A teenage wannabe villain fights his feelings for the super-heroine that joined his school |
3281 Words CHAPTER 1 INSERT - COMIC BOOK - EXT. WATERFRONT TRAIL - NIGHT CAPTION It was just an average, unassuming night in a quiet park in Downtown Metroville, your typical cosmopolitan megalopolis. Police officers are patrolling when they notices a meteor crash land in the center of the park. COMIC BOOK - EXT. FIELD They follow the source of the crash until they see a meteor hatching to reveal baby ELLIE inside. She chews on her pristine blond hair, visually exploring the unfamiliar land around her. CAPTION It sure was lucky the police were there to over-patrol that specific park that specific night, because they would discover the savior of our world. COMIC BOOK - INT. ORPHANAGE/CAFETERIA - DAY CAPTION It wasn't long before the adults around her quickly caught wind of her unique gifts. A four-year-old Ellie flies around the room, searching for the cookie jar while juggling every piece of furniture or caretaker in her way. The other kids are excited by this spectacle, but the ones who are most enthralled are several BUSINESSMEN, who came to visit the orphanage. COMIC BOOK - EXT. DOWNTOWN - NIGHT Ellie, now 10 and is followed by news cameras and heavy marketing. She winks to an excited crowd while vaporizing a burglar with a power blast from her hand. CAPTION Ever since she was in Kindergarten, Galaxy Girl has been patrolling the night sky, keeping the entire city safe. INT. TROLLEY - MORNING The train is full of kids in prep school uniforms on their way to school. GEORGE (16) gets interrupted from his comic by a half crushed can of soda rolling to his feet. Despite the fact that he's wearing the exact same uniform as everyone else, his outfit somehow looks the cheapest. He wears a necklace containing his transit pass, a giant chain of utility keys, and a cat key-chain wrapped around his tiny, effeminate body. His half-open backpack sits on his lap. A beat-up notebook containing his "PLANS TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD" sits on top of it. He kicks the can to the popular kids chatting by the door. A tall JACK stands at the door, studying his reflection in the window. He desperately looks for the "perfect" way to mess up his hair. VERONICA and SUZY watch him from behind and giggle to themselves. JACK I still can't get over the fact that THE Galaxy Girl is attending our school. VERONICA Yeah, we know. It's all you blab on about. ALICE, a quiet girl in glasses, stands at the edge of the conversation, listening in while reading the same comic as George. Alice looks in George's direction and smiles when she sees he's reading the same comic as her. He panics and pulls out his notebook and nervously sketches in it. JACK C'mon, there's no way she'll be able to resist me. Watch this. Veronica rolls her eyes. GEORGE (thinking) Can't they find some other slut to mindlessly drone over this week. JACK Hey, what's your jacket made out of? Jack pinches a piece of Veronica's uniform as she stares at him blankly. George's notebook is filled with sketches of him in different cat-themed super-villain outfits. In the corner, he works on a crude sketch of Ellie's body being dismembered. JACK (O.S.) Oh, I guess it's felt. GEORGE (thinking) None of these mouth-breathers will be laughing when I kill their beloved heroine and rule the world. Veronica grabs Jack's hand and moves it off of her shirt. VERONICA Jack, that was the worst thing I've ever heard. SUZY Super lame. JACK C'mon, it wasn't that bad. You girls are just too judgy. The trolley cuts through a large park, causing the outside to be darker temporarily and making a reflection of George's bloody drawings visible in the window behind him. At the same time, Alice's eyes happen to wander towards the reflection of his art. VERONICA It's gonna take someone real smart to get into her social circle. JACK Hey, I could be really smart. She ignores him. VERONICA Even the total losers that go to this school could climb their way to the top of the social ladder if they got to be close with Galaxy Girl. Alice SHRIEKS. The rest of the group runs over to Alice to comfort her and, in the process, they all get a look at George's drawings. JACK What the hell is wrong with you George? SUZY Ew, you shouldn't be anywhere near that little creep. He's like super gross. George shoves his notebook into his bag as a tear rolls down his cheek. VERONICA Why are you working on your creepy fan-fiction in public. What are you, like, 12? GEORGE (thinking) One day all of them will pay. Once I kill their beloved heroine, they'll be nothing stopping me. EXT. LIVINGSTON ACADEMY - ENTRANCE George sulks across the street from the trolley platform. Students are chattering in the crosswalk as press vans are lining the street. GIRL How do you think Galaxy Girl has the time to always look so perfect? BOY I just hope she has enough time to sign all my Special Edition magazine. MAX (O.S.) Yo! George! MAX runs up to him and wraps his arm around George. MAX I know you'd be the most excited about having a hot, out-of-this world, super-powered babe come to our school. George looks away and blushes. GEORGE D..don't tell me your obsessed with all this super-hero worship crap too. You know, a..aside from the fact that, you know, she hatched from a meteor from outer-space and everything, she's just a normal teenager like us... probably. VOICE (O.S.) Oh my God, there she is! ELLIE's (14) imposing statuesque figure flies from the sky munching an oversized breakfast sandwich. With the exception of the crumbs and syrup splattered all over herself, her perky face is pure of blemishes. She waves to the cameras, but is more focused on trying to understand the stained and crumpled up class schedule in her hands. She is swarmed by students right as she tries to land. Ellie's overwhelmed by the crowd. She worriedly points to her schedule, trying to get someone to explain it for her. BOY Can I have your autograph? GIRL What's your favorite part about being a superhero. ELLIE Can so...mpph mmm... ex...kmmph? George tries his best to ignore the crowd and get inside the building. He passes by the local news crew. REPORTER We're live as Galaxy Girl starts her first day at school at one of Metroville's most highly regarded schools, Livingston Academy for Arts and Sciences. From the looks of it, she surely won't have trouble making any new friends. Ellie meekly waves to the reporter. Jack pushes his way to the front of the crowd, brushing off the sweat from the intense camera lights behind him. His confidence fades as soon as he gets close to Ellie. He meekishly holds a piece of the school uniform of the confused, world-famous superhero that's a full head taller than him. JACK Hey... uhm.. tha...that's a nice jacket you have. W..what's it made out of? Ellie gulps down her food and gives a pretty unconvincing laugh. ELLIE Oh, uhm, probably the same thing as your uniform, I guess. You know, it's funny, I think the school makes all of them with the same design. Isn't that cool? Jack's face turns red. Ellie shoves more of the sandwich into her mouth while pointing at her schedule. ELLIE Camyou help..mm..me read mmph-y schedule? Jack sulks back into the crowd as Veronica and the others try their hardest to contain their laughter. JACK I didn't think she'd be that... tall. Ellie sees Jack's left and smiles and waves goodbye. The crowd gets more hectic and moves closer to her. George shuffles behind Ellie, trying to get away from all the mania and just get to class. Ellie, overwhelmed, both emotionally and with the food in her mouth, walks back from the crowd while pointing towards the school. On her way, her butt accidentally bumps into George. The color immediately drains from his face. GEORGE (thinking) Her first offensive maneuver... Her superhuman strength causes the simple bump to send George flying into a wall hundreds of feet behind them. GEORGE (thinking) ... and shows no mercy Ellie turns around shocked. His vision is obstructed by dust and debris. The only thing her can see is an extremely blurred image of an awestruck crowd staring at Ellie. She is panicked and flies to help George. Ellie's worried face blurs back into his focus. He smacks his tongue, tasting the pancake syrup from the sandwich dripping from her face and into his mouth. She pokes his face to see if he's still conscious. ELLIE Mmph...fah..mmph..ou...mmph....okay? Ellie floats several feet from the ground while cradling George in her arms. Everyone is snaps photos of the two while George coughs the syrup out of his mouth. GIRL Aw they're so cute together. BOY I wish I was in Galaxy Girl's arms. INT. CAFETERIA While everyone else is enjoying elaborately packed meals,, George is the only one eating the school lunch. He tries his best not to acknowledge his square Altoona-style pizza sitting in front of him that's burnt on one end and undercooked on the other. His eyes are locked on Ellie sitting at the table text to him. He jots things in his notebook such as: - "THE GAP BETWEEN MY STRENGTH STRENGTH AND GALAXY GIRL'S IS A LOT LARGER THAN INITIALLY ANTICIPATED. (MIGHT NEED TO CHANGE PLANS)." - "GALAXY GIRL APPEARS TO BE HAVING TROUBLE ADJUSTING TO HER NEW ENVIRONMENT. (CAN RELATE :( MIGHT BE A WEAKNESS THAT COULD BE EXPLOITED LATER)" Ellie is THE center of attention, not that she would know. She's pretty busy preparing her lunch: a buffet of chicken sandwiches from every regional fast food chain in the city. ELLIE I used to have a bunch of tutors homeschooling me my entire life. But you know what, I stood my ground and told my manager I was ready to go to real school with all the super-cool city kids. It took a lot of presentations, but he finally decided to let me come here. Ellie dips a double chicken-bacon burger from the "King's Chicken" bag into a bowl of honey mustard before biting into it. VERONICA (smirks) You think she's gonna share any of that? AMY C'mon don't be mean or else she won't want to sit with us. Ellie takes a big sip of the 64oz mega-milkshake from Oklahoma Chicken & Burgers. AMY So Ellie.. uhm.. do you like our school so far? VERONICA Yeah, I bet you had a bunch of really cute guys clamoring to get a piece of you? George overhears this and accidentally snaps his pen in half in the middle of writing. Ellie and George notice each other in their peripheral vision and both blush. AMY C'mon, Veronica, Ellie's too famous to be into any of the guys that go here. Ellie laughs and intentionally falls out of her chair towards George's lap, breaking his table and scattering both of their lunches into their faces. Everybody crowds over the Ellie and ignore George. VOICE #1 Oh my God. VOICE #2 Are you okay? VOICE #3 Let me help you. George tries to hide while Ellie licks the food off her face. INT. HALLWAY - AFTERNOON George wanders the hallway alone, scribbling in his notebook with his now taped-together pen. He's in front of the window for Ellie's classroom. He looks inside the room. Ellie scratches her head, struggling to keep up with the material. INT. CLASSROOM A giant squid robotic squid starts attacking the city and the classroom panics. Ellie is too engrossed in her note-taking to notice. She lays her head on the table, facing away from the window as she stuffs cookies from her pocket into her mouth. George lowers his head so Ellie doesn't see her. The girl sitting behind Ellie and yanks her uniform and points to the squid. Ellie jolts up and wipes the cookie dust off the cookie dust on her mouth. INT. HALLWAY Ellie jolts up and raises her hand. ELLIE Oh, do you mind if I... MR. HALDEMON Yes! Yes! For God sakes just go. George notices Ellie's about to leave and gets up and tries to run a way before she can notice him. In her rush out of the classroom, Ellie trips over George causing both of their belongings (which for Ellie, is like 90% snacks) to spill across the hallway. ELLIE Oh no! I'm so sorry. George panics when he can't find his notebook containing all his "evil" plans. He scours the floor for it all while doing his best to avoid direct eye contact with Ellie. Ellie perks up when she realizes the person she tripped over was George, blocking his view in the process. ELLIE Oh hey! Aw look, it's... you GEORGE M-my name's George. ELLIE Oh yeah, of course it's George. I would never forget my new friend's name? George face gets even redder as he tries to look past Ellie. George looks past her shoulder and sees the notebook on the other side of the hallway. Unfortunately for him, Ellie notices it the same time he does. ELLIE Oh, is that what you're looking for. Don't worry, I can get that for you. George rushed to grab the book before Ellie, but his frail, unathletic body is no match for her super-speed. George cringes as Ellie stands in front of her and hands him the book. Thankfully for him, she never notices the cover. ELLIE Here you go. George gets up and stuffs the book in his bag. Ellie peers down his body. ELLIE Did you get lost? Do you need help finding your way around the school? Well, I don't really know my way around this place either, but I'm sure we could figure something... GEORGE No. I..I've been here for two whole years longer than you. ELLIE Really! You're a junior? But you're just a little chihuahua or a really cute kitten. He curls into himself and tries to hide behind the nearest locker. GEORGE Please don't look at me like that. Ellie's phone rings. George watches her fumble to pick it up while glancing over at the squid attack happening outside. GEORGE Is there, uh, something more important you should be working on? The color leaves her face as she picks up the phone. VOICE (over-phone) Ellie, what the hell are you doing? What's taking you so long? I thought you promised to be on top of your super hero duties after starting school. ELLIE (to George; laughing) Well it was nice to see you again new friend, but I got some real important saving the city stuff to attend to. Ellie blows him a kiss while running off as George is left standing there, staring back at her. EXT. SCHOOL FIRE ESCAPE - ONE HOUR LATER He keeps his stare while "wiping" the kiss off his cheek as the flashing lights from the fight reflect off of him. Ellie's fight with the squid robot can be seen and heard in all its thrilling glory. Press helicopters encircle the battle. Blimps and projections with big, flashy ads fly past in the background. While the rest of the school crowds the courtyard, trying to film videos of the fight, George leans in against the railing, taking notes, while rubbing still rubbing the cheek where Ellie "kissed" him. GEORGE Come on, she can't actually be totally invulnerable? She has to have some kind of weakness. He focuses on Ellie. She has one hand on her earpiece. Her punches are incredibly held back. GEORGE Her fighting is so... choreographed. George is too focused on the fight to notice bolts holding the fire escape to the wall CRACK apart. EXT. DOWNTOWN Ellie senses the fire escape collapsing with her super hearing as the robot charges at her. Without even looking at it, destroys the robot with a single punch, sending pieces of it flying everywhere. EXT. COURTYARD In a flash, Ellie flies over to the school and grabs the fire escape before it can fall. Ellie lowers the escape allowing George to climb down. ELLIE You took quite a fall back there. You were this close to going splat. Are you okay? While the crowd can only see laughter bubbling from her, up close George is able to see the bags under her eyes and the wrinkles around her smile. Ellie lets George down. The crowd cheers as everyone swarms her to take selfies with her and ask for her autograph. George slinks to the ground and crawls out of the ground. He feels a tug on his shoulder. Max stands over George. MAX Yo dude. You see fast she swooped right into save you. She's totally into you. George avoids direct eye contact with him. GEORGE That doesn't mean anything. S-she's a superhero. She rescues people. That's literally her job. A limo drives into the courtyard in the background. CLICHY, Ellie's manager, steps out of the car juggling a phone call while reading through notes on his clipboard and drinking a cup of coffee. CLICHY (over-phone) Yes, I know, that is not what she was supposed to do... No no no I did not tell her to do that. Ellie... she is unpredictable, she does what she wants, when she wants ... I never said they'd be no risk. When you work with my client, there's going uncertainty. Tying a million dollar promotion deal to the whims of a super-hormone-filled teenager will always be risky... George shyly circles him, trying to overhear his conversation. Ellie towards Clichy and squeezes her arms around him while lifting him up off the ground. ELLIE Did you see me fighting? What did you think? Wasn't it super-cool? Clichy pushes his way out of the hug. CLICHY Look Ellie, I know you like to say you can destroy anything that comes your way with no effort, but you are never, ever allowed to end a fight prematurely, okay? You can not just throw away the hard, hard work of the many people who go through the painstaking effort to choreograph your fights. That is not fair. Ellie smirks and rolls her eyes. She gently sets him down on the ground. ELLIE Okay, I promise, from now on, to always listen to you and never ever disobey you ever again. CLICHY This is not a joke! You need to take saving the world much more seriously. George tries to sneak away before Ellie can notice him. Ellie is able to instantly spot George. She stops listening to what Clichy is saying to wave to him. ELLIE Hey new friend, do you want to meet my manager. Don't worry, he might look scary but I promise he's super sweet on the inside. George covers his face and scuttles off, ignoring Ellie's increasingly intense waves. CLICHY Come on Ellie, you have an interview to get to. |