(no subject)
(Lights up on a bed with a camera on top of a tripod, facing it. BOY and GIRL sit on the edge of the bed, posing. GIRL gets up to set the automatic timer on a camera, and sits back down. BOY shivers.)
GIRL:
Jesus, Joshua, hold still.
BOY:
It’s cold -
GIRL:
- You’re never cold.
BOY (grinning smugly):
Well, you left the door open -
GIRL:
- I like the wind -
BOY:
- I know you do.
(beat.)
BOY (turning to GIRL):
My girl from the north country…
(camera flashes.)
GIRL (playfully mocking):
Hah! Such a romantic!
BOY:
Oh yes, that’s me.
GIRL:
Want another?
BOY:
Yes, please.
(GIRL gets up to set the timer again, sits back down next to BOY. As she sits down, she playfully knocks him on his side with her butt.)
GIRL:
Scoot over, dork.
BOY:
You’re the dork.
GIRL:
No, you’re the dork. You suggested this.
BOY:
So?
(beat.)
GIRL:
Why are we doing this?
BOY:
Because we don’t have any pictures of us together.
GIRL:
So? You’ll probably be here again in a couple of days.
BOY:
I know…
(GIRL gives BOY a quizzical look.)
BOY (turning to look her in the eyes):
I dunno.
(camera flashes.)
GIRL:
You turned!
BOY:
Okay, let’s do another.
(GIRL gets up, sets the camera again, sits down.)
GIRL (growing serious):
Joshua…
BOY:
Huh?
GIRL:
I don’t like this.
BOY:
I can move -
GIRL:
No it’s just that -
(GIRL stands up, faces BOY.)
GIRL:
This just feels like it’s something final, that’s all.
BOY (worried):
Is it?
GIRL:
What? I don’t know -
BOY:
How does it feel like final? You mean, like an ending?
GIRL:
I don’t know, it seems sentimental, you know? Like you’re missing something before it’s gone.
BOY:
I miss you most before I leave.
GIRL:
I know. Me too.
(Camera flashes.)
GIRL:
Oops.
BOY:
It’s okay.
(GIRL sits back down next to BOY again.)
BOY:
I just want this to last.
GIRL:
It won’t -
BOY:
- I know -
GIRL:
- Not forever -
BOY:
- I know.
(beat.)
BOY:
I just want to be like, one of those little boxes.
GIRL (confused):
What?
BOY:
You know? Like those random little boxes of information in history text books.
GIRL:
I never read those -
BOY (excited):
Oh, you should! They’re really great.
GIRL (sarcastic):
Are they…
BOY:
Well like, they’ll have a picture of a note and it’ll say something like, “Lincoln’s diary, in which he describes his deepest self-doubts.” Or, they’ll have like a bunch of dusty immigrants outside of a mound of dirt with a door, and it’ll say like “Family portrait of Irish settlers.”
GIRL:
No one reads those. They’re pointless.
BOY:
I like ‘em.
GIRL (grinning):
Yeah, you would.
(beat.)
GIRL:
Okay then, what would it say under ours?
(BOY sits, thinking for awhile. Then, he moves his hand up in the air, his fingers and thumb in a “C” shape, mimicking the bold lettering of a title.)
BOY (accentuated by his hand movements):
Two kids… in love… in the 21st century.
(She turns to him, and he looks at her. They don’t kiss as much as they lean in, slow like swans, letting their hungry glowing lips grace each other’s lightly.)
GIRL:
That’s stupid. And you’re a dork.
(GIRL gets up to set the camera again, then sits back down next to BOY. He takes her hand in his.)
GIRL:
Two kids in love?
BOY:
… in the 21st century.
(They sit for awhile, silent and content. They glow. )
(Camera flashes.)
(Lights out.)