u/Popboy11

Haven't seen anyone point this out, the first night when Nikki sleeps at Bear's house she puts her head on his shoulder and says "I needed this." Her head is so far up his shoulder that he has no room to lean on her.

When Bear is sitting next to Sarah before the cat sandwich happens, she leans her head on his shoulder, but far enough down that he also has space to lean on her, and he chooses to do so.

I read through the whole script and wanted to share (mostly) every notable difference I noticed between this document and the final release. If you are interested in the script I do encourage you to read it yourself

- The script starts not at a diner, but in Bear's house as he watches a romance film on TV, we see Sandy dead immediately after
- The first part of the conversation Bear has with Nikki (In the script her name is Nicky) takes place over voicemail. He then calls her and they agree to meet at the trivia bar
- The conversation Bear has with the store clerk is extended
- We find out now that you can only make one wish
- Bear then has his pep talk with Ian over the phone in his car

- The bar scene is completely re-written, Sarah is mean to Nikki and thinks her book is dumb, they talk about work and about the gun in the safe
- Bear announces his cat died to the whole group, and Nikki is the one to give him a hug, not Sarah, the hug "lingers beyond friendly" and she kisses him on the cheek.
- As they leave "Bear and Ian exchange a dap." which made me laugh
- Nikki is listed as 24 years old, Bear is 25

- The car ride is extended, Nikki is more obviously drunk. After he pulls into her driveway she tells Bear that she's going to quit her job.
- Nikki asking Bear if he likes her is not in this script, she goes inside after the Freaky Nikki bit.
- (In this script I do think Nikki likes bear more than in the movie, but you should read and decide for yourself)
- Nikki's dad has Leukemia specifically. She falls into Bear's arms crying in the car, she feels conflicted as she doesn't know him that well and can't afford a plane ticket, but still feels bad about him

- Back at Bear's house, after Nikki lays her head on Bear's shoulder, he wraps his arm around her
- Bear actually goes to the bathroom instead of his laptop, meaning he tells the truth
- In the morning Nikki asks for Bear to say a few words, then puts the cat back in the trash and states it's disrespectful to throw it away

- Cassell's Music is called Mandy's Music
- There is a break room across the store, Nikki stares at Bear through the window instead of down the hall
- Ian makes coffee as the camera zooms in on the One Wish Willow again. In the next scene he's at the computer in the store researching the One Wish Willow.
- After their shift, Nikki initially tries to go home with Bear, but Bear says has errands to run

- The part of the conversation about Bear taking advantage of Nikki is not present
- Real Nikki snaps back again while they kiss on the bed, but they continue
- An extra scene is in the montage where Bear is at Nikki's bedroom reminiscing over their old yearbook photos

- Their date spot is less fancy and more southern "fancy"
- Their conversation is extended, Bear mentions he thinks he will work at a Toyota in Mobile, but wants a house and three kids
- Nikki only loves Bear "so much" and not "so so so so so much"
- Curry mentions Bear's answer to Nikki's question about her dad "reveals a disregard for truth, showing a readiness to ignore darker realities for affection, hinting at a deeply flawed person."
- They're kissing on the bed and she has another moment where the real Nikki comes out. Bear is now unfazed by this and registers this as nothing more than a fleeting incontinence.

- During the night, Nikki does not cry about the feeling not being mutual
- There is no flower pot scene. Instead, she has a "love crystal" and she carves it into Bear's arm. Nikki's eyes roll back as she laughs.
- In the morning, there is no talk about not doing weird stuff anymore.
- There is no tape on the door. Nikki also says she'll be right there when Bear comes home

- The scene with Bear and Sarah is cut short. She cries in the break room and comes back with puffy eyes and sits on the Tuba case she will later be carried in. There is also no cat sandwich.
- There is NO SCENE where Bear talks to the One Wish Willow company.
- More dialogue talking about Nikki waiting all day
- While Nikki is showering, Bear mentions Ian made the hangout a boy's night last minute. Nikki screams at this (I believe this brings up memories about Ian and lets the real Nikki out for a moment)
- She calls Sarah while in the shower and confirms with her that she's going. Bear relents and invites Nikki to tag along.
- In Nikki's monologue, "A love only the branch of a willow tree could conjure." is replaced with "my cud", and it is extended: "I went to him at the wall and reached for his sharp shoulders. His eyes were on the door, but his hands grabbed my hips."
- Nikki sobs heavily as she kisses Bear after moving Sarah
- Curry writes "The Nurse ultimately refuses to take Nicky because of the principle of informed consent."

- Bear asks Nikki if she's happy, she starts acting like a robot, and robotically says I'm your Freaky Nikki
- Nikki says she *can* be Nikki
- Instead of Bear's "I love you" activating the backwards walking, she jumps up, removes her pants and panties, and says "Let's fuck, Bear."
- She stands obscured by shadows in a hallway, insinuating sex and insisting she's normal.
- She says "Well If you loved Nicky the way Nicky was... Nicky wouldn’t have changed for you."
- She moves toward Bear in slow motion saying "Come on Bear, rail my guts in like Hansel fucks his sister." (This is in the actual movie, but makes more sense in this context)
- Bear tells Nikki to stop and she does. She asks him what a One Wish Willow is, Bear lies and says he doesn't know. Then they have sex offscreen.

- The sleep talking Nikki scene is the same, Curry says this Nikki is a "friend he once knew"
- Sarah says her and Nikki aren't close anymore
- Sarah explicitly tells Bear she likes him
- There is no "you were to my left" moment
- Nikki has more dialogue calming bear down, and seemingly can not hide the body until she gets his consent, to which he has no say in, and says "yes."
- Bear screams while driving to the store

- The store clerk basically says the situation is hopeless. There is no mention of Bear killing himself ending the wish. Bear comes up with the idea of overriding with a new wish himself
- The clerk says "You knew. Even if you didn’t know, you knew."

- When Bear returns home, he wishes that Nikki didn't love him without knowing she was watching him in the corner
- Nikki swallows her joint, explicitly asking Bear if he likes her better now that she's dressed like Sarah.
- Nikki follows Bear to the bathroom, he shuts her out
- Bear sits on the toilet after taking the pills and doesn't try to spit them back out
- Nikki shoots herself after Bear dies, telling her "In this life and the next."

There are still more differences, mostly relating to blocking and dialogue, some of which felt pretty on-the-nose. I'm not a screenwriter, but I think almost all of the changes in the final cut were positive.

I sense Bear is less of a "nice guy" in this version, and we do hear more about the friend group's goals and ambitions. For example, Sarah talks about wanting to own a tattoo shop and we learn more about Nikki's book.

Lastly, I just think it's poetic that some of the most iconic scenes from this film didn't come from this draft.