The Fault of Our Scars

**The Fault of Our Scars** is the second episode of the first season and the 2nd overall episode of **School Spirits**.

## Short Summary

As she grows close to the spirits in the ghost world, a driven Maddie begins to unravel the events surrounding her death, only to discover someone other than Xavier may have been involved.

## Full Summary

Maddie looks over at Simon and thanks him. He looks over at her and they're both shocked that he can see her, as is Charley, whom Simon can't see. Charley says this has never happened before. Maddie's happy that Simon can see her. Charley and Simon both have questions, but Maddie doesn't think she has the answers. Simon asks Maddie if she's okay, if she's in pain, and what happened. Maddie says she doesn't know. She tells him why Xavier had the phone. Nicole suddenly comes into the room and tells Simon the vigil is over and people are going to search in the woods. She has a flashlight. She also so asks who Simon was talking to. Simon says he was talking to himself. Nicole asks if he's up for the search and Maddie encourages Simon to go with her, to get answers so Maddie knows what happened to her. Simon goes with Nicole. As they leave, Simon looks back in the room, but can no longer see Maddie. Maddie asks Charley why he couldn't see her anymore, but Charley doesn't know because nothing like that has ever happened before. It's amazing, but it could have been a one-time thing. Maddie leaves to go join her search party.

Maddie calls out to Simon as she runs toward the searchers, but as she leaves campus, she's thrown back into the boiler room.

Maddie climbs back out of the boiler room. Charley reminds her she can't leave the campus. Maddie asks if Mr. Martin can explain why Simon can see her while no one else can. Charley says Maddie shouldn't mention that. He's worried others in the group will try to turn her into a messenger service if they know. He tells her to keep it to herself until they figure it out.

Xavier scrolls through posts accusing him of doing something to Maddie. Sheriff Baxter peeks in and asks him what he's looking at. Sheriff Baxter suggests unplugging the phone for a while. He also wants Xavier to stay home from school until they find out more, but Xavier thinks it'll make things worse. They saw him being taken away in the police car. Sheriff Baxter says he needs to stay there until they find out what happened to Maddie. They've confirmed that the blood on the boiler room wall was Maddie's. He tells Xavier to stay away from the school until he tells him it's time to go back. Xavier screams into his pillow.

Mr. Martin tells a story from his childhood as the group enjoys a box of donuts. Rhonda is is upset that Wally has left her the lemon donut, which she thinks is the worst one. Mr. Martin tries to get them back on the subject of nirvana, but Wally and Rhonda just bicker about the donuts, which Wally stole for them in the first place. Wally asks to be excused from the group so he can eat in peace. As they continue fighting, Maddie asks if anyone there has been seen by or talked to a living person, They insist that that doesn't happen. Mr. Martin tries to rephrase her question into how they say goodbye to the living, but that's not Maddie's question. Mr. Martin assigns Maddie to write her obituary. Everyone else has done it and it helps. Maddie refuses. She asks if no one there has really ever talked to a living person.

Simon walks back through the school. He tells Mr. South they just got back from searching the woods, but they didn't find anything. Mr. South isn't surprised. They always want to search in the dark, scary places, when the important stuff is usually under a desk. Simon asks if he found something and he says no, but there's plenty of stuff around the school to give you chicken bumps. There are scars everywhere.

Xavier lies awake in bed. He gets a call from a contact that's labelled "Do not pick up." He looks at it and puts the phone back down.

Mr. Martin goes to Maddie outside and gives her sample obituaries to inspire her. She says she won't write it. He knows it's a lot to ask, but she should trust him. Maddie says she's sitting in hell because she trusted the wrong person. Mr. Martin doesn't believe they're in hell. Mr. Martin says the assignment might bring her closure, but she's not looking for closure. She has to talk to Simon and figure out what happened to her. She wasn't done with her life. She has things she wants to do and people who need her. Mr. Martin asks if they live near the water tower. Maddie says she does. Losing her dad was hard enough. Her death will break her mother. He thinks her mom might surprise her, but Maddie doesn't think so after the things she's done. Mr. Martin says it's still fresh and it'll get easier. Maddie asks who will take care of her mother. Mr. Martin says if she clings to what she left behind, she'll prolong her pain and give people false hopes. It's cruel to bring them back when they've worked so hard to move forward. He slides the samples over to Maddie and walks away.

Maddie wakes up to Ms. Fields opening the blinds. Mr. Anderson comes in looking for coffee. Rhonda is also in the room and tells Maddie it's where the teachers come and let their guards down and they get to know who's boning whom. Maddie has no interest in that. Rhonda thinks Mr. Anderson's hair is plugs. Mr. Figueroa grimaces as he sniffs the creamer and says they're having black coffee. Ms. Fields planned to pick some up, but she didn't sleep. She heard they matched the DNA and the blood on the wall is Maddie's. Maddie listens as they talk about Hartman hiring a grief counselor for the kids. Mr. Anderson asks if he could also grade Maddie's last paper because he's tried and he can't. Rhonda tells Maddie in another week, she'll just be a footnote. Two weeks after Rhonda died, they were planning a Mardi Gras party. When the police questioned them about Mr. Manfredo, the guidance counselor who killed her, they asked if they saw any warning signs. No one would say a bad thing about him. Maddie doesn't believe that'll happen with her. Simon won't let them forget her.

Xavier watches SpongeBob.

Claire looks at her phone, where Xavier hasn't replied to several messages she's sent.

Simon sits down with Nicole, who asks what he does when Maddie pops up out of nowhere. He thinks she's also seeing Maddie, but she shows him a photo of herself with Maddie on her phone. Nicole thinks Maddie's still alive and will show up to Horror-con on Friday. Nicole's going to get them tickets. Maddie wouldn't miss it. They see Ms. Chung watching them and Simon tells Nicole she's the grief counselor. Maddie comes in and calls Simon to her. She tells him she needs his help. Other students watch as he appears to be talking to himself. Simon asks where she went because she just disappeared. A stoner student passes Simon and tells him it's a little early for edibles. Maddie tells him to take out his phone so it looks like she's talking to someone on the phone. She's upset that Xavier might have had something to do with her death. Simon knew he was bad news, but she never believed him. Maddie wants them to prove Xavier did it. She goes over what she remembers from that day. She left homeroom to look for her mom, but that's the last thing she remembers. Simon says her mom came to school that day to talk to the police and said she never found Maddie. She must have already been dead by then. Maddie doesn't know why she can't remember anything after that. Simon asks what about after. How did she get out of the boiler room?

*Maddie wakes up in the boiler room. She gets up and looks around. She sees her blood on the wall. She walks through the halls and everyone ignores her.*

Simon concludes that she died between when she left study hall and eighth period. Simon proposes that maybe Claire and Xavier were working together. Or it could have been him trying to prove his love to Claire. Xavier skipped Biology that day and wasn't in eighth period. Simon says they need to find evidence.

Claire comes to see Xavier. His grandma let her in because she said she was bringing him homework. He says she shouldn't have come. She asks why he hasn't responded to her. He can't even look at his phone. He worries about people finding out she came to his house. He's scared about them finding Maddie's body. Claire says they're going to be fine. Xavier pulls away from her, so she leaves to go back to school. She tells him if he needs to talk, he should talk to her and not to give into the demons. He says it's too late.

Simon opens a locker. When he sees it's empty, he closes it in frustration.

Simon goes through Xavier's drawer in a classroom, but finds nothing.

Simon tries to pick the lock on Xavier's gym locker when Mr. Graziano comes in and asks why he's in there. He tells Simon to get in his gym gear and get on the field. Simon starts to change. He pauses and checks to make sure Maddie isn't watching.

Sheriff Baxter comes home to find Xavier in the garage. He told Xavier to stay inside. Xavier says he needed some air and doesn't want to be treated like a prisoner. Xavier explained why he had her phone. Sheriff Baxter's not sure it really was Maddie's phone because there was nothing on it. He asks if it was swapped out. Xavier doesn't know. He couldn't even figure out the passcode so he could delete the text. Sheriff Baxter thinks there's something he's not saying. He doesn't know what to think anymore. If Xavier lies, there's only so much his dad can do for him, especially if more evidence comes up. Xavier repeatedly punches the wall in frustration.

Charley and Maddie watch Mr. South clean her blood off the wall. Charley asks if Maddie has talked to Simon again. Maddie reminds him he told her not to talk about it, but he meant just with the group. He's safe. She doesn't feel safe. She was talking to Simon one minute and then he stepped into the hall and she was gone. Charley thinks maybe it comes in waves. Maybe it a person really can't let you go, there are moments when they can see or hear you. He tells her he saw some cops walk into Principal Hartman's office and is sure it's about her.

Ms. Fields teaches her class. No one in the class answers her questions, so she calls on Nicole to answer one. Maddie comes in as Ms. Fields assigns them some reading and tells Simon about the cops and how they're saying the phone isn't even her phone. Simon gets into hot water with Ms. Fields when he answers Maddie. He pulls out his phone. Ms. Fields takes his phone as Maddie tells him to meet her in the auto shop.

In the auto shop, Maddie tells Simon that that's where Xavier used to hang out. Simon thinks it would be a great place to dump a body. He asks if Xavier ever brought her there. When Maddie doesn't answer, Simon realizes it's where they hooked up. Simon asks what Maddie saw in Xavier. Maddie says he wasn't that bad. He wasn't evil, just messed up and Maddie found it hot. She liked that he didn't care what anyone else thought. Simon says that's how he describes Maddie. Simon holds up a guitar pick and asks if it's Xavier's.

*Maddie and Xavier make out in a car. Maddie stops because she thought she heard something. She asks how much time they have. He tries to make a move, but she stops him and says not in the auto shop. She doesn't want her first time to be at school. Xavier says it can't be at her house because she won't even let him come inside. Maddie hears a mouse squeaking and stops again. Maddie asks what the difference between a mouse and a rat is and how Xavier knows it's not a rat in the shop. She sees it run by and is shocked by how large it is. He has her sit tight, then he goes out and kills the rodent over her objections. He laughs.*

Simon finds a bit of frosted green plastic and notes that Maddie was the first person in line to get that when it came out. They think it's her phone or what's left of it.

Xavier paces the garage. He watches his dad talk on the phone outside. He takes his bike and rides away.

In the empty cafeteria, Maddie tells Simon they can prove the phone isn't hers with the serial number. The phone must be registered to her. Mr. Anderson comes in and asks Simon how he's doing. He knows it must be a difficult day for Simon. He's not giving up hope that Maddie is coming back to them and doesn't think Simon should either. He offers Simon an extension on an assignment. He also says he just read Maddie's last essay and it blew his mind. She's an old soul and her thoughts would have impressed Mary Shelley. Maddie thinks Simon should tell Mr. Anderson what they found. They could use him on their side. He's one of the few people they can trust. If he turns it into the principal, he'll give it to the cops. Xavier's dad will bury it to protect him. Mr. Anderson asks how far into Frankenstein Simon has gotten. Simon says chapter 10 or 11, which isn't bad. Simon stops him from leaving and shows him the plastic, saying he thinks it's a piece of Maddie's phone. Mr. Anderson asks where he found it.

Wally, Rhonda, and Charley relax by the pool. Charley loves the smell of the sunscreen. Maddie comes in and watches Claire talking to the swim coach. Wally asks if Maddie thinks Claire helped Xavier kill her. Rhonda thinks Claire did it on her own. Charley is entranced when Mr. Figueroa walks past. Wally tells Maddie that Charley had a crush on him when they were students there. He sponsors the LGBTQ club and Charley goes to every meeting. Charley reminds Wally that he's always in the gym trying to impress people who only know him as the name of a scoreboard, which is parents donated after his death.

Simon watches Frankenstein. When he hears barking, he looks out the window to see the police have brought in dogs. Mr. Anderson suggests he focus on the film. Simon shows him the dogs outside. Mr. Anderson suggests Simon move seats so he's not tempted to keep watching. A student informs Mr. Anderson that someone's at the door. It's an officer with a dog. Mr. Anderson suggests they come back later, but the dog sniffs out Maddie's last paper. The officer takes the dog and says she'll come back later.

Claire times the swimmers who are practicing. When one of them, Ava, hits her head on the edge of the pool, Claire dives in and pulls her up out of the water. Then she starts CPR as the ghosts stand and watch. It works and Ava starts breathing again. The coach rolls Ava onto her side.

Xavier goes to Maddie's house. He knocks for a while before Sandra answers. She knows who he is even though they haven't met and invites him inside. She offers him a drink, but he declines. She apologizes for the mess. Maddie usually helps her out. She asks Xavier what happened to her daughter. He says he doesn't know, but he spent all of last period in the bathroom trying to unlock her phone. Sandra asks if he hurt her. He says yes, but not in the way she's thinking. He lied to her. He asks if Sandra knows where Maddie's phone is. Sandra says the police have it, but Xavier doesn't think that phone is really Maddie's. Sandra asks again if Xavier hurt her. He says if she'd known what he'd done before she left, yes, he hurt her. Sandra did too, many times. She never thought Maddie wouldn't come back.

Simon thinks Xavier's twisted and his father will never let him come back to school. He's sure the sheriff is covering up after him. Maddie doesn't think Claire was involved. If Xavier did it, he did it alone. She saw Claire pull Ava out of the pool and doesn't think she could kill someone. Simon wants to prove that Xavier did it.

Mr. Martin and Charley set out the chairs and Mr. Martin asks why Maddie made it sound like she'd recently spoken to a living friend. Charley denies knowing anything about it and says it's probably just wishful thinking. Mr. Martin asks if she remembers any more details of her death. Charley says he doesn't think so. Mr. Martin says Charley has come a long way and he's proud of him.

Nicole opens her locker and puts a project inside. She looks over at Ms. Chung for a moment, then walks away.

Charley watches as Mr. Figueroa picks up a discarded missing person poster. He imagines Mr. Figueroa as he was when he was young. He tells him he misses him, though Mr. Figueroa can't hear it.

Simon sneaks around the school as Mr. South waxes the floors. He meets Maddie in the auto shop. Maddie questions why Xavier would want her gone. Simon tells her to stop giving him the benefit of the doubt and see him for who he really is. Simon spots another piece of the phone on the floor. As he bends down to pick it up, Mr. Anderson suddenly appears behind him. He asks what Simon is doing there so late. He thinks Simon should let the people in charge do their job and figure out what happened to Maddie.

## 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
* Maria Dizzia as Sandra Nears
* Ian Tracey as Sheriff Baxter
* Patrick Gilmore as Derek Anderson
* Alex Zahara as Principal Hartman
* Kalyn Miles as Ms. Fields

### Co-Starring

* Peter New as Mr. South
* Alison Thornton as Chloe
* Jayce Barreiro as Mr. Graziano
* Andres Soto as Mr. Figueroa
* Andrew Alvarez as Young Mr. Figueroa
* Vanessa Prasad as Kirsten
* Patti Kim as Ms. Chung
* Shayna Virginillo as Rookie Officer
* Genevieve Lam as Helpful Student
* Austin Falk as Lacrosse Player
* Josh Dohy as Stoner Student #1
* Ben Byrnell as Stoner Student #2
* Kirstyn Konig as Ava Injured Swimmer
* Lisa Chandler as Swim Coach

## Music

* He ignores Claire's texts.
 "Never Want to Leave"
* They talk about Maddie and Claire says they'll be fine.
* She leaves to go back to school.

"Run Me Through" - Perfume Genius"Never Want to Leave" - Ging
## Notes and Trivia

* This episode's name is mostly likely a reference to the John Green novel *"The Fault in Our Stars"* and the movie of the same name.

## See Also

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