COLD OPEN – MATTHEWS APARTMENT – EARLY EVENING
Topanga adjusts earrings; Cory wrangles a jacket that insists on being a cardigan.
Cory: Double date night: two grown-ups plus two other grown-ups equals… supervision-free evening for our child.
August (entering, cologne cloud adjacent): Correction: teen date night. Me and Ava. Independently. Like a small republic.
Topanga: Where are the small republic and its ally dining?
August: Franklin Lanes & Diner. Bowling and milkshakes. Democracy.
Cory: (checking his phone) Funny. We’re… also going there.
August: You’re—?
Shawn (pokes head in): I booked the lane pizza. Katy wanted skee-ball. Don’t fight destiny.
Katy (from hall): I wanted nachos but okay.
Beat. Everyone blinks.
Ava (bursting in, dressed to sparkle): Hi Mr. and Mrs. M—oh. We all look beautiful tonight.
August: This isn’t a chaperone situation.
Cory: Of course not. We won’t even see you.
Topanga: It’s a popular place. With breathable air we all share.
Ava: …Neat.
Smash to titles.
ACT ONE
SCENE A – FRANKLIN LANES & DINER – CHECK-IN
Neon buzz. Bowling balls like planets. A HOST scans the system.
Host: Matthews party of two… Hunter party of two… and a reservation for “August & Ava” with bumper rails.
August: We’re sophisticated. We requested one bumper.
Ava: For personality.
Cory: We’ll be at the opposite end of the galaxy. (aside) Which is five lanes away.
Topanga: (to August, gentle) You see us, we see you, everyone pretends to be surprised. Go have fun.
August and Ava exchange a look: okay. They head to Lane 12. Cory and Topanga join Shawn and Katy at Lane 7.
SCENE B – LANE 12 – DATE MODE
Ava ties rental shoes with alarming speed.
Ava: Tonight’s goals: one milkshake, two hand-holds, three frames where I don’t launch the ball into a new timeline.
August: I brought quarters for the claw machine. Emergency prizes.
They settle in. Ava bowls first—wobbly gutter, saved by the single bumper. Two pins fall. She cheers like she won state.
Ava: We celebrate small pins.
August: We are small pins.
They share fries. Across the lanes, the parents arrive with comical nonchalance.
Cory (too loud): Wow, what are the odds.
Ava (whisper): Eighty-seven percent.
August (whisper): Minimum.
SCENE C – LIBRARY – AFTER SCHOOL
Dewey sits with Mikey, purple pen cocked, notebook open.
Dewey: Vocabulary quiz: “Isosceles.” Go.
Mikey: Two equal sides. Triangle with a favorite child.
Dewey: Shockingly correct and weird. (beat) New plan: you explain it back to me like I’m your grandma.
A small whirlwind in a backpack—MIRANDA (12, seventh grade, Mikey’s sister)—slides into a chair.
Miranda: Mom says you have to get home after this— (sees Dewey, freezes) …hi.
Mikey: Miranda, this is Dewey. Dewey, Miranda. She’s—(motions) seventh grade.
Miranda: (beaming) I know who he is. He’s in the hall of the Tall Boys. You’re… very… educational.
Dewey: Thank you? Sit if you want. No pressure. We’re flirting with triangles.
Miranda: I love geometry. (she does not) I can stay.
Mikey side-eyes the camera we can’t see.
SCENE D – LANE 7 – PARENT DATE
Shawn lines up, bowls a smooth strike. He doesn’t celebrate; Katy does a victory dance for him.
Katy: We still got it.
Topanga: We never lost it.
Cory (peeking toward Lane 12): How often is “not often” regarding glances?
Shawn: Every never. Eyes on your lane, Matthews.
Topanga: He’s fine. She’s fine. We raised fine.
Cory: I know. (beat) But also… tiny bowling balls, tiny heart.
Katy: If you cheer from here, I’ll allow it. If you migrate, we’ll revoke privileges.
Cory: I accept your terms.
They bowl. Cory remains, barely, in his lane.
SCENE E – LANE 12 – COLLISION COMEDY
A server delivers a comically large share milkshake with two straws. August and Ava blush at the architecture of it.
August: This is a commitment.
Ava: We’re brave.
They sip. It’s very cute. At that exact vulnerable moment—the parents stroll up with pizza.
Cory: Look who we ran into!
Ava: (smile strained) It’s fate.
Topanga: We brought you napkins and a no-pressure hello.
Shawn (low to August): Tap your toe twice if you need an extraction plan.
August (low): I love everyone here but also please go away.
Topanga (reading it, kind): We’re truly leaving. Proud of you. (to Ava) Your hair is beautiful.
Ava (softens): Thank you. (beat) We’ll say hi later. Promise.
Parents retreat—Shawn herding Cory by the elbow. Ava exhales.
Ava: That was almost a sitcom.
August: We live in a sitcom.
They clink fries. Reset.
ACT TWO
SCENE F – LIBRARY TABLE – LATER
Dewey sketches triangles; Mikey follows. Miranda doodles “Miranda ♥ Algebra” which is a lie, then stealth-adds “Dewey” in the margin.
Dewey: Okay, equal angles on the base. See? If sides match, bottom corners match.
Mikey: Wizardry.
Dewey: Math.
Miranda: (blurts) What’s your favorite movie?
Dewey: Today? The one where the main guy studies. It’s a thriller.
Miranda: Mine is whatever yours is. Also do you like—like—older girls? Like, eighth grade?
Mikey: No.
Dewey: (gently) I like… classmates. And dogs. And people who do their homework.
Miranda: I can be… all three?
Mikey: Please stop.
Dewey: You can definitely be the homework one. That’s more than enough.
She nods, mortified but listening.
SCENE G – LANE 12 / ARCADE – DATE NIGHT CONTINUES
A soundtrack of pins and retro beeps. August and Ava tour the arcade between frames.
Ava: If I win you a tiny plush, will you name it Franklin Lane?
August: Obviously.
They try the claw; it drops the prize in tragic slow motion. They cackle anyway.
Back at the ball return, Cory waves from the far lane with the world’s smallest thumbs-up. Topanga blows a kiss there-and-back like a boomerang. Ava smiles—okay, that’s kind of cute now that it’s distant.
They bowl one last frame: Ava nails a spare; August rolls a nine and does a tiny, contained victory dance.
Ava: That’s the dance of my people.
August: It’s hereditary.
SCENE H – LIBRARY EXIT – EVENING
Packing up. Miranda lingers.
Miranda: I’m sorry I was… weird.
Dewey: You weren’t weird. You were twelve. Being twelve is extreme.
Mikey: Fact.
Dewey: Here’s the deal. I’m your brother’s friend. That means I’m rooting for you as a kid I care about, not a crush. If you want, I’ll help you with math sometimes—when he says it’s okay and when it’s school, not life.
Miranda: Okay. And I’ll… like people who like me back. At… my lunch period.
Dewey: That’s an A-plus plan.
She grins, relieved. Mikey gives Dewey a look—thanks without words.
Mikey: You’re not awful.
Dewey: Highest compliment in the ninth grade.
They bump fists. Miranda skips ahead, humming.
ACT THREE
SCENE I – FRANKLIN LANES – LATER
Bills paid, shoes returned. The two date nights cross at the exit.
Topanga: How was independence?
Ava: Delicious.
Cory: Boundaries report?
August: We’ve determined the following: you exist, we exist, and we can all exist in one building without becoming a group date.
Shawn: Growth detected.
Katy: We’re proud. Also we’re totally stealing your milkshake idea next time.
Ava: Copy fee is three fries.
They trade three fries like a treaty, all laugh.
Cory (to August, aside): You tell me when we’re too close. I’ll listen. Even if I’m twitchy.
August: I’ll speak up. Even if I’m twitchy.
They nod—deal.
SCENE J – MATTHEWS APARTMENT – NIGHT
August pins a Polaroid from the diner photo booth—him and Ava with a tiny plush the claw did finally cough up—onto his corkboard. It’s labeled “Franklin Lane (the bear).”
Ava (text): best date. your dad is a cartoon but in a good way. 🩷
August (text): agreed. boundaries unlocked. see you for math? (not my best subject)
Ava: i’ll fold gently. also i beat my spare. scared of me yet?
August: constantly.
Topanga peeks in with two bowls of popcorn.
Topanga: Your father and I are watching a black-and-white movie in the living room. You’re invited to ignore us.
August: Perfect plan.
They smile. Home is big enough for everyone.
TAG – LIBRARY / HALLWAY – NEXT DAY
Dewey opens his locker. A tiny, folded paper slides out: a hand-drawn certificate reading “To: Mr. Dewey, For Not Being Weird About Feelings. Signed, Miranda” with a doodle of an isosceles triangle wearing sunglasses.
Mikey (over his shoulder): She made you a math guy with drip.
Dewey: I’ll allow it.
He sticks it inside the locker like a secret trophy. Bell rings. They head to class—friends, boundaries intact.
END.
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