26th November, 2002
CHARACTERS
MICHELLE. 19 years old. She is moving to Alabama to be with a man she fell in love with. She went to school with Pete for three years.
PETE. 20 years old. He is trying to convince Michelle to stay because he is in love with her. He never acknowledged her presence in high school. They were just friends, never anything serious. Now he is confessing his feelings to Michelle and she is about to leave. Talk about bad timing.
TIME
Present, 8 P.M.
PLACE
A local park
It is 8 P.M. on a cold winter night.
MICHELLE and PETE are both wearing jackets, mittens, scarves, and the like.
THEY are occasionally shivering.
THEY are sitting on a PARK BENCH sipping STARBUCKS coffee.
There is a TRASH CAN (stage right) next to the bench.
There is a piece of a NEWSPAPER on the ground under the bench.
We hear the occasional chirp of a bird, dog bark, or chatter of other park patrons.
MICHELLE and PETE walk up to the bench sipping their STARBUCKS coffee as they sit down.
SILENCE.
PETE. (Under his breath.) I love you.
MICHELLE. What?
PETE. Nothing. (A beat.) It�s been a while since we�ve talked like this.
MICHELLE. What do you mean?
PETE. Face to face. Usually we keep in contact through email and the telephone.
MICHELLE. I was beginning to forget what you look like. (A beat.) Not that I ever really could.
PETE. We�ve known each other for quite a few years, and you have a face I could never forget.
MICHELLE. (Under her breath.) I wouldn�t be surprised if you did�
PETE. What was that?
MICHELLE. Nothing. (A beat. THEY both take a sip of coffee.) Remember last New Year�s Eve?
PETE. Yeah, that�s when Richard had his huge party. Nobody really liked Richard, but stayed his friend just for that party.
MICHELLE. Chris, had just broken up with me the week before. I didn�t want to go alone. So, I just didn�t go.
PETE. That�s why you weren�t there? (A beat.) I was going to ask you to go with me.
MICHELLE. Well, why didn�t you?
PETE. I was afraid I�d get shot down, or that it was too soon... After the break-up, that is.
(A beat.)
MICHELLE. (Under her breath, but loud enough to hear.) It�s too late now.
PETE. What?
MICHELLE. Forget it.
PETE. What did you say?
MICHELLE. It�s not important. It never was.
(A pause. PETE takes a deep breath.)
MICHELLE. (Puzzled.) What?
PETE. I have to tell you something.
MICHELLE. I have to tell you something, too�
PETE. Ladies first.
MICHELLE. No� (A beat.) You first.
PETE. Let me think of how to� (A beat.) Okay. I�ve had feelings for you for a while now, Michelle. But I didn�t want to tell you.
MICHELLE. Why?
PETE. I was unsure of how you would react to them.
MICHELLE. The feelings?
(A pause.)
PETE. Yes. Well, they are more than just� (A beat.) I love you.
MICHELLE. Pete, how can you do this to me? (SHE looks away.)
PETE. Do what?
MICHELLE. Back in high school, you were this untouchable thing. Everyone wanted you.
PETE. That�s a lie.
MICHELLE. All the girls wanted you, and all the boys wanted to be you.
PETE. What are you�
MICHELLE. (Interrupts.) At least three of my girlfriends had crushes on you.
PETE. They never mattered to me.
MICHELLE. You used to walk by us in the hallways and wink at them.
PETE. (Under his breath.) I was winking at you.
MICHELLE. I heard that, and you lie.
PETE. How do you know?
MICHELLE. You don�t think Claire told me what you did?
PETE. Wait�she told you?
MICHELLE. Yeah, she even showed me the letters. �Dear Claire, I don�t like Michelle, I just pretend to be her friend to get close to you.�
PETE. Aww come on� Don�t be serious. (A beat.)
MICHELLE. That hurt me, more than you could know.
PETE. The last thing on my mind was trying to hurt you.
MICHELLE. Pffft! I�m moving to Alabama the day after Christmas.
PETE. That�s in three days!
MICHELLE. (Smart ass.) I see you are still quick with math.
PETE. Why are you moving there?
MICHELLE. I met a guy, John, online. We�ve fallen in love.
PETE. (Shocked.) Have you even met this guy?
MICHELLE. Remember when you didn�t hear from me for a week?
PETE. Uh� Yeah.
MICHELLE. I was visiting him in Alabama.
PETE. Why didn�t you tell me sooner?
MICHELLE. (A little angry.) How was I to know you had fallen in love with me?
PETE. It was out of my control! People can try as hard as they like, they can�t control love.
MICHELLE. Well, why didn�t you tell me sooner?
PETE. But I thought you used to like me� You know� Like that.
MICHELLE. Pete, I did� When I was seventeen. I�m nearly twenty now.
PETE. So your feelings changed?
MICHELLE. (A beat.) What am I supposed to do, Pete? I was very in love with you then, but I was barely a blip on your radar.
PETE. A blip? Come on, that�s not true.
MICHELLE. (A beat. Stands up and walks to TRASH CAN.) Look, just because this isn�t what you wanted to hear, doesn�t mean you have the right to make me feel like this. (A beat. SHE tosses her STARBUCKS cup in TRASH CAN.)
PETE. (Stands up.) Feel like what?
MICHELLE. Shit. I feel like shit. Look, I love John. I would do anything for him. He has always acknowledged me, even when he had other things on his mind.
PETE. I did that too�
MICHELLE. Pffft! Anytime a pretty woman would enter the room it was like you temporarily forgot who I was. It hurt me.
PETE. I didn�t� (A beat.) I didn�t know that you�
MICHELLE. (Interrupts.) It�s a little too late for that now isn�t it?
PETE. I didn�t mean to hurt you.
MICHELLE. Well you did.
(A pause.)
PETE. Remember in high school, that time that Joey, the class president, gave a speech in front of the whole school?
MICHELLE. Wait, which time?
PETE. My sophomore year, which was your freshman year.
MICHELLE. Oh, yes! (SHE acts as though she�s standing next to a podium. SHE clears her throat. Resumes by talking in a deep voice like a man.) �Thank you for coming here today, ladies and gents. Not that you had a choice.� (A beat. SHE speaks as herself.) Then he rustled around for the right papers, while continuing greeting everyone. Then� (Back in the male voice again.) �Australia is home to the Kangaroo. Wait a second. This is the wrong paper!�
PETE. (Laughing.) It was definitely an interesting speech.
MICHELLE. Didn�t he win the seat as class president the next year?
PETE. He did!
(MICHELLE sits back down.)
MICHELLE. I wonder if he still gets teased about that.
PETE. I remember when Valentine�s Day rolled around someone gave him a stuffed Kangaroo toy holding a red heart that said, �You jump start my heart.�. (HE laughs.)
MICHELLE. I heard about that! I thought that was a just a fable. (HE takes a sip of his coffee as he sits back down.)
PETE. Feel better?
MICHELLE. Laughing doesn�t fix anything, it just hides it.
(A beat.)
PETE. But Michelle, I�m here. John is there. Wouldn�t you rather stick with what is here? Near your family?
MICHELLE. Let me ask you something. Have you ever wanted to just get away? Start a new life? Where the only person you know is the person you love?
PETE. Everyone wants to do that. But some people just can�t.
MICHELLE. Because those people are afraid to love and live.
PETE. So what is so special about this guy that you are willing to give up your family?
MICHELLE. He has everything that everyone here doesn�t.
PETE. What does he have?
MICHELLE. Common courtesy. He opens the door for women. You know the other day, I had my hands full of books at the library. At least ten books for my research paper on the islands of Hawaii�
PETE. So what happened?
MICHELLE. I was trying to take them home, to study.
PETE. And?
MICHELLE. There was a man that went through the door in front of me. He didn�t even hold the door open for me. He just let it slam back to its resting place.
PETE. What happened?
MICHELLE. The door hit my arms and I dropped the books all over the ground
PETE. I bet that was funny.
MICHELLE. Not while wearing high heels and a skirt. (A beat.) And you know, not ONE person attempted to help me pick the books up?
PETE. What else does he have that I don�t?
MICHELLE. He�s never abandoned me.
PETE. When did I abandon you?
MICHELLE. Claire, her ex-boyfriend Stan, you, and me� We all went to that restaurant. What was it�
PETE. Guadalajara�s. It�s a little hole-in-the wall restaurant.
MICHELLE. That�s the one. Stan broke up with Claire that night right in front of us. When it came time for us to leave. You left me there.
PETE. I didn�t even notice until ten minutes down the road.
MICHELLE. (Mad.) But you didn�t even come back to get me!
PETE. Claire and Stan were yelling at each other in my truck! What was I supposed to do?
MICHELLE. I�m sure Claire would have understood.
PETE. I�m sorry.
MICHELLE. You know I had to WALK most of the way home? I walked three miles. An older Oriental couple pulled over and picked me up.
(A beat.)
MICHELLE. You used to play with people�s feelings. Toy with them. Twist them around like they were one of those things�
PETE. What things?
MICHELLE. Those things you use to tie a bread bag shut. (A beat.)
PETE. I didn�t�
MICHELLE. (Interrupts.) You got to mold them around what ever you wanted to.
PETE. Name one person.
MICHELLE. Stacy.
PETE. Stacy? Come on! That�s different! She wasn�t even a stable girl.
MICHELLE. Yet you still got with her.
PETE. She was suicidal. I thought I could save her.
MICHELLE. Didn�t she kill herself last year?
PETE. (Under his breath.) Yes.
MICHELLE. And why was that?
PETE. I never got to personally read her suicide note.
MICHELLE. I did. She said it was because you screwed her up.
PETE. But I�
MICHELLE. You screw up everything you touch.
(A pause.)
PETE. (Softly.) I wouldn�t screw you up.
MICHELLE. You only say that because I�m your objective.
PETE. But I love you.
MICHELLE. Did you know, that he proposed to me?
PETE. He? Oh, John?
MICHELLE. Yes.
PETE. No, how could I have known, if you just told me about him?
(A beat. SHE stands up, takes a few steps from the bench, and stops.)
MICHELLE. Well, he didn�t get down on one knee. In fact, we were sitting on a blanket, holding each other tight. It wasn�t cold, but we just wanted to be near each other, as near as possible. It was nighttime. He told me, �Michelle, I love you more than I love anything on the face of this planet.� I thought he was just being sly. But then he grabbed my hand. And he slipped the ring on my finger. And he said, �Will you marry me?� I wanted to jump out of my skin because of the romance factor. (SHE sighs lovingly.) It was so dreamy.
(A beat. PETE stands up, takes one last sip of his STARBUCKS, and throws it away.)
PETE. Is there ANYTHING I can do to get you to stay?
MICHELLE. I don�t think anything can keep me here.
PETE. So go.
MICHELLE. You are giving up that easily?
PETE. You�ll be back.
MICHELLE. I doubt I�ll be back without John by my side.
PETE. Michelle, you can�t go.
(A pause. PETE embraces MICHELLE and kisses HER.)
MICHELLE. (SHE forces HIM off of her.) Why not?
PETE. I won�t be complete without you.
MICHELLE. You�ll find some other girl and get over me.
PETE. Not true.
MICHELLE. So true!
PETE. I�ve been after you for a year now.
MICHELLE. Then why didn�t you try to get me?
PETE. I didn�t know how.
MICHELLE. What do you mean?
PETE. I thought you moved.
MICHELLE. I�ve lived in the same house I did since I was brought home from the hospital after birth.
PETE. But I moved two hours away.
MICHELLE. If I meant that much to you, you would have fought like a mad dog with a piece of meat to get me.
(A beat.)
PETE. (Reaches into his pocket and pulls out a picture of MICHELLE kissing PETE. HE shows it to HER.) I still have this.
MICHELLE. Oh my. That was after you graduated.
PETE. Yes. I was so happy to have that kiss.
MICHELLE. Who took this picture?
PETE. Probably my mother. She really liked you.
MICHELLE. This was back when I was�
PETE. Was what?
MICHELLE. In love with you.
PETE. It showed. That kiss was so passionate. (HE wraps his arm around HER and kisses her again.) I wanted to re-create that moment.
(A beat.)
MICHELLE. I can�t do this! I can�t! I already said yes. I already told John yes. (SHE puts her hands on PETE�S chest.) Pete, that part of my life is over. It should be over for you too. We need to move on.
PETE. I can�t move on, not without you.
MICHELLE. You will have to. My place is in Alabama.
PETE. Are you sure that is what you want?
MICHELLE. (A beat. With a sound of uncertainty.) Yes.
(A beat.)
PETE. I want to show you what you�ll be missing. What you�ll be throwing away. I also want to show you, that you aren�t a blip. You will never be a blip. And you were always, much more than a blip. (A beat.)
MICHELLE. What will I be missing?
PETE. You�ll be missing me.
MICHELLE. (A beat.) And throwing away?
PETE. My love. (A beat.) I haven�t stopped loving you, and I never will. You�ll be back, I promise you. Good-bye, Michelle.
(PETE kisses HER one last time, then leaves. MICHELLE is left standing in the middle of the park. A pause.)
MICHELLE. Am I missing anything? I think I have everything I want in Alabama. (MICHELLE sits back down on the BENCH, takes a picture of JOHN out of her purse.) I love you, John. (She looks in the direction PETE left.) I think.
(LIGHTS OUT.)
THE END
