INT. - THE THOMPSON HOUSE - NIGHT
A Sears family portrait hangs on the wall of the Thompson living room. Tim, age twelve, looks trapped between his falsely smiling parents.
Tim arrives home in his complete Pancho Villa's uniform, exhausted. His father, MARK THOMPSON, is sitting in the living room with a big teetering glass of scotch, watching PBS. Tim's entrance doesn't register on him.
CLAIRE THOMPSON, Tim's mother, is washing dishes in the kitchen.
TIM
Hi.
MRS. THOMPSON
We expected you home for dinner. There's no food left.
Tim takes a small bowl of leftover spaghetti out of the refrigerator. He fingers a grocery receipt stuck to the refrigerator door under a magnet.
MRS. THOMPSON
Just a reminder of the costs. Oh, listen, Mr. Brooks says he may have room for an extra stock boy.
TIM
(plucking at his Pancho's uniform)
I already have a job.
MRS. THOMPSON
You'll have two. I made an appointment for you at the store for Saturday afternoon.
TIM
I have school. I have a job. I don't have time.
MRS. THOMPSON
This isn't up for discussion. You live in this house, right?
Tim looks at her.
MRS. THOMPSON
Got that, Tim?
Tim shuts himself into his room without answering.
INT. - TIM'S ROOM
Tim stares out at Bedford through his closed bedroom window. He takes a deep breath, trying to shake off the day, opens the school roster, and picks up the phone.
CUT TO:
INT. - THE ELLIOT HOUSE - BATHROOM
In the Elliot bathroom, Sophie empties the contents of a tiny dropper into a small glass tube.
The phone rings. Sophie's father, LUKE ELLIOT, shouts from the other room where he is watching "America's Most Wanted."
MR. ELLIOT (V.O.)
(calling)
Sophie! Phone!
Sophie doesn't hear him. Following the directions unfolded on the back of the toilet, she continues the pregnancy test. She inserts a piece of plastic with two white dots on it into the glass tube and checks the clock on the wall.
MR. ELLIOT (V.O.)
Damn it, Sophie, the phone's ringing!
SOPHIE
Pick it up!
The sound on the TV from the other room comes down.
MR. ELLIOT (V.O.)
(answering the phone)
Hello?...Hold on.
(calling angrily)
Sophie! What do you think?
Mr. Elliot is at the bathroom door.
MR. ELLIOT (V.O.)
I never get calls at night. It's for you. What are you doing in there?
SOPHIE
Take a message. Please.
Mr. Elliot rattles the doorknob.
MR. ELLIOT (V.O.)
You're mother used to do this.
SOPHIE
Dad, please just take a message.
MR. ELLIOT (V.O.)
Yeah.
The clock marks a minute. Sophie looks at the two dots soaking in the tube. The bottom one is beginning to turn red.
SOPHIE
Shit.
Mr. Elliot is right at the door--
MR. ELLIOT (V.O.)
You're all the same.
Sophie jumps, frightened.
MR. ELLIOT (V.O.)
Get out, I need the bathroom.
SOPHIE
(eyeing the clock)
Two minutes.
MR. ELLIOT (V.O.)
Now.
The bottom dot is redder still. Sophie picks up the test. She can't carry it with her... She puts it in the trash and covers it with toilet paper, then opens the door. Mr. Elliot is standing there, frowning.
SOPHIE
Who was it?
MR. ELLIOT
He didn't say. Said he'd see you tomorrow.
SOPHIE
Okay.
MR. ELLIOT
Answer your own calls from now on.
SOPHIE
Okay.
MR. ELLIOT
Good.
Sophie walks past him and into her room.