING

They sit across from each other on the bus, neither of themtalking. Jayden hugs her backpack on her lap. Grace waits

for Jayden's lead.

Jayden pulls the cord and gets off. Grace follows.

EXT. JAYDEN'S DAD'S HOUSE -- EARLY EVENING

Jayden walks ahead of Grace who follows patiently behind her.

Then, finally, Jayden stops.

She stands in front of a beautiful two-story house. The

lights are off inside. Grace stops with her.

Jayden walks to the side door of the garage, and Gracefollows her. She reaches above the door and grabs a key fromthe frame.

GRACE:

Jayden, you know you're not

supposed to be here.

Jayden ignores her, opens the door and goes in, shutting itbehind her. Grace doesn't follow. She takes out her cell

phone and dials. Mason picks up.

MASON (O.S.)

What's going on?

GRACE:

Hey, we're at her dad's house. I

don't think that anyone's here, butshe went in anyway.

MASON (O.S.)

I'm on my way.

GRACE:

K, thanks.

Grace hangs up the phone.

CUT TO:

EXT. JAYDEN'S DAD'S HOUSE -- EVENING

Grace sits on the front steps. After a moment, the frontdoor opens and Jayden comes out with her backpack. She sits

down next to Grace.

GRACE:

He's not here?

Jayden shakes her head and hides it in her arms. Grace wrapsher arm around her.

GRACE (CONT’D)

Do you wanna go back?

Jayden nods.

GRACE (CONT’D)

Okay.

CUT TO:

INT. MASON’S CAR -- NIGHT

Mason grips the steering wheel, driving slow and steady. He

looks in the rear-view mirror.

Grace sits in the seat behind him with her arm around Jayden,

who leans on her shoulder, staring out the window.

Mason and Grace smile lovingly to each other through thereflection.

INT. JAYDEN'S ROOM -- NIGHT

Jayden sits on her bed, exhausted. Grace walks in with her

backpack and sets it next to her.

GRACE:

You okay?

Jayden nods.

GRACE (CONT’D)

Okay, I'll see you tomorrow.

She gives Jayden a side-hug and begins to leave.

JAYDEN:

You wanna see a story I've beenworking on?

Grace turns to her, a bit surprised.

GRACE:

Of course.

CUT TO:

INT. JAYDEN'S ROOM -- MOMENTS LATER

Jayden opens her sketchbook to the back page, where there isa homemade pocket taped to the inside cover. She pulls out afolded piece of paper and opens it carefully. Grace watches

her, patiently.

She flips back through her notebook to a page that is coveredwith cool illustrations of underwater scenes and creatures,

particularly sharks and octopi.

JAYDEN:

It's a kids' story, so there aren'tany big words.

GRACE:

Okay.

Jayden begins. As she reads, she points to the illustrationthat she wants Grace to look at.

She points to a small sketch of a cute little octopus.

JAYDEN:

Once upon a time, somewhere milesand miles beneath the surface of

the ocean, there lived a youngoctopus named Nina.

She points to various drawings of the octopus making funnyartwork out of shells and sand.

JAYDEN (CONT’D)

Nina spent most of her time alone,

making strange creations out of

rocks and shells. And she was very

happy.

(beat)

But then, on Monday, the Shark

showed up.

She points to a drawing of a Shark swimming up to Nina.

JAYDEN (CONT’D)

"What's your name?" said the

shark. "Nina," she replied. "Do

you want to be my friend?" He

asked. "Okay, what do I have to

do?" Said Nina. "Not much," said

the Shark, "Just let me eat one of

your arms."

Grace watches Jayden read.

JAYDEN (CONT’D)

Nina had never had a friend before,

so she wondered if this was what

you had to do to get one. She

looked down at her eight arms, and

decided it wouldn't be so bad to

give up one. So she donated an arm

to her wonderful new friend.

Jayden points to a morbid drawing of the shark eating one ofNina's arms.

JAYDEN (CONT’D)

Every day that week, Nina and the

Shark would play together. They

explored caves, built castles of

sand, and swam really really fast.

And every night, the Shark would be

hungry, and Nina would give him

another one of her arms to eat.

Jayden points at various illustrations of the octopus and theshark playing together, and the shark eating her arms.

JAYDEN (CONT’D)

On Sunday, after playing all day,

the Shark told Nina that he was

very hungry. "I don't understand,"

she said. "I've already given you

six of my arms, and now you want

one more?" The shark looked at her

with a friendly smile and said, "I

don't want one. This time I want

them all." "But why?" Nina asked.

And the shark replied, "Because

that's what friends are for."

Jayden points to another drawing of the shark, alone.

JAYDEN (CONT’D)

When the shark finished his meal

that night, he felt very sad andlonely. He missed having someoneto explore caves, build castles andswim really really fast with. He

missed Nina very much. So, he swamaway to find another friend.

Jayden folds up the piece of paper and grips it in her hand.

She stares down at her drawings, waiting.

Grace watches her for a moment before speaking.

GRACE:

Jayden, did your dad ever hurt you?

Jayden doesn't respond at first. But then shrugs withoutlooking up. Grace watches her.

GRACE (CONT’D)

Does he still hurt you?

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