The Girl Next Door

Chapter 27

In bed, Jay wakes from a sound sleep and reads the alarm clock: 2:55 a.m. He rolls over and sees Beyoncé's side empty.
He sits up, blinking in the dark, and spots her sitting in a chair in the shadows.

Jay: Bey? What's wrong?

Beyoncé : I can't sleep.

Jay : Come back to bed.
Beyoncé goes to him and sits on the bed.

Beyoncé: Jay, you know how you said that
people make mistakes? He nods, still half asleep.

Beyoncé: I ... while we were separated ...

Jay: Bey, I don't need to hear this.
I don't want to hear it.

Beyoncé :But --

Jay: We can't keep dwelling on the past.
It's not good for us.
He kisses her and pulls back the blankets.

Jay :Come on, get in.
She does, reluctantly.

Jay: Damn babe, you're freezing.
He spoons her, holding her tight, warming her. Her face is pained, guilt-ridden.

Beyoncé :I love you, Jay .

Jay : I love you, too.
He kisses her head and closes his eyes, a content smile on his face. Beyoncé stares straight ahead, wide awake.

WILKERSON PREP - HALLWAY - MORNING
The bell rings as Beyoncé races to her classroom where students wait outside.

Beyoncé : Sorry everybody.
She unlocks the door and begins to open it. On the floor, just inside the doorway, she glimpses:
A LARGE GLOSSY PHOTO OF HER
AND y/n HAVING SEX. Beyoncé pushes the students back into the hall.

Beyoncé: Give me a minute guys.

She steps inside and locks the door behind her. The SOUND of a COMPUTER PRINTER going full tilt, fills the room.
She flicks on the lights and stares with horror.
SEX PHOTOS are everywhere: papering the walls, sticking out of desks and file cabinets, stapled to the American flag.
Scrawled across the chalkboard in a manic hand:
"ONCE MORE I MUST BRING WHAT IS DARK TO LIGHT --"

Outside, students step aside for Headmaster Pete. She bangs on Beyoncé's door and rattles the knob.

HEADMASTER Pete :Mrs. Knowles?

Onika :She locked us out.

Beyoncé races around gathering photos and stuffing them into her briefcase.

HEADMASTER WARREN: Mrs.Knowles, open this door.

Beyoncé(calling): Just a minute.
She gathers the last of the photos and she goes for the door when she notices:
the printer churning out an endless stream of SEX PHOTOS, each frame slightly different from the previous one -- a frame by frame chronicle of their one-night stand.
Headmaster Pete pulls a KEY RING from her pocket and searches for the master.
Beyoncé stuffs printer pages into a drawer, then yanks the plug of the printer from the wall. The machine dies in the midst of printing ONE LAST PHOTO.
She hears the KEY TURNING THE LOCK.
Headmaster Pete turns the knob just as Beyoncé swings the door open, breathless and disheveled.
Students push past her into the room. Her eyes follow them.

HEADMASTER Pete: What's going on here? The bell rang five minutes ago.

Beyoncé: I must not have heard it.
She glances down and sees one of the photos, face down, under Headmaster Pete's foot.

HEADMASTER Pete: You know classroom doors are not to be locked during school hours. She steps into the room and looks around.Beyoncé barely breathes as Megan's eyes travel past the partially printed photo in the printer and land on the quote that Y/N scribbled on the she turns back to Beyoncé .

HEADMASTER Pete: I'd like to see you in my office after class.

Beyoncé: What for?

HEADMASTER Pete: We'll discuss it then.
She turns to go when she finally notices the photo on the floor.She bends to pick it up, but Beyoncé gets to it quickly and folds it up.

Beyoncé :I'll be there.