Episode 1

Episode 1 is the first episode of the first series of Heartbreak High.

Short synopsis[]

On the first day of Year 11 at Hartley High, the new English and history teacher Christina Milano struggles to keep control of her students. Vietnamese student Jack is targeted by Rivers, the school bully. Greek-Australian student Nick chases after new girl Jodie.

Plot[]

17-year-old Nick Poulos gets ready for school at his home. His mother Irini tries to hurry him up, since his cousin, Con Bordino, is waiting to take them both to school. Nicks little sister Effie comes in from the front yard, at the same time that their father George comes home from doing night shift at a factory. They all complain about how Nicks still in the bathroom, Irini tells George to go to bed but instead George yells that he needs a shower. Con’s phone rings and Effie hands it to him, calling him a ‘poser’. Con answers the phone as ‘Placa Auto Parts’. After a short conversation he hangs up, stating it was a wrong number. Effie is not convinced. Nick finally comes out of the bathroom, asking if he looks good. George agrees and says that some years in the army would do both him and Con some good before shooing the boys out the door.

Con berates Nick about not being late for the first day. Nick reckons nothing would have changed, but Con’s thinking about if there’s any new hot chicks or new teachers to stir. Nick reckons they’ll end up with a ‘fat bald boiler with a moustache.’ They drive to school in Con’s car.

New teacher Christina Milano prepares to head to school. She walks outside to meet her parents at her car. They bid her goodbye and she begins the drive to school.

Couple Danielle Miller and Steve Wiley stand on the sidewalk with their bags. Con and Nick pull up, they chuck the bags into the back seat and jump in. Driving through the Sydney traffic, Steve and Danielle start kissing in the back seat. Nick tells them to cut it out and they all laugh. Christina is also driving through the traffic and the two cars end up meeting at an intersection. Nick and Con start to flirt with Christina when they spot her, asking her if she’s lost, making kissing noises at her and asking for her number. Steve pipes up but Danielle pulls him back. Christina doesn’t answer any of them and they drive away.

Christina drives through the gates of her new school, Hartley High. She gets out and walks through the school grounds. Nick and Con stand with their other friends, Rose Malouf and Chaka Cardenes. Con spots Christina across the quad and the boys run up to her, asking her if she’s a teacher. She says that she is, Nick says he still wants her number. The students begin to follow her, giving her a hard time. Steve asks what she’s gonna teach and if she’s gonna teach him. She says English and History before Danielle tells him to shut up. School bully Peter Rivers comes up to her and asks her if she teaches special classes after school. She replies with ‘detention’ and his group all whoop and carry own. He continues after her, making flirty comments. The students stop following her when she gets to the school building.

Nick and his group stand around, asking for opinions on the new teacher. Rose reckons she looks better than the last one. Nick says she got a nice bum, Rose and Chaka shove him and tell him to shut up. Rose asks Steve about his holidays, he says he had to go to Cairns to see relatives. Nick asks Chaka if she’s excited to be back, before Rose starts a tirade about a guy that Chaka has been seeing: a 23-year-old guitarist. Nick calls Danielle a ‘gym rat’, she shoves him and tells him to shut up while he continues to make comments about her weightlifting.

Christina walks through the staff room, the teachers all stand around talking. She sits down, the only teachers actually making an effort to introduce themselves are school counsellor Yola Fatoush and math teacher Graham Brown. School principal Jim Deloraine comes into the room to start the staff meeting. Science teacher Bill Southgate quiets down the staff, Yola is not impressed. Deloraine welcomes the staff back, with Yola commenting “That’s Heartbreak High to us veterans.” As Deloraine drones on, Yola cheekily whispers to Christina to take a nap and she won’t miss anything. As Deloraine talks about balls in the courtyard, we cut to a soccer game being played outside.

Nick, Con and Steve are among the boys playing soccer with Danielle as the goalie while Chaka and Rose stand on the sidelines cheering them on. New student Jack Tran passes the ball to Nick from the side and the boys celebrate. Nick tells Jack that it was a good pass, they introduce themselves before Nick invites Jack to play with them. Rivers and his best friend Alan Bolton walk through the game, talking to Jack, “Looks like the wog ball teams got a new recruit.” Rivers begins to taunt Jack, Nick and Danielle stand up for him. Rivers in turn insults Danielle, which results in the crowd booing Rivers. Rivers sits down nearby and begins to eat a sandwich. Nick lines up a shot and kicks the ball, which knocks the sandwich out of Rivers hand. The crowd laughs as Jack goes to retrieve the ball. Rivers gets in Jack’s face, trying to instigate a fight by calling him slurs and yelling at him to give him the ball. Nick and the others try to get Jack not to worry about him, but the crowd begins to chant ‘Fight!’. Jack, not wanting to fight, instead puts the ball on the ground and walks away from Rivers. Danielle and Con call him a wimp but Nick backs him up, saying that it’s not his fight. Rivers picks up the ball and begins to taunt Nick, insulting their race. A brawl then breaks out: Nick vs Rivers, Con and Steve vs Bolton, and Danielle targets Johnno. Rose and Chaka team up and join the fight, kicking and throwing around Van.

Deloraine continues the staff meeting, introducing Christina to the rest of the staff. As the staff claps, the sounds of the brawl outside are starting to reach the teachers. Southgate isn’t fazed, “they’re starting early this year.” The teachers walk over to the windows, watching the brawl. Southgate is not surprised in the slightest, “Nick Poulos in the thick of it,” walks out and says he’ll deal with it. It’s like a chain reaction. Steve tries to pull Rivers off Nick, Johnno knocks Danielle to the ground and tries to grab Steve. Chaka and Rose both grab Van and pull her back. Danielle then gets up and runs to Rivers, attempting to pull him off Nick too. Steve fights Van while Con and Bolton are still punching each other. Yola looks at Christina, stating “That’s your English class.”

Christina and Yola walk down the corridor, Christina bracing herself before she meets her Year 11 class for the first time. Nick and Con run past them through the corridor, they poke fun at a nearby student before Nick spots new girl Jodie Cooper walking down the hall. He tries to flirt and introduce himself, but she rebuffs his advances. Nick is taken aback at her bluntness, she walks on ahead and Nick stops to talk to Christina. He and Con show her into the classroom.

The class is running amok, with students standing on the desks and Rivers and Bolton throwing a ball to each other. Con and Nick walk with Christina down the aisles, Nick cleans the blackboard while Con is being silly and pretending to lead the class. Christina tells them all to sit in their seats, Steve asks what her name is while she’s telling them to sit down. Rivers tries to make a joke about it. The class goes quiet as Christina walks up to the blackboard, the chalk breaks but she continues to write her name on the board. The class mockingly says her name and drones a ‘good morning’ to her. The boys then ask her personal questions, she tells the class to settle down and they all proceed to mock her. She tries to get them all to settle down while she marks the roll, the boys all mock her especially Rivers. Jack and Jodie are among those who are not impressed with the class’ behaviour. Christina snaps that the class is behaving like a bunch of five-year-olds and they all finally quiet down.

She begins to mark the roll, and gets annoyed when Bolton doesn’t answer when his name is called and Con is on the phone in class. Rivers and the boys make fun of Christina when she says some students names wrong, Danielle yells at Rivers and he makes a rude gesture at her. When Christina uses Rose’s full name, Rose corrects her and mocks her when Christina tells her to just answer her name. Rivers continues his tirade when Christina yells out names that sound like vehicles, Nick and Con try to tell her to send Rivers to the office but she just tells the class to settle down. When Southgate walks in, the class immediately quiets down and they all sit down. Southgate asks Christina if she’s marked the roll, she tells him she hasn’t and he says he’ll be back in five minutes. She continues with the roll as Southgate leaves, Danielle answers properly while Rivers is still being an idiot.

Out in the hallway, Danielle, Rose and Chaka are all talking about the class. Chaka makes fun of Christina while Danielle feels sorry for her. Rose comments that the guys were all drooling over Christina and Danielle backs it up, saying she’s gonna talk to Steve about it later. Jodie walks up to her locker, Chaka asks for her opinion. Jodie talks about knowing what’s it like being new and about having a cool class. Nick walks up and says that it’s fate that his locker is right next to Jodie’s. Rose and Chaka laugh at his feeble attempt at flirting. He walks away as Jodie says that he’s like a performing seal. All three girls agree with her.

In the staff room, Yola asks Christina how her class went. Christine lies and says the class went good. Yola knows from experience over the years what that group is like and offers to take Christina to get coffee. Christina declines as Southgate walks in and begins to lecture her about the boys. Yola is not impressed by his logic. Christina walks back into the classroom.

During the class, she yells at Rivers and Bolton to get on with their worksheets. Nick and Steve give her a hard time about the worksheets, she says that she is trying to help them. Nick mocks her, “are you saving us from being losers Miss?” When she agrees with Nick, Con, offended, loses his temper and yells at her about how much money his dad makes and how teaching is a ‘losers job’. The class goes silent for a second, before the boys begin to laugh all except Con, who is seething. The girls are not impressed. As the tears come into Christina’s eyes, she fully loses her temper and slams the folder onto the desk, calling the class a bunch of animals. The boys indulge her, making animal noises and mucking around with the desks. Christina storms out in tears, she goes to the bathroom and wipes her face. As she returns to the classroom, the students bar Jack and three others escape out the windows.

Jodie sits in Southgates science class. Nick comes to the window, trying to get her attention. Nick performs for her as she tries to get him to go away. As Southgate talks about Natural Disasters, Jodie remarks that there’s one out the window. Southgate makes his way to the window as Nick pokes his head up again. The class laughs and Southgate sternly tells Nick to go back to class. Jodie looks thoughtful as she fiddles with a flower that Nick was playing with.

That afternoon, the gang is at Ruby’s, their local hangout. Ruby firmly tells Steve to get his feet off the table and tells him off. Nick walks in and Ruby tells him off about money he owes her. Nick says he’ll pay her and then grabs Rose and Chaka while they’re playing pool with Con and Jack. The girls think he’s gonna ask them for money, but instead he asks them about Jodie. Con gets annoyed because it’s Rose’s turn but Nick’s set on getting answers. Rose tells him that she writes music and Nick decides that’s all he needs. Nick goes to sit next to her at the table and asks her about music. She’s very blunt with her answers, commenting that Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Pearl Jam make her wanna throw up. Nick tries to ask her out but she declines and walks out. The girls and Jack all laugh at him.

Effie rides her roller skates in the middle of the road. Nick and Con drive around the corner and Nick tells her off. Con and Nick get out of the car, Con admires some bangles on Effie’s arm. When Effie tell him that her mum doesn’t like them, he tells her that he’ll handle it. They go inside, when Irini starts to tell Con that she’s too young, Con tells her that the girls in her class are wearing them. Irini relents, letting Effie keep the bangles. Irini compliments Con on his ability to sweet talk about anything. George asks the boys about school, and begins to lecture them about how important school is.

Christina hands out job information sheets. Nick and Con make fun of Danielle for wanting to be an aerobics instructor. When Steve comments about people in the class being not smart enough to be a doctor, all attention turns to Jack. When he says that he actually could be a doctor, Rivers and Bolton make fun of him. Jack bites back that at least he’s gonna try and that Rivers is a whinger. Christina can sense the tension between the two. Rivers and Jack continue to argue, Rivers using another slur to insult him. The class begins to argue against Rivers, Christina tells him that she doesn’t want to hear it. Jack stands up and begins to yell at Rivers about people in his country, how his dad is lucky to be a cleaner when in Vietnam he was a doctor. Rivers continues to provoke him, pretending to speak Vietnamese. Jack loses his temper, yelling at Rivers to take back what he said. Rivers stands up and gets in Jack’s face, the class begins to argue again. Christina tries to get the boys to sit down, Jack backs down and sits in his seat while Rivers is still getting in his face. Southgate hears the commotion and comes in to break up the argument. Rivers threatens Jack before sitting down in his seat. Southgate berates the class before walking out.

Christina and Yola are in Yola’s office. Yola badmouths Southgate, but Christina says that he only handled the situation when she couldn’t. They talk about Southgate’s authority and about why the kids listen to him and not Christina. Christina just needs to be sure of herself and not be something she isn’t.

The Poulos’ have dinner. Nick talks to his parents about what happened with Jack in class. George thinks that when Jacks dad gets better with English, he’ll be a doctor again. Irini asks if Rivers has been picking on Jack, Nick confirms it and Effie asks if he’s been fighting again. Nick denies it but Effie doesn’t believe it. George lectures him about fighting and says to just be a good friend to Jack and stay out of trouble.

At school, Jack goes to the bathroom and leaves his bag outside. Rivers and Bolton shove paper into his bag and set it alight. When Jack comes out, he sees Rivers’ group laughing and attempts to stomp out the fire. Jack attempts to attack Rivers, Nick holds him back and Graham comes over to step in. He sees Jacks bag and sends both Jack and Rivers to Deloraine’s office. In Deloraine’s office, Rivers denies having any involvement in the fire but Deloraine sees through his lies. Rivers says that Jack doesn’t like him. Deloraine threatens suspension and says that he’s gonna call Rivers parents and that he’s on detention instead of sport. He sends the two back to class. As they walk out, Rivers grabs Jack by the shirt, stating that they have unfinished business. They decide to fight after school, unknowing that Christina overheard their conversation.

At Ruby’s, the gang rallies around Jack but Jack doesn’t want any help. Con offers to back him up, but Jack refuses. Con pretends to swing at Jack, who grabs his arm and pushes him onto the pool table. Jack has the idea that if he doesn’t do something, Rivers will just keep going. At school, Nick apologises to Jodie, who tells him not to try so hard. Con threatens Rivers, saying that Jack is a good fighter but Rivers doesn’t believe it. As the bell goes, Christina stops both Rivers and Jack, confronting them about the fight. They both deny that any fight is taking place and say that they’re buddies. They walk out and prepare to fight each other. Christina walks out and sees the crowd gathered in the corner of the quad. She knows exactly what’s going on and runs back inside.

Rivers lands the first punch on Jack, making him fall to the ground. He picks Jack up by his hair and before kneeing him in the stomach. Christina runs through the school, trying to find backup but no one is there. Jack sweeps Rivers legs out from under him and punches him in the stomach and face. Rivers attempts to punch him, but Jack dodges all his attacks. Rivers grabs Jacks hand and finally lands a punch to the face. Christina continues to run through the school, searching for help. Jack kicks Rivers in the face, making him fall back into Bolton. Bolton pushes him back up. Rivers runs at Jack, who grabs and twists his arm before kicking him in the stomach. Bolton interferes by tripping Jack, Con attacks Bolton in retaliation. Rivers grabs Con and knocks him out. The other boys enter the fight now. Nick and Rivers begin attacking each other as Christina runs into the throng, trying to break it up. She grabs Rivers and tries to pry them apart. Nick, in a fit of rage, doesn’t realise who it is and punches Christina in the face. That’s when the fight finally stops when the boys realise what they’ve done.

The next day at school, Con and Nick, both with bruised faces, try to hide their injuries from Deloraine. Con sports a black eye while Nicks face is covered in bruises. The boys walk into the classroom. Jack, Rivers and Bolton all sport facial bruises as well. Bolton and Rivers give Nick a hard time about punching Christina. The girls are not impressed and berate the boys about how stupid they are and how they don’t care about Miss. Nick bites back that it was an accident and that they weren’t trying to break up the fight either. Southgate comes into the classroom, saying that Christina is running late and he will mark the roll. The class is somber as they answer their names on the roll. Christina walks in, taking over the roll. She also sports a black eye. When Southgate asks her what happened, she covers for the boys saying she got hit with her squash partner’s racket. Southgate walks out and she says to give her a minute. Nick attempts to apologise but she tells him to sit down. She tells the class that the fight is in the past and that she will not tolerate anymore physical or verbal harassment. The class stays quiet, now having respect for Christina. She continues to mark the roll.

As the students leave the classroom, Jack and Rivers come face to face again after Rivers pick up the soccer ball again. After a period of silence, Rivers gives the ball back to Jack, smirks at him and walks off. The gang leaves the school grounds as Nick and Jodie smile at each other.

Cast[]

Starring[]

Guest stars[]

Jon Pollard as Bolton
Karise Sawyers as Johnno
Jane Harders as Maureen Milano
George Rubiu as Franco Milano

Trivia[]

This episode marks the first appearances of Nick, Christina, Rose, Con, Danielle, Steve, Yola, Rivers, Jodie, Chaka, Jack, Bill, Graham, Jim, Ruby, Irini, George, Effie and Bolton. Bolton will become a series regular from series four.