Nowhere Until Now
© 2003
Jason Buckley and Brian Steele
jasonkb@bgnet.bgsu.edu

Scene 1
Opening credits. In the front of a small home on a cold winter day, a boy with blonde mangled hair about seven years old plays with a girl with brownish blond hair about the same age. The girl pushes the boy down on the ground. The boy and girl are sitting on a park bench at a playground, and the girl pushes the boy off of the edge of the bench. They are running around while the boy is chasing the girl around different objects in the playground, and she is teasing him. She pushes him again and he falls. They are playing some more and she pushes him down again.
A teenage boy named Yigil sits on the couch, and the back of his messy head is shown peaking over the couch. The TV in the background is showing home videos of the little girl and the little boy, while he sits in his matching pajamas. He remembers a decade ago when everything was easier.
End Scene

Scene 2
(Establishing shot of a crowded high school.)

A girl with brownish blond hair named Adrianna talks with a group of nice looking seniors in the middle of the crowded hallway. She is popular and pretty, and all of the guys like her. Yigil stares at her from afar, and his friend walks up to him and sees what he is looking at.

Friend
Yigil, you shouldn’t even waste your time lookin’ at her.

Yigil
Who?

Friend
Adri—a—A—AAANA!! (Crescendo of syllables)

Yigil
Shut up.

Friend
What? It’s not like you’re friends with her or anything.

Yigil
I used to be.

Friend
Right. You were friends with the HOTest girl in school.

Yigil
I was.

Friend
Right, I’ll see you fifth period, fuddrucker (a term Yigil and his friend have for each other).

The bell rings and all of the students go into a classroom. Yigil is getting a drink of water before he needs to go into his classroom, and he hears a couple fighting. He investigates the problem and peaks around the corner to find Adrianna and her muscular boyfriend fighting.

Adrianna
Stop it. Stop.

Boyfriend
I told you not to talk to him.

Adrianna
I wasn’t. I just—

Boyfriend
Shut up you little slut.

He pins her up against the wall.

Boyfriend
You’re nothing without me.

Adrianna spits in his face, and he slaps her. When Yigil sees this, he runs toward Adrianna’s boyfriend in a furious state and rams him with his elbow up against the wall.
The boyfriend is startled and Yigil punches him, so the boyfriend punches him back. Yigil falls to the ground, and then Adrianna pushes her boyfriend away. He walks away angry. Adrianna bends down to comfort Yigil.

Adrianna
O my gosh, are you okay? Oh. You know you didn’t have to do that.

Yigil
(In pain) But he was hurting you.

Adrianna
Why did you do that? He’s going to be so pissed. Listen, you better not do anything like that again. That was really stupid. You’re lucky you’re not hurt even worse.

End Scene

Scene 3
(Street)
Adrianna is walking home from school alone. Yigil runs up to her and starts walking with her. She seems uncomfortable because he’s just walking next to her and not talking. She looks at him, looks straight again, and then looks at him again.

Adrianna
Um, thanks for doing that for me earlier today.

Yigil
(Smiling) No problem.

Adrianna
That took a lot of guts ya know. I don’t think any other guy in school would have done what you did.

Yigil
Well, getting punched in the stomach isn’t that hard to do.

Adrianna half laughs.

Yigil
I was just lucky Cob Shark wasn’t hurt.

Adrianna
What’s a Cob Shark?

Yigil
Not what…who.

He whips a goldfish in a clear plastic baggy out of his pocket.

Adrianna
You carry a goldfish around in your pocket? (Half a statement and half a question)

Yigil
Not just any goldfish. He’s the longest living goldfish in the northern half of the state. Aren’t you (to Cob)? I just call him Cob, but he likes to be called Cob Shark to boost his confidence (saying this in a whisper so Cob doesn’t hear).

Adrianna
Does he?

Yigil puts Cob back in his pocket, while Adrianna looks half scared and half taken with.

Adrianna
So do you still live in the same house?

Yigil
How do you know where I live?

Adrianna
Oh, come on Yigil, it wasn’t that long ago when we were running around in your yard.
Yigil
I…I…didn’t know if you remembered.

Adrianna
Of course I remember. We were like best friends back in the day.

A short time passes, and they reach Adrianna’s house.

Yigil
Well…here we are.

Adrianna walks to the plain door.

Adrianna
See you later Yigil.

Yigil
Wait… (pause)

Adrianna
Yeah?

Yigil
Would it be okay if I talked to you later or…or stop by sometime or something.

Adrianna
Sure. (Smiles)

Adrianna walks inside the house.

End Scene

Scene 4
(High school setting)
There’s a crowded hallway in the high school. Adrianna is walking next to her big boyfriend that plays football. Yigil is walking down the hall in the opposite direction, and he locks eyes with Adrianna. They look at each other while they pass in the hall. Adrianna’s boyfriend does not notice them looking at each other.
End Scene

Scene 5
(Adrianna’s house)
Yigil walks to Adrianna’s poorly kept house.

Yigil
(To Cob) Should I even be going over here? Why am I doing this? She probably won’t even talk to me. What do you think?

He lifts up Cob, but he has a blank face.

Yigil
You’re no help.

He reaches Adrianna’s door, and he knocks. A small child answers the door, and Yigil doesn’t know how to handle someone half his size.

Yigil
Um…Is—Adrianna—home! (separated and loud like he’s talking to a deaf person)

The child waves him inside and goes to the other room. Yigil sits down on the couch in the poorly decorated living room. He looks around and notices a postcard lying on the wooden coffee table. There’s a picture of a populated city on the front, and on the back is a message from Adrianna’s mother. Yigil can hear arguing from the kitchen of what sounds like Adrianna and her father fighting. Adrianna walks into the room, and he puts down the postcard.

Adrianna
Yigil?

Yigil
Hello.

She comes and sits by him.

Adrianna
Do you like the city?

Yigil
There’s so many people there. People intrigue me, especially ones that live so close together.

Adrianna
My mom moved there after my parents got divorced. She sends these postcards every
once and a while, and a birthday card here and there, but other than that I don’t see her that much. I’ve always wanted to live like her. Just on my own, supporting myself.

Yigil is eating up her every word.

Adrianna
So why did you stop by?

Yigil
Because you said I could.

Awkward silence follows.

Adrianna
Would you like a drink?

Yigil
Scotch double twist no rocks.

Adrianna
What?

Yigil
(Pause) I’m kidding.

Adrianna
Oh. Okay.

Yigil
I’ll have a chocolate milk if you got it. If not, just some vegetable juice will be fine.
Adrianna walks into the kitchen. Yigil can hear muffled voices in the kitchen, that sound like Adrianna and her father arguing.

Adrianna
I’m sorry. I just—

Father
I told you that your—

Adrianna
Dad, I’m not a little girl—

Father
You shut up! As long as you live in my house, you do what I say!

Adrianna
Maybe I’ll leave so I won’t have to listen to you, you drunk!

Father
Like hell you’ll leave!

A slap and a yell sound from Adrianna come from the kitchen, and Yigil stands up. A bottle breaks followed by the slamming of the backdoor. Adrianna walks back into the room where Yigil is sitting holding her face and crying.

Adrianna
I’m sorry.

She hugs him in need of support, and Yigil doesn’t know what to do or where to put his arms. He awkwardly pats her back.

Yigil
Hey, don’t cry. I’m here.

She sits on the uncomfortable couch, and Yigil follows. She’s crying more than before.

Adrianna
I hate him. He comes home drunk and he just…he just yells until I end up crying. But he usually never hits me.

Yigil
Usually? Are you listening to what you’re saying? You’ve got to tell someone.

Adrianna
No. No, if I tell anyone, it’ll just get worse.

Yigil
Hey, I’m...I’m here for you.

Adrianna
Yigil.

Yigil lifts his eyebrows.

Adrianna
What is it about you? I feel like there’s nothing I can’t tell you.

Pause

Adrianna
(Smiling despite what just happened to her) I like this.

Yigil
I like this, too.

End Scene

Scene 6
(Music montage, different locations)
Adrianna is talking with her group of popular friends, and Yigil walks up to her and starts talking to her. Her friends have disgusted looks on their face because she’s talking to Yigil as if she likes him.
They are in a park sitting on a bench, and he is showing Cob to her. He lets her hold the bag that Cob is in, and she is making fish faces at him.
She sees Yigil in the hall at school, and he looks back at her then at the floor. She walks up to him and holds his hand, and they walk down the hall. They walk past her now ex-boyfriend, and he looks very upset and he hits a locker with his fist.
They are at a clothing store, and Yigil is looking in the mirror. She tries to fix his weird hair, and he puts it back the way he likes it. Adrianna smiles, and she grabs a hat and puts it on his head. He takes it off, grabs a goofy hat and puts it on, and she smiles and laughs.
End Scene

Scene 7
(Outside of Adrianna’s house, and then sitting under a clock tower)

Yigil
Hey.

Adrianna walks out of her house with a hat covering the top of her face.

Adrianna
(Distressed) Hey.

The two of them walk down the street holding hands. The scene changes to them sitting near a tall, old clock tower.

Yigil
Is something wrong?

Adrianna
No. Why? Does it seem like something is wrong ‘cause I’m fine.

Yigil
Gees, I just thought you sounded upset.

Adrianna
Well, I’m not.

Yigil
O…kay. Then what’s with this bonnet?

Yigil playfully takes Adrianna’s hat off and reveals that Adrianna has a black eye and bruises above her eye. She tries to take her hat back from Yigil.

Adrianna
Give me my hat.

Yigil
What did he do to you?

Adrianna
What?... I slid down the steps and fell and hit my eye on the railing.

Yigil
Adrianna, I know.

Adrianna
You and half the town. Who am I kidding? He hit me Yig.

Yigil
I know. Wha…what are you going to do?

Adrianna
I don’t know.

Adrianna gets up and runs down the sidewalk.

Yigil
(Yelling) Where are you going?

She waves her hand like she doesn’t want him to follow. He looks confused.

End Scene

Scene 8
(Yigil’s house / Adrianna’s house)
Yigil walks into the front door of his home. His mother comes to greet him.

Mother
Yigil, where have you been? I had to clean your fish tank because it smelled so bad.

Yigil
You cleaned my fish tank?! Did you use my aquatic purification tablets or the crap you buy from Heartland Foods?

Mother
I was doing you a favor. Now come in here and eat, dinner’s getting cold.

Adrianna walks into her home, and it’s dark and quiet. She goes into the kitchen and pulls a TV-dinner out of the freezer, and cooks it in the microwave.

Yigil and his mother sit opposite each other at the dinner table, while Cob’s fish bowl sits next to Yigil. An extravagant looking centerpiece is in the middle of the table.

Mother
(After a pause) So. Where have you been lately?... You’re coming home from school late, leaving unexpectedly. This is not like you. This isn’t what you do.

Yigil
Maybe I do different things now.

Mother
Like little high school hussies.

Adrianna sits at a dirty table and eats her microwaved meal. Her father comes in through the back door with a bottle in his hand drunker than ever, and he looks angry. He snuffs snot up his nose and spits in the sink. Adrianna looks paranoid. He periodically drinks from the bottle he is carrying. Adrianna’s father begins to search the kitchen cabinets.

Father
Where are my liquor bottles?

Adrianna
I don’t know.

Father
Don’t you lie to me.

Adrianna
I dumped them out.

Father
You did what?!

Adrianna
Maybe now you’ll be sober for a couple of hours.

Yigil and his mother continue their meal, and Yigil is feeding bits of his food to Cob.

Mother
I don’t know what you’re thinking hanging around that girl so much. Has she ever done anything nice for you? (She takes a bite). The girl is bad news. Have you even seen where she lives? Her family’s…it’s not like ours. Do you see where I’m going here, Yigil?

Yigil
You’re wrong. She’s better than that.

Yigil feeds Cob some more food.

Mother
Will you quit feeding your fish and listen to me! I don’t want you hanging around her. What are people going to think? You’re fooling yourself like you always do.

Adrianna and her father continue to quarrel. He takes a drink from the liquor bottle.

Adrianna
I don’t know what mom was thinking when she married you.
Father
Don’t give me any of that crap. (Burp) Your mother dumped you off. She never cared where the hell you ended up.

Adrianna
That’s not true; you know it’s not. She just has to work out her problems, and then she’ll come back.

Father
She’s n

ot coming back.
Adrianna
(Under her breath) Because of you.

Father
What did you say?

Adrianna
Maybe if you hadn’t bashed her head in so many times, she wouldn’t have left!

Back to Yigil and his mother.

Mother
Yigil? Do you understand? You don’t let yourself see the truth. You think your own way. Even if I was mean to you, you wouldn’t know it.

Yigil has a blank stare on his face like the one usually found on Cob’s face. His mother has a confused look on her face, and it looks like she might cry. But before she has time to do so, she leaves the table muttering her thoughts.

Now, Adrianna’s father is extremely upset.

Father
You’re just like that whore. Why don’t you start selling it instead of giving it away?

Adrianna
Screw you.

Father
You and your little rich boys. What, do you think you’re better than me now because you hang around them? Well, you’re not.

He takes a drink, and Adrianna knocks it out of his hand breaking the bottle on the ground.

Father
You little— Come here!

Adrianna’s father charges at her in a drunken stupor, and she dodges him and runs. He tries to run after her, but he eventually trips over a piece of furniture and passes out. Adrianna cautiously walks to where her father lies with caution in her eyes. She kneels down beside him, and her hand moves slowly toward his back pocket. He moans a little and she quickly moves her hand. She goes for his pocket again and grabs his wallet and takes it. She walks away.
End Scene

Scene 9
(Outside of Adrianna’s house)
Yigil walks to the front door of Adrianna’s house, and gives it a knock. Her father opens the door and looks blinded by the outside.

Yigil
Is Adrianna home, sir?

Father
Who wants to know?

Yigil
Name’s Yigil, sir, and this is Cob.

Father
Right… She’s gone. I’m guessing she’s not coming back either.

He slams the door in Yigil’s face.

Yigil
But she told me I could stop bye!

Yigil remembers Adrianna’s post card of the city for a split second. His countenance looks like he has an idea.

End Scene

Scene 10
(Yigil’s house)
Yigil runs into his house and begins packing.

Mother
Where are you going?

Yigil
I’m leaving. I have to go.

Mother
Where do you plan on going?

Yigil
I need a long stick.

Mother
Huh?

Yigil
I have to find a long stick or branch or something.
He walks into the kitchen, and his mother follows him with questions.

Mother
You’re not leaving this house.

Yigil
Yes I am.
He grabs a broomstick, breaks the broom off, and ties his wrapped up belongings to the end of the broomstick.

Mother
You didn’t answer me. Why are you leaving?

Yigil
Because I still haven’t found what I’ve been searching for.

He walks out the door, and his mother yells—

Mother
Yigil, if you leave, you won’t have a home anymore! Don’t you come back here when you make a mistake. Yigil?!

End Scene

Scene 11
(Music Montage, in the city)
Yigil is walking on a random street with his sack on his shoulder, and then he’s riding a bus. He is in the city showing strangers Adrianna’s picture, but none of them know Adrianna. He asks a homeless looking person if he knows Adrianna, and the homeless person takes out a picture of his lost one. The homeless person begins to freak out in front of Yigil, so Yigil runs away from him by being alarmed. He sits on a street curb with frustration.
End Scene

Scene 12
(Coffee Shop)
Yigil sits in a little coffee shop at a booth with frustration on his face. His waitress comes to wait on him.

Waitress
Anything else, Hun?
Yigil
No thanks. Um, just coffee is fine… No wait, could I have a tall glass of lukewarm water with no ice. No ice.

Yigil looks at Adrianna’s picture.

Waitress
(Gives Yigil the water) Here ya go.

A short time passes, and he is still sipping his coffee and looking at the picture of Adrianna. Cob is situated in a glass of lukewarm water on the table. All of a sudden, Yigil notices a woman outside of the window of the coffee shop who seems to have walked out of a 1920’s film. It is Adrianna in a bright red dress with a brilliant shade of red lipstick on her lips. He runs out to greet her.

Yigil
Adrianna! I’ve been searching for you all day.

He runs up to her, and she has a coffee pot in her hand for a reason he does not know.

Adrianna
Do you want more coffee?

Yigil looks puzzled.

Adrianna
…More coffee?...coffee…coffee…coffee

Yigil quickly awakens in his booth in the coffee shop realizing he really did not see Adrianna in the window. His waitress awaits his awake with a pot of coffee.

Waitress
Hun, did you want more coffee?

Yigil
Oh, yes please. Thank you.

Yigil puts some money on the table, puts Cob back in his bag, and walks out of the coffee shop. Just then, Adrianna walks out the backroom of the coffee shop with coffee mugs in her hands and an apron around her waist. She begins stacking them on a shelf, and then notices Yigil’s waitress in distress.

Adrianna
What’s wrong with you?

Waitress
That’s the third time I got stiffed tonight. (Mocking Yigil) “Get me a glass of lukewarm water, no ice.”

Adrianna
I’m already sick of these losers that don’t tip. I’m gonna go tell him off.

Adrianna fast walks out of the coffee shop and sees Yigil walking down the sidewalk.

Adrianna
Hey jerk off! You forgot to tip your waitress! Don’t come back here again until you can make up for your crappy tip. I hate your kind because…

She continues to yell and make gestures at him, not knowing who he even was. Yigil does not turn around, but recognizes the voice behind him. Something was different about her voice because it wasn’t the voice he was used to. It was much more womanly than he remembered. It hit him hard. He begins to have flash backs of reality.
First he remembers when Adrianna used to only push him down when they were children. They were not friends back then, but he only thought they were.
Another vision hits him of the time he stood up for Adrianna and tried to stop her boyfriend from hurting her. She was laughing at Yigil when her boyfriend hit him, while he lay on the ground in pain.
He remembers running up to walk with Adrianna home from school that day, and she looked at him like he was the last person she would walk with, and she walked faster away from him.
He sat in the living room of her house holding her postcard. She walked into the room and looked shocked to see him. She began to yell at him and threw him out of the house.
Yigil walked up to Adrianna and her popular friends, and they all looked disgusted that he was talking to them, especially Adrianna.
Yigil came up to Adrianna in the halls of the high school and tried to hold her hand, but she quickly ripped it away from him and made a nasty remark to him.
Yigil is in a department store trying on funny hats. When he turns around to show Adrianna, she is not there.
Yigil stands outside of Adrianna’s house and sees her come out with a black eye. When she sees him she quickly puts her hat on to cover her black eye. She walks past him looking confused as to why he is standing there.

Yigil (VO)

Cob, what’s going on? What’s happening to me? Has my whole life been a lie? (These lines are optional)

In his head, he remembers what his mother had said. “Even if I was mean to you, you wouldn’t know it.” More is added onto this statement. “Yigil, I’ve told you time and time again you have this condition where you create fake realities whenever you want. When are you going to get it?”

Yigil remembers another thing his mother said. “If you leave, you won’t have a home anymore.”

Yigil
(To Cob) This is my beginning, Cob. Life starts here. (Looks forward) I was nowhere until now.
Yigil puts Cob in his pocket and slowly walks down the sidewalk with a grin on his face that he has never had before.

Fade to black.

End Scene

THE END

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