( AN ALTERNATE ENDING )

WOODS
[ ☼ ]

       Sam, Elena and Dean are sitting on the Impala, enjoying a beverage and talking. "Trust me. This will help. That ghost is dead. I'm gonna rip its lungs out!" Dean yells.

      "Ghosts don't have lungs." Elena says.

       "Well, you know what I mean."

       "It knew my name, Dean. My real name. We burned Barry's bones. What the hell?" Sam says.

       "Well, maybe it wasn't Barry. Maybe we missed something. We just got to go back." Dean is reviewing a file while talking. "No way. How did we not see this before?"

      "What?" Sam asks.

      "Check it out-Look, Martha Dumptruck, Revenge of the Nerds, and Hello Kitty-they rode the Same bus." Dean says.

      "Okay, so maybe the bus is haunted." Sam says.

      "Well, that would explain why there's no EMF at the school, but not the attacks. I mean, ghosts are tied to the places that they haunt. They can't just bail." Dean says.

      "Unless this one can. Dean, there's lore about spirits possessing people and riding them for miles, then whenever they leave the body, they're bungeed back to their usual haunt." Sam says. "But until then, the ghosts can go wherever they want."

      "So a spook just grabs a kid on the bus and walks right into Truman?" Dean asks.

      "It's possible."

      "Ghosts getting creative-well, that's super." Dean says.

SCHOOL BUS
[ ☼ ]

      Sam is in the back of the bus with an EMF meter. Dean is up front, searching for some clue of the ghost. "Definitely ain't clean." Sam says.

      "Here, ghosty, ghosty, ghosty! Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Dean yells.

      "Man, I don't get it. No one ever died on this bus, and it's not like there's a body hidden in here." Sam says.

      "Yeah, but a flap of skin, a hair, I mean, hell, a hangnail-something's got to be tying the ghost to this place. We just got to find it." Dean says.

      "Yeah." Sam says.

      Dean looks through papers at the front of the bus. "Got a new driving permit. Issued two weeks ago." He says.

      "Just before the first attack." Elena says.

      "Yeah. Name of the bus driver is Dirk McGregor Sr., 39 North Central Avenue." Dean says.

      "McGregor?" Sam asks.

      "Yeah. Why?"

      "I knew his son." Says Sam.

      "Did you know everybody at this school?"

FLASHBACK

SCHOOL
[ ☼ ]

      School is letting out. Dirk pushes Barry down. "Got to watch where you're going, man." Dirk says.

      "Leave him alone, Dirk." Sam says.

      "You never learn, do you, midget?"

      "Get to the bus, Barry." Sam says as Barry runs off, and Dirk pushes down Young Sam.

       "What's the matter? You scared? Don't worry. I'll go easy on you this time. Come on, Lose-chester. Let's see what you got. Come on, freak! Freak!" Dirk says.

      Young Sam gets up and starts fighting with Dirk. Young Sam is clearly the better fighter, connecting with hard punches, while Dirk swings at the air. Sam knocks Dirk down. "You're not tough. You're just a jerk. "Dirk the jerk." Sam says.

      Kids in the crowd pick up the chant, saying "Dirk the jerk", "That's pretty good", etc. Then the crowd start chanting "Dirk the jerk" while Dirk runs off.

END FLASHBACK

LIVING ROOM
[ ☼ ]

       Sam, Elena and Dean are in Mr. McGregor's living room. "So, you were friends with Dirk?" McGregor says.

      "Yes, sir, in high school." Sam says.

       "I don't recall Dirk having many friends at Truman. Here, sit. Sit down."

      "When did, uh-when did Dirk pass?" Dean asks.

      "He was 18."

      "What happened to him?" Sam asks.

      "Well, there was, first, drinking, then drugs, and then too many drugs. And then he just slipped through my fingers. It was my fault. I should have seen it coming, you know? Dirk, he, uh-he had his troubles." McGregor says.

      "What kind of troubles?" Dean asks.

      "School was never easy for Dirk. We didn't have much money, and, well, you know, kids-they can be cruel. They picked on him." McGregor senior says.

       "They picked on him?" Elena asks.

       "They called him poor and dirty and stupid. They even had a nickname for him-Dirk the jerk. And after what happened to his mother, he..."

      "His mother?" Sam asks.

      "Yeah, Jane, my wife. She died when Dirk was 13. Cancer. I was working three jobs, so it fell to Dirk to take care of her. And he was a great kid. He made sure Jane got her medicine." Senior says. "He helped her, cleaned up after her. But, you know, you-you watch somebody die slow, waste away to nothing... it does things to a person. Horrible things."

      "I didn't know about his mother." Sam says.

      "He-he wouldn't talk about her, not even to me. Lot of anger in that boy."

      "I'm sorry." Sam says.

      "Well, we'd really like to pay our respects, Mr. McGregor. Um, you mind telling us where Dirk is buried?" Dean says.

      "Oh, he wasn't. I had him cremated." McGregor says.

      "All of him?" Elena asks.

      "Well, I kept a lock of his hair."

      "Oh, that's-that's nice. Where do you keep that?" Dean asks.

      "On my bus, in my Bible."

SCHOOL BUS
[ ☾]

      Eddie is driving the team bus. "Thanks for subbing tonight, Eddie." The Coach says.

      "My pleasure, Coach." Eddie smiles a grin like he is up to no good. The bus is driving fast down the road.

      "Eddie, you want to ease up on the pedal, there?" Coach says.

      "I got it all under control." Eddie/Dirk says.

      The bus drives over a spike strip and the tires blow. The bus swerves and comes to a stop. "What the hell was that?" A kid asks.

      "Everyone okay?"

      The driver opens the bus door and steps out of the bus. Dirk is in the driver. Sam walks up and cocks his shotgun. "Dirk!" Sam yells.

      "Winchester. What are you gonna do, shoot me?" Dirk asks.

       Dean sneaks up behind Dirk and wraps a rope around his middle. "Don't need to. That rope is soaked in salt water, Dirk. You're not going anywhere." Sam says.

       Dean sticks his head in the bus and addresses the team. "All right, everybody stay where you are. You'll be okay." He says.

      "Aren't you the P.E. Teacher?"

      "Not really. I'm like "21 Jump Street." The bus driver sells pot. Yeah." Dean looks for the lock of hair on the bus. "It's not here!"

      "Where is it?" Sam asks Dirk.

      "No way you'll ever find it."

      Sam pushes the shotgun up to Dirk's chest. "Where is it?!" He demands.

      "Sam Winchester. Still a bully. You, you jocks... you popular kids... you always thought you were better than everybody else." Dirk says. "And to you, I was just Dirk the jerk, right? Now you evil sons of bitches are gonna get what's coming to you."

      "I'm not evil, Dirk. I'm not. And neither were you. Trust me. I've seen real evil." Sam says. "We were scared and miserable, and we took it out on each other-us and everybody else. That's high school. But you suffer through that, and it gets better. I'm just sorry you didn't get a chance to see that... you or Barry."

       "Nothing is gonna get better for me. Not ever." Dirk breaks out of the rope. Sam fires salt at him, and ghost Dirk flies back to the bus. Dirk enters a student on the bus. The student gets off the bus and attacks Sam from behind. He starts beating Sam up. Dean fires a salt shot at him but misses.

      "Guys! Find the hair!" Sam yells.

      Dean goes to Eddie, who is still lying down on the ground, and starts looking in his pockets for the lock of hair. "Hey, buddy, this isn't what it looks like."

      Dean finds the lock of hair, takes out his lighter, and sets it on fire. Dirk screams and flies out of the student. The student falls on Sam. The team must have been the football or wrestling team, because the student was big. Sam calls out from under the student. "Little help?"

      "He's giving you the full cowgirl."

FLASHBACK

JANITOR'S CLOSET
[ ☼ ]

      Young Dean is kissing a young girl that is not Amanda. There is a knock at the door. "Five more minutes, Jerry." Dean says.

      Amanda opens the door and Young Dean pulls away from the girl he was kissing. They walk out of the closet into the hallway. "Amanda, hey!" He turns to other young woman. "Gettysburg address, 1863, right?" Then to Amanda again. "History test next period. We're studying. Come on, baby. She means nothing to me. Don't be mad."

      "I'm not mad, Dean. I thought maybe... underneath your whole "I could give a crap," bad-boy thing, that there was something more going on." Amanda says. "I mean, like the way you are with your brother. But I was wrong. And you spend so much time trying to convince people that you're cool, but it's just an act. We both know that you're just a sad... lonely little kid. And I feel sorry for you, Dean."

      "You feel sorry for me, huh? Don't feel sorry for me. You don't know anything about me. I save lives. I'm a hero. A hero!" Dean yells. Amanda walks off to her friends who are standing nearby. They all look at Young Dean like he is a jerk. "What? What?!"

SCHOOL HALLWAY
[ ☼ ]

      The hallway is full of students. We see Young Sam walking down the hall, and as he passes, students say things like "good job buddy", "Sam, great job with Dirk the jerk" and slap his hand. We see Young Dean observing this. He is still obviously upset. Dean gets a call on his cell. "Dad? Finally." He says.

SCHOOL
[ ☼ ]

      Young Dean and Young Sam are waiting outside as the Impala drives up. As they get in the car, Young Sam sees Barry at an upstairs window. He waves to him, and Barry waves back. "I can't wait to get the hell out of here. This place sucks. Come on, Sam." Dean says. He gets in the car. "Come on, Sam!"

CLASSROOM
[ ☼ ]

      Mr. Wyatt is alone in his classroom at his desk, grading papers. Sam knocks on the door and enters. "Uh, Mr. Wyatt?" Sam asks.

      "Yes."

      "You probably don't remember me, um, but my name is Sam Winchester, and I just wanted to thank you." Sam says.

      "For?" Wyatt asks.

      "I was a student here, and uh, you gave me some advice once."

      "Winchester, right. Right. Yeah. You, uh-you wrote that horror story." He says.

      "Yeah. Yeah, I did. Yeah, it's kind of all been one long horror story." Sam says.

      "What do you mean?"
  
      "Nothing. Sorry." Sam says.

      "So, what was this advice? I might need to plagiarize myself down the line." Says Wyatt.

      "You told me that I didn't have to go into the family business. You said I should make my own choices." Sam says.

      "So you've managed to do your own thing, then, huh?"

      "Yeah, for a while, yeah. And I think I went to college because of you. But, you know, people grow up." Sam says.

      "Yeah."

       "Responsibilities. But still, um... you took an interest in me when no one else did. That matters, so thank you." Says Sam.

      "Well, you know, the only thing that really matters is that you're happy. Are you happy, Sam?" Sam does not reply.