GRAVE LESSONS

We open with Principal James Shroeder leaving Westwinds High School at night. As he drives down a road along the beach, he is suddenly passed by a dark SUV. It abruptly turns ahead of him with a screech, blocking the road. Five people silhouetted by the moonlight come out of the vehicle with baseball bats. They chase Shroeder onto the beach where they begin to beat on him. The next morning, Jesse Richards, 17, and her family, move to Westwinds. On her first day at the high school, there is an assembly where it is announced that the principal has been reported missing. Detective Bradshaw will be interrogating the entire school. Jesse meets Brenda in her math class, and during lunch, she meets and befriends Billy and Jay. Jay tells Jesse that the Shroeders own nearly half the town, but believes that the disappearance is school related. Later, Jesse talks with Carrie, editor of The Westwinds Herald, and asks to join the school paper. Carrie gives Jesse the Shroeder story. Later, Jay overhears Derek, Brad, and other jocks in the bathroom talking about Shroeder. He tells Billy to meet him after school because he knows who did it, but he never shows up. The next day, Jesse tells Billy she’s writing about the Shroeder mystery. Billy advises her against it saying it could be dangerous. After school, Billy discovers that Jay is missing. Carrie is threatened by someone in a ski mask and pulls the plug on the story. Jesse refuses to stop, and Billy gets upset at her for not dropping the story. He comes around after being questioned by Bradshaw. Billy realizes that there are skeletons in Shroeder’s closet. Jesse discovers that Shroeder had a sexual harassment incident at his last school, but the incident was dismissed as an extortion attempt. Jesse asks Brenda about it. Brenda admits that Shroeder raped Cindy and attacked Beth, both of whom are in their math class. That night, she, too, disappears. The killers begin terrorizing Jesse and Billy. Undeterred, Jesse and Billy follow their suspects after school and it leads them to the beach. They see them digging in the sand under the old pier. The next day, Billy is confronted by Derek and his friends in the locker room. He narrowly escapes. That night, he and Jesse go under the old pier, and discover Brenda buried in the sand. Derek, Cindy, and the gang show up. They are about to kill Jesse and Billy, when they see Carrie taking pictures of them from behind the dunes. Carrie dials 911 on her cell phone and runs. Derek shoots at her and she falls behind the dunes. Just before he shoots Jesse, Beth comes forward and tells the truth. Shroeder never attacked Cindy or her. Cindy made it up, to get back at the Shroeders. Cindy admits that the Shroeders drove her father out of business. They lost everything, and her father committed suicide because of it. Derek realizes he’s been deceived and the reality of what he’s done hits him like a ton of bricks. He now turns on Cindy, in shock. Carrie is seen behind the dunes, alive. Two of the guys chase after her. Cindy grabs the gun from Derek’s hand and shoots Billy in the shoulder. Just then the police arrive. Cindy commits suicide, while Derek and the others are arrested. The bodies of Shroeder, Brenda, and Jay are dug up under the pier. Billy is devastated by the loss of his best friend. The next morning, The Westwinds Herald releases an issue telling the truth of what happened. At the police station, Chief Shroeder says his cousin was having an affair with a student, but it wasn’t Cindy. We see Carrie place a bouquet of red roses at Shroeder’s grave. At school, Billy and Jesse stand in front of Jay’s locker. There are flowers, cards, candles, and a picture of Billy and Jay decorating the locker.