HADES AND PERSEPHONE By Aaron Humphrey September 2003 INT. PERSEPHONE'S BEDROOM - DAY We pan past plants that seem to be overflowing from their pots, a fishtank, caged gerbils, guinea pigs, lizards, et al before settling on PERSEPHONE, crouched down next to a rabbit cage, filling the food dish for her bunny BEATRICE. She is 17, is blond and gloriously unaware of her own beauty. Off-screen her mother, DEMETER calls. DEMETER (OS) Persephone! Persephone closes the rabbit cage, grabs her backpack and exits. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Persephone walks in and pours a bowl of cereal, which she eats while standing at the counter. Demeter walks back and forth through the kitchen, carrying plants and boxes while she talks to Persephone. DEMETER Ok. The floral parade is TODAY, so come to the nursery as soon as you finish school and I'll help you get ready, your dress and such. Oh, I put a bunch of the stuff for the float in the back of your car because there wasn't room in the van. Did study for your math test last night, right? PERSEPHONE Oui, ma mere. Persephone finishes her cereal and heads for the door. DEMETER There's that French again. Have fun at school! Be a good girl! PERSEPHONE Au Revoir! EXT. STREET - DAY A group of high school skate-punks cruise down the street, laughing, jumping curbs and smacking mailboxes with baseball bats. The leader of this group is very obviously the spry 18-year old with spiked black hair, red tee-shirt and leather jacket: HADES. They come to an intersection, and Hades skates straight ahead without looking. INT/EXT. PERSEPHONE'S CAR - DAY Persephone is driving down the street and looks up to see Hades directly in front of her car. She panics and slams on the breaks. In the back seat, buckets of flowers are sent flying. EXT. STREET - DAY Hades is startled and stops as Persephone's car screeches to a halt just inches from hitting him. He stares at her. INT/EXT. PERSEPHONE'S CAR - DAY She sits in a daze as daisies and rose petals from the upset flower buckets flutter around her, blown about by the air-conditioning. She locks eyes with Hades and glares at him, but he shrugs shyly in apology and melts away her animosity, leaving her curiously disarmed. He smiles and salutes and skates away. INT. CLASSROOM - DAY Persephone scribbles flowers and hearts on the margin of her lecture notes, totally absorbed in her own world. A hand taps her shoulder and she turns around as a folded-up piece of notebook paper is slid onto her desk. Persephone opens the note. Scrawled in black pen is written: "Almost got hit by your car today, but what really struck me was your eyes. Sincerely, your true love, Hades." Persephone stifles a giggle and turns around to look at Hades in the back of the class room, but he pretends to be reading. EXT. NURSERY PARKING LOT - DAY Persephone sits uncomfortably in a flowing white dress on a floral parade float. Demeter arranges flowers around her. DEMETER We need more carnations. She turns and goes into the nursery. She's only gone for a second before Hades skids up to Persephone on his board. PERSEPHONE Were you spying on me? HADES Nah, just came to ask ya if you'd like to go to a concert with me. He picks a rose off the float and offers it to her. HADES (con't) Skabbed is playing tonight. Should be one hell of a show. What do you say? PERSEPHONE Sorry, I can't. I have to be in a parade. But he's already gone, leaving her with the rose. EXT. PARADE - DAY Tight on Persephone as she sits on her float, waving elbow-elbow, wrist-wrist and looking just a little miserable. The parade seems to drag on for hours. EXT. PARKING LOT - DAY The remains of the parade litter the Safe-Way parking lot. Demeter helps Persephone down from the floral float. DEMETER Oh, my little flower princess! PERSEPHONE Hang on, Mom, I need to go somewhere. She brushes past Demeter. EXT. ALLEYWAY - DAY The alley is behind Safeway and Persephone slowly looks down it, but it's empty and she laughs to herself, then notices Hades, standing pseudo-royally in a shopping cart. HADES Hey, change your mind? PERSEPHONE Just get me away from everything frilly. HADES Your wish, my command. INT. CLUB - NIGHT Everything is red and black and pulsating to the rhythm of screened vocals and pounding guitars and drums. Hades bounces through the crowd pierced, dyed and tattooed crowd, pulling Persephone with him, pushing people out of the way. She still wears her flowing white dress and is utterly confused. Hades jumps up on stage and screams into the microphone. Meanwhile, some mohawked chicks are harassing Persephone, pushing her around and ripping her dress. Hades drops the mic and pulls Persephone from the crowd. EXT. STREET - NIGHT Hades walks Persephone home. Her make-up is smeared and her dress is badly ripped. PERSEPHONE I thought going to a concert meant sitting down and watching. HADES Oh, no no no, sister! A concert is like the circus, it's like a freakshow, you have to understand - PERSEPHONE I don't think I can. I want to go home. INT. PERSEPHONE AND DEMETER'S HOUSE - NIGHT Pan past a wall of family pictures of Persephone growing up, from a little girl in a fairy Halloween costume, to the first day of 3rd grade, to wearing braces, to picnicking with Demeter on the beach. Finally the wall ends in a doorway, through which we see Demeter berating Persephone, who still wears the torn dress. Over all of this: DEMETER Did you even think about what I was going through? Not knowing where you were, not knowing what happened to you, where you were going, if you were ever going to come back? You used to be so responsible, Persephone! What happened? INT. PERSEPHONE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT Persephone's hamsters and gerbils watch as Persephone buries her head in her pillow, crying. FADE TO: Same location, the next day. Sunlight falls on Persephone, curled up in bed in her pajamas. There is a knock on the door. INT. ENTRY WAY - DAY Persephone opens the front door and finds Hades there with a box of donuts. A bunch of his skatepunk friends are in the street behind him, goofing around. HADES Donut? She takes two. HADES (con't) Beautiful sunny day like this, what better way to spend it than skateboarding! Wanna come? PERSEPHONE No. After last night, I'm not even going to try to fit in. And anyway, I think I'm grounded. HADES Sweetheart, this whole thing is about NOT fitting in! Come with me and I'll show you. It's about what you do when you're free! PERSEPHONE Well first of all, I'm not free. I'm grounded. And second of all, I'm busy. Oh, and third, thanks for breakfast. She closes the door. Hades rings the doorbell over and over again. She opens the door and throws her second donut at him, leaving a powdered sugar mark on his forehead. INT. DINING ROOM - NIGHT Demeter and Persephone eat their dinner in silence. Persephone hears something that from down the hallway. She gets up to investigate. INT. PERSEPHONE'S ROOM - NIGHT Night wind blows in through the open window. She looks down and sees that the door to Beatrice's cage is open, and lying on top of the empty cage is a Polaroid picture. She picks it up: it is Hades holding Beatrice with one hand and making a punk rawk sign with the other. On the back of the Polaroid is written: "Thursday night will be awesome. I'll pick you up at eight. Be there or the bunny gets it." DEMETER (OS) Honey? What is it? Honey? INT. HOME EC CLASSROOM - DAY Persephone and a bunch of other girls are baking brownies. The other girls are chatting secretively about football players and don't notice when Persephone laughs quietly: PERSEPHONE My rabbit is being ransomed for a date with me. INT. DEMETER AND PERSEPHONE'S KITCHEN ROOM - NIGHT Demeter is surrounded by potted plants, which she is dutifully pruning. Persephone stands in the doorway. PERSEPHONE Mom? DEMETER Hmn? PERSEPHONE I'm going out tonight, Mom DEMETER Aren't you grounded? PERSEPHONE But this is . . .I promised Benny Jackson that I'd go with him to his sister's piano recital two weeks ago. It wouldn't be fair to back out now. DEMETER Fine. But be back by 10. INT. PERSEPHONE'S ROOM - NIGHT Persephone looks at the picture of Hades on her dresser and grits her teeth, hating herself for lying to Demeter. She's shocked out of her daze when she hears a car horn outside and looks out the window where a beat-up El Camino sits waiting in the street. Persephone quickly adds some eyeliner and grabs her purse. EXT. STREET - NIGHT Persephone shuffles out to the El Camino. Hades is waiting for her with the window rolled down. PERSEPHONE Hi. HADES Let's rock. He opens the door for her. INT. HADES' APPARTMENT - NIGHT The kid apparently lives by himself in a one-room apartment covered in graffiti and filled with broken-down furniture. Persephone follows him in the front door. She's a bit shocked by the stark furnishings. PERSEPHONE You're sure it won't be permanent? HADES It's just Kool-Aide. You can wash it out whenever you want. But come on, if we're going to go to another club, you're simply going to have to look more punk rock. There's nothing I can do about it. PERSEPHONE Listen, I don't know, I shouldn't even be -- I mean, no offense, but this is the kind of thing - you read stories like this and think "that girl is so stupid, why did she go up there" and really I'm not -- He puts his hands firmly on her shoulders and looks her directly in the eyes. HADES Babe. Chill out. Just trust me. Persephone stares back at him, then looks down. He keeps holding her shoulders. HADES (con't) Ok? Trust me. Persephone looks up at him, then, feeling small but brave. PERSEPHONE I do. CUT TO: Persephone bows her head over Hades' sink. He sprinkles red Kool-Aide crystals over her blond hair, anointing her. CUT TO: Water from the sink runs through Persephone's pale hair, washing it vibrant red. CUT TO: She shakes the water out of her hair and Hades holds up a cracked mirror, which she stares into, mystified by her new look. HADES Now you're ready EXT. PUNK ROCK CLUB - NIGHT Hades and Persephone run through the dark parking lot toward a door pulsing with red light. It is raining and she holds his leather, safety-pinned jacket over her head. INT. PUNK ROCK CLUB - NIGHT The place red, black and alive. We move through the crowd in hand-held shots and jump cuts, following Hades and Persephone. She is scared at first when they head toward the pit, and timidly holds his hand. He fends off anyone who moves near her. When they reach the front of the stage she follows his lead, bouncing up and down fiercely, giving into oblivion. She smiles, then laughs. He looks over at her and laughs too. They are unstoppable. He pulls her toward him slowly as all the other kids mosh in the background. She can see what's coming and closes her eyes, then mashes her lips onto his. The music grows louder. INT. DEMETER'S BEDROOM - NIGHT Demeter lies in bed, unmoving, just watching the green glow of the digital clock: 2:37 AM. Sound of a car pulling up. EXT. DRIVEWAY - NIGHT Persephone gets out of Hades' car, still wearing his jacket. She smiles and laughs and blows him a mock-kiss, then runs up the stairs to her front door. Her hand is on the doorknob when she remembers something and turns back. INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT Demeter stands in the hallway in her nightgown, watching the entry way. After a moment, Persephone creeps through the door, Beatrice cradled in her arms. She sees Demeter and stops in her tracks. PERSEPHONE Mom! I - DEMETER What happened to you? PERSEPHONE Oh mom, don't worry, it'll wash out in the morning. She brushes past Demeter and heads down the hallway. INT. SHOWER - DAY Persephone shampoos her hair, but the red doesn't wash out. INT. KITCHEN - DAY Demeter is sitting at the table drinking OJ. Persephone walks in casually and pours her usual bowl of cereal, which she eats at the counter. DEMETER You have a lot of explaining to do, young missy. PERSEPHONE I don't see what your problem is. It's just hair. DEMETER You KNOW that it's not just hair. You're smarter than that, Persephone. What you're doing is -- PERSEPHONE Growing up! I'm growing up, Mom! You gave birth to me. Thank you. Now I've gotta go to school. She heads for the door. Demeter grabs her arm. DEMETER This isn't growing up. This is you acting like a baby. Persephone wrenches her arm from her mother's grip. PERSEPHONE I'm not a baby. Babies do what they're told. EXT. MEXICAN RESTURANT - DAY Hades and Persephone sit on the curb outside of the greasy restaurant and eat burritos. HADES What are you gonna tell her? PERSEPHONE I dunno. I can't talk to her any more. I guess maybe I never could, I just listened, and now that it's her turn to listen - HADES Go on. PERSEPHONE . . . she won't. What does she know about anything anyway? She doesn't know anything about music or freedom or what it's like to be a teenager, or - She looks at Hades, who is listening intently, a smile on his face PERSEPHONE (con't) Love? HADES Love is all you need, sugar. He takes a bite of his burrito. PERSEPHONE See! You're right. You're right. Let's just do it. I don't care, I don't need to go back. Let's just go. I'm coming with you. He kisses her cheek. HADES Bravo. EXT. HIGHWAY - NIGHT The El Camino peels out, leaving a fading cloud of exhaust. INT. PERSEPHONE'S ROOM - NIGHT Beatrice paces her cage anxiously. Some of Persephone's flowers being to wilt. INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Demeter is slumped in a chair and buries her head in her hands. EXT. DEMETER'S HOUSE - NIGHT It begins to rain. FADE TO: EXT. NEW YORK CITY - NIGHT It is snowing. INT. RUN-DOWN MOTEL ROOM - NIGHT A wild party. Punks are drinking, smoking and writing on the walls in sharpie. Hades walks over to Persephone, who stands in the corner with a bottle of water. HADES Arsenal told me you could us his cell phone. PERSEPHONE Thanks. There's the time change, I don't think she'll be home now. EXT. MOTEL ROOM BALCONY - NIGHT Persephone steps from the rowdy room, cell phone in hand and leans over the balcony railing, watching her breath float into the cold night. She dials a number. The phone rings three times, then the answering machine picks up. PERSEPHONE'S VOICE Hi, you've reached Demeter and Persephone. We're not here, but if you leave a message, we'll call you back! Oh, wait for the beep. PERSEPHONE Hi, Mom. INT. DEMETER'S LIVING ROOM - DAY Demeter wears a winter coat and is standing next to the answering machine startled. PERSEPHONE'S VOICE Hi, Mom. I just wanted to tell you that I love you, but I can't come back. I just can't. I'm sorry. The answering machine beeps. The house is empty and Demeter presses the button to play the message again. EXT. MOTEL BALCONY - NIGHT Persephone turns off the phone as Hades approaches. HADES Finished? PERSEPHONE Yeah. I think so. Yeah. HADES Then let's go. Everyone's waiting for us inside. The walk silently into the raging party. FADE OUT.