Friends in High School (film)

***Friends in High School*** is a crime thriller jukebox musical drama film written and directed by Bryan Martinez Rodarte. Inspired by a “reoccurring nightmare,” the film follows a group of high schoolers as they are put on the spotlight in the disappearance and later murder of a fellow student.

## Synopsis

Georgia High School was once a peaceful school, but after the eventful Homecoming game culminates in the disappearance of a fellow student, a certain friend group’s liability is put up to the test as they try to figure out the mystery behind the incident.

## Plot

The air is peaceful and breathable. Georgia High School was once a peaceful school situated in Georgia. However, one fateful night changed it all, and for a group of students, their lives would be turned upside down after Homecoming.

*\*\*\*\*One Month Earlier\*\*\*\**

(“Take On Me” plays through the introductions) James is a high school junior, and is simply a normal kid with normal friends, or so he thought. Tyson plays for the Georgians, the school’s football team, but he has been injured after the game, and James notices that it isn’t any normal football injury. Amelia is the captain of the cheerleader team, and enjoys it, but is hiding a secret from the others. Leo is the casual school bully, but has a loving heart for his best friend, Danny, but doesn’t show it to him out of fear of being called weird. Shelby is the girl that manages to date every single guy, but recently had a hard breakup with Danny, which surprises James, as she genuinely had feelings for him, but Danny didn’t. Janice is the introverted lonely girl who doesn’t interact with many kids, and mainly sticks to herself most of the time. Officer Tame is the school’s resource officer, and mainly takes care of any trouble taking place around the school. Finally, Danny is the school’s infamous jock, who is friends with a majority of the football team, and even the team captain. He is also best friends with Leo, and ex-boyfriend of Shelby.

Janice and James begin hanging out after James notices Janice being lonely throughout the day, which he feels bad for her. They both talk about the upcoming Homecoming dance, and James hopes to ask Janice out to the dance. Obviously as friends, of course, he thinks. (“I Gotta Feeling”) Tyson hopes to be team captain for next year, but Danny bullies him. Shelby wants to get back together with Danny, and even promises him that she’ll never cheat on him or date anyone else ever again. Danny cold-heartedly rejects her, humiliating her, which she is understandably mad about. Danny begins falling for Amelia, but she rejects him, which he is frustrated about, and continues to harass her. The day before the game, Leo sees Danny talking with Amelia, and continuously harasses her until she yells at him again. Leo thinks that Danny may have done something, and anger begins to boil.

*\*\*\*\*Four Days Later\*\*\*\**

Janice drives to school, and sees a police car, which she is confused about because Officer Tame doesn’t usually park in the front of the school. As she walks in, she sees Officer Tame detain James and walk out with him to the police car. Janice is confused and goes up to Tyson. “Janice,” Tyson begins. “If this is about the game, it’s fine”- “The police took James,” Janice interrupts. Tyson is shocked, and grabs his phone to text the rest of the group chat.

**Tyson: “Guys, James got detained.”**

**Amelia: “Wait what?! Why?”**

**Janice: “We don’t know. It might be because of Homecoming.”**

**Shelby: “Didn’t we apologize for it?”**

**Leo: “Is there any food in the cafeteria?”**

James is taken to the police station, and is sat in an interrogation room. The sheriff, Sheriff Lopez, asks him if he wants any water. He declines, and the sheriff leaves. A woman walks into the room, and introduces herself as Danny’s mother, Laney. James pulls out his hand to shake hers, but she ignores him. He awkwardly puts it back, and Laney sits down in front of James. He asks her one single question. “You knew Danny?” James nods, and Laney ominously states, “You know my son didn’t arrive home the night of the football game last weekend, right? James simply answers, “No, I didn’t know that.” Laney says that she misses Danny, and “simply wants him home, safe and sound.”

*\*\*\*\*An Hour Later\*\*\*\**

Janice picks up James from the station, and he contacts the rest of the group chat.

**James: “Guys, it wasn’t about Homecoming. It was something worse.”**

**Tyson: “Wait, what is it about then?”**

**James: “Danny went missing after the game, and he hasn’t been seen since.”**

**Amelia: “Oh, Danny? Okay then.”**

James and Janice talk about the disappearance, and begin suspecting that their friend group may have a role, or even done the deed, in Danny’s disappearance. They begin by trying to get an alibi from everyone who had a grudge against Danny, and begin with Tyson. Tyson says he didn’t do anything, and simply says that his injury was caused by “the football players from Virginia.” Janice doesn’t buy it, saying, “The football players from Virginia weren’t that tough that night, and you clearly were gonna win.” Tyson finally admits that he met up with Danny after the game on a bridge. “We just talked, and I got mad because he injured my leg severely, and I simply paid back by breaking both of his legs.” James asks Tyson if he saw anyone else that night, and Tyson denies seeing anyone else after he left.

At home, James and Janice continue to suspect the friend group, and their next suspect is Amelia. Janice visits Amelia, who asks her why she arrived at the latter’s home. Janice cuts right to the chase, and asks her, “What happened after the fight at Homecoming?” Amelia states, “During halftime, Danny asked me to meet him underneath the bleachers. I was genuinely confused, but I thought I trusted him. We talked about his recent breakup, and that he ‘broke up with her because he wanted to get with me,’ or something. I rejected him once again, and went back to watch the show.” Suddenly, Janice gets a text from James.

**James: Janice, Janice, you gotta help me.**

**Janice: Why? What’s wrong?**

**They found Danny.**

**He’s dead.**

**Wait, what? How, why?**

**I don’t know yet, but apparently he was found in the river.**

**Oh god James. What are you going to do?**

**We just gotta kick the investigation into high gear.**

Janice leaves Amelia’s house.

James is released from the police station, and instead of meeting up with Janice like normal, he speeds off to Shelby’s house. Shelby receives a knock at the door from James, who is mad at the world. He believes that he is being framed, and wants to find the killer. Shelby comforts him, but begins feeling uncomfortable near James. James looks at Shelby, and asks her if she killed Danny, which she denies. She gives her story of the game. “After halftime, you know how Virginia attacked one of the players, and they all got into a fight? Well, me and Amelia looked at each other, and decided to leave to not get involved in the fight. We went out to get BOBA drinks. However, we stared at each other, and we both said, ‘I like you.’ We laughed, and decided to become a couple.” (“Señorita”) James hugs her to congratulate each other, and Janice arrives and sees them hugging. She hugs them as well.

The entire friend group meets up to discuss Danny’s murder, and their stories line up. Janice notes how Leo and Amelia didn’t show up, and they all believe that he did it. Amelia texts them, which they all look at, and are concerned.

**Leo: Guys, I was involved in Danny’s death.**

**James: Wait, what do you mean?**

**Leo: I saw the murder, and I could tell you guys, but I feel like you won’t believe me.**

**Tyson: No, it’s fine. Tell us.**

**Leo: Amelia did it. She pushed Danny into the river.**

Everyone looks at each other in shock. Amelia arrives, and everyone decides to reveal the true story behind the Homecoming game to get their stories straight.

*\*\*\*\*Five Days Ago\*\*\*\**

The entire friend group had arrived at the homecoming game, and were ready. James met up with Tyson, and wished him luck. Tyson said, “Don’t worry. Virginia isn’t that tough. We’ll be fine.” Amelia changed into her cheerleader costume, and talked to Shelby. They talk about Danny, and their hate for him. The football team, which includes Leo and Danny, runs on the field as the marching band, which includes James, plays. After that, the first quarter begins and later ends. Georgia is up by 6 points to 3, and the Virginia players get mad, and begin making fun of Georgia, which Danny took offense to. Leo told him to not get involved, but Danny didn’t listen, and even accused Leo of false support. Leo got mad once again, and anger boiled once over.

After the second quarter ended, the marching band got on the field to play their halftime show. As James played, he saw Danny stare at the Virginia team, and James knew that something was to happen. A Virginia player ran on the field, and pushed some of the Drumline, which made them mad and began fighting. Eventually, the Georgia football team ran on to support the band, which included Danny and Tyson. James got out right as the fight started. Danny pushed Tyson, and yelled at him, “Tyson! What are you doing here? You don’t even have legs to run.” He then put on a helmet and rammed into Tyson, breaking his leg. James ran back, and helped Tyson into a nearby ambulance. Janice met up with James, and told him they needed to leave. James was mad that their show was cut short, and blamed Danny for ruining the show and for breaking Tyson’s legs.

After the fight, Danny left the field, and asked Amelia to meet up with him to apologize. He requested near the docks, and she agreed, as long as she could bring support. Later, Danny saw a car arrive, but was disappointed to see Tyson. Tyson immediately started beating up Danny, and broke both his legs as well. He then threw Danny’s phone into the water so he couldn’t call anyone. Danny then saw Amelia and Leo, who seemed mad. Danny apologized to Amelia, as he said he would, but then called her “a slut” for not dating him. Amelia tried to walk away, but had enough. She helped Danny up. Wait, does she forgive me? thought Danny. However, his trust was cut short when Amelia pushed him into the river. He later drowned. Leo swore to never tell a soul what he saw (“Ain’t No Crying”).

*\*\*\*\*Present Day\*\*\*\**

They all sigh in relief after having revealed the truth, and plan on what to do with the truth now out. They decide to tell the truth, but bend it a little. Their alibis are as follows; James and Janice went to the latter’s home, and James spent the night. Tyson did not break Danny’s legs, and simply put the blame on the rocks in the river. Amelia didn’t see Leo at all, and simply went home as well with Shelby. The group all tell the truth separately to not raise suspicion. Leo is then arrested, and when he tries to protest that he saw Amelia do it, the police bring up her alibi.

The group celebrates the fact that Amelia did not get arrested. However, what they didn’t realize was that there was a witness to the murder. Leo’s girlfriend, Tania, met with Leo before Amelia killed Danny, and even stayed in the car and saw the event without Amelia noticing. Later that night, Tania visits Amelia, telling her what she saw. Amelia doesn’t seem scared, and tells Tania that whatever she says, the police won’t believe since Leo is already in jail, and the investigation has been closed. Then, they get into an argument.

“You know now he can’t defend himself?” asks Tania.

“Yeah, because he’s in jail and the true story is out,” Amelia reiterates.

“No. He’s dead.”

“Wait, what do you mean?”

“He was killed by another prisoner,” Shelby interrupts when she walks in.

Amelia is shocked, and asks Shelby, “Does the group know already?” “Yeah, they do,” answers Shelby. However, Amelia stays strong, and kicks Tania out of her house. Shelby asks Amelia, “So, what do we do now?” Amelia answers by simply saying, “We live our lives and forget this whole murder mystery shenanigan ever happened. Danny was killed in an unfortunate accident. The culprit got justice and died for it. We survive high school, that’s just how life is. We’re just humble, normal friends in high school.” They hug. (“Win It All”)

## Trivia

* This film’s plot is based on the third season of the American teen drama TV series, 13 Reasons Why.