American Beauty Page #6

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A beat.

CAROLYN:

I have some tiki torches in the

garage.

INT. SALE HOUSE - SUN ROOM - LATER

Carolyn enters, alone. She's furious. She locks the sliding

glass door and starts to pull the vertical blinds shut, then

stops. Standing very still, with the blinds casting shadows

across her face, she starts to cry: brief, staccato SOBS

that seemingly escape against her will. Suddenly she SLAPS

herself, hard.

CAROLYN:

Shut up. Stop it. You... Weak!

But the tears continue. She SLAPS herself again.

CAROLYN:

Weak. Baby. Shut up. Shut up! Shut

up!

She SLAPS herself repeatedly until she stops crying. She

stands there, taking deep breaths until she has everything

under control, then pulls the blinds shut, once again all

business. She walks out calmly, leaving us alone in the dark,

empty room.

We HEAR CHEERING and APPLAUSE.

INT. HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM - NIGHT

We're at a high-school BASKETBALL GAME. Teenage boys play a

fast and furious game. One team wearing pale blue and white

uniforms scores a basket. Perky cheerleaders jump up and

down as the CROWD goes wild.

Seated in the bleachers, next to the high school BAND, is a

group of about twenty TEENAGE GIRLS, dressed in pale blue

and white uniforms. Among them, Jane sits next to ANGELA

HAYES. At sixteen, Angela is strikingly beautiful; with

perfect even features, blonde hair and a nubile young body,

she's the archetypal American dream girl.

Jane stands and scans the bleachers.

ANGELA:

Who are you looking for?

JANE:

My parents are coming tonight. They're

trying to, you know, take an active

interest in me.

ANGELA:

Gross. I hate it when my mom does

that.

JANE:

They're such a**holes. Why can't

they just have their own lives?

INT. MERCEDES-BENZ ML320 - CONTINUOUS

Carolyn drives. Lester is slumped in the passenger seat.

LESTER:

What makes you so sure she wants us

to be there? Did she ask us to come?

CAROLYN:

Of course not. She doesn't want us

to know how important this is to

her. But she's been practicing her

steps for weeks.

LESTER:

Well, I bet money she's going to

resent it. And I'm missing the James

Bond marathon on TNT.

CAROLYN:

Lester, this is important. I'm sensing

a real distance growing between you

and Jane.

LESTER:

Growing? She hates me.

CAROLYN:

She's just willful.

LESTER:

She hates you too.

Carolyn stares at him, unsure of how to respond.

INT. HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM - LATER

The uniformed girls now stand in formation on the gym floor.

ANNOUNCER:

(over P.A.)

And now, for your half-time

entertainment, Rockwell High's award-

winning Dancing Spartanettes!

In the crowded stands, Lester and Carolyn find seats.

LESTER:

We can leave right after this, right?

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