INT. HOPE AND FAITH’S HOUSE – EVENING
The house is quiet. Hope and Faith are sitting together, talking softly.
Suddenly, the front door opens.
Mariah walks inside.
Lacreesha, who is nearby, notices her arrival. Her expression changes immediately. She watches Mariah carefully, sensing that something is about to happen.
LACREESHA
Mariah is here.
Lacreesha takes a deep breath.
She looks worried.
LACREESHA
If she does something before anyone can stop her, everything could become even worse.
Lacreesha quickly pulls out her phone.
She knows exactly who she needs to call.
She dials Brooke.
The phone rings.
Brooke answers.
BROOKE
Lacreesha? What happened?
LACREESHA
Brooke, you need to listen to me. Mariah is here.
Brooke immediately becomes serious.
BROOKE
Where?
LACREESHA
She’s at Hope and Faith’s house.
There is a long silence.
Brooke’s expression hardens.
Her anger rises instantly.
BROOKE
Mariah is with Hope and Faith?
LACREESHA
Yes. She just came in.
Brooke stands up.
She grabs her things and heads toward the door.
BROOKE
I’m coming there.
LACREESHA
Brooke, wait. Don’t do anything you’ll regret.
But Brooke has already ended the call.
She walks out.
EXT. STREET – EVENING
Brooke drives quickly toward Hope and Faith’s house.
Her hands grip the steering wheel tightly.
Her mind races.
She remembers everything that has happened between Mariah and the others.
Her anger continues to grow.
BROOKE
How dare she show up there?
Brooke takes a deep breath, trying to control herself.
But the anger is too strong.
INT. HOPE AND FAITH’S HOUSE – EVENING
Mariah sits with Hope and Faith.
They notice that she seems uncomfortable.
HOPE
Mariah, what’s going on?
Mariah looks down.
MARIAH
I just wanted to talk.
Faith looks at her carefully.
FAITH
You could have called us.
Before Mariah can answer, there is a loud knock at the door.
Everyone becomes silent.
Hope looks toward the entrance.
HOPE
Who could that be?
The door suddenly opens.
Brooke walks inside.
Her face is filled with anger.
Mariah freezes when she sees her.
MARIAH
Brooke…
Brooke stares directly at her.
BROOKE
So you’re here.
Mariah slowly stands.
MARIAH
Brooke, please. Let me explain.
Brooke takes a step forward.
BROOKE
Explain what?
Her voice is cold.
BROOKE
Why you came here? Why you decided to come around Hope and Faith?
Mariah looks nervous.
MARIAH
I didn’t come here to cause trouble.
BROOKE
Then what did you come here for?
Hope stands between them.
HOPE
Brooke, calm down.
Brooke looks at Hope for a moment.
BROOKE
Stay out of this, Hope.
Faith steps forward.
FAITH
Brooke, this isn’t going to help.
Brooke turns back toward Mariah.
Her anger takes over.
BROOKE
You always say you’re not here to cause trouble, but somehow trouble follows you everywhere.
Mariah’s eyes fill with emotion.
MARIAH
That’s not fair.
Brooke moves closer.
BROOKE
Fair?
She shakes her head.
BROOKE
You want to talk about fair?
Mariah takes a small step backward.
MARIAH
Please, Brooke. Just listen to me.
Brooke is too angry to listen.
She suddenly lashes out at Mariah.
Hope and Faith are shocked.
HOPE
Brooke!
Faith immediately moves toward them.
FAITH
Stop!
Mariah tries to protect herself and backs away.
MARIAH
Brooke, stop! I don’t want to fight you!
Brooke continues forward in anger.
HOPE
Brooke, enough!
Hope grabs Brooke’s arm and tries to pull her back.
Faith stands beside Mariah.
FAITH
This has gone too far.
Brooke finally stops.
She is breathing heavily.
Mariah looks shaken.
The room falls completely silent.
BROOKE
You should never have come here.
Mariah wipes away a tear.
MARIAH
I didn’t come here to hurt anyone.
Brooke doesn’t answer.
Lacreesha arrives at the doorway moments later.
She sees everyone standing there.
Her eyes widen.
LACREESHA
Brooke…
Brooke turns toward her.
BROOKE
You called me because you thought I needed to know she was here.
Lacreesha looks uncomfortable.
LACREESHA
I was worried about what might happen.
Brooke takes a breath.
Her anger slowly begins to fade, but the tension remains.
HOPE
Everyone needs to calm down.
Faith nods.
FAITH
We can’t keep solving everything with anger.
Mariah looks toward Brooke.
MARIAH
I know you’re angry with me.
Brooke says nothing.
MARIAH
But you don’t know the whole story.
Brooke finally looks at her.
BROOKE
Then tell me.
Mariah hesitates.
Everyone waits.
The room becomes quiet again.
MARIAH
I came here because I needed to talk to Hope and Faith before making a decision.
Brooke’s expression changes slightly.
BROOKE
What decision?
Mariah looks at Hope and Faith.
MARIAH
A decision that could change everything.
Hope looks concerned.
HOPE
What are you talking about?
Mariah takes a deep breath.
MARIAH
I don’t know if I can keep living like this.
Brooke’s anger turns into confusion.
BROOKE
Then why didn’t you tell me?
Mariah looks away.
MARIAH
Because I was afraid you wouldn’t listen.
A long silence follows.
Brooke looks down, realizing that her anger may have made everything worse.
Lacreesha watches quietly.
Faith finally speaks.
FAITH
This is exactly why everyone needs to talk before things get out of control.
Brooke takes another deep breath.
BROOKE
I was angry.
She looks at Mariah.
BROOKE
But that doesn’t make what happened right.
Mariah remains silent.
Hope looks between them.
HOPE
Then let’s start over.
Brooke slowly nods.
The tension in the room begins to settle.
But the damage has already been done.
Mariah knows that tonight has changed everything.
And Brooke knows that whatever decision Mariah was about to make could affect all of them.
The four women stand in silence, each wondering what will happen next.