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Written by ELEANOR HALL (edited by KATERINA THEOCHAROUS)
[INTERIOR: An SG room in Wallace Wurth. Group members sit down for the first time to discuss the draft of their project].
CATHY (dressed in hospital clothes with her tag on, despite it being a uni day): Hello. I just wanted to let you all know that this is an open forum.
OTHER STUDENT: Yeah, I was thinki-
CATHY (continuing without interruption): AS I was saying, an open forum. I don’t want anyone to hesitate to share their feelings or ideas.
[The group begins looking at the document together. MIKE suggests adjusting some subheadings.]
CATHY: Look, we’re a team. I mean, honestly, I have so much on my plate, I’m already juggling my extra-curricular research… we can’t keep adding your ideas. I need you to compromise.
MIKE: Oh yeah, I just thou-
CATHY (continuing): Great, I’m glad we can all agree. Now, on the issue of your reflection, Mike. I mean, of course, there are some problems, but I think it has real potential.
MIKE: Oh-
CATHY: I’ve just made some small adjustments!
PATRICE: I thought Mike’s reflection was pretty goo-
CATHY: Nobody asked you Patrice!
[PATRICE remains silent for the rest of the proceedings].
[TIME PASSES. The group looks at the revised reflection].
MIKE: Uh, Cathy? This is… an entirely new reflection.
CATHY: But you contributed so much to the ideas!
DAVID: We should really split up the workload-
CATHY: Yes, that is a fantastic idea! I’ve allocated new roles with descriptions on the doc.
DAVID: Oh, should we discu-
CATHY: All right guys, great meeting, I’m so proud of you all for your effort. Remember to make those changes! Okay, we’ll meet next week. I gotta run to the research lab now so bye!
[CUT TO INTERIOR: The foyer of Wallace Worth. CATHY speaks to the camera as she shares her opinion on group work.]
CATHY: I mean, I give and give and give. What more can I do? I just try to be positive in the face of it all…
INTERVIEWER (muffled, from behind the camera): Do you have any response to group mates who may call you things like… intense?
CATHY: Me, intense?! I’m the chillest person ever! I do two hours of yoga every morning and practise mindfulness every evening before bed!
[CUT TO INTERIOR: Still in the group project room. Group members sit around, all staring at their computers, some looking stunned and some tapping away at their keyboards].
INTERVIEWER: Hey, we’re running a story on group projects. We were wondering if any of you wanted to be interviewed about working with Cathy?
[No one responds].
INTERVIEWER: Um, hello? Thoughts about Cathy?
[PATRICE starts mumbling. Camera moves closer.]
INTERVIEWER: I’m sorry, what was that?
PATRICE (whispering catatonically): She knows things.
[Brief pause. Camera then swings across to DAVID].
INTERVIEWER: Okay, do you have anything to – ?
DAVID: Nah mate, you’re joking. Standing up to those people is more trouble than it’s worth. [throws up a peace sign.] I say ride it out, then get out!
[Camera shakes as the INTERVIEWER nods, then swings across the room again. It pans past MIKE crying in a corner and settles on… another group member, one we haven’t seen before, working on their computer.]
INTERVIEWER: And what about you? What are your thoughts on Cathy?
[Another pause. After a moment, RANDOM GROUP MEMBER seems to notice that there’s a camera on them. They look up, pulling their earphones out.]
RANDOM GROUP MEMBER: Huh?
INTERVIEWER: Do you have any comments on your group meeting with Cathy?
RANDOM GROUP MEMBER: Mate… honestly I didn’t listen to a word that chick was saying. I was watching NBA the whole time!
[CUT TO CREDITS. After credits: another CLOSE-UP of CATHY’S face.]
CATHY: I’m just trying to help out my fellow students. It’s not my fault they can’t write to save their lives, I’m not sacrificing my HD just to showcase their sad attempts!
[CATHY grins & gives a double thumbs-up. There is a perfect twinkle smile. CUT TO BLACK].
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