PARALLEL

Written by

Adrienne M. Maunahan

for BMMA130P
A97 | First Draft
 1.

CUT TO:

1 INT. CAR - NIGHT 1

The rain is pouring heavily. A car is seen driving towards
the gloomy venue. ANDY (22) arrives. He is putting his car on
neutral and then he looks out his window. He can hear soft
mumbles of people outside the venue, he sighs and puts his
sunglasses on. He turns his car off and checks himself on the
mirror.
ANDY
(soft almost whisper)
Kaya ko 'to.
He looks out his window for the last time before stepping out
of his car.

2 INT. FUNERAL HOME 2

The door slowly opens and the people inside looks back,
sorrow filling their faces as they see Andy walking towards
the coffin. Andy looks emotionless behind his tinted glasses
as he slowly walks to the front, each of his step heavy.
Andy approaches the coffin and spans his hand on the glass
separating him from the deceased. A single teardrop lands on
the glass and then another until Andy slumps himself on the
coffin.
ANDY
(sobbing)
Ma, ang daya mo naman eh.

Andy's sobs fills the room. His grandmother is also seen

patting his back and hugging him for comfort.
FADE TO:

3 INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT 3

In a dark room with only her bedside lamp illuminating it,
STEPHANIE (21) is cocooned in her bed. She's hugging a
stuffed toy, softly sobbing into it.
STEPHANIE (V.O.)
(overlayed whispers)
worthless-- bobo-- stubborn-- ugly-
- stupid-- mean--
 2.

Stephanie's sobs grow larger as the whispers continue. She

knows it's all in her head but it made her feel smaller. Her
cries slowly became harder for her, almost like she couldn't
breathe. Her breathing sounds suffocating until she falls
asleep, teardrops still falling from her closed eyes.
FADE TO:

4 INT. STUDY ROOM - NIGHT 4

An alarm clock rings. Stephanie jolts awake, lifting her chin
from her hand. She mushed her hand on her face, trying to
wake herself up. She checks the time and panics.
STEPHANIE
shit, 3am na agad? wala parin ako
natatapos.
Stephanie sips some coffee from her tumbler. She stretches
her arms up then opens the sticky note app on her laptop. It
was a list of deadlines she had already missed.
STEPHANIE
(frustated)
Ang dami pa. Matatapos ko ba 'to?
Stephanie heaves out a sigh, leaning back on her chair. She
stares at her screen with her eyes full of regret and worry.
STEPHANIE (V.O.)
Kung pede lang ibalik ang oras.
Sana ginawa ko na lahat noon. Ano
ba kasing ginagawa ko dati?

She sits properly and picks a task to work on. Her mouse
clicks and keyboard clacks filling the room.

5 INT. ANDY'S ROOM - NIGHT 5

Andy is seen exporting a digital poster he is working on. He
scans the exported file and grunts. He goes back to the
editing software and continues to edit it some more. After a
while, he decides to export it again, he looks at it and goes
back to the software again. His brows furrowing even more. He
repeats the process until he finally gives up. He sighs and
slumps back into his chair, his computer screen illuminating
his face.
ANDY
 3.

Ano bang kulang? Why can't I figure

it out?
He massages his tired eyes and decides that was enough for
him that day. He exits out the editing software and shuts his
computer off. He picks his phone up and scrolls through
social media to entertain himself.
His phone pings with a notification.
CUT TO:

6 INT. STEPHANIE'S ROOM - NOON 6

The sound of constant notification blasts throughout
Stephanie's quiet room. The room is dark with only the light
of Stephanie's room illuminating some parts of it whenever
another notification pops up. Stephanie is laying on her
side, her back away from her phone.
The continuous sound of messages makes Stephanie grab her
phone and silence it. She knew what the notifications were;
it was messages from her concerned friends that she ghosted a
a few weeks ago. There were also messages of professors
regarding tasks she's missed and that she's in the brink of
failing her subjects.
Stephanie puts her phone down in dismay of herself. She tries
her best to not cry, breathing heavily to calm herself down.
Her phone continues to buzz beside her.

7 INT. ANDY’S CAR - NOON 7

Andy's phone buzzes, the vibration audible as his phone was

placed in the cupholder. Andy continues to drive, not minding
his phone which continues to buzz with notifications.
A few moments later, Andy arrives at his destination. He
parks on the side of the road and finally picks up his phone
which has been buzzing nonstop. Annoyed, he puts his phone on
Do Not Disturb. He glances at some of the notifications, and
reads are criticism of his latest works. He knows the ones
he's been submitting are lackluster and the comments of his
clients and professors proves the quality of these works.
ANDY (V.O.)
These used to be praises.
He sighs, annoyance evident in his face before throwing his
phone on the passenger seat.
 4.

8 EXT. CEMETERY - NOON 8

Andy steps out of his car and walks towards his mother's
grave. He places a blanket down beside her grave before he
sits down. He is staring at the gravestone.
ANDY
I miss you, mama. Andami na
masyadong nagbago. Sakin at sa
mundo. Di ko parin matanggap na
you're not her to comfort and be
proud of me anymore.
Tears are streaming down Andy's face.
ANDY (CONT’D)
Miss ko na yung good lucks mo Ma.
Parang di na magaganda ginagawa ko
kasi di na kita naririnig. Miss na
miss na kita, Ma.
Andy is quietly sobbing. His hands are trying to wipe his
face off of his tears to no avail.
FADE TO:

9 INT. ANDY'S BEDROOM - DAWN 9

A notification pops on Andy's phone. Andy wakes up and looks
at the time. He sees that it's 3 in the morning and grunts at
the notification he received.
ANDY
Ang aga mambulabog.

Andy is rubbing his eyes as he opens the notification from

Stephanie. The latter sent a file regarding a project they
were working on together. Andy is typing a lengthy message
about respecting each other's time. He contemplates on
sending it but decides otherwise.
He puts his phone down, silencing it before he continues with
his slumber.

10 INT. STEPHANIE’S ROOM - DAWN 10

Stephanie is biting on her fingernails, she's staring at the
file she sent to Andy and she jolts when she saw Andy has
seen the message. Stephanie quickly exits out of the
messaging app and she's greeted by the long list of deadlines
she has yet to finish.
 5.

Stephanie sighs, scanning the projects and thinking about her

time frame.
STEPHANIE (V.O.)
Aabot ba ako? I seriously can't do
this in a week.
Her face is adorned by overwhelm, but she pushes through and
starts on another project. Her faces looks tired and her
eyebags are much visible than before, but she knows it's the
consequences of her actions.

11 INT. ANDY’S ROOM - DAY 11

Andy is sitting on his study chair. He's focusing on the file
Stephanie sent him a few hours ago. It was a draft of the
screenplay they were working on. He looks amused as he reads
through every word Stephanie has written.
ANDY
Parang it feels real.
The screenplay was of Stephanie's struggle with her ADHD and
depressions. She narrated how her life was significantly
affected especially as she ages, it kept getting worse.
Andy continues to read until the end and as he did, he
immediately opens another word file. He starts to write his
own screenplay, seemingly inspired by what Stephanie has
written.
CUT TO:

12 EXT. CAMPUS GROUNDS - AFTERNOON 12

Stephanie is alone, sitting on one of the study tables

located at their campus grounds. The outside air was nice and
unlike the summer heat which landed her the decision to stay
outside. She is finishing the rest of her work load when a
hand pats her shoulder.
Stephanie turns, looking annoyed.
STEPHANIE
Ano-
Stephanie squints, looking at the guy before she realizes who
it was.
STEPHANIE
Oh, Andy, right? Sorry akala ko
kung sino.
 6.

Stephanie offers Andy an apologetic smile. Andy smiles at her

as well.
ANDY
(giggly)
Okay lang, I'd probably react the
same way.
STEPHANIE
Sus, upo ka.
Stephanie offers him a seat in front of her.
ANDY
The project pala. Like I said sa
chat, I was really impressed sa
gawa mo.

STEPHANIE
Yeah, hard to believe, considering
I wrote it in a day lang.
Andy looks a bit shocked with what Stephanie revealed.
ANDY
No way? Ang cool mo naman, I can
never.
STEPHANIE
What? No kaya. I mean it's not like
I have a choice din, I really
needed to get it done.
ANDY
It was really good, swear.

STEPHANIE
(Shyly)
Thank you...
Andy smiles at her, easing her out of embarrassment
ANDY
Actually, na-inspire nga din ako to
write my own piece din. I mean of
course, we'll use yours na pero I
thought I can share this with you
din.
Andy hands Stephanie sheets of stapled papers. It was another
screenplay.
STEPHANIE
Hala, it's an honor.
 7.

Stephanie scans through the screenplay Andy handed her.

ANDY
I assume the story you wrote was
based off of your life experiences
din.
Stephanie looks up at Andy, a bit astonished.
STEPHANIE
Oh. I mean yes, a part of it was.
ANDY
No judgement naman. I hope that
wasn't offending.
Andy offers Stephanie an apologetic smile, rubbing the back
of head.
STEPHANIE
Hala, hindi noh. I think a lot of
writers tends to do that din,
fiction or not, minsan may nasasama
talagang life experiences nila.
ANDY
Yes, kaya I wanted you to read mine
din. You know, to be fair lang
since I know some of your life na
din.
Andy smiles and Stephanie smiles back, nodding as she
thoroughly reads the screenplay Andy has written.
ANDY
With how you've written yours, I
though it was fascinating din how
similar our lives were in a way.
Stephanie looks up at Andy, signaling the latter to continue.
ANDY (CONT’D)
We were both struggling and in
school. You were missing deadlines
and I was submitting works I wasn't
proud of. I used to always be top
of the class pati lagi ako
nasasabihan magaling before. pero
now...
Andy sighs
ANDY (CONT’D)
 8.

It's all criticism na lang. Ang

hirap pala ng ganon.
Stephanie nods, sympathizing with Andy.
STEPHANIE
I learned na it's not your fault
naman. I mean, we makes mistakes,
yes. We make bad decisions, pero
sometimes we lose control of our
lives din. It's just up to us if we
continue to live ba or not.
Andy faintly smiles, nodding at Stephanie who's smiling at
him sympathetically.

13 INT. VENUE - DAY 13

Stephanie grabs her phone from her pocket and checks herself
for the last time. She smiles and lets out a determined sigh
before fixing her cap. She looks around the venue and sees
her batchmates in their graduation gowns.
Stephanie spots a familiar man adjacent to the line she's
standing with. She waves her hand when they made eye contact
and Andy smiles and waves back at her.
Andy gives her a thumbs up
ANDY
(mouths)
Goodluck!
Stephanie laughs and gives Andy a thumbs up as well.

Andy types something on his phone and Stephanie's phone

buzzes when Andy looks up from his phone.
ANDY (TEXT/SUBTITLE)
Congratulations, Steph. We did it,
for you, for me, for my mom, and
for all the hardships you had to
overcome yourself.
Stephanie looks up at Andy, her eyes glistening with tears
and she fondly smiles at Andy.
FADE IN:
FADE IN TITLE: "Parallel"
FADE TO BLACK.
9.