Ghoul Intentions

**Ghoul Intentions** is the fourth episode of the first season and the 4th overall episode of **School Spirits**.

## Short Summary

When the search for Maddie's killer puts Simon in real jeopardy and exposes Maddie's connection to the living world, Maddie must navigate Split River High's spooky spectral underbelly - first alone, and then with the help of her fellow ghosts.

## Full Summary

Mr. Anderson is sitting at his desk. Maddie holds up his phone and tries to use his face to unlock it, but it won't register. She pleads with him to unlock his phone, then tells Simon to tell him to check his email. When he doesn't answer her, she asks if he doesn't want to know why Mr. Anderson has so much money in his wall. Or why he thinks he gave some to Maddie. Maddie tries to guess the passcode. As soon as the bell rings, Simon puts his test on the desk and grabs Mr. Anderson's phone while his back is turned.

Mr. Martin is taking suggestions for weekend fun activities. Maddie comes in and sits down. She says she wants to figure out why Mr. Anderson told someone he gave her money. Wally asks who he was talking to, but Maddie doesn't know. She's trying to figure out. She asks if anyone there has seen anything. She's upset that no one has, because all they do is haunt the halls. Wally says he once spelled the word fundraiser. He forgot the D. Charley thinks that was a pun and done on purpose. Rhonda says they don't just stand around staring at the living all day. Maddie says apparently they plan out movie nights. Mr. Martin says they like to break up the monotony, but Charley doesn't think watching the same five sports movies over and over again qualifies. Wally is upset because he thought Charley loved it. Maddie wonders if the other ghosts have seen anything.

Simon tries several passcodes to get into Mr. Anderson's phone. Nicole comes up and tells him she has to interview Claire as a homecoming candidate for her media class. Simon locks the phone in his locker and walks with Nicole, who tells him she learned that police searched the area around where they found Maddie's boot prints and found more, leading to a service road. She thinks it means Maddie's alive and survived the boiler room. Simon wonders what's up with her and Xavier because she hated him not that long ago. She says Simon ghosted her instead of helping her find Maddie. She wonders where he was last night. Simon tells Nicole he's been talking to Maddie. Nicole says she has as well, because Maddie's not really gone. She got them tickets to Horror Con to prove it. Maddie's never missed it. Simon says he knows she wants to believe Maddie's still alive, but she's gone and not the kind of gone you come back from. He can't tell her how he knows, but he does. He walks away.

Maddie doesn't understand what's so bad about talking to the other ghosts. Rhonda says they're reliving their last days on earth over and over again. She doesn't want to be there when they spiral out, because she might be part of it and get trapped in her own nightmare loop.

Wally suggests several movies, but Charley doesn't like any of them.

Maddie spots Dawn and says she goes through people's things and lives in the hallways, so maybe she saw something. Rhonda says Dawn could only tell her her horoscope. She's a dead end, but so are they. Maddie's not afraid of the other ghosts, but she needs names.

Nicole finds Xavier and asks what he's doing after seventh. He was planning to go to biology, but she tells him to come with her.

Ms. Chung talks to Simon and tells him he can talk to her no matter what he's going through. Mr. Anderson's phone pings and he sees Mr. Anderson approaching with his laptop, attempting to find his phone. Ms. Chung cautions Simon not to take hope away from others. Simon tells her no thank you and races away before Mr. Anderson can reach him.

Nicole welcomes Claire to the show. Andy files as Nicole talks about Claire's accomplishments. Claire tries to downplay saving Ava's life. When Nicole asks what being homecoming queen would mean for her, she says the only homecoming that matters is Maddie's. She'd give up the crown in a second if it would bring Maddie back. She wishes she'd been able to save her like she saved Ava. Nicole is irritated by the implication and calls Claire out for acting like she cares when she never spoke to Maddie. Andy stops her. Claire admits that she and Maddie used to be friends, but she hadn't spoken to Maddie in a long time. Now she can't believe Maddie's gone and hopes she's okay. Andy zooms in as Claire starts to cry.

Rhonda and Charley tell Maddie about Mina, who was crushed by a stage light in 1987 and hasn't left the theater since. Wally says Yuri hangs out by the pottery wheel all the time, but he only speaks Russian. Then there's the bus crash kids: Tyler, Rachel, Jacqueline, Jonah, Erin, Marci, Zach, and Stephanie. Simon comes up to Maddie and says they need to talk at the bus stop right now. Wally and Rhonda are shocked that he can see her. Maddie races off before they can react.

Simon tells Maddie it's too risky to try to return Mr. Anderson's phone. If he did what they think he did, it's over. Maddie doesn't want Simon to be next. She thinks Ms. Chung was right about Simon needing to talk to someone, like his parents or the police. Simon says his mom is already freaked out. He doesn't know what he would say to Hartman. Once people find out he's talking to Maddie, no one will trust anything else he says, including Nicole. Maddie says they have to stick with things they can prove. She wants Simon to leave the phone for now and maybe they can find a way in later. The other ghosts approach and wait as she talks to Simon. She wishes Simon luck and he walks away. Once he's gone, Wally and Rhonda confront her about not telling them Simon can see her. She says she tried to tell them. They realize Charley knew. They're angry. As they argue, Maddie gets up and walks away.

Maddie goes into the theater and calls out to Mina. She climbs up to the lighting rigs, where she finds Mina.

Principal Hartman thanks Simon for telling him what he told him. Now he'll call the police and tell them everything he just told. They'll look into it. Simon thanks him.

Mina asks if Maddie took the safety course. Mina thinks she's a disgruntled actor, but Maddie says she's just wondering if Mina ever saw Mr. Anderson. Mina says she works in there every day to make sure what happened to her doesn't happen to anyone else. Maddie understands that because she's trying to do the same thing. Mina says no one's ever brought her flowers or said thank you. Next time someone wants something from her, they need to remember she's the one keeping everyone safe.

Nicole watches Claire campaign for Homecoming queen. Xavier comes up and says he's ready, but asks if they can stop by his place on the way so he can grab some cash. He asks if people wear costumes. She says some do, but some just wear black and he'll fit right in. Claire stops Nicole and says she's glad they got to talk about Maddie. She hands Nicole a campaign flyer and a cupcake.

Maddie finds a devil patch on the floor of the theater. She jumps when Dawn talks to her. Dawn's looking for things students have left behind. She finds a piece of candy and eats it. Maddie says she's there to find out more about Mr. Anderson. Dawn doesn't know anything about that, but she's easily distracted. Maddie asks if it's because of the acid. Dawn says she's never done drugs, but she's had to adapt to all the new ways kids communicate with each other. In her day, someone had to hand you a note in class. Now there's social media. Maddie leaves to talk to the bus crash kids. Dawn wants to come with.

Dawn says the band won regionals but didn't get a chance to compete at state. Now they keep practicing over and over. The band stops and they start arguing. Dawn says the drum major survived and they kept the band together. Maddie asks them about Mr. Anderson. They ask if she plays anything and she says she doesn't, so they want to get back to practicing. Maddie spots the devil on the back of their uniforms.

Simon watches Mr. Anderson talk to the cops while Wally watches Simon. He tells Rhonda he doesn't understand why he can only see Maddie. Officers Hayes and Stewart exit Mr. Anderson's room and tell Simon they need to speak with him. They take him with them. Maddie calls out to him, but realizes he can't hear her. She'll never forgive herself if something happens to him.

At the car, Nicole rants to Xavier about Claire. She claimed she didn't care about Homecoming and then she cried about Maddie and then went back to campaigning. Nicole doesn't care that Claire and Maddie were friends in middle school. Claire's using Maddie to win her election. She can't wait to see the look on Claire's face when Maddie comes back and tells her off. When she notices Xavier hasn't said anything, she said he should try to contribute to the conversation. Nicole things Claire must hate him, too, because she looked right through him. He says Claire's good at icing people out. You wouldn't have thought she was friends with Maddie. Nicole asks if he was something with Claire.

Maddie sits and waits at the bus stop.

At Red Pine County Sherrif's Station, Simon tells the officers what he knows about Mr. Anderson and Maddie's disappearance. Hayes tells Simon there's no money in Mr. Anderson's wall and Stewart shows Simon that he willingly handed over the piece of Maddie's phone and told them Simon gave it to him. Simon says he found it in the auto shop and gave it to Mr. Anderson because at the time, he thought he could trust him. Simon asks what's in the file and Hayes says he can look at it if he wants. Simon flips it open as they tell him their theory that Maddie wanted to leave Split River and didn't want to be found, so she faked her own death and escaped. They think Simon helped her cover her tracks.

At Horror Con, Xavier says he shouldn't have told Nicole about him and Claire. Nicole thinks maybe Maddie knew and that's why she ran away. She doesn't think she should be getting his help to find Maddie. She tells him to stay in the car while she goes to look for Maddie.

Nicole shows Maddie's picture around, but no one has seen her. She spots someone who looks like Maddie, but it isn't. Xavier scares her by tapping her on the shoulder. He says he's looking for Maddie, just like her. Nicole says she's fine and tells him to go back to the car. She's angry because Xavier was supposed to look out for Maddie, but now she's gone. Xavier knows he failed her. He wishes he could take back what he did, but he can't and now he has to live with it. He offers to let her hit him if it'll make her feel better. Nicole just walks away.

Charley finds Maddie lying in the grass and lies down next to her. Rhonda and Wally told her about Simon being taken and told him he should go find her. They're more angry at Charley than at Maddie. Charley asks how she is feeling. He thinks she must feel powerless and alone, but she's not the first person who has broken something she can't fix. They all have unfinished business. She asks if his has a name and he says Emilio Figueroa.

*Emilio finds Charley sitting by himself at a campsite. He's the new exchange student and heard Charley had room in his tent. Some other teens tease them about being gay, but Emilio isn't fazed. He's heard it all before and they're not wrong. He starts putting up the tent.*

*Charley and Emilio settle in to sleep. Emilio starts listening to music and asks if Charley wants to hear something incredible. When Charley says yes, Emilio shares his music. Charley says he likes it.*

Charley says he fell fast after that. Emilio wasn't just from another hemisphere. He was from another world. He was everything Charley wasn't: confident, magnetic. He used to say Charley got all the crap from being gay and none of the joy. He thought it would be different if Charley came out to everyone. One day, his parents asked in front of Emilio why he never dated anyone. Emilio told them. He was convinced Charley's parents already knew. But Charley was angry at him. He wrote Emilio a terrible letter and put it in his locker, then tried to drown his feelings in a plate of French fries. The worst part was watching Emilio find the letter. It said that Charley never loved him and never wanted to see him again. Just his luck that Emilio became a teacher there, so all he ever does is see him. He wishes he could take back the words. He's not telling Maddie to make her more sad, but she needs to know she's not alone. They're all Split River Devils. They're in it together. Maddie wonders why he's a devil and she's a bandit.

Rhonda explains that after the bus crash, people started thinking that the devil mascot was to blame. None of the survivors wanted to wear their uniforms anymore, so they changed the mascot. Maddie thanks the others and says she'll tell Mr. Martin and the others the truth tomorrow. Wally says maybe she shouldn't. Rhonda agrees. They should keep it contained for now. Charley asks what they should do now. Maddie says they need to find some flowers.

Rhonda, Wally, and Charley watch Mina sniff the flowers that Maddie brought her. They've never seen Mina on the ground floor or not yelling at them before. Mina thinks the flowers are stolen, but Maddie says they're borrowed. Mina deserves recognition for keeping them all safe. Mina says it's not about her. It's about the work, but she appreciates the gesture. Maddie says they're not that different. She's trying to prevent what happened to her from happening to anyone else. She shows Mina the devil patch and asks if it means something to her. She says Mr. Anderson is always banging around in the theater, interrupting Mina's work. When Maddie questions that, Mina shows her the door to underneath the stage.

Charley, Wally, Maddie, and Rhonda go downstairs. It's full of costumes and props. This includes a sewing machines and more of the patches Maddie found. Wally shows Maddie an invoice for marching band uniforms, signed by Mr. Anderson. They need Simon to call the place and see if he actually paid for them.

Simon says Mr. Anderson played them. The police are convinced he helped Maddie run away. They only let him come back to the school because he promised he'd get Anderson's phone and turn it in. Maddie says she found something that might get the cops off his back.

Simon enters a faculty meeting and shows Hartman and the others one of the new band uniforms. He shows them it's not actually new. Mr. Anderson took the old uniforms and put new patches on them, then pocketed the money that had been raised for them. Mr. Anderson denies doing that. Simon shows them the receipt and says the company doesn't even exist. He pulls off a bandit patch to show the evidence that a devil patch was there before it. Simon can't prove that Mr. Anderson hurt Maddie, but he can prove this.

Nicole tells Xavier she really thought Maddie would be at Horror Con. Now she thinks Simon might be right about Maddie being really gone.

Simon and Maddie watch the cops take Mr. Anderson. Simon thinks he'll be questioned and arrested, but not for murder. Maddie is upset that she might have died over some band uniforms. Simon thinks maybe Mr. Anderson will confess. Or Simon will turn the phone over to the cops and they'll never know who he's working with or why he said he gave her money. They'll never know what happened to her. But at least now some of the heat will be off Simon. Simon takes his sweater off. He can't hug Maddie, but his sweater can and that's the next best thing. Maddie picks it up and holds it. She thinks they're in their own horror movie. Simon says it could be worse. She could be a zombie instead of a ghost. Maddie says Simon should go get Anderson's phone and get some sleep. They say good night.

The ghosts watch Ghost. Maddie joins them and Charley says Wally finally let him choose. Maddie gives Charley a notepad and tells him to write down what he wants to say to Emilio. She'll make sure he gets it. Charley hugs her. Nearby, Wally is crying and says this is so much better than Rudy.

Rhonda comes in and sits next to Mr. Martin. He's surprised to see her there as she usually boycotts their movie nights. She tells him she's been there for 60 years. She's watched class after class graduate and leave. She made peace with it, but now she thinks she needs to get out of there. She's willing to try anything. Whatever he did to help Janet, she wants that. He's glad to hear that.

Dawn offers to take a selfie with Maddie. When she does so, Maddie asks where she got the phone. Dawn says a student left it in the theater. She used the student's passcode to get in. She knows everyone's passcodes. That's how she keeps up with her socials. Maddie asks what she means by everyone's.

Maddie races through the school and out to the bus stop. She tells Simon to try 495273 and check the call log so they know who Mr. Anderson called that night.

Claire, Chloe, Kirsten, and Tira are trying on Homecoming dresses. They see on social media that Mr. Anderson might get arrested. Claire's phone rings and she ignores it.

Maddie and Simon call the number and it goes to voicemail. It's Claire.

## Cast

### Main Cast

* Peyton List as Maddie Nears
* Kristian Flores as Simon Elroy
* Milo Manheim as Wally Clark
* Spencer Macpherson as Xavier Baxter
* Kiara Pichardo as Nicole Herrera
* Sarah Yarkin as Rhonda
* Nick Pugliese as Charley
* Rainbow Wedell as Claire Zomer

### Guest Stars

* Josh Zuckerman as Everett Martin
* Patrick Gilmore as Derek Anderson
* Alex Zahara as Principal Hartman

### Co-Starring

* Alison Thornton as Chloe
* RaeAnne Boon as Dawn
* Vanessa Prasad as Kirsten
* Katarina Mueller as Tira
* Andrew Alvarez as Young Mr. Figueroa
* Patti Kim as Ms. Chung
* Luvia Petersen as Hayes
* Ramon Terrell as Stewart
* Zoë Christie as Mina
* Kayler Fagan as A-Hole Kid #1
* Gabriel Lajoie as A-Hole Kid #2
* Jeremy Ratt as A-Hole Kid #3
* Christian Lagasse as Andy
* Aiden Finn as Trombonist
* Emmanuel Bempong as Snare Drummer
* Danica Robyn Berard as Bloodied Face (Maddie Lookalike)
* Hunter Dong as Jason (Mask Person)
* Daniel Diehl as Freddy Krueger
* Alex Kerry as BG Marching Band #1
* Tina Wu as BG Marching Band #2
* Jordan Landingin as BG Marching Band #3
* Miakay Scott as BG Marching Band #4
* Alex Robbins as BG Marching Band #5
* Casey Thomas-Burns as BG Marching Band #6

## Music

* Nicole searches for Maddie.
 "I'm Ok"
* The other kids tease them.
 "Crash Into Me"
* Charley tells Maddie about Emilio.

"Crying All the Time" - Alexandra Savior"I'm Ok" - The Ton-Ups"Crash Into Me" - Dave Matthews Band
## Notes and Trivia

* This episode's title is likely a reference to the movie *Cruel Intentions*.
* **Goof:** In My So-Called Death, Charley told Maddie that six band members were killed in the crash, but in this episode, that's been upped to eight band members.

## See Also

 **#02** | "The Fault of Our Scars"
 **#03** | "Dead and Confused"
 **#04** | "**Ghoul Intentions**"