- Previously on "School Spirits."
- We know she's blackmailing Anderson for grades, right?
When they got that video, they freaked,
- and if Anderson didn't do it... - Then Claire definitely did.
Pick you up at 7:00 tomorrow.
- You don't want me to drive? - I want to drive.
- Someone took that video, Nicole.
- It doesn't matter who took the video.
- You look amazing. - [scoffs]
I didn't hurt Maddie.
I don't know what happened to her, but it wasn't me.
- We've traced the object to a person of interest.
[knock at door]
- Who? - Roger South?
[suspenseful music]
[ominous orchestral music]
♪ ♪
- Nicole, did you even try honking?
You were supposed to give me a ride this morning.
To school? Remember?
- I had stuff to do. Sorry.
- I figured. You were AWOL all weekend.
Didn't answer a single text.
- I had an application deadline, okay?
So the video statement was due, my portfolio looks like
it was slapped together by a third grader, so.
I hear you.
I have an interview with a Northwestern alum
during my free today, and my socks don't even match,
but I'm hoping she gets it.
Gets what?
- We're all a little distracted.
Nicole, they found a weapon.
Now they're trying to tell us that our best friend
was murdered by the janitor for a sack of cash?
- Yeah. - Which makes no sense.
Mr. South? [scoffs]
Mr. South wouldn't even kill an ant.
There's a frickin' army of them living in the language lab.
I've seen him leave them wet lollipops.
What's Maddie's mom think? She think you did it?
Weren't you there when she found out?
Yeah, but she's upset.
What would you expect her to be?
Uh, skeptical.
Like the rest of us.
[marker scribbling]
Hmm.
FYI, you're a very impressive third grader.
- [chuckles softly] - I mean, I'm impressed.
♪ ♪
Uh... [chuckles]
And a little concerned.
Damn, she knew you took all these?
- I took a bunch of you, too. You're just not photogenic.
Yeah, but this is intense.
I mean, it's cool.
It's just a lot of Maddie, Maddie, Maddie, Maddie,
Maddie, Maddie, Maddie, Maddie.
What are you trying to say?
♪ ♪
Nothing.
Hey.
Breathe. Stop doubting yourself, okay?
If admissions asks why you're obsessed,
say you worshipped her.
Tell 'em she taught you how to parallel park.
[laughter]
[gavel bangs]
- Serving on a jury is really an honor.
The juries must listen to both sides
and make an informed decision based on facts,
not opinions or gossip overheard in the elevator.
And when our living seniors perform mock trial,
we get to see justice in action.
It's powerful, holding someone else's fate in your hands.
Mock Trial not only gives us a chance
to shadow the current senior class participants...
Oh!
- Yes? Charlie, you have a question?
Yeah.
Did you ever do anything to really piss him off?
Who?
The janitor.
- Never. - Oh, come on.
Maybe it happened during, like one of those blackout periods.
Charlie.
Well, no.
I mean, I had to black out, like, all of eighth grade.
I mean, I really had to.
I didn't grow a single armpit hair until ninth.
I started to tape my real head hair to armpit.
It was really bad.
- Okay, if we could just focus on Mock Trial?
- Mr. Martin, I'm sorry. Nobody wants to do this at all.
Not after last year's case. That was a snoozefest.
- Well, then we can make up our own case
and I ask you fine people questions.
I've got lots of them.
Okay, well, I'm guessing
none of them will help me unlock a repressed memory,
- so I'm outta here. - Maddie.
- I'm not into dead person extracurriculars.
Maddie, sit.
- Or being talked to like a cockapoo.
- I'm...
Please, please.
Okay, everyone here feels your pain.
What we don't know often controls us,
but we have to resist.
- Resist? - Yes.
- An innocent man may go down for killing me,
and I don't even have any memories to help him.
I don't even have another suspect to point to.
♪ ♪
I've been here for weeks,
and I still don't know what happened to me.
- Maybe that's the way it's supposed to be.
- Rhonda, can you just stop piling on?
I'm not piling on, Moose.
Sometimes, our brains erase trauma to protect us.
- Who's gonna protect Mr. South?
- Whether your memory returns or not,
you're not in a position to help the accused, Maddie.
We have no influence over what happens in that world.
Do we?
Do we have any sway over a living person?
♪ ♪
Is there something we're not sharing with the group?
- Uh, speaking of repressed memories...
We're not.
Well, we can, so I will.
Did a little research on my own, and it turns out
our library has a bodacious selection
of psych books.
Who knew, right? It's crazy. Okay.
In this book, there's a chapter about how to retrieve memory
through triggers, like, you know,
taste and smell and touch.
Um...
[soft dramatic music]
We're gonna help you get through this, Maddie. Okay?
- We're all gonna figure it out. - Thank you, Wally.
♪ ♪
[dark synth music]
[vocalizing]
♪ ♪
♪ Don't forget me when I'm gone ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Don't forget me when I'm long gone ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Don't you forget ♪
♪ Don't forget me when I'm gone ♪
♪ Don't you forget me when I'm gone ♪
♪ Don't you forget ♪
♪ Don't forget me when I'm gone ♪
[Jesse Jo Stark's "Mystery"]
[ethereal laid-back music]
♪ ♪
♪ I can remember ♪
♪ ♪
♪ When we were young ♪
♪ ♪
♪ You kissed the devil's lips ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Just for fun ♪
♪ Her name cracks in ♪
♪ Your heart ♪
♪ ♪
♪ To rip yourself ♪
♪ Apart ♪
♪ ♪
[window creaks closed]
[soft dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- [bell rings] - All right.
Okay, close your eyes.
- I already know it's a burrito.
- Yeah, but the smell could be a trigger.
- I don't think I can watch this.
Why?
- Last meal? Hello?
French fries, peanut oil, throat closing up?
- [imitates gasping] - Oh, please.
Anything served here could kill you.
I once found a press-on nail in my sloppy joe.
- Hey, yo, team. Can we please just take a time-out?
Let's let Maddie concentrate.
- I don't think the smell's working.
Well, take a bite.
Let the cilantro work its magic.
- Oh, cilantro? I hate cilantro.
Simon always ordered my burritos without it.
Simon orders you lunch? Really?
Well, he's my best friend.
- We know what we both hate. - Take a bite.
Here we go. Let's see if that's better.
Okay.
Now really think about that last lunch you had.
What are you seeing right now?
- Simon. [chuckles]
He's got salsa on his chin.
- Nice. - That's actually really cute.
- Maybe you shouldn't talk. Just chew.
♪ ♪
- Wally, this is so sweet of you,
but I don't think this is working.
And honestly, I don't even think this is chicken.
That's so bad.
- Okay, okay, chuck the mystery meat.
What is the last song you remember?
- What? - Song, music?
Transistor radio.
I walked into the guidance center,
and Mr. Manfredo's secretary
was filing to "He's so Fine" by The Chiffons.
That's my last song.
What's yours, Pussytoes?
[soft upbeat music]
[indistinct chatter]
♪ ♪
Man, I was up all night
looking at all these files all over the house.
There's nothing.
♪ ♪
Okay.
What you're saying is that
your father has nothing but that crowbar,
which anyone could've taken from the school?
- No, no. He doesn't need much more.
- Yeah, but he needs to be the hero who catches the villain.
- Mr. South's not a villain. He's more like an easy target.
Not to mention my alibi.
I mean, if it cleared me, why can't it clear him?
Wait, how was he your alibi?
- He was in the boy's bathroom all of eighth period
fixing a window while I was trying
to unlock Maddie's phone.
- The whole period? And you know that for sure?
Yes, yeah.
He wouldn't stop whistling the theme from "Titanic."
What? It's a long song.
And your father knows this?
- Doesn't matter what my father knows.
No, when he needs somebody to kick around,
nobody can stop him.
Trust me.
Been there.
- Well, it'd be a lot easier to save the janitor
if we could focus on who took the video of me and Anderson.
We need to find out
what other evidence they have against him.
How?
What, you see us breaking into the sheriff's station?
♪ ♪
- I'm sorry, when did you become all Scooby-Doo?
I mean, who months ago,
you were wiping your feet on Maddie's face
and now you're what,
trading in your pom-pom for a trench coat?
- Nicole. - No. It's weird.
She's basically caring about a janitor now.
It's all to save her own skin.
- Nicole, chill. - No, you chill.
[soft tense music]
♪ ♪
Are you okay?
Is this all about a portfolio
or is there something else going on?
[school bell rings]
Wait.
What if we head over to the station before lunch,
see if we can get into that evidence room?
- That's insane. - I'm down for that.
- Yeah. Me, too.
- Nicole? - I have a deadline.
♪ ♪
Five, six, seven, eight.
♪ Stella Brown ♪
♪ I don't know what to talk about ♪
♪ How has my head just hollowed out? ♪
- I don't think this is working.
- Oh, well, that's just because we need percussion.
Here.
- Oh, what's this? - Bongos.
- Oh. - Okay.
Five, six, seven, eight.
♪ Stella Brown, I don't know... ♪
- Hey, that... Charlie.
Hey, maybe this just isn't the right song.
Didn't you say this is
what was coming out of Simon's earbuds?
- Yeah. It was a version of that.
But it's not really taking me back.
I'm sorry, I don't really think it's working.
- Okay, you know what? Let's try hypnosis.
- Oh, God, no. Not that.
- Hello, Dawn. Uh, how long...
How long you been sitting there, girl?
Since I smelled the burrito.
It's outta sight, by the way. Chicken or fish?
Maybe.
Yeah, um, so what's wrong with hypnosis?
[mumbles with mouth full]
Dawn, swallow first.
[ominous music]
It's way too risky.
Why?
Well, when you're hypnotized,
it's like you have a vacancy sign above your head.
Your body becomes an empty shell.
Another spirit could walk in and stay there.
Did you get any of that?
Maddie, I'm not gonna lie.
I don't think we should be listening to someone
who cuts her hair with a steak knife.
Believe what you want,
but any kind of walk-in is risky.
There's no gatekeeper.
And they happen all the time.
I had one friend who was spellbound by the lights
at a Jethro Tull concert.
When it was over, she only spoke Portuguese.
- Do you find the salsa on her chin cute, too?
[suspenseful music]
- I strongly recommend an anti-s ance.
- A... say what?
- Well, memories are like spirits, guys.
You just have to conjure the right one.
- Uh, Dawn, thank you so much for your time.
We really appreciate it,
- but I think... - We'll do it.
- We're gonna do it. We're... Anti-s ance. Let's...
Let's do this thing, okay.
♪ ♪
- Hey, sweet poster. Looks professional.
Canva template?
Um, how much longer you gonna need?
What?
- At this computer. When are you done?
Nicole?
May I help you?
- Yeah, I just need this computer.
I started my video statement for my college app, and...
- Did you reserve it for this period?
- No, but...
- Put your name in the log and check back during lunch.
[soft dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- Why is this important to you?
Why is Northwestern your top choice?
Because I like the proximity
to a great city without being in it,
still has that campus-like feeling.
And...
[chuckles]
Seriously?
It's all Maddie and I ever talked about.
We went to the Student Film Festival last summer
- at the block... - I'm sorry.
Who's Maddie?
Madison?
Nears.
She was supposed to meet with you today.
- Ah. Yes, I know who that is.
I'm sorry.
I'm guessing that after all that's happened here recently,
it might be a relief to leave this school,
this town,
start fresh.
[door opens]
What do you think you'd bring to our campus?
Simon?
What?
- What are you passionate about?
What's your proudest achievement of the last year?
Um...
not sure I have one.
Excuse me?
You read "Crime and Punishment" in a weekend.
You wrote a fan letter to Guillermo del Toro
and he wrote you back.
You co-created a podcast
and interviewed the dude who designed Freddy Krueger's face.
What's your favorite subject?
- I like a little bit of everything.
What are you doing?
She's not asking you what you like on your burger.
- Our admission rate's fairly competitive.
We're looking for students
who want to make a mark on our campus.
Any ideas about your major?
I'm still figuring that out.
- Simon! [notification chimes]
Great.
Had to be a room where he can't hear me.
- Do you have another appointment?
No, no.
No, I was just...
I was just wondering if we were almost done.
- You don't decide when you're done, she does.
I think I've gathered
just about everything I need to know.
Cool.
Well, it's great meeting you. I like your jacket.
[soft tense music]
[Maddie sighs]
- [chuckles] - Hey, guys.
Sorry I'm late.
What are you guys doing?
- She's gonna file a police report
while we check out evidence.
What report?
- That I'm being stalked and threatened
by someone at this school who messed up my car,
and it can't be Mr. South
'cause our janitor is no longer allowed on campus.
♪ ♪
- Yo! Uh, Claire.
I think one window's probably enough.
- So you got, like, a thing for strong women, right?
That's your type?
Yes, I guess so.
[indistinct chatter]
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- Can you give me an approximate time?
Not really.
Uh, sometime between first period and lunch.
- Have you been getting any other threats?
Like messages or note on the car?
No, but they broke my window.
Isn't that enough?
- [sighs] So you are seeing it
as a credible threat to your safety?
Aren't you?
The animal who went after Maddie
could be coming for me next.
- They're targeting our campus. - Excuse me, Sheriff.
There's a call for you on line three.
Take a message.
- Yeah, I tried, but it's Sandra Nears.
Says someone may have broken into her home
while she was asleep.
♪ ♪
See?
Couldn't that be the same person who attacked my car?
Just give me a minute.
[soft suspenseful music]
[phones ringing]
♪ ♪
- Hey, hey. This is her backpack.
Oh, there's no crowbar.
They must still be testing it for blood.
♪ ♪
- Hey. Guard the door, would you?
♪ ♪
Why didn't I see this before?
See what?
- They were waving this in front of my face
when they dragged me down here.
This is huge.
- What is? Hey, talk to me.
- The boot print of Maddie's you found in the woods.
- Nuh-uh. I didn't find it. Nicole found it. Why?
- Were you there when she found it?
Yeah, yeah.
♪ ♪
No.
We split up in the woods. She was alone.
Why?
♪ ♪
- This is not Maddie's boot print.
♪ ♪
[school bell rings]
- You're done now. - Why?
Because I said so.
Put your little books away, zip up, and get out now.
- I have this reserved until...
- Do you want to live to see tenth grade?
I'm not playing with you, douchebag.
Move.
Ah, look who's back.
- Yeah. Good timing, I guess. - [chuckles]
Fast question, Mr. Balkin.
When files are wiped from this hard drive,
there's no other backups, right?
Not necessarily.
What?
- Oh, don't worry. Nothing's ever really deleted.
You just have to know where to look.
The program auto-saves every three minutes.
- [chuckles softly] - You good?
Yeah.
♪ ♪
[softly] Oh, God. [school bell rings]
[insects droning]
Where have you been?
- Hey, you guys go ahead. I gotta take a phone call.
- The bell already rang, Simon. We're late.
- Yeah, I know, but, uh, I gotta take a phone call.
- Why'd you leave the interview?
- Where'd you go? - Sheriff's station.
We need to talk about that boot print
Nicole found in the woods.
- You tanked that interview, Simon.
That admissions person thought you were a vegetable.
You sat there like a mushroom.
- Technically not a vegetable. It's a fungus.
Why'd you do that?
- That Doc Marten boot print had an original stamp
on the bottom of it, Maddie... It's the real thing.
- Yours are knockoffs, right? - Who cares?
You might.
Someone wanted us to think that you ran out of school
on that last day and into the woods.
- That interview was huge, Simon.
- Tell me what you were thinking. - What?
W-what do I need to explain?
All of that stuff we talked about doing at Northwestern,
starting a horror film society,
pulling all-nighters to binge Stephen King,
that was about us doing that together.
Now?
What's the point?
- You can't stop living because I'm not.
Can we talk about Nicole
and the weird secret she might be keeping?
She's acting really strange.
Yeah, it's called grief.
Or guilt.
Or resentment.
She may have a lot of that.
Toward the both of us.
♪ ♪
- [chuckles] Can you even breathe in this thing?
Not the point.
You sit in the back, you put on the mask,
and then you freak people out on their way to the toilet.
Lotta people don't even make it to the toilet.
I'm still eating.
This mask will make me gag.
- Nicole, you don't have to go. - What?
You said "The Final Chapter" was the best "Friday the 13th."
- You hate scary movies. Just own it.
- That's not true. I liked "Scream."
- That's scary satire. Doesn't count.
- And you closed your eyes the second the movie started.
No, I didn't.
- You spent half of the movie looking for that Twizzler
you dropped on the ground.
- And you don't even like black licorice.
That's Maddie's thing.
- Okay, well, Maddie didn't invent black licorice.
- No, but she gets a spider ring.
[Nicole scoffs]
- You get a spider ring. - And you hate spiders.
Not if the legs don't move.
- You don't need to cop Maddie's style.
- Simon, stop. - I'm not.
- You turned pescatarian when Maddie turned pescatarian,
she gets a purple binder, you get a purple binder,
she tapes Billie Eilish lyrics inside of her locker,
the next day,
you tape Billie Eilish lyrics inside of your locker.
- Okay, we can like the same song, Simon.
It's not a big deal.
He's right, though.
Just own it. It's okay. You know, it's fine.
- You think I'm owning you, too?
Not in a bad way.
- [soft tense music] - Is there a good way?
Fuck you guys.
- Whoa, hey. - Girl.
- No, it's okay. You're right. It's, um...
I'm totally a pathetic, copycat loser.
You know what?
You can watch your
"Friday the 13th" marathon without me.
And here's your stupid fish sticks.
I'm getting a goddamn burger.
♪ ♪
- Simon, we apologized. That was...
last February.
She's not holding onto that.
- Yeah? How do we know?
She may be collecting all this crap in some mental jar,
- and at a dark moment... - She what?
Went after me? Killed me?
Simon, we're talking about Nicole.
Yeah.
And I think if we learned one thing,
it's that we can't assume
we know everything about anybody.
- No, stop. Pump the brakes.
I...
Let's not go after someone we care about
until we have something real.
If you're wrong, she will never forgive you.
The bags are 25.
Okay.
Have a nice day.
Thanks.
- You know who that is, don't you?
Shh, shh.
Everyone knows who that is.
♪ ♪
- Mrs. Nears? Um...
♪ ♪
I-I know we haven't met,
but I remember you from that assembly
shortly after Maddie went missing.
Um, I just want to say, uh...
[soft suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
I know it looks like I harmed your daughter, but...
nothing could be further from the truth.
♪ ♪
[engine turns over]
♪ ♪
[tires screeching]
♪ ♪
- So you all spent the morning supplying triggers, hmm?
Kind of.
I mean, we sang, we dined, we reminisced.
Well, she reminisced.
We mostly sang and watched Dawn dine.
So let me get this straight.
You're keeping an eye on her by indulging her?
I'm doing what I can.
That doesn't mean I don't want to cross over.
I do. [soft tense music]
She's just a friend who's dealing with some heavy stuff.
♪ ♪
I can relate.
- Rhonda... [sighs softly]
I care for Maddie, too,
but it's my job to keep her balanced.
She's been here for weeks.
She doesn't even have one foot firmly planted...
[stomps on floor] In the afterlife.
Now, I ask for your help
because I thought you were serious about your goals,
and now I'm not so sure.
- But I am. I... - You're not.
- You're really not. - [clears throat]
- Charlie, I didn't even hear your come in.
Yeah, sorry.
I didn't mean to, um, interrupt.
I just, uh...
Dawn said she's ready.
- Oh, okay. Um...
♪ ♪
[soft dramatic music]
- What are you burning? Sage?
Couldn't find any.
- Hey, Dawn. What is that? Is that an old Brussels sprout?
- Found it in the couch in the faculty lounge.
Hoping nobody misses it.
If they did, it was in 1964.
- Whoa. [coughs] - No, no, no, no.
[suspenseful music]
- Settle, settle, settle, settle.
[coughs]
We're under Capricornus.
Who?
The stars.
Look up.
♪ ♪
- Oh, no. That's mold.
Close your eyes, look inward,
right to the back of your skull.
- You sure you don't want to try hypnosis?
♪ ♪
- [exhales deeply] - Breathe deeply.
[coughs]]
- Gently take your neighbor's hand.
Let's close the circle
so Maddie can carry us back to her last day here.
♪ ♪
What are you seeing, Mads?
♪ ♪
- Uh, not much. It's dark.
Dark?
- Maybe it's the back of her skull.
- Let me guide you. I'll show you how it's done.
I'll take us back to my last day here,
May 17th, 1972.
[humming]
[Rhonda joins humming]
[Charlie joins humming off-pitch]
[soft suspenseful music]
- There must be a schedule for the janitors.
What does it even look like?
- Well, it's probably like a weekly calendar
that comes from Mr. Hartman's office.
Xavier, look.
Oh. Bingo.
But do we really think this will clear Mr. South's name?
- It'll at least tell us who was here after school
the day the video was shot.
- Can't believe you remember the exact date.
What is that, like, National Blackmail Day?
Hey.
What do... what do we know?
- Just what I thought. It was just us and the AV crew.
Us?
- Yeah. The cheerleaders.
We let them film our practice and we did some interviews.
Hey, you may want to talk to your friend, Nicole.
She was definitely there.
♪ ♪
[metallic clatter]
♪ ♪
- I can hear his black Oxfords squeaking on the linoleum.
Mr. Mazzara's the AV teacher.
His office smells like Hai Karate and cigarettes.
When I get to the studio, I'm the first one there.
My friends, Beth and Karen, are late.
The three of us are doing a project for social studies.
We're gonna record "I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar"
in 26 languages.
Uh, Dawn, hi.
When are we gonna get to Maddie?
I go to the supply room
to get all the microphones and stuff.
Then I hear Beth and Karen. [chuckles]
They come in laughing,
making jokes about some flakey, spaced-out bimbo.
And then I realize they're talking about me.
♪ ♪
At first, I don't want to believe it.
These are my friends, right?
I close the supply room door, and I look through the window.
And they...
They keep ripping me apart.
My voice, my hair, my clothes, my teeth.
It's brutal.
They call me a joke.
[laughter]
[downbeat music]
[film reel clicking]
And it just gets worse and worse,
and then they turn and look my way.
[gasps] [electricity crackling]
And I don't want them to see me,
so I reach towards the light bulb to unscrew it,
and...
[gasps]
♪ ♪
Dawn.
You okay?
♪ ♪
- It should've been them. Not me.
♪ ♪
I think we should stop.
Maybe try something else to help conjure our memories.
- Yeah. That's a good idea.
[blows air]
♪ ♪
[school bell rings]
Everyone,
leave your quizzes by the door on your way out, please.
Thank you.
- Hey. Spoken to Nicole yet?
I haven't seen her.
- Seems convenient she skipped class, no?
[indistinct chatter]
- Simon, I can't give you extra time today.
I've got an appointment off-campus.
That's cool.
I was just re-vamping, anyway.
- Thank you. - We should talk.
- Yeah. I have an update.
Update on what?
- Oh, no, I was just thinking out loud, sorry.
- You know, there are people around here
who are jumping to conclusions because they need answers,
but I believe in my heart that Mr. South is innocent.
I'm really hoping they find the person who isn't.
- Soon. - Me, too.
Okay.
- I know you don't want to hear this.
There is a damn good chance
Nicole took that blackmail video.
Our friend sent it to Anderson
after she stole his number off your phone.
That's when I thought it was you.
And if you're gonna try and stop me, Maddie...
I'm not.
I need to know, too.
You're right.
It may have hurt her more than we thought.
I just...
I don't want to believe there's, like,
no one left that I can trust.
Hey.
Hello.
I'm right here.
I'm not going anywhere.
I know.
I love you, Maddie.
[soft dramatic music]
♪ ♪
And that's why I don't give a flying fuck about Northwestern.
You're not gonna be there.
♪ ♪
- Simon... - Don't.
Please. You don't have to say anything, okay?
Honestly...
I'm not even sure why
I'm trying to solve whatever happened to you,
because that'll probably just...
help you cross over.
And that'll take you further away from me.
♪ ♪
- You know you're gonna graduate in June
and leave this place, too.
And you may leave it before me.
Right.
It's so messed up.
It's not.
[sobs softly]
I should go.
You should leave.
♪ ♪
We should find Nicole.
Okay?
♪ ♪
- Hey. Saw your truck outside.
I was over at the school looking for you.
Last bell rang an hour ago.
- Yeah, well, I thought maybe you'd still be there,
make up for the time you missed earlier.
One of my new hires saw a couple of teenage boys
sneaking out the back door of the precinct.
One of 'em matched your description.
- I was helping Claire file a police report.
- Nobody's gonna mistake Claire for a teenage boy.
- Yeah, well, they did, so it was just me.
I was there with Claire.
To tamper with evidence?
Man, it took weeks to get the stink off you,
now you're walking right back into trouble.
Why?
- I wasn't tampering with anything, Dad.
- Man, how stupid do you think I am?
What are we, running neck-and-neck
- in the dumbass derby? - [scoffs]
Hey, don't walk away from me.
I don't want to do this here.
- I don't want to do this here, either,
but if you're gonna make it look like
I can't look after my own kid, then I'm gonna put it out there
to the world that you're just being a disrespectful loser.
- Hey, there, Sherriff Baxter.
- Hi, Claire. How you doing?
Not so good.
I'm thirsty, my slushy's melting, and...
I'm hearing you call your son a loser.
Claire.
Last time I checked,
a "loser" is an insecure bully
who gets his kicks by intimidating people.
For the record,
your son doesn't fall under that definition.
Can I have my slushie, please?
Yeah.
Thanks.
Now maybe you can take me home.
My parents don't like for me to be out after dark.
They don't think this town's a safe place anymore.
[straw slurps]
[soft dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- Maybe you forgot what we talked about.
- I absolutely have not. But I'm going to get caught.
♪ ♪
[bell rings]
♪ ♪
[mouse clicking]
♪ ♪
[mouse clicks] [bell rings]
Don't bother, Nicole.
We already know the truth.
- What truth? What are you talking about?
[backpack thuds on desk]
- That boot print you found in the woods?
Was that to give Maddie's mother hope
or let yourself off the hook?
- I don't know what you're talking about.
- You sent Anderson that video and blackmailed him.
Didn't you? Why?
Why'd you need the money?
- Simon, you're seriously having some kind of breakdown.
You need meds.
- Buying those Horror-Con tickets,
helping Maddie's mom pass out missing flyers at homecoming,
leaving the dance to "help" her,
was that all about creating some kind of smokescreen?
So what really happened?
How did you get out of that boiler room alive,
but Maddie didn't?
[music stops]
What did you need the money for?
Huh?
So you could split town?
No, you asshole.
So I could be with you.
And Maddie.
I needed the money so I could move to Chicago
and be near your frickin' college.
- What? - [sniffles softly]
- Why, the art schools you're applying to are in Chicago.
- Yeah, and I can't get into either one of them.
You don't know that.
- When I showed them my portfolio,
both admissions counselors said
there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell
I was getting a scholarship.
They basically said my portfolio sucked,
and there's no fucking way my parents are gonna pay
for me to go to Chicago and hang out with my friends.
We don't have that kind of money.
[sobs softly]
Did you actually believe
I could ever intentionally hurt Maddie?
I mean, yeah, I stole the teacher's number,
but I did that so I could keep us together,
not tear us apart.
[sobs softly] But I screwed up, okay?
I didn't know
Maddie was the only one who had Mr. Anderson's number.
How was I supposed to know that?
I spent weeks thinking I was the reason she got hurt.
You should've said something.
Why didn't you tell Maddie and I
about that portfolio review?
- And give you more reasons to think I'm pathetic?
[downbeat music]
No, thanks.
♪ ♪
[sobbing softly]
♪ ♪
Nicole.
Can I ask you something?
Where's the money?
If you turn it in to the police,
they'll know Mr. South doesn't have it.
We'll be closer to finding out what really happened to Maddie.
Nicole, that money could help a man prove his innocence.
♪ ♪
[soft tense music]
♪ ♪
[soft downbeat music]
♪ ♪
[soft tense music]
- Do we need to go back to my house and get a shovel?
No, I got one in my trunk.
Of course you do.
♪ ♪
Maddie?
♪ ♪
I'm really sorry I wasn't able to help you.
- Dawn, please. You don't need to apologize to me.
- But I really wanted to take you back.
No, it's okay.
If anything, you deserve an apology.
And I'm sorry if anyone ever made you feel like a joke,
'cause you're not.
[soft tender music]
[locker shuts]
Well, I...
I think I hurt people, too.
And I wish I would've been there for them.
When I still could.
♪ ♪
Y-you gonna be okay?
- [softly] Mm-hmm.
♪ ♪
You're a good friend.
♪ ♪
[door opens]
[door closes]
♪ ♪
Maddie?
I wanna make sure she's okay.
- Let's check the faculty lounge.
- She didn't say she needed a nap.
- Well, maybe she went to speak with Simon.
- [sighs] - Sorry.
Why are you sorry?
- You wince every time you hear his name.
- This is not me wincing, this is my happy face.
- Oh. Could've fooled me.
- Look. [sighs]
I know she's still trying to figure her stuff out,
but I can wait.
We're not even at halftime.
I don't know what that means,
but if that is your happy face,
remind me to hide when you're really happy.
- Hey, has anyone seen Dawn since the s ance?
She's not there.
- Weird. She's usually there.
[electrical buzzing]
[thrumming and high-pitched ringing]
What the hell is that?
[high-pitched ringing continuing]
[soft suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
[light bulb buzzing and crackling]
♪ ♪
[sighs]
Did anybody else just feel that?
- Goosebumps. Yeah.
- Do we think that Dawn just... - Dawn just crossed over.
Yeah. Yeah, I do.
Holy crap.
Does anybody remember this happening when Janet left?
Nope.
[soft tense music]
[panting and straining]
Come on.
[panting and straining]
I'm telling you this is where it was.
Maybe it's a different one.
Maybe this one was made by an animal.
It was right here.
- Maybe it's closer to the fence.
- No, I buried it in a garbage bag right here.
- Nicole, it was dark. You were stressed.
- No, I remember the stump, Simon.
It was here, it was right here, and now it's gone.
[owl hooting]
I came out here, I buried it, and somebody came and stole it.
- Who knew you were out here? - What?
- Were you being followed when you left the dance?
Did someone follow you out here?
- I didn't come here after the dance.
I went to Maddie's mom's house, remember?
I came here straight from Sandra's.
[gasps softly]
Did she follow you here?
- What? Why would Sandra take this money?
[gasps softly]
[car thumps over curb]
[tense music]
- You're being a brat! - That belonged to me!
You have to get over it!
[gasps softly]
- When you were walking back to your car,
did you see anybody follow you out here?
No, I was alone.
There was music playing at the dance
- and a couple people outside... - Simon.
- But that was it. - There's someone there!
Nicole, think!
- Simon! Look behind you! Nicole!
- I made sure of it! No one saw me! I swear!
Simon, look behind you!
- [twig snaps] - What's wrong?
Did you hear that?
[foliage rustling] What?
[tense music]
Wait! Simon!
Simon, don't!
Don't! Please don't! Simon! [gasps]
- Maddie! - Leave me alone!
Mom, don't! Mom, please.
[gasps softly]
♪ ♪
- Maddie. You okay?
What's going on?
I need to talk to my mother.
Why?
- I think she may have killed me.
♪ ♪