The Girl Next Door

Chapter 30

WILKERSON PREP - DAY
Dismissal time. The carpool lane is in full swing. Kelly puts on Beyoncé's COAT and RED PLAID HAT AND SCARF while Beyoncé watches Y/n in the courtyard below.

Beyoncé: She's out there. Make sure she sees you, but don't get too close.

Kelly :How do I look?
Beyoncé turns around and examines her.

Beyoncé : I wear my purse on my right.
Kelly switches the purse from her left shoulder to her right. Beyoncé hands her the keys to her SUV.

Beyoncé: I'll need about an hour.

Kelly :You got it.

WILKERSON PREP - DAY
Kelly walks to the parking lot, head bowed. From a distance, she looks exactly like Beyoncé . Y/n spots her and watches her go. Kelly gets into the SUV and drives away. Y/n follows in her Volvo.
A moment later, Beyoncé emerges from the school and gets into Kelly's MUSTANG.
In her mirror, Kelly sees Y/N's Volvo several cars behind.

Kelly : Come on, honey. We're going for a
nice little ride. She turns onto the Interstate.

Knowles  house- DAY
Beyoncé parks Kelly's Mustang in the garage, shuts the door. Then goes next door.
Beyoncé tries Y/n's door, then a couple of windows. Locked. She scours the rest of the house when she notices --
A ROSE-COVERED TRELLIS
leading to a small second-story window left open a crack. She climbs up, thorns piercing her skin, rotted wood cracking with every step.
At the top, she can't quite reach the window. She crawls onto the steeply slanted roof and inches her way to the window, steadying herself with one foot in the gutter. Beyoncé pries open the window when suddenly the gutter gives way. She grabs the windowsill as the gutter clatters to the ground.
She hangs there, gathering strength, then hoists herself up and through the opening.

Beyoncé's SUV -
Beyoncé's SUV drives along with Y/n not far behind. Kelly sees the fuel light come on.

Kelly: Oh great.

Y/n's  HOUSE - Y/n's BEDROOM -
Beyoncé enters and glances at the unmade bed, remembering. She rummages through her desk drawers, but finds nothing. She slams the last drawer and scans the room, deciding where to search next. Her eyes pass over the LeBron James poster and that's when sees it: A TINY HOLE in LEBRON JAMES'S EYE. Beyoncé climbs onto a chair to examine it. The hole in the poster extends into the wall where she sees the glint of a CAMERA LENS.

GAS STATION - DAY
Kelly pumps gas. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Y/n's Volvo idling on the side of the road.
She turns around to replace the nozzle in the pump. When she turns back, The CAR IS GONE.

INT. Y/n's HOUSE - BEDROOM -

Beyoncé opens a CLOSET DOOR. She moves boxes stacked on a shelf and finds a CAMCORDER. She opens the compartment where its DV TAPE should be ... but it's empty.
Just then, her cell phone rings. She sees it's Kelly and answers.

Kelly: I lost her .

Beyoncé: What?

Kelly: I stopped for gas and I think she
figured it out. She's probably headed back right now.

Beyoncé: But I haven't found the video.

Kelly: Just get the hell out of there.
Right now Bey!!!

Beyoncé hurries down the stairs and heads toward the back door when she hears the muffled sound of a COMPUTER PRINTER. She follows the noise to a door and opens it.
Stairs lead to a DARK BASEMENT. Beyoncé, looks out at the empty driveway, then flicks on the light and goes down.
Through the shadows, Beyoncé follows the noise to a WOODEN DOOR. She pushes it open with a STALE CREAK to reveal --
A SMALL WORKROOM
outfitted with a computer and printer. The printer churns, calibrating itself. Beyoncé stops it. She moves the computer mouse and Y/n's desktop appears. She clicks on the HARD DRIVE and scans its contents.
She sees it almost immediately: A FOLDER LABELED "Beyoncé." She opens it and finds hundreds of candid photos of herself. The early photos capture her performing mundane tasks: gardening, unloading groceries, taking out the trash.
But gradually they become more intimate. Then there's pictures of her reading in bed, eating dinner with Blue , kissing Jay, and then UNDRESSING FOR Y/N AT HER BEDROOM WINDOW.

Beyoncé : Fucking Bitch
She scrolls down and lets out a tiny gasp when she sees a MOVIE FILE. And from its thumbnail it's clear that this is what she's been looking for. Beyoncé drags the movie file and the photos to the trash and hits the "SECURE EMPTY TRASH" button.
A message warns that the files will be permanently deleted. Without hesitation, she hits the delete button.
She closes the empty folder and is about to put the computer back to sleep when she spots a FOLDER LABELED "Kehlani"
She opens it and sees scores of candid photos of a PRETTY DARK-HAIRED TATTOOED WOMAN in her late 20's early thirties. She zeros in on a series of photos taken in rapid succession: - Kehlani exits a red brick building, teenagers all about.
- She walks to a waiting car.
- She gets in on the passenger side.
- She kisses the man who is driving.
Beyoncé enlarges a photo that includes the building. The words "BAY VIEW HIGH SCHOOL" are carved in the stone pediment. She hits the print button and the printer comes to life. But just as suddenly, it stops. The display: "Add Paper."

Beyoncé : Damn it.
She rummages, finds a few stray sheets and shoves them in. The printer churns out part of the photo, then grinds to a halt. "Paper Jam."
With growing panic, she slams various compartments and trays until the printer resumes and spits the photo out.
She grabs it and runs from the room.

Beyoncé emerges from the basement, ready to get the hell out of Dodge, when she sees THE MAN she once thought was Y/n's father at the front door.
She panics and tries to duck out of sight but it's too late. He waves to her through the window and waits at the door. She has no choice but to answer it.
Y/n's FATHER: Hi there. Is Y/n around?

Beyoncé: Uh, no ...

Y/n's FATHER: Jim Robie. Premiere Real Estate. He hands her a business card complete with his photo and title: "Licensed Broker." Beyoncé stares at it.

JIM ROBIE: And you are?

Beyoncé:... the cleaning woman.

JIM ROBIE: Oh. Great. Well, would you mind seeing she gets this? It's a copy of the recorded deed. For her files.

He hands her an envelope. She looks anxiously past him to the street, expecting y/n to pull up at any moment.

Beyoncé: Of course.

She starts to close the door, but Robie puts a hand to it. He looks her over, head tilted with curiosity.
JIM ROBIE: You don't look like a cleaning
woman.

Beyoncé: I used to be a teacher. Before the budget cuts.
He nods thoughtfully, then heads to his car.

When he pulls away, Beyoncé drops the envelope onto the welcome mat, and sprints across the lawn and into her house.