COLD OPEN – RILEY’S ROOM, MORNING
Riley and Maya sit at the bay window amid a battlefield of boxes. A strip of sun lands perfectly on their rings.
Riley: What if I look back and this was the last good light I ever sat in?
Maya: Then we buy better lightbulbs. Come on, Peaches. Time to go.
Riley: Time to go… forward.
Maya: Look at you, handing yourself your own Very Special Lesson.
Auggie enters, wearing a backpack that’s way too big and a lanyard with “AUGUST MATTHEWS – FROSH.”
Auggie: Does high school have an HOA or is Ava just making that up?
Maya: She’s making it up. Probably.
Riley: (calling) Mom! Dad! It’s happening!
Cory pokes in with two travel mugs and a lecture face.
Cory: Kids, today we—
Topanga: (appearing, cutting him off with a kiss) Today we pack the car.
Cory: …We pack the car, and also feelings.
Riley and Maya touch rings.
Riley & Maya: Ring power.
Smash to theme sting.
ACT ONE
SCENE A – TOPANGA’S, LATE MORNING
The gang’s “last shift” energy: balloons, a hand-lettered sign (“Bye But Also Come Back”).
Farkle wheels in a stack of labeled totes that look like they’ve been professionally bar-coded.
Farkle: Don’t worry, I optimized the vehicle loadout via a dynamic packing algorithm. Also my dad rented a second truck for my throw pillows.
Zay: Good, because I brought my entire personality and it needs legroom.
Lucas slips in, slightly breathless, holding a paper grocery bag.
Maya: You’re late. I was two minutes away from breaking up with you just on principle.
Lucas: I brought kolaches.
Maya: You live another day.
They gather for a group selfie behind the counter. Shawn and Katy step from the doorway with coffees.
Shawn: Thought I’d see what it looks like when the universe moves two chairs and pretends it’s the same room.
Katy: It’s actually three chairs. I counted. (to Maya) You ready?
Maya: I’m ready.
Riley: (small) Me too.
Cory clears his throat, launching anyway.
Cory: When we left for Pennbrook, Mr. Feeny said—
Topanga: (fond) He said, “Do good.”
Cory: Right, well, I’m adding, “Call your mother. And ask your father before you use the hot plate.”
Zay: That’s beautiful. I’m crying and also hungry.
Topanga: (to all) We’ll meet you there with Auggie. Text if you need anything. Also text if you don’t. Just… text.
They hug in a tangle. Maya watches Riley for the tiniest wobble.
Maya: Hey. You’re never without me.
Riley: I know.
They squeeze hands. Exit.
SCENE B – PENNBROOK UNIVERSITY, MOVE-IN CHAOS – AFTERNOON
Banners. Parents double-parked. A brass ensemble inexplicably playing “Pomp and Circumstance.” A table reads “WELCOME, FRESHMAN CLASS”
Rachel Maguire, now in Dean-of-Admissions mode with a clipboard, greets them.
Rachel: My favorite troublemakers. Welcome to Pennbrook.
Riley: Dean Maguire! Do you know where the light is best for important life choices?
Rachel: The quad at golden hour. But today we settle for “by the elevators.”
Eric Matthews appears in a sash that reads “FORMER SENATOR/FOREVER HELPER,” holding a novelty foam finger that says “GOOD!”
Eric: (huge) Good!
Zay: I knew that was coming and yet I did not.
Eric: On behalf of the entire Matthews extended multiverse, welcome. If you see a building mysteriously renaming itself “The Eric,” ignore it. The plaque glue is non-binding.
Farkle: Speaking of binding, where can I check in my cryo-safe for volatile compounds?
Rachel: The… science wing we apparently own now. (smiles) Rooms are posted over there. Riley & Maya: 3B. Farkle & Zay: 3D. Izzy Smackle… is terrorizing Harvard. We’re proud of him.
Maya: (to Lucas) You sure you don’t wanna transfer to “Buffalo Studies” here?
Lucas: (easy) I start my pre-vet track in a few weeks back home, but I’m here for the weekend. And most weekends. I’m like a boomerang. But hotter.
Maya: Debatable. Carry my lamp, boomerang.
They grab carts and disappear into the residence hall.
SCENE C – RILEY & MAYA’S DORM, ROOM 3B
It’s a classic college shoebox: two beds, two desks, a suspicious radiator, and a window that looks out onto a leafy courtyard.
Riley: (soft gasp) Maya. Look.
Maya: I’m looking.
Riley: It’s not the bay window. But it’s… a window.
Maya: (decisive) Then this is ours.
They choose sides in a single look. Riley’s wall: photo strings, tiny fairy lights. Maya’s: bold art, a mini canvas that says “Make Good Trouble, Pay in Cash.”
Maya: Bed lofted?
Riley: Bed grounded. My soul has left my body enough today.
Maya: (tossing a pillow up) Lofted it is.
The pillow plops back onto Riley’s head.
Riley: Maybe the ground is an underrated concept.
RA SKYLER (20, cheerful) knocks and sticks their head in.
Skyler: Hey hey! I’m Skyler, your RA. Fire drill Thursday, no candles, and if anyone says “it’s so quiet, isn’t that nice?” it will summon a marching band.
Maya: Noted.
Skyler: One more thing—there’s a freshman tradition called “The First Window Talk.” You say what you want this window to see you do this year.
Riley: (lights up, to Maya) We’re doing that.
Maya: Obviously.
Skyler moves on. Riley crosses to the window, nervous-excited.
Riley: Okay. Window. Witness us… not being scared. Witness us being us.
Maya: Witness me passing Intro to Something I Didn’t Sign Up For.
Riley: And witness me making new friends without forgetting old ones.
They toe-bump. Ring power.
SCENE D – FARKLE & ZAY’S DORM, ROOM 3D
Farkle unfurls a whiteboard schedule labeled “OPTIMIZED LIFE.” Zay sits on an unopened suitcase.
Zay: You scheduled my free time?
Farkle: It’s more of a free-time window. With guardrails. And a moat.
Zay: Okay, Architect of Fun. First order of business: futon angle. We goin’ forty-five degrees or chaotic neutral?
Farkle: (calculating) Forty-five maximizes seating and traffic flow—
Zay: Chaotic neutral it is.
They laugh. A comedic attempt to force the futon through the door ends with both wedged halfway, perfectly content.
Zay: Tell Harvard they’re missing out.
Farkle: They know.
SCENE E – MATTHEWS CAR → HIGH SCHOOL PARKING LOT – AFTERNOON (B-STORY)
Topanga drives. Auggie in back, fidgeting with his lanyard. Ava’s voice blasts on speaker.
Ava (phone): August, as your locker neighbor, I require full coordination of shelf height and seasonal décor.
Auggie: Are we… a homeowner’s association?
Cory: In my classroom there is no HOA, only me.
Topanga: (to phone) Hi, Ava.
Ava (phone): Hello, Mrs. Matthews-Topanga. Please inform August that our locker theme is “Classic Autumn Chic.”
Auggie: My theme is “I have a locker.”
Cory: (smiles) You’re gonna be fine, buddy. There’s a first day for everything.
Auggie: (small) Do you think the big kids will rob me of my textbooks we don’t use?
Topanga: No one’s robbing anyone. And if they try, I will litigate.
Cory: And I will assign a pop quiz.
Auggie: That’s worse.
They laugh. Auggie relaxes.
ACT TWO
SCENE F – QUAD, SUNSET (GOLDEN HOUR)
The gang collapses on the grass with paper plates of Welcome BBQ food. Rachel passes with a clipboard; Eric’s foam finger waves from a distance.
Rachel: Orientation tomorrow, schedules tonight. You’ll meet your academic advisors, and if anyone asks if you know me, say no unless they look kind.
Zay: (mouth full) Dean Maguire, you got a minor in Drama? Because this day has been Cinema.
Rachel: I teach a seminar in Surviving Your First Week Without Burning Down The Lab. Farkle, I expect you in the front row.
Farkle: I will be at the lab five minutes early to not burn it down.
Rachel exits. The sun hits just right.
Riley: This is the light.
Maya: (leans back) Told you we could buy it.
Lucas squeezes Maya’s hand.
Lucas: I got you something.
He pulls a small stuffed buffalo from the grocery bag, wearing a tiny Pennbrook T-shirt.
Maya: (soft gasp) You found me a buffalo.
Lucas: A symbolic buffalo. Portable. TSA approved.
Maya: (hugging it) His name is Dean Buffalo.
Zay: Dean Buff is a strong leader.
Farkle: I’d vote for him.
They laugh.
Cory and Topanga approach across the lawn, taking them in like a painting they have to leave hanging.
Topanga: Dinner at the hotel? Or… are we dismissed?
Riley: (torn, then steady) I think… we’re good here.
Cory feels it. He nods.
Cory: When I left my old window, I thought the world would forget me if I moved. It didn’t. It made room. That’s all life keeps doing—making room for new versions of you. (beat) Mr. Feeny told us, “Do good.” I’m adding… “Do you.” And call your mother.
Topanga: (teary smile) Regularly.
Group hug. It lingers.
Cory: (to Maya) Guard my kid.
Maya: Always.
Topanga: (to all) People change people. Let the right people.
They wave the Matthews off as the sky purples.
SCENE G – DORM HALLWAY, NIGHT
Riley and Maya carry the last box down the hall. Music and laughter leak from other rooms.
Riley: Does this feel like… a good beginning?
Maya: It feels like the part in the movie where the main character says a hopeful thing and then the fire alarm goes off.
The fire alarm BLARES. Skyler sprints past with a clipboard.
Skyler: THIS IS A DRILL! (beat) Mostly!
Maya: Called it.
Riley: (grabbing Maya’s hand, grinning) Come on.
They run with the crowd, laughing into the night.
SCENE H – HIGH SCHOOL LOCKERS, EVENING (B-STORY RESOLUTION)
Auggie and Ava stand before adjacent lockers. Ava holds a level, like a tiny contractor.
Ava: Shelf… perfect. Scent sachet… cedar. Now announce your theme.
Auggie: My theme is “I Survived.”
Ava: (softening) Mine too.
They bump shoulders, sweet.
Cory: (off) Phone away, Ms. Morgenstern-Matthews.
Ava: (to Auggie) He’s terrifying.
Auggie: You have no idea.
They grin.
TAG – RILEY & MAYA’S ROOM, LATE NIGHT
The room is mostly set. String lights glow. Riley tapes a small sticky note inside the window frame: “We were brave here. —R & M.”
Maya notices, watches her.
Maya: Okay, Window. Witness this: We’re gonna make this place ours.
Riley: And when we miss home, we’ll make a new one.
They sit at the window, knees touching, looking out at the campus that’s slowly becoming theirs.
Riley: Ring power.
Maya: Forever.
From the doorway, Lucas pops his head in with a sheepish smile and a duffel.
Lucas: So, small change. Turns out there’s a community college ag program twenty minutes away. I got on a waitlist… and then off it. I’m… here. Mostly.
Maya: (eyes big, then a grin) You’re impossible.
Lucas: (holds up buffalo) Dean Buffalo pulled some strings.
Maya: (laughs, pulls him in by the shirt) Come here, boomerang.
Zay and Farkle appear behind him with snacks.
Zay: I heard “come here boomerang” and assumed it was a group activity.
Farkle: I brought a housewarming experiment.
Riley: If it explodes, we’re grounded.
Maya: If it explodes, it’s college.
They pile in, chaotic and happy. Outside, the campus hums. Inside, a new window learns their names.
END.
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