Sunrise High - Tuesday 24 Feb 2000
[Near the cafeteria - 7:54 a.m]
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"Tell---" starts Shawn but Tommy pushes him away with all his force. Shawn falls to the ground and is now on his knees. Tommy doesn't wait any longer and runs away. Shawn also doesn't wait and goes after him and so does Menrad and his two friends. Tommy is running as fast as he can, why is this happening to him? Oh yeah, because he's a big coward. "Stop!! You're not going to get away so easily!" yells Shawn from behind which makes Tommy runs faster, colliding and pushing some people on the way. Shawn tries to use his ability but he can't focus entirely, suddenly, someone step infront of him, one of Menrad's friends. They both fall to the ground. Tommy didn't see it and continues his escape. He finally arrives in an isolated part of the abandoned building.

"I (breathing hard) think...I---" whispers Tommy to himself but suddenly someone grabs his shoulder, Menrad. The latter stares in the eyes of the scared Tommy Matthews. The poor and shaking boy immediately pleads him and tells him that he's never going to tell anyone that he's the one behind Shawn's humiliation.

"You better hold your tongue, Queeny, or else!!" menaces Menrad as he tightens his grip on Tommy's shoulder, hurting the latter. Tommy has tears coming to his eyes, he swears he will never ever tell. "Good, very good, Queeny. And now, you better be careful when you walk around, don't end up infront of that fag again, capiche?" Tommy nodds in agreement and Menrad loosen his grip and goes away.

"Oh God...please help me!" pleads Tommy as he falls on his knees, and starts to cry. "Plllleeeaaaassseee...." he pleads in a whisper.

Sunrise High - Tuesday 24 Feb 2000
[In a corridor - 7:59 a.m]
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After colliding with one of Menrad's friend, Shawn immediately got up and continued his chase but...he lost track of Tommy. He gives a hard kick on the wall at his left and yells, "Damn!!" Then he hears someone calling his name from behind, it's Taylor. The latter walks towards him, with a surprised look on his face. Shawn tells him what happened.

"And now you lost his track? Geez. But at least now you know who he is right? So, all you have to do is walk around the school, you eventually end up finding him." says Taylor as he gives his boyfriend a consolating warm hug.

"Yeah...you're right. And when I'll find him again, I'll definitely know who's the one who..." replies Shawn as he recalls what happened. He remember being hit in the back of the head in the toilets and after that, he remember walking in the corridor with a bandana on the eyes and finally, he remember the fancy princess dress "they" had put on him. He was so hurt and humiliated.

Taylor noticing the sad expression on Shawn's face, gives him a long and passionate kiss. Then he says with the most tender voice, "Hey dolphin, I'm here and I promise you, no one is ever going to hurt like that ever again. Now...gimme a smile, c'mon, gimme one." And he starts to poke his lovely boyfriend in the stomach and in the ribs.

"Hehehehehehe-stop that!-hehehe" pleads happily Shawn as he's giggling. Taylor stops and stares at his boyfriend with a tender and soft look. "Thanks, cookie...thanks a lot. I love you." says Shawn in a whisper as he approaches Taylor for a hug, a warm and tender hug.

SunrisBank - Tuesday 24 Feb 2000
[Heather Rulin's office - 8:35 a.m]
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Heather is sitting at her desk, checking some documents, typing on her keyboard and writing some notes. She's wearing her spectacles, she only use them for reading and watching tv. Suddenly, the phone rings.

"What is it, Robia?" she asks as she picks up the phone. "Who?? ...are you sure?..." asks Heather again in amazement and surprise. She's under the shock. It's been so many years since she last...oh god. Why? What does he want? "Uh what?" says Heather as Robia asks her if she accepts the call. "Yeah...I accept it." she replies almost in a whisper as she takes off her spectacles. He ruined her life once, is he going to do it again?

"Hello. Yeah...it's been a while." says Heather with concern in her eyes. "What??? Are you serious? Why? Oh! Don't make me laugh!" she continues with anger in her voice. "Oh, I'm sooo sorry for you. No...No..I never...ok stop it! Your rights?? I don't care about your rights! Did you....what? What do you mean?" asks Heather getting more and more in the amazement mode.

After some more minutes of talking and arguing...
"All right. I said...all right. You can come tonight. But don't you think you're going...ok. I'll see you tonight. Good bye!" she finishes before hanging up. After so long, he's back. But...what is he expecting? What does he want?

Sunrise High - Tuesday 24 Feb 2000
[In the Garden - 9:32 a.m]
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"Nah! No way, it's not my style." says Michael with a smile. He's sitting under a tree with his girlfriend, Maria, by his side. "I'm sure I'm gonna sleep. Maybe if it was a movie like...uhh...Die Hard or something. But no...I'll sleep if ever we go to watch---"

"---Autumn in New York is a very beautiful movie. C'mon, babe. It's a beautiful love story, I'm sure you're gonna like it. And the ending is very beautiful. I love action movies too, but, when you go to watch a movie with someone you love, you're not going to watch a guy with a gun killing another guy with a gun for one and a half hour, right?" replies Maria, smiling too. Michael stares at her, and she stares at him with her best puppy eyes.

"Oh, all right. We're going to see that movie. All right." he finally accepts. "But, if ever I fall asleep, don't you start a fight with me." he adds jokingly. Maria approaches him and gives him a long and tender kiss, whispering a beautiful I love you in his ears. "I love you too, sweetheart." he replies back the same way.

"So, you come and pick me up tonight. Thank God tomorrow is a public holiday. By the way, don't you think you're gonna spend it with your friends, no no, you're gonna spend it with me!" says Maria in a little laugh. Michael smiles back and replies that he had no intention of spending that day with his friends.

Sunrise High - Tuesday 24 Feb 2000
[In the boys' toilets - 11:04 a.m]
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After avoiding Shawn throughout the day, Tommy finally found a safe place to hide, where nobody will ever open a closed door. The toilets. He's hidding in the very last cabin. Whenever someone enters the toilets he'll always go for the first or the middle ones but never the last ones. Nobody knows why, it's just like that. And besides, most of the time, the boys just come to the toilets for the "small" hurry so, it's rare that a boy enters the cabin for the "big" hurry.

"Why is this happening to me? Out of all the weaklings, why is this happening to me? This is so unfair. Pff, I should give up and stop fighting. Why should I continue being beatened and threatened. That poor guy, he has been humiliated so much. I WANT to tell him but I..I just CAN'T! Damn!!" says Tommy angrily to himself. Since his first years in secondary school, he's been the one who gets most of the punches, kicks and humiliations. He got adapted to it. But sometimes, even for him, it's too much.

"I got those pills at home, why can't I just swallow them?? Yeah...mommy would be sad and she would be left alone. I'm such a loser!" he says, continuing to lower himself more and more and more. In his life, pain is present most of the time. When he's happy, it's when he's home with his mother and his little dog. There're only 4 persons who cares for him in his life actually, his mother, father, Adriana(his only friend) and his little dog, Pancake. He loves them with all his heart and whenever he's with one of them, his life gets brighter and the thought of giving up leaves him. But when he's alone, he often says to himself, "Life sucks...it sucks so much...I wanna die...I wanna leave it!"

Suddenly, he hears two voices. One is unknown to him but the other one, the other one is Shawn's.

Sunrise High - Tuesday 24 Feb 2000
[The boys' toilets - 11:12 a.m]
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"So you didn't find him?" asks Taylor with concern in his voice and he heads to the middle cabins. Shawn replies that he walked around the school but he didn't find that boy. He looked everywhere, but nothing. "Don't give up, maybe at the end of the day, when everyone will go back home, you'll catch him." And he enters the cabin.

"He was going to tell me who did it to me but...something scared him. I don't know what, but I know something scared him a lot. Maybe you're right...at the end of the day, I'm gonna look for him." says Shawn as he washes his hand and his face. Hearing this, Tommy's heart nearly stopped. He'll have to find a way to avoid Shawn at the end of the day. Damn!

"But if ever you catch him again, be very careful. Don't let him go away so easily." says Taylor with a smile, getting out of the cabin. He heads to the taps to wash his hands. "I'll help you out, don't worry." he adds still smiling. Shawn approaches him and gives him a huge wet kiss on the cheek and thank him. "Hey, I'm your boyfriend!" replies Taylor before giving Shawn a big french kiss. Then they get out of the toilets.

In his cabin, Tommy is terrified. What is he going to do?

The Matthews' house - Tuesday 24 Feb 2000
[Tommy's room - 2:46 p.m]
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Tommy successfully avoided Shawn at the end of the school day. He sneaked in a big group of students, it was like a camouflage, so Shawn didn't catch him. Let's hope tomorrow will be as easy. Tommy is now in his room, with light blue coloured walls on which posters of actual pop music stars. He's listening to a cd on his discman, which is nearly "prepared" for the garbage. He took off his shoes, so, he's lying on his bed with his white socks still on.

"What the..." says Tommy suddenly and in a little whisper. He felt something trying to climb up the bed. He turns off his discman and puts it on the wooden table near his bed, then, he gets up and with a smile, he takes that "something" in his hands and puts it on the bed. "Pancake, I told you. There's a ramp over there, so whenever you want to get on the bed, just walk on it, ok?" explains the boy with an angelic smile on his face. Pancake is not a dog but a puppy. He's completely white, except the big brown dot which covers his right eye. Pancake will always remain a puppy, due to the fact that he has the pupstillis syndrome. Pancake will never grow up physically but mentally, yes. In his head, Pancake is already an adult dog, so, he can understand some orders given to him, etc.

"Oh Pancake, I wish I could be like you. I wouldn't have to care about anything, except sleeping and eating. I would be taken care of by someone, I wouldn't have to worry about Menrad and his friends. Oh...life is so unfair." says Tommy to his puppy. The latter shake his little tail and approaches Tommy's face. He starts to lick it. "Awww...you're such a sweet doggie!" says Tommy as he take Pancake in his hands and give him a little tender hug.

The Rulin's house - Tuesday 24 Feb 2000
[The Living Room - 6:03 p.m]
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"Shawn, wait!" yells Maria from the kitchen. Shawn was going to go out when his sister called him. His hand is still on the opened door knob. Maria walks to him and says, "Mom just called, she asked us to wait for her. There's something important she wants to tell us."

They go in the living room and they sit on the couch. Shawn turns up the tv on the musical channel. A few minutes goes by. Then, Maria turns her head to her brother, "Are you going out with Taylor tonight?" Shawn turns his head to his sister and replies that yes, he's going out with Taylor tonight.

"And you? Are you going with Michael tonight?" he asks with a smile. Maria smiles back and replies, "Yeah, we're going to the movies. I hope what mom has to tell us will not take a lot of time." Shawn just raise a little his shoulders as reply.

A few other minutes passes by. Then...
"Hey, Shawn. Can I ask you something?" asks Maria with a smile on her face. Shawn turns off the tv as there's nothing worth to watch and turns to his sister and replies, "Yeah, what?"

"Well, I was wondering..." starts Maria, "...when you are with Taylor, who is the one who lead the action? I mean...you know." and it's added with a smile. Shawn widens his eyes in amazement and with a smile, pokes Maria in her ribs, "What sort of question is that??"

After a few other laughs, Maria takes a serious tone. Shawn notices it and asks his sister what's wrong. She replies, "Well...I was just thinking about something. Maybe mom got herself a...boyfriend." Shawn looks at her with a surprised look and asks her how she got to that conclusion. She replies, "Just think about it. I have a boyfriend, you have a boyfriend, so maybe mom---" Heather Rulin's car just parked infront of the house. After a few minutes, the door opens.

"Oh...here you are." says Heather with nervousity in her voice. "There's someone...I want you to meet." she continues as she goes back near the opened door. Maria gives Shawn the I told you look and the latter smiles back at her. "You can come in..." says Heather to someone outside.

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Heather and that someone approaches the teenagers, who are now standing infront of them. Heather goes behind her children, puts her hands on Shawn's and Maria's shoulders (her right hand on the right shoulder of Shawn and her left hand on the left shoulder of Maria). "Maria...Shawn...(she tightens a bit her grip) the man who is infront of you is...the brother of your...father."