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Early evening outside the movie theatre, a large edifice dedicated to the pictures people make and watch. The
majority of people stood outside are young, teenagers, waiting for friends or dates, or just generally hanging
around. There is a bowling alley and an arcade just across the road, again surrounded by a swarm of young
people. This is Friday night in suburban Philadelphia.
ELY and HAL are sat on a bench outside the theatre, it is just before 7.30 and they are relaxed, waiting for their
dates.
HAL:
Oh where’s Sandy? Isn’t it about time they got here?
ELY:
C’mon Hal, it’s not even seven-thirty yet, give them a chance.
HAL:
I ‘spose you’re right but Sandy could still be here, couldn’t she? You know, being early couldn’t hurt at all.
ELY:
Don’t worry, they’ll be here in a minute or two. Don’t be so impatient.
HAL:
I’m not being impatient.
ELY:
C’mon man, just listen to yourself, you must really like her.
HAL:
I do, you know I do. Maybe as much as you like Jennifer.
ELY looks at him and frowns
ELY:
You’ve got to be kidding, you’ve only known Sandy for a year or two.
HAL:
Okay, so maybe not as much as you, but I still really like her.
ELY:
What about love?
HAL:
What about it?
ELY:
D’you reckon you love her?
HAL:
I don’t know, we are kinda young.
ELY:
Ah, that’s not important, I’ve been in love with Jen since the moment I saw her. That was in the sixth grade.
HAL:
Alright, point taken, I think I’ll just take things slowly.
ELY:
Well, good on you. SANDY drives up in a car.
Hey Hal, look who’s arrived.
HAL:
Mm, I told you she’d look great.
SANDY walks over and gives HAL a long kiss
Hiya Sandy, looks at that, you’re just about on time.
SANDY:
Aw, shut up you. Hey Ely.
ELY:
Hiya Sandy, I don’t suppose you’ve heard from Jeanie have you?
SANDY:
Well yeah, I kinda have.
ELY:
This doesn’t sound too good. C’mon Sandy, what’s gone wrong?
SANDY:
I’m sorry Ely, but Jeanie phoned me to say she had to do some babysitting tonight and so she can’t come out.
ELY:
Ah nuts, kinda seems like I’ve run out of my sort of luck.
HAL:
Except the bad sort.
ELY:
Yeah, thanks Hal. So Sandy, who was it for?
SANDY:
Her parents went out, so she had to look after her little brother, she couldn’t get out of it really y’see. She sent her
apologies. Are you still up for a movie?
ELY:
No I think I’ll just wait here and catch the next bus home, should be here in ten minutes. You two go ahead, it
wouldn’t be much fun with just the three of us.
SANDY:
We couldn’t do that, it wouldn’t be fair.
ELY:
No, it’ll be okay, I’ll save some money, maybe I’ll save more by walking home, it’s not that far.
HAL:
We can’t leave you on your own man.
ELY:
Don’t worry, I’ll be fine, I might go down to the arcade. Now go on, go and have some fun, I insist.
HAL:
Are you positive Ely?
ELY:
Yes, you’ll have a better time without me around moping.
SANDY:
Maybe we should, I mean, as long as you’ll be alright, it would seem like a wasted evening otherwise.
ELY:
Exactly, there’s no point in you coming all this way for nothing, go and enjoy yourselves.
HAL:
Alright then, but we’ll do this properly next week.
ELY:
And there’s still the party tomorrow, we’ll sort it out later. Okay now, just go.
SANDY:
Okay, c’mon Hal. So we’ll see you later Ely, hope you have fun.
ELY:
Of course I will, see you kids later.
HAL:
Later Ely.
ELY nods his head to HAL, who smiles and walks off with SANDY, leaving ELY standing alone by the bench
ELY:
Yeah, see you guys.
He sits down as they walk off together, checks his watch and starts walking towards the arcade. A voice behind
him stops him in his tracks
JEN:
Ely, where are you going?
He turns round, smiling broadly
ELY:
Jen, what are you doing here? I thought you went to Terri’s house?
JEN:
I did, we decided to come here, but she decided to watch a film with Kelly and the others.
ELY:
So how come you didn’t? It’s kinda dangerous to be walking around on your own.
JEN:
Well, the truth is, I was about to go in when I saw Hal come in with Sandy. I knew he’d gone to your house so I
thought you’d probably be with him, but I couldn’t see you or Jeanie. That was who you were going with wasn’t it?
Where is she?
ELY:
Oh, she had to babysit for her little brother, I was just about to walk home. I thought I’d let Hal and Sandy be alone.
JEN:
That’s good of you. So you’re on your own now then?
ELY:
Well, not at the moment, I’ve got all the company I could ask for.
JEN:
Oh, I really ought to get back to Terri –
ELY:
Of course, yeah, well, it’s been nice seeing you Jen, so I guess I’ll catch you on Monday.
He turns to leave
JEN:
Hold on Ely. He turns back. As you’re heading that way, I’ll come with you, I just better tell Terri I’m going home.
ELY:
Will she be all right?
JEN:
Yeah, there’s a bunch of people there, she’ll be fine. C’mon we’ll just go and tell her.
ELY:
Oh, we will?
JEN:
Come on Ely.
She leads him inside, they meet up with TERRI, KELLY and a couple of other girls
TERRI:
Hey Jen, Ely, how are you?
ELY:
I’m fine thank you, I trust you’re well.
TERRI:
Yeah I’m okay. So then Jen, you coming in?
JEN:
No, I don’t think I really fancy it. Doesn’t look like much of a movie anyway.
TERRI:
What are you going to do then?
JEN:
I’ll walk back to my house with Ely. He was headed back that way.
ELY:
Don’t worry Terri, I’ll protect her.
JEN:
Who needs protecting?
ELY:
I was kidding.
JEN:
Good. Okay then Terri, I hope you have a good time, I’ll give you a ring tomorrow, see you later.
TERRI:
Okay then Jen, bye for now.
ELY:
Bye y’all.
The group goes off to the entrance, JEN turns to ELY
JEN:
Okay then Ely, show me the way to go home.
ELY:
Certainly milady.
They begin walking
So then Jen, how was your first week back at school?
JEN:
It was pretty good, there were some good points and the odd bad one.
ELY:
Would what happened on Wednesday be one of those bad ones?
JEN:
No not really. Look Ely, don’t think I’m holding anything against you, it’s nothing like that, it’s just that…
ELY:
What, what is it Jen? Is it something I’ve said or done? If it is, just tell me and I’ll try to do something about it.
JEN:
No, but sometimes, oh, you can make me really mad. You do come on a bit strong sometimes, I’m not sure I’m
ready for something like what you want.
ELY:
I’m sorry if you’ve ever felt threatened by me, you have to realise, it’s because I get so nervous sometimes. I try so
hard not to do anything stupid that I can’t always express my real feelings.
JEN:
I’ve told you before, there’s no need to be nervous, why should you? We’ve known each other since the sixth
grade, you’re a very good friend. You’re reliable, honest and I do care about you. I’m just not so I sure if I feel that
strongly about anyone. But Ely, you are important to me, more so than you probably think.
ELY:
I don’t know, because I’ve always kinda hoped you liked me, y’know, more than just friends. But, I understand
totally if you don’t feel that way, I value your friendship above everything else. If we aren’t friends, what chance is
there of anything deeper?
JEN:
Yeah, that’s right, friendship is very important to me as well, yours is one of the most important. I don’t know why,
it just seems that having you around keeps me focused, it shows me that no matter what, there will always be
someone out there who will care for me.
ELY:
Could I expect that in return? You know I’ll always give it to you, come what may.
JEN:
I’m not sure if I could say that, but I would always be ready to help you if you were in trouble.
ELY:
Luckily I’m not often in trouble, but it’s good to know that I can turn to you. You’re very perceptive Jen, with a
completely different take on life than the one I have. It’s amazing y’know?
JEN:
What’s that?
ELY:
That although we’re very different in some ways, we still have a lot in common, it’s pretty cool, don’t you think?
JEN:
Yeah, now that you come to mention it, there are a lot of things we have in common, more than I’d thought.
ELY:
Maybe you’ve misjudged our relationship, perhaps it’s more important than you realised. I mean, can you think of
any other guy that you’ve shared as much with?
JEN:
You’re right Ely, as far as males go, apart from my Dad and my brother, you’re the closest friend I have. I never
realised that, I mean, I’ve overlooked it for a long time. I think it was a mistake.
ELY:
What was?
JEN:
Not giving us a chance, but there have been times, I’m sure you’ll remember when we went out, but it didn’t last.
ELY:
And you wouldn’t realise how much I’ve regretted those mistakes. There isn’t a day that goes by without me
wishing I’d done things differently.
JEN:
Maybe things could have been different, I’m sorry things didn’t work out.
ELY:
Well, why be sorry?
JEN
What d’you mean?
ELY:
I mean, I think that I could see us working something out.
JEN:
Don’t be silly, I don’t feel ready.
ELY:
What’s there to be ready about? There’s no pressure at all. You’ve said so yourself, you care about me, and you
know I care for you, more than you could ever know. I think it could work.
JEN:
But what if it didn’t and we ended up not liking each other? You’d never forgive yourself. Isn’t it better being
friends? There’s a lot less pressure.
ELY:
I think it would be worth taking the risk. I would rather have enjoyed a few months or weeks of indescribable
happiness, than carrying on as I am, always wanting so much more.
JEN:
I think that’s beautiful Ely. I’m sorry that it hasn’t worked before. You may be right, I mean, I do like you, so why don’
t we try it? We should see what we have.
ELY:
Are you serious?
He stops, she turns to him
JEN:
I don’t lie often Ely, you know that.
ELY:
I don’t know what to say.
JEN:
Why say anything?
She reaches over to him and they kiss, gently, awkwardly at first, but he pulls her close and they are locked in a
sensual and tender embrace
ELY:
You don’t know how long I’ve waited for this moment.
They kiss again. This can’t be real.
She smiles as they look at each other.
JEN:
I think it is, otherwise, it’s one vivid dream. You know Ely…
ELY:
What’s that Jen?
JEN:
I think maybe you’re right. We do have something here, it’s worth exploring.
ELY:
That’s all I ask for. Jen…
JEN:
Yes Ely?
ELY:
I’m going to tell you I love you okay?
JEN:
Well, I don’t know for sure, but I think… I think love you as well Ely.
ELY:
Those words are worth the waiting I’ve endured. I hope I hear them more frequently.
JEN:
You just may hear them.
ELY:
You’d better get used to them, because you’re gonna hear them everyday.
They laugh and walk off, arm in arm.
JEN:
I guess I can get used to that.
THE END.
CHRISTOPHER P. BARTLETT
Original manuscript © 1996-1997
Typed Version © 2002
