BATCH 18
Batch 18
written by
Diégo Malik
(adopted from "Detention" by Sara Haj)
H.O.S Productions
Al Jadaf, Dubai, UAE
hosproductions@gmail.com
INT. CLASSROOM - NIGHT
A man is seated at a desk in a dimly lit classroom on a Thursday evening taking a folder out of a briefcase that sits on his lap. He opens the folder out in front of him and begins boxing through a few pages before he stops at one and lingers on it a bit. He reads, goes through a few names on the page, closes the folder, and then puts it back into his briefcase as he gets up from his seat and gingerly leaves the room.
INT. CLASSROOM - DAY
It's now Friday morning. Olivia, Sam, Emma, and Johnny, four students, all enter the classroom one by one and space themselves out as they see their names on each of their seats. Olivia in the middle, Sam on the far left of her, Emma in the distant left corner of the room, and Johnny in the seat closest to the door. Not long after, a teacher, the mysterious man from the evening before, enters the room dressed in a black blazer, a white shirt, black trousers and scuffed black shoes. He then writes on the board in bold letters "DETENTION - NO TALKING, NO PHONES, NO EATING, NO ONE LEAVES." The students see what is being written on the board and their reactions vary. Emma leans forward in her seat with her arms on the desk paying keen attention to all instructions, Olivia rolls her eyes and puts her phone away, Sam sighs in exhaustion with his arms across his chest, and Johnny chuckles to himself and leans back in his seat.
TEACHER
Alright, now, you can all read, right? Anyway, if you abide by these rules I may let you leave earlier than you should.
He gives them all a smug look but makes sure to catch Johnny's attention - he gives him a fierce look. He straightens his blazer and keeps his eyes on the young man as he leaves the room and slams the door behind him.
INT. CLASSROOM - MOMENTS LATER
After few minutes the room is still quiet and the students are all sitting there, biding their time, waiting to see what would happen next, waiting to see if the man would return. Johnny, the rebel, carelessly takes his phone out of his pocket hoping that Tik Tok's latest trends would make time time pass quicker. It was futile, and the next few minutes felt like hours to him. As he's enjoying himself, Emma, the student seated in the corner of the room notices him immediately and gives a stern look to the back of his head.
He's much too preoccupied to notice or care. The teacher returns to the room a few seconds later and notices that Johnny was on his phone. A rule had been broken, and the teacher was seething.
2.
TEACHER
You, come with me. Now!
Johnny looks up at him, annoyed, but then complies in hopes that this was his way out - it's finally here, the moment he has been waiting for. Olivia looks at them leave; her face most puzzled. She looks around the room at both Emma and Sam to possibly gauge their reactions. She begins wondering if she'd be next. This makes her a bit anxious but she isn't letting herself get too worried; that isn't her style.
OLIVIA
Wha-What just happened? Where did they go? Where do you think he took him?
Emma and Sam hear Olivia's questions of concern but remained quiet and in their seats. Emma looks across the room at Sam and sees a look of worry grow on his face. He was always a nervous wreck but now he is even more anxious after hearing Olivia's words of mild panic.
INT. CLASSROOM - MOMENTS LATER
The door opens and there he is again, strutting in this time and straightens his tie a bit as he makes his way over to where Olivia is seated and looks directly into her eyes.
TEACHER
Come, come with me.
Olivia looks puzzled; she doesn't know why she's being asked to leave. She responds assertively; masking her attempts to compose herself.
OLIVIA
Why? For what? Where's the other boy?
Now annoyed, the teacher bangs on the desk hoping to frighten her enough to cooperate, but, as the teacher rolls up his sleeves Sam notices a splatter of blood on his left cuff but doesn't say anything. He stays still and keeps quiet, what he's used to.
3.
TEACHER
No questions! Get up and come with me, now!
Olivia, now fearful, gives in and storms out the room leaving the door wide open. The teacher scoffs, casts his eyes over at Sam with a daring look in his eyes, and then leaves room slamming the door behind him.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. CLASSROOM - DAY
30 minutes go by and Sam's worry has been growing astronomically not knowing if or when the teacher would ever return, not knowing his fate. After thinking through various scenarios in his head, he decides to subtly take his phone out of his pocket and tries to call for help but he soon realizes there's no reception in the room and his panic intensifies. Emma, still seated in the corner of the room, locks her eyes onto him, her full focus is now on what he's doing and she furrows her brow at him. Sam can no longer sit there like a pig waiting to be slaughtered so he quickly jumps out of his seat and runs through the door - he has escaped the room.
INT. CLASSROOM - DAY
A few moments later, a loud bang fills the classroom and echoes throughout the rest of the building. The sound was unmistakable, a gunshot. It was followed by a thud just outside the classroom - the sound of a body falling. Emma, still relaxed in the corner of the room, nods her head and chuckles to herself. She reaches to the left of her seat and pulls a briefcase onto her lap; the same briefcase the teacher had in his possession. She takes a folder out of it, the very folder the teacher examined earlier. She opens it, boxes through the pages just as he did and lands on a page labeled "PATCH 18 - DETENTION EXPERIMENT". She then skims through the passage below, goes through the list of names, their names, and then goes all the way down to the end of the page where she reads the words "PASSED" and "FAILED" - she checks the box denoting failed and smirks.
FADE OUT.