Glass Child
INT. HOUSE / DAY
RACHEL (5) stands beside the front door and puts a raincoat over her pressed school pinafore and knee-high socks. Her hair is in neat blonde pigtails.
Her parents, EVAN (30s) and ELEANOR (30s), talk quietly with each other at the other end of the hallway.
Her little brother, THOMAS (1), tries to copy her by putting on a jumper.
RACHEL
Oh!
She takes the jumper from THOMAS and puts it over his head.
RACHEL (cont'd)
Good job, Thomas!
She claps.
EVAN smiles at ELEANOR.
EVAN
She's just like me.
RACHEL overhears and smiles proudly.
INT. CLASSROOM / DAY
Five and six-year-old children sit at desks with maths questions on the blackboard, most paying minimal attention, whispering and twiddling their pens. The TEACHER does little to keep their focus.
The bell rings. Most children get up from their seats and rush out of the classroom but RACHEL stays seated, leaning intently over her maths paper so far that her pigtails cover the writing.
TEACHER
Rachel, breaktime.
RACHEL
May I have some more questions?
The TEACHER shrugs and writes more sums on the board.
INT. KITCHEN / NIGHT
EVAN sits at the kitchen table reading a thick reference book with small writing. Quietly, RACHEL (5) peeks her head around the door.
She rushes to the hall, dragging a stool over to the coat hooks where her schoolbag is hanging above her head. She stands on the stool to unzip it and takes out a pencil and a a paper folder with "MATHS" written on it in thick black marker.
RACHEL sits at the opposite end of the table from her father in silence, studying just like him.
INT. HOUSE / DAY
RACHEL (8) smiles as she skips into the kitchen, a gold Cross Country rosette on her school pinafore. ELEANOR sits at the kitchen table, reading a newspaper as vegetables boil on the stove. EVAN is scrubbing the counter.
RACHEL stops in front of a small noticeboard. Among its contents are a 10/10 maths test, a handwritten note starting with "Rachel is a pleasure to have in class..." and a certificate of participation in "Crafty Chemistry".
ELEANOR looks up from her newspaper.
RACHEL removes her rosette and sticks it up, tentatively looking back at her mother.
ELEANOR
Hm. Maybe you're getting a little old for those pigtails.
RACHEL stays quiet and looks away.
INT. CHURCH HALL / DAY
A small group of middle-aged men and women in church-going attire stand in a circle, drinking tea from polystyrene cups. Other groups congregate in a similar fashion and the stomps and whoops of children can be heard as they race around the adults.
RACHEL (14), her hair in a ponytail, helps to serve teas. Beside her, EVAN hands out teas with his right hand, keeping his left on the shoulder of THOMAS (10). ELEANOR speaks to the churchgoers.
ELEANOR
And our Thomas has been invited by King's College London to attend a few of their undergraduate Biomedical Sciences lectures, they said his paper was better than some of their third years!
EVAN pats his shoulder. THOMAS smiles.
CHURCH GOER
And he's ten? Oh, Rachel, you must be so proud of your little brother! He works so hard.
RACHEL nods, biting her lip.
RACHEL
I'm very proud.
INT. KITCHEN / NIGHT
RACHEL (14) studies at the kitchen table, three Year 9 Maths textbooks strewn around her. She lets out a groan of frustration that turns into a sob. THOMAS (10) appears at the door, making her jump. He is in pyjamas, carrying a weathered old teddy bear.
THOMAS
Oh, sorry, I just wanted some water.
RACHEL
It's okay, I'll get you a glass!
She leaves her work on the table and fills him up a glass of water.
She waits for him to finish, taking the glass.
RACHEL (cont'd)
You get into bed now. Goodnight.
THOMAS leaves.
RACHEL washes the glass in the sink and puts it away. She returns to her studies.
INT. KITCHEN / NIGHT
RACHEL (15) scrubs the counter with a cloth.
EVAN washes dishes.
EVAN
25.68 divided by 12.
RACHEL continues to scrub, brow furrowing as she thinks.
RACHEL
2.14
EVAN
Correct.
He glances at a sheet beside him and picks up another dirty bowl to clean.
EVAN (cont'd)
A spinner has five equal sections numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, and a fair six-sided dice has five red faces and one green face. The spinner is spun. If the spinner shows an even number, the dice is thrown. Work out the probability of getting an even number and the colour green.
RACHEL stops scrubbing, looking panicked.
RACHEL
I don’t...
He speaks calmly.
EVAN
You asked me to test you.
RACHEL
I know. I thought I knew it. I should know it, the exam is tomorrow! Why don’t I know it?
ELEANOR enters with an eyebrow raised at the commotion, taking the sopping wet bowl from EVAN's hands and drying it with a cloth.
RACHEL runs out of the room.
EVAN sighs, grimacing at ELEANOR.
EVAN
She's just like me.
Rachel returns with a paper and pen, and sits at the kitchen table, scribbling notes.
ELEANOR
I'll get Thomas to bed, he's got a big day tomorrow. You keep working down here.
ELEANOR kisses EVAN on the cheek and disappears. RACHEL looks up from her workings.
RACHEL
0.66
EVAN
Correct. You do know it, you just need to work through the pressure.
INT. KITCHEN / DAY
RACHEL and THOMAS sit beside each other at the kitchen table, tensely holding identical envelopes.
EVAN and ELEANOR watch.
ELEANOR
Go on.
RACHEL and THOMAS slowly open the envelopes.
EVAN
Rachel, what did you get?
RACHEL stays quiet, reading the letter impassively.
EVAN (cont’d)
Thomas?
THOMAS passes the letter to his dad, looking pleased but relaxed.
EVAN (cont'd)
Well done. Your first one, wasn't it nice of Rachel's school to let you do it too? You'll be starting there in September and I'll bet no one else in the class has their Maths GCSE.
THOMAS nods.
RACHEL
(whispering)
Well done, Thomas.
ELEANOR
Rachel, tell us what you got.
RACHEL shakes her head, panicked.
ELEANOR reaches for the letter and pulls it out of RACHEL's hand.
ELEANOR (cont'd)
It's fine, darling, you got an A too.
RACHEL bursts into tears.