Boseman High School Shenanigans: Episode 1

Outside the School

Connerly turns and looks back towards the school when Zach asks him if he'll come, and it doesn't take someone with a finely honed EQ to realize that the boy is concerned about missing class, which is about to start. He chews his lip just briefly, then turns back to Tidwell and nods.

"Yeah. Yeah -- okay. It'll be easier if I'm with you to come back for sure, and my parents will be okay with the charges given everything that's happened. I'm having a hard time believing we just saw that... and they're just acting so weird, those two."

The two boys get into the back of the Uber and it pulls away from the school after the driver confirms his passengers and starts the ride. Behind them, visible out the back window of the Hyundai, columns of white smoke are pouring into the blue Michigan sky. The stacks at the old steam plant that serves the school are working overtime, and Aaron just shakes his head as he settles into this seat beside the other boy.

"So. Are you... going to the game on Friday, of the homecoming thing on Saturday?"

In the Woods Near the River, by Kelly's House

Fred's words are like a bucket of cold water in Mr. Unger's face, and it almost seems like he's rendered speechless for a moment, but too quickly he's back in Freddie's face, back on the offensive.

"What did you just say to me?! What did you just say?!"

Unger is close now, right up in Fred's grill, looking down at him as his face reddens. "You mother -- your stepmother -- is here because she was worried about you. The school called, Fred, reporting your absence. Kelly's too, which is why I'm home. Which is why we thought maybe you might be together."

The two are close enough to touch now, and Kelly's father tries to seize one of the teen's wrists and hold it. "So tell me, Fred. Tell me what you're doing out here in a towel!"

On the Way to Zach's House

Aaron listens as Zach talks about the game and the dance, but he shakes his head when the other boy asks who he's going with.

"Uh... no one? Those kind of events aren't really my thing, you know? I don't have plans to go."

The Hallway

Wendy smiles as she completes the pinky link and Lily asks how long before Thanksgiving break, but she makes a face when she spots something nasty on the floor. A fluid of some kind, tracked out of the classroom where Gromn had dragged Emily.

"Ew. Speaking of spills, what is that?" she asks, pointing at the still-wet footprints that lead back into the lab.

On the Way to Zach's House

Aaron reddens a little in his seat, not quite knowing what to make of Zach's attention.

"I mean... it would be cool to see you dressed up, but dancing isn't really my, uh..."

The car stopping to wait for oncoming traffic before it can turn into Zach's lane breaks up the awkwardness for a moment at least, and Aaron smiles a little nervously. "Why are you so keen on me coming, anyway?" he asks. "I'm a year younger than most seniors, and not exactly the most popular guy in school."

Arriving at Zach's House

"A secret?" the bespectacled boy asks, looking right into Zach's eyes. So steadily. So warmly. Zach can already tell -- if anyone is going to understand him... it's Aaron. Before the boy is able to ask what secret, the brunette next to him slides his hand down to his... and Connery doesn't pull away as Zach makes his feelings clear.

Swallowing hard, chewing the inside of his lip just briefly, Aaron waits a painful beat or three before he answers with an almost imperceptible nod.

"Okay," he says softly as the car pulls up to Zach's house and the driver looks at the two boys in the rearview mirror. "I'll go..."

The Lab

"So gross!" Wendy says as she gets down to better examine the fluid. It's slightly viscous, opaque, and greenish-yellow, both girls see.

"And yes, we totally have, but what is it?!"

Then, sitting back on her haunches, Wendy raises a single finger. "This might be a clue as to what's going on around here. It might be important! Get a test tube and a popcycle stick, Lil! We've gotta get a sample!"