Script Writing System In Modern Family

Chapter 52: Picnic (Part 1)

The date soon changed from October 28th, 2009, to November 22nd, 2009. It has been almost a month since Ryan bought 49% of a small streaming service known as Netflix.
During this period, a lot of events took place that will be summarized below –
Ryan played eight basketball matches for his school team and continued his streak of godly performances.
After playing these eight matches, Ryan's average per game became 32 points, 12 assists, and 8 rebounds.
Ryan played seven matches of football and managed to bag a total of five goals and twelve assists as a CAM (Central Attacking Midfielder)
Ryan also decided to fulfill his promise to Paramount and sell them Men In Black for 6 million dollars in writing fee and a box office share of 4.5%. (The highest writing fee that Ryan has ever received)
Ryan felt quite happy when he looked at that paycheck. Especially as this was after a failed attempt at pitching Men In Black to Disney.
Who felt that such a weird movie would flop even if it had a superstar like Will Smith on board.
Ryan also participated in two different modern family plot episodes earning him 35,000 and 41,000, respectively.
These rich earnings also helped Ryan confirm that his decision to be more spontaneous in plot episodes was correct.
During this month, Ryan also felt he was spending less time with Alex. Hence, he started spending less time with her family and more time with her alone.
Spending time alone with Alex also made Ryan realize how often he was at the Dunphy's and how little time he spent with his new family.
In a way, the only thing he did was use his father as an agent. Other times he was just in his room. Not to mention how little he spent it with his mom. It was like he barely even knew her.
This sudden realization also made Ryan see how mind-bogglingly focused he was on earning points. He forgot to even care about his own family.
So, in summary, Ryan slowly started trying to spend more time with Alex and his new family during this time skip.
Why is this information important? You see, today is November 22nd, a Sunday on which Ryan planned to tackle these issues in the form of his first-ever family picnic with Alex.
On this picnic would be Ryan, Alex, Nathan (dad), Amanda (mom), and no one else. Meaning there would be no member from the Dunphy family at this picnic, or so Ryan thought.
However, reality is not always as it seems. Ryan underestimated just how much of a paranoid control freak Claire was.
He thought after all the time he had spent with the Dunphy, he had earned Claire's complete trust, but that wasn't the case.
On the surface, he might have gotten permission from Claire, but even Ryan's parents monitoring them wasn't enough for her.
She wanted to be there in person and make sure Ryan didn't pull some move over Alex.
This leads to Claire following Ryan's car from a distance, essentially stalking her daughter and her boyfriend.
Claire's car maneuver was so smooth it felt like she was a retired cop following some bank robbers to their hideout, where they hid all the stolen cash.
After following Ryan's car for ten minutes, it finally clicked to Claire just how creepy her current behavior was, but she soon calmed down by reassuring herself that she was in the right, not in the wrong.
Claire - "They are minors, so I am making sure they don't end up making some mistake that gets them into trouble. Yes, that's right, I am doing this for their well-being. Not cause I am some creep."
If Ryan, one car in front, heard Claire, he would reply by saying, "Yes, if you are forced to reassure yourself you are not a creep, then you definitely aren't a creep or a weirdo."
While Claire continued to follow Nathan's car toward a forest, another set of events occurred at the Dunphy household.
In Dunphy's kitchen, Phil is seen wearing an apron and cooking an omelet on a pan. However, he soon encounters a guest as he continues to cook today's breakfast menu of egg white, omelet, and toast.
It is Haley, who had just woken up and headed downstairs after brushing her teeth. Haley, who was not wholly awake, rubbed her eye with one hand and asked, "Mom, what's for breakfast?"
Phil replied, "Well, your mother is out, so I will be cooking breakfast today."
Hearing Phil's voice completely wakes Hailey up, and she asks, "Mom is out? This early in the morning?"
Phil - "Yeah, she is gone to follow Ryan and Al.., cough cough. I mean, she has gone to help one of her friends who is sick, yeah, that's right."
Haley - "What was that you were saying first? Follow Ryan and Alex?"
Phil - "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention your mom told me that Dylan had called the landline, so you should probably check up on that."
Haley - "I didn't give him the landline number, plus it's not like Dylan to call the home landline instead of my phone."
Phil - "Uh, how am I supposed to know? Maybe you gave it to him and forgot about it."
Haley - "No, I get what's going on. You are trying to divert the topic at hand."
Phil - "What topic would that be?"
Haley - "You know I might not be the most brilliant cookie in this house, but I am not the dumbest either."
"You are trying to hide the fact that mom is following Alex and Ryan around like some sort of creep."
"Uh, you know what? I am calling Ryan right away. I can't believe this. He actually was right."
Haley then storms off to her bedroom to call Ryan, leaving Phil to call out "Haley" and follow behind her.
Flashback Starts
Ryan and Haley are seen talking together in private with no one else in the room.
Ryan - "So, like I said, I will be using the favor you owe me for helping you "study" for that math test."
Haley - "All right, so what do you want?"
Ryan - "I plan on taking Alex out for a picnic with my parents, and I already have permission from Claire."
Haley - "Go on."
Ryan - "The thing is, I got that permission way too easily, and I feel something is fishy, so you have to keep an eye out for Claire while Alex and I are away."
Haley immediately understood that Ryan was hinting that her mother might do something crazy like following them.
Haley - "There is no way mom would stoop that low."
Ryan - "I didn't say it would happen for sure, but I need a  backup plan just in case, don't I."
Haley - "Fine, I will call you if something like that does go down."
Flashback ends
Author's Note: Enjoy today's chapter.