S. Jebejian, Serenity 1.

INT: DAY COLLEGE DORM We see a dorm room with the light off and blinds down, lit only by the sunlight creeping in. On one side of the room, the camera shows a desk full of textbooks. The bed is unmade yet tidy. One corner of the wall has certificates mounted: Deans List and University Scholar, with the name Sara Johnson in cursive on them. The rest of the wall is covered in photographic prints and paintings. On the other side of the room is a bed that looks as if its been untouched. The desk sitting against the bed on this side is almost bare. Camera then shows the two closets in the room side by side, both revealing copious amounts of clothing. One is more neatly organized while the other has clothes scattered inside. We then hear the jingling of keys outside the door as the camera pans to show the door open hastily as a twenty-something female, SARA, hurries into the room. She is noticeably out of breath, and looks incredibly upset. She is very clearly struggling to breathe, gasping for air every few seconds. She throws her bag onto her bed, the unmade one, as she continues to pace across the floor, clutching her chest and holding back tears. Saras knees give as she falls to the ground and looks around her room frantically, her breathing still irregular. There is a close up on her right arm. Across it we can faintly see the words, never good enough, etched into her skin. Her eyes shut tightly as she pulls her knees into her chest and begins to rock back and forth. CUT TO: (DREAM SEQUENCE) 2. INT: DAY HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM Camera shows a wide shot of a classroom full of students at their desks. We see a younger version of Sara sitting at her desk writing, as two teenagers behind her throw bits of paper at the back of her head and laugh. Sara turns around to look at them and pulls tiny bits of crumpled paper out of her hair. TEEN #1

S. Jebejian, Serenity Aw, are we being mean? Do you want us to stop? Sara looks at the front of the room in an attempt to get the teachers attention but to no avail. TEEN #2 Dont bother. Teachers dont care about freaks like you. Youre just not enough of a person to care about. Sara looks as if shes holding back tears. CUT TO: (REALITY) 3. Sara is hysterically crying, eyes bloodshot and lips cracked. She looks like she is in a lot of pain, her gasps coming in more harshly. She looks across the room towards her closet, the neatly organized one. The camera closes in on a shower caddy sitting directly in front of the closet door. The shot zooms in to show a razor sitting in one of the pockets. Sara crawls across the floor towards her caddy. She reaches out for and grabs her razor. She stares at it for a few moments and closes her eyes. SARA Dont. Dont do this. She inhales and keeps her eyes shut. CUT TO: (DREAM SEQUENCE) 4. INT: NIGHT LIVING ROOM Sara is standing frozen at the spot. Shes staring at her FATHER, who is sitting on the couch. He is staring angrily down at three letters sprawled out on the coffee table in front of him. Saras father is red in the face as he lifts his head to glare at his daughter. FATHER

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Princeton: Rejected. Harvard: Rejected. Yale: WaitlistedHOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN? SARA Im still waiting to hear from Amherst, Duke, and Columbia! And I got into UPenn. FATHER But these were the three. THESE were the three we were betting on! You were supposed to work hard in high school, not slack off! SARA Dad, Ive taken every AP course imaginable, plus the IB courses the school offers, too. If youd let me take part in more extracurricular activities, this wouldnt have happened! Saras fathers eyes widen. FATHER So, this is my fault then? He reaches down and picks up an umbrella that had been leaning against the couch. He lifts it above his head and runs at Sara, beating her with it as he screams. FATHER DONT. YOU. DARE. BLAME. ME. Sara tries to dodge his swings, but he grabs her arm and holds her down as he continues to hurt her. He finally lets go of her and throws the umbrella down. FATHER If you never take responsibility for your actions, youll never be good enough. Sara runs out of the living room and into her bedroom. She shuts and locks the door. She runs to her bathroom and grabs her razor

S. Jebejian, Serenity from inside her medicine cabinet. She lifts her right sleeve and looks at her arm for a moment. Then, she takes the razor and etches the words, never good enough, into her arm. Once shes done cutting, she just stands and looks at her arm, taking in the pain. The camera shows a close up of her arm, as the blood flows heavily down it in various directions. CUT TO: (REALITY) 5. Sara picks up the razor and presses it against the top of her forearm. In one swift motion, she glides the blade up to her wrist. She holds the razor up above her arm and just stares at the newly created gash. It doesnt seem to hurt as much as she expected it to, and she places the blade down on her arm again to repeat the motion. She wails the word why repeatedly as she continues to harm herself. CUT TO: (DREAM SQUENCE) 6. INT: NIGHT COLLEGE CAMPUS We see Sara walking into her dorm building with her roommate, MARIA. The two are seen conversing and getting along well. They finally reach their quad and are shocked by what they see. On their door are the words, PSYCHO BITCH, written in what looks like dark red paint. They neither move nor take their eyes off the door. MARIA Do you thinkthats blood? SARA I dont know Maria carefully unlocks the door so as to not get any of the supposed paint on herself and goes into the room as her roommate continues to stand frozen at the spot. She comes out with dish soap, laundry detergent, and hand soap. Sara then moves to go into the bathroom to grab wet paper towels. The two attempt to

S. Jebejian, Serenity scrub off the paint, but it seems unaffected by the various types of soap and water. MARIA Its no use. We can call public safety tomorrow. The two girls enter the room. SARA You thinksomeone found out I was taking Xanax and just spread the information around campus? MARIA Thatd be a really fucked up thing to do. Thats not funny. And besides, you take them to help you deal with anxiety. Its not like youre going to go off and kill someone if you dont. SARA People dont know that. MARIA Well, people can fuck off. If they decide to mess with you, Ill mess with them. Do you want me to stay in the room tonight? I can tell Lewis you need me. He wont mind. SARA No, no its fine. Go be with him. I have a lot of work to do anyway. I dont want to keep you up. MARIA Just text me if you need anything. Im going to grab my things and go. Sara and Maria hug, followed by Maria digging through her closet and drawers for pajamas to take with her to her boyfriends room. MARIA

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Be safe, alright? SARA Yeah, I will. Maria shuts the door behind her and leaves Sara alone in the room with her thoughts. She goes to her desk and grabs a bottle of pills. She holds them in her hands for a moment before walking out of her room, into the bathroom, and into one of the stalls. She uncaps the bottle, pours the pills down the toilet, and flushes. She stares down the drain as the water goes down. She exits the stall, throws the bottle into the garbage bin, walks out of the bathroom, and goes back into her dorm room. CUT TO: (REALITY) 7. Theres more blood. Saras arm is barely visible through the thick coating of blood spewing down and around her right arm. Theres a puddle encircling her on the floor. She is in a massive amount of pain and screaming as she covers her wounds, attempting to lessen the flow. She tries to stand up but finds she is woozy and cannot seem to stand on her feet. She falls back down to the ground, looking pale. Shes now lying there, barely able to move. She turns her head to look at her wounded arm and moves her left hand toward it. She swipes her hand across her arm to show, under the continuous flow of blood, the scar never good enough beneath. SARA Im sorry. Sara gasps and sobs once more before blacking out entirely. BLACKOUT.