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EXT. HOUSE - NIGHT Suburbia. BILLY (typical jock high schooler) sits on a car. CASSIDY (blind, pretty) stands a few steps from the front door. She holds a kitchen knife casually. CASSIDY I was cooking dinner. BILLY I made a mistake. Beat. CASSIDY Is that what you call it? He hops off the car, hoping to embrace her. BILLY Look, we'll take you the best doctors, the best surgeons... Cassidy pulls away violently, accidentally (right?) nicking Billy with the knife. BILLY Jesus! Cass, you cut me! She seems to smile, just a little bit, before heading back inside. CASSIDY Bye, Billy.

INT. auditorium - day High school assembly. Couple of chairs on the stage occupied by a couple of proud looking PARENTS, and CASSIDY, in cheerleader garb. At the podium, the PRINCIPAL. PRINCIPAL And so it is with great honor that I present this award to you, young Cassidy. The crowd erupts in genuine applause. PRINCIPAL To quote the bard, where thou hast lost sight, thou has restored ours.

Principal seems proud of that one. Cassidy stands, and with a little help from her mom, makes her way to the podium. She smiles. The cheerleading squad sits front row, all clapping, save a rather somber looking bruised up blonde (TIFFANY, the sex pot). INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY - DAY The crowd filters out of the aud. The proud parents make small talk with the principal as Cassidy stands awkwardly. At the end of the hall, unnoticed, but burning a hole nevertheless, is Tiffany. People filter past her but she remains unmoved. Finally the principal shakes hands with the parents as they depart. Cassidy remains. Tiffany approaches her. CASSIDY It's you, isn't it Tiffany? I can smell you. TIFFANY You expect me to let you be a hero? To let them think you're someone great? CASSIDY No. No Tiff, I don't expect that at all. Beat. CASSIDY But we both know that's how it'll be. We both know that there are things you don't want them to know. And that it's over. If you want it to be. Tiffany is worked up. The hallway is empty now. A bell rings, signalling the beginning of the next period. INT. LOCKER ROOM - DAY Cheerleaders in various states of undress. The mood is somber. Tiffany, still bruised, appears uneasy. COACH (30's, pretty) bursts into the room. COACH They found Cass! The girls drop their various activities and begin to gather,

excited at the news, save for Tiff, who appears incredulous. COACH She was attacked, a few days ago, it's not good. She's uh, she's been blinded, but they think she'll pull through. INT. BASEMENT - NIGHT Typical basement full of forgotten junk. Cassidy sits in a beanbag chair. Faint noises. A motor? Humming? She reads a biography of Shakespear. Yes, reads. The noise is louder. Human. CASSIDY Stop it. It's someone trying to talk. But now they begin to sob. Cassidy looks over at Tiff, who is enclosed in a dog crate, mouth stuffed with a large sock. MOM (O.S.) Hunny, the oven is ready. I'm leaving now, I'll be back in the morning. There's some money on the counter. CASSIDY (cheery) Bye, mom! INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Tiffany crawls through a door. It's unsettling. Behind her, Cass with a gun.

CASSIDY (matter of fact) This oven is at 700 degrees. Hotter than most ovens can get. It'll cook anything you have inside you. Cass puts the gun to Tiffany's head. TIFFANY Why are you doing this? I'm your best friend! CASSIDY You know why.

TIFFANY (crying) Yeah, well, you'll have to shoot me, because I'm not, I can't, it's a fucking oven, Cass! Please! Just let me go! Cass clocks her with the gun. She falls, half unconscious. Cass opens the door. There's a cast oven pot inside. Cass goes to grab it, forgetting oven mitts, and jumps back instinctively at the heat. Tiff sees her chance. She grabs the gun. Cass puts up a fight but Tiff SLAMS the gun against Cass' skull. Cass stumbles. Tiff grabs a pot from the stovetop and smacks her in the head again. She goes down. She isn't looking good. TIFFANY You know what my favorite Shakespeare quote is? Beat. TIFFANY "Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot that it do singe yourself." She smiles, bends over, and buries her fingers in Cass' eye sockets. INT. CLASSROOM - DAY Average high school classroom. Cass and Tiff sit next to each other. English. End of the day. The bell rings, but MR WALL struggles to keep the kids' attention. MR WALL Alright! Finish chapter 5 in the biography! And remember, the test on King Lear is on Friday! Study those quotes! Cass and Tiff stand. TIFFANY I need to talk to you about something. It's important. INT. BATHROOM STALL - DAY Tiffany sits on the toilet. She's crying. Just a little bit. TIFFANY

Shit. She looks down at a pregnancy test. It's positive.