CHEERLEADER - Mickey Sides 1 FADE IN: INT. CHEERLEADING ROOM (GYM)- DAY START A pair of RUSTLING RED POMPOMS is held up by 2 cheerleaders who stand off screen. (V.O.) Hello, we're doing something so cool today! Its gonna be like all of you guys are gonna like stand in 2 rows facing each other and when the coach blows her whistle you're all gonna lift your pompoms up one after another down the whole line until we get to me in the middle. I donno, it's cool to me. A WHISTLE IS BLOWN. The pompoms are lifted in a right-left motion, to reveal another pair of pompoms laid out in front of us. This set of pompoms is then lifted in a right-left motion to reveal another, then another, and so on... We push through the pompoms... CHEERLEADING COACH (O.S.) Ladies, I want you to look good, because if you look good... You FEEL good! The last of the pompoms are lifted to reveal a beautiful blonde girl who stands at the center of the group with her hair up in a high pony tail. This is. Mickey smiles. Over the center of the image... TITLE CARD: CHEERLEADER INT. CHEERLEADING ROOM (GYM) - DAY A TEAM OF CHEERLEADERS stands stacked up as a human pyramid. Cont. A STOPWATCH TICKS in the hand of the CHEERLEADING COACH who wears a WHISTLE around her neck. (V.O.)...I like how the coach pushes us by the way. (MORE) page 1/6
(V.O.) (CONT'D) Like how she screams, "I want you girls to look good, because if you look good, you FEEL good!" Every time we start. It's like she gets us, and she gets what we want. Whatever. I donno things like that get me excited. like before every basketball game I'm always like thinking of people that will see me do these cheers and stuff and I feel like its something that people always compliment about. I donno like its nice to be good at some things and to like look nice and feel good or whatever. You know what I mean. Each cheerleader tries desperately to balance and stand still while holding up the girls above. The cheerleaders tremble with unnatural smiles... Sweat drips down their cheeks and we can see that they wish for nothing but the end of this routine. (V.O.) (CONT'D) So where were you the whole week by the way? You missed everything hello! Were you like absent the whole time? Oh my God, you really don't even know what happened. You're gonna die. K, I'm gonna tell you the whole story. It's crazy, like so much happened. The Cheerleading Coach finally CLICKS her stop watch after a full minute and BLOWS HER WHISTLE to set the girls free. SOUND returns to the room. The Human Pyramid collapses and the girls SIGH with relief. EXT. RED BMW - NIGHT (V.O.) (CONT'D) Okay, so I'm gonna start from the beginning beginning. The SOUND OF CRICKETS... Night-time MIST floats by the side window of the parked car until it is sucked out of frame to reveal: Mickey making out heavily with a big jock who looks like an ogre in the back seat of her car... This big jock is DENT. END 2. page 2/6
CHEERLEADER - Mickey Sides 2 (CONT'D) I could never do that. 39. Mickey listens with full focus. (CONT'D) Everything I say usually takes a few seconds at least to come out. Its like I need to approve everything first. Before people can hear what I'm thinking. Or what I'm feeling. I used to come home from school when I was a kid and review everything I said to people on my walk home. Just to make sure I didn't say the wrong things. I don't know why I did that- Don't do that when you go home tonight. I promise you shouldn't do that. 'Cause I don't care what you say or how you act. I just want to hang out with you but I don't want you to feel like I'm one of those people that you have to be worried in front of. Or thinking a million things in front of. I'm just a person. You know? START My mother says this stupid line sometimes. I feel like it's dumb to say but its like she says, "Mickey, everyone goes to the bathroom." It's like, we're just people. And we all make mistakes and do bad things sometimes but no one is soooo good that they don't go to the bathroom. Mickey shrugs her shoulders. page 3/6
40. (CONT'D) I donno. It's just something she says. Your mom sounds smart. Woah. No. Definitely not. My mom's a psycho. I'm sure she's not so bad. I donno. Sometimes she's normal to me. But sometimes she acts like I did something to her. Like you know when a friend is not telling you something? But like they've been mad at you for something for so long and they never tell you why? And they just act different. That's how she acts. I know that kind of thing. Like is your mother gonna get nervous if you stay out so late tonight? She usually does. Well my mother never gets mad about that. Like my friends. When they come home late, their mother's will be like, "Where were you?! I was worried sick about you..." or whatever. My mom never does that. But like isn't she supposed to? Isn't she supposed to care where I am? Buttons doesn't know what to say. END page 4/6
CHEERLEADER - Mickey Sides 3 76. Mickey hangs up. FLORENCE You think we're gonna be a group again? Like, you, Barbara, me, and my sister? I donno Florence. Maybe. Let's go shopping us two first. FLORENCE Let's do that. Okay bye Mickey. Bye Florence. Mickey looks at her phone. Mickey picks the phone up and dials... INT. 'S BEDROOM / ' GARAGE - NIGHT Buttons picks up the phone by his computer desk. START Hello? Buttons? Buttons is silent for a moment. Hi. I just wanted to call and say how terrible I feel, and to see if you were okay. I didn't mean for Josh to find out. I promise. Silence. I'm guessing we're not gonna be seeing each other again? Mickey doesn't want to answer that. page 5/6
77. I don't know what I should say. Can I just ask one thing? Okay. Mickey smiles. Was I good? Did I kiss well? She cries quietly but Buttons doesn't know. (CONT'D) Yeah, you were really good. Thanks. We hear a LOUD CAR HORN HONKING from outside of Mickey's bedroom. I have to go. Okay, bye. Buttons? Yeah? Silence. It was real. I promise it was real. I know. END The CAR HONKS again. Okay, I have to go. page 6/6