Scholarship

 

The Weekend

By

Sondos Fares

 

FADE IN:

INT: HIGH SCHOOL MATH CLASSROOM

 

Mr. Erickson is a calculus teacher at Pia High School. He is

in his 50’s, and dresses in a professional, yet

conservative, shirt and tie. He is solving a math equation

on the board for the class. He is reading the answer as he

is writing.

 

MR. ERICKSON: And when you combine like terms you

get your answer....y=7xsquared-2

 

Jake and Alex are sitting next to each other in their seats.

Jake is dressed in comfortable sweatpants and a t-shirt.

Alex is dressed in jeans and a casual button up shirt. Jake,

seated to the left, is copying the answers from the board

onto his notebook, while Alex is seated to the right, is

texting on his phone.

 

School Bell Rings

 

MR. ERICKSON: Remember class, our final exam is

on Monday and for many of you it’s

your final chance to improve your

grade, unfortunately for some of

you it is too late.

 

Students begin filing out of the classroom as he is talking.

Jake and Alex walk side by side in the hallways of the large

school.

 

JAKE: Man, I have to get an A on this

test.

 

ALEX: Yeah, don’t you have that

scholarship or something.

 

JAKE: Yeah, I figured out that if I get

an A in this class, I’ll get that

3.5 GPA, which is what I need to

keep that scholarship.

 

ALEX: Don’t worry about it, you’ll do

fine. We can study all day Sunday,

I got nothing going.

 

JAKE: Yeah man that cool. Call me

whenever.

 

INT: JAKE’S ROOM. THE ROOM IS VERY PLAIN AND DIMLY LIT.

 

Jake is sitting at his desk studying from his book. He sighs

in frustration as his phone rings. He answers the phone to

find it is Alex.

 

JAKE: Hey Alex

 

ALEX: Dude, guess who I bumped into

today?

 

JAKE: Who?

 

ALEX: Nick, our old neighbor from

elementary school.

 

JAKE: Really? That’s awesome!

 

ALEX: Yeah and he invited both of us over

to his house tomorrow night.

 

JAKE: That’s great, but what about our

test?

 

ALEX: Dude, stop worrying so much, it’s

not gonna be that bad. Like that

stuff we did today, it’s so easy.

We’re still gonna study to on

Sunday remember?

 

JAKE: Yeah I don’t know if I’m going

 

ALEX: Hell yeah you’re going. Anyways I’ll

call you tomorrow.

 

Alex hangs up the phone. Jake then resumes studying.

The next morning, Jake’s mother walks into Jake’s room to

find Jake sleeping with his head resting on his book at his

desk. His drool is spilling all over the pages.

 

Mom gently wakes up Jake.

 

MOM: So is your bed not that comfortable

anymore?

 

Jake is slowly waking up

 

JAKE: What time is it?

 

MOM: It’s 11:00, cmon get ready, you

have to help me shop for groceries

for tomorrow.

 

JAKE: Alright, give me 10 minutes.

 

INT: MOM’S CAR

 

Mom is driving with Jake in the passengers seat, and bags of

groceries can be found in the back seat.

 

MOM: I know I’ve told you like a million

times, but me and your father are

so proud of you getting that

scholarship. You know if you didn’t

earn that, you would have to

work with your father until you

can afford school.

 

Jake looks out the window.

 

JAKE: Yeah, Thanks

 

MOM: Don’t be so quiet, you should be

excited, school is going to be a

big step for you.

 

INT: JAKE’S ROOM

 

Jake is studying in his books again, as his phone rings

again. He answers the phone to find it is Alex again.

 

JAKE: Hey

 

ALEX: Ay, whatchya doing?

 

JAKE: Studying

 

ALEX: Yeah, I’m outside, can you let me

in?

 

JAKE: Really? Is it that hard to knock?

 

Jake goes to his front door to let Alex in. Alex walks in

and approaches Jake in a hurried manner.

 

ALEX

Cmon, get ready, we gotta go.

 

JAKE: Can’t we just go next weekend?

 

ALEX: He says that tonight would be

perfect because he’ll be out of

town for the next few weeks.

 

JAKE: What are we gonna be doing there

anyways?

 

ALEX: Probably just sit around and watch

a movie or something, nothing crazy

 

JAKE: Alright, but we can’t stay too

late.

 

EXT: NICK’S LARGE SUBURBAN HOME

 

Jake and Alex walk up to the front door. Jake rings the

doorbell and Nick opens the door almost instantly. Nick is

about the same age as Jake and Nick and is dressed in a

T-shirt and gym shorts. Nick walks up to Jake with a big

welcoming smile on his face to shake his hand.

 

NICK: How’s it been man? It’s been

forever!

 

JAKE: I’ve been good, nice place you’ve

got here.

 

NICK:

Ha! It’s alright, come in guys I

was watching the basketball game.

 

INT: NICK’S LARGE LIVING ROOM.

 

The three are sitting on a sofa watching a basketball game

on a large flatscreen TV. A bowl of popcorn and other snacks

are on the table. They are all cheering and enjoying the

game, but Jake continually checks his watch.

 

NICK: What’s up man? You in a rush?

 

JAKE: Naw it’s nothing. I was just gonna

study tonight for this big math

test.

 

NICK: You still go to Pia High School

with Alex right?

 

JAKE: Yeah, why?

 

NICK: Come upstairs, my cousin went

there.

 

JAKE: Umm, ok

 

INT: ROB’S ROOM

 

Rob, Nick’s cousin, in his early 20’s, is laid back on bed,

playing on his xbox 360. Nick and Jake walk into the room.

 

NICK: Hey Rob, this is my friend Jake, he

goes to Pia, and he’s got this big

Calc test on Monday.

 

ROB: Mr. Erickson?

 

JAKE: Yea

 

ROB: I got just the thing for you.

 

Rob goes to his messy closet and finds a folder hidden

underneath some clothes. Rob searches through the folder.

 

ROB:

Final Exam....here it is

 

Rob pulls out his final exam that reads 100% on the top. He

offers it Jake.

 

ROB: He NEVER changes his tests.

 

Jake takes Nick aside.

 

JAKE: Um, can I talk to you a sec?

 

NICK: Wattsup?

 

JAKE: So like who is this dude?

 

NICK: He’s my cousin, he was really smart

in high school, but he kinda got

caught in the wrong crowd and

dropped out. He just lives with us

until he can find a job.

 

JAKE: He’s offering me his old test.

 

NICK: Deng, really? I would just take it

if I were you, and just use it if

you think you need it.

 

ROB: So you want it or not?

 

Alex rushes into the room.

 

ALEX: Dude, my parents are gonna kill me, I took my mom’s car out for too long. We gotta go.

 

Jake takes the test from Rob and leaves with Alex.

 

INT: JAKE’S ROOM

 

Jake is studying in his books again. He is sighing in

frustration and continually shaking his head. He looks at

his watch then grabs his phone to call Alex.

 

ALEX: Hello

 

JAKE:

Yeah, when are you coming?

 

ALEX: Yeah, about that, I’m kinda

grounded for staying out late last

night. I’m so sorry man.

 

JAKE: Serious?

 

ALEX: Yea man, my bad.

 

Jake hangs up the phone and goes back to writing in his

notebook. The family can be heard cheering in the family

room. Mom knocks on Jake’s door.

 

MOM: Jake, come watch the game with the

family.

 

JAKE: Ok, just a minute.

 

Mom leaves the room to join the family.

Jake sits at his desk and looks at his books, then turns to

Rob’s exam right next to them. He nods his head, closes the

book, and leaves the room to join his family.

 

INT: CLASSROOM

Alex and Jake are sitting at their desks as students are

getting in their seats.

 

ALEX: Sorry about yesterday again man.

 

JAKE: It’s alright.

 

Mr. Erickson is walking up and down the rows handing out

exams individually to each student.

 

MR. ERICKSON: Keep your eyes on your own paper.

If I catch you cheating, I won’t

embarrass you in front of the class,

you will just get a zero. The

grades will be posted online

tonight at 8:00. Good Luck.

 

Jake pretends to be using his calculator while keeping an

eye on Mr. Erickson. As he walks away, Jake pulls out a

small sheet of paper, with all of the answers written on

them in order. He starts to carefully copy the answers while

watching for Mr. Erickson who is roaming the classroom. A

female student walks up to Mr. Erickson at the front of the

class to ask a question on the exam. As Mr. Erickson is

occupied, Jake accidentally drops his sheet on the ground.

Jake instantly checks to see if Mr. Erickson saw, but he

sees that he is still working with the student. Two students

notice his sheet on the ground for a second, but go back to

their tests. He picks it up quickly to be sure Mr. Erickson

didn’t see, and resumes the exam.

 

Jake walks up to hand in his exam when he is finished. He

hands the exam to his teacher and they share a blank stare.

 

MR. ERICKSON: Thanks Jake.

 

INT: JAKE’S ROOM

 

Jake’s room is dark with only his laptop being the source of

light. The clock on the computer goes from 7:59 to 8:00.

Jake navigates through the school’s website to arrive to the

Calculus class page. He takes a sigh, then clicks on the

GRADES button.

 

His eyes widen as he sees his final grade.

 

FADE OUT