Kevin Pantoja
Aug 9, 2017 · 2 min read

SCENE #3

INT. CLASSROOM — AFTERNOON

The room is empty except for two people towards the front. MR. MYERS, 50s, balding with glasses and a visible gut shakes hands with STEPHANIE WHEELER, 20s with long blonde hair and a slender figure. She’s a young, attractive mother. They sit on opposite sides of a desk.

MR. MYERS: Thank you for coming in Ms. Wheeler. I wouldn’t have called you in if it wasn’t important.

STEPHANIE: I understand. Can we make this quick? I don’t mean to be rude but I’ve got to get to my second job.

MR. MYERS: I’ll cut right to the chase then.

Mr. Myers pulls out a piece of paper and slides it across the desk. The paper has a big 35 written on the top and the name reads DOUGLAS WHEELER.

STEPHANIE: A 35? Is that supposed to mean something?

MR. MYERS: Umm, well yes. It’s a test that your son failed. The fourth this year.

Stephanie stares at him blankly and shrugs.

STEPHANIE: So? He’s in second grade, none of this really matters, right?

MR. MYERS: My apologize, Ms. Wheeler, but why wouldn’t it matter?

STEPHANIE: I failed plenty of tests when I was in high school and I still graduated. He’ll be fine.

Mr. Myers looks at her with confusion on his face. After a few moments, it turns to realization.

MR. MYERS: Tell me something. How did you pass with bad test scores?

STEPHANIE: Before the end of the year, the teachers would give us these independent study things to raise our grades.

Mr. Myers SLAMS his fist on the desk.

MR. MYERS: I knew it! Do you know how much I hate that? It’s why I stopped teaching high school.

STEPHANIE: Excuse you, you need to lower your voice.

MR. MYERS: I will not! I got sick and tired of schools rewarding year round laziness, just so they could have a higher number of students who passed.

Mr. Myers is now standing. His face is red and Stephanie is taken aback.

MR. MYERS (CONT’D): Society has become so lazy. Seems like you were handed the easy way out and it’s probably why your son is lazy too.

Stephanie stands and kicks the chair back, getting right in Mr. Myers’ face.

STEPHANIE: How dare you? Say whatever you want about me and my past, but you leave my son out of it. He’s many things, but he’s not lazy.

MR. MYERS: The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Ms. Wheeler.

Stephanie reaches back and slaps him across the face, before storming off.