Miss Stevens Page #4

This one play that she did,

I completely forgot

that I was...

watching my mother.

I was just...

I was just watching this...

This woman.

And all the other

people on stage were...

They were men,

and they were...

They were all terrible.

And she was just...

holding them all...

together.

Holding them...

Holding them up.

And then this, um...

One of the guys had this line

that makes her...

That makes her

character laugh, and...

And then there she was.

You have to go.

You have to...

You have to go.

What are you talking about?

You have to go.

Billy, you have to go.

What are you talking about?

It's time to go.

- It's time for you to go.

- What?

Come on, you have to go.

Billy...

What? What?

I need you to go. Come on.

Come on.

Why?

Billy, please. Please, Billy.

Go. I need you to go

to your room.

- Go to your room. Come on.

- Why?

Why are you making me go?

Billy...

- Uh, yeah?

- Miss Stevens.

Miss Stevens.

I don't know where Billy--

Hi, Sam.

Why are you here?

I locked myself out

of that room again.

I couldn't find you

and I was too embarrassed

to go downstairs and ask for

a new key again. So...

Miss Stevens is holding me up.

But I was just on my way back.

- What's up?

- Can I come in?

The boy I met,

the one I've been texting.

Well, he texted that he wanted

to hang out tonight,

so Margot and I found him

in the parking lot--

What were you doing in

the parking lot?

Sorry, Miss Stevens.

Miss Stevens?

Oh. Hi, Billy.

- Is Sam...

- I'm in here.

Why did you leave?

Sean sucks.

What...

What are you all doing

out of your rooms?

Can I?

Uh... Yes.

I didn't say anything

'cause I knew

you were into him.

But, um, I kinda had a feeling.

Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Sean is an a**hole.

Sorry.

And this is

a theater competition,

so I didn't think that I'd

have to deal with this sh*t.

Sorry.

I thought...

I mean, I guess I thought

that I could meet someone.

You know?

Sorry.

I didn't say this,

but most people suck, Sam.

They do.

Some of them

are wonderful.

But mostly they're not.

And the weirdest part is

it is...

surprising...

every single time.

But I am here for you.

Me, too.

We are all here--

You're gonna hear the truth.

What you are,

and what I am.

We never told the truth

for ten minutes in this house.

Well, hear this, Willy.

This is me.

You wanna know why I had

no address for three months?

It's cause I stole a suit

in Kansas City,

and I was in jail.

I stole myself out of every

good job since high school.

And I never got anywhere.

Because you blew me

so full of hot air,

I could never stand taking

orders from anybody.

That's whose fault it is.

It's goddamn time

you heard that, Pop.

I ran down 11 flights

with a pen in my hand today.

Suddenly I stopped,

you hear me?

And in the middle of

that office building--

Do you hear this?

I stopped in the middle

of the building

and I saw...

the sky.

I saw all the things that

I love in this world.

The work and the food.

The time to just

sit and smoke.

I looked at the pen

and I thought to myself,

"What the hell am I

grabbing this for, huh?

Why am I trying to become

what I don't want to be?

What am I doing in an office,

making a contemptuous,

begging fool of myself,

when all that I want

is out there,

waiting for me the second

I say I know who I am!"

Why can't I say that, Willy?

Pop, look at me.

I'm a dime a dozen,

and so are you!

I am not a leader of men,

Willy, and neither are you.

You were never anything

but a hard-working drummer

who landed in the ash can,

like all the rest of them.

And me?

I'm a dollar an hour, Willy!

I tried seven states.

I couldn't raise it!

One buck an hour!

Do you gather

my meaning, huh?

I'm not bringing

home prizes...

Anymore.

And you're going to stop waiting

for me to bring them home, Pop.

I'm nothing.

I'm just what I am,

that's all.

Billy!

Billy, you were amazing.

You...

Billy...

What? Hey, hey.

Billy.

Excuse me?

Sorry, we're just, um...

We're just...

Billy!

Hey!

What was that?

I'm nervous.

What?

I told you I would tell you

when I was nervous.

I'm nervous.

Billy...

You know what I was

thinking up there today?

I wasn't thinking about, you

know, how well I was doing,

or how much I wanted to win.

I was thinking about

how even though

you were trying to

hide it last night,

I could see that you were sad.

And I knew how

to make you happy.

And then you asked me to leave.

I don't know why you

asked me to leave.

You were sad again

and I knew how to fix it.

No, Billy, you can't--

- Yes, I can!

- Fix it!

Up until a week ago,

I was pretty straight.

The medication, right.

I'm saying, look--

I'm saying I'm sad, too, Rachel.

But the pills I take

to make me not sad,

they make me feel nothing.

All right. Those are my options.

Sad or numb.

So I stopped taking them,

and I didn't tell anyone.

And I was scared.

And I thought I was gonna

go-- Crazy or something.

But I don't. I feel great.

Rachel, I feel, like, alive.

Like I could just...

Do I need to call someone?

What?

Do I need to call someone?

That's why you don't wanna

be with me, isn't it?

It's 'cause you--

You don't realize.

You're messed up too, Rachel.

- Hey.

- I know you think

'cause you have a job

and an apartment,

that you're fine,

but you're not fine. And--

Go ahead. Call someone.

Go ahead.

You know,

under normal circumstances,

I would walk away

right now.

- "Normal circumstances"?

- Yes.

But I am--

I am your teacher.

So I have to stay here.

I have to call someone

and I have to tell them

what is going on.

What's going on?

All I know is that I...

I can't walk away from you

right now.

Then I will.

Hello, you've reached

Albert Alvarez,

principal of

Franklin High School.

Please leave your

name and number,

and I'll get back to you ASAP.

Hi. It's, uh...

It's Rachel.

It's Miss Stevens.

Um...

I-- The--

The thing that you wanted me

to call you about with Billy.

With, uh--

With William Mitman.

I'm, um--

Billy?

I'm feeling a little...

worried about him.

Sam?

So I'm calling.

Call me back.

So call me back, please.

Sh*t.

Hey.

Hey, come on.

You need air? I got air.

They just...

take over, you know.

Yeah, I've been trying

to quit my whole life.

Kids.

I actually find cigarettes

to be more difficult.

Being a teacher is difficult.

Everybody says that.

But really, it's not.

Excuse me?

You know how a teacher like me

has been around so long?

No, Walter, I don't.

Well...

It's because I don't

get involved.

Yeah?

Well, that will only work

at your shitty school.

No, let me finish.

I care a lot about my job.

And I'm pretty good at it.

I care that

my students succeed.

They graduate.

The outside.

Tell you what I don't care about

is the inside.

Their... silly little lies.

That's the stuff that makes

people think that it's hard.

'Cause that stuff is hard.

You gotta stay outside.

How do you stay outside

when something--

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