Dead and Confused

**Dead and Confused** is the third episode of the first season and the 3rd overall episode of **School Spirits**.

## Short Summary

With an unexpected suspect possibly involved in her death, Maddie's forced to reveal more about the depth of that relationship - leading to unexpected consequences.

## Full Summary

Maddie watches as Mr. Anderson talks to Simon. He says he's trying to avoid Simon getting in trouble. He walks Simon to his car and says not to mention what happened to anyone. Simon asks what Mr. Anderson was doing in the auto shop so late. Mr. Anderson doesn't answer, just tells Simon to arrive safe. Simon pulls out and drives away. There are flashes of a car accident.

Sandra bangs on Sheriff Baxter's door. She's upset that she only gets one deputy. She said someone said he called off the search party. He says they didn't call it off, but they're cutting it back. They're short staffed after some break-ins. Sandra thinks it's really because he has an election coming. He promises to let her know if they find out anything about her daughter. Sandra tells him to find her and leaves. Sheriff Baxter sees Xavier with his bag and asks where Xavier is going. Xavier points out that they haven't found anything, which he knows means they haven't found anything that implicates him. He's going back to school.

Maddie asks Simon about Xavier because Simon was so convinced he was her killer. He had her convinced, too. But after last night, he's suspicious of Mr. Anderson. Maybe Xavier is involved, but Mr. Anderson showing up was weird. Maddie says Mr. Anderson doesn't care if they swear and overacts the witches in Macbeth. He's one of the good ones. He's not just a teacher to her. They're close. He even gave her his number. They're friends. She knows it's not him. Simon asks Maddie to watch Mr. Anderson for the day. When he gets weird looks from passersby, he claims to be talking on the phone to solicitors. Maddie is upset by that, but is glad the bus stop is another place he can see her. She found it the same way she found the others, by lingering and waiting to see if he could see her. He asks if she's going to linger and wait in the bathrooms. She says she left before she saw anything. Simon looks back as he walks toward the school, but can't see Maddie anymore.

*Mr. Anderson wakes Maddie by tapping on her desk. Maddie apologizes and packs her things to leave his room. He asks if she's okay. She says she had a rough night, but it's fine. He says she can get another extension on her essay if she needs it, but she has it and turns it in. He reads the title and says he's intrigued. He's impressed with what she's able to pull off with what she's going through. He says if she ever can't, she can always come talk to him about anything. He knows it was hard for him to keep his lives separate. It's exhausting. She says she doesn't know what he's talking about and he doesn't know anything about her. He says maybe he does and hands her an AA chip. He says it's his dad's chip. He has it as a reminder that even though he wasn't the problem, it's okay for him to take things one day at a time, too. He writes down his number and gives it to Maddie. He says she can call it anytime she needs someone to talk to. She leaves to get to her next class.*

People gossip as Xavier walks through the school. They can't believe he came back. Simon and Nicole watch him walk past, then Simon asks Nicole if she thinks it's weird that Mr. Anderson gave Maddie his number. She asks how she knows he did. He says some kids were talking about Maddie online. She says maybe he gives his number to a lot of students. She asks if he has proof. He says no, but he's just looking at all the things and something seems off about Mr. Anderson. Nicole asks if Simon has seen Mr. Anderson's car, which she says looks like he sleeps in it. He asks if she's free right now and leads her away.

Mr. Martin asks Maddie how her obituary is coming and if she wants to share anything with the group. She says it's still a work in progress and she feels like she's barely slept. He says it's like she's been in the school for too many days in a row. She asks if there's another option. He tells the group he knows it's not usually for another month or so, but time is relative. He asks who's up for another field day. Wally is excited, but Rhonda is annoyed. Mr. Martin says everyone needs exercise and as ghosts, sometimes they need to exorcise some demons. Maddie says she doesn't do sports. Wally tries to get her hyped up for it by mentioning American Gladiators. No one else knows much about it. Rhonda says Maddie's not interested in tug-o-war unless it's her ex-boyfriend's limbs. She sees Maddie's face and asks if things have changed there.

Nicole talks to Mr. Anderson, distracting him while Simon sneaks into his classroom. He brushes her off by saying she can answer her question using The Elements of Style, which is available in the library. She pivots to asking him about Frankenstein.

Simon grabs Mr. Anderson's keys and leaves the room.

Nicole tells Mr. Anderson she's a writer and asks if he has any advice. He says he'll lead her to some books that will help.

Simon gets into Mr. Anderson's car and looks around. He finds a piece of frosted green glass in the glove compartment. Maddie is standing outside the car and also sees.

Maddie watches Mr. Anderson in the cafeteria.

*Maddie sits on the side of the road. A car's emergency lights are blinking behind her. Mr. Anderson arrives and asks if she's okay. She says she's fine, considering. She thanks him for coming. He asks her what happened. Maddie says her mom was hungry, so she took a short cut to get some food. She got distracted driving and went off the road. He tells her it's okay, that they'll figure it out.*

Simon tells Maddie about the piece of glass he found in Mr. Anderson's glove box. Maddie says she saw him and asks him why he did that. Simon says he had a feeling about Mr. Anderson and says he was right because Mr. Anderson is holding on to a piece of evidence. She thinks there must be another reason for that, but Simon is sure he's hiding something. Maddie says he can't be, because he saved her. She reminds him of the accident she was in a few months ago. Mr. Anderson bailed her out of it. He rescued her. Simon asks why she never told him. She says she didn't think she had to. He's annoyed with her being the same as she was when she was alive. He can't help solve her murder if she won't let him in. She asks about him not trusting her about Mr. Anderson. She tells him she'll just solve her murder on her own.

Maddie exits the school. Wally pulls up in a gold cart and asks if she needs a lift. He knows she's not into sports, but he has to try. He says instead of pacing angrily, she can move with a little more speed. He knows how she's feeling and offers her the chance to drive. She climbs in and takes off. She's pleased with how good it feels. She runs into a sign and says she's not the best driver. Wally tells her to keep going. He steers her into a stack of water coolers and cheers her on. The other ghosts are nearby, destroying things. He says they do it once a year to get their aggression out. Maddie says she's still mad at Wally. Mr. Martin says that's good because she'll need that anger. He knows she's had a hard time adjusting. He uses a golf club to break a mug to demonstrate their tradition. He hands it to Maddie, who takes it.

Nicole texts Simon, who says he didn't find anything. Nicole gets a notification that Maddie liked her photo. She texts Simon that she heard from Maddie and thinks she knows where she is. She gathers up her books and walks out. Xavier watches her go.

Nicole climbs up to the roof and looks around for Maddie. She finds where Maddie's initials are painted on the wall and touches them.

*Maddie and Nicole run on the roof. Nicole pulls out snacks. Maddie says she didn't have to do that, but Nicole says it's no big deal because the guy was such a jerk about her mom's card getting declined. Plus, he always looks at their chests. They're in an old elevator control room. The factory's been shut down for years. Maddie likes to come up there and escape life. She also likes looking for new graffiti on the walls. Nicole wants to add them to it. She offers Maddie some paint.*

*Maddie admires the picture Nicole painted of the two of them. Nicole tries to downplay it, but Maddie says she's an artist. She doesn't want Nicole to wait until she's dead to get recognized. She wants Nicole to study art in college. Nicole says the community college doesn't offer that and her parents can't afford for her to go anywhere else. Maddie won't accept that. She wants Nicole to be surrounded by things that inspire her and says they'll go visit all the art museums in Chicago when Nicole visits Maddie and Simon at Northwestern. Nicole promises. Maddie puts Nicole's name next to her painting.*

Nicole hears someone coming and thinks it's Maddie. She gets scared when she sees it's Xavier. He claims to be looking for Maddie just like her. She asks if he liked the photo to lure her there. She wonders if she'll be his next victim. She says if he throws her over the railing, everyone will hear her scream. He says he won't because he's scared of heights. It's hard for him even to be standing there with her. She shows him his phone and he says he really didn't do it. He's there because he followed Nicole. In the library, she looked like she'd found something. She wonders why she should trust him. He says he's been cleared. Mr. South saw him in the boys' bathroom while fixing a window. His dad took the statement late night. Xavier didn't say anything everyone's already made up their minds about him. Nicole wonders who liked the photo. Xavier says maybe Sandra opened Maddie's laptop and did it by accident. He was at Maddie's house and wanted Sandra to know he didn't do anything. She's in rough shape, but he's sure Nicole already knows that because she and Maddie are friends.

Simon finds Mr. Anderson and asks him what the police said when he turned the piece of the phone in. Mr. Anderson says he's handling it. When pressed, Mr. Anderson says he doesn't trust the people in charge yet. Until he knows who to trust, he's going to play things safe. He doesn't want anyone to question Simon.

Maddie breaks some vending machines. Wally says he's going to find more things for them to break. Charley asks Maddie everything's okay. Maddie says she had a fight with Simon. Charley asks what they fought about. Maddie tells him Simon thinks a teacher she looked up to might be responsible, but she can't believe that. Charley says she should talk to Rhonda. Maddie looks at Rhonda, who lights the grass on fire.

Nicole admires Xavier's courage. He says it was either come back to school or troll the trolls. She says that's not a good idea. He should never read the comments, but he says that's hard. He doesn't think people will stop their comments for a long time. Nicole says they just have to prove Maddie's out there. Xavier doesn't know how to do that because the cops seem to have given up. Nicole says they should look for her.

Maddie sits next to Rhonda. She says she thinks if she and Rhonda had met in the same time, they would have been friends. Rhonda asks why she thinks that. Maddie says she never would have had the courage to light the grass on fire. Rhonda says the longer she's there, the less she'll care. Maddie asks Rhonda for the story between her and her guidance counselor. She wants to get some answers. Rhonda says her pain isn't for sale. She asks if Maddie thinks her death can help solve Maddie's. Maddie hopes that's not the case. She had a friendship with a teacher, too, and is trying to figure out what it meant. Rhonda says Mr. Manfredo was the nicest man she'd ever met. Her own father was a pencil pusher and barely home.and her mother cared more about how the home looked than Rhonda. Mr. Manfredo just cared about her. It was nice. He saw that she was something special and wrote to fancy schools to let them know. He was firm when her grades slipped. He knew what it took to succeed in the world and wanted that for her. But when their dream became a reality, it went sideways. She showed him her acceptance letter to Berkeley and he shut down. It became clear that the guidance came at a cost. They argued. When she went to leave his office, he killed her. No one's who you think they are. That's the lasting advice she got from her guidance counselor. Maddie asks if he was never caught. Rhonda says he was. He died in prison. But that didn't change anything for her. Nothing changes there. It just resets.

Maddie finds an old yearbook in the library and looks through it. She finds a picture of Mr. Manfredo in the counseling room. She pulls out a newer yearbook and compares the counseling room to a picture of Mr. Anderson's classroom.

Maddie tells Simon that Mr. Anderson and Ms. Fields' rooms used to be the guidance office. They split the room into two rooms after Rhonda was killed. Simon is shocked that other kids were killed there. Maddie says her death is why they can talk in the classroom. It's the same as the other places. They can talk where someone has died. Simon remembers Mr. South talking about the scars of the school. That must be what he meant. Maddie says that's how they can connect. Simon asks what they'll say to each other. Maddie apologizes for pushing him away and admits he might be right about Mr. Anderson. It's hard to look at the people in her life and pick them apart, but admits she might have had a blind spot where Mr. Anderson was concerned. If he's really hiding something, his classroom might be a place to look. She can't do it without him. Simon asks what they're looking for. They need to find it before Mr. Anderson comes back. He gets up and starts searching.

Sandra, Xavier, and Nicole meet up. When Nicole asks, Sandra says she'd be doing better if her daughter were home. Nicole says she's sorry she hasn't been by to check on her. Sandra says she's there now and it's good to see her again. Nicole has supplies for the search because their backup doesn't look promising. They start their search.

Simon asks Maddie about the accident and asks why she didn't call him. She asks him not to make her tell him. She wants him to let it go. Simon finds a box in a closet and starts searching through it. Maddie says she didn't crash the car.

*Mr. Anderson sees Sandra sleeping in the back seat of the car and asks if they should wake her. Maddie says it's best not to. Mr. Anderson questions Maddie's claim that she was driving. She says she was and her mother wasn't even there. Mr. Anderson asks if she's sure. She doesn't see another choice. He reminds her they could take away her license, but that's better than them taking away her mom. Mr. Anderson says he'll take Sandra home. She has to stay so they don't think she fled. When he gets back, they'll talk to the insurance company together. He says Maddie was right to call her.*

Maddie says if anyone else knew, Sandra could still go away. That's why she called Mr. Anderson instead of Simon. Simon says he saw the things she dealt with at home, but Maddie says that was just the tip of the iceberg. She was worried if he knew how deep it goes, he would be scared away. Simon says he's talking to her ghost and he's still there. He asks if she'd call him now and she says she would. They hear Mr. Anderson coming and Simon rushes to put things back.

Sandra and Xavier aren't having any luck. They ask Nicole if they should try another spot.

Maddie and Simon hide in the closet and listen as Mr. Anderson talks on the phone. They're struggling to hear, so Simon reminds Maddie that she can go out into the room. Mr. Anderson tells the person on the phone they already did things their way and now they're going to do them his way.

Xavier calls out to Nicole and gets no response. They hear rustling in the distance. Nicole appears and says she found something.

Mr. Anderson says he shouldn't have given Maddie the money and clears his desk in anger. Then he leaves.

Nicole shows Xavier and Sandra Maddie's ticket, which has a shoe print on it. Xavier remembers that Maddie had it the last time he saw her.

Simon asks about what Mr. Anderson said and if she asked him for cash. Maddie says no. She knows there are gaps in her memory, but she'd remember that. Simon says he obviously thinks she did and maybe that's why he did it.

They think the prints look like Maddie's. Sandra says they are.

Maddie spots a fake wall on a shelf. Simon pulls it back to reveal a large amount of cash. They wonder why he has so much cash hidden in his classroom. Simon says he thinks it has something to do with why she's dead.

## 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 (credit only)

### Guest Stars

* Josh Zuckerman as Everett Martin
* Maria Dizzia as Sandra Nears
* Ian Tracey as Sheriff Baxter
* Patrick Gilmore as Derek Anderson

### Co-Starring

* RaeAnne Boon as Dawn
* Vanessa Prasad as Kirsten
* Dylan Floyde as Sheriff's Deputy
* Austin Falk as Lacrosse Player
* Josh Dohy as Stoner Student #1
* Ben Byrnell as Stoner Student #2

## Music

 "Pressed 2 Death"
* He steers her into a stack of water jugs.

"Straight to Hell" - H6llb6nd6r"Pressed 2 Death" - Illuminati Hotties
## Notes and Trivia

* This episode's title is most likely a reference to the movie *"Dazed and Confused."*

## See Also

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