MAVIS Listen, there's been a change. Shui looks up. SHUI Yeah? MAVIS Yeah, I want you to call a meeting. SHUI Everyone? MAVIS Yeah, everyone. Just the girls though. Shui pauses. SHUI Got it. MAVIS Set it up so that everyone's on time. Like, 1 PM. SHUI Alright. MAVIS It'll be fun, trust me SHUI, confused, yet excited, turns around and exits the frame. Where will our friends all meet for such an important occassion? We cut to.. INT . G&G CLOTHING KITCHEN - DAY MAVIS sits with ROXY, SHUI, CAROLINE, and GINA at a ROUNTABLE decorated with bags and electronics. Shui, Mavis and Gina are snacking on CHIPS and SALSA, Mavis holds a cigarette over the CLAY ASHTRAY she made. Caroline, also smoking, has to resort to tapping her's on the floor, as she sits away from Mavis. GINA & Roxy have their LAPTOPS open, Roxy has a mug of COFFEE handy and doesn't hesitate to take frequent sips, interchanged with a nibble or two on a PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE from a small bowl she acquired.. ALL (Chatter) Roxy is typing like a newspaper editor.. She's most likely texting someone though... MAVIS Has anyone heard from the boys? Shui shakes her head. CAROLINE Nah. Mavis turns to Gina. MAVIS (close) You wanna call them? GINA is confused, she isn't an errand-boy, or girl for that matter. GINA Why me? MAVIS I don't know, I was just saying. ROXY watches this exchange, amused. Gina however sits confused and slightly offended.. CAROLINE I'll call them. CAROLINE picks up her phone to dial, she does so, and puts the phone to her ear. Caroline patiently lets it ring, she and SHUI look over to MAVIS and GINA who are still quarrelling. GINA (hushed) What you want coffee now, too? What do you want? MAVIS (interupting) No, no. I was just asking, Gene. The phone stops ringing and picks up. The girls cease conversation. CAROLINE Oh, uh, hey, Neville? Where are you? Uh, huh. Yeah, we're here. Okay, thanks, buh-bye. Caroline hangs up the phone. CAROLINE (cont'd) He's like down the street. MAVIS Okay, good. CAROLINE George is with him, too. GINA Fuck, I should've got him to pick up some drinks or something. ROXY Thought we still had some. GINA ponders for a second. GINA Let me check the basement. GINA gets up followed by CAROLINE CAROLINE Lemme' go with you. I wanna see the spooky basement. GINA (laughing) Okay, C'mon. (to ROXY) Let me know when they're here, alright? The TWO exit the room, ROXY looks to MAVIS, what is she? The new errand-girl? MAVIS shrugs. We hard cut to.. 2 INT. G&G CLOTHING BASEMENT - DAY - DIM CAROLINE and GINA walk slowly down the stairs. GINA, ahead of CAROLINE, flicks the switch to reveal a dingy basement, corroded. slightly rotted wood walls with a pool table (no balls or sticks) in the middle, a table and chairs on the far left, and a small fridge on the right. GINA's nose crinkles at the eroded smell of iron and sink water.. GINA Smells like Metal.. CAROLINE Or blood. GINA Right? Gina opens the fridge, inside is a case of SMIRNOFF ICE WATERMELON MIMOSA WINECOOLERS, she grabs it. GINA I should call my cousin, Andy. Caroline looks around at the depressing architecture. CAROLINE So, Denny's fucking with our shit, or what? GINA walks back towards the stairs. CAROLINE slowly follows. GINA Well, yeah. Denny didn't pay Nev for the freaking, like vocals he did on their record? He didn't credit him either, apparently. So.. GINA turns around to CAROLINE, Gina scratches her head with the same hand she's holding the WINECOOLERS in. GINA So, like, um. Neville wants to sort it out, y'know. CAROLINE 'Kay. Wait, why can't we take this to court? GINA Please! My mom has enough shit to balance let alone driving us to school. GINA scoffs. CAROLINE smiles. GINA (cont'd) Tell you the truth.. I wish we could. All this could be solved with a paycheck. Y'know? CAROLINE Yeah, right? GINA nods and turns around, she heads up the stairs and CAROLINE follows. The two seem in better spirits, we then cut to.. INT - G&C CLOTHING KITCHEN - DAY GINA and CAROLINE enter to see that GEORGE and NEVILLE are taking their seats among the girls. GINA Oh, hello! GEORGE looks up. NEVILLE nods kindly as the two sit down. MAVIS So, lets get started on the thing, shall we? EVERYBODY turns their attention to NEVILLE. MAVIS (cont'd) Alright, Neville. you said you had a problem with, Denny and Unkouth. NEVILLE Yeah, Well, see. Back in like, January last year, Trent wanted me to visit the studio, y'know? Back when we were friends? A chill fills the room. CAROLINE knows more than the others. She, as well as the audience, knows the tumultuous relationship between the two boys. NEVILLE (cont'd) He's like, 'oh i remember you in Temper Tantrum I showed Den your demo, he really likes it. Once again, Caroline is indignant, but she can only shake her head. NEVILLE (cont'd) So, he's like, come to the studio. Okay, I go and Denny's like 'Oh, I have this track I want you to sing on our new EP-- SHUI The one with that guy from Baby Giraffes right? NEVILLE Yes, exactly. I'm in the booth for like an hour, screaming. After that he's like okay, great, let's go for lunch, right? We go get Chinese. First thing Denny asks me is 'what do you want?', I say to him, oh, i'll pay. He's like, 'nah-nah-nah, my treat.' He said. I didn't even think much of it at the time. We see that George is eager to get a word in, he's just as involved as Neville, but more upset. He's fidgeting with his hands before... GEORGE I mean, you won't fucking believe what this guy does, right? Neville told me this shit in May, I says, did he ever pay you? Cause at this point the EP was already on CD, Bandcamp. I asked Neville, did he pay you and Neville's like no. We see Neville listening back to the events that transpired and he seems ashamed more of himself than upset at Denny and Trent for their scheme. NEVILLE He doesn't even mention it while we're recording. And every time I go to see him, we get food and he's paying for me. Mavis at this point has heard enough. She directs her attention toward both Roxy, who's playing legal council, and Neville who is ostenibly on trial as a witness. MAVIS Wait, wait... You're telling me he hasn't even paid you risiduals? Not through cash, wire, nothing? NEVILLE No. GEORGE He hasn't seen a dime. MAVIS (to Roxy) What the fuck? Everyone turns to poor Roxy, who had been following the conversation closely, is nonetheless caught off by the sudden attention shift. ROXY So, clearly he's misappropiating funds. Neville is listening, but is visibly confused. Mavis is enraptured by Roxy. ROXY Basically, he's using his own pocket change to pay you as little as possible while still keeping a remainder of his funds. SHUI So fraud. ROXY Well, yes, but that's a general term. Fraud can constitute, yes, embezzlement, like you said. But it really mostly covers illegal acitivities. Mavis, Shui and Caroline all listen intently, obviously taking notes in their heads. ROXY (Cont'd) Such as money laundering or even extortion. MAVIS How is this not extortion? ROXY Well, Neville isn't paying off a debt, as far as we know. A more apt diagnosis here could be a money laundering scheme, maybe. (shy) I'm not a lawyer, really. Roxy, obviously feeling the pressure, fidgets with her hair and sips her coffee. CAROLINE Yeah, but aren't you a law student? ROXY Finanncing. CAROLINE Ahh.. ROXY How'd you think I ended up with Gina? Gina playfully shoots Roxy a 'finger-guns' and winks. She mainly wants to reassure Roxy. However, Roxy is still extremely out of her element and is breathing pretty heavily at this point, it could be the coffee though. MAVIS So, you're really up on this money shit, huh? Roxy nods and so does Mavis, though Mavis holds this stare that definitely shows her cogs turning to see how she can use Roxy's intellect for herself. ROXY Well, I mean my mom's a finance lawyer, y'know. most of this stuff I just learned from her as well. Bullseye. Roxy successfully removes the sysiphus size rock from her back. George, and by extent Caroline aren't entirely satisfied though. GEORGE Wait, okay, so.. Technically, this guy, and potentially the whole label, are scam artists. ROXY Well, yeah. The label is mainly at fault here. Whoever was head of the production should've kept you on payroll atleast until they didn't need you. He owes you money. The magic words have been uttered. God help them, a cold silence is enhaled by all in the room. Mavis looks at Shui for a visual diagnosis, Shui nods. Neville and George await a signal, and Caroline just stares at the table, immediately recognizing what will transpire. GINA Not like we didn't see this coming. (to Roxy) I'm sure you guys remember our issues with him. Roxy nods. MAVIS Well, that was resolved. GINA We still had to talk to the fucking label though. Plus having to explain ourselves to those Hot Topic exectutives over the same shit. ROXY Misappropiation, bogus funding. GINA We almost took that shit to court. MAVIS Well, thank god you hadn't.