Dreams to Reality Episode 2 (web series)

The second episode of the Dreams to Reality web series was originally released onto the internet on July 27, 2000. It takes place during the afternoon and early evening hours of Wednesday, May 24, 2000 on the series timeline. In this episode, news spreads about what happened to Nicole Halloway and Mark Shane, while Josh Poncek's confrontation with Melinda Flint turns dangerous when he threatens to push her down a flight of stairs in retaliation for her pushing Nicole down a flight of stairs earlier that day. Meanwhile, David Richards tells an ecstatic Danielle Grayson that he thinks Michael Bennett has a crush on her. Later, Nicole awakens to see someone wearing a skull mask staring in at her from a window while holding a long, metallic hook, while Mark is diagnosed with a bone contusion on two of his ribs and Rachel McCarey tells Danielle that Michael asked her to the school dance, crushing Danielle's hopes that Michael liked her instead. Finally, while Skullface burned a photograph of Nicole, Michael had a disturbing premonition of Nicole dying and turning into a skeleton.

Previously on Dreams to Reality

 * Michael received a note from a secret admirer that only Rocky knew the true identity of.
 * Nicole and Melinda got into a fight over Josh and Jarrid.
 * Melinda deliberately pushed Nicole down a flight of stairs, knocking her unconscious.
 * Brandon accidentally hit a baseball into Mark's chest, briefly knocking him unconscious.
 * Danielle, Josh, and Jarrid tried to help Nicole at the base of the stairs.
 * Lisa told Jack, Mandy, Jarrid, Josh, and Danielle that Melinda may have pushed Nicole down the stairs.
 * Melinda confessed to Brandon that she pushed Nicole down the stairs.
 * Danielle enlisted David to help her win Michael's heart.
 * David thought Michael had a crush on Danielle.
 * Michael asked Rachel to the school dance, and she accepted.
 * Brandon told Jack, Jarrid, Mandy, Ashley, Josh, and Danielle how Nicole fell down the stairs.
 * Mrs. Manning suspended Melinda from school for ten days and threatened to call the police on her.
 * Josh confronted Melinda.
 * A man in a skull mask apparently plans to kill Nicole.

Episode Summary
At 2:20 P.M., the loud "bell" that beeps over the school intercom at Eagle Creek Junior High School, students began to file into the hallways, including Michael Bennett, David Richards, Rocky Fronset, Rachel McCarey, and Jamie Blonner. Michael asks Rachel when she wants to meet on Friday as they arrive at Rachel's locker and she begins entering the combination on the lock. She says 6:00, noting that the dance starts at 7:00, and figures that the two of them could go to McDonald's or Dairy Queen for dinner, then head for the school. Michael says that sounds good as Rachel opens her locker and places her book inside it before grabbing her backpack and closing the locker door. She tells Michaell that she is shocked that he actually asked her, and Michael asks her why. She replies that she's had an enormous crush on him for months, but was afraid that he didn't have the same feelings for her as she does for him, so she didn't want to press the issue untill she was absolutely sure. Michael says that the same thing goes for him, and wouldn't have said anything unless he was sure. Rachel asks him how he knew how she feels about him, but Michael admits that he didn't. Rachel asks him why he said anything then, and Michael replies that in all honesty, they have Rocky to thank for that. Meanwhile, Rocky is seen watching Michael and Rachel talk amongst themselves from further down the hallway at his locker. He realizes that Michael has a crush on Rachel and must think that the secret admirer is just a way to embarrass him in front of the entire school or something, but if he doesn't do something right now, something awful is going to happen. A confused Rachel asks Michael what Rocky has to do with him asking her to the dance, so Michael explains that if Rocky hadn't produced that "probably fake note" from his secret admirer, he never would have asked Rachel to the dance. Rachel asks why that made a difference, and Michael explains that Rocky always tries to find a way to "tick me off," and that why he continues to put up with him is "beyond me." He says that he he got to thinking about that, and figured that if that note is really from a secret admirer, he'd better hurry up and ask Rachel to the dance before he finds out who the secret admirer (noting that it very possibly could turn out to be a guy, not a girl) is so that he wouldn't end up having a guilty conscience going to the dance with her. Rachel realizes that Michael probably wouldn't have asked her to the dance if he hadn't given Rocky his notebook so he could catch up in class. Michael confirms this to be true, but adds that if this relationship gets seriously, something he would not mind at all right now, it's going to be all Rocky's fault. At this point, Jack Brock, Jarrid Harlen, and Dustin Finley arrive at Rachel's locker, with Jarrid seeming concerned about something. Rachel asks what is wrong, and Jack explains that Nicole Halloway and Mark Shane were both injured earlier, and are both on their way to the hospital. The news brings Rocky over to the group at this point, as this is news to Michael, Rocky, and Rachel. Michael asks what happened, and Jarrid explains that Brandon Danber had told them that he hit a baseball during gym class and hit Mark in the chest with it, and he was knocked unconscious for a few minutes, so they took him to the hospital. Rocky asks if Mark is okay, and Jarrid says that he probably is. Michael says that's good, but asks what happened to Nicole. Jarrid is clearly upset about what happened to Nicole, and Jack explains that apparently Nicole and Melinda had a fight during Mrs. Jackson's class, and she sent them to the principal's office, but when they were going up the stairs, Melinda attacked Nicole and ended up pushing her down the stairs. A shocked Rachel asks if Nicole is all right, but Dustin says that she was still unconscious when the paramedics took her away. Michael asks where they took her, and Jack replies, "Probably Portage General." Michael says that he's got to see her and asks if any of them are going there right now. Jarrid says that he is and asks if he wants a ride. Michael asks if he's sure his parents won't mind, but Jarrid doubts they will. Rachel asks if they can take her, too, and Jarrid agrees, while Michael excuses himself to call his father and clear it with him first before he goes. Rachel asks why Melinda would do something like that, and Jarrid figures that Nicole must have pushed her too far or something, or that Melinda "just snapped." Rocky asks if they know what happened to Melidna, and Dustin says that apparently she's been suspeneded for the rest of the school year. Jarrid adds that Melinda deserves that. Rachel asks if Josh knows what happened, and Jack says that Danielle Grayson found Nicole first, and then Josh showed up as well. Rachel realizes that Josh must be "really ticked," and that Melidna had better watch her step today if she knows what's good for her.

Michael is seen on a pay phone near Rachel's locker as he calls his father, Vic, at work at "Park Corporations" in Ravenna, Ohio (see "Background & Trivia" below). Vic answers his telephone in his office, and when Michael says that it's him, Vic asks him where he is. Michael says that he's still at school, but that something happened here today that was pretty bad. Vic asks what's going on, and Michael says that Nicole Halloway was pushed down the stairs and knocked unconscious and was taken to the hospital, and that somebody else, Mark Shane, was also taken to the hospital because he was in an accident, as well. Vic asks if they are okay, and MIchael says that he doesn't know, but that Mark was conscious when he was taken away, and Nicole was still unconscious, however. He asks if he can go to the hospital right after school to see them. Vic asks how he plans to get home, and Michael asks, "You?" Vic says that he supposes he could pick him up at the hospital right after work and tells Michael to go ahead, but to be erady to go home when he gets there, adding that Jeannette (his girlfriend) is cooking chicken tonight. Michael thanks Vic, and Vic says that hopefully nothing serious is wrong with Mark and Nicole. Michael says that he's got to go before Jarrid's parents get there, because he's going with them. Vic questions Michael about who Jarrid is, and Michael tells him that Jarrid is a friend and not to worry about it, that Jarrid is worried about Nicole, and his parents are driving them, unless Vic want to drive him there himself and come all the way from work back to Eagle Creek, take him to Portage General, and then go back to work. Vic tells Michael to be ready at 5:10 at the hospital, and ends the call. Michael goes back to his friends and tells Jarrid that he's ready whenever he is. Rachel asks him if he had a problem getting his dad to let him go. Michael says no, that he jsut has to be ready to go home at 5:10, or else, because Jeannette is cooking chicken tonight, and "she really gets ticked off if she gets the impression nobody wants to eat her precious cooking," clearly holding some kind of contempt for the woman. Rachel asks if that would be true even if he were at the hospital checking on a friend. Michael asks, "Who knows?" and adds that he's only known her for seven months now, and she is nice enough, but he clearly doesn't like something about her. Michael suggests that they just go, and as Jack, Jarrid, and Dustin leave the group at this point, Rocky stops Michael to ask him and Rachel what's going on between the two of them. Michael asks Rachel to go tell Jarrid to wait for him and says that he'll be right down. Rachel takes off to catach up with Jack, Jarrid, and Dustin, while Michael asks Rocky what he's talking about. Rocky says that Michael and Rachel have been hanging all over each other since last period when he took her aside to tell her something, adding, "I mean, you two have ben so close, one one think that you're Siamese twins." Michael says that he doesn't know what Rocky is talking about, so Rocky spells it out for him, that it appears to him that he and Rachel are "rather good friends." Michael asks what that has to do with anything, and Rocky continues, that the two of them are such good friends that perhaps one or both of them could have grown a crush on each other, and he believes that the person who has the crush is Michael. He tells Michael to admit that he has a crush on Rachel and that he asked her to the dance. Michael admits that he did and tells Rocky that if he has a problem with it, he should find some comfort in knowing that it's all his fault that he asked her. Rocky asks Michael what he's talking about, and Michael explains that yesterday, he had decided "to be extremely nice and allow you to take my notebook home so you could stay caught up in Mr. Keller's class" after Rocky was absent on Monday. However, when Rocky returned his notebook today, it had a note from his secret admirer on it, but unfortunately for her, Rocky wouldn't tell him who it was, so since Michael thinks that he knows for a fact that Rocky "probably" has no secret admirer at all for him, he decided to hurry up and make sure he had a date to the dance anyway on Friday. Therefore, becasue of Rocky, Michael asked Rachel to the dance, and she accepted. Rocky began to protest, but Michael said that it was done, so he can go tell his secret admirer that he already has a date. Michael says that he has to go, and walks away from him. Rocky realizes that this is not good, and that Becky is  not going to like this one bit, and that this may only be the beginning.

As David is seen walking up to his locker, Danielle Grayson is shown standing at her own locker as she notices David. She remembers asking David if he knew their plan, which David knew was to tell Michael not to ask Rachel to the dance. She had told david that she owes him, to which he replied, "No kidding. See you later." Danielle walks quietly over to David's locker, standing directly behind the door as David is busy gathering his books and his backpack from the locker. He closes the locker and gasps when he sees Danielle standing right there. Danielle asks if she scared him, and David says he just wasn't expecting to see her there. She apologizes for scaring or startling him before asking if he talked to Michael last period. He replies, "Yeah, kind of," prompting Danielle to ask him what that is supposed to mean. David says that he didn't exactly talk to Michael, but did find out some interesting things about who he has a crush on. Danielle asks who it is, surprised that it must not be Rachel. David says that it doesn't sound like it and that she isn't going to believe this, before telling her that Michael likes someone that is new to this school and has brown hair and brown eyes. He says that he thinks that Michael must like her, which excites Danielle. David says that Michael didn't give a name, but it sure does sound like her. Danielle excitedly thanks David, saying that he's just "made my day, week, month, year, whatever!" Danielle gives David a huge hug as she says she's got to go get her man. She tells David that she'll talk to him later, and David wishes her luck as she takes off on her mission. David tells himself that he hopes he's right about Michael, otherwise Danielle's going to "get a free ticket to the Heartbreak Hotel."

Brandon Danber is at his locker, putting his gym bag into the locker and pulling out a textbook and notebook paper before closing the door, thinking to himself that if anything bad happens to Mark Shane because of what he did, he'll never be able to forgive himself. Ashley Chamberlain sees Brandon from her locker and quickly grabs her backpack from the locker and closes the door before jogging over to Brandon, calling out for him to wait up. He turns to see her and says hello to her. She detects his somber mood and says that if she didn't know better, she'd think that he was still replaying what happened to Mark out there over and over in his head, but since she knows that isn't the case, since it wasn't his fault and the fact that he's been quite busy letting everyong know what Melinda Flint did to Nicole Halloway, she can only wonder what his problem is now. She has to prod him to admit that he is still upset about what happened to Mark. He says that he knows it wasn't his fault, but he can't help thinking about it over and over again because he did hit the ball, and the ball did hit Mark in the chest, and Mark is in the hospital now because of it. Ashley reiterates to Brandon that what happened out there was not his fault and that Mark is going to be just fine. She notes that everybody is going to be just fine, except for maybe Nicole, but her accident had nothing to do with happened to Mark, either. Brandon agrees, but says he also can't stop thinking about what Melinda did to Nicole, noting that the two of them are in a nasty love triangle with Josh Poncek, but pushing her down the stairs is pretty cruel. Ashley thinks there may be more to the story, saying that she doesn't know Melinda too well, but has trouble believing that Melinda could be that evil.

Danielle arrives at Michael's locker, but he is not there. Danielle wonders if maybe Michael already left the school before spotting Brandon and Ashley up ahead of her and calls out to them as she rushes over to them. Danielle asks them if they've heard anything about Mark or Nicole, and Ashley replies that they were going to the hospital as soon as they can get out of there to check on them. She then asks if they've seen Josh since he left them outside, saying she's kind of worried about him. Brandon says that they haven't seen him, and Ashley wonders what Josh is doing, noting that he was "pretty upset" with Melinda when he found out that she pushed Nicole down the stairs. Danielle says that she doesn't know Josh that well, but he was "completely livid," and she hopes that he doesn't do anything stupid. Changing the subject, Danielle reveals that David told her that Michael has a crush on her, which comes as a surprise to Brandon. Daneille says that Michael had apparently told David that he liked someone new to this school with brown hair and brown eyes. Ashley thinks that it is Danielle, and Brandon asks her if she's talked to him yet. Danielle says not yet, that she had gone to his locker after David told her what he had said, but Michael wasn't there, and must already be gone. Ashley suggests that he's going to the hospital, assuming that someone must have told him about Mark and Nicole by now. Danielle remembers that Michael and Nicole are close friends and would be sure to go see her there. She says she's got to go find him and see if it's true before rushing off. Brandon says that for Danielle's sake, he hopes that David was right, because she's so hell-bent on getting Michael that if she finds out that he doesn't have a crush on her, she's going to have "a seriously tough time of it." Ashley hopes that she isn't setting herself up for some major heartbreak later.

David walks up to Mandy Marin at her locker, who asks David how he's doing. David says he's doing pretty good and asks how she's doing. She says that it's been a wonderful day, saying that first Nicole gets pushed down the stairs, then Mark was in that accident. This is all news to David, who is shocked to hear that Nicole was pushed down the stairs and asks what happened. Mandy explains that Nicole and Melinda had a fight "during seventh period," and Mrs. Jackson sent them to the principal's office, but Melinda and Nicole fought at the top of the stairs, and Melinda deliberately pushed Nicole down the stairs, knocking her unconscious, and she was taken to the hospital. David asks if Josh knows about this, and Mandy explains that Melinda had told Brandon Danber what she did, and he had told Josh, Danielle, and Ashley earlier. David tells Mandy to come with him, saying that they've got to stop Josh from doing something he'll regret later.

Near a secluded stairway in the junior high school, Melinda Flint walks toward the stairs until Josh Poncek suddenly steps out in front of her from behind a set of lockers near the top of the steps, startling her. Josh asks her if she's worried, then says that she should be. Melinda replies that Josh startled her and asks him what's up, infuritaing Josh, who demands to know if that's all she has to say. Melinda jokes, "Well, what do you want me to say, 'What's down'?" Josh yells at Melinda to shut up and says that he can't believe her nerve. He accuses Melinda of trying to kill Nicole Halloway today and now has the nerve to act like it never even happened. Melinda claims that Nicole tried to kill her as well, but Josh says that Nicole did not and accuses Melinda of lying, as she admitted to him what she did earlier in Mrs. Manning's office. He asks her what she's trying to pull, but when Melinda begins to claim that she's not trying anything, he suddenly grabs hold of Melinda's shoulders and drags her over to the head of the stairs, telling her that she pushed Nicole down the stairs and to give him one reason why he shouldn't do the same to her. Melinda asks Josh what he's doing, but Josh yells at her to shut up and to give him one reason why he shouldn't do to her what she did to Nicole. Melinda cries, "Because... I could be killed!" Josh asks her, "So what?" and accuses her of not caring about that when she sent Nicole "bouncing down the steps like a rubber ball." At this point, David and Mandy arrive on the scene, with Mandy calling out for Josh to stop it as she runs up to Josh to get between him and Melinda, allowing Melinda to move away from the top of the stairway. Josh asks Mandy what the hell she thinks she's doing, and Mandy tells Josh that he could have killed her. Josh says that Melinda deserves everything she gets. Melinda tells Josh not to say that, and Mandy tells her to shut up, but Josh demands to know why he shouldn't say that, because Nicole may die because of Melinda did, so why shouldn't she be the next one to take a tumble? Mandy tells Josh to think about what he's doing, pointing out that if he pushes Melinda down the stairs, he'll be no better than she is. David tells Josh that Mandy is right and to stop this. Melinda scoffs, "Oh, please," prompting Mandy to demand to hear what Melinda has to say. Melinda tells Mandy that she's acting like Josh was actually going to throw her down the stairs, Josh yells at Melinda that he was going to do that and calls her a stupid whore, prompting David to physically lead Josh away from the scene, leaving Mandy to ask Melinda if it was worth it. She says that first Melinda ruins everyone's lives by telling Jarrid "that ridiculous lie about Nicole sleeping with Josh," and now Melinda is so desperate to get Josh back that she's pushing people down flights of stairs. Melinda tells Mandy that she doesn't know what she's talking about and to stay out of it. Mandy says that she understands that Melinda has had a rough few months watching Josh and Nicole get closer, prompting Melinda to yell at her to shut up because she doesn't know her and doesn't know what she's talking about. Mandy tells Melinda that she isn't judging her or what she's done, and that while her telling Jarrid that Josh and Nicole had sex was pretty bad, Mandy has gotten over it. Mandy points out to Melinda that she has been so fixed on getting Josh back even though it is her own fault that Josh dumped her in the first place because of what she did to Jarrid. Before Mandy can continue, Melinda slaps her in the face and orders her to leaver her alone and threatens to make Mandy the next one to take a tumble down the stairs if she doesn't stay away from her. Melinda turns and runs down the stairs while Mandy rubs her cheek and calls Melinda a bitch.

Josh asks David what he's doing as they walk down another hallway, and David responds that he is stopping him from making the dumbest mistake of her life. He points out that Josh could have killed Melinda, but Josh claims that he wasn't really going to do it, but was only going to scare her to the point where she'll get out of his and Nicole's lives for good. David figures that killing Melinda by pushing her down the stairs would get her out of their lives, but Josh insists that he wasn't going to do it, and was only trying to scare her. David asks him what if someone else would have found him, like Mrs. Manning. He asks if he wants to join Melinda on Mrs. Manning's "shit list," but Josh isn't worried about that, because in ten days, "we're out of here for good, so it doesn't matter," meaning that they would be promoted to the high school the following year and would not be attending school in this building anymore. David tells Josh that he should get to the hospital to be with Nicole now, and Josh agrees.

Outside the school, Jarrid, Jack, Dustin, and Rachel walk in the parking lot, with Jarrid asking Jack and Dustin if they'll meet them at the hospital. Dustin says that his mother is wating "over there" for them, and Jarrid asks where "Bennett" is. Rachel explains that Rocky had to talk to him something and that he should be coming in a few minutes. Jack wonders if Mark and Nicole are going to be able to have visitor when they get there, but Jarrid figures that Mark at least will. Meanwhile, the man in the skull mask is shown to still be outside the building, somewhat concealed behind some bushes. He holds up a crossbow and aims it, and a note is shown to be attached to an arrow he is preparing to fire. Jarrid, Jack, Dustin, and Rachel are shown in the crossbow's target as he shoots the arrow at them. The arrow lands in the side of the car, startling the four teens and causing Rachel to scream. Jack asks what that was, while Jarrid's mother (who is not named in the episode) gets out of the car, demanding to know what happened. Jarrid spots the arrow with the note stuck in the side of the car and points it out to everybody. Michael arrives on the scene and asks what happened. Rachel says that she doesn't know, that they were just talking and somebody shot the arrow at them. Michael asks who it was, but Rachel doesn't know. Dustin studies the angle of the arrow in the car door and judges that it looks like it came from the bushes the skull-masked man was hiding behind. The man is no longer there, but Dustin accurately points out where the arrow came from. Jarrid dislodges the arrow from the car door and takes the note off of it to read it. "Oh, my God," he says after reading the notw. Jack asks him what it says, so jarrid hands it to Jack. He has a similar response, so Michael asks him what it says at well, and Jack hands him the note. Rather than allowing this to continue on to Mrs. Harlen, Dustin, and Rachel in such a fashion, Michael reads the note for everyone--"Jarrid, your girlfriend Nicole is dead. Get in my way, and you'll be next." Mrs. Harlen is shocked, and Rachel asks who would do this. Michael doesn't know, but says he's going to find out, while Dustin asks, "So Nicole is dead?" Jack realizes that Nicole must have been murdered, and the thought brings tears to Jarrid's eyes. The note itself is shown to be written in what appears to be blood.

At Portage General Memorial Hospital in Ravenna, Ohio, Brandon and Ashley wait in a waiting room, with Ashley impatiently pacing back and forth, saying that Mark wasn't hurt that bad, and that the doctor should tell him that he has a bump on the head and set him loose. Brandon tells Ashley to calm down, adding that he's sure they'll find something out soon. At this point, a doctor walks into the waiting room and approaches the two, asking if they are Mark Shane's friends. Ashley confirms that they are, and the doctor introduces himself as Dr. Galan, the doctor who examined Mark. He explains that he suffered a contusion to two ribs, that he's going to be released today, but will have to take it easy for a few days. Brandon asks why Mark lost consciousness when he fell, and Dr. Galan explains that when the ball hit him, the wind was knocked out of his lungs and when he fell down, he hit his head on the ground with just enough force to knock him unconscious. Ashley asks if Mark has a concussion, but Dr. Galan explains to her that he just has a bump on the back of the head, but if he were to develop frequent severe headaches, he'd need to come back in as soon as possible to run tests, but because they don't think that will happen, Mark is being released. This comes as a relief to Brandon and Ashley, who asks if they can see him. Dr. Galan says that they can and offers to escort them to Mark's room. Brandon thanks Dr. Galan as he leads them out of the waiting room.

In a hallway of the hospital, David has just told Travis Sirlon about Josh's confrontation with Melinda at the top of the staircase at school, and Travis asks Josh if he almost pushed Melinda down the stairs. David confirms that he did and that he had lost it, but Josh angrily asks how many times he has to say that he only did it to scare her. Travis tells Josh that they believe him, but point out that it's a little out of character for him. Josh claims that Melinda needed someone to put the fear of God in her, because from what Brandon told him, Melidna was extremely happy with herself for doing what she did to Nicole, so he just wanted to teach her a lesson. David asks if it worked, but Mandy, who approaches the three at this point, still sporting the red mark on her right cheek from where Melinda slapped her at school, says, "No, it didn't." Josh asks Mandy what happened to her face, and Mandy refreshingly replies that Melinda thought it would be nice to slap her and then threaten her with a tumble down the stairs. David asks her where Melinda is now, but Mandy doesn't know and couldn't care less. Michael, Jarrid, Jack, Dustin, and Rachel arrive at the scene at this point, with Jack surprised to see Travis, who had been absent at school today. Travis explains that Josh called and told him what happened, and that he'd come with Josh and his mother. Michael asks Josh how his confrontation with Melinda went, and Josh asks him how he knew about it. Michael simply figured that Josh would, and Josh says that he figured right and says he nearly pushed her down the stairs. Dustin whispers to Jack at this point that it's no wonder that Melinda thinks that she and Josh belong together, "they're both complete psychos." Jack tells Dustin to sut up, while Josh says he is sick of defending himself, that he tried to scare Melinda, and he succeeded. Michael then changes the subject, "on that wonderful note, Jarrid, Rachel, Jack, and Dustin about pissed their pants when this note here, attached to an arrow, was shot at them, landing in the side of Jarrid's mother's brand new Pontiac Grand Am. She was quite ticked, but she got over it when she read what the note had to say." He shows Josh the note and tells him to read it, who reads it and asks who did this. Jarrid says he doesn't know and asks if Nicole is already dead. Josh assures him that he just saw her a couple of minutes ago and that she's conscious, much to Jarrid's relief. Michael asks Josh exactly when he saw Nicole, and Josh replies just a couple of minutes ago, around 2:55. Jack says that they got this right after school let out at 2:20, so whoever shot the ntoe was lying. Rachel replies, "Maybe," and Josh asks her what she means by that. Rachel says that she doesn't want to think this, but whoever shot the note at them must have been at the school at the time, so maybe they shot it at us, thinking it would scare them to death, and would have time to come to the hospital, kill Nicole, and get out of there before they came to check on her. Jack tells Rachel that she's seen too many horror movies, and that when they start seeing Jason Vorhees or Freddy Kreuger skulking around Eagle Creek, then they start worrying, but this was probably some kind of a stupid prank. Michael says that they can't be sure about that, beecause whover shot that arrow obviously has no qualms about hurting someone, because the arrow could have hit one of them and may have even wanted to hit one of them with it, unless he is a sharpshooter aiming for the car door. Josh realizes that Michael is right and that they might have a full-fledged psychopath running around Eagle Creek who may want to hurt one of them. Mandy suggests that they call the police, but Travis says that he agrees with Jack that this is some stupid joke. He grants that this was a sick joke, but feels that nobody is going to kill Nicole or Jarrid and says they shouldn't worry about this unless they see Neve Campbell, Corteney Cox, and David Arquette in Eagle Creek. Josh agrees with this and suggests they wait, figuring this was probably an isolated incident.

Outside of Nicole's hospital room, the skull-masked man (still wearing his mask inside a public hospital and evidently no one has noticed him) walks up to the window and peers in at a sleeping Nicole. Nicole, meanwhile, is dreaming about her confrontation with Melinda at the top of the stairs at school, and the struggle with her that led to Melinda shoving her down the stairs. Nicole wakes up just as she hit the bottom of the staircase in her dream, as she realizes that Melinda did this to her. She then looks over to the window and sees the skull-masked man looking in at her. The man holds up his hook for her to see and points at her before swinging the hook in a threatening manner toward her. Nicole screams in horror, attracting the attention of Michael, Josh, Jack, Jarrid, Mandy, Dustin, Travis, David, and Rachel. Mandy asks what that was, and Josh says that it was Nicole. Michael and Josh then trot away from the group to check on her. Meanwhile, the skull-masked man trots away from Nicole's room right before Michael and Josh get there, and run into Nicole's room. Josh asks Nicole what happened, and Nicole points at the window and tells him to look. Michael and Josh look out the window, but don't see anything. Nicole realizes that the skull-masked man is no longer there and asks where he is. Josh asks who she's talking about, and Nicole says that she woke up a few seconds ago, looked out the window, and there's somebody wearing a skull mask looking in at her. She described it as being as if she were in Scream or something. Josh asks her if she is sure she didn't dream this, but Nicole is sure she was awake because she had just woken up from a dream about "that bitch Melinda" pushing her down those stairs. She says that Melinda could have killed her before continuing with her story that the skull-masked man was standing there looking in at her, and he had a "huge hook," which he pointed at her with. She says that she thinks that he wants to kill her. Michael and Josh are shocked, and Josh asks Michael to talk to him in private for a second. Michael quickly agrees, and the two of them excuse themselves to go outside the room and discuss this between themselves. Outside in the hallway, Michael asks what is going on here, "First that note, and now Nicole is seeing serial killers in her window threatening her." Josh doesn't know what is going on, and Michael asks him if he thinks it's just a coincidence. Josh doesn't want to just assume that, because if Nicole is somehow in danger, he'd never forgive himself if he didn't do something about it, knowing what he knows now. Michael agrees that it couldn't have been a couple of coincidences, telling him to look at the note again. Josh takes the note from the skull-masked man and reads it out loud again. Michael points out that the note says that Nicole is already dead, and Nicole saw that guy in the skull mask threatening her with a hook. He asks, "Do you think that this guy, Skullface, wrote this note and came here to kill Nicole?" This is the first time the skull-masked man is referred to as "Skullface," and will continue to be so from now on. Josh doesn't want to think about that, and Michael thinks they should call the cops. Josh agrees, but not to do it right now, because he doesn't want Nicole to think anything of this until later. He suggests they go back in there and act like there's nothing wrong. Michael agrees to this, and he and Josh go back into Nicole's room. Nicole asks them if their abrupt tete-a-tete is over now, and Josh says that it is. Nicole asks what is going on, but Josh claims that when Nicole told them about that guy she had seen, they remembered they had to ask a doctor about something. Nicole may or may not have believed this, but changes the subject anyway, asking where Melinda is. Michael figures that she's probably off trying to find another way to try and fail to win Josh back.

Dr. Galan leads Brandon and Ashley into Mark Shane's hospital room, where Mark is sitting up on the bed. Dr. Galan tells Mark that he has a couple of visitors, and Mark greets Brandon and Ashley as they enter the room. Ashley walks over and gives Mark a hug, while Brandon immediately begins apologizing to Mark, but Mark tells him not to even worry about it, that it wasn't Brandon's fault, but a freak accident instead. Even Dr. Galan tells Brandon that sometimes these things just happen, and that it's what keeps him employed. Brandon finally agrees to stop beating himself up about this, and Mark makes him feel better by telling him that in a couple of days, "when I can breathe without feeling like my chest is on fire, I'll help you by kicking your butt." Brandon laughs and agrees to this, while Mark changes the subject and asks who else had been injured at school, noting that it had looked like someone else was being wheeled into "that other ambulance" when he was "being dragged into that ambulance like an invalid." Ashley tells him that Melinda Flint pushed Nicole Halloway down a flight of stairs, and that it was Nicole being taken out of the school at the same time. Mark asks if Nicole is okay, but Brandon says that they don't know, because they haven't seen "Josh, Danielle, or anyone else yet."

Jack, Jarrid, Mandy, Dustin, David, and Rachel are now seen sitting in chairs in the waiting room, watching an episode of The Jerry Springer Show on the television, a show that Rachel says is so stupid it's funny. Jack makes fun of the show--"Baby, I've been cheating on you with your best friend." "What?! I'll kill him!" as Danielle walks into the room and asks how Mark and Nicole are doing. David tells her that they haven't heard anything about Mark yet, but that Nicole is conscious. Danielle is relieved by this news, and Rachel tells her that she needs to tell her something, standing and skipping over to her and leading her away from the others. Rachel tells Danielle that she isn't going to believe this because Rachel can barely believe it herself. She tells Danielle that she's had a crush on Michael, and Michael asked her to the dance today. Danielle pretends to be happy for Rachel, loudly proclaiming that she can't believe that Michael asked her to the dance. David realizes that he is in big trouble: "Uh-oh." Jack asks him what's wrong, while Danielle tells Rachel that she's happy for her, asking if she and Michael are going to get together on a more permanent basis. Rachel replies, "Um, yeah, maybe." Danielle says this is good and asks Rachel to excuse her, loudly proclaiming that she needs to talk to David. Rachel knows something is up but allows this anyway, and Danielle walks over to David and asks if she can talk to him. David tries to claim that Jerry Springer was about to bring out "the guy's sister," whom the man had apparently been sleeping with, but Danielle interrupts him, "Now!" and grabs his arm and drags him away from Jack, Jarrid, and Dustin, who laugh while the television audience can be heard chanting, "Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!" from the television at this point as well. Still trying to avoid the Michael and Rachel situation, David begins to protest about missing the show, but Danielle won't let him out that easily as she yells at him that Michael likes Rachel, not her. David swears that the girl that Michael described sounded exactly like Danielle, that he said that he liked a girl who was new to this school and had brown hair and brown eyes. He says that Rachel has gone to Eagle Creek schools since kindergarten and has brown hair and blue eyes, "so either Michael doesn't know who he likes, or he lied." Danielle accepts this and tells David that she isn't going to kill him, but is just so disappointed about this. David gives Danielle a supportive hug, but Danielle tells him that she just needs to be alone. Danielle then leaves the room, while David returns to his friends on the other side of the room, where Dustin asks him what that was about. David tells Dustin not to worry about it, but Jack won't let David out of this that easily, saying that Danielle just came in here and dragged David out of here like she was his mother. He demands to know what is going on. As David begins to tell them that Danielle wanted to tell him something, Rocky walks into the room and asks for an update about Nicole and Mark. Dustin tells "Rocco" that Nicole is conscious, which Rocky says is good, but Rachel adds that they may have a psychopath running around trying to kill people. Rocky asks her what she's talking about, and Jarrid explains that he got an arrow and a note "from a deraged Cupid" in the side of his mother's car that claimed that Nicole was dead and that if he got in the way that he would be the next to go. Rocky says that they just said that Nicole was conscious, and Jack affirms that she is conscious, not dead, and that they think and hope that it was just some sick joke, but they don't know. Jarrid has an idea and says that he might know who did it. Rachel asks him who, and Jarrid excuses himself as he heads over to a pay phone to make a call.

Mark asks Dr. Galan when he can get out of there, and Dr. Galan replies that as soon as his parents get there and sign some papers, he's free to go. He reminds Mark to take it easy for a couple of days, warning against overexerting himself and that if he starts getting some bad headaches, he needs to come back to the hospital for some tests. Mark agrees and thanks Dr. Galan, who then leaves the room. Brandon tells Mark that he's going to need his own personal nurse now, and figures that the hospital would be happy to give him his own nurse for a few weeks. Mark likes that idea, "One with beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes and willing to do anything for me, like give me a sponge bath," but Ashley tells him that there will be no blonde nurses massaging Mark's back while he takes "accidental" glances at her boobs and butt, and that if anyone is going to be waiting on him hand and foot, it's going to be her. Mark laughs and tells her that he's going to hold her to that and tells her to rub his feet. Ashley tells him that she'll get right on that, but Mark was only kidding and asks Brandon if he sees what he started. Brandon tells Mark that if he doesn't want his own private nurse, he'll take her, and Mark says he can do that. Ashley says that it's unfortunate that Brandon didn't injure himself today, and maybe he should have hit himself in the back of the head when he swung the bat and knocked himself out as well, then he would be all set with his nurse. Brandon wonders why he didn't think of that earlier, and the three all share a nice laugh together. Mark tells Ashley they were just trying to get a rise out of her, and Ashley says she knows that, and plans to get a rise out of him after she breaks a nail, and requires "this gorgeous god of a guy to rub my back and feed me grapes." Mark tells her to do that, while Brandon peeks out the door in time to watch Danielle run by the room in tears. Brandon excuses himself quickly and rushes out of the room, claiming he'd explain later.

Danielle walks into an empty hospitall room and sits on a chair, sobbing uncontrollably. Brandon walks in and calls attention to himself, and Danielle quickly tries to compose herself, wiping her eyes and saying hello to him. Brandon asks her what is wrong, but Danielle claims nothing is wrong. Brandon asks her why she's crying, claiming to know when something is up. Danielle tells him that Rachel told her that Michael asked her to the dance and that she accepted. She says that Michael likes Rachel, not her, and begins to cry again. Brandon walks over and hugs Danielle, telling her that everything is okay as she continues to cry.

At the Flint home, Melinda walks into the house through the front door and sets her backpack on the couch. She walks into the living room and checks the answering machine. The display shows that there is a message, and Melinda hits the playback button. The answering machine announces the call took place on Wednesday at 2:34 P.M., and the message is of a distorted voice claiming to Melinda to be her father and that he is coming for her, and that they can get rid of "that pest Nicole forever." The voice began to laugh, and Melinda screams at the sound as the answering machine beeps and announces that was the end of the message. The phone suddenly rings, startling Nicole even further before she answers the phone. On the other end is Jarrid, who asks her if she'd like to explain to him why he got a disgusting not from "some sicko" telling her that Nicole was dead and that he was next if he got in the way. Melinda asks him what he's talking about, and Jarrid asks her if she's saying she had nothing to do with this. Melinda says that is exactly what she means and claims to have no idea what he's talking about. She asks how Nicole is, to which Jarrid replies, "Like you care." Melinda admits that Jarrid is right, that she doesn't, but she does tell him that she thinks that Jarrid's note might have been sent by "this guy," and tells him to hold on, then replays the disturbing message that was left on answering machine for him. After the message ends, Melinda gets back on the line and says that she thinks that the note was probably from him. Jarrid asks Melinda who her father is, but Melinda claims not to know and that her mother has never told her and she has never met him. She adds that every time she asks her mother, she changes the subject and refuses to tell her. Jarrid tells Melinda that she has to call the cops, but Melinda thinks she should tell her mother about this first. Jarrid tells her to call the cops now, and Melinda agrees to, then asks Jarrid if she is off the hook as her mystery psycho. Jarrid tells her he's got to go before hanging up on her. Melinda apologizes to Jarrid after he gets off the line, saying she's not going to call the cops until her mother and she have a little talk. At this point, the front door and Melinda's mother, Elaine Flint, walks into the house. Elaine asks Melidna how school was, and Melinda says it was just wonderful and says that the good news is she doesn't have to go back to school until the end of August now because of a little incident with Nicole. Elaine asks her what happened, and Melinda casually mentions that Nicole fell down the stairs before attempting to change the subject to the voice message on the answering machine, but Elaine demands to know if Melinda pushed Nicole down the stairs. Melinda admits that she did, and Elaine asks her what she was thinking. Melinda tells Elaine to wait a minute, but as Elaine begins to yell at Melinda further, Melinda cuts her off by pushing the button on the answering machine, telling her to listen to this. The message replays, after which Melinda simply tells Elaine, "Explain that to me."

Jarrid heads back over toward his friends in the waiting room, where Rachel asks him who he called. He replies that he called Melinda, thinking that it might have been her, but it wasn't. Jarrid asks him what's wrong, and Jarrid says that when he was grilling Melinda, she told him something pretty strange, and begins to tell them about the ominous message on her answering machine.

In the backyard of a home in Eagle Creek, Skullface walks outside carrying a gasoline can toward a pile of wood. He begins to pour the gasoline onto the wood pile. Meanwhile, back in Nicole's hospital room at Portage General in Ravenna, Michael and Josh have just told Nicole about Josh's confrontation with Melinda at the top of the secluded staircase at school. Nicole asks Josh if he almost pushed Melinda down the stairs, and Michael says that it's a sore subject. Josh claims that he tried to scare Melinda, and he thinks it worked. Nicole asks him if it was to scare her out of their lives, and Josh says that it was. As Nicole says that one can only hope, Michael begins to get a strange feeling and walks away from them a bit. At the same time, Skullface is seen to be pulling out a book of matches in his backyard and lighting one. He drops the lit match on the gasoline-soaked wood pile, setting it ablaze instantaneously. Meanwhile, Michael's consciousness enters into a precognitive state, in which the scenery is extremely blurry, with only different colors seen at first, but the scene gradually comes into focuse until he can see Nicole standing in front of him. In the vision, he asks her if she is all right. Meanwhile back in Eagle Creek in reality, the wood pile continues to burn while Skullface pulls out the photograph of Nicole and looks at it before tossing it into the fire. In Michael's vision at the same moment, Nicole begins to fall down, and Michael catches her before she hits the ground, caling her name. Nicole closes her eyes as Michael sets her down gently, just before she transforms into a skeleton and his vision ends. Michael gasps as he comes out of his vision, alerting Josh and Nicole to something not being right, and Nicole asks him what's wrong, while back in Eagle Creek, the photograph of Nicole that Skullface had tossed onto the fire burns away completely.

On the Next Dreams to Reality

 * Josh asks Michael what is wrong. Michael says that he had the strangest vision and thinks that Nicole is somehow in danger.
 * Skullface looks in on Nicole, who cries, "There he is again!"
 * As Brandon and Danielle hug, Lisa Walker walks into the room and demands to know what is going on.
 * Mark asks Brandon and Ashley if they want to have dinner at his place tonight, which Ashley says sounds good, but Mark's mother, Molly Shane, says that Brandon is not coming for dinner.
 * Melinda demands to know who her father is and that Elaine has to tell her.

Coming Soon to Dreams to Reality

 * Michael's life is in danger when he gets too close to Skullface.
 * Rocky introduces Michael to his secret admirer, Becky.
 * Danielle and Brandon begin to get close, much to Lisa's chagrin.
 * Elaine tells Melinda a very sketchy version of who her father is.
 * Molly Shane has some bad feeling for Brandon.
 * Rose gives Nicole some bad news.
 * Mark and Nicole leave the hospital, but Nicole will be readmitted soon.
 * Skullface targets Jarrid and Nicole.
 * Michael begins to wonder if he has psychic powers.
 * Jack and Rachel get closer.
 * Michael has a creepy dream of the school burning down during the dance.
 * Josh, Nicole, and Michael confront Melinda.
 * Danielle and Becky team up to get Michael away from Rachel.

Episode Cast
(Note: Numbers in parentheses represent the number of appearances for that character to date)

(in order of appearance):
 * Michael Bennett (2)
 * David Richards (2)
 * Rocky Fronset (2)
 * Rachel McCarey (2)
 * Jamie Blonner (2; background cameo appearance only in this episode)
 * Danielle Grayson (2)
 * Brandon Danber (2)
 * Ashley Chamberlain (2)
 * Melinda Flint (2)
 * Josh Poncek (2)
 * Jack Brock (2)
 * Jarrid Harlen (2)
 * Dustin Finley (2)
 * Vic Bennett (1)
 * Mandy Marin (2)
 * Skullface (2)
 * "Jarrid's Mother" (1)
 * Dr. Steve Galan (1)
 * Travis Sirlon (1)
 * Skullface #2 (1; see Background & Trivia section below)
 * Nicole Halloway (2)
 * Mark Shane (2)
 * Elaine Flint (1)

Key Events

 * News spreads about Mark's baseball field accident and Nicole's fall down the stairs at school.
 * Josh has to be stopped from pushing Melinda down a flight of stairs in retaliation for what she did to Nicole by David and Mandy.
 * David tells Danielle that he thinks that Michael has a crush on her.
 * Rocky realizes that Michael only asked Rachel to the school dance because he refused to tell him who his secret admirer is.
 * Skullface shoots an arrow from a crossbow at Jarrid with a note attached to it, claiming that Nicole is dead and that he would be next if he gets in the way.
 * Speculation as to whether a dangerous psychopath is walking the streets of Eagle Creek begins after the crossbow incident, even though Nicole is revealed to be very much alive.
 * Rachel tells Danielle that Michael asked her to the dance
 * Brandon comforted an upset Danielle after finding out that Michael asked Rachel to the dance.
 * Mark is diagnosed with a contusion on two of his ribs and cleared for release from the hospital.
 * "Skullface" threatens Nicole with a hook.
 * Melinda is puzzled by a telephone message purported to be from her father, speaking in a disguised voice, and confronts her mother, Elaine, about the true identity of her father.
 * While Skullface is burning a photograph of Nicole, Michael has an unsettling vision about Nicole dying.

Cultural References

 * Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street: After Rachel theorized that someone is planning to kill Nicole and/or Jarrid, Jack told her she'd seen too many horror movies and said that until they see Jason Voorhees or Freddy Kreuger skulking around Eagle Creek, they shouldn't worry about the note Jarrid received claiming that Nicole was dead and that he would be killed next if he got in the way.
 * Scream: An additional horror movie reference was made when Travis sided with Jack during the debate about whether or not to call the police regarding Jarrid's threatening note, saying that until they see Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette in Eagle Creek, there should be no worries of a masked psychopath killing anybody.
 * The Jerry Springer Show: A clip from an episode of The Jerry Springer Show is shown in the hospital waiting room, with Jack, Jarrid, David, Dustin, Rachel, and Mandy watching the episode and commenting on it as well.
 * Cupid: Jarrid described the person who shot an arrow with a note attached to it at his mother's car as a "deranged Cupid," referring to the traditional image of Cupid shooting arrows to make people fall in love with one another.

Background & Trivia

 * In this episode, there are two errors when giving the description of where Park Enterprises is. First of all, the company itself is called "Park Corporations" in this episode, which is described as being in "Ravenna, Ohio." There is a real-life Ravenna, Ohio, in Portage County, approximately ten miles southwest of the location of Garrettsville, Ohio, the real-world equivalent of Eagle Creek. Ravenna in the Dreams to Reality universe becomes known as Raven Hill in the novel series, while "Park Corporations" would later become Park Enterprises. It is not mentioned in this episode that Vic is the CEO of Park Corporations/Park Enterprises, because that had not yet been decided at the time the episode was written, nor was it decided that the Bennett family owned that company, either, only that Vic worked there.
 * This episode establishes that Michael has known his father's girlfriend, Jeannette, for "seven months now," establishing that he met her at some point in October 1999. It would later be revealed that Vic has been dating Jeannette since July 1999.
 * The character of Karen Harlen is introduced in this episode as Jarrid's mother, but she is not named other than "Mrs. Harlen" or "Jarrid's Mother." She makes no further appearances in the web series, but will be seen in the novel series more often as the Harlen family is more fully developed.
 * The Skullface shown at the hospital in this episode is not the same Skullface shown setting fire to a wood pile later in the episode. Several episodes later, it is revealed that the Skullface at the hospital was actully Skullface's son, James.
 * This episode took place within the span of about an hour, between 2:20 P.M. and 3:20 P.M., on May 24, 2000, though not necessarily in real time.
 * Michael Bennett is credited as the being the first person in the web series to coin the name "Skullface."
 * Michael's powers begin to manifest themselves at the end of this episode with his very first precognitive vision/premonition.
 * The character of Jamie Blonner makes an appearance in the very first scene of the episode coming out of a classroom. In the original writing of this episode, Jamie was to eventually appear later in the episodes in scenes with either Rocky or Rachel, but the news brought to those two characters about Mark and Nicole prevented either of them from ever meeting up with Jamie in this episode. Despite this, her cameo appearance at the beginning of the episode remained in the final draft.
 * It is revealed in this episode that Michael Bennett does have a real, legitimate secret admirer named Becky in this episode. Michael had begun to believe that the secret admirer plot was little more than one of Rocky's pranks, but after Michael asked Rachel to the school dance, he told Rocky that he decided it was the right time to ask her because Rocky wouldn't tell him who his secret admirer was earlier in the day. After this conversation, Rocky worried that Becky would not be pleased about this, confirming that the secret admirer is a real person and not a prank.