– Casey Bossert

(Upstage center is a large arch with a black sheet hanging from it, which the audience can’t see behind. This is where the actors go to change costume. Whatever they need should be easily accessible for fast changes.)

GREG: (wearing a graduation robe) Finally! It felt like that
would never be over. I thought twelve years of school
was bad enough, but a four hour ceremony? That’s
ridiculous! (LINDSEY, also in a graduation robe,
shuffles in, holding a camera and crying.)

GREG: Aw, what’s the matter, Lindsey? Sad you’re not going
to see any of your old friends again? (jokingly dra
matic) All of those people who you’ve gotten so used
to seeing are changing and leaving for college. They’re
going to grow up and move away and become com
pletely different people with new experiences, chal
lenges, trials, and friends. Only on that camera will
those happy moments of our past be preserved!

LINDSEY: And I look terrible in every one of these pictures!
What am I going to use for my Facebook picture?!

GREG: (snatches the camera) Oh, come on, you don’t look
that bad!
(skips upstage with it, avoiding LINDSEY’s grasp)

LINDSEY: Give it here, Greg! Ugh! (He holds it above his head
where she can’t reach.) Why do you have to be so tall!
I remember when I was a head taller than you were.

GREG: Yeah, but I was always more mature than you. (looks at
the pictures) And I was never as vain as you. You look
great in all of these pictures. (suddenly serious)
Especially this one. You’re beautiful.
(LINDSEY kills the mood by snatching it away and
running behind the black sheet. GREG looks about in
surprise for a moment, then follows.)

GREG: Hey! Give it back!
(LINDSEY comes back out without the robe and
bouncing a ball.)

LINDSEY: Ha ha! I got your toy! And there’s nothin’ you can do
about it! Cause if you did, you’d be a tattle-tale!!

(GREG comes out on his knees, also no longer
wearing the robe. This way, he is clearly shorter than
LINDSEY.)

GREG: Come on Lindsey! I want it back! My mommy gave it to
me for my birfday!!

LINDSEY: Fine, come and take it from me, then!
(GREG reaches and reaches, but since he’s on his
knees, he clearly can’t reach the ball. LINDSEY
laughs.)

GREG: That’s not funny! I don’t want to play with you anymore!

LINDSEY: Who else is there to play with? Unless you want to
get scratched up by Mrs. McLeary’s cats?

GREG: No.

LINDSEY: You’ve gotta admit, playing with me is a lot more fun
than playing with those boring boys on your old street.

GREG: (mutters) I was taller than all of them.

LINDSEY: Well, then, it’s good that you have me! Whenever you
need something that’s way up high, you just come next
door to my house, and I’ll get it for you!

GREG: I want my ball.

LINDSEY: Well…

GREG: My mommy gave it to me. She hasn’t been home for a
while, and I really miss her.

LINDSEY: I guess… If it’s that special.

(She slowly reaches out to hand him the ball. He
snatches it from her, taps her on the shoulder and
shuffles away as fast as he can on his knees.)

GREG: Tag, you’re it! Can’t catch me! (disappears behind
the sheet)

LINDSEY: Hey! I can too catch you!

(She also runs behind the sheet.)

LINDSEY: (pokes her head around the side of the arch) Pssst!
Greg! Greg! Look out your window!

GREG: (pokes his head around the other side) Yeah? What is it?

LINDSEY: Is everything okay in your house? I thought I heard
your parents arguing.

GREG: It’s fine. My dad’s just angry at my mom again.

LINDSEY: What is it this time?

GREG: I’m not sure. I think my mom did something bad with
someone she works with. I can’t tell what his name is.

LINDSEY: I think I heard your dad call him Mr. Sunuvabitch.

GREG: You could hear him all the way from your house?

LINDSEY: He’s really loud.

GREG: I haven’t heard him shout this loudly since that time my
mom went away when I was five. Do you
remember that?

LINDSEY: Didn’t she give you a red ball for your birthday right
before that?

GREG: Yeah, she did. (Pause) If she goes away this time, I don’t
think she’s going to come back. I’m not sure what to do.
Who’s going to drive me to school tomorrow?

LINDSEY: My mom can drive, if you want.

GREG: (smiles) Thanks.

LINDSEY: And Greg? I promise I won’t go away and never
come back.

GREG: You promise? Pinkie swear? (holds out his pinkie)

LINDSEY: Pinkie swear. (holds out her pinkie)

(Lights dim for a moment. When they come back up,
LINDSEY is sitting on the floor, front and center, crying.
She has no shoes on. GREG approaches her cau
tiously from behind.)

GREG: Linds? Is everything alright?

LINDSEY: Go away!

GREG: Come on, Linds, it’s me! What could be so bad that you
can’t talk to me about it?

LINDSEY: I told you, go away!

GREG: I tell you about all of my problems. It’s only fair that you
tell me yours. (She doesn’t answer.) Don’t you
remember the time I told you I wet my pants during the
fire drill?

LINDSEY: (sniffles) And then the nurse only had girls’ pants to
give you, and you had to wear pink frilly pants all day?

GREG: You don’t have to rub it in. (sits down beside her) Hey,
I think I saw a smile there. Come on, tell me what
happened.

LINDSEY: I don’t think Ben and I are together anymore.

GREG: Why?

LINDSEY: Well… we were…. you know, making out at his
house, and his parents were out. And it was fun at
the beginning, you know, kissing and stuff. But then…
he got a little… too….

GREG: What did he do?

LINDSEY: (snuffles) He tried to take my top off, and I told him
I didn’t want to yet. I mean, we’ve only been together a
few weeks, but he said it was about time, and that
when he was dating Sally, he had her top off in a week.
So, I guess, I… I let him take it off, but then he kept go
ing, and I told him to stop again.

GREG: (horrified) Did he stop?

LINDSEY: I tried to get up, and he started laughing, and he
forced me back down. Like it was some sort of a game.
And I did everything I could, but he wouldn’t listen, so I
just grabbed my shirt ran out of his house.

GREG: And you ran all the way back here?

(She nods. He sighs and sits down next to her.)

GREG: You know you could have called me, right? I would have
picked you up.

LINDSEY: You don’t have a car.

GREG: I would’ve taken my dad’s car. Hell, I would have stolen
a car if it meant rescuing you from that. (Pause)
Ben’s a dick.

LINDSEY: (Wipes her eyes.) Yeah, he is. But I’m going to see
him in math class tomorrow. What should I say?

GREG: Don’t say anything. (stands up) And if he tries to say
some thing to you, I can deal with him.

LINDSEY: What are you going to do? (turns around and looks
up at him) And when did you get so tall?

GREG: Right after I outgrew those pink frilly pants. (LINDSEY
smiles a bit. GREG reaches down to her.) Let’s go in
side and get something to eat. I can make hot choco-
late for you the way you like it, with whipped cream and
chocolate sauce and raspberries.

LINDSEY: (takes his hand) Thanks. For everything.

GREG: It’s no problem. And as for Ben, you’ll only have to look
at him for one more year until we graduate. And then
you’ll never have to see him again.

(They go behind the sheet again and lights dim once
more.When they come back out, they are wearing the
robes again, and LINDSEY is holding the camera.)

LINDSEY: (Looking at the camera) I really am going to miss all
of these people.

GREG: Linds, I have to tell you something.

LINDSEY: You didn’t stain your robe again, did you?

GREG: No, and thanks for getting that out, by the way.

LINDSEY: I always carry those Tide pens with me. So what is it?

GREG: You know how I was really mad at my dad last spring?
And I filled out that paperwork to enlist in the army?

LINDSEY: Yeah, I told you that was a bad idea. Just do what I’m
doing and go to school in another state. There’s no
reason to bring the government into it.

GREG: Well, I did more than fill out the paperwork. I got the
physical and everything. It’s all set. I’m going out to
basic training next week.

LINDSEY: Wait, what? Next week? You’re leaving next week?!

GREG: Yeah. And they’re saying they’re running really low on
troops overseas, so I might not be able to come home
right after.

LINDSEY: Are you serious?! No, you’re not serious. You’re
joking. You wouldn’t leave me like this. You’re
joking, right?

GREG: You’re leaving too! You’re going to Washington!

LINDSEY: But I’ll be able to come back for breaks! I won’t be in
some other country!

GREG: You might as well be! And no matter where you wind up,
you’re not going to be my next door neighbor anymore.
You’re leaving and I’m leaving, and there’s nothing we
can do to change it.

(LINDSEY turns her back at him and stares at the
camera again. She starts to cry once more. GREG ap-
proaches her.)

GREG: The pictures can’t be that bad.

LINDSEY: I’m never going to see you again.

GREG: That’s not true.

LINDSEY: How can we? You’re going overseas! Everything’s
going to change! You might get shot, might get killed,
and I’ll never be able to —

(GREG interrupts her by grabbing her, snatching the
camera away, and kissing her in one smooth move
ment. While they kiss, he snaps a picture. They break
away, and he hands the camera back to her.)

GREG: Keep that picture, and you’ll be able to see me whenever
you want, and nothing will ever change.
(GREG exits. Lindsey remains, holding the camera.
Fade to black.)