INT. PETERSON HALL BUILDING - HALLWAY - AFTERNOON

We first see a glimpse of the MINERAL KIT Rick is holding in one of his hands.  
The kit is actually a CLEAR PLASTIC BAG with a VARIETY OF ROCK and MINERAL 
SAMPLES in it.  We then see Soriano enter the classroom.

INT. PETERSON HALL BUILDING - ROOM 127 - AFTERNOON
 
Rick walks over to the same spot at the table that he sat at LAST WEEK.  
The girl sitting next to him, Nikki Cruz, is already at her seat.  This time around, 
A FRIEND OF HERS is sitting at the table next to her.  Nikki turns to look at Rick 
after having a few words with her friend.  

						NIKKI
			Hey, Mr. Artiste.

Rick looks at her and nods in response.

						RICK
			What’s up...

						NIKKI
			I see you’re all prepared for class.
			(gives a thumbs-up sign)
			Good work.

Rick responds with a THUMBS-UP gesture of his own.  Nikki grins as she begins 
talking to her friend again.  A few seconds later, he turns to look at the 
door as Denise Tran enters the classroom.  Going to the chair she sat at a 
week earlier, Denise then stares at Rick and ONCE AGAIN smiles.  He beams back.

INT. PETERSON HALL BUILDING - ROOM 127 - AFTERNOON

We FIRST GET A GLIMPSE of the clock that is on one of the classroom’s walls.  
The two arms on the clock indicate that it is now 2:45 in the afternoon.  
Rick’s class is in MID-SESSION.  We observe the teacher as she WALKS AWAY 
from the chalkboard.

						TEACHER
			...And that’s it for the lecture.  We will now 				
			begin our first lab, so please take out all 
			the mineral samples in your kit.

Most of the students in the class do so as instructed.  There are some students 
who do not have the kit.  Denise Tran is one of them.  

						TEACHER
			Before we start, it is preferable that each 
			of you find a partner.  After you find 
			someone to work with, begin the lab.

Other than Nikki who sits next to him, there is another girl who sits across the 
table from Rick.  She already PAIRS UP with a classmate sitting next to her.  
Nikki is paired up with the FRIEND SHE WAS TALKING TO at the start of the class.

Rick begins taking out samples from the PLASTIC BAG.  After he pulls out of 
all the minerals, HE LOOKS AROUND...and sees that Denise is sitting next to 
Nikki and her friend.  Denise has an expression on her face as if there are 
ENOUGH PARTNERS in that group already.  She turns to look at Rick and smiles.

						DENISE
			Are you working with anyone?

Rick has a SURPRISED LOOK on his face for about a SECOND.

						RICK
			(shakes his head and grins)
			No.

Denise smiles back and walks over to the EMPTY SEAT that is located on his 
left-hand side.

						DENISE
			I see we’re finally talking- Not JUST
			exchanging smiles from across the room.

						RICK
			(still grinning)
			Everything has to start SOMEWHERE.

The teacher walks over to where he and Denise are sitting and hands each 
of them a sheet of paper with a CHART OF MINERAL NAMES on it.  Denise looks 
at the teacher before she walks away.

						DENISE
			Thank you.
			(to Rick as she lays the handout on the table)
			Let’s get started, shall we?

INT. PETERSON HALL BUILDING - ROOM 127 - AFTERNOON

We get another glimpse of the clock that is on one of the classroom’s walls.  
The two arms on the clock now indicate that it is 3:00 in the afternoon.  

Our next glimpse is of the BLACK CHALKBOARD next to the classroom’s main exit.  
On the chalkboard are different GEOLOGY TERMS such as HARDNESS, COLOR, CLEAVAGE, 
LUSTER, STREAK and other words written on it.

						DENISE (OS)
			Okay, we’re done with this sample...

Denise hands the mineral to Rick as she reaches into the plastic bag for a new one.

						DENISE
			Now let’s study another one.

						RICK
			Sure thing.

Denise takes out another sample from the bag, and feels it in her hand.  She grins 
as she does so, and then looks at Rick.

						DENISE
			Ooh, this one is pretty firm in my
			hands.

						RICK
			Serious?

						DENISE
			(smiles once more)
			YEA... I’m grabbing it hard, you know?

Rick TRIES HARD not to have a SURPRISED LOOK in response to her remark.  Denise 
stares at the sample for a few seconds before she turns to look at him again.

						DENISE
			I’m just teasing you.
			So which mineral do you think this is?

Denise hands Rick the sample.  After she does so, he looks at the CHART that 
the professor handed out to the class.

						RICK
			Well, to identify it...we’d first have 						
			to see if this has cleavage or not. 
					
						DENISE
			Okay.

Denise and Rick sit CLOSE TOGETHER to study the mineral.  Rick OCCASIONALLY looks 
toward Denise’s DIRECTION during the obvervations.  Denise is UNAWARE.

						DENISE
			If you look closely you can spot two 						
			fractures.  See?

Denise points the fractures out to Rick.

						RICK
			(nods)
			I see them.  

						DENISE
			(to herself as she touches the mineral)
			They both look the same...

						RICK
			Sooo- For the cleavage, we put down two?

						DENISE
			(nods)
			Uh huh.  They’re both at ninety-degree 
			angles.

Rick EYES THE SAMPLE CLOSELY again.  He then begins writing the info 
down on paper.

						RICK
			Okay...  
			So we now know it has a lot of 							
			cleavage.
			(jokingly) 
			I like the sound of that!

A pause as Denise has a wide-eyed expression on her face.

						RICK
			You’re not the only one who can
			talk dirty.			

Denise smiles in response.  She again eyes the sample CLOSELY.  Rick briefly 
looks down at her shirt, and realizes she’s wearing a TURTLE-NECK SWEATER.

						DENISE
			And if you look closely, you can see that 
			this thing has a very different texture from 
			the other minerals.  
			(a pause)
			So I think this would be-

Rick looks at the chart and then back to the sample.

						RICK
			-plagioclase feldspar?

Denise looks at the sample and then the chart, and nods.

						DENISE
			Exactly.

						RICK
			(smiles)
			Coo.
			(They both begin to fill out the 
			rest of their chart)
			Now let’s finish this bad boy and go home.

After they finish working on the chart, Denise and Rick begin PACKING THEIR 
BACKPACKS.  Once they finish, Denise then helps him put the minerals into 
the plastic bag from which they came.  She smiles as she does so.

						DENISE
			That wasn’t so bad.

						RICK					
			(nods)
			Naw...it was pretty easy.

A pause.
					
						DENISE
			So what’s your name again?

						RICK
			(smiles)
			You never asked the first time.

Denise smiles back.
	
						RICK
			My name’s Rick.

						DENISE
			I’m Denise.

						RICK (VO)
			I already know what your name is.			
			(to his lab partner out loud)
			Nice to meet you, Denise.

The two shake hands.  A brief pause afterwards.
 
						DENISE
			So what’s your phone number?

Rick has a WIDE-EYED LOOK on his face.

						RICK
			(jokingly)
			Whoa, SOMEONE here is moving fast!

						DENISE
			(grins)
			For SCHOOL PURPOSES?

						RICK
			(beams in response)
			Let me write it down.

						DENISE
			Okay, here.

Denise takes an ORGANIZER out of her backpack and gives it to Rick.  He then writes 
into it.  Denise looks at a HANDOUT on his binder and begins writing on that.  
Rick then FROWNS as he turns to look at what Denise is doing.  

						RICK
			What are you doing?

						DENISE
			Giving you my phone number.

						RICK
			(a surprised look once again)
			DAYAMN! I’ve known you only for an hour 
			and I already got your digits down.
			
Denise ROLLS HER EYES, but not in a serious way.

						DENISE
			For my cell phone, at least.
			
						RICK
			Better than nothing.

Denise continues to write on his handout.  She finishes a few seconds later.  

						DENISE
			There you go.

After they are both done writing, Denise puts the ORGANIZER in her backpack 
while Rick puts the piece of paper in his THREE-RING BINDER.

						DENISE
			(beams)
			So are we partners?

			RICK
			(smiles back and nods)
			It’s up to you.

						DENISE
			I’ll take that as a yes.

She GRINS ONCE MORE before walking towards the exit.

						DENISE
			See you next week!

						RICK
			Bye.

						DENISE
			(looks back at him once more)
			Bye.

Rick watches as his NEW LAB PARTNER leaves the classroom.

CUT TO:

INT. SHERIFF’S STATION - JAIL CELL - DAY

Dandren is sitting on the cot inside his cell, a BLANK LOOK on his face as 
he ponders to himself.  He then looks up to see that outside the bars, Marco 
is being escorted by a POLICE OFFICER down the hallway towards an exit.  Marco 
looks at Dandren and gestures the ‘peace’ symbol to him.

ANOTHER POLICE OFFICER enters the hallway to open the bar doors to Dandren’s 
cell.  He stands up in response.

						OFFICER
			Okay, you can go.

						DANDREN
			(begins to walk out the cell)
			Who bailed me out?

						OFFICER
			Who do you think?

A pause.

						DANDREN
			My parents?

						OFFICER
			(nods)
			That’s right.  You’re gonna have a lot
			of explaining to do when you see them.

						DANDREN
			(sounding irritated)
			LOOK, someone tried to stab my friend 
			at that party.  The only thing I did 
			was watch his back!

Another pause.

						OFFICER
			As heroic as you were, a fight is a fight.
			You shouldn’t have been out that late 
			anyway.  And you should’ve known this kind 
			of thing was going to happen at that party.

Dandren remains quiet.

						OFFICER
			Now go on, get out of here.

Dandren stands at his spot for a few seconds.  Before he turns to leave, he sees 
Suunil STILL SITTING inside another cell.  Suunil gestures a ‘peace’ sign to Dandren 
as well.  Dandren returns the gesture before WALKING AWAY.

CUT TO:

INT. SORIANO HOUSE - RICK’S ROOM - NIGHT

Rick is at his computer TRYING HARD to think of something to write in his script.  
After a few seconds, he leans back in his chair to think of something to type.

						RICK
			(to himself)
			Damn, this is hard.  

He LEANS FORWARD to begin typing again.  He thinks to himself.

						RICK (VO)
			Okay, so far I’ve got my own character 
			jotted down.  He’s 21-years old... 
			he’s a college student... and... he’s a 
			pothead.  No, that’s not	right-

Rick frowns.

						RICK (VO)
			I inhaled the fumes indirectly, I didn’t 
			smoke.
			(out loud)
			Okay, so I’m not a pothead.

Rick is now typing on the computer furiously.  After a few seconds, he pauses.

						RICK (VO)
			And what about my love interest?

He leans back in his chair and ponders again.  Rick then leans forward to 
type away at his script.

						RICK (VO)
			She should be young, very intelligent,
			and maybe...the same age as me.  And also-

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. LONG BEACH STATE - PETERSON HALL BUILDING - AFTERNOON

						RICK (VO)
			-she could actually be one of my own 
			classmates.

We take a glimpse of Rick and Denise exiting from the Peterson Hall building.  
They are having a FRIENDLY CONVERSATION.

						DENISE
			...dang, so what did you think of that quiz?

						RICK
			(shakes his head)
			It was pretty hard.  So what IS the 
			difference between dolomite and calcite?

						DENISE
			(smiles)
			Dolomite can be gray while calcite 
			can be yellow.  
			(a pause)
			Now, if the question asked what these 
			two minerals had in common, it’s that 
			they both react to hydrochloric acid.

						RICK
			Okay, NOW I wish that question was asked 
			instead of the other one.

Denise smiles.  Rick shakes his head as he turns to look at her.  

						RICK
			(the expression on his face show’s 
			he is not	really bitter)
			I hate Geology.
			
						DENISE
			(she beams)
			I’m pretty sure you did well on the quiz.

						RICK
			I hope so too.

A pause.

						DENISE
			So your major is film, huh?

						RICK
			Yup.  But I’m not officially in it.

						DENISE
			(frowns)
			How come?

						RICK
			I have to take the written mastery 
			exam...which is the last thing I 
			need before applying to my major.

						DENISE
			(halts in her walk)
			You have to take the written 
			mastery exam?  So do I!

						RICK
			No kidding?

						DENISE
			I was originally suppose to take it last
			semester-but I kept procrastinating.
			Busy with work.
			(a pause as Rick nods)
			So when are you taking it?

						RICK
			February 17, at 9:00 in the morning.  
			
						DENISE
			This Saturday??

						RICK
			Yup.

Rick turns to look at his classmate, and notices an odd expression on her face.

						RICK
			Why do I get the feeling I’m not gonna
			be alone on test day?
	
A big smile emerges on Denise’s face.

						DENISE
			Maybe we can meet up before the exam... 
			Exchange study notes or something.

						RICK
			That’d be great.  I’ll call you up
			to remind you.

						DENISE
			Sure thing.

A pause.

						RICK
			By the way, this is beginning to play out 
			like some bad romance film!

Denise chuckles.

						DENISE
			(she and Rick begin walking again)
			So going back to film, are you writing 
			any screenplays right now?

						RICK
			As a matter of fact, I am.  

						DENISE
			What’s it about?

						RICK
			Well, so far I’m still thinking about it.  
			The script’s based on me...so most 
			likely it’s gonna be lame.

						DENISE
			(puts a hand on Rick’s shoulder)
			Don’t say that.  I’m sure you’re doing a great
			job.  
			Can I be in it?

						RICK
			Why not?  
			(making it sound like a joke)
			You can be my love interest.

Denise smiles.

CUT TO:

EXT. INTERSTATE 5 HIGHWAY - NEAR BAKERSFIELD - AFTERNOON

SUBTITLE: “NEAR BAKERSFIELD.”

Dandren’s black Honda Prelude cruises down the highway.