BETS
Noble & Ogu
EXT. CAR – 9:15 AM
A silver BMW pulls up to a packed parking lot on an
apparent college campus. There are hundreds of kids
carrying their belongings, along with their parents. The
doors open and an African-American male, MARCUS, steps out
alongside his parents, ALICE & CRAIG. Marcus smiles as he
looks at his new home.
ALICE
Don’t smile too hard, Marcus, you know
it’s gonna get stuck that way.
MARCUS
Right, Mom.
Marcus kisses his mother on the cheek and then begins to
unpack his belongings alongside his dad. They then start
walking towards dorm complex.
CUT TO: INT. CAR – 10:30 AM
An Asian family of four is inside a minivan and approaches
the same parking lot. WANG PENG, who has his headphones on,
looks excitedly at the eight story high dorm complex.
Rushing, he swings open the sliding door and gets out. His
parents, CHEN & ALEX, honk the horn as he is walking away.
CHEN
(in Chinese) Where do you want us to
park at?
WANG PENG
(in Chinese) Just anywhere, Dad. I’m
going to go check-in and I’ll be back
out.
Wang begins walking towards the complex and swings open the
door.
INT. FIRST FLOOR DORM COMPLEX
Wang sees the front desk and starts approaching it. A
young, blonde female sees him and smiles.
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WOMAN
You look like a freshman, am I right?
Wang laughs lightly and just shakes his head quickly.
WOMAN
Alright, well let me check you in. Now,
what is your last name?
WANG
Wang--Wang Peng.
WOMAN
Let me see. Here we go... Mr. Peng.
Welcome to America. I see you’re one of
our foreign exchange students this
year. Well, I just need you to sign
here and I can hand your set of keys
over to you.
She smiles brightly and hands a clipboard and pen over to
Wang. He scribbles fast and hands it back to her smiling.
WOMAN
Thank you! Here are your keys and there
are people all over outside who can
help you with anything you need.
WANG
Thank you.
WOMEN
It’s my pleasure. Have a good move-in
day!
Wang smiles and nods again, then turns around to leave when
he accidently bumps into a young, Asian female, LIN. The
bags she had in her hands are now on the floor.
WANG
Oh! I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you…
LIN
It’s ok, really. It’s not a big deal.
There is an awkward silence, then Wang quickly bends downs
and as he does, she does too and they bump heads. They both
jerk back.
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WANG
I’m sorry about that too.
LIN
Again, it’s really no big deal. But I
must say, you aren’t making that good
of a first impression.
Wang, taking her words to heart, puts his head down in
shame. Lin notices and quickly defends her previous
statement.
LIN
I didn’t mean that literally, it was
just a joke. I’m Lin, what’s your name?
WANG
Wang. Wang Peng.
LIN
Well, Wang Peng, it’s nice to meet you.
Maybe I’ll see you around.
Wang, at a loss for words, just watches her as she gathers
her bags and walks away towards one of the elevators on the
first floor. Wang notices he let a moment slip away and
smacks his palm on his forehead. He gathers himself and is
set to go back outside when the door he is exiting is
opened. A white male, TODD, walks in and gives a menacing
look to Wang.
TODD
Hey, watch where you’re going, alright?
Wang just puts his head down and waits for Todd to leave.
He turns around and watches as Todd enters and elevator,
and mimicks Todd.
CUT TO: INT. DORM S UITE – 10:50 AM
Wang has just walked into the suite he will be calling his
home for the next year. Loud Hip-Hop is heard and as the
door shuts, is turned down. Marcus sticks his head out of
what looks like his dorm room. He smiles and gets up and
starts walking towards Wang and his parents.
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MARCUS
Hey, what’s up? I’m Marcus. Not meaning
to offend you or anything, but you must
be Wang Peng?
WANG
Yes. I’m Wang Peng.
MARCUS
It looks like we’re gonna be roommates
this year, man.
Marcus sticks out his hand and Wang smiles and shakes it.
MARCUS
Our room is the one all the way in the
back. I have my stuff set up, but we
can always switch around if you’re not
feeling it.
Wang is at an apparent loss of words and just smiles at
Marcus. Marcus notices Wang isn’t going to reply.
MARCUS
Hey guys, one of the other guys just
showed up.
A few moments after he says that, two guys step out of one
room to the right. One is a Hispanic male, CARLOS, and the
other is a white male, RYAN.
RYAN
Hey, what’s up man? How’s it going, I’m
Ryan.
CARLOS
I’m Carlos. It’s nice to meet you.
Wang politely smiles and shakes both of their hands. The
guys feel the uneasiness of the conversation and look at
each other.
MARCUS
It looks like you have a lot of stuff,
so we’ll let you get settled in. We’ll
be in Ryan and Carlos’ room right here.
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Wang smiles again and Ryan, Carlos and Marcus exit to the
room on the right. Wang looks back at his parents and they
walk to the room in the back.
FADE OUT: INTRO TO SERIES
FADE IN: INT. RYAN & CARLOS’ DORM ROOM – SHORTLY AFTER
Marcus and Ryan are gathered at his desk, while Carlos is
putting up a poster over his bed. Marcus and Ryan are busy
looking at a picture of Ryan’s girlfriend, AMANDA.
MARCUS
Yeah, she’s hot, man. Good going.
RYAN
Thanks. Hearing someone call your
girlfriend hot never gets old.
MARCUS
You need to watch out though. She’s two
hours and things can become a little
muddy.
RYAN
And? What’s that supposed to mean?
MARCUS
Don’t take it to heart, but she’s going
to be in a new environment, with new
guys and new girls to influence her to
do some things she might regret.
RYAN
What? No, not my girl. You don’t
understand. We are like best friends.
She would never do anything to hurt me.
CARLOS
You say that now. But when you’re in
here crying into your pillow, talking
about “how could something so perfect,
go so wrong?”, don’t expect any
sympathy from us.
Marcus and Carlos burst out laughing, while Ryan lets out
a soft chuckle. He then looks at the same picture of him
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and Amanda and there’s a sense of him questioning that
exact question. Ryan’s phone then rings and he picks it up
off of his desk.
RYAN
Oh, it’s Amanda. I’ll take this
outside.
MARCUS
Don’t let the leash get too tight
around your neck.
Marcus and Carlos laugh again as Ryan just laughs, waves
them off and goes outside.
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