[SCENE START]
SOME TIME, A LONG TIME AGO, BEFORE THE EVENTS OF MEAN GIRLS, THERE IS AGIRL WHO IS KNOWN AS THE QUEEN BEE AND INVENTOR OF BURN BOOK BACKSTABBING INSULTS, THAT WAS ONCE INNOCENT AND KIND BEFORE EVERYTHING FELL APART.
EXT. NORTH SHORE PLAZA - DAY
The sun is shining. It's a picture-perfect suburban afternoon. JUNE GEORGE is walking out of a high-end boutique, draped in shopping bags. She looks radiant, laughing loudly at something a group of OTHER MOMS said.
REGINA walks beside her, looking like a living doll in a miniature designer outfit. June has her arm draped over Regina's shoulder, squeezing her with "affection" that looks perfect for a magazine cover.
OTHER MOM June, honestly, you two are more like sisters! And Regina is just glowing. You're such a dedicated mom.
JUNE (Beaming, voice honey-sweet) Oh, stop! She's my absolute world. I told her, 'Regina, honey, if you want the world, Mommy will buy it for you.' We're best friends, aren't we, baby?
June kisses Regina's forehead. Regina gives a small, practiced smile. To the onlookers, it's the ultimate "Cool Mom" moment.
JUNE (CONT'D) (To the Moms) We have a big birthday surprise planned! Anything for my little princess. See you girls at Pilates!
June waves air-kisses, her smile wide and sparkling. She leads Regina toward their gleaming red BMW SUV.
INT. RED BMW SUV- CONTINUOUS
The door SLAMS shut. The silence in the car is immediate and heavy. The "Cool Mom" smile vanishes instantly. June's face turns cold, hard, and exhausted. She checks her reflection in the visor mirror, ignoring Regina completely.
REGINA (Small voice) Mommy? You said... you said for my birthday I could have anything.
JUNE (Coldly, eyes on the mirror) Don't start. I'm exhausted from pretending to like those women. Just sit there and don't wrinkle the seat.
REGINA But you said—
JUNE (Sharp) I said BE QUIET.
The SUV pulls into the driveway of the George Mansion. The "Princess" and the "Cool Mom" get out. As the front door of the mansion swings open, the bright afternoon sun is replaced by the cold, sterile shadows of the foyer.
TRANSITION TO:
INT. GEORGE MANSION - KITCHEN - DAY (2000)
The kitchen is blindingly white and sterile. REGINA stands in a stiff, itchy pink pageant dress. Her hair is curled so tight it looks painful.
JUNE GEORGE is aggressively highlighting a calendar of pageant dates. She sips a "Clear Mocktail" from a travel mug.
REGINA
(Clutching a Snow White doll)Mommy? Since today is my birthday... can we go to Disneyland? I want to see the real princesses. I want to see where they live.
JUNE
(Not looking up)
Don't be ridiculous, Regina. We have the 'Little Miss North Shore' circuit starting today. I've already paid the entry fees. You're needed for the photos. Your beauty makes us money, baby. We don't have time for cartoons.
REGINA
I don't want to go to beauty pageants and take pictures! I want to go to Disneyland and see all the princesses!
JUNE (Dropping the pen, cold)
Regina, stop. Fairy tales and Disney princesses are for a younger audience. You need to be practical. Those little dolls don't pay bills. They don't make money. You'll see "princesses" at the pageant today.
REGINA (Stomping her foot)
Noooo! Those are all fake princesses! I want to meet real princesses like Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine! Not some phonies who pretend to be! That's why Iwant to go to Disneyland!
JUNE
(Eyes flashing with rage)
Stop wasting my time! That Disney garbage is for children with no future. Since you're so obsessed with Cinderella, let's play a game.
June gestures to a sink overflowing with greasy dishes and a leaking bag of trash by the door.
JUNE (CONT'D)If you want to be a princess, you have to start cleaning step by step. Scrub. Now.
INT. KITCHEN - LATER
Regina is sobbing quietly, scrubbing a scorched pan. Her birthday dress is stained with gray dishwater. She looks exhausted, her eyes drooping.
REGINA
Mommy, please... I'm so tired. I just want dinner and to sleep.
JUNE
(Standing over her like a warden)
A Queen doesn't sleep until the work is done. Keep scrubbing.
REGINA
(Weakly)
I just... I still want to go to Disney. I want to see the castle...
JUNE
JUST DO THE DISHES. NO DISNEY WORLD FOR WHINY LITTLE GIRLS WHO ACT LIKE DRAMA QUEENS.
[SCENE ADDITION: THE TURNING POINT]
INT. GEORGE MANSION - KITCHEN - LATER
REGINA is alone. The kitchen is quiet except for the drip of the faucet. She looks small and fragile, her pageant sleeves rolled up, her arms soapy and shaking from the weight of the heavy pots.
She dries the last pan with a dish towel, her eyes red-rimmed. She looks toward the stairs. She truly believes she has "earned" her birthday wish.
INT. JUNE'S BEDROOM - MOMENTS LATER
The room is a chaotic explosion of pink, mirrors, and "Cool Mom" magazines. JUNE is sitting at her vanity, applying a thick layer of night cream. REGINA stands behind her, still holding the damp, dirty dish towel she used in the kitchen.
REGINA (Voice trembling) Mommy? I finished. I did all the dishes and the trash is gone. Can we go now? To see the princesses?
JUNE (Sighing, annoyed) Regina, I'm busy. Go find a snack.
REGINA But you said... you said step-by-step. I did the steps! Can we go to Disneyland? Please?
JUNE (Through gritted teeth) I said I'm busy. Disneyland is closed, Regina. It's always closed for girls who whine.
REGINA (Insisting, getting closer) But it's my birthday! We can go tomorrow! I want to see Snow White! Please, Mommy, please, please, please—
JUNE (Spinning around, eyes wild) ENOUGH!
June lunges out of her chair. She grabs a tall, oversized glass of bright pink Shirley Temple mocktail sitting on her vanity. With a violent flick, she throws the sugary, red liquid directly into Regina's face.
The sticky grenadine and cold soda splash all over Regina's eyes and soak the front of her expensive, pink birthday dress, leaving a dark, permanent stain across the silk. Regina gasps, the cloying sweetness of the syrup stinging her nose.
JUNE (CONT'D) (Screaming) GO TO YOUR ROOM! You are an annoying little PEASANT! Do you think your birth matters? It doesn't! You only matter if your beauty, your fashion, and your popularity are worth enough to exploit! If you aren't making money, you're nothing! SCRAM!
Regina wails, dropping her Snow White doll on the plush carpet and sprinting toward the door, her sticky, ruined dress clinging to her skin.
INT. HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS
June watches Regina disappear into the shadows of the upstairs hallway. The screaming stops instantly. June's face shifts into a terrifying, calm pride. She looks at her own reflection in the vanity mirror, wipes a stray drop of pink syrup off her cheek, and adjusts her tracksuit.
JUNE (A chilling whisper) I invented her.
INT. REGINA'S BEDROOM - MOMENTS LATER
Regina is collapsed on her bed, shaking with sobs. She mindlessly fumbles for the TV remote, turning it on to drown out the silence of the house.
On the screen, a LIFESTYLE GURU is speaking directly into the camera.
GURU (V.O.)
...don't hold it in. When people hurt you, take that anger and put it on paper. Write down the things that really hurt. Make the world feel what you feel.
Regina's eyes go wide through her tears. She looks at her nightstand. Sitting there is a bright pink, leather-bound journal—a gift June had intended for Regina to keep her "Pageant Diet" logs in.
REGINA
I can't believe my mom is so mean. Saying I can't go to Disneyland. This is so bad. I don't know what I'm going to do. I know what I'm going to do, like the TV, if anyone says something mean to me, I'll write something mean to them, therefore they won't say something mean to me.
Regina crawls toward it. She grabs a glitter pen.
Close up on the pink cover. Regina writes in shaky, angry letters: BURN BOOK.
She opens the first page. She thinks of the girl who won the last pageant. She thinks of the kids who laughed at her dish-stained dress.
REGINA
(Whispering)
Phony.
She scribbles a vicious insult. Her crying stops. Her face hardens into the mask of the Queen Bee we will meet four years later.
[SCENE END]
[END OF FULL BACKSTORY SCRIPT]