WHAT YOU NEVER HAD: EXCERPT

Logline: After secretly following his teenage daughter to Mexico on the hunt for her long-lost mother, a conflict-averse spin doctor must face his own past trauma in order to stop it from repeating in his child.

FIRST 10 PAGES

CLOSE ON: PHOTOGRAPH ON THE INSIDE OF A LOCKER DOOR

We can only just make out the face of a woman in her late 20's. She wears an explorer's hat with a colourful woven textile band. Light comes in through the cracks of the locker, but the photo is mostly shrouded in darkness.

A SCHOOL BELL rings and the locker door is pulled open to reveal an ANGRY-LOOKING GIRL WITH RED HAIR (CLARA, 15).

INT. HIGH SCHOOL - MORNING

Clara grabs some books from her locker. In the light, we see the woman in the photo has the same red hair as Clara.

Clara's friend OLIVIA, 16, grabs her books from the locker next to her. Olivia wears cute, fashionable clothes. Clara wears heavy boots, leggings and an oversized t-shirt.

OLIVIA

... so I was like mum no obviously I'm not going to sleep in the same bed as him...

An obnoxious TEENAGE BOY (REECE) comes down the corridor on a kickbike. He rips the photo off Clara's locker door.

REECE

Woah! You never told us you have a hot sister, Clara!

Clara spins around.

CLARA

Give me that.

The boy nudges his FRIEND (ANDY).

REECE

Jeez. Look at those tits.

Clara motions for the photo, but Reece moves it out of her reach. While fighting off Clara, he looks at her, at the picture, and back at Clara.

REECE

I mean there's a likeness but no... this girl is WAY hotter than Ginger Minge.

ANDY

Maybe it's her girlfriend?

REECE

Woooooooah! Come to think of it, it would be pretty hot to see Ginger Minge handle those big juicy -

Clara chucks a BOOK at Reece, which hits him in the face and makes him RIP the photo. The photo sails to the ground as Reece puts a hand to his bleeding nose.

Clara picks up the blood-splattered picture. She wipes it, shoots a murderous glance at Reece and starts walking away.

MISS HEARST (O.S.)

Miss Johnson.

Clara stops. In the doorway of an adjacent classroom stands her strict-looking RELIGION TEACHER (Miss Hearst).

MISS HEARST

Head Teacher's office. Now.

Clara rolls her eyes and GROANS.

INT. HEAD TEACHER'S OFFICE

The office is nicely decorated with lots of books and photos of kids, pets and exotic holidays. The walls are lined with impressive diplomas. A woman enters the adjacent office.

MISS WALLACE (O.S.)

(to her secretary)

Clara Johnson? Already?

ASSISTANT (O.S.)

She gave Reece Withers a nosebleed.

MISS WALLACE (O.S.)

Let's face it he probably deserved it.

(realising the door's open)

Oh, shoot.

HEAD TEACHER WALLACE, a smart woman in her early 40's, enters the office. She tries to act stricter than she truly feels.

MISS WALLACE

Wow thanks, Clara. Nothing I love more than a nosebleed before my coffee.

CLARA

He asked for it.

MISS WALLACE

(playing dumb)

Really? What words did he use?

Miss Wallace sees the TORN PHOTO in Clara's hands. She sits down and turns on her computer.

MISS WALLACE

Listen, Clara. I know teenage boys can be thoughtless. Trust me, I deal with them every day. But you can't just go breaking books over their heads every time they do something you don't like.

CLARA

Why not?

Beat. Miss Wallace gives Clara a brief, playful look.

MISS WALLACE

Well. Books are expensive.

Clara smiles, briefly, against herself. But the look of the ripped photo wipes the smile right off.

Miss Wallace types in her computer password.

MISS WALLACE

Besides isn't that what your essay was all about? A non-aggressive alternative to our colonialist educational system, was it?

CLARA

You can be non-aggressive without being passive.

MISS WALLACE

Well. Maybe when it comes to Reece Withers, a bit of passivity wouldn't be so bad.

CLARA

(ignited)

Really? That's what you want to teach the young women at your school?

Miss Wallace sighs.

MISS WALLACE

Clara. You're an A* student. But if you don't do something about your impulse control, I will have to suspend you.

CLARA

So what, I should just smile and walk on by? Be a fake, like the other girls? Like my dad? Like every politician in this country?

MISS WALLACE

There's a difference between being civil and being "a fake", Clara.

CLARA

Not if you're pissed off. Then they're exactly the same thing.

Miss Wallace turns back to the computer. Starts opening programmes, her standard morning procedure.

MISS WALLACE

I'm gonna let you off with a warning. And silently pray that Camp America will get it out of your system.

CLARA

(frowning)

Huh?

Miss Wallace starts reading emails.

MISS WALLACE

And tell your father we need his signature by tomorrow, or they'll give the space to someone else. Well, they won't. But they'll bug me about it.

CLARA

Wait. I won the essay competition?

Now Miss Wallace looks at Clara.

MISS WALLACE

But of course you did. See Clara, our educational system is like any abused being. Tell it what's wrong with it, it'll love you forever!

Not understanding, Clara frowns.

MISS WALLACE

I digress. Anyway, as I told your father - oh wait. No, not your father. He was out. I spoke to, um, what's his assistant's name...

She searches for it...

MISS WALLACE CLARA

(pleased to have found it) (through clenched teeth)

Greg! Greg.

EXT. CLARA'S HOUSE - AFTERNOON

Clara angrily walks into an exclusive West London apartment building.

DOORMAN

Good afternoon, Miss Johnson.

Clara shoots him an unhappy look.

INT. CLARA'S HALL - AFTERNOON

Clara closes the front door behind her. Several distant voices can be heard. More of an office than home vibe.

SIMON (O.S.)

(ingratiating)

Right. But of course. No problem.

CLARA

Hello?

A SNOOTY MAN (GREG, 40's) with a bluetooth headset walks past the doorway in the next room. He stops, casts a disapproving glance at Clara's DIRTY BOOTS, and continues.

GREG (O.S.)

Wonderful, Steven. Tell the mayor we appreciate it.

Clara gives Greg a disgusted look and walks into the next room.

INT. SIMON'S STUDY - MOMENTS LATER

A HANDSOME MAN IN HIS EARLY FORTIES sits at a desk with a phone to his ear. This is Clara's dad SIMON. He's charming, but a bit too keen to please. He nervously chews on a pen.

SIMON (O.S.)

(fake enthusiastic)

Oh, he did not say that! Piers, you're killing me.

(he holds the phone out and unhappily mouths to Clara)

"It's your mother's father."

CLARA

(deadpan)

You hate him.

Simon slams a hand over the phone and hushes Clara.

CLARA

Don't worry. He knows.

She grabs a MINT out of a bowl and turns to leave the room.

SIMON

(still covering the microphone)

Honey?

He pulls out his wallet and gives Clara a CREDIT CARD.

SIMON

Order us some dinner, will you? Anything you like. I'll be done by six thirty. Seven, latest.

He takes his hand off the phone.

SIMON

No problem, Piers. None at all. You'll have 'em by end of play. No, no. Happy to!

Clara GROANS and stomps off.

INT. CLARA'S BEDROOM

Clara sinks down on the floor of her bedroom and leans against the door. On the inside of her door is another photo of the woman from her locker, this time smiling next to an INDIGENOUS WOMAN of Latin American heritage.

Clara looks around the room. It is decorated with endless pictures of Latin America along with several

EXOTIC TRINKETS (bead necklaces, handmade feather fans, masks, small statues etc). On a wall hangs an old-fashioned HIKING BACKPACK.

There are various photos of her and Simon, and of the locker woman and Simon. (If you haven't yet got it, she's Clara's mum.) In the photos, her parents are happy, hiking, swimming.

Clara pulls out the ripped photo from the locker. A small speck of blood is still on it. Clara licks her finger and rubs it out.

She repairs it with some cello tape from her desk drawer. Next to the tape in the drawer is her PASSPORT.

She slides the repaired locker picture inside a SHOE BOX labelled BOX OF MUM. In the background, we catch a NEWSPAPER CLIPPING: BRITISH WOMAN, 26, DISAPPEARS IN MEXICO.

INT. LIVING ROOM - EVENING

The clock shows 7:48 PM as Clara finishes her takeout in front of a documentary about the Maya people. Next to her is her dad's unopened takeout carton.

In the far distance, his voice can be heard, still on the phone. In the background, we hear the DOCUMENTARY PRESENTER.

MAYA DOCUMENTARY PRESENTER:

To this day, descendants of the Maya populate Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador and the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico.

Simon enters.

SIMON

Whew. What a day.

He plants a kiss on Clara's cheek. She wipes it.

SIMON

Sorry I'm late, doll. We're hiring a new girl and she's a little slow on the uptake.

Simon opens his takeout carton and sniffs it, contentedly.

CLARA

Age?

SIMON

Oh, I don't know. 23, 24?

CLARA

Then she's not a girl, dad. She's a woman.

Simon lifts some cabbage out of his carton with his chopsticks.

SIMON

Yuck. I hate cabbage.

He puts his cabbage in Clara's carton and looks at the TV.

SIMON

Indians again?

Clara pauses the documentary.

CLARA

Did Greg tell you I won the competition?

SIMON

What competition?

CLARA

Camp America. The essay I wrote?

(then)

About a non-oppressive alternative to our colonialist educational -

SIMON

Right. Yeah, he might have mentioned something.

He shoves some more food into his mouth. Chews. Clara waits.

SIMON

Well, obviously you're not going.

CLARA

Why not?

SIMON

Send you off to America with a bunch of sixteen year old boys for six weeks? Ha. No thanks. No, gracias. I know what I was like at that age.

Clara's rage rises. She clenches her jaw, fists, whole body.

SIMON

But speaking of calls from school, Greg said your principal called again about your impulse con -

Clara SNAPS her chop sticks in half and emits a TEENAGED ROAR. Simon stops talking and stops chewing.

CLARA

This is oppression!

SIMON

No, Clara. It's parenting.

CLARA

I can't do ANYTHING! What, just because -

Her eyes stop at her parents' WEDDING PHOTO on the wall.

Simon follows her line of vision. A tense beat.

CLARA

She would've wanted me to go.

SIMON

Right. Cause you knew her so well.

Clara is stunned. Simon stops chewing. A moment between them. Then Clara stands up and swats her takeout carton onto the floor. It lands on the carpet, immediately staining.

SIMON

Hey!

CLARA

You know what? I may not have known mum. But I know you. And that's enough to see why she fucking left!

Clara storms out of the room. A door SLAMS. Simon looks at the stained carpet and sighs.

Very calmly, he wipes his mouth, grabs the remote and changes the channel to golf.

INT. CLARA'S BEDROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Clara sinks down onto the floor, shaking with anger.

Her eyes catch on the BOX OF MUM, still on her desk. Next to it is her dad's credit card. An IDEA hits.

She gets up.

INT. LIVING ROOM - EVENING

Simon is SNORING on the sofa. On the TV, sports have given way to a talk show. A MALE HOST interviews a FEMALE AUTHOR.

FEMALE AUTHOR

... well it makes sense if you think about. Excessive restriction has lead to rebellion in all known cultures on Earth, so why would teenagers be any different?

Simon wakes up with a start. Looks at the clock on the wall: 9:15 PM. He blinks a few times and looks at the TV.

MALE HOST

So you're saying, no rules is the best rule when it comes to raising teenagers?

FEMALE AUTHOR

I'm saying that unless children are allowed to explore their own boundaries, we cannot expect them to develop judgment. And trust me - nothing is more dangerous than a teen who can't tell arbitrary custom from genuine peril.

MALE HOST

Thank you Suzanne Pritchard, author of No More I Hate You's - the Alternative Guide to Raising Teens. Next with us tonight...

Simon looks from the Chinese food on the carpet, to the wedding photo on the wall. He sighs and gets up.

INT. HALL OUTSIDE CLARA'S BEDROOM

Simon KNOCKS on Clara's door.

SIMON

Clara?

(then)

Can I come in?

He pushes down the handle.

INT. CLARA'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS

SIMON

So I was thinking, and maybe Camp America isn't such a -

He stops. Clara's room is empty.

SIMON

Hello?

On Clara's desk the BOX OF MUM is open - and empty. Also open is the drawer that had cello tape and a passport in it. Now it has no passport in it. The hiking backpack is gone, too.