COLD OPEN – ABIGAIL ADAMS HIGH, MORNING
Flyers everywhere: “SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION – TUESDAY.”
Ava slaps a sticker on August’s jacket: “I BUG THE VOTERS WHO LOVE ME.”
Ava: Youth advisory council meeting at lunch. Our demands: no more gym, free ice cream, and Fridays off.
August: That’s not a council, that’s a wish list.
Dewey slides in with a clipboard.
Dewey: I added “mandatory nap pods” and “recess for freshmen.” Also “ban pop quizzes” but nicely.
Mikey lumbers up; a seventh grader sees him, gasps, and… hands him a dollar.
Mikey: I don’t want your money.
Kid: Please don’t stuff me in a locker.
Mikey: I wouldn’t fit and neither would you.
Ava: Who even gives lunch money anymore?
August: Apparently… him.
Smash to titles.
ACT ONE
SCENE A – CAFETERIA – LUNCH
Hand-lettered banner: “YOUTH ADVISORY: TALK TO SHAWN.” Shawn and Katy sit with lemonade and open notebooks. Cory lurks as “quiet support.” The core four (August, Ava, Dewey, Mikey) take seats like a tiny council.
Ava: Proposal: Fridays off. For morale. And outfits.
Shawn: Cost: one day of school a week. Make up hours where?
Ava: (deflates) Saturday is illegal.
Dewey: Free ice cream. Health class can adapt.
Shawn: Budget says no. But a monthly “A’s & Attendance Treat Cart” could work—funded by PTA.
August: No more gym because puberty.
Shawn: That’s not a reason. But we can make gym less “bleachers and dodgeball” and more lifetime movement—yoga, walking clubs, weight training with supervision.
Mikey: Ban pop quizzes.
Shawn: Already in motion: policy says accommodations + notice. (nods at Cory) Democracy is a slow copier; it prints eventually.
Ava: Shorter homework.
Shawn: Smarter homework. Teachers co-plan so work doesn’t pile up like laundry. I’ll back a homework coordination pilot.
The kids share looks—okay, some of this is real.
Cory (quietly to Shawn): You’re good at this.
Shawn (quietly): I’m trying not to be loud.
SCENE B – HALLWAY – AFTER LUNCH
A group of tiny sixth graders shuffle by. One sees Mikey and flings quarters at him.
Mikey: Stop. Keep your coins.
Sixth Grader: You’re the guy who collects!
Mikey: I’m not the bus!
Ava: He’s large, not larcenous.
August: (gentle) Let’s fix the rumor with words.
Dewey: And posters. And a brand.
SCENE C – MATTHEWS APARTMENT – AFTERNOON
Topanga holds blueprints; Cory clutches a snow globe that says “Riley’s Room.”
Topanga: We both work from the kitchen table. If we convert Riley’s room, we get doors. Doors are sanity.
Cory: Riley’s room is… Riley’s room. It still smells like glitter and overthinking.
Topanga: She’s at college. We can make it a hybrid—office weekdays, Riley shrine weekends.
Cory: You said shrine. You said the quiet word out loud.
They stare at the doorway like it might judge them.
ACT TWO
SCENE D – COMMUNITY CENTER – EARLY EVENING
Folding chairs, bad mic. Shawn up front; Katy timekeeper; Cory in the back with a small “please be kind” sign.
Parent #1: Fridays off?
Shawn: No. But smarter Fridays: labs, projects, catch-up hours.
Teacher: Pop quiz policy?
Shawn: Written and posted: notice window or open-notes; accommodations honored.
Student (7th): Nap pods?
Shawn: (smiles) Try “quiet rooms” during study hall.
Ava (whisper to August): He’s… governing.
August: He’s also sweating.
Shawn dabs his forehead, keeps listening.
SCENE E – HALLWAY – NEXT MORNING
Ava slaps up posters: “MIKEY ≠ BULLY. TALL DOESN’T MEAN TAKE.” August carries a stack of flyers: “SEE SOMETHING? ASK FIRST.” Dewey mans a table labeled “GOSSIP CLINIC – FACTS ONLY.”
Random Eighth Grader: But the rumor—
Mikey: Rumor’s a loud guy who lies.
Ava: Also: give your lunch money to the pantry box, not to Mikey. He’s not a vending machine.
Sixth Grader (from earlier) hands Mikey a note: “Sorry. You’re nice. You helped me find the library once.”
Mikey: That’s me. Librarian-shaped.
SCENE F – MATTHEWS APARTMENT – EVENING
Topanga has painter’s tape; Cory has photo frames.
Topanga: Hybrid plan: desk by the window, shelving on the wall, and the bay area remains a window seat with her photos. We call it The Riley Nook.
Cory: Can we ask the person whose nook it is?
Topanga: We will. We won’t make her decide. We’ll invite her to forgive us.
Cory: (texting) “Hey Riles, hypothetical: office in your room, your stuff stays, your window stays. Love you.” (phone buzz) She typed a paragraph. Brace.
Topanga: Read.
Cory: “I want you to have doors. The window is home. Don’t make it beige. Keep the purple pillow.” (beat, soft) My kid chose… change.
Topanga: People change people. And rooms.
They exhale. Tape goes up.
ACT THREE
SCENE G – GYM / MULTIPURPOSE ROOM – AFTERNOON
Pilot “Friday Labs” demo. Stations: Bike & Podcast (PE credit), Homework Coord Board, Quiet Room, Tutor Corner (Dewey/August), Pantry Box.
Shawn tours with Hernandez and teachers.
Ava: (to Shawn) We didn’t get Fridays off. We got a Friday that doesn’t feel like punishment.
Shawn: That’s policy: you keep what works, change what hurts.
Hernandez: If this doesn’t break the schedule or the budget, we trial it next month.
The kids exchange victory eyes.
SCENE H – CAFETERIA – SAME TIME
Mikey sits at a table with a hand-painted sign: “BIG KID HELP DESK.” A sixth grader plops down.
Sixth Grader: Can you open my milk?
Mikey: Yes. Also, the rumor guy is wrong.
Sixth Grader: I know now.
Ava: (passing by) His brand is “gentle skyscraper.”
Dewey: Also “librarian-shaped.”
They grin. A tiny line forms—for help opening things, not for shakedowns.
SCENE I – MATTHEWS APARTMENT – NIGHT
The room glows softly. A tidy desk with legal files and school binders on one side; the window seat still piled with a purple pillow, books, photos. A little plaque: “Riley’s Nook.”
Cory and Topanga stand in the doorway.
Cory: Does it feel like we did something wrong the right way?
Topanga: It feels like we made room.
Cory: For work?
Topanga: For change. And for her, when she boomerangs.
They switch off the desk lamp, leave the string lights on at the window.
SCENE J – SCHOOL STEPS – NEXT MORNING
Shawn posts a one-page platform on the bulletin board: “Listen. Explain. Pilot. Measure. Adjust.” Beneath it, a smaller poster: “Tall ≠ Bully. Ask, don’t assume.” Next to that, a flyer from the PTA: “Friday Labs Volunteer Sign-up.”
August: Change isn’t a magic trick; it’s a spreadsheet and a snack.
Ava: And a cord you don’t have to wear to prove you did a good thing.
Mikey: And a sign that says “big kid help desk.”
Dewey: And a rumor clinic with good fonts.
Shawn approaches in his now-perfect jacket.
Shawn: Polls close Tuesday. No promises I can’t keep. Lots I can try.
Cory (arriving, ink on his fingers): I printed handouts without exclamation points. Character growth.
Topanga (joining, sawdust on sleeve): And we built an office without losing a window. Policy and purple pillow.
They all look at the flyers—their little corner of democracy.
Ava: Okay, but what about ice cream?
Shawn: Occasional cart. Paid for by bake sale.
Ava: Acceptable governance.
They head inside—Friday already feeling different.
TAG – HALLWAY – LATER
A kid tries to slip a quarter into Mikey’s hoodie pocket. Mikey gently returns it… into the pantry jar.
Mikey: If something’s heavy, ask me to carry it. Money goes in the box.
Kid: Deal.
Dewey (calling after): And Fridays are for labs! Not naps! (beat) Maybe tiny naps.
They laugh. Bell rings. Change, in small working pieces, keeps moving.
END.
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