Rocket Science Page #6

We all have 'em.

Mine was cheerleading.

I was the one boy

on the cheerleading squad.

Imagine that, huh?

Give me a "H," uh-uh-uh.

Give me a "A,"

uh-uh-uh.

Give me a "L," uh-uh-uh.

What does that spell?

Hal.

That... that image is...

is not really helping.

Just... just because

debate was a wipeout,

I mean, you know,

a colossal wipeout,

doesn't mean

that you're a failure.

It's the activity

that failed you.

Hey, there's nothing to say you

couldn't try for the Spanish Club.

You could be Spanish Club

Vice President in no time.

Kyle Felowitz

is El Vice Presidente.

Yeah.

My point, Hal,

is that

you have to get out

of your own way here, man,

go back to living the way

you were before you tried to exceed

your... your limitations.

Hal Hefner floated

above his life,

saw the world around him

as if he were just a ghost

floating through.

Nothing could

harm him now.

Nothing could move him

or make him love again.

He was that kind

of ghost.

The kind that

couldn't love again.

...observation 1-A.

Diversion is the norm.

Quoting from the

"Journal of Adult Sexuality" '74:

The root cause of sexual

dysfunction are many...

As a boy ghost,

Hal Hefner surveyed

the world as he knew it.

And in everything he saw

was evidence that life goes on

with or without love.

He had stopped

thinking about the girl,

had stopped

dreaming about her,

or, even if that wasn't

entirely true,

had stopped dreaming

a certain kind of dream about her.

Well, maybe

most of the time.

Then spring came...

his father left;

six months since

he last saw Ginny;

and six since

they'd kissed.

Over and over again!

- Just stop!

- I just want us to be buddies.

Be buddies with yourself!

Boys...

your mom and I are over.

That's according to her.

She said that it was all her,

that it's always all her

- and could we be buddies?

- This is a very complicated

adult relationship.

This is why

your dad left.

You're just so

messed up!

Sh*t!

Good God!

Mommy! Mommy!

Hal's freaking out in the garage!

This is gonna turn out

bad, I can feel it.

Virginia Ryerson, please

come to the main office.

Virginia Ryerson, you have

a visitor in the main office.

Are you her

little brother?

You look like you could

be her little brother.

I'm... I'm her ex-lover.

Take a seat. She'll be with you

in a minute.

So how far did you

get with her?

Does... does it count

as second base

when it's groping

through the shirt?

Maybe in public school.

What are you doing here?

Oh, uh, uh...

I...

I have, uh... it's

spring break at Plainsboro.

I have...

I have the... the day off.

Okay.

I'm going back to

A.P. Latin now.

Wait... I'm... I'm

returning this to you.

It belongs

to you and...

and it's important

to me that you have it.

It's your Hazlet trophy.

I had a bad night,

but I'm better now.

I don't want the trophy.

I'm... I'm gonna go back to class.

You need to leave.

Wait... every...

every... every...

everybody has

their own path!

And, uh...

Security, please report

to the main office.

Need you to deal with a...

stuttering boy

in the main office.

It was like he was

pretending,

pretending that it could

all be what it was.

But it can't.

You can only pretend for so

long before the forces that be

take that away from you.

Just like that,

it took off

and he found

himself sprinting.

It was ridiculous,

but he did... he sprinted.

You don't let love collapse all around

you and not put up a fight.

You punch back,

unless you can find someone

else to throw the punch for you.

Then, by all means,

do that.

Yeah?

Uh, I'm... I'm here from

Plainsboro High,

and I've... I've, uh...

I've come here to find you.

Wait in the front

if you care to.

My shift ends

on the hour.

Oh, I care to.

Yeah, well, that's fine.

Wait in front.

That's God

doing your dry-cleaning.

God does dry-cleaning.

He wears a smock.

Man, it's a blessing to

be squarely and dearly

out of the

goddamn suburbs.

Suck the marrow right

from you, the suburbs will.

And it takes years

in the big city to inject

the life back into you...

literal years.

You... you mean,

the big city is...

is... is Trenton?

That's right...

Trenton.

Oh.

Did Ginny send you?

Oh no, she doesn't... she doesn't...

she doesn't know anything.

- Lumbly?

- No, no. No.

Because if this is part of a grand

design to get me back to school...

You smell that

bus exhaust?

That'll be what you

leave behind

on your way back to

Plainsboro without me.

Wait. The thing is,

is that, uh...

what I want... what I want...

what I need is your help.

You don't even know me.

You... you do realize

you're like...

you're like a legend

at PHS, right?

Right, I'm the next

Shelley Hasty.

Who is...

who's she?

He. He supposedly drove

a Chevy Nova

into the cafeteria

in 1986.

There's a plaque somewhere next to

a water fountain in his honor.

Well...

I'm... I'm gonna be

the next legend at PHS.

And that's... that's not gonna

happen for me any other way

than to win...

uh, to win at States.

You're gonna

win at States?

Yes.

Well... well... well,

uh...

we are, yes.

It's so pointless.

That's the realization

I came to at States last year:

Life is nothing

but repetition,

the same thing

over and over.

Somebody might

give you a trophy

and that's supposed to

mean you're making progress,

but there's no such thing.

The fights you fight today

are the fights you

fight till you die.

Yeah, well be...

be that as it may...

Sure.

Be that as it may.

Wait, it's not some

college-application bullshit

that is... that's like the driving

force here, or any bullshit.

I'm sure.

No, uh, do you want

to know what it is?

Yeah. What

it is, is...

what it...

what it is, is...

uh, it's, uh...

is, uh, is...

no, what... what it

is, is...

it's...

well, it's love.

Well, if it's

not that, then...

then it's the need

for... for revenge

when... when love

goes bad.

It's one of those two,

love or revenge.

I'm not really sure

which one.

But it's one of

those two things

that made me throw a cello

through somebody's window.

So you figure it out.

An actual cello?

I mean, like, yeah, like

symphony-size, as far as I know.

You know, that's pretty

sharp in my book,

as far as reasons go.

Yeah, it took

a bunch of throws,

but you know,

I'm good for a bunch.

Have I got this right?

Your contention is that

we should debate as a team?

You, an inexperienced kid with

a bad and unpredictable stutter,

me, not having debated

at all this year

and having no knowledge

of the resolution.

In support of this,

you basically offer up

that you threw a cello

through someone's window.

It's charming,

no question.

But is it persuasive?

Why not make the case

that, A:
Allowing me to return

to States and win this year

will tie up that loose end

so that I can forge ahead

free from any of

life's regrets;

That charitable

enterprises such as this

would be the lifeblood

of advanced civilizations

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes