"Together As One"

Doris stands surrounded by lots of versions of Jesse Velasquez, from lots of different time periods. They are all currently standing in silencelooking at her. Doris doesn't like the creepy situation and feels a little overwhelmed by it all. In the far corner one version of Jesse isn't looking at her instead he is talking to Dusty. Doris can't hear what they are saying but from the huge grin on Dusty's face it sounds like good news. Dusty then gives Jesse a huge hug.

One by one the various Jesses start to go about their own business. One stands by the far stairwell carrying a banner "Be Cool O, Vote Amatullo!"

Doris remembers that was the time she stood against Danny as school President. Another is tap dancing, while the one Doris has just seen performing with Nicole in the dance class now walks up the corridor. Doris feels slightly relieved that none of the Jesses are currently looking at her and none of them seem to be taking any notice of her at all but still doesn't feel comfortable.

Leroy and Nicole come out of the dance rehearsal room. Nicole is chattering away but Leroy stops in his tracks shocked by all the Jesses he can see.

Leroy: "What the ...?"

Nicole turns to him with a look of concern.

Nicole: "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Leroy gives her a look of surprise: "Don't you see them?"

Nicole looks around: "See who? I can see Jesse walking towards the end of the corridor, just pass a woman but that's it. What do you see?"

Leroy looks all around him: "I see hundreds of Jesses!"

Nicole is surprised: "What? You're kidding me, right?"

Leroy: "I wish I was. I can't believe that you can't see them!"

Both Leroy and Nicole stand looking around the corridors, both confused that the other one can't see what they are seeing.

After a few moments music starts to play and one by one each of the Jesses starts to join in with the song and dance, almost like a flash mob.

"We’ve got a good thing going (a good thing going here.)

MMMM we’ve got a good thing going (a good thing going here.)

Yo listen up; can I have your attention?

I’ve got some news, that I’ve go to mention.

My name is J V Velasquez

And I want to be your new school pres.

We need some changes in this place,

And I’m here to say I’m in the race.

If you’re looking for action I’m your man.

I can do the job, like no one can.

You see I’ve got class and I’ve got style,

And then check out my winning smile.

Come on, let’s talk, you won’t have a doubt

Whatever the gripe, I’m sure to work it out

Well I can pass about every test,

You’re gonna find out that I’m the best.

Vote for me and don’t be nervous,

It ain’t no jive and it ain’t lip service

"We’ve got a good thing going ( a good thing going here.)

Yeah Baby. We’ve got a good thing going ( a good thing going here.) MM MMM

Yo, hip hoppers what's happening?

I feel so good, I've got to sing.

You gotta spread the word and have no fear

Cause you’re in good hands and I’m here

The time has come to take a stand,

We can have it all if we just join hands.

Actor, singer, hunk and dancer,

If you’ve got the question, I’ve got the answer.

You may say that the kid is new,

But I’ve got the best in-store for you.

To be strong, when there are fights,

Coz I believe, we’ve got rights.

On your marks, set, ready, go

Ride with the tide and go with the flow.

Step right up and don’t delay,

Coz a vote for me is the only way.

We’ve got a good thing going ( a good thing going here.) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

We’ve got a good thing going ( a good thing going here.) ooow!

We’ve got a good thing going ( a good thing going here.)

Well the time has come to take a stand,

We can have it all if we just join hands.

Actor, singer, hunk and dancer,

If you’ve got the question, I’ve got the answer.

Vote for me and don’t be nervous,

It ain’t no jive and it ain’t lip service.

Step right up and don’t delay,

Coz a vote for me is the only way.

We’ve got a good thing going ( a good thing going here.) Yeah, yeah, yeah,

We’ve got a good thing going ( a good thing going here.) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

We’ve got a good thing going ( a good thing going here.)

Oh yeah. We’ve got a good thing going. J.V.”

Leroy watches and a big grin spreads across his face.

Nicole is puzzled: "What are you seeing that's made you smile?"

Leroy shakes his head: "I don't know what I'm seeing or why but it looks like fun."

Leroy watches the dance and then starts to join in with it. Nicole watches and thinks it looks odd because all she can see is Leroy dancing on his own to no music.

Nicole: "Are you feeling okay Leroy? Do you need to lie down? This doesn't seem normal!"

Leroy ignores her comments and carries on dancing.

Nicole feeling embarrassed looks over and smiles at Doris. Just at that moment all the surroundings change for a few seconds and Doris finds herself outside the school in a crowd of people watching just one Jesse performing the song with Nicole and Cleo. Then everything flashes back to all the Jesse performing in the school corridor. The change in locations happens a couple of more times until it stays on the outside location.

The quick movement between locations makes Doris feel slightly nauseous so she is glad when it stops. Outside the school she sees her teenage self standing with Holly watching the performances and Morloch coming along the sidewalk towards the school. However, there is no sign of the other Nicole, Leroy or Dusty.

Doris is relieved that things have returned to some kind of normality as she found the situation with all the different versions of Jesse very unnerving. She has no explanation for what happened but it was definitely one of the most unnerving things that have happened since she found herself in the past.

Doris notices Mrs Berg approaching and dancing along to the music.

Doris calls out to her: "Mrs Berg, do you know what just happened?"

Mrs Berg fixes her with a stern look as she comes to a stop next to where Doris is standing.

Mrs Berg: "Doris dear, I thought you'd learnt by now that your inferring causes the timeline to become messed up. If you didn't keep causing problems then these things wouldn't keep happening. Time has corrected itself now by taking you to the place that song originally took place and putting all the other Jesses back into their own time lines".

Doris is puzzled: "What exactly did I do to cause that to happen? I haven't interfered at all."

Mrs Berg shakes her head: "What about showing Troy Phillips a cell phone? He wouldn't have seen or touched one for years to come."

Doris is taken aback: "I didn't realise something so small could affect things."

Mrs Berg: "Well it can dear. Just your very presence here is affecting things. So every time you speak to anyone you are creating a conversation, a thought, that they wouldn't normally be having. Your promise to Nicole to give Jesse a message changes things too as Jesse shouldn't have the information you are going to give him. That will change things."

Doris sighs: "But I've promised Nicole!"

Mrs Berg: "I know you have dear but maybe you shouldn't have! If you go ahead with it then there are bound to be consequences and I just hope you are prepared for them?"

Doris: "What consequences? What can possibly happen from Jesse knowing Nicole loved him?"

Mrs Berg shrugs: "I don't know dear, I don't know everything! But I do know that something will happen and you have to be prepared for that. Remember when you tried to save Nicole from the car accident? Look what happened? You ended up killing Danny Amatullo and making your daughter disabled! Then you didn't like the fact that to correct things you would have to kill Nicole yourself."

Doris remembers the events and how bad she had felt being responsible for such terrible things.

Doris: "But time did eventually correct itself and everyone was okay?"

Mrs Berg: "Yes it did but this is like a battle and the longer it goes on, the weaker time becomes. You can't always rely on time correcting your mistakes. Besides, Are you sure that everyone survived the last incident okay? What about Leroy? What about yourself? We still haven't found out what was happening to you in that hospital room and who was trying to suffocate you, have we?"

Doris ponders what the older woman has said, for a few moments.

Mrs Berg shakes her head: "Doris, I'm already helping you far more than I should be. I will be facing consequences for that myself. If I do any more who knows what we will be dealing with. I've told you all along this is something that you have to sort out for yourself."

With that Mrs Berg moves off into the crowd dancing and singing as she goes.

Mrs Berg: "We've got a good thing going......!"

Doris watches her go and can't help but smile as the sight of the older woman getting down! The crowd starts to disperse leaving Doris uncertain as to what to do next. She thinks that maybe she should just walk on down the street and leave the school behind her. Maybe then everything would correct itself and she can get back home.

However, each time she's tried to leave before she's somehow always found herself back at the school. Everything does seem to be connected to both the school and the hospital so maybe leaving isn't the best thing to do either. Doris wishes she understood everything that is happening to her and how she could avoid making mistakes and bad things happen.

Doris stands, enjoying the afternoon sunshine for what seems like a long time. She notices Nicole looking back at her from the school steps. Nicole launches into a song called "Promises".

“Promises, Promises,

I promised you my heart

and you promised me yours too,

Right from the very start,

I fell deeply in love with you.

Promises, Promises!

You promised me you’d care,

And I promised I’d care too

A World together, we’d share.

A future for me and you.

Promises, promises!

The promises that we make,

keep our love strong and safe.

The promises that we make,

Are vows, we’ll never break.”

Doris thinks that it's more than coincidence that Nicole is singing a song titled "Promises" and sees it as a sign that she should keep the promise she made to Nicole. She crosses the road, looking up at the outside of the school building before taking a deep breath and heading up the steps back into the school.

As she goes she exchanges looks with Nicole, silently reassuring her friend that she will still try to help her. As she nears the top of the steps to the school lobby she immediately sees Jesse disappear into the auditorium, she quickly follows him. Inside the auditorium it is dark and Doris hopes she's not going to walk into yet another performance and draw attention to herself. She notices a figure climb on to the stage and go off to the left hand side behind the curtain. She assumes it must be Jesse and so quickly follows. As she heads to the backstage area she sees the door to the make-up room is shut.

Doris enters the room but there is no one there. Doris sighs and then whispers to herself.

Doris: "Am I doing the right thing?"

At that moment, the door opens and Doris turns quickly and calls out.

Doris: "Jesse?"

A tall blond girl enters, who Doris doesn't recognise but assumes from the way she is dressed she must be a dancer.

Girl: "Sorry I forgot my bag."

The girl scans the room and after a few seconds spots a bright orange canvass bag, which she picks up and turns to leave the room.

Doris calls after her: "Do you know Jesse Velásquez?"

The girl stops and thinks for a moment before shaking her head: "No sorry I've not heard that name before."

Doris thanks the girl anyway. The girl turns and opens the door, when a ringing noise can be heard. Doris' heart skips a beat as she thinks it must be Bruno phoning her. She pulls out her cell phone and looks at the display but it still says "No Signal".

The girl then pulls a cell phone out of her pocket and answers it as she leaves the room. Doris is surprised and starts talking aloud.

Doris: "How can she have a cell phone? Surely I can't still be in the 80s. Am I back some how back in the present day?"

A wave of excitement passes over Doris at the thought that she may be back in her own time line and can return home to her family.

At that moment a blue lights starts to emit from the long make up mirror like it had many times before and Doris expects to see Lisa. However, this time things are slightly different and the outline of a man appears. It seems to take some time for him to become completely visible leaving Doris wondering who it could be.

Eventually she realises that it's Leroy, looking older than his teenage self. As his image stabilises Leroy looks around to see where he is. Seeing the strange lights around him and the make-up room ahead of him he tries to step forward but is stopped by the mirror. Leroy starts to panic. He notices Doris watching him.

Leroy: “Doris? What's happening? Where am I? I don’t understand. I trapped... I'm trapped in the mirror!”

To be continued......