FADE IN:
INT. BEDROOM - MORNING
TIA - a young high school girl - blinks her eyes open, staring up blankly at the ceiling. Her hands clutch the sheets of her bed, and she takes a deep breath. Her face is stained red from the tears she shed previously.
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Tia Jones would wake that day just like always, with eyes rimmed red as she hugs her bed.
INSERT - DIGITAL CLOCK
6:00, after a few moments, turns to 6:01, then 6:02. 1022Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvn4xteXZYd
CLOSE UP - MINUTES ON CLOCK - FAST FORWARD1022Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCjGIVDdNU
The minutes continue going by at a much faster pace until stopping at 7:00, when an alarm suddenly goes off.
BACK TO SCENE
Tia takes another deep breath, her hands gripping tightly at the sheets of her bed, refusing to let go. Meanwhile, the CLOCK BEEPS insistently. Tia simply ignores it, her breath becoming more ragged.
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The clock would tell her it's time to go, leave her home and go to living hell.
She finally throws the covers off her body and throws her feet over the side of her bed. She rubs her eyes and lets out a ragged, pain-stricken breath. She sits on her bed for a few more moments before standing and walking over to her closet, the CAMERA FOCUSING on a teddy bear on her bed.
NARRATOR
School was calling, her skin was crawling, her hands were shaking, her heart was racing.
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INT. DINING ROOM - MORNING
Tia sits at an old wooden table, twirling her spoon around in a bowl of cereal, uninterested in its contents as she stares across from her at an empty chair. An OLD CLOCK TICKS, reminding her that it is almost time for school. She drops her spoon and hugs herself, staring at the empty chair with tears forming in her eyes, but she refuses to let them fall.
NARRATOR
Her brother was gone, and not to infinity and beyond. He was gone and she had to be strong.
Tia runs her hands through her hair before standing abruptly. She kneels beside her backpack, which is lying at her side, and shuffles through it, pulling out a simple lined paper. The CAMERA ZOOMS IN ON HER HANDS as the paper slowly begins to crinkle. Slowly, she stands up.
INSERT - GRANDFATHER CLOCK
The short hand of the clock is on the seven as the big hand jerks and strikes the three. A DOOR SLAMS in the background.
BACK TO SCENE
A tall man comes into the dining room, a cup of coffee in his hand. His eyes widen in surprise as he sees Tia's backpack lying next to the table, and turns his gaze to stare at the open door.
NARRATOR
Tia would think to herself throughout that day "there's only one thing I need to do".
INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY - DAY
Tia walks down a hallway, hugging her paper to her chest. A few taller students shove her out of their way, laughing and chuckling amongst themselves and oblivious to her discomfort. Tia stops in her tracks, her shoulders sagging as her hands drop to her sides, still clutching the paper.
NARRATOR
Tia was bullied, that much was true, but not like her poor brother was, and they didn't have a clue.
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Tia looks down at her paper, holding it up for her to read. With a decisive shake of the head, she continues down the hallway, a few girls giving her pointing glances and gossiping about her behind her back.
INT. CLASSROOM - DAY
The CAMERA PANS OVER a CLASSROOM as the intercom turns on with a loud, monotone beep. Tia's voice sounds over the intercom. Various students exchange glances with each other.
TIA(V.O.)
My voice you know yet you don't know why. As many of you know my brother has died. You may think that that's that, he's gone, wherever he's at. Here he was beaten and scorned and kicked and punched. Here you were cruel and malicious and wrong. You dragged him to a cave where the light cannot be seen. He lost his way - he was never very keen. You refused to help him on his way, and he ended up rotting away. I suggest you think on what you've done, because it is, indeed, the fault of your own.
After Tia's speech the CAMERA ZOOMS IN on DIFFERENT FACES, capturing their looks of pure indifference. A few were even giggling, smiling and thinking it was a joke.
NARRATOR
She herself was true and right, but her peers who bullied and murdered her brother that night laughed with all their might.
INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY - DAY
As Tia makes her way down the hall, various students cast her odd glances, some even pointing at her and laughing, believing she was being over dramatic about the death of her brother. Tia lowers her gaze to the ground, eyes half closed and shoulders sagging, as she continues down the hall.
INT. MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT
Two parents are seen in a peaceful slumber, the arms of the husband wrapped around his wife, who has a small smile on her face.
NARRATOR
Tia would say goodnight to her parents with a kiss on the cheek and a tight little hug.
INT. SMALL BEDROOM - NIGHT
The CAMERA SLOWLY SCANS the room, revealing no one is there. There's an empty bed, and old lamp on an end table, and a picture.
INSERT - PICTURE
Tia has her arms wrapped around the shoulders of two other girls.
NARRATOR
She would say a final goodbye to the friends she left behind.
INT. DINING ROOM - NIGHT
The CAMERA ZOOMS IN on a backpack laying haphazardly on the dining table, books, papers, and pens spilling from an open pouch.
NARRATOR
She would thank the empty chair and that wretched school for all they've done.
CUT TO:
EXT. HIGH SCHOOL MAIN ENTRANCE - NIGHT
We see a shadowed form of a girl dangling from the roof with what looks to be a rope around her neck. She's just outside the main doors to the building. Behind her, there are dark smears on the wall.
NARRATOR
On that night Tia had decided to leave a message to the bullies who kicked, punched, stabbed, scorned, broke and murdered her brother. Her body would be found, a suicidal masterpiece. Her peers and bullies would know, and even though her body would be taken and thrown, left to rot away, the blood stains would never go away. A powerful message with a sacrifice and a truth, but one question remained: would it really be enough?
The CAMERA SLOWLY ZOOMS OUT, revealing the entire school, Tia's body still a shadow in the dim moonlit night.
FADE OUT.
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