The Marbles in Our Heads

Ally Charleston

ACT I

I.1 The Therapist's Room

There is a couch facing the audience on stage right, placed in the center. As the lights come up, there is a single light on the couch, illuminating stage right, leaving stage left in the dark. There is a sound of a door opening, and a girl walks from off stage right in front of the couch.

As she makes her way to the couch, slowly, she appears confident. As she begins to sit down in the center of the couch, she speaks.

ALICE Ooh, leather.

She rubs the couch. I guess the judge decided I was worthy of the best therapist that government dollars can buy. (She says sarcastically, speaking out to the audience)

JANE (a voice from a person unseen to the audience, seemingly coming from the center of the theatre) Make yourself comfortable.

ALICE Oh, I intend to.

JANE Let me start this off by introducing myself a bit so we can get to know each other.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 3

ALICE Isn't this supposed to be about me?

JANE (She laughs) Yes, of course, but our conversations will go much smoother if you get to know me, too. You know, so you're not just talking to some stranger.

ALICE But that's exactly what I'm doing.

JANE If you give me a chance to talk then we can fix that. Sound good?

Jane has a calming tone. Even when it appears she is being short with Alice, she keeps a level of professionalism.

ALICE Fine.

Alice crosses her arms, leans back, and crosses one leg over the other. This position must come across cold and resistant.

JANE Thank you. My name is Jane Aker, like I'm sure they told you before coming here. I graduated from the University of Michigan, majoring in Psychology. Then I stayed there and got my PhD.

ALICE How'd you end up in Minneapolis, then?

Alice's tone is not necessarily one of question, but it's more of a statement.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 4

JANE I met someone. Fell in love. We got married a couple years ago and then moved here. He grew up in Minneapolis.

ALICE Wow, I didn't peg you for the marrying type.

JANE Why not? (She laughs)

ALICE Most of the therapists I've met are single, old, and they all have forehead wrinkles from asking questions so much.

JANE Well, sorry to disappoint.

Alice scoffs as she uncrosses her legs, seemingly becoming more comfortable. Her arms remain crossed. So, you've seen a therapist before?

ALICE Oh, yeah, loads of them. But, I shouldn't have to tell you that. I'm sure everything you wanna know about me is in that file on your desk.

JANE I didn't read it.

ALICE (Looking surprised, then confrontational) Well, I don't feel like recounting my entire life so how about you do your job and read it so we can skip ahead to when you analyze me and tell me how I'm living my life wrong. Okay? Sound good?

JANE How was your week?

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 5

ALICE My week?

JANE Yeah, your week.

ALICE Average.

JANE Nice use of descriptive adjectives. I really feel like I know you, Alice.

ALICE Funny.

JANE Getting better.

ALICE How about you read that file now and I can sit here and wait.

JANE If that's what you want.

ALICE Sure.

JANE Alice Barker. Seventeen. Born July 14th, 1984 to Kathleen and Evan. This is the second time Alice has been ordered to see a therapist, but the third time she has sought therapy. The first was when she was eight years old. She had been admitted to Abbott Northwestern Hospital on the night of August 18th, 1992 after police were called to the Barker home by Kathleen Barker. Upon being admitted, the medical team at Abbott Northwestern concluded it to be a case of domestic violence and child abuse. Evan Barker was arrested, and Kathleen and Alice were moved to a shelter. Alice was offered professional help for two years while living there.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 6

ALICE "Professional", keep in mind, is a subjective term.

JANE Okay. Moving on. At the age of 14, Alice was taken into police custody on the morning of September 24th, 1998. She had assaulted a teacher and under the discretion of the principal at the time, Henry Hobgood, the case was handed over to the police for investigation. Due to Alice's past history of abuse, it was required that she attend therapy for at least 6 months to clear the charge, along with 6 weeks of community service.

ALICE I can explain that. Turns out "assault" is also a subjective term.

JANE On the night of December 17th, 2001, Alice was admitted to Abbott Northwestern after she was found in Lakewood Cemetery by police personnel. She was ordered to seek out therapy by police in lieu of possible charges that could have been pressed against her. The next day, at around 4:00 pm, she was found passed out in her home. After examination, it was ruled an attempted suicide.

Beat. Well this is remarkably unhelpful.

ALICE What?

JANE So you're a traumatized kid. Easy. But, I figured that out the second you walked in the door.

ALICE Bullshit.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 7

JANE The cocky attitude, the "I don't give a shit" demeanor, the thick file... You couldn't be more stereotypical if you tried.

ALICE Is this supposed to be therapy?

JANE I'll get there.

ALICE You know I just tried to kill myself, right? I feel like this is not what you're supposed to say to someone who just tried killing themselves.

JANE You weren't trying to kill yourself.

ALICE Are you for real?

JANE Yes. I am.

ALICE I downed two containers of pills.

JANE You're still here, though.

ALICE Yeah, not for lack of trying!

JANE That's what I'm saying, though. You didn't try.

ALICE This is bullshit! I'm not going to sit here and listen to you summarize my entire life into a neat little box that you can check off. You don't know anything and this is another waste of my time.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 8

JANE Why'd you do it in the afternoon?

ALICE Excuse me?

JANE Why do it in the afternoon?

Beat. I'm assuming your mom works, right? Single mom, struggling to make ends meet. She has to have a day job. So, why not do it in the morning when she leaves for work?

ALICE Thanks for the tip, I'll try that next time.

JANE But seriously. Why wait until the afternoon when you know your mom is coming home? If you had done it in the morning, it would have been hours before she found you to bring you to the hospital. You'd be in the ground right now.

ALICE Morbid much?

JANE Funny coming from someone who just tried to kill herself.

ALICE I thought you said I wasn't trying to kill myself?

JANE Good point.

She pauses. Now, I want to talk about your family.

ALICE That was predictable.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 9

JANE Thank you, I try.

Short beat. We are going to do an activity of sorts.

ALICE Exciting.

JANE I want you to close your eyes. I'm going to ask you to think of a memory from your childhood, I will give you a couple of minutes to think of one, and then you're going to tell it to me as if you were telling it to one of your friends. Who's your best friend?

ALICE Fiona.

JANE Okay, that was easy. I figured you didn't have any friends.

Alice scoffs and relaxes more.

Jane laughs. I'm kidding. But, let's try it.

ALICE Sure.

JANE Close your eyes.

Alice closes her eyes. I want you to remember your least favorite Christmas. Think of why it was your least favorite. Think of who was there, what gifts you got, what the tree looked like. I can give you a couple--

ALICE Got it.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 10

JANE Okay, then. Tell it to me. Or, to Fiona rather.

ALICE Okay.

The light on stage right turns off, and a blue light illuminates stage left. There is a Christmas tree, presents underneath, a rug, and a rocking chair. Alice and the couch remain on stage, but can barely be seen without the spotlight.

A little girl enters stage left, running to the presents under the tree in pajamas.

A man follows her with a camcorder onto stage from stage left, and so does a woman. The woman is wearing a bathrobe, the man in flannel pajamas and moccasins. They stand next to the tree as the little girl stares in awe at all of the presents. The man continues to film her.

YOUNG ALICE There are so many!

EVAN Looks like someone was good this year.

YOUNG ALICE Are these all for me?

EVAN Every single one!

KATHLEEN I'm going to go make some coffee.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 11

Kathleen exits stage left, remaining expressionless.

Evan continues to film young Alice but turns to talk to Kathleen as she exits.

EVAN Okay, but hurry back so you can watch Alice open them. And make me some coffee, too.

YOUNG ALICE Can I open them now?

EVAN Go for it!

They freeze as Alice is reaching for a gift, the blue light turns off. The stage right light turns on immediately, illuminating Alice on the couch.

ALICE So, we had gotten through almost all of the gifts. I didn't really like any of them. There was absolutely nothing from my wish- list that I mailed to Santa. But, I didn't want to act ungrateful so I acted as excited as possible with each present. The guy got me socks and you would've thought it was a puppy.

JANE So is that why it was your least favorite?

ALICE Yeah. I mean there's a little more to it. The entire time I was opening these presents, my dad just sat in his chair, looking so pleased with himself. I would say things like, "Oh, it was just what I wanted!" You know, really playing up the grateful kid thing. And he would have this smug grin on his face like he was the best father in all of existence.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 12

Beat. I mean even back then I had it in my head that he didn't know me. I was young, too. Like, it was easier to play along when I could just tear him apart in my mind. I'd open a present and see that it was something stupid like a little pink purse and think to myself, "This shit head doesn't know the first thing about me." Well, I mean, I probably didn't know the word shit head.

Beat. But then, I had one more present left.

Light turns off, turns back on stage left (blue). This time, there is one present left under the tree, Evan is in the rocking chair looking very comfortable with a coffee cup in his hand.

EVAN One more left, kiddo. Make it last.

Young Alice tears open the present and it's a doll.

YOUNG ALICE It's a doll.

She looks extremely unimpressed.

Alice from the couch speaks this time, as the light on stage right turns on so that both sides of the stage with both scenes are illuminated.

ALICE Now I had put on a show for about an hour and I couldn't do it anymore. Especially with that doll. I hated dolls. They're so boring, I never got the point of them. Anyways, I realized I wasn't looking excited enough so I tried to recover, but he noticed.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 13

EVAN Do you like it?

YOUNG ALICE Yeah.

Evan stops rocking in the chair, he leans forward, analyzing Alice's reaction. He seems to make a decision about what is happening and leans back. He continues rocking in his chair and sips on his coffee. Young Alice sets the toy aside.

EVAN Now, don't lie to me. I can tell you don't like it. But, that's okay. You know what, I'm not surprised. Of course you don't like dolls. You like people. Why would you want to carry around a doll when you can have a conversation with someone?

He sets down his coffee beside the chair. He gets up and grabs young Alice. Now let's go outside. I think I saw some snow flurries.

He carries her off stage left. The light turns off, leaving just Alice on the couch.

Alice looks deep in thought.

JANE What are you thinking about?

ALICE How much that pissed me off.

JANE Why did that piss you off?

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 14

ALICE

She takes a deep breath and kind of scoffs, as if the answer is obvious. That asshole didn't get a single thing right that Christmas. Every present I opened was pure disappointment. Not that they weren't great presents, but because there was virtually nothing that I liked. But, that's not what made me mad. I kind of took pride in the fact that he completely screwed up. I already had a decent amount of pent up anger towards him. I had seen him hit my mom a couple of times. So, the fact that he had absolutely no idea how little he knew his daughter, the fact that he was smiling the entire time thinking he had nailed every single present, it made me happy. He was an idiot. That made me happy.

Brief pause. But then he said that he understood why I didn't like the doll. And he got it perfectly right. He pinpointed such an important part of my personality. Instantly, I realized that he did know me. As much as I could deny it or push it out of my mind, he was my dad. It was easy to have it in my head that this smug asshole was a terrible father who didn't care about his daughter and could hit his wife. But then he said that.

Beat. He left about two months later.

Beat.

Light turns off.

I.2 The Kitchen

The lights come on and there is a kitchen set up in stage left.

Jane walks through the door

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 15

with papers, files, and a large bag. She has come home from work.

She sets her things down on the table, and begins to spread out all of her files. She goes to the stove to put on some tea, goes to the fridge to take out an apple, and sits down at the center of the table. She takes out some different colored pens, a computer, and begins to go to work.

Shortly after, a man walks through the door carrying coffee.

She looks up at him briefly, smiles, and then goes back to furiously writing.

He takes off his winter jacket and hangs it up. He puts his coffee down on the corner of the kitchen table (where there is a little bit of room). He is visibly annoyed that there is no room on the table. He goes to open the fridge but hesitates.

DEVIN You didn't have a chance to pick up the milk, did you.

Said as a statement and less of a question.

Jane doesn't speak, she is now typing on her computer, but she stops typing for a second. She reaches down into her bag and lifts a bottle of milk. She holds it high towards

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 16

Devin but continues to type with one hand.

He scoffs and grabs the milk. He puts it in the fridge. He then sits down at one end of the table and sips his coffee, looking into space. He glances over at Jane a few times.

Jane continues to type. Devin looks uncomfortable.

DEVIN Jane. Can you look up for a second?

Jane stops typing, closes her laptop and pushes it aside. She folds her hands and looks at Devin.

JANE What's up?

DEVIN Well, do you wanna talk?

JANE I don't want to talk about that.

She gets up to get the tea kettle. Her back is to Devin as she pours herself a cup.

DEVIN I didn't mean about that.

Jane doesn't look at him but puts both hands on the kitchen counter, spread out from her sides. She is using the counter as support as she hangs her head.

After a few seconds, she turns around and leans backwards onto the counter. She crosses

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 17

her arms in front of her chest.

JANE Then what do you want to talk about, Devin?

DEVIN I don't know, anything. Whatever you want. Let's just have a conversation. We don't do that much anymore.

JANE Fine. But you talk, I'll listen.

DEVIN I'd rather hear from you.

JANE I don't have much to tell.

DEVIN Well, how's work going? Get any interesting cases?

JANE I signed a confidentiality agreement, Devin.

DEVIN

He laughs. C'mon! That never stopped you before?

She sits back down in her seat.

JANE Well now's as good a time as any to start being professional.

Devin puts his head in his hands.

Jane begins to take out her computer again.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 18

DEVIN Okay. Then, let's talk about something other than work.

JANE What else is there to talk about?

DEVIN Jane, you're not even trying right now. Just talk. About anything.

She scoffs.

JANE I would really rather just listen to you.

DEVIN Fine.

Beat. I ran into Kyle at the barber's.

JANE Kyle who?

DEVIN Kyle Murphy.

He chuckles. Do you know any other Kyle's?

JANE Yes.

DEVIN Anyways,I guess him and Cathy are trying to have a baby.

JANE That's nice.

DEVIN Yeah, it is.

Beat. We used to talk about having a baby.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 19

JANE Do you really think it's a good idea for us to have a baby?

DEVIN It used to be a good idea.

JANE Key word "used" to be.

She doesn't make eye contact with him, continues to type. He looks as if he gives up.

Devin gets up, and begins to grab his coat.

JANE Where are you going?

DEVIN Somewhere so I don't have to keep doing this.

Jane stands up.

JANE Doing what? Us?

Beat. Typical.

DEVIN JANE, I'm trying to figure this out! The more you refuse to speak to me or to even look at me, the further away we are getting from being us again.

She walks towards him.

JANE No, Devin. We stopped being us a long time ago.

She moves closer to him. You have no right to blame me.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 20

DEVIN (Angrily) I'm still with you, aren't I?

He moves closer to her.

Beat. I'm sorry, I didn't mean that.

He moves to her to touch her arm or display some type of affection. She immediately walks away. She goes to the table and packs up her stuff. Where are you going?

JANE Somewhere that I don't have to look at you anymore.

DEVIN Let me go.

JANE It's my turn to go, Devin.

She finishes packing up all of her things and begins to go to the door. She passes Devin but he grabs her arm to stop her. She freezes.

DEVIN No.

He speaks firmly. I'll go.

He exits through the door. With Jane still frozen.

She puts her things back down and sits at the table. She begins to cry, softly, while putting her head in her hands.

Lights go out on stage left, Jane exits. There is a bench

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 21

on stage left.

I.3 The Park Bench

Blue lights shine on stage right where Devin walks in from stage right wearing different clothes, glasses, and he is reading what looks to be a letter. He looks deep in thought as he reads over the multiple pages and paces in front of the bench.

He looks behind him, sees the bench, and sits down, still deep in revision of this letter.

Jane walks in stage right, also wearing different clothes and in a hurry, and stands in front of Devin.

JANE Hi, sorry I'm late. Baggage claim took a year and a half and then I couldn't get into the hotel...

Devin looks up and shuffles his papers in a hurry.

DEVIN It's okay!

He gets up to hug her, but he drops all of his papers. They both bend down to pick them up. Jane begins to read one of them.

JANE What is this?

Devin grabs it out of her hand, puts the papers in the "right" order, and then stands

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 22

up.

DEVIN I wrote this for you.

She laughs awkwardly.

JANE But, what is it?

DEVIN It's how I feel.

JANE Shit, are you breaking up with me?

DEVIN No, no, no! God, no.

JANE Okay, good.

DEVIN Just read it.

He smiles.

JANE Okay...

She looks confused, but takes the papers. She steps downstage and begins to read them silently.

Devin paces behind her.

JANE "...my heart is a ball of fire..."

She reads and then laughs. Devin laughs, too. You're such a failed English major.

DEVIN Shut up.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 23

(He laughs and says playfully.)

She keeps reading silently. While she is reading, Devin gets on one knee behind her and pulls out a ring (not in a box).

JANE It says to turn around. Why would I--

She turns around and sees Devin on one knee.

DEVIN Jane, I love you. So much.

JANE Holy--

He cuts her off.

DEVIN Let me finish!

JANE Alright, jeez!

DEVIN Well that's pretty much it but you didn't have to cut me off.

She laughs.

JANE I'm sorry!

DEVIN But seriously. I love you. I swear to God every single day when I walk to work I pass by couples waiting for the train, or the bus, or they're just in the park walking around. And I look at them, every day I see so many different people in love, and I feel sorry for them. I feel sorry for them because they don't know you. They don't me. They can't possibly understand how much I love you. (MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 24

DEVIN (cont'd) Nobody will ever understand it, except for you.

Jane puts her hands on Devin's face, cradling it affectionately.

JANE I love you.

DEVIN So, can I take that as a yes?

JANE You have to ask it!

DEVIN Oh, sorry. You're right. Will you marry me?

Jane hesitates. She backs away from Devin and walks downstage. Jane?

JANE Hold on, I'm thinking!

Devin gets up.

DEVIN I didn't really picture you having to think about it...

JANE There's just a couple of things.

Devin walks towards her. She turns to face him. Isn't it kind of weird that you're asking to marry me but I've never even met your parents? We're in Minneapolis, can't we take an hour out of the weekend to see them? I'm sure your high school buddies won't mind.

DEVIN I've told you. My mom... you know. She wouldn't even be able to hold a conversation with you, let alone remember you the next (MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 25

DEVIN (cont'd) day. And I don't expect my dad to come around anytime soon.

JANE I know, I know, I'm sorry. It just feels weird to me. You met my parents on the second date.

DEVIN Yeah, that was weird.

She laughs.

JANE Sorry! I'm really close with my parents. Also, what if someone catches me wearing the ring? How would I even explain that...

DEVIN Well to wear the ring you'd have to say yes...

JANE I just want to make sure we aren't rushing into this.

DEVIN Wanna know a secret?

JANE If you say you're a woman, I don't know if I'll be into that.

He laughs.

DEVIN No, no. I bought this ring 6 months ago.

JANE But, we've only been dating for 7...

DEVIN That's my point, Jane. I'm not rushing into anything. It's all up to you.

Beat as Jane smiles and leans in. She kisses him.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 26

They both smile.

Lights go out.

I.4 The Classroom

The lights come up and there is a classroom on stage right. The desks are filled with students and they all face upstage towards a blackboard. Devin is standing at the front. There is writing on the board, things like: Psych 101 and Devin Aker. As the lights come up, he appears to be erasing things from the center. His back is turned to the students.

DEVIN Okay, that's all I got for you guys today. Go and have good weekends.

He turns to the class. And I know it's the end of dry week, so please be careful. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm that guy telling college students to be careful drinking. But, seriously guys.

The students pack up their things and begin to exit. One male student goes up to Devin.

BEN So does this mean I won't see you at Theta Chi, Mr. Aker?

Devin laughs as he is packing up his things. Ben smirks.

DEVIN No chance in hell. Have a good weekend, Ben.

Everyone leaves stage right as

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 27

Devin continues to pack up his things. One girl remains. She slowly walks up towards Devin's desk.

CARLY Devin, can we talk.

DEVIN No, Carly.

CARLY Are you kidding me?

DEVIN Only if it's about the paper.

He doesn't look at her and continues to clean up/pack up his desk.

CARLY Really, Devin?

He looks up at her.

DEVIN Really.

CARLY Fine. We can talk about the paper. How many pages is it supposed to be again? Oh, also, leave your wife.

DEVIN Jesus, Carly. Lower your voice please.

CARLY No. I'm pissed off.

DEVIN Join the club.

She takes a step forward, closer to Devin. She puts a hand on the desk.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 28

CARLY What happened? It seemed like everything changed in a matter of one week.

She reaches down to place her hand on top of his, affectionately.

DEVIN I love my wife.

He rips his hand away.

CARLY Doesn't mean you can't love me, too.

DEVIN You're naive, Carly.

CARLY And you're mean.

DEVIN You're delusional.

CARLY I'm delusional?! Pretty sure I have a good grasp on how much of an ass you are.

DEVIN (Very angry now) What did you expect? Haven't you seen the movies? Haven't you read the books? This isn't supposed to work out! We aren't supposed to be together.

She backs away, visibly hurt. You need to get over it.

CARLY Yeah, because it's that easy. Don't act like I'm insane for feeling the way I do. I know you feel the same, Devin.

Beat.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 29

DEVIN Get over me.

Long beat.

CARLY Will do.

She grabs her things and runs out. She exits stage left.

Devin watches her leave, almost longingly. He then punches the desk and pauses. He erases the blackboard, grabs his things and begins to walk out. Just before exiting stage left and just before he is no longer in the light on stage right, he looks back at the classroom. He pauses, but then continues to walk off stage left quickly.

The light goes out on the classroom.

I.5 The Campus

A blue light shines on stage left as Carly comes strolling in (wearing different clothes) from off stage left, laughing. She has books in her hands. It's almost as if she is going to walk all the way across stage, but before exiting the light, Devin comes running in, smiling.

DEVIN Hey, Carly, can you wait for a second?

CARLY Yeah, sure. What's up Mr. Aker?

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 30

DEVIN You know how you struggled on the last paper?

CARLY Yes, I vividly remember.

They laugh.

DEVIN I was thinking, if you wanted some extra help, we could meet at the cafe on Grove tomorrow and work through my edits.

She smiles.

CARLY That would be great.

DEVIN Awesome.

He smiles and kind of stands there awkwardly.

CARLY Is there something else?

DEVIN Oh, no. Sorry.

CARLY It's okay. I'm used to men being obsessed with me.

His smile instantly fades.

DEVIN What?

CARLY Well, it's pretty obvious, Mr. Aker.

DEVIN I'm just trying to offer you a way to bring up your grade...

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 31

CARLY You're telling me! "Extra help"... c'mon, I'm not a child.

DEVIN That is not at all what I was...

CARLY It's fine. Don't worry about it. I'll see you tomorrow.

She turns to leave.

DEVIN Wait, wait... Maybe we shouldn't meet.

She turns back to him, bursting out in laughter.

CARLY C'mon, I'm kidding! Obviously you're just trying to help. Lighten up, Mr. Aker!

He laughs, sheepishly.

DEVIN Jesus, Carly. You gotta watch how you speak to people. Especially your professors. What if I was, Dr. Edwards? You know he would go right to the administration with a comment like that!

He laughs and so does she.

CARLY Well, good thing you're not Dr. Edwards, then.

DEVIN Yeah, good thing.

They smile and there is a beat. Anyways, I'll let you get back to... whatever it is you were doing.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 32

CARLY I was just going to head to the cafe. Are you busy? I did have a couple of questions I wanted to ask.

DEVIN No, I'm not busy.

CARLY Great.

They start to walk off stage right and then Devin stops in his tracks.

DEVIN Wait--I totally forgot. My wife is planning dinner tonight, I should probably get home.

CARLY Okay, no worries. I can email you the questions. See you tomorrow.

She starts to walk off stage right and then turns around. And thanks for the offer, I really appreciate it. (She says this sincerely.)

DEVIN Anytime.

He smiles and exits stage left. Carly stands there, facing the audience while she hesitates to continue walking. She's smiling. Then she turns and exits stage right.

Lights go out.

I.6 The Therapist's Couch

The lights come on, a light shining on stage right where Alice is sitting on the

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 33

therapist's couch, but in different clothes than the first time. There is also a backpack propped up against the couch. As soon as the lights come on, she begins speaking. Jane is offstage, unseen.

ALICE I met Fiona through the therapy group at Abbott Northwestern last year. Her parents had died a few years back and she had tried to kill herself. They stuck her in the same group I was, the "troubled teens". It was all a bunch of bullshit, though. The guy who lead the group was a quack who looked like he collected stuffed animals that he called his "friends". You know what I mean?

JANE He looked crazy, himself?

ALICE Oh, definitely. Wait, I'm not crazy though.

JANE Mhm. Go on.

Alice scoffs.

ALICE Anyways, we sat next to each other a few times. At first she didn't talk much. I talk a lot. I wasn't a fan of talking about all the crap that's gone wrong in my life, but I love to tell stories.

JANE I can see that.

ALICE Yeah. But after a couple of sessions, I stopped talking because this weirdo would try to analyze me and my stories. And I was just like, I'm trying to liven this place up a bit, doesn't mean I have ulterior motives (MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 34

ALICE (cont'd) brought about by "early childhood abuse."

She uses air quotes. Everyone in your profession thinks they know every facet of my life. You guys are all a bunch of know-it-alls but you don't know shit most of the time.

JANE Oh and you know everything there is to know about me and my profession?

Beat.

ALICE Good point. Anyways, back to my story. So I stopped talking in the group after a couple of sessions. That's when me and Fiona started talking because she never talked. We would whisper to each other while everyone meditated or some crap. She made me laugh a lot.

JANE Had you had a best friend before this?

ALICE Of course, I did. What kind of a question is that, Jane? I'm not a loser.

JANE I'm just asking!

Alice laughs.

ALICE I have had plenty of friends in my lifetime. But, this was different. I thought about her all the time and would actually start to want to go to the sessions. Every time I saw her I would smile like an idiot. She made me really happy.

JANE Were you in love with her?

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 35

ALICE Definitely. I didn't even know I was a lesbian. I had boyfriends before.

JANE Maybe you're bisexual?

ALICE Maybe. I don't know.

Long beat.

JANE So what happened next?

ALICE Well I could tell she was in love with me, too.

JANE How could you tell?

ALICE I could just feel it. I don't know how to explain it. Aren't you married?

Beat.

JANE Yes, I am.

ALICE So you know what it's like.

JANE Sure.

ALICE Yeah. So, we started seeing each other a lot. You know, outside of the sessions. Even though technically they don't allow that. But we had to see each other. We would meet up at different places. She had a car so it was easy for us to see each other.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 36

JANE Well that's nice.

ALICE Yeah, it was really nice. For the first couple of months.

JANE Then what happened?

ALICE She got really depressed again. I thought it was my fault, but she told me it wasn't.

JANE Did she try and get help?

ALICE She had me, I always would help her. And she had been taking antidepressants for years. Or so I thought. I found out she stopped taking them. I kind of freaked out at her.

JANE Why?

ALICE Well, I could see her falling apart. And she was so amazing when we first started dating. Like you should have seen this girl. She reminded me how amazing living could be. I wanted her to go back to that. It's hard being with someone who is incapable of being happy.

Beat. But she had the antidote. And yet, she refused to take it.

JANE This must have taken a toll on you.

ALICE Yeah. She was really depressed. Then she stopped calling. She wouldn't visit as much. I saw it coming.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 37

JANE Was she going to break up with you?

ALICE No.

JANE Then what did you see coming?

Long beat.

ALICE Her killing herself.

Another long beat as Alice looks off into space. she begins to cry softly.

JANE I'm so sorry, Alice.

ALICE So am I.

She hangs her head in her hands.

I.7 The Field

A blue light shines on stage left. A night sky of stars is in the background. There is a street sign upstage on stage left. The sound of a car being locked is heard.

A girl (Fiona) walks out into the light with a blanket and begins to spread it out/set it in the center of stage left. She gently unfolds it and rubs out the wrinkles. She then sits on the blanket, leaving space for another person. She looks up as if to look at the stars.

Alice walks on from stage left

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 38

and sits next to the girl on the blanket. Alice stares at the girl, lovingly, but the girl continues to watch the stars. Alice reaches out and grabs the girl's hand, putting it in her lap and holding it affectionately. The girl looks over at Alice and smiles. Alice smiles back.

FIONA This was my favorite place growing up.

Alice looks up at the stars.

ALICE You can see the stars so clearly out here.

FIONA It's beautiful.

Fiona looks up at the stars and smiles. Alice looks at Fiona lovingly.

Long beat.

ALICE I love you.

Fiona smiles and looks down at the blanket. She then looks at Alice who is awaiting her reply. Fiona takes Alice's face in her hands.

FIONA I know.

They both smile. They kiss.

Lights go out.

I.8 The Kitchen

The lights go up on stage left and the kitchen is there.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 39

Jane is in a bathrobe, sipping a cup of tea at the kitchen table.

Devin enters through the door, very quietly, and turns to shut it, with his back to Jane. As he closes it, he turns back around and notices Jane. He looks a little startled, but continues to take off his jacket and hang it up. He looks defeated.

Jane pushes aside her tea and stands up.

JANE Were you with her?

DEVIN No, Jane. Are you going to ask me that every time I come through the door?

JANE When you come home at 3 in the morning, sneaking in like a kid in high school, yes.

Devin scoffs and goes to open the fridge.

Jane steps forward, closer to him.

JANE I'm not this girl, Devin.

Devin turns around and walks towards her.

DEVIN What do you mean?

JANE I've never been this girl. The girl that is suspicious of everything you do, the girl that worries whenever you're not next to me.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 40

Beat. Devin, I can't sleep. I can't move without thinking about it. Every goddamn day and every goddamn night I'm trapped in my mind with you and her. I feel like someone is choking me and won't let go.

DEVIN I know. I'm sorry.

JANE Yeah, I know you're sorry. I knew you were sorry when you told me. I knew it when you hugged me as I cried. Devin--I know you're sorry but it doesn't automatically fix--

DEVIN I know! You think I don't know that? You think I like watching you hate me? Every time I come into the house it feels like there is this cloud that surrounds me. You can be upstairs and I can still feel it.

JANE Well I'm sorry that my pain is inconvenient.

DEVIN Inconvenient?! Jane, it's killing me.

He grabs her shoulders but not in a rough way. He just wants her to understand his pain. I can't look at you anymore without feeling it. Don't think your pain is invisible. It's consuming me, Jane. Every step, every breath, every thought; I can feel it. It's killing me.

She begins to cry softly as she speaks.

JANE You know what kills me? The thought of you kissing her. I can't get that stupid image out of my head.

Devin releases her. He turns

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 41

around and walks away from her as if to pace. I can close my eyes and I see us when we were happy. I see you kissing me. I feel how it used to feel. And then I see her. I'm not in those memories anymore. She's there, with you.

Jane turns away from Devin. Devin turns back to her.

DEVIN I love you so much.

JANE Is that what you told her, too?

Beat as he hangs his head, not answering her. I can remember when I was her. The one, sleeping with her professor. I would've believed anything you'd told me. And now, I'm here. I'm the one on the outside. But, this time, it looks way more twisted.

DEVIN It wasn't like that.

JANE Wasn't it, though? Give me one reason how this is any different than how we started.

Beat. I'll tell you. The only difference is that I'm right here and she's there. With you. I miss how easy it was being where she is.

She turns to look at him. She pauses, staring at him. Then she walks to him and strokes his cheek with one hand. She then, very slowly, goes into kiss him. They begin to kiss. Jane pulls away, and looks at him. Devin pulls her into a hug. They hug tightly.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 42

Lights out.

I.9 Jane's Class

A blue light illuminates stage right.

There is a roundtable with 5 chairs spread out downstage, there are none on the audience side. At the center, Devin (the professor) is shuffling papers. There are two chairs to the left of him, two to the right. They are all filled with students. Jane is in the far most right chair. She is wearing the engagement ring.

DEVIN Okay, now that I have all of your dissertations, my role as your advisor is technically done. Thank God.

Everyone laughs. But before you go, I'd like to have one more discussion.

They groan. Oh, shut it. It's my duty to leave you guys better than when I met you. So, if it hasn't happened yet, I have one more shot.

A student raises their hand. For the last time, Henry, you don't have to raise your hand when we have our sessions. We are all adults here.

STUDENT 1 Sorry.

He laughs. I was just wondering if this counted towards our grade.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 43

DEVIN No, chill. I just want you guys to leave here thinking about some things. I'm gonna tell you about this patient I had one time when I was first starting out.

Jane starts to pay attention. I had this boy come see me on a weekly basis. He was about 16 and his parents had admitted him about a month before I met him. He didn't talk to anyone at the hospital the entire month he had been there. He would sleep all day, barely eat, and keep to himself. It was an intimidating case to have at twenty-five, fresh off grad school.

JANE What was his name?

DEVIN Jonathan. Now, his parents would visit him every single day. They would also call me every week to ask how he was doing. Every time they would walk into the hospital, they looked more worried than the day before. It was honestly painful to watch.

STUDENT 2 Why was he admitted in the first place?

DEVIN He had stolen his father's car one night and drove it into a telephone pole. He was admitted and questioned, but no charges were pressed. But, it wasn't just a teenage boy being a teenage boy, rebelling. Turns out he had taken the car every night for 4 months. He wouldn't do anything except drive around. When they asked him why he would do it, he smirked and responded with: "I was trying to work up the courage to drive into a telephone pole."

Some of the students look shocked, some chuckle. The medical team convinced his parents that he should be admitted full-time to utilize (MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 44

(cont'd) the psychological services we had at the time. So, that's what they did.

JANE Why would he want to hurt himself?

DEVIN I'm getting there, Jane.

JANE Sorry.

DEVIN So, we started talking about school and he would always mention this girl, LouLou. I kept asking about her and one day he told me.

A blue light illuminates stage left. There is a boy standing there.

JONATHAN I remember exactly when it changed. Right when I didn’t expect it, too, which of course is how it usually goes. It had been scattered conversations, occasional jokes directed my way--I didn’t think of her too much. But then I did. Then I thought of her more and more until she was all I thought about. And it started when she smiled. Of course I had seen her smile before but this time it kind of sparked something. I guess it was because I never felt like she smiled at me before, but then, she had. We were just having a conversation and yet she was looking at me more than she ever did. And I was doing the same. That’s when it changed.

A year can change a lot of things but that day hasn’t changed in my mind. While the idea of destiny and fate have always seemed like wishful thinking to me, I began to believe in a reversed concept. Instead of people being predetermined to show up and dramatically change the course of your life, I believe that who you encounter become a part of you. It’s random. It ensures that not only is each (MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 45

JONATHAN (cont'd) person’s existence an existence never before fathomable, but also that the course of one person’s life is formed in a way that could never before have been predicted. I remember that day as clear as yesterday but I can’t for the life of me remember who I was. She was my first everything. But most importantly, she was the first person to change me. And then she stopped looking at me.

She moved on. It killed me. There was nothing left in me so there was no purpose for me. There still isn't.

Light turns off on stage left. Jonathan exits.

The students are silent, deep in thought.

HENRY That's terrible.

DEVIN But is it?

STUDENT 3 What do you mean? (Angrily) This kid is 16 years old and wanted to land himself in the hospital because of a girl.

DEVIN But isn't that also the beauty of it? My job is to return mental stability. So, yes, the self harm aspect was concerning. But I could fix that. What amazed me is how deeply he felt this love. He was 16 years old and he felt something most of us spend our entire lives craving.

Beat. Now some professionals would tell him what he felt was unhealthy. That he must change himself to feel whole again. But I disagree. I can teach you guys or my patients how to (MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 46

(cont'd) cope. I can teach you strategies to deal with depression or anxiety. But I can't teach you or anyone how to feel love. Nor would I ever want to.

He stands up and begins to pack his bag. You are free to go.

They exit slowly. Jane remains in the classroom and approaches Devin.

JANE Was this in Michigan?

He's still packing up his things.

DEVIN Was what in Michigan?

JANE This boy.

DEVIN Oh, yeah. He lived in this tiny town called Charlevoix, way up north. You probably haven't heard of it.

JANE I grew up there.

He stops moving and pays more attention.

DEVIN Oh.

Beat. I thought you grew up in Detroit?

JANE We moved there after my sophomore year in high school. I usually tell people I grew up there, it's just easier.

Beat.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 47

And how many years ago was this?

DEVIN Well, it was when I was first starting out. So, probably like... six? I don't know, I was twenty-five.

Jane sits back down in her seat. Are you okay?

JANE Devin, I knew him.

DEVIN Jonathan?

He walks towards her.

JANE Yes.

DEVIN Oh. That's strange. Did you go to high school together?

JANE Yeah, but...

DEVIN What is it?

JANE I'm her. I'm the girl.

DEVIN That doesn't make sense... no, see, her name was LouLou. I remember it like it was yesterday.

JANE That's what Jonathan called me.

Beat. He always wanted to be in a rock band and he was obsessed with the Velvet Underground. You know, the band from the 60s?

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 48

Devin sits down next to her.

DEVIN Yes, I know them.

JANE He was especially obsessed with the lead singer, Lou Reed. He used to always sing "Sweet Jane" to me and when I told him to stop because I hated my name, he started calling me LouLou, after Lou Reed.

DEVIN Oh.

JANE Yeah.

Beat. But, I never knew... I mean... I didn't even really see him after we broke up. I moved to Detroit and kind of just lost touch. I had no idea that... I can't believe I did that to him.

DEVIN You can't blame yourself.

JANE I was stupid and sixteen years old! I didn't know I meant that much to him.

DEVIN Jane, it's okay. He got a lot better.

He holds her hands. And you may be, but I'm not surprised you meant that much to him. You're incredible.

They go in for a kiss.

JANE We shouldn't. Not here, at least. I'll see you later, okay?

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 49

DEVIN Sure. Are you gonna be alright?

Jane smiles.

JANE Yeah. See ya.

She exits.

Lights out.

I.10 Past Alice and Fiona

A blue light shines on stage left. Music is playing in the background as Alice and Fiona are slow dancing on the blanket. The street sign is there and so are the stars. They are laughing and smiling.

Light goes out but they remain there, frozen. The music continues to play.

I.11 Past Jane and Devin

A blue light shines on stage right. Jane is in a wedding dress, Devin is in a tux. They are slow dancing. Similar to Alice and Fiona but they are not smiling and laughing. But they look at each other lovingly.

I.12 Past Alice and Fiona, Jane and Devin

The blue light shines on stage left as the light on stage right remains on. The music has not stopped. Both couples are slow dancing, Alice and Fiona acting a little more silly, as they are teenagers.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 50

The light goes off on stage right, Jane and Devin exit.

Alice and Fiona kiss. The light turns out. The stage is dark and the music fades out. After the music fades all the way out, Jane's voice is heard from offstage. A light shines on stage right. The couch is there but Alice is not. She enters from stage right as Jane begins to speak.

JANE Hi, Alice. Have a seat.

Alice sits, quietly. Let's go from where we left off last week. We were talking about Fiona.

ALICE Okay.

JANE Now, I want to ask something... something I'm confused about from your file.

ALICE Go ahead.

JANE Why did the police find you in the cemetery?

Long beat.

ALICE I wanted to talk to her.

JANE Fiona?

ALICE Yes.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 51

JANE So why did they arrest you?

Long beat.

ALICE Well, it's against the law to dig people up.

Beat.

JANE You were trying to...um... remove her body? From her grave?

ALICE Yes. I had to see her.

Beat. But she didn't look the same.

The music fades back in. The song finishes with Alice still on the couch, in the light. She looks uncomfortable.

Lights out.

ACT II

II.1 Therapist's Room

The scene opens up with a light on stage right. The therapist's couch is there, but Alice is not there yet. Jane walks on from stage left with papers in her hands. She sits on the right side of the couch and begins to write on the papers.

All of a sudden, Alice walks in.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 52

ALICE Oh, sorry. The door was open.

Jane shuffles her papers, trying to get them in order. She begins to stand up.

JANE Oh! Don't worry. I was just doing some...

She looks down at the papers with a sense of sadness. Um, work.

Beat. Sorry, I'll move. Have a seat.

ALICE You can stay there if you want. I don't mind.

JANE Okay. Might as well.

Jane takes a seat and so does Alice. So, let's begin.

They kind of look at each other awkwardly.

ALICE Am I going to have to ask myself questions?

JANE No, no, sorry. I'm running on very low energy today, so I apologize.

ALICE That's okay. Why?

JANE Why what?

ALICE Why are you running on low energy.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 53

JANE Oh, um... we aren't supposed to talk about me. It's about you.

ALICE I've spent the past 6 weeks talking your ear off, I think we can afford to spend 5 minutes on you.

It is clear that they've bonded.

JANE It's really, really complicated.

ALICE Yeah, I think it's safe to say that I can handle complicated.

JANE My husband and I are... I would say we are going through a rough patch but it feels like a mountain we're not going to be able to get over.

ALICE But, you love him?

JANE Yes. Well... Everything is blurry right now.

Beat as she begins to get up off the couch and grab her things. This is so unprofessional.

Alice grabs her hand to stop her.

ALICE If there is any part of you that still loves him, you have to try. You have to.

JANE I am sick of people telling me that, though. It's all about love. Love fixes everything, love heals all wounds. It doesn't fix that

(MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 54

JANE (cont'd) pit living inside me, gnawing at my stomach.

She paces in front of the couch. Why do we teach people that love is the be all end all? That it's the light at the end of the tunnel? I hate to spoil the world for you, Alice, but it's not. It's a temporary high that steals you away from your problems. Then all you get is more problems until your life is shittier than before and all you're left with is pain.

ALICE I disagree.

JANE Well, of course you would.

ALICE What? Is that not surprising?

JANE No, you're young.

Alice stands up.

ALICE So are you.

Beat. And I had to watch the person she loved get put in the ground.

Beat. Jane looks uncomfortable, Alice stays confident. She's trying to get through to Jane but at the same time she's lost in the sadness of her memories. You will never know the feeling of seeing the person you thought you were going to spend the rest of you life with look so cold, so lost. Or when they close the casket for the last time and you want to scream at them to stop. Or when they lower the body into the ground, knowing you will never see their face (MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 55

(cont'd) again.

Beat. Look, I'm not trying to have you pity me. But all I'm saying is, if there's anything in your body telling you to try, you have to try. Because there's no amount of logic that can help you overcome regret.

Beat.

JANE I--I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything, please don't... I'm sorry.

ALICE We're all human. We've all got marbles in our heads.

They smile at each other.

Lights out.

II.2 The Classroom

Lights come up and the classroom is on stage right. Devin is typing on his computer but having trouble focusing.

Carly storms in from stage left.

CARLY We need to talk.

Devin closes his laptop and stands up to face her. And not just you talking down to me and me taking it.

DEVIN I'm sorry if I offended you, Carly, but I meant what I said.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 56

CARLY See, I don't believe that, Devin. At all. I think you got scared.

DEVIN Scared?

He begins to pack up his things, almost ignoring her.

CARLY Yeah, scared. You're scared of your wife finding out. Because we both know that if she does find out, that you'll actually have to be a man and own up to it. Then you'll have no reason to keep denying that this is what you want.

Devin stops packing up his things and looks off, not making eye contact with Carly.

Beat.

DEVIN I'm not scared. I already told her.

Beat as she looks taken aback. He is staring her down. So, your theory is a little bit off. Guess you don't know me as well as you presume to.

CARLY Oh, give me a break. Still doesn't really change it.

DEVIN Excuse me?

CARLY You're still a coward.

She walks towards him slowly and seductively as she speaks. She's using the one thing that held their relationship together: sex.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 57

I'm sure you didn't tell her that you love me. I bet you didn't tell her how long you wanted to kiss me before you finally did.

She pushes his hair behind his ear, but not affectionately so to speak. More, tantalizing. You don't have the balls to admit you love me. Not to her, not to yourself, and not to anyone else. You're a coward.

Devin has looked more and more uncomfortable.

He grabs her arm (which is still on his face) forcefully, and pauses. He pulls her into a kiss, aggressively.

She welcomes it.

He stops after a couple of seconds and pushes away from her.

DEVIN No.

He turns away from her. I'm sorry.

Beat.

CARLY Sorry doesn't come close to being enough.

DEVIN I know, but I don't think there's anything else I can say to make this better.

CARLY Why won't you be with me? (She says this in a completely different tone than before, almost crying)

He turns to look at her. And don't just say it's because you made a (MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 58

(cont'd) vow. That didn't stop you before so don't pretend you're just now considering it.

DEVIN I can't give you an answer that you're gonna be satisfied with.

Beat. He goes to take her hand. You're amazing.

CARLY Don't...

DEVIN Please believe me when I say that.

CARLY Stop...

DEVIN And I do want you. But...I'm just not who you're supposed to end up with.

CARLY How do you know that? I don't believe in fate or true love or any of that crap. I want to be with you now. And I know you want the same thing. Let yourself be happy, Devin.

She tries to stroke his cheek. He pushes her hand away. Let yourself.

DEVIN Nothing I say is going to make you feel better. I can tell you that it's complicated. Or that I don't love you. But it doesn't matter. I've made up my mind and I'm choosing her.

Long beat.

CARLY Okay. I'm not going to keep being pathetic--

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 59

DEVIN You're not...

CARLY If you ever--

DEVIN I won't.

Beat. And trust me, you don't want me to.

She steps forward, hesitantly, and kisses him, slow and gentle.

He breaks away and kisses her on the forehead. Their faces remain close.

CARLY I guess I should switch out of Psych?

They both chuckle.

DEVIN Finish out the semester. You're doing really well.

CARLY Are we sure that has to do with my intelligence?

Devin smiles and hangs his head.

DEVIN Yes. You're incredibly smart. Don't let anyone tell you differently.

CARLY Will do.

She smiles and leaves.

Devin packs up his things and walks off stage right.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 60

Lights out.

II.3 The Campus

Light shines on stage left as Carly is clutching books in her hands and she is walking across the stage from stage left to stage right. She almost exits the light when someone stops her.

JONATHAN Um, excuse me?

He catches up to her and Carly turns around. Do you think you can point me in the direction of the Engineering building?

CARLY Um, we don't have an engineering building.

JONATHAN Wow, I'm stupid. What does "ENG" stand for then?

He points to his papers and she looks down at them.

CARLY That stands for English.

She chuckles and he looks embarrassed. I'm assuming you haven't been here long.

JONATHAN No, I'm starting tomorrow. I'm going to be teaching Music Theory. I just have to pick up some books for my office and then I'll be pretty much settled in. I'm Jonathan. Jonathan Harris.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 61

CARLY Nice to meet you, Jonathan. I'm Carly.

They shake hands. Why'd you move to Minneapolis?

JONATHAN A fresh start.

CARLY Sounds what I need right about now.

Beat. So, if you're headed to the English department, I'm on my way there. I'd be happy to take you.

JONATHAN Thanks! I'd really appreciate that. You're sweet.

He smiles.

She laughs.

CARLY And so it begins.

JONATHAN So what begins?

CARLY You're gonna fall in love with me.

JONATHAN No, I'm not!

CARLY No, trust me, you will. Follow me, let's get you those books.

She begins to walk off stage right, Carly is smiling.

Jonathan stops in his tracks.

JONATHAN You know what, I'm all set. I think I've got (MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 62

(cont'd) this one.

He smiles.

CARLY Okay, suit yourself. Nice meeting you.

JONATHAN You as well.

They exit opposite directions.

Lights out.

II.4 The Kitchen

Lights up and the kitchen is on stage left. Devin is sitting at the table with papers.

Jane walks in.

JANE Hi.

DEVIN Hi.

Jane goes to take off her jacket and put down her things.

JANE How was your day?

She goes to sit down at the table but far away from Devin.

DEVIN It was fine. Nothing special.

JANE Same.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 63

Beat.

DEVIN I found these.

He lifts up the papers.

JANE Are those the divorce papers?

DEVIN Yes.

JANE Do you want me to explain why--

DEVIN Do you want to get a divorce?

His tone isn't mad, necessarily. He's scared.

JANE I don't know.

Beat. I have. In certain moments.

DEVIN I get that.

JANE Yeah. I had my lawyer send over the papers in one of those moments. When I actually looked at them, it didn't feel as simple.

DEVIN I would hope not.

JANE Devin, I just don't know how to get past this.

Beat. She stands up. I've spent years studying how to handle these situations with people. It's my job. And yet, right now, nothing seems that easy. It all feels really, really hard. And sad. And (MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 64

(cont'd) frustrating.

DEVIN I just want you to be happy. And I want you to be with me but primarily the first thing.

JANE And I only want the same for you. But what happens if we do get a divorce. I'm just terrified we are going to regret it! I can't go through the rest of my life regretting this.

He stands up.

DEVIN I don't know the right answer. To be honest, a year ago I couldn't even imagine this being a conversation we would ever need to have.

JANE I know.

DEVIN All I know is that I love you. I never stopped and I never will. And I want to be with you. Whatever mountains we have to climb, I'm there.

JANE I just don't know if it's enough anymore.

DEVIN What isn't enough?

JANE Everything. Love. Promises.

Beat. You.

DEVIN It used to be enough.

JANE It used to be enough for you, too.

Beat.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 65

I do love you. I know I haven't said it in a while, but that's just because it's really hard to get the words out.

DEVIN I know you do, you don't have to say it.

Beat.

JANE Can we get through this?

She steps towards him.

DEVIN I don't know, Jane. I wish I did.

Beat. I'm all in.

He strokes her cheek. It's up to you.

Lights out.

II.5 Therapist's Room

Lights up, the couch is on stage right.

Alice rushes in and sits down, very excitedly. She's on her phone, though, laughing and not paying too much attention to where she is. She's smiling from ear to ear. Jane waits to speak until she's sat down and put her phone away, which should be over 30 seconds.

JANE Ready?

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 66

ALICE Oh, yeah. Sorry.

JANE No, no, it's fine. I'm just curious as to what you're so smiley about.

Alice smiles bigger and chuckles.

ALICE I met someone.

JANE Like a someone, someone? (She says suggestively.)

ALICE Yes. Someone I like a lot.

Alice doesn't stop smiling.

JANE Interesting. Who is this clearly hilarious person and how did you meet them?

ALICE Her name is Caroline.

JANE Nice, nice. And how did you two meet?

ALICE Well, I had stopped going to the therapy group for a while. It was too hard with Fiona not being there. But, last week I decided to go, on a whim. And she had started going when I wasn't there.

JANE And you two hit it off?

ALICE Yes, but I mean, it's more than that.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 67

JANE What do you mean?

ALICE Well, we didn't just hit it off. It was amazing.

Beat as she smile even bigger (she should have been smiling this whole time).

JANE Well go on, what do you mean?

ALICE I had kind of lost faith. You know, in finding someone else. But, man, this was... intense.

Beat. Like, I didn't think I would ever be able to connect with someone again. I thought I had my chance and I lost it.

I have all of these early memories of me and Fiona. And we would just laugh all of the time. And every time she would laugh, or smile, I just couldn't stop looking at her. It was like there was this little person jumping on my heart shouting, "You're in love! You're in love!" I know that's stupid, but it's the best way I can describe it.

Beat. And then, while that didn't go away, it changed. It was harder and those moments were fewer and fewer. And then she was gone. And I never thought I would feel that again.

She smiles and looks off, lost in happiness. Then she looks directly into the audience as if to look at Jane. It's not that I've just gone and replaced Fiona, it's not like that. And I'm not in love or anything. Not yet, at least. But for the first time in a long time, it's not a (MORE) (CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 68

(cont'd) total fantasy. It's not unrealistic.

She looks off in thought. When she looks back at the audience after a long beat, she is almost in tears. And just having that hope makes getting out of bed so much easier.

Long beat.

Alice kind of gathers herself. Well I'm guessing by your lack of response, you think I'm crazy. Oh, wait, you already think that.

Jane laughs.

JANE No. I'm just... I'm happy for you. (She says this with sadness.)

ALICE Well thank you. I'm happy for me too.

She smiles.

Lights out.

II.6 The Piano

Blue lights come up on stage left and there is a piano.

Devin is there, practicing some song from a "Teach Yourself To Play Piano" book. He is struggling, but seems very focused.

Jane walks in from stage left, carrying two cups of coffee. She comes from behind Devin and places one cup on the piano in front of him. She holds the other one in her hand.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 69

She begins to massage his neck and places the other coffee cup next to the one on the piano. She uses both hands to massage his neck, he smiles. She kisses his neck.

DEVIN (He says this playfully, smiling and almost laughing.) If you want to be married to a talented musician, you really aren't helping.

Jane stops and sits down next to him.

JANE Fine, if you insist.

DEVIN All I need is an hour, I promise.

JANE I promise I only need an hour, too.

Devin laughs and Jane smiles.

DEVIN You're gonna be the death of me.

JANE Perfect, then I get all of your money.

They laugh.

DEVIN We both know you make more money than me, so there's no need to murder me.

JANE That's what you think. Maybe I have some ulterior motives you don't know about.

DEVIN Ohhh... right. I forgot you were evil.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 70

JANE Yeah, good choice marrying me.

They laugh.

Devin's looking at her lovingly, then he gets up and steps out from the piano. He holds out his hand to Jane.

DEVIN C'mon.

JANE You have to practice!

DEVIN I can practice later.

JANE Wow, so what part convinced you, when I told you I was going to murder you or when you said I was evil?

DEVIN All of it.

He smiles, grabs her hands and lifts her up so they're both standing in front of each other. They begin to sway with no music.

JANE Hey. Remember when we were on the train a month after we started dating?

He smiles.

DEVIN Yes.

JANE And it started to move and I almost fell on my face.

He laughs.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 71

DEVIN Wasn't the first time and definitely won't be the last.

JANE And you grabbed me around the waist?

He grabs her waist and pulls her tighter.

DEVIN Like this?

JANE Yes.

She chuckles. That's when it happened.

DEVIN When what happened?

JANE When I fell in love with you.

He smiles and cradles her face affectionately.

DEVIN I'm lucky to have been able to love you for as long as I have.

They smile and continue to sway. Wait, maybe I should kill you and take your money!

She laughs.

JANE You're an interesting man, Devin Aker.

DEVIN Kiss me.

They're both smiling. She wraps her arms around him and kisses him.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 72

He lifts her up and carries her off stage left while she's laughing.

Lights out on stage left.

II.7 The Park Bench (Alice and Fiona)

Blue lights comes up on stage right and the bench from Jane/ Devin's proposal is there.

Alice comes running onto stage from stage right, dragging Fiona. They're wearing summer clothes. They're smiling and laughing.

Alice stops and Fiona looks around.

FIONA Where are we?

ALICE This was my favorite place growing up.

Fiona looks at her and smiles. She sees the bench and goes to sit on it.

Alice follows her and sits down next to her.

Fiona looks at her and smiles lovingly. Alice does the same.

FIONA How am I so lucky?

ALICE I don't know, I was thinking the same thing.

FIONA You're too good to me.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 73

ALICE Don't worry, you deserve it.

They smile.

FIONA So, you used to come here with your parents?

ALICE Never my dad. But my mom and I would come here. It was her favorite place, too.

FIONA It's so pretty here.

ALICE I know.

She looks out into the audience. I come here and everything seems easy.

Beat. You know what I mean?

FIONA Yes.

Long beat.

ALICE Anyways, we don't have to stay long.

Fiona grabs her hand.

FIONA We can stay as long as you want.

Beat.

ALICE Let's go get some food. I'm paying.

They smile.

Fiona stands up.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 74

FIONA If you insist. I won't complain.

Alice smiles. But, you're gonna have to catch me first.

Fiona sprints off stage left laughing.

Alice smiles, stands up and sprints off after her.

The next scene happens seamlessly with no scene changes.

II.8 The Park Bench (Jane)

Lights up (not blue) on the ENTIRE stage. Jane walks in wearing winter clothes as soon as Alice and Fiona are off stage, looking cold. She sees the bench and looks around. She decides to sit.

She feels the bench and looks longingly at it, remembering what happened there.

While this is happening, people cross in front of her.

There is a family with a small child (the same who plays Young Alice and the same parents who play Evan and Kathleen). They enter stage right. The parents are embracing while the young child skips ahead, in her own world. Ad lib from the child and the parents as they cross to the other side and exit stage left.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 75

Jane notices them. There should be no extreme expressions here, despite there being no dialogue in this scene. We shouldn't get a full sense of what Jane is thinking.

After the family exits, Jane clasps her hands together and looks up, as if into the sky, deep in thought.

Jonathan enters stage right and begins to walk across the stage.

Jane notices him and stands up.

JANE Jonathan? Jonathan Harris?

Jonathan turns around and smiles at her.

JONATHAN Well if it isn't the one and only Jane Scott.

JANE Aker. It's Jane Aker now.

JONATHAN Oh. Well, congratulations. He's a lucky man.

JANE How are you? And, what are you doing here?

They walk closer to each other.

JONATHAN Hey, you're not the only one who was desperate to get out of Charlevoix! I needed a change.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 76

JANE Well, that's great! Minneapolis is... it's pretty nice.

JONATHAN Well, that was enthusiastic.

JANE Sorry, it really is nice here.

Beat. So, what have you been up to? It's been... a long time. I can't even remember the last time I saw you.

JONATHAN Probably high school.

JANE Yeah.

Beat.

JONATHAN But, I'm great! I was in a band for a couple of years. Didn't really work out but I don't regret it. I'm actually teaching Music Theory at the university here.

JANE That's awesome, Jonathan.

JONATHAN Yeah. I'm happy. How about you? What have you been up to?

JANE Oh, not a lot. I'm a psychologist. I work with kids mostly.

JONATHAN That's great.

JANE Yeah. I love it.

Beat.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 77

JONATHAN Well, I gotta get going. I was on my way to a meeting. But it was really, really nice seeing you. Maybe we could grab coffee soon? I'm curious as to what else you've been doing all of these years, since all I got out of you was your job.

She smiles.

JANE Yeah. I'd love to.

He starts to exit. Jonathan! You look... happy.

He smiles.

JONATHAN I am.

Beat. Take some lessons, LouLou.

They both smile as he exits.

Jane sits back down on the bench.

Snow begins to fall and as Jane notices it, she smiles and for the first time in the play, seems truly happy. She stands up and takes it all in.

At this time, the kitchen is being set up on stage left. Once completed, Jane is smiling and walks slowly, still deep in thought, and enters the kitchen. She takes off her jacket and takes out papers and sets them on the table in front of her. She sits down and waits and the next scene happens almost seamlessly.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 78

II.9 The Kitchen

The kitchen has been set up on stage left and the bench remains on stage right.

Jane is sitting at the table with the papers.

Devin walks in, sees her, and begins to take his coat off, put his things down, etc. He walks over to the fridge and opens it.

DEVIN Hey, you put the milk in the fridge this time!

Jane chuckles.

He turns around to look at her. No, but really, I appreciate it. Thank you.

JANE You're welcome.

He notices the papers on the table.

He begins to walk over to her as he speaks.

DEVIN What are those?

Beat.

JANE They're the divorce papers.

Beat.

DEVIN I thought you were going to throw those out?

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 79

JANE I'm not going to throw them out, Devin.

DEVIN What does that mean?

JANE I think we should still get a divorce.

Devin walks over to her quickly and sits down next to her. He takes her hands in his.

DEVIN Jane, we are going to work on everything. I don't think we should jump to divorce, yet.

JANE Devin, I want a divorce.

He lets go of her hands and sits back. I love you.

DEVIN Bullshit, Jane.

JANE I do, Devin. So much.

DEVIN This isn't making any more sense.

JANE I know it isn't but I don't think there's anything else I can say to make this better.

DEVIN You could explain. No, wait, that's not going to do anything. If you've made up your mind, maybe you should just go.

JANE I can explain.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 80

DEVIN An explanation won't give me you.

Beat. She grabs his hands.

JANE But, I want you to understand why I want this. So there isn't any part of you who will wonder.

DEVIN Okay.

She stands up and kind of paces. She turns back to him and speaks.

JANE This has been a fantasy. We fell in love and devoted our lives to each other. I would not give up a second of it, don't think otherwise. But, what I've come to realize is that all it ever has been is a fantasy.

He looks up at her from the table.

DEVIN What's wrong with that?

JANE It's not real, Devin. Just because we love each other doesn't cancel out every other reason we aren't right for each other. I wish to God it did, but it just doesn't.

Beat. I have faith that there are better people out there for us. Not that we aren't good people, but there are people that we will love that will give us life and not drain it out of us.

Beat. They'll bring out the best in us, people we can't even imagine existing until it happens, and not these awful people that don't know how to be anything but miserable.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 81

He stands up. Not angrily, but more saddened and curious.

DEVIN Did you meet someone else?

JANE No. That's not what I'm saying.

DEVIN So what makes you so confident that there are better people out there?

JANE I just know.

She strokes his cheek. If this is the last thing you trust from me, trust this.

He grabs her hand, longingly.

DEVIN Okay.

Beat. I love you, Jane.

JANE I know.

She smiles. I love you, too. I always will.

He smiles. He pulls her into a hug. They release and he goes in to kiss her on the lips but hesitates. Then he kisses her on the forehead.

DEVIN You deserve the world.

She smiles.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 82

JANE So do you.

Lights out.

II.10 Finale

Blue lights come up on stage left and Fiona and Alice are slow dancing in the same setting, the park under the stars. They are slow dancing and smiling as the music plays in the background.

Jane enters from stage right. She walks out and sees them. She smiles and watches them dance.

Fiona releases from Alice (both times when they slow dance, they are in an embrace) and holds Alice's face in her hands. She slides her hands down Alice's arms until she's holding her hands. Fiona brings Alice's hands up to her lips and kisses them. She releases them and walks off stage left. The music continues to play.

Blue light on stage left become white so that the there are no more blue lights on the entire stage.

Alice and Jane walk towards each other and smile. They're sides are to the audience as they face each other.

They speak at the same time.

(CONTINUED) CONTINUED: 83

JANE/ALICE You deserve the world.

They embrace in a hug, overcome with emotion. They hug until the curtain drops.

Lights out.

THE END