ON THE EDGE

Written By HANNAH WHITTALL

INT: DARK ROOM NIGHT SPOT LIGHT On a computer screen, Sam Coopers status says I AM NOT A LOSER! Cut to Fade in INT: BATHROOM EVENING SAM (15) sits on a toilet in an empty cubicle, she reaches in her pocket and takes out a bottle of pills and looks at them contemplating whether to put them in her mouth. SAM (voice over) I had a dream once, where I was invisible and I tripped right there in the hallway, I cried out but no one could hear me. Thats what schools been like for me, an invisible person in a visible world where you can easily be forgotten. All I desired was to be acknowledged, just once, someone to care and when I finally was, invisibility didnt seem so bad. SAM empties a bottle of pills in her hands and forces them into her mouth. Flashback INT: CORRIDOR DAYTIME SAM gets thrown against the wall Cut to INT: SCHOOL STAIRCASE SAM hides away from the bullies under the staircase Cut to INT: SIXTH FORM COMMON ROOM SAM gets paper balls thrown at her Cut to INT: SIXTH FORM GARDEN SAM getting tripped over Cut to INT: Boys toilets SAM looks directly at the camera she squeezes her right hand with her left, she is sitting on the toilet cistern so her feet cant be seen under the cubicle door. SAM has a nervous look on her face; she tenses up as the bathroom door opens. SAM goes extremely quiet to the point of 2

pale. MICHELLE (16) enters the bathroom while keeping her hand on the door to keep it open she looks around even peers under the cubicle door and shouts back through the open door. MICHELLE Shes not in here Told you she wouldnt come in the boys toilets. MICHELLE (16) exits and shuts the door. SAM (voice over) Just imagine when your five and you fell over your parents pick you up and told you everythings going to be alright, they make you feel so special, but the brutal reality kicks in, when your no longer five and there is no one to pick you up, and theres no one to tell you everythings going to be alright, and its all about you and how you deal with each hurdle, each pitfall, for me it had come down to hiding in the boys bathroom. Colour comes back to SAMs face and she steps down off the cistern and opens the door, she peeps through the crack and then opens the door wider. Just as she steps out of the cubicle MICHELLE appears from nowhere and grabs SAM slamming her against the wall. SAM shuts her eyes as MICHELLE raises her fist. SAM squeezes her eyes harder to blank out the impact of the blow. Then nothing, when SAM opens her eyes no one is in the bathroom with her its her imagination. She walks over to the sink and washes her face. Flash back Cut to: INT: DARK OFFICE SAM sits on the chair at her desk; she pulls out a bully line poster from her drawer and stares at it. As she grabs her phone from her pocket she types in the number 0800441111, SAM I need help, I cant handle this anymore please help me! Beep the line goes dead, SAM looks emotionally distressed and starts crying, holding her head in her hands. Cut to: BATHROOM EVENING SAM slides, leans against the wall and slides to the floor.