New York, December 2013.
It's approaching twenty-one. All the girls have already returned to their rooms, only Hannah stays in the bathroom a while longer, unable to make it in time. She quickly brushes through her wet hair with a brush, then heads for the exit. She is about to leave the bathroom, but a sitter walks in. Hannah puts her hand to her left breast.
— But you scared me. I'm already going back to the room — she announces, smiling at her in a friendly manner. She intends to sneak past her in the doorway, but something unexpected happens. The attendant grabs her by the back of her shirt and pulls her back inside. She locks the door behind her so that no one disturbs them. — What is it about?
— It's time for us to talk honestly. I'm tired of this pretending — he says unfriendly, gracing her with his eyes.
The 16-year-old puts her hand to her mouth, when she finally realizes that this voice really is hers.
— Are you the one who stalked me! — Her astonishment is so strong that she blanches with fear. — Why?
She couldn't believe it. The woman was friendly towards her from the very beginning. Did she do it purposely? Is this a game to keep Hannah from realizing that she is the perpetrator? Why? What was her reason?
— From the beginning, I didn't like the fact that you took a place that was mine. If you had moved to another room at the beginning of the year, I probably would have given you a break, but... not for long since you clung to my guy. — The 16-year-old opens her mouth in shock. She pulls down her eyebrows and looks at her as if she were an alien.
— Your guy? — she repeats, wondering who they are just talking about.
— I'm not stupid. Joseph is interested in you. That's enough to make me jealous of him.
— Excuse me? — It's hard for a teenager to understand. How can a guardian date a ten years younger student? How is it possible for them to hide for such a long time?
— Do you think it's strange? — He snorts under his breath. — I just hate it when someone tries to take away something that is mine. I've already gotten rid of one rat. Is it time for the other one?
Hannah takes three steps back for safety.
— That's why Mariah mentioned that it's difficult to win over the person who destroyed Halsey. You are the daughter of the principal, right? You think a student's word against an adult means nothing?
— It hits me when I think about the fact that it was enough for you to come to this school, and he paid attention to you! I had to get close to him for a long time! Eliminate the girl he loved. To be a support for him as a teacher so that he finally trusted me. You did nothing, you hated him, and yet he took an interest in you!
The 16-year-old crosses her arms on her chest and starts laughing under her breath. Her attitude unexpectedly changes.
— He probably saw in you a mother, not a woman.
With these words, she irritates the caregiver, as the woman attacks her. She punches the teenager in the face, then pushes her against the wall. Hannah closes her eyelids as a sharp pain pierces her back. She is unable to wake up, and is already grabbed by the hair. The woman puts her head under the tap. She lets the water run, and the girl starts whooping.
— You should have left school when I warned you, you little kite!
*
She dials a call to her father and sits down on the bed, nervously looking at one point.
— Before you dialed my number, did you look at your watch? I had a hard day and went to bed early. You woke me up, son. — Jin massages his forehead, guessing that his father will resent him.
— Is it true that you went back to your mother, Danielle? — He is silent for a brief moment and swallows his saliva harder. — Has she already recovered from the death of her daughter? — The boy nervously fiddles with the bedclothes.
— How do you know about it?
— Just... someone saw you two together and told me about it. I'm glad if it's true. — Jin is lying and not at all happy about this news, but he wants at least his father to experience some joy in his life. — You know... I was going to tell you this a long time ago. There is a girl at Horace Mann who looks like Danielle.
There is a deafening silence on the other side of the phone, and only when his father sighs does, he also begins to speak.
— This is Danielle's sister. — Jin closes his eyes. He knows this perfectly well, but why is Hannah pretending to be her twin all the time? — The girls met in the spring. Danielle's mother hid the truth from us. I don't understand why both of them did it, since we were family then.
Danielle was never honest with him. She hid many things from him, she didn't confide in him about her secrets. She was playing games, which is why running away from home came to her with unimaginable ease.
— Apparently, both of them did not take us seriously, which is why I admire you for agreeing to return to her.
The man disregards his words and continues the topic of the twins. He does not intend to speak ill of his woman.
— The girls were inseparable during that period. They became very attached to each other, which is why Danielle ran away from home — the man defends her.
— Yes... and her mother accused you, claiming that it was because of you that she ran away. — Jin snorts bitterly, feeling tears gathering under his eyelids.
— I understand your anger, but some words are inappropriate for this moment — his father admonishes him. — Me and Adeline have cleared up all misunderstandings.
— It's okay. I'm just stuck in some sick game that the two twins dragged me into. It's time to end it. — He hangs up, intending to explain everything to Hannah. He isn't concerned about the late hour or the ban. He doesn't intend to keep it inside all night.
*
Joseph, accompanied by an usher, bangs on the door. The boy has been following the woman with whom he is having an affair for a long time. After recent events, he has begun to suspect her, but he needs to see it with his own eyes. To see that the person who was his support for so long, replacing his beloved, has turned out to be his enemy.
Blinded by her lies, he terrorized the students he blamed for his girlfriend's departure. Irene manipulated him. She was masking herself perfectly, and he didn't see it.
He could expect Hannah to become her victim, since she had taken up residence in the room that was the site of their nightly trysts. Irene wanted to get rid of her from there. Later, jealousy came into play.
Although Joseph is not interested in Hannah in a way that expresses a desire for romance, Irene sees things differently. He simply sees her as the person he misses the most. At first, he told himself that he sees Halsey in her, but he lied to himself.
The usher opens the door. The boy rushes inside and gets a shock when he sees Irene torturing Hannah.
She waters her face in the sink!
Joseph runs up to her and pushes her away too hard, causing the woman to fall on the tiles. He grabs Hannah by the shoulders and, with wide eyes, watches the girl expectorate water.
The schoolgirls walk in with curiosity. Among them, Jin appears.
The attendant jumps off the floor and intends to jump on Hannah, but Joseph stops her. The woman jerks into his embrace and challenges the underage student, disregarding the offensive language.
Jin crouches down beside Hannah and embraces her face. She looks at him with weeping eyes. She is pale and terrified.
— It's okay, Hannah — he turns to her in a soft voice, for a moment forgetting the misunderstanding between them.
The sitter screams, jerks, and cries in Joseph's embrace.
The boy forcibly leads her out of the bathroom so that Hannah no longer has to endure her presence.
— It is this woman who has been bothering me from the very beginning. She wanted me to leave — exclaims the 16-year-old with difficulty, choking back tears.
The boy reassuringly puts his arm around her, and she takes advantage of this and presses her face into his chest.
*
Irene breathes fire. She watches Joseph as he pushes her into the room. He closes the door behind him, preventing her from leaving. He points a finger at her and warns her through his teeth:
— You will not move from here until we talk, understood?
The woman breathes hard, unable to calm down.
— What do you want to know! — she yells. — You already know everything! I'm the one who oppressed the shithead because of you! I'm the one who got rid of your damn love from this school!
Joseph walks closer to her and grabs her by the shoulders. He jerks her around.
— Why? What did Halsey do wrong to you? Is it because of me? Is this how you wanted to get close to me?
— Yes! — she answers him directly to his face. Joseph looks into her eyes, which at that moment are burning with living fire. — When I saw you, I fell madly in love with you! I didn't care that you are a student, and we are ten years apart. I fell in love with you, and that led me to become a monster.
— But I never loved you — he reveals straightforwardly, seeing her eyes cool down. A deep sadness appears in them. — You were more like a protector and lover in one for me — she calculates on her fingers, sultrily smiling under her breath. — I enjoyed spending nights with you. — He sees tears in her eyes. The woman takes three steps back. This was not the answer she expected from him. — The only girl I loved was Halsey. The fact that you got rid of her from school didn't make me forget about her and get rid of all feelings. Did you think you replaced her for me? You don't grow up to her heels. No one can replace her. No one — he emphasizes clearly.
Irene slaps him hard. The boy smiles.
— This was your last chance because soon you will be in serious trouble. Daddy won't save you — Joseph announces, not taking his eyes off her. — Bullying schoolgirls, having an affair with a minor... this could end badly for you. — The woman tightens her lips out of anger. Tears run down her cheeks. — How could I have been such an idiot not to have noticed this before? I guess I enjoyed our clandestine trysts too much that I didn't believe Mariah.
— It was you who destroyed me! Your appearance in this school changed me. I regret everything I did to be close to you. If I had known that… — She doesn't finish because Joseph enters her sentence.
— If you had known that I would never love you, would you have let yourself go? — A wicked smile appears on his face. — You should have done so.
For a moment, he looks at her with disgust in his eyes, then, without a word, he leaves the room. He guesses that this is their last meeting because tomorrow morning she will not be in the building.