Thoroughbreds

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1

[SEAGULLS SQUAWKING]

[DOG BARKING]

[CRICKETS CHIRPING]

[LOUD CLANKING]

[RUMBLING]

[HORSE SNORTS]

[METAL CLINKS]

[DOG BARKING]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]

[CAR DOOR OPENS]

[CAR DOOR CLOSES]

[DOOR BELL DINGS]

[DOOR CLOSES]

WOMAN:
Wait here.

Lily!

MAN:
I'll be right there.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]

WOMAN:
Lily!

[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]

WOMAN:
Lily!

[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]

WOMAN:
Lily!

[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]

Hi, Lily.

Hi. Uh,

I'm sorry, you just...

Is this your sword?

Uh, no.

It's, uh,

it's my stepdad's.

You look different.

Yeah?

You look good.

Thanks.

So do you...

Well, okay, should we, uh,

get started?

[PENDULUM CLOCK TICKING]

AMANDA:
"Despite his lack

of experience in the field,

Jared's contributions

to the project

were spectral."

LILY:
And does that make sense?

Is Jared a ghost?

- LILY:
No.

- How do you know?

It doesn't say

he's not a ghost.

Um...

so the answer is B,

"significant".

- This test is intolerable.

- You're doing great.

I'm better at applied skills.

- I have business savvy.

- Totally.

AMANDA:
I think my best option

at this point

would be to skip college

and just to sort of

- Steve Jobs my way through life.

- That's an idea.

AMANDA:

You're good at this, though.

Better than my actual tutor.

How much are you charging?

What are you talking about?

I'm not charging you.

We're hanging out.

Okay. So, uh,

moving on

to passage comprehension.

Do you wanna read, or should I?

You start.

Okay.

"From Paul Revere

to the Marlboro Man,

one image has maintained

a firm hold

on the American imagination.

As closely tied to notions of

liberty as any flag or eagle,

the horse..."

You know what, actually

this is longer than we need.

Let's do a short one.

Do you have any food here?

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

LILY:
So, yeah,

I'm lucky to be at a school

that values

learning outside

of the classroom.

And you just finished

all your classwork early?

- LILY:
Yup.

- Was it hard?

No.

Trying to wrap my head

around mutual funds

and credit swaps

was the hard part.

Anyway...

Shall we?

Leave it.

I'm sorry

if I acted funny

about that passage.

AMANDA:
It's only weird

if you make it weird.

Well, I just figured

you might not wanna

talk about it.

- Why?

- LILY:
Well,

I guess you're...

feeling a lot of...

feelings, uh, right now.

It's fresh.

Well, that's the funny thing,

actually.

- I really don't.

- Don't what?

Feel anything.

Like, you're numb?

Like you don't have

any negative feelings...

Like I don't have

any feelings, ever.

[SCOFFS]

- Sure, you do.

- I mean...

sometimes I feel hungry

or tired.

But, like, joy, guilt?

I really don't have

any of those.

I don't understand.

Yeah, it's hard to explain.

It's really only recently

that I've been able

to admit it to myself.

Because I've gotten so good

at watching

and imitating

other people's emotions

that I sort of tricked myself

into believing I have them,

but I don't.

So that's a, um...

AMANDA:
A what?

A disorder or something?

Oh. Well,

the shrink would sure

like it to be.

First it was borderline

personality,

then severe depression,

yesterday, she said

it was antisocial

with schizoid tendency.

She's basically just flipping

to random pages of the DSM-5

and throwing medications at me.

But I have a perfectly

healthy brain.

It just doesn't

contain feelings.

And that doesn't necessarily

make me a bad person.

It just means I have to work

a little harder

than everyone else to be good.

[PHONE ALARM RINGING]

Oh, uh...

[RINGING CONTINUES]

- Two hours?

- Yeah.

Glad you set an alarm

to make sure

we didn't hang out

longer than intended.

Oh, no... I mean, it...

I have this thing with my mom...

You know, I have my mom's

email password.

- Sorry?

- AMANDA:
It means I read

her inbox daily.

I saw your thread with her.

How she had to bump up

from a hundred

to two hundred an hour

to get you to do this.

Just next time,

don't say you're not charging.

She was desperate to set up

a playdate, by the way.

She's been trying for two weeks.

You could have gotten

five hundred out of her

if you'd stood pat.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]

[MOUSE CLICKS]

[COMPUTER CHIMES]

LILY:
"...but the America

I found when I got off the plane

was nothing like

Mother's stories.

Cars stood in lines

along ill-maintained highways

and gangs

of slump-shouldered men

tossed dice in alleyways.

I didn't know whether to feel

betrayed by my mother,

or to feel grief that,

even as imperfect

as this new land might be,

she wasn't here to see it."

Okay. So, how would you

summarize that passage?

- Bad.

- No.

Uh, not evaluate,

just summarize.

You make the arrangement

by phone this time?

- What are you talking about?

- AMANDA:
No email

with my mom about payment.

I'm not getting paid this time.

I don't want payment.

What do you want?

Nothing. I just

wanted to see you.

[DOOR CLOSES]

MARK:
Lily.

I'm gonna go ride.

You mind telling your mom...

LILY:
Um, Amanda, this is Mark.

Mark, this is Amanda.

Nice to meet you.

Yeah.

Did you need something?

No.

LILY:
Okay.

Okay.

[DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES]

Okay, so question nine,

"The author's attitude

towards her mother's jade box

can be primarily described as..."

Wow.

Wow, what?

You hate him.

[SCOFFS] Um...

So it's "A, solemn.

B, contemptuous..."

You despise him.

No, we...

have our differences,

but I'm trying very hard

to have a pleasant

and mature relationship

with him.

Hmm.

LILY:
So, "C, sardonic.

D, ambivalent..."

Because he's rich?

- Excuse me?

- Because he leaves you

envelopes of money?

Okay, that was for

my broken laptop.

He doesn't just leave me

envelopes of money...

Okay, but you and your mom

must still know

that it's in your best interest

to keep him happy.

Okay, I... actually,

I think we're done here.

AMANDA:
What's wrong?

I don't know.

AMANDA:
I just think you should

be honest about your feelings.

Otherwise it starts coming out

in passive-aggressive ways.

Like, for instance,

you start inviting

your creepy friend over

to make him mad.

- That's not why you're here.

- Of course it is.

Look, if that's how you feel,

then why don't you go

ask your mom to buy you

another friend?

I'm sure you're just rolling

in options.

AMANDA:
The answer is "D,

ambivalent."

That's right.

You know, my friend

taught me this trick,

where whenever it says

"ambivalent" on the SAT,

that's the answer.

You're not hurt?

It's the first honest thing

you've said to me

since sixth grade.

[SIGHS]

You're incredibly off-putting

and you freak me out.

There you go.

In kind of

a fascinating way,

like a YouTube video

of a giant zit being popped

or a baby born without a face.

Love those videos.

You actually smell

kind of weird.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- Have you showered?

- Only every couple of days,

lately.

But no one said anything

so I thought

I was getting away with it.

You're not.

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