Written by: Marti Noxon

Directed by: James Whitmore, Jr.

Transcribed by: AleXander Thompson for Psyche's Transcripts

Copyright © 1998 Alexander Thompson

Disclaimer

I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". They were created by Joss Whedon and belong to him, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar Television, Kuzui Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Television and the WB Television Network.

This is not a novelization or a script. It is a straightforward and dry transcript of the episode "I Only Have Eyes For You". It also includes descriptions of the settings, action scenes and camera movements where I felt they were needed.

I made every effort to accurately transcribe the dialogue from this episode. If you notice anything that is transcribed incorrectly, please let me know and I will post an update. rev 98.10.08

This episode was originally broadcast on April 28, 1998.

Teaser

In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.

The Bronze. Splendid is the band tonight. They are on stage performing "Charge". The camera pans from the spotlights above the band down past the drummer to the lead guitar player.

Lyrics: The way you love / Have you got a name for it / Cause I don't understand it

The camera pans past the singer and into the crowd. Cordelia and Xander are dancing close with their arms around each other and smiling.

Lyrics: The language is an annoying necessity / And I depend on all the regular things

The camera reaches Willow, who is looking around for Buffy. She turns around, looks up and spots her on the upper level leaning against the railing and watching the band. The camera pans up to her.

Lyrics: Got a list tattooed on my memory / Of how our tryst should unfold

Behind Buffy a boy approaches her.

Lyrics: I'm falling from the opposite

Ben: Hey.

Buffy turns to him, a little surprised.

Lyrics: What good is it

Ben: I'm Ben. We had Algebra II together last year.

Lyrics: Fight the map with no key attached

Buffy: Sorry, I pretty much repress anything math-related.

Lyrics: My heart's enlarged, and I charge / What do you say

Ben: Ms. Jackson? Second period? You sat in the seat three over and one behind.

Lyrics: To a dream that won't go away

Buffy: Oh! Yeah, I remember now, it's the one with the desks and the chalkboards and pencils and stuff, right?

Ben: That's the one. (chuckles)

Buffy: (smiles and points at her head) Like a steel trap.

Lyrics: 'Cause I don't know if I can stand it

Ben: So, I was wondering, you know the dance tomorrow night? Are you going?

Buffy: You mean the Sadie Hawkins thing? The deal where the girls ask the boys?

Ben: Yeah.

Lyrics: Forever isn't something you want to be

Ben: And I thought maybe, you know, if you're free, you might ask me.

Lyrics: And I rely on familiar things

Buffy: Oh, gosh... (exhales) I...

Ben: (holds up his hand) Oh, oh, hey, hey, no, don't, don't worry about it...

Buffy: No, no, you seem like a really great guy, it's...

Lyrics: Seven days all have special meanings

Buffy: ...me. I-I'm not seeing anybody.

Lyrics: But you just call it a week

Buffy: Ever again, actually.

Ben: Oh. That's, that's too bad.

Lyrics: I'm falling from the opposite / What good is it

Ben: Okay, well, I better... (indicates away and goes)

Lyrics: Fight the map with no key attached

Buffy: (to herself) Sorry.

Lyrics: My heart's enlarged, and I charge

She watches him go for a moment, glances sadly down at the band and then heads for the stairs. Cut to the stage. The camera focuses on the singer and the band as she sings the refrain again.

Lyrics: I'm falling from the opposite / What good is it / Fight the map with no key attached / My heart's enlarged, and I charge

When Buffy reaches the bottom of the stairs Willow meets her.

Willow: Hey! You're bailing?

Buffy: Yeah. I'm gonna stop by the library and see if Giles wants me to patrol, and then sack it.

Willow: You've been doing that a lot. Patrolling and sacking. In fact, you've kind of been All-Work-And-No-Play Buffy.

Buffy: I play. I have *big* fun. I came here tonight, didn't I?

Willow: You came, you saw, you (glances up) rejected.

Buffy: You mean that guy? Just not in date mode right now.

Willow: (smiles) Well, maybe you need to date to get in date mode.

Buffy: I don't think I'm ready for that, Will.

Willow: You're thinking too much. Maybe you need to be impulsive. (smiles)

Buffy: Impulsive? Do you remember my ex-boyfriend, the vampire? I slept with him, he lost his soul, now my boyfriend's gone forever, and the demon that wears his face is killing my friends. The next impulsive decision I make will involve my choice of dentures.

Willow: Okay, the Angel thing went badly, I'm on board with that, but that's not your fault. And anyways, love isn't always like that. Love can be... (smiles) nice!

Cut to the halls at Sunnydale High School. A boy is chasing a girl as she walks away from him determinedly.

Boy: (angrily) Come back here! We're not finished!

He grabs her by the arm and turns her around to face him.

Boy: You don't care anymore, is that it?

Girl: (sobbing) No, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter what I feel.

Boy: Then tell me you don't love me. (shakes her) Say it!

Girl: Will that help? Is that what you need to hear? I don't. I don't! Now let me go. (tries to go)

Boy: No! A person doesn't just wake up one day and stop loving somebody.

He takes a step back, raises a revolver, pulls the hammer back and aims it at her. She looks at the gun, then up at him, frightened.

Boy: Love is forever.

Opening credits roll. Buffy's theme plays.

Act One

The halls at Sunnydale High. The boy has his gun trained on the girl.

Boy: I'm not afraid to use it. I swear! If I can't be with you...

Buffy comes walking around the corner and sees them.

Buffy: Hey!

Girl: Oh, my God!

She turns and starts walking away. Buffy starts running at the boy.

Boy: DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME, BITCH!

Down another hall George the janitor hears the yelling, drops his mop and starts toward the commotion. Buffy comes running at the boy full steam. He looks at her just as she grabs his arm, raises it and brings it down over her shoulder, making him drop the gun. She elbows him hard in the gut, knocking the breath out of him. She turns around, grabs him by the shirt and yanks him hard to the floor. His spins a turn and a half on his way down and lands hard on his back. The girl just looks on in shock. Buffy bends down to pick the boy up by the collar. George arrives at a run and goes over to the girl. They look over at Buffy and the boy. She pushes him away. He is in open-mouthed shock over what just happened.

Boy: What happened?

Buffy: What happened?! You just went O.J. on your girlfriend!

His girlfriend looks down away from him.

Boy: This is nuts! I... I don't know why I got so mad.

Buffy: Because you're a jerk?

Girl: He's not. We weren't even fighting a few minutes ago.

Boy: We weren't, I, I swear to God!

Buffy: If you weren't fighting, then why'd you have a gun?

George looks around the hall.

Boy: I don't, I don't know. I don't even know where I got it.

George: I don't see any gun.

Buffy looks at him, confused. The boy takes a look around also. Cut to school the next day. Cut to Pricipal Snyder's office. He comes in and closes the door behind him. The camera starts to follow him to his desk.

Snyder: I'm sure you know why I asked you here.

He passes Buffy as she takes a seat.

Buffy: To thank me?

Snyder: (walks around his desk) That's right, I wanna thank you. What would Sunnydale High do without you around to incite mayhem, chaos and disorder?

Buffy: I don't incite! I stopped that boy from killing his girlfriend, ask him. Ask the janitor.

Snyder: People can be coerced, Summers. I'm no stranger to conspiracy. I saw JFK. I'm a truth seeker. I've got a missing gun and two confused kids on my hands. Pieces of the puzzle. And I'm gonna look at all the pieces carefully and rationally, and I'm gonna keep looking until I know exactly how this is all your fault.

Buffy is about to respond when his secretary buzzes him on his office intercom.

Secretary: Mr. Snyder, Billy Crandal chained himself to the snack machine again.

Snyder: (to the intercom) Pathetic little no-life vegan.

He walks around his desk to go take care of Billy. Buffy stands up to go also.

Snyder: Not so fast, missy. I'm not done with you yet. You stink of lies.

He points to her chair, and she sits back down and exhales. He leaves the office and closes the door behind him. Over to Buffy's right is a bookcase with copies of all of the yearbooks since Sunnydale High opened, and the one from 1955 slides out on its own and falls. She hears it hit the floor and looks down at it. She gets up and bends down to pick it up. She looks at the cover, looks over at its space on the shelf, shrugs and puts it back. Cut to the computer science class. Willow is still substituting for Ms. Calendar. She walks along the front of the class.

Willow: So, for next time read the chapters on information grouping and binary coding.

Giles looks into the classroom from the hall.

Willow: I bet you'll think coding is pretty cool. I mean, if you find two-digit, multi-stacked conversions and primary number clusters a big hoot.

Everyone in the class laughs. The bell rings, and the students begin to leave. Willow watches them go and notices Giles waiting just inside of the doorway.

Willow: Giles! (goes to him) I made them laugh, did you hear? I did the joke thing! (smiles) (goes back to the desk)

Giles: Yes, yes, so it seems. I-I mean, um, (approaches the desk) uh, you did indeed. Good, good, good show. I-I-I just stopped by to, to see if you needed any assistance, (sits on the desk) but you seem to have things quite under control.

Willow: (puts things away) Well, I had good lesson plans. Ms. Calendar had them on her computer.

Giles: Yes, yes, she was very, um... uh, dedicated.

Willow: And I found a bunch of files and Internet sites on paganism and magic and stuff. (smiles)

Giles: Oh?

Willow: Yes, it's really interesting.

Giles looks down away from her.

Willow: (reaches for something on the desk) And, uh, I found this in her drawer. (Giles looks up) She told me it was a rose quartz. (Giles looks at her hands) And it has healing powers.

She holds up a light pink quartz stone strung on a thin leather thong.

Willow: I thought she'd want you to have it.

He gets up from the desk and slowly takes the necklace from her. He gently turns it over in his hand.

Giles: Oh, thank you, Willow, that's, um... that's very thoughtful of you.

He turns and leaves the classroom. Willow watches him go with a small smile on her face. Cut to history class. Buffy has her chin propped up in her hand, bored with the lecture and trying not to fall asleep to the drone of the male teacher's voice.

Teacher: Before 1935, the New Deal focused on revitalizing stricken business and agricultural communities. And the New Deal also tried to regulate the nation's financial hierarchy to avoid another disaster like the 1929 stock market crash.

Buffy can't help but close her eyes for a moment. The next thing she knows she hears a woman's voice, and she shakes herself out of her reverie.

Ms. Newman: Don't forget, your assignments are due on Friday, class.

The students begin to leave. Buffy looks around and is taken aback by the sudden changed appearance of the classroom and the different dress and hairstyles of the other students.

Girl#1: I told Ms. Hall we'd go help decorate the gym. Who are you taking?

She hands a flyer for the Sadie Hawkins Dance to another girl. Buffy can see that the year on it reads 1955.

Girl#2: David said yes.

Girl#1: Oh, you're kidding! He's so dreamy!

Buffy looks all around, confused.

Ms. Newman: (collecting papers) Thank you.

James goes up to the desk and hands in his paper also.

Ms. Newman: Thank you, James. How are you enjoying that book I loaned you? The Hemingway.

Buffy observes and listens to the conversation.

James: I like it. Very much. It's honest.

He slowly reaches for Ms. Newman's hand and gently takes it.

Ms. Newman: (exhales) Yes, it's, um... it's based on a true story, actually. He fell in love with his...

They are interrupted by the door opening, and let go of their hands. Suddenly Buffy finds herself back in her history class as her teacher continues his lecture while writing on the board.

Teacher: ...hours, child labor...

Buffy stares in surprise at what the teacher is writing.

Teacher: ...and collective bargaining.

The teacher looks back at the class. The students all start laughing. He looks back at the board and sees that he's just written "DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME BITCH!" in huge letters.

Teacher: Oh, my God!

He quickly grabs an eraser and frantically wipes it away.

Boy: (smiling) Did you see what he wrote?

Cut to the halls. Buffy and Xander walk through the doors from the lounge and head down the hall.

Buffy: I'm telling you, something weird is going on.

Xander: Something weird is going on. Isn't that our school motto?

Buffy: Pretty much. But I don't know. This time it bugs me.

They reach his locker, and he starts to work the combination.

Xander: I don't wanna poo-poo your wiggins, but a domestic dispute, a little case of chalkboard Tourette's? All sounds like Hellmouth Lite to me.

He opens his locker, and a wiry-muscled green arm shoots out and grabs him by the shirt. He screams, and it pulls at him and slams him into the locker. Buffy grabs him by the shoulders and tries to pull him away, but the arm is extremely strong and pulls Xander away from her and against the locker again. He screams out in pain when he hits it. Buffy grabs him again and pulls harder, and the arm lets go. Xander falls to the floor as Buffy slams the locker shut. He scrambles back to his feet, and they both look around the hall and see the other students' reactions. They are all confused, but stay away and just stare. Buffy gives Xander an intent look and indicates that they should open his locker again and take a look inside. Xander rubs his chin and stands ready as Buffy slowly lifts the latch. She slowly opens the door, and they peek in. Nothing. They open it all the way, and it appears to be completely normal. Cut to the library. Willow is at the table studying. She looks up when she hears the doors open and sees Xander's torn shirt.

Willow: Xander, what happened? Did Cordelia win another round in the broom closet?

Xander: You're just a big bucket of funny, Will.

Buffy sits down next to her. Xander walks over to Giles, who is kneeling and going through some books on a shelf.

Xander: I'll have you know I was just accosted by some kind of, um, locker monster.

Giles: (looks up) Loch Ness Monster?

Buffy: 'Locker' monster is what he said. But it wasn't really a monster. It was, like, this big arm that came out of the locker, but then we opened it again, it was gone. Nothing.

Xander: This was right after Buffy's history teacher starts doing some freaky channeling thing in class.

Giles: (stands up) Ooh! Sounds like paranormal phenomena.

Willow: (smiles) A ghost? Cool!

Xander: Oh, no, no. No. No cool. This was no wimpy chain rattler. This was 'I'm dead as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore.'

Giles: Well, despite the Xander-speak, that's a fairly accurate definition of a poltergeist.

Xander: I defined something? Accurately? (closes a book on the table) Guess I'm done with the book learning. (sits)

Buffy: So we have some bad boo on our hands?

Giles: Yes.

Willow: Well, why is it here? Does it just wanna scare people?

Giles: Unfortunately, he doesn't know exactly what he wants. That's, that's the trouble. See, uh, many times the spirit is plagued by all manner of worldly troubles. Being dead, it has no way to, uh, to make its peace. So it, it lashes out, growing ever more confused, ever more angry.

Buffy: So it's a normal teenager, only dead.

Willow: Well, what can we do? Is there any way to stop it?

Giles: (sits on the table) Uh, the only tried and true way is to work out what unresolved issues keep it here, and-and-and, um, resolve them.

Buffy: Fabulous. Now we're Dr. Laura for the deceased.

Giles: Only if we can find out who this spirit is. (considers) Or was.

Cut to the halls that evening. George is doing his usual mopping. Behind him a classroom door opens, and a teacher comes out to go home.

George: Working late Ms. Frank?

Ms. Frank: My fault. Let myself get behind. (stops) Is it okay to walk here George? It is George, right?

George: Oh, yes ma'am. You go ahead.

Ms. Frank: Thanks. (continues on her way) You have a nice evening.

George: You too. Drive safe. (looks up at her) Oh, Ms. Frank?

Ms. Frank: Yes?

George: (drops his mop and approaches her) You can't make me disappear just because you say it's over.

Ms. Frank: (shakes her head) There's no way we can be together. (steps closer) No way people will ever understand. Accept it.

George: Is that what this is about? What other people think?

Ms. Frank: No! I just want you to be able to have some kind of a normal life. We can never have that. Don't you see?

George: I don't give a damn about a normal life! I'm going crazy not seeing you. I think about you every minute.

She steps closer and puts her hand up on his cheek. He looks down sadly.

Ms. Frank: I know. But it's over. It has to be.

She turns around and starts to leave. He looks up again and starts to chase after her.

George: (angrily) Come back here! We're not finished yet!

He grabs her by the arm and turns her around to face him.

George: You don't care anymore? Is that it?

Ms. Frank: (sobbing) It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter what I feel.

George: Then tell me you don't love me. (shakes her) Say it!

Ms. Frank: Will that help? Is that what you have to hear? I don't. I don't. Now let me go. (tries to go)

George: No. A person doesn't just wake up one day and stop loving somebody.

A gun materializes in his hand. He takes a step back, raises the revolver, pulls the hammer back and aims it at her. She looks at the gun, frightened.

George: Love is forever.

Act Two

The library. The camera pans through the main room over to a window looking into Giles' office. George and Ms. Frank can be heard faintly as they continue their quarrel.

George: I'm not afraid to use it. I swear. If I can't be with you...

Ms. Frank: Oh, my God.

George: DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME, BITCH!

Giles notices George's loud yelling and looks up from his desk. He gets up, takes off his glasses and walks out of his office to the area behind the checkout counter. There he hears a faint female voice.

Voice: I need you.

He looks around for a moment, then jumps to a conclusion.

Giles: Jenny.

Cut to the hall. He arrives at the hall intersection.

George: Don't!

Giles looks in the direction of George's voice and sees him out on the balcony holding the gun up to Ms. Frank.

George: Don't do that, damn it! Don't talk to me like I'm some dumb...

The gun goes off. Giles rushes to the other side of the intersection and hides behind the corner, watching the events as they unfold. Outside Ms. Frank goes into shock from the bullet wound and begins to fall backward. She tumbles over the balcony railing down to the base of the stairs below. There George sees her lying dead with her eyes closed. He panics and runs into the hall. As he reaches the intersection Giles rushes out, grabs him and tackles him to the floor. George loses his grip on the gun and it slides away. As it does so it dissolves and disappears in a whiff of black vapor. George raises his head as Giles gets to his knees behind him and holds him down.

George: What's going on?

Giles: What's going on? You just shot a woman.

George is stunned by the realization that it actually happened. Cut to a modern-looking but deserted mansion. Cut inside to an atrium. Angelus comes in leading Spike and Drusilla on a tour.

Angelus: And this... this is the garden.

Drusilla: Wow! (walks through) Look. Jasmine. (holds a flower)

Angelus: Night blooming. (plays with some pruning shears)

Drusilla: Like us. Oh, Angel, it's fairyland. (turns in excitement) Ooh!

Spike: (still at the entrance) It's paradise. Big windows, lovely gardens. It'll be perfect when we want the sunlight to kill us.

Angelus: If you don't like it, Spike, hit the stairs and go. Take a stand, man. (comes up behind Drusilla)

Spike: Well, our old place was just fine till you went and had it burned down.

Angelus: (walks around the center stone table) Things change, Spikey. You gotta roll with the punches. Well, actually, you pretty much got that part down, haven't you?

Spike: Very funny, mate.

Angelus: (peeks his head out from behind Dru) What can I say? (peeks from the other side of her head) I just love to see you smile, buddy.

He holds up a jasmine bloom and brushes it across Drusilla's cheek as he growls into her ear.

Spike: Yeah, you're a giver. (turns and rolls out)

Cut to the library. Giles is in his office, and the others are standing outside his door.

Giles: It was just as with the, the couple you encountered the other night, Buffy. The, the janitor remembered everything. He, he knew he'd killed this poor woman, but he had no idea why. Well, they-they had no intimate relationship.

He comes out with a few books and heads into the main area. They all follow.

Willow: What about the gun? Did you find it?

Giles: No, no. The police, everybody, we-we-we-we searched high and low. I think it's very clear what's happening here.

He goes into the cage with the books and puts them away.

Xander: Fill me in then, 'cause I've read the book, seen the movie, and I'm still fuzzy about what's going on.

Giles: It's Jenny.

Buffy: What?

Xander: You think she's the ghost?

Giles: Well, don't you see? Well, she-she-she died here under tragic circumstances, a-a-and now she's trapped.

Willow: But what about the gun? I mean, Angel didn't shoot Ms. Calendar.

Giles: The gun is insignificant. It's the violence of the thing that matters. (goes back into his office)

Buffy: I don't know. These fights these couples keep having, it's sort of... specific.

Willow: She's right. It's a pattern that doesn't fit with the way Ms. Calendar died.

Giles: (comes out of his office) Yes, well, I, uh, I appreciate your thoughts on the matter, I, in fact I... well, I *encourage* you to, to always, uh, challenge me, uh, when you feel it's appropriate. You should never be cowed by authority. (starts back in, but comes back) Except, of course, in this instance, when I am clearly right and you are clearly wrong. (goes back in)

Cut to the computer science classroom. Willow, Xander and Buffy come in.

Willow: This is freaky. I don't ever remember ever seeing Giles be this weird.

She sits at the desk and types at her laptop. Xander leans on a table behind her. Buffy walks to the other side of the desk.

Xander: I know. He's usually Investigate-Things-From-Every-Boring-Angle Guy. Now he's I-Cling-Onto-My-One-Lame-Idea Guy. What gives?

Buffy: He misses her. He can't think. Just a little more fallout from my love life.

Willow: Okay, but this ghost stuff is something else. Let me do a crosscheck on other shootings at the school.

Buffy: Yeah, we need some alternate ghost theories. What do we know?

Xander: Dog spit is cleaner than human.

Buffy: Besides that?

Willow: (finds something) Oh, boy, we know plenty.

She scrolls through a newspaper article on her laptop. The title reads "Sunnydale High Jock Kills Lover, Self".

Willow: It says a student murdered a teacher on the night of the Sadie Hawkins Dance. The rumor was they were having an affair, and she tried to break it off. After he killed her, he went into the music room and shot himself.

Xander: Ladies and gentlemen, we have a ghost. It is one of those two, right?

Willow: It all fits: the gun, the Sadie Hawkins Dance.

Buffy: Which is tonight.

Xander: How come we've never heard about this murder-suicide thing before? When did it happen?

Buffy: 1955.

Willow and Xander both look up at her surprised.

Willow: How did you know?

Cut to a short while later. Buffy sets the 1955 Sunnydale High yearbook on the desk and opens it to a picture of Ms. Newman.

Buffy: Okay, here's the new strangeness. I dreamt about this woman, (points) Grace Newman, the other day. (turns more pages) Her and this guy. (points)

Willow: Jim Stanley? He's the one. He did it.

Xander: Your dreams are getting wicked accurate, Buff. You wouldn't happen to see me coming across some big cash? Or possibly knowing the love of a woman? In a full body sense?

Buffy: (ignores him) He couldn't make her love him, so he killed her. (turns away) Sicko. (steps away)

Willow: He looks so normal on this picture. He was smart, too. He made the honor roll.

Buffy: (looks back) Smart.

Xander: He killed a person and killed himself. Those are pretty much two of the dumbest things you could do.

Willow: I know, but... Well, don't you feel kind of bad for them?

Buffy: Sure I feel lousy. For her. He's a murderer and he should pay for it.

Willow: With his life?

Buffy: No, he should be doing sixty years in a prison, breaking rocks and making special friends with Roscoe the Weightlifter.

Xander: Yikes. The quality of mercy is not Buffy.

Willow: Whose ghost do you think we're dealing with? His or hers?

Buffy: Well, considering how violent it is, I'm gonna say his.

Xander: That tracks.

Willow: (sits) Well, I've been browsing on some of Ms. Calendar's pagan sites. Maybe I can find a way to communicate with them and... we can find out what he wants.

Buffy: Who cares what he wants? We need to shut him down before some other innocent guy goes and kills some poor nice girl and then blows his brains out all over the music room wall.

Xander: Okay! (smiles and rubs his hands) Who's hungry?

Cut to the cafeteria. Kraut dogs and spaghetti are on the menu today. Cordelia has opted for spaghetti, and after paying comes over to the team's table with her tray.

Cordelia: I hope you guys aren't going to the Sadie Hawkins Dance tonight, (sits) 'cause I'm organizing a boycott. Do you realize that the girls have to ask the guys? And pay and everything? I mean, whose genius idea was that?

Xander: Obviously, some hairy-legged feminist.

Cordelia: Really! Well, we need to nip this thing in the bud. I mean, otherwise, things are going to get really scary.

Suddenly they hear several students scream. The hot dogs and spaghetti have all turned into snakes. A boy pulls his snakedog away from his mouth. He has a snake protruding from his lips. He drops the bun, spits out the snake and quickly gets up, backing away from his table. Xander and the others look back at their table and see snakes all over it as well. They quickly get up, except for Cordelia, who is too busy screaming to think. When she finally looks at the table again a snake lunges at her and bites her on the cheek. She reacts fast, throws the snake off of her and runs. Snyder comes through the door and sees the mayhem. He steps back just as a student comes running by and falls over a table. Moments later the cafeteria is deserted. Cut to later outside. The police are there. A team of pest controllers is gathering the snakes, which in the mean time have managed to make their way all around the school. Students are still fleeing the building and running around. Cut to an ambulance. Cordelia and Xander sit at the back while a paramedic dresses Cordelia's snakebite.

Cordelia: Perfect. I'm gonna be scarred and swollen. Why didn't they just kill me?

Cut to the Police Chief's car. Snyder holds the door open as the Chief gets out.

Chief: Schoolboy pranks?

Snyder: Never sell. (slams the door and they walk)

Chief: The sewer got backed up.

Snyder: Better. I can probably make that one fly. But this is getting out of hand. People will talk.

Chief: You'll take care of it.

Snyder: I'm doing everything I can, but you people have to realize...

Two men arrive.

Man: Snyder, what's going on here?

Snyder: Backed up sewer line. Same thing happened in San Diego just last week.

The two men continue into the building.

Snyder: (to the Chief) We're on a Hellmouth. Sooner or later, people are gonna figure that out.

Chief: The city council was told that you could handle this job. If you feel that you can't, perhaps you'd like to take that up... with the Mayor. (leaves)

Snyder: I'll handle it. I will.

Cut to Buffy's house that night. Cut inside to her room. She's on her bed, Xander is in her wicker chair, Cordelia is kneeling and leaning against the bed and Willow is standing.

Willow: Remember the plan to contact the spirit and talk to it? Scrap that plan. Buffy, you were right. The time for touchy-feely communication is passed. I've done some homework and found the only solution is the final solution.

Xander: Nuke the school? (smiles) I like that.

Willow: Not quite. Exorcism.

Cordelia: Are you crazy? I saw that movie! Even the priest died.

Buffy: What's the deal?

Willow lays down a map of the school building, and they all lean in to look.

Willow: Okay, see here, the balcony? That's where the original teacher died back in 1955 and that teacher last night. That's the hot spot where all the bad mojo is coming from. We need to create a Mangus-tripod.

Cordelia: A what?

Willow: (points) One person chants here on the hot spot. And the other three chant in other places around the school forming a triangle. It's supposed to bind the bad spirit and keep it from doing any more harm.

Buffy: Well, I'll take the hot spot. (takes the map) If there's trouble, that's where it'll be.

Willow nods.

Xander: This ghost, this James guy, is fixating on you, Buffy. The dreams, the yearbook... You sure you can handle it?

Buffy: Well, I'm hoping he'll show. I truly am.

Cut to the school that night. They all come into the hall from outside.

Buffy: Okay, we all have our places. We do the chant and light the candle at midnight exactly. Any questions?

Cordelia: Yeah, what if this mangled triangle thingy doesn't work?

Willow: Oh! I almost forgot. I made us all scapulas. (hands them out)

Xander: Okay, so we can flip the ghost over when it turns a nice golden brown?

Willow: Scapula, not spatula. Um, you wear it around your neck for protection.

Cordelia: You expect me to wear this? It smells like grandpa breath.

Willow: Sorry, I didn't have a lot of time. I had to use sulfur. Stinky, but effective.

Buffy: Okay, let's do this.

They all continue into the student lounge.

Cordelia: No problem. This will be a piece of cake. Right?

They hear a creaking and then a crashing noise. They jump and look in that direction and see that the doors at the end of the hall have slammed shut on their own. One by one the other doors at the ends of the two intersecting halls slam shut.

Part Two