The Gallows Page #2

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Watch this.

Ready?

How creepy is that?

God.

Yo, yo, yo. Dude.

Smile for the camera, man.

Oh, come on.

Look, I'm sorry about

hitting you with the football.

You were wide open. Come on.

- Can I at least help you with this stuff?

- No.

And don't touch the fly rigs.

They're dangerous.

Wow. Okay, stage boy.

August is not who he seems he is, Mary.

- To the audience, John.

- Can't you see?

He is pretending to be a noble

that he might win your love.

He should turn himself in.

He must be hanged.

August will not turn himself in.

He loves me.

But, sir, the hangman

will take Mary in his place.

His sentence is death.

- Nerd, heh.

- What shall I do?

What shall I do, Father?

Reese, come on.

- Now, Reese.

- What shall I do, Father?

- Reese.

- There he is.

- Heh, Good timing, Reese.

- Don't come out with the book.

"What shall I do?" And then you come in.

The parents of the nerds.

There they are.

And look at these guys.

Contain your excitement, gentlemen.

I don't even know

if this lady's a parent.

She's here literally every day.

Sits in the same spot.

- Wait, so you were in the old show?

- The original show.

- Like, the original?

- Yep. I was there.

What was that like?

Heh, I don't know if you ever recover

from something like this.

It was...

horrifying.

The students were upset.

The teachers were upset.

- Charlie had a girlfriend.

- A girlfriend?

Oh, I didn't really know her...

but, um, she was devastated.

I've been here and things have happened.

Lights have gone on when there was

no one in the lighting booth.

Doors have been opened and shut

and locked.

There's all kinds of stories

around here, mm-hm.

Oh, heh, no, no, no.

They're patty-caking.

He's slapping hands with another dude.

And zero hot girls.

Oh. And the queen.

Not in a million years.

I hate this class.

Hollywood. What's up, brother?

- Hey.

- What are you doing? Practicing?

- Mm-hm.

- Is it working?

Yeah, I didn't think so, heh.

It makes no sense, dude.

I mean, this is torture.

Why don't you just call out sick?

You know? Put an end to this.

I can't call out sick.

I call out sick two-,

three times a week, minimum. Just do it.

I have a responsibility

to these people. I'm the lead.

To what people?

What are you talking about?

A responsibility to these guys?

Come on.

You're just go...

Let me see.

Holy shi...

Reese? Do you like Pfeifer?

- No, Ryan. No.

- You do.

- Don't you? You like Pfeifer.

- Ryan, seriously, no, I don't.

That's why you're doing this?

- Oh, my God. Does she know?

- Ryan.

- She doesn't know.

- I don't... Ryan.

- Your boy's got this, dude.

- Stop it, Ryan.

Talk to Schwendiman.

I got this one, man, heh.

Hey, drama queen.

Hey, hey, hey. Pfeifer.

- Hey, Ryan.

- Wait a second.

Wait, wait, wait. Hold on.

I need to talk to you about Reese.

What about Reese?

He has a big-ass crush on you.

Like, he wants to be on you.

Pfeifer, please. Talk to me about Reese.

What's going on there?

Um, Reese is gonna do great.

I have complete faith in him.

He knows his lines. He's gonna be fine.

Are you kidding me? Everybody knows

he's gonna choke like Charlie did.

We don't say that name, Ryan.

I've told you that.

- It's bad luck.

- I'm sorry.

I don't get you drama nerds

and your jargon.

It's like "good luck" is bad luck.

- Breaking a leg is supposed to be a good thing?

- Exactly.

And "C'est fini"? What the hell is that?

Oh, my God. Pfeifer, back to the point.

After the show bombs,

how is it gonna affect you and Reese?

The show isn't going to bomb, Ryan, okay?

We're gonna finish the show.

- It's gonna look great.

- Ah.

C'est fi-what? You're from Nebraska.

- Ryan.

- What?

Price needs you.

Who's Price?

The stage manager.

The stage man...?

Stage boy. Yeah.

Hey there, chief.

How you doing, bud?

What can I help you with?

It's Number 28 here.

It's just a little too heavy for me.

- You can do it.

- I probably can, yes.

You just can't, ugh...

It's pretty stuck. Is it this one?

Price got some balls, dude. Ugh.

- You just need it pulled down?

- It's fine if you can't.

- Are you sure it's this one?

- It's this one.

- It's fine if you can't do it.

- I can do it.

It just needs a good pull.

That's gonna leave a mark.

Smile for the camera.

Come here, you sick...

Hey. Stage...

Hey.

Come here, boy.

No, look. Look, it was just a joke.

- We're even.

- It was a joke?

- It was not funny.

- Please don't hurt me. Okay.

- What?

- Stop, Ryan.

- Come on, Price. Come on. Ryan.

- You're lucky, boy.

Ryan, stop.

- We're even.

- No. This isn't over.

Price.

- You okay?

- Yeah.

What?

No way.

Hey, hey, Brooke.

It's Kelly.

Okay. What is up with this door?

It's broken. Everybody knows that.

No.

What?

Reese. Reese.

Dude. Dude, Reese. My man.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

- What?

- Do you still wanna do this play?

Do you still wanna do this play?

Are you kidding me?

Okay. Listen. I was talking

to Pfeifer and that stupid stage boy...

and I was chasing him,

but I found this door.

I found a door over here that's unlocked.

It never locks. Always open.

What are you guys talking about?

What'd she say?

- Who?

- Pfeifer.

Oh, my God, heh, Reese.

You like Pfeifer?

Reese, this is your chance.

We break into the school tonight.

We come in through that door,

we ruin the set. Ten minutes.

- You don't have to do the play anymore.

- Heh, that's awesome.

Cassidy, please.

What do you think, Reese?

Heh, you're insane, man.

- Reese, it's a great plan.

- No.

- Why not?

- No. Ryan, this is illegal.

Why would you even want to film this?

...bail on the show. If I bail on this

show, they all hate me.

Especially Pfeifer.

And if you don't bail on the show...

you let everyone down

and they all hate you. Especially Pfeifer.

Dude, I'm done.

I'm done sugarcoating this whole thing.

You suck.

You're a terrible actor,

and you need to do something about it.

Why not do something

that's not your fault?

Tear this mother down.

They're gonna come in, they're gonna be like:

"Oh, my God. The set's broken.

What are we gonna do?"

And who's there for Pfeifer to lean on

in her time of need?

Dude, you are.

- It's a win. I'm a freaking genius.

- You're not a genius.

What time?

You're not coming, Cassidy.

- Yes, I'm coming.

- No, you're not. You're a cheerleader.

What does that have to do with anything?

You're a cheerleader

that likes to do other girl-dance stuff...

not cool, awesome, scary stuff

at the school at night.

Ah, I'll pick you up at 9.

Okay. Dude, are you in?

Do you have tools?

Yes, Reese. Yeah. Yeah, I got tools.

God, Reese.

I can't believe you like Pfeifer.

Shut up. Why did you tell her?

All right.

Between you and me...

- Ryan?

- Mom, what are you doing?

- Oh, I'm sorry.

- What are you...?

What are you doing?

I told you I needed five minutes.

All right, baby. Stay in here.

In and out, babe. Please.

That's what she said.

Trick or treat, Housers.

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