Post by Elizabeth on Oct 2, 2006 15:50:28 GMT -5
...this was for my playwriting class. Tell me what you think 
SCENE ONE
It is 2:00 p.m. CHARLOTTE, a senior in high school, walks into a wing of classrooms. The high school was built in the seventies, evidenced by the orange carpet that still spreads over the floors of the social studies department. She enters one of the classrooms, which is dotted with beat-up desks, some of which also are left over from the seventies, and sits in the back of the fourth row. She opens her notebook and begins to draw. TRENT then enters. He is wearing a black shirt with an illustration of an apple on the front-- imposed in the middle of the apple is an Egyptian-style eye. On the back of the shirt, it reads (in lowercase letters) "you are the apple of my eye." She looks up and watches him as he hangs his faded yellow hat on the hook in the front of the room and sits at the front of her row. MR. CORY enters the room with a box full of newspapers as the rest of the students settle into their desks.
MR. CORY
(Drops the box of newspapers on the front table.)
Alright, you know what to do. Current events time.
All of the students go to the front of the room to pick up a section of newspaper. CHARLOTTE ends up next to TRENT, and they both reach for the same section.
CHARLOTTE
Oh-- sorry. You take it.
TRENT
No, go ahead. That's fine.
CHARLOTTE
Thanks.
Their eyes meet briefly-- TRENT smiles at her. CHARLOTTE shyly smiles back, then quickly looks away and shuffles back to her desk.
SCENE TWO
4:00 p.m. CHARLOTTE and KARA, who are best friends, get into KARA's car.
CHARLOTTE
Thank God. I had the crappiest day today.
(Throws her books into the backseat.)
I swear, I signed up for the worst classes this year.
KARA
We should have taken Culinary Arts.
CHARLOTTE
Nah. Lundberg is a Nazi... I'd rather just get the recipes from Jen and make them myself. Besides, I'd want a little more of a challenge. I mean, fruit salad isn't exactly the world's hardest dish.
KARA
(Laughs as she pulls up to a stoplight.)
Yeah. But it looked good.
(Pauses.)
Hey Charlotte... did you talk to Trent today?
(KARA clasps her hands to her heart and bats her eyes dramatically in an impression of the cliched lovestruck girl.)
The apple of your eye?
CHARLOTTE
(Groans, trying to hide a smile.)
God. I swear, you guys haven't grown up since the eighth grade.
KARA
(Grins.)
Well, you still haven't answered my question. Did you?
CHARLOTTE
Nah. Hey... we should have that fruit salad at your house tonight.
KARA
Did you get the recipe?
CHARLOTTE
Yeah.
(Reaches into the backseat for her notebook and rips out a piece of paper.)
Right here.
KARA
Cool.
(Pauses.)
Well... if you didn't talk to him, how was class as a whole?
CHARLOTTE
We reached for the same newspaper during current events time.
KARA
Oooh. How was that for you?
CHARLOTTE
(Sighs.)
I don't know. Kara, I'm sick of this.
KARA
What do you mean?
CHARLOTTE
This whole Trent thing. I mean... I've liked him for about two years now. But I barely know anything about him, we rarely speak to each other... basically all I know is that he has great hair, a nice face, and he plays soccer. And yet somehow, over all this time, I've convinced myself that I'm in love with him. And... I just feel like I'm wasting time. I know he's a good person, and I know he's not like the rest... but... you know? I want him, but I just want to break free from him at the same time. And every time I close my eyes, he's all I can see. I can see him in that stupid apple shirt that just makes me smile for some reason. And that yellow hat.
(Hits her head off the headrest.)
I'm so sick of it. I just want to give up. But I can't seem to.
KARA
I don't think you should give up. Look... I was after Travis for a year before he ever said a word to me, and now we're together. You know? It could happen.
CHARLOTTE
Yeah. And monkeys might fly out of my...
KARA
Charlotte!
KARA and CHARLOTTE laugh as they pull into the parking lot of a large grocery store.
SCENE THREE
KARA and CHARLOTTE walk down the aisle of a large, well-lit grocery store. CHARLOTTE is carrying a shopping basket. The store isn't busy at all, and the two girls breeze through the aisles.
CHARLOTTE
I have the recipe... I'll go pick out the fruit, and you get the powdered sugar and stuff. Okay?
KARA
Alright.
KARA veers off down one of the side aisles, and CHARLOTTE heads into the produce section. She selects a starfruit, a bag of cherries, and a few bananas, putting them into her basket. She then heads toward the assortment of apples. She is inspecting a Washington Red when she is approached by an frail old lady with a slightly hunched back, who is slowly pushing a cart.
EDITH
(In a tinny, squeaky voice) Do you prefer red or green apples?
CHARLOTTE
(Surprised) Excuse me?
EDITH
(With shining eyes and an expectant expression) Do you prefer red apples? Or green ones?
CHARLOTTE
(Hesitates.)
(Rather quietly) I-- I prefer the apples themselves, ma'am.
EDITH
(Cocks her head.)
What was that?
CHARLOTTE
(Raises her voice-- more confident) I said that I prefer the apples themselves, ma'am.
EDITH
(Picks up a Granny Smith.)
What do you mean?
CHARLOTTE
(Looks at her apple.)
I can stand here, close my eyes, and see an image. Can you do that, ma'am? Can you shut your eyes, and out of total darkness, create a picture that makes you smile? That's the only way I know how to explain.
EDITH smiles at Charlotte, patiently waiting for her to continue.
CHARLOTTE
My smile is bittersweet... but it's a smile nonetheless. Can you tell me what that means? I thought I knew once, but I don't anymore.
(Sighs.)
I feel... I feel immobilized.
EDITH smiles, and pulls her pocketbook from her purse. She opens to the picture section, and gestures for CHARLOTTE to come over so she can see.
EDITH
I understand. And I can explain that bittersweet smile of yours.
(Points to the picture inside her pocketbook.)
My Harold. He died three years ago.
CHARLOTTE
I'm sorry.
EDITH
Don't be, girl. I would have done anything for him. I loved him more than anything in the world.
(Puts her pocketbook away and looks CHARLOTTE in the eye.)
And once he found that out, he fell in love with me, too.
EDITH fills a bag with Granny Smith apples and sets them delicately in her cart. She keeps one out, holding it carefully in her hand.
EDITH
I can see it in your face, girl.
CHARLOTTE
See what?
EDITH
(Smiles.)
I prefer the apples as well.
EDITH hands CHARLOTTE the Granny Smith apple and slowly turns away, pushing her cart toward the bakery section.
SCENE ONE
It is 2:00 p.m. CHARLOTTE, a senior in high school, walks into a wing of classrooms. The high school was built in the seventies, evidenced by the orange carpet that still spreads over the floors of the social studies department. She enters one of the classrooms, which is dotted with beat-up desks, some of which also are left over from the seventies, and sits in the back of the fourth row. She opens her notebook and begins to draw. TRENT then enters. He is wearing a black shirt with an illustration of an apple on the front-- imposed in the middle of the apple is an Egyptian-style eye. On the back of the shirt, it reads (in lowercase letters) "you are the apple of my eye." She looks up and watches him as he hangs his faded yellow hat on the hook in the front of the room and sits at the front of her row. MR. CORY enters the room with a box full of newspapers as the rest of the students settle into their desks.
MR. CORY
(Drops the box of newspapers on the front table.)
Alright, you know what to do. Current events time.
All of the students go to the front of the room to pick up a section of newspaper. CHARLOTTE ends up next to TRENT, and they both reach for the same section.
CHARLOTTE
Oh-- sorry. You take it.
TRENT
No, go ahead. That's fine.
CHARLOTTE
Thanks.
Their eyes meet briefly-- TRENT smiles at her. CHARLOTTE shyly smiles back, then quickly looks away and shuffles back to her desk.
SCENE TWO
4:00 p.m. CHARLOTTE and KARA, who are best friends, get into KARA's car.
CHARLOTTE
Thank God. I had the crappiest day today.
(Throws her books into the backseat.)
I swear, I signed up for the worst classes this year.
KARA
We should have taken Culinary Arts.
CHARLOTTE
Nah. Lundberg is a Nazi... I'd rather just get the recipes from Jen and make them myself. Besides, I'd want a little more of a challenge. I mean, fruit salad isn't exactly the world's hardest dish.
KARA
(Laughs as she pulls up to a stoplight.)
Yeah. But it looked good.
(Pauses.)
Hey Charlotte... did you talk to Trent today?
(KARA clasps her hands to her heart and bats her eyes dramatically in an impression of the cliched lovestruck girl.)
The apple of your eye?
CHARLOTTE
(Groans, trying to hide a smile.)
God. I swear, you guys haven't grown up since the eighth grade.
KARA
(Grins.)
Well, you still haven't answered my question. Did you?
CHARLOTTE
Nah. Hey... we should have that fruit salad at your house tonight.
KARA
Did you get the recipe?
CHARLOTTE
Yeah.
(Reaches into the backseat for her notebook and rips out a piece of paper.)
Right here.
KARA
Cool.
(Pauses.)
Well... if you didn't talk to him, how was class as a whole?
CHARLOTTE
We reached for the same newspaper during current events time.
KARA
Oooh. How was that for you?
CHARLOTTE
(Sighs.)
I don't know. Kara, I'm sick of this.
KARA
What do you mean?
CHARLOTTE
This whole Trent thing. I mean... I've liked him for about two years now. But I barely know anything about him, we rarely speak to each other... basically all I know is that he has great hair, a nice face, and he plays soccer. And yet somehow, over all this time, I've convinced myself that I'm in love with him. And... I just feel like I'm wasting time. I know he's a good person, and I know he's not like the rest... but... you know? I want him, but I just want to break free from him at the same time. And every time I close my eyes, he's all I can see. I can see him in that stupid apple shirt that just makes me smile for some reason. And that yellow hat.
(Hits her head off the headrest.)
I'm so sick of it. I just want to give up. But I can't seem to.
KARA
I don't think you should give up. Look... I was after Travis for a year before he ever said a word to me, and now we're together. You know? It could happen.
CHARLOTTE
Yeah. And monkeys might fly out of my...
KARA
Charlotte!
KARA and CHARLOTTE laugh as they pull into the parking lot of a large grocery store.
SCENE THREE
KARA and CHARLOTTE walk down the aisle of a large, well-lit grocery store. CHARLOTTE is carrying a shopping basket. The store isn't busy at all, and the two girls breeze through the aisles.
CHARLOTTE
I have the recipe... I'll go pick out the fruit, and you get the powdered sugar and stuff. Okay?
KARA
Alright.
KARA veers off down one of the side aisles, and CHARLOTTE heads into the produce section. She selects a starfruit, a bag of cherries, and a few bananas, putting them into her basket. She then heads toward the assortment of apples. She is inspecting a Washington Red when she is approached by an frail old lady with a slightly hunched back, who is slowly pushing a cart.
EDITH
(In a tinny, squeaky voice) Do you prefer red or green apples?
CHARLOTTE
(Surprised) Excuse me?
EDITH
(With shining eyes and an expectant expression) Do you prefer red apples? Or green ones?
CHARLOTTE
(Hesitates.)
(Rather quietly) I-- I prefer the apples themselves, ma'am.
EDITH
(Cocks her head.)
What was that?
CHARLOTTE
(Raises her voice-- more confident) I said that I prefer the apples themselves, ma'am.
EDITH
(Picks up a Granny Smith.)
What do you mean?
CHARLOTTE
(Looks at her apple.)
I can stand here, close my eyes, and see an image. Can you do that, ma'am? Can you shut your eyes, and out of total darkness, create a picture that makes you smile? That's the only way I know how to explain.
EDITH smiles at Charlotte, patiently waiting for her to continue.
CHARLOTTE
My smile is bittersweet... but it's a smile nonetheless. Can you tell me what that means? I thought I knew once, but I don't anymore.
(Sighs.)
I feel... I feel immobilized.
EDITH smiles, and pulls her pocketbook from her purse. She opens to the picture section, and gestures for CHARLOTTE to come over so she can see.
EDITH
I understand. And I can explain that bittersweet smile of yours.
(Points to the picture inside her pocketbook.)
My Harold. He died three years ago.
CHARLOTTE
I'm sorry.
EDITH
Don't be, girl. I would have done anything for him. I loved him more than anything in the world.
(Puts her pocketbook away and looks CHARLOTTE in the eye.)
And once he found that out, he fell in love with me, too.
EDITH fills a bag with Granny Smith apples and sets them delicately in her cart. She keeps one out, holding it carefully in her hand.
EDITH
I can see it in your face, girl.
CHARLOTTE
See what?
EDITH
(Smiles.)
I prefer the apples as well.
EDITH hands CHARLOTTE the Granny Smith apple and slowly turns away, pushing her cart toward the bakery section.
