Zerophilia Page #9

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LUKE:

I was going to.

MICHELLE:

There's something I need to talk to

you about. -But did I do something

wrong?

LUKE:

No. Nothin' like that. There's

just some stuff I've got to sort

out.

63.

MICHELLE:

Like what?

They gaze at each other across the magazine rack,

a mountain range of silence between them,...

MICHELLE (CONT'D)

There's nothing you can't tell me.

LUKE:

Me too. What did you want to talk

to me about?

They stand silent, beneath the hum of fluorescent lights.

MICHELLE:

Nothing really. So, heard you and

Max really got into it?

LUKE:

Yeah. I kind a' lost it.

MICHELLE:

He knows how to push buttons, huh?

What exactly did he say that got

you so pissed off?

LUKE:

I don't know. We'd just finished a

game. I was all revved up.

MICHELLE:

He's actually a really nice guy.

LUKE:

Not sure he's too crazy about me

seein' his sister.

MICHELLE:

Did he scare you off?

LUKE:

No, he doesn't "scare" me. What,

his struttin' around, thinkin' he's

such a bad ass, with his shirt

hangin' open half the time?

Luke's surprised and embarrassed by his own words.

Michelle steps away, confused.

64.

MICHELLE:

It's just an act. He likes

pretending he's Joe Cool. Always

says you gotta' just be whatever

you want, and f*** 'em if they

can't take a joke.

LUKE:

Well, he's a joke alright.

MICHELLE:

Look, I'm not sure this is gonna'

work out.

LUKE:

I'm sorry, I didn't mean-

MICHELLE:

No. I can't do this. I'm not sure

you even know who you are. Much

less who I am. Have you ever even

had a girlfriend?

LUKE:

What's that supposed to mean?!

MICHELLE:

Well, if you think my brother's

such a "joke," how much better

could you think of me? We're not

that different, you know?

LUKE:

You're totally different. He's a

guy, for one.

MICHELLE:

And he's my best friend. If you

don't like him, you can't like me.

She exits.

MINI-MART - LATER

Luke kneels in the aisle, stocking shelves, distracted,

fidgety, distressed.

He glances up at the magazine rack. A Female Fitness

magazine catches his attention. The BEAUTIFUL COVER model

seems to MOVE.

He stares at it:
no movement.

65.

Luke approaches the rack, and flips over the magazine cover.

As he steps away, he glances back at the rack,

CELEBRITY MAGAZINE COVER

The ADONIS on the cover comes to life. He rips off his shirt

as he moves off one magazine cover and into another, where he

passionately kisses the BIKINI-CLAD COVER MODEL.

MAGAZINE RACK:

THE MODELS AND OTHERS on half a dozen covers begin stripping

down, moving to other magazines and making out with each

other all across the rack.

OUTSIDE THE MINI-MART

The windows glow among the dark trees.

Inside, Luke rips up covers, HURLING magazine after magazine

across the floor.

INTERCUT WITH:

INSIDE BATHROOM - LATE NIGHT

Michelle leans against the shower wall, staring at the spray

of water, upset.

Steam rises, filling the bathroom.

She begins SINGING, longingly,...

MICHELLE:

"I wanna know how to go

To the inside of love.

I can’t find my way through."

Washing herself,

behind the shower curtain,

the timbre of her singing voice mysteriously shifts.

As her hand turns the shower faucet, it changes...

MICHELLE (CONT'D)

"I'm outside of love,

To the side or above,

I can't find my way with you"

66.

A glimpse of her shoulder behind the shower curtain, grows

more muscular,

and her voice begins LOWERING IN PITCH,...

as MICHELLE BECOMES MAX.

MAX:

"Must be a special view,

Finding a me with a you,

On the inside of love."

Max steps out of the shower, and towels off in the mirror.

INT. ORLANDO'S BED & BREAKFAST - NIGHT

A persistent KNOCK on the door. Sydney pulls on a robe over

a pair of men's boxers, wiping sleep from her eyes. She

swings the door open.

Luke stands outside in POURING RAIN.

SYDNEY:

Oh, honey. Come in.

BY THE FIREPLACE

Sydney pours hot tea.

LUKE:

You're one too. Why didn't you

tell me?

SYDNEY:

I didn't want to confuse the issue.

LUKE:

So, it's true what you said? You

really know. I wouldn't change

unless I wanted to?

SYDNEY:

Maybe some part of you.

LUKE:

What part? How much of me? I

mean, for it to work? Half? More

than half? What if it was only a

tiny bit, -a thought?

67.

SYDNEY:

I don't know. But I believe there

may be thousands of Z's out there,

millions for all we know, go their

whole lives without even knowing

they are one. Nothing ever

happens. You couldn't keep it from

happening.

LUKE:

I love being with Michelle. How

come I can't control it when she's

around?

SYDNEY:

I think whatever part of yourself

you deny, just gets bigger and

bigger until it takes you over.

Luke nods sadly.

LUKE:

You think I don't really want to be

a man.

SYDNEY:

I think for some, making it stop is

more important than knowing who you

are. It was for me.

LUKE:

Maybe for me too.

SYDNEY:

Right now, you're Morphescent. The

key is to have sex with another Z.

You become Adulmorphic. Your

gender locks. You can't just

change anytime you want.

LUKE:

Another Z?

SYDNEY:

That's why I came all the way out

here.

LUKE:

And why you keep tryin' to get me

in the sack?

68.

SYDNEY:

Thought maybe I could save you some

distress. But you say you're not

attracted to me. For it to work,

both of us have to be into it.

LUKE:

That won't be a problem.

SYDNEY:

Okay then.

LUKE:

Tonight.

SYDNEY:

Not right now? Okay. Tonight.

EXT CEMETERY - MORNING

Morning dew. Acres of empty grass. Luke sits at the top of

a hill by his dad's grave.

LUKE:

Remember that Christmas when Keen

and me accidentally set the

Scofields' house on fire?

He stares up at the sky.

LUKE (CONT'D)

And that burning shingle drifted

over and lit up the Robertson's

place? The whole town was ready to

lynch us, and we snuck back home...

Two AM, you were up drinkin'

coffee,...

He tugs out hunks of grass.

LUKE (CONT'D)

I thought you were gonna' kill us.

But you just looked me right in the

eye, and said, "Son, there's

leftover pizza in the fridge."

A tear rims his eye.

LUKE (CONT'D)

That was the coolest thing anyone

ever said. Dad, I'm in such

trouble.

69.

LUKE (CONT'D)

I feel like if I let this thing in,

it's all over. But I don't know

what else to do. Guess you can't

figure out who you are, until you

accept who you might be.

INT. ORLANDO'S BED & BREAKFAST - DAY

Department store shopping bags and boxes are strewn across

the bed.

Sydney checks herself out in the full-length mirror. A man's

gray tuxedo jacket over lingerie.

INT. LUMBER MILL - DAY

The giant work floor of the abandoned mill. Sunlight beams

through holes in the roof.

Max, on roller blades, practices guiding the hockey puck

along the floor.

He stops when he notices the figure watching him from outside

the giant metal doors:

Luca in the blue dress, on roller blades, hockey stick in

hand.

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