My So-Called Death

**My So-Called Death** is the first episode of the first season and the 1st overall episode of **School Spirits**.

## Short Summary

While acclimating to purgatory at Split River High, Maddie becomes determined to solve the mystery of her disappearance. While observing those she left behind, Maddie begins to realize everyone is not as honest and loyal as she once thought.

## Full Summary

The bell rings. Maddie Nears is sitting alone, watching an assembly that's going on below her. Principal Hartman asks for people to quiet down. Once they're quiet, Hartmen says the Split River Police are considering the case a missing persons case. They have every reason to believe she's alive. Chloe and Kirsten try and fail to remember the missing student's name. Blood was smeared all over the janitor's closet and they think her phone is still at the school somewhere. Kirsten is horrified that the missing girl doesn't have her phone. Claire Zomer asks the other to cheerleaders to focus.

Nearby, Simon Elroy asks Nicole Herrera if she slept. She says she didn't and he didn't either. Hartman tells the students to come forward if they know anything at all. Then he introduces the cheer squad to do their routine.

Charley sits down a few rows behind Maddie.

As a picture of Maddie displays on the screen, the cheerleaders get into place.

Charley tells Maddie that at least they used a good picture of her. She shushes him. He says what's missing is some tact as the cheerleaders start. As they finish, one of the cheerleaders says that was for Maggie. Maddie angrily corrects them on her name. Charley tells her they can't hear her. But soon enough, they'll realize she's dead.

Maddie says she's been wandering the halls for three days and still doesn't know where she's supposed to be. Charley says she should stop trying to make sense of it because she can't. She's not convinced that she's dead. She thinks she might be in a coma somewhere. Charley says she's definitely dead. She hates it there, which Charley gets. High school used to feel like an eternity and now it actually is. Mr. Anderson comes around a corner and calls out. Maddie thinks he's talking to her, but he's actually talking to some kid bouncing a basketball behind her. He takes their ball and says they can have it back after school. Charley says he was basically invisible when he was alive, too.

Nicole puts a missing posted for Maddie on someone's locker. Mr. Anderson asks if she's going to go back to the assembly, but she thinks the assembly's a joke. Maddie tries to talk to Nicole, but gets no response. Charley says he has some people for Maddie to meet. She says she already has friends, but he wants to give it a chance.

Charley leads Maddie through a gym where several students are playing basketball to a circle of chairs. Maddie flinches as they walk through the players, but Charley reminds her that they can't see her and they can't hurt her. It's a perk of being dead. Charley leads her to the chairs. She goes toward a seat, but Rhonda says she's sitting there. Maddie asks if another seat is taken and they say no, not since Janet. Maddie asks what happened to her, but before anyone can answer, Mr. Martin calls for them to get started. He's glad Maddie joined them and asks her to introduce herself to the rest of them. Mr. Martin welcomes her to the Split River High Afterlife Support Group. He asks her to share more about herself and asks if Charley has been a helpful guide. Rhonda asks her how she died, but Mr. Martin chastises her for asking. Maddie says she was ditching study hall and then suddenly, she was here. She doesn't know who did it and they haven't found her body. Mr. Martin asks the others to introduce themselves. The others are confused that Maddie doesn't know about her death. It's a first for them. Rhonda asks what she does remember, but Mr. Martin thinks she might not want to talk about it.

*Maddie asks Xavier if he thinks it hurts to smile that much as they watch the cheerleaders practice. Xavier doesn't know, but says Maddie should smile more. She elbows him. As they kiss, Claire watches them. Maddie spots Simon and calls out to him. She tells Xavier she'll see him in study hall and goes after Simon. She asks Simon what he thought of the new Carrie. He wasn't as impressed as she was and doesn't understand why they messed with a classic. She asks if they're still on for Night of the Living Dead and he says he wouldn't miss it. He forgot to print his ticket even with her reminder. He says he'll print it later. She asks if it's okay if Xavier joins. Simon wonders why he would because Xavier doesn't even like horror movies. Maddie says he's never seen it and she thought it might be fun. They watch as a student walks around dressed as the school mascot. Simon suggests inviting him to the movies as well. Simon asks how Maddie's mom is and Maddie says she's fine, sobering up. She'll be back in two weeks and until then, the castle is all Maddie's. Simon says they should throw a party and invite all their friends. Nicole overhears this and asks if they're throwing a party. Maddie asks if she wants to come to a party. When Nicole accepts, Maddie says she invited all their friends. Simon watches Nicole take a sip of her energy drink. She had a portfolio review last night and it was intense. It went really well and two schools in Chicago said they love her stuff. They all celebrate for her then walk to class. Mr. Anderson waits for the bell to ring and tells them they're late. Nicole's not even in his class, but she's late for someone's class. Mr. Anderson ushers them into the room. Maddie looks out the window and sees Xavier walking to his truck. She tells Mr. Anderson she needs to go to the bathroom and walks out. He knows she won't be coming back.*

*Maddie goes to Xavier's truck and surprises him. He says he's skipping gym. He came out to his car to charge his phone, but can't find his charger. She picks up the vape on his seat and says he doesn't have to lie to her. He admits he was skipping class to get high in his car. She says he's the worst liar in the world. She says she'd join him if he was driving into the sunset, but instead, she'll leave him to squander his future in peace. They kiss and Maddie tells Xavier to give up the drugs. She needs him to stay out of jail until homecoming, so she doesn't have to skip it alone.*

*Maddie and Claire pass on the stairs.*

*Maddie looks back out at Xavier and uses the camera on her phone to zoom in and see that he's on his phone, even though he said it was dead. She gets a low battery notification just as a text comes in from Xavier. Her phone dies before she can check it.*

*Xavier gets out of his car.*

Maddie watches Xavier and Charley wonders if she's going to spend her whole afterlife watching him. Maddie realizes Xavier's not doing well. As Xavier comes up the stairs and walks past them, Maddie tells Charley she wishes Xavier knew she was there. Maddie asks if there's anyway to go back, but there is no back. There may be a way forward, however. They're all just trying to cross over, which is why they have to stick together. Janet did it after being there since 1960. The alternative to that is Dawn, who never comes to group. They watch Dawn chew gum and stare as she plays with her hair. Charley says she just bops around. He doesn't know what happened to her, but she died in the 70s. Maddie sees that someone has written "Dog" over one of the missing person posters. She pulls it down, but finds it's still there. Charley reminds her she can't change anything in their world. She tries again and says that's depressing. He says if she wants depressing, she should come with him. He shows her a group of six band members who died in there in 2006, still marching and playing. Working with Mr. Martin helps. It keeps them from getting stuck in the past. Charley sees that she's staring at Xavier again and tells her to come find him when she's ready.

Ms. Fields is teaching a lesson about the Great Depression. She asks if anyone has any questions before they get started. One of the students gestures to a jacket on an empty seat and asks if Ms. Fields really believes Maddie will come back for her jacket. Nicole says it's not Maddie's. Ms. Fields says it's her jacket. She put it there because they're going to save Maddie's seat until she comes back. Simon scoffs. He wonders how that'll help. Ms. Fields says it's a reminder to think about her. He thinks it's phony. People have just moved on as if everything is normal. They're laughing about it. No one signed up to join the search party. Including Xavier. Ms. Fields tries to calm Simon down, but Simon thinks Xavier knows something. Xavier and Simon start to fight about it. Simon grabs Xavier's bag and the contents come out, including Maddie's phone. Nicole questions why he has it.

Principal Hartman questions Xavier about the phone. Maddie watches from outside the office. Maddie thinks he must be using the phone to try to figure out what happened to her. Charley is less sure. He calls a time out and says they'll go to his office.

Charley and Maddie sit on the floor of the mens' showers. He wants her to take an interest in getting to know him. She asks him how he died. He says the one day he forgot his EpiPen was the one day they cooked the French fries in peanut oil. He was more disappointed that he didn't get to haunt those who were mean to him. Instead, he was haunted by their jokes about his death. He was a gay kid in the 90s who died because he was allergic to nuts. Charley realizes Maddie's fixating again on the phone. She thinks he must have it for a reason. Charley says she might not like the answers to her questions. She asks him if he wouldn't want to know of people thought his boyfriend killed him. No one ever called him his boyfriend and if they had, that would have had to hide it. Which is why he likes the showers, because nothing is hidden there.

*Maddie and Xavier make out. He says she's going to get them in trouble. He says he really likes her. When a door opens, they rush to hide in the locker room. Maddie crouches down while Xavier takes off his clothes and turns on the shower. Mr. Graziano comes in and Xavier says he's showering. Mr. Graziano says the school closed at 6 PM and he can't be there. Xavier says he doesn't feel comfortable with Mr. Graziano watching him in the shower. He says he wasn't. He was just closing up. He tells Xavier to finish up and leave. He walks out in a hurry.*

Maddie refuses to believe Xavier killed her.

Nicole follows Simon down the hall. They stop at the officer, where Xavier is sitting inside. Simon is sure he did it, while Nicole is less convinced. She thinks there's an alternate explanation. They're surprised to see Claire Zomer waving at Xavier through the glass.

Wally Clark spots Maddie and introduces himself. He was in the class of 1984. He was killed in a football tackle at the homecoming game his senior year. Maddie recognizes her name because they named the stadium after him. She can't stay to talk to him because she has gaps in her memory to fill. He wants to help her, but she doesn't want his help. When he starts talking about the things he wishes he had, she questions if he was missing anything when she got there. He say no. She remembers that her phone and backpack were with her when she died.

*Maddie digs in her backpack, looking for the tickets she knows she printed. She finds them and shows them to Xavier, who is distracted by his phone. He says he can't come because he forgot he has band practice. She says it would be easier to say he doesn't want to see the movie. He says it was the only night they could practice. Simon wakes up and calls Maddie over. While she's distracted, Xavier pulls her phone out of her bag. Simon and Maddie watch as Maddie's mom drives up on the curb, then parks. Maddie grabs her bag and says she needs to take care of some things.*

Maddie realizes her necklace is also missing. Wally says it might be good that she can't remember everything. He sometimes wishes he could forget. Maddie tries to get Xavier's attention. Then she watches as Simon confronts Xavier about him having Maddie's phone and not telling anyone. Xavier says he doesn't have to tell them anything, so Simon charges him and knocks him over. Maddie and Nicole both tell him to stop. Principal Hartman breaks it up and Xavier walks away. Simon asks if Nicole is still wondering where the blood came from.

Maddie goes to the support group meeting and says Wally can help her by forcing a confession out of someone. Charley tells her they can't do that. Maddie won't accept that. She needs to know what happened. Rhonda says she can't. Mr. Martin says they've all been where she is and talking about it helps. She says she wasn't ready to die and talking about it won't change that. She'll search the whole town for answers. She won't give up like the rest of them. Mr. Martin says they're not giving up. They're moving forward. She calls them out on not really moving on and leaves.

Maddie walks out of the school building, but when she gets to the edge of the property, she finds herself back in the boiler room. She tries again and again with the same result. She walks past Dawn and says she doesn't know what's happening. Dawn explains that she can't leave the school because she died there. It's weird at first, but you get used to it.

Maddie runs across the football field and tries to leave again. She ends up back in the boiler room. She looks at the blood stains and the evidence markers. She has flashes of memory.

Maddie stands at the edge of the sidewalk. She steps off and ends up back in the boiler room, where she sits down.

Maddie goes back to the gym and goes back to the support group, where Rhonda is sharing the story of her guidance counselor killing her. Maddie asks her about it and she confirms it's true. Mr. Martin welcomes Maddie back. Maddie wonders how Rhonda could laugh about her death. Wally says she should find it encouraging because someday, she'll be able to laugh. Mr. Martin says holding onto the past will only hold her back. That's what they're working on together. Maddie sees a large group of students coming in and wonders what it is. Wally thinks it's her memorial. Charley says it's a vigil, because no body means no burial. Maddie sees her mother, Sandra Nears, among the crowd. She's surprised to see her. Xavier tries to come in, but Sheriff Baxter, his dad, stops him and leads him back out. Claire, Simon, and Nicole are among the crowd. Principal Hartman welcomes them and says they're there to raise awareness about Maddie's disappearance while they work to bring her home.

Sheriff Baxter asks Xavier why he had Maddie's phone. Xavier says he doesn't know anything.

Sandra struggles as she tries to speak to the crowd. She's unable to say anything and excuses herself. Principal Hartman takes back over and offers her his support.

Sheriff Baxter asks Xavier if he's high. He says he can't help Xavier if he doesn't know what's going on and Xavier repeats that he doesn't know anything. He says he was protecting Maddie.

Principal Hartman says they'll meet back up outside in ten minutes. Charley says they're there for her, but Maddie walks out.

When pressed, Xavier tells Sheriff Baxter he was protecting Maddie from finding out about him and Claire. He's been hooking up with her and Maddie didn't know. He was meeting her when Maddie interrupted. He sent Claire a text to steer clear, but accidentally sent it to Maddie. So he took her phone so he could delete the text. He didn't know she wasn't coming back. Maddie listens to this interaction as people file out and grab candles. She follows Nicole and Simon.

Simon tells Nicole he needs a minute and he'll meet her outside. He does to see Ms. Fields and apologizes to her. She tells him she knows and tells him it wasn't an empty gesture. She's as worried about Maddie as he is. He knows something bad happened. He's know Maddie for longer than anyone else in his life. She's not a person who runs. She's faced things no one should have to. She doesn't run and if she were going to, he would be the first one to know. She's never gone silent on him before, so he knows something bad happened to her. He doesn't know how he's going to survive without her. Ms. Fields comforts him as he cries.

Sheriff Baxter and his deputy lead Xavier out and into a cop car. Sheriff Baxter tells him to chill out and he'll take care of everything.

Claire watches as Xavier is taken away.

Ms. Fields tells Simon to take as long as he needs. She leaves to join the vigil. Maddie watches as he puts his head down on the desk. After a moment, he gets up and goes to the window. Maddie tells him thank you. He turns to her in shock. She's equally shocked that he can see her.

## 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
* RaeAnne Boon as Dawn
* Alison Thornton as Chloe
* Jayce Barreiro as Mr. Graziano
* Vanessa Prasad as Kirsten
* Katarina Mueller as Tira
* Dylan Floyde as Sheriff's Deputy
* Gavin Langelo as Football Guy
* Austin Falk as Lacrosse Player
* Alayna Pezzuto as Faith
* Cassian Bartholomew as Large Student
* Brittany Spiteri as Cheerleader #1
* Yudy Rodriguez as Cheerleader #2
* Briggs Gibbins as Cheerleader #3
* Brianne Mapson as Cheerleader #4
* Hannah Cam as Cheerleader #5
* Halle Gall as Cheerleader #6

## Music

 "Angelica"
* She tries to leave campus, but keeps getting thrown back to the boiler room.
* Dawn tells her she can't leave the school.
 "I Know the End"
* Simon tells Nicole he has something he needs to do.
* He apologizes to Ms. Fields and tells her he knows something bad happened.
* Sheriff Baxter puts Xavier in a squad car and tells him he'll take care of everything.
* Ms. Fields leaves Simon to join the vigil.
* Maddie tells Simon thank you and they both realize he can see her.

"Dinosaur" - Fog Lake"Angelica" - Wet Leg"I Know the End" - Phoebe Bridgers
## Notes and Trivia

* This episode's name is most likely a reference to the television series *"My So-Called Life."*

## See Also

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