Jack
Hey Mom, I’m on my way home.
Mom
What? Isn’t it the middle of the school day?
Jack
About that. Can you call in? Tell them I left because I was feeling sick?
Jack
Say I forgot to sign out.
Mom
Jack, if I’m going to lie to the school, I need answers.
Mom
I didn’t raise you to skip school whenever you want.
Mom
You stood up to those bullies?
Jack
That’s what my bruises say.
Jack
I just want to lie down and not be in school right now.
Mom
That’s okay. Take it easy.
Mom
I’ll leave work now to be home with you.
Jack
You don’t need to do that.
Mom
It’s close enough to clock out.
Mom
I need to go home and to make dinner and get ready for the other job anyway.
Jack
Don’t put yourself out. I’ll be fine. I’m not hungry anyway.
Mom
Feel better, kiddo. Don’t let them get you down.
Mom
I’ll call the school now.
Mom
I have half a mind to see how my kid gets into a fight on school property without any supervision to stop it.
Jack
Don’t, because I was the one who swung first. There were witnesses.
Mom
Jack…that’s not like you.
Jack
There was this girl, and he was grabbing her…
Jack
Just tell them I’m sick. Don’t turn it into a big thing.
Mom
Okay. I’m not going to get on your case about the fight if you did it to help someone else.
Meanwhile, back at school, Hazel doesn’t know where to turn.
She’s still feeling confused about her conversation with Jack…
So she goes to lunch to find Brady.
Brady
Hey. You’re Hazel, yeah?
Brady
The infamous girl that gets my friend beaten up.
Hazel
I didn’t mean for all that to happen.
Brady
I know. Jack would have taken a beating for you no matter what.
Hazel
He didn’t need to take a beating.
Hazel
I don’t want anyone beaten up.
Hazel
Anyway, he just left school.
Brady
In the middle of the day?
Brady
Was he beat that bad?
Hazel
He wasn’t hurt that much. He walked out.
Hazel
I’m trying to find him. Do you know where he lives?
Brady
If he left, that’s good.
Brady
He needs to avoid Mike.
Hazel
I need to talk to him.
Hazel
It is my fault he got into the fight.
Hazel
And I didn’t think Mike would actually go this far.
Brady
Mike is a terrible person.
Hazel
And Jack isn’t like that.
Hazel
That’s why when he suggested the fake boyfriend thing, I thought he’d be perfect.
Brady
He didn’t mention he was the one who suggested it.
Hazel
He said I should tell people I have a boyfriend, they would back off.
Hazel
So I thought…I thought if he was willing, it’d help convince people…
Hazel
But I didn’t think it’d backfire on us.
Brady
Look, it’s not your fault.
Brady
I’m sorry I was being a jerk, I just worry about Jack.
Brady
And Mike…he’s always agitated. He’s not a good person to mess with.
Hazel
But I need to talk to Jack. I don’t think he understands how I feel about him.
Hazel
All my text messages are going unanswered.
Hazel
But he needs to know how I feel.
Brady
How do you think you’ll get to Jack’s house without a car?
Hazel
I’ll call an Uber if I have to.
Brady
No, you don’t have to do that.
Brady
Yeah. I just hope I don’t regret this…
Brady takes Hazel to Jack’s neighborhood and stops in front of one of the more run-down trailers.
Brady stays in the car and Hazel gets out and knocks on the door.
Jack’s mom, Kate, answers it suspiciously.
Kate
Are you the girl that got my son into a fight?
Kate
You know, he could have gotten suspended.
Hazel
It’s my fault, but I came here to tell him…I wanted to say I was sorry.
Kate
Maybe now isn’t a good time.
Hazel
If I shouldn’t, if he needs time, I understand.
Hazel
But will you give him this?
Hazel hands Kate a small junk journal covered in heart stickers.
Hazel
Will you ask him to look at it?
Kate
Did you make this for him?
Hazel
I made it with him in mind, and I was going to show him…
Hazel
Just please give it to him.
Kate
Okay. I will. I’ll tell him you stopped by.
Hazel gets into the car with Brady and they drive off.
Kate opens the journal and sees a handful of brochures for college trips glued to its pages.
There were also suggestions for places to live, exotic vacations getaways, and articles about becoming a travel vlogger.
Hazel marked passages that were her favorite choices.
Kate takes it inside. Jack is on the couch with an ice pack on his face.
Mom
You want to tell me about the girl you took a black eye for?
Jack
I don’t want to talk about it.
Mom
She must be someone special if you’re going to stick out your neck for her.
Jack
Can’t a guy get into a fight over a girl without being asked if he’s into her?
Mom
You’re not answering my questions.
Jack
Don’t ask silly questions.
Mom
Jackson Nathanial, don’t give me that kind of attitude.
Mom
I know you’re probably in a bad mood—
Jack
I just don’t want to talk about it.
Mom
How long have you been seeing her?
Jack
Ugh. It doesn’t matter.
Jack
She’s pretty and smart and she’s got plans for college.
Jack
And I’m a guy in a trailer park without any cash and nothing to offer her.
Mom
She’s the one who got you all excited about going to college, isn’t she?
Jack
People like me can’t afford to go to college.
Mom
I can’t listen to you wallow in self-pity any little longer.
Mom
No, you aren’t. I didn’t raise you to aim for dirt.
Mom
We didn’t end up like this because I didn’t make an effort.
Mom
I did my best after your father left.
Mom
And I’ll be damned if I went through all this effort to have you end up the same way.
Mom
Do you think this is all I want for you?
Mom
A girl like Hazel doesn’t come by all the time.
Mom
You’ve got to take your chances while you have them.
Jack
It’s not that simple.
Jack
I don’t mean to complain, but even if I go to college…
Jack
I’ll always be that poor kid from the trailer park.
Mom
She’s not going out with you because of your past.
Mom
She likes you for where you’re going.
Mom
And it sounds like you’re heading the same direction.
Jack
What? How would you know?
Kate hands him the junk journal, leaving him alone to read it.
There aren’t only brochures in its pages —
It also has memories, like the receipt from the morning they had coffee together and the paper from his grandparents.
And then on one of the pages, he sees that Hazel wrote their names together.
She drew a heart around their names, and underneath it says…
Fake Boyfriend = Future Boyfriend.
