Save the Last Dance

Ticket, please.

Ticket, please.

Ticket, miss.

Have a good trip.

Excuse me. ls this seat taken?

Oh, no.

l love ballet.

Now, l never had the body for it.

Hey, you dance?

l used to.

I've got something for you.

It's for love, not luck.

Because you don't need luck, you dance like an angel.

Mom.

You're the best luck I'll ever have.

Are you okay?

l kept messing up these pirouettes.

It's really frustrating, but it'll be okay.

My mom's going to be there. She's going to drive me.

You've nothing to worry about, you're going to do absolutely fine.

You're the best dancer in Lemont.

Lindsay, this is not Lemont. This is Juilliard, New York City.

- Do you want to pray? - What?

You're leaving for St. Louis. I'm not gonna see you. We should pray.

- Lindsay-- - Father, S.J. auditions today,

let her do okay.

We've got the Carson wedding, the Dankowski party,

two funerals and Jill calls in sick today, of all days.

Sara, I'm sorry. l have to handle this, there isn't anybody else.

- Mom, what about-- - Glynn? Do they want roses in this?

- It doesn't say what color mums. -Judy took that order, ask her.

Mom? This is the hardest, most important day of my life.

You have to be there. You promised.

l know.

- Excuse me, are you Sara Johnson? - Yes.

You're next.

I'll be there, l promise, before you audition.

ls there anything you would like to share with us...

about your contemporary piece before you begin?

No, it's pretty self-explanatory.

Did you have a good ride?

l slept through most of it.

l guess you got stuff.

Baggage?

Three suitcases. One big one.

Sorry l had to split so soon after the funeral.

If l could have gotten out of that gig in South Bend,

l would have hung around a lot longer.

Guess it was pretty tough leaving all your friends.

Uh-huh.

Here we are.

Put 'em anywhere.

Give you the grand tour.

It's not much of what you're used to,

but the water's hot and the mice are friendly.

Uh, bathroom.

Kitchen, big kitchen.

Uh...

this is where l sleep.

Didn't get a chance to make the bed today.

Where do l sleep?

Nixon was probably in office...

when they rolled this off the assembly line, but, uh,

there's a brand-new mattress in there.

Most of your clothes should fit in here.

Whatever's left over can put in the hall closet.

l know it's a little bit out in the open, but...

l didn't get a chance to finish your room here.

Yeah, I'll fix that.

It's a work in progress.

I'll have it up and running in no time.

A few minor adjustments.

Well, l guess I'll let you get unpacked.

You don't have to come in with me...

- since I'm all set. - I'm your father, I'm supposed to.

You don't know where to go, who to see.

It's okay. l mean, l have done this before, gone to school.

All right, well, this is the name they gave me.

"Mrs. Gwynn. Main office."

I'll be back to pick you up at 3..30.

Okay, sure. Whatever.

- Hey, look at the white girl. - Wass up, baby?

My door is always open. And contrary to hall rumor, you can talk to me.

Do you have any questions or concerns?

No questions, no answers.

All right. This is Mr. Campbell's class, and he's expecting you.

Truman Capote. In Cold Blood...

represents a complete turning point in American history...

and American literature-- you want to tell us why, Mr. Ricard?

Gay rights.

- The Com-pote dude who wrote it-- - Capote.

- Capote? - Capote.

Sweet tooth. Straight-up fag, Mr. C. I'm serious.

- - Flaming.

Thank you very much. We can now promote you up to kindergarten.

Anybody else? Once, twice.

Miss Johnson, l apologize if any of this is over your head,

but if you see me after class, I'll give you some chapters.

Anybody? Come on.

It's a non-fiction novel. Capote mixed true events...

with things that he couldn't know so he made them up.

He created a new genre.

White folks back then felt safe. Capote scared them.

He took hard-core crime out of the ghetto...

and placed it in America's backyard, that's what makes the book special.

- Yeah, that's part of it. - That's all of it.

- We got a debate going on now. - Capote wasn't the first.

Richard Wright,James Baldwin did the same thing.

Wasn't nobody trying to read them, though.

A lot of people read them.

A lot of people like who?

You?

- Didn't think so. - Mr. C? Mr. C?

- Yeah? - Your girl needs to bone up.

l think you need to give her a pass to the library.

We need to get a parent-teacher's conference, something going on.

Why don't you lend her yours?

'Cause obviously, you don't ever use it.

Yo, Latrice, Mr. Jackson's civics class?

You will have a pop quiz. It's mad hard, aight?

Aight.

That's how easy it is to give to charity around here.

Thanks.

Don't put your shit on the floor.

I'm--

So, here l am trying to study, right?

And he's crying and crying, l can't get anything done--

[Continues Talking, Indistinct]

Yo, where were you in math class? Man--

It was so hard. l left it blank, the whole thing.

For real. And if you had been there, I'd of had my notes from yesterday.

l know you're new to the table, but just look at this,

we are the 2K generation... and no one takes us seriously.

We don't even take ourselves seriously. And just look around,

half the student body is DOA, and that's from the neck up, Clara.

Sara. It's Sara.

Yeah, it's Sara. You finished?

Yes.

- Thank you so much. - Mm-hmm. No problem.

You need to watch where you sit, girl.

Don't ever let me catch you at that table again. And it's Chenille.

Put your tray down here, and let me introduce you...

to some oft he ladies that l roll with.

Come on.

Hold up, hold up, hold up. Girls, this is Sara.

Sara, this is Portia and Tanisha.

And this is Diggy.

- She thinks she's down. - Excuse me? l am down, okay.

- Yeah, whatever. - You said you knew how to play.

Girl, that earring is fresh as hell, did it hurt?

Stick a pin through your eyebrow,

- see if it hurts. - Ass hole.

Who? 'Cause in this crowd you're going to have to be more specific.

The guy sitting by the window with the blue sweater.

He's in my English class. He think she's so smart and so cute.

- Derek Reynolds? - Oh, so you know him?

Hell, yeah, l know him. He's my brother.

Oh.

Well, he's not an asshole, per se--

Forget about it, girl. It's all right.

Don't even sweat it.

- Yo, Derek. Hey, yo. - Hey, man.

Medicine man.

What's up, Kai? Man, baby, l was just asking about you,

and l got a little emotional too about you being back and all.

Man, sit your punk ass down, fool. Matter of fact, step your ass off.

Give us some space.

Man, why we-- Everybody's got a piece in the hook.

You look good, man. Who you stealing from? Nice jacket.

What's up, man? How'd it go with Mrs. Gwynn?

Bullshit. "You're a smart boy, you can learn from your mistakes.

I'm here for you." Yeah, she's there for me, all right.

But you're hangin' in, though. You feeling strong?

Strong about what? First week back at home sweet high school?

You enlisted in this shit. I'm drafted.

Judge said finish school or finish your sentence.

Like they both ain't 12 months of a long-ass time.

But a year here is better than another one served up at juvee.

- At least we got chicks in here. - Yeah, man.

- I'll check you later, man. - All right, man.

See this honey.

Hey, Sara. Come in here a minute, will you?

You've been working a while in there. You must be getting hungry.

What do you say? Look... "Swanson Hungry Man Dinners."

They're the best. Look, got every style.

Animal, vegetable, or mineral?

l had a big lunch.

All right, well...

they're in here if you change your mind.

Unless your plan is to starve yourself to death.

It's not a plan. l just don't eat when I'm not hungry.

- Mom never let me eat that stuff. - Okay.

Hey, uh--

Listen, uh--

l got a gig downtown tonight. What do you say?

You haven't heard me play for awhile.

What do you say? You want to come with me,

and hang out, and maybe we'll get a bite to eat afterwards?

- It's a school night, Roy. - Oh, yeah.

It's a school night, yeah.