Miss Stevens

Are you, uh,

waiting for someone?

No.

Sorry, I was...

Sorry.

No worries.

Take your time.

When the sun's too hot

And my old man's not

Well I stumble

Outside the door

And I'm asking myself

If I haven't been

Through all this

Too darn many times before

I gave up singing

My half-done songs

And the money

Ran out before the months

And I gave up love

In my lone-sided love

But I couldn't believe

In their lies

I used to think it was easy

I used to think

It was all right

I used to think

It was simply love

Till scratching my way

Became my way of life

I used to think

It was easy...

The thing that

really spoke to me

was the idea

of emotional freedom.

Like leaving yourself,

being free.

'Cause most people aren't

in institutions, obviously,

but we're all locked up

in some way.

We are, aren't we?

- So when--

- School is an institution.

It's not an institution.

But it's still a place

that we have to go,

everyday,

and it can feel like...

you're stuck.

Like you're not allowed

to be yourself

all of the time, right?

What are some other places

that can feel like that?

- Sorry, Miss Stevens?

- Yes, Margot.

Can we get back

to the ending?

Sure. Yes, the ending.

You were saying that when

McMurphy has--

What do you think?

Excuse me?

What did you think

of the ending?

Nice try, man.

- Calm down, I read it.

- Guys--

Oh, really? Really?

Just like you read

The Great Gatsby?

Guys!

Why don't you just

watch the movie?

Actually, watching movies aren't

really a safe way to cheat.

Just 'cause someone

doesn't talk

every time

they feel like talking,

doesn't mean

they didn't read the book.

Guys!

Done?

Let's get back to the book.

What did you think?

Of the ending?

Mm-hmm.

I love it.

This is what I wanna do.

So I checked with

the front office,

and they have the petty cash

all ready to go,

and they double checked

and all our permission slips

are in.

So we're all set

for the drama competition.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

And we're leaving after

third period, yes?

That's the plan.

And thank you

for taking us.

I had to ask

three other teachers

before you

volunteered to come.

Billy?

- Hi, Margot.

- Hi, Billy.

Billy, when are we doing

the Gats make up?

Sh*t!

Margot?

- Oh, right. See you both at--

- 12:
00?

First of all, no cursing.

Second of all,

did you finish the book?

Yes, I did.

It's been two weeks.

I don't wanna fail you.

What's going on?

I'm just having trouble

caring about a lot

of things right now.

Are you talking to anyone?

Hmm.

"Anyone"?

Are you?

Just 'cause people

are the people

you're supposed to talk to,

it doesn't mean you can

talk to them.

So, just a few

things before you go.

I'm sure your kids are all caught

up in their class work, yes?

Uh, why?

They can't go on the trip

if they're missing assignments.

School policy.

I already spoke to

the other teachers.

And so I'm just checking--

Oh, yes. No. Of course.

Yeah, of course.

Okay. Good, good.

Our main concern is, uh,

William Mitman.

- Billy?

- Yeah, Billy.

I don't know if you're

aware of his issues.

But we wouldn't be

letting him go

unless he was 100%.

But Legal just wants

to make sure

that I discuss this with you,

just to keep your eyes open.

What he has is

a behavioral disorder.

And he will be taking his

medication with him on the trip.

He's allowed to administer

the medication himself.

Between you and me,

I think there's just

some tension at home,

so they just wanna show

him a little trust

by letting him go on this trip.

But you have my number,

so if you need me, call.

- Hey, Sam.

- Hey!

Sweet ride, Miss S.

Hi.

I brought the test.

You're taking it this weekend.

No excuses.

Uh, what test?

Take care of yourself, Margot.

Oh, the Gatsby test?

Why didn't Billy take--

- Margot.

- Sorry.

Okay.

Are you ready?

What's that light?

That? That thing's

been on forever.

Wait, your warning light

is on?

It's nothing.

Well, if it were nothing

it wouldn't be on.

It's a really old car,

it kind of just

does things sometimes.

It just does

things sometimes?

Do you want us to stop

and deal with it

even though we're

already running late?

Well, on behalf

of all of us,

I would just like to say

how grateful we are

that you're taking us

to the competition.

I mean, since the school

cut our arts program,

it's important to get exposure

wherever we can.

Yeah, seriously.

Don't you think it's

interesting, Miss Stevens,

that we spend almost

every day together

and we talk about so many

different things,

but we don't really

know each other?

I mean, not really.

I wanna talk to you about life.

It's just too difficult

to be alive, isn't it?

And to try to function.

There are all these

people to deal with.

Like, when I was

at the supermarket,

trying to buy a can

of tuna fish,

and there was someone

standing right in front

who wanted to reach out

and grab the tuna fish.

And I waited a while

to see if they'd move,

but they didn't.

They were looking

at the tun fish, too,

but they were taking

a really long time,

and they're reading each

ingredient like they were--

What was that?

Sh*t.

Oh, sh*t. Sorry.

No, seriously. What was that?

- I think it was the tire.

- Oh, my God!

F***! Sorry. Sh*t.

- Oh, my God!

- Sorry, sorry.

Sam.

Sam, your monologue was

really good so far, I'm sorry.

It's Christopher Durang, right?

I didn't think you knew

who Christopher--

Guys! We're sitting

on the side of the road.

Right.

It was the warning light,

wasn't it?

It wasn't

the warning light, Margot.

Oh, Jesus!

You guys, please.

Guys, please, please.

Come on, stop.

You are driving other people's

children in an unfit automobile.

I'm sorry.

I'm really embarrassed.

Why are you embarrassed?

Because I am the a**hole

who ignores a big, flashing

orange light.

You curse a lot.

- I know.

- When we're at school--

It's just a switch.

Why isn't

the switch on now?

Because we're not at school.

But, like, we are.

Right.

Okay.

We're gonna be so late.

I have to call the hotel.

I'm gonna call the hotel.

Hi. This is Margot Jensen

from Franklin High School.

Is this the front desk?

Where do I...

Where it

says "signature".

Oh.

Make sure you get that

to your service station

as soon as you possibly can.

Drive too long

on the spare...

Right. Okay. Will do.

- Thank you.

- Great. Thank you.

Thank you.

All of your music

is... old.

Oh, I'm sorry.

- I'll change the station.

- No!

I love this song.

How do you know this song?

- My dad--

- Exactly.

This is dad music.

Yeah.

And old lady teacher music.

You are not old.

No, I am old.

You like America?

- Well--

- America?

The band. This band.

America.

It's just called "America"?

- Yep.

- And that's it?

That's it.

I don't know, Margot.

I kinda like what

it's doing to me.

Do you mind if I ask

how old you are?

Sam thinks you're 26,

but I think you're older.

Not 'cause you look older,

Rate this script:3.4 / 5 votes