Cast:

ANNIE

JAMES

STEPH

 

EXT. OPEN FIELD - NIGHT

ANNIE, a heartbroken college student with a few swigs left in the vodka bottle she’s clutching, sits alone. She looks like a fucking mess. Hair falling out of her bun, dark eye-bags, and makeup smudged around her eyes. She sips the vodka like its wine, wincing at the bitterness. She absentmindedly hums, picking at some pieces of grass.

 

She looks to her right to see JAMES, a college dude with a nonchalant, careless attitude, sitting beside her with his legs outstretched. There are a few feet between them. Annie blinks at James, takes a swig while still looking him in the eyes. Annie reaches out her hand slowly, as if James were a scared animal. She cannot reach him.

 

ANNIE

(raising an eyebrow) Of course you’re here.

 

James just shrugs his shoulders, looking into the dark field. Annie lowers her head to rest between her knees. 

 

ANNIE

(incredulous)

You’re everywhere. I don’t know how you do it, but you’re everywhere.

 

She shakes her head slowly and raises it to look at him again.

 

ANNIE (CONT’D)

Fucking selfish.

 

A little laugh escapes her lips and she takes another small sip. She blindly gropes the grass for her phone and fumbles to unlock it. Scrolling to her text conversations with James, she begins reading them out loud.

 

ANNIE

(aggressively)

“How are you?” Let’s see...

“Dinner at 6?” Oh, what about this one - “You look cute.”

 

JAMES

(reciting his texts)

“I’ll see you soon.”

 

ANNIE

(reciting hers brightly)

“Looking forward to it!”

 

JAMES

(emotionless)

“I’m free until 8.” 

ANNIE

“I had so much fun tonight!”

 

JAMES

“Yeah, it was nice.”

 

ANNIE

“If you’re free later, I’d love

to see you again.”

 

JAMES

“Yeah, I might stop by.”

 

Annie looks more sad now rather than angry. She scrolls through the messages until she reaches the most recent one.

 

ANNIE

(numbingly)

“I just wish you wanted me in the

same ways I want you.”

 

She stares at the night sky and James stays silent. Annie

puts her phone down when -

 

CUT TO:

FLASHBACK

 

INT. CAFE - AFTERNOON

Annie and James sit in a booth, where Annie is placing her phone down onto the table.  James is across the table from Annie and the pair have laptops and notebooks in front of them. Annie sneaks peeks at James over her laptop and shyly smiles.

 

ANNIE

(laughing)

That’s ridiculous.

 

JAMES

Swear to God, dude. And look, this is when he finally realized it wasn’t toothpaste. Took him like a week to realize the thing was filled with frosting instead, like somehow mint and vanilla icing tastes the same. He swears he had like five cavities that year.

 

James shows her a video of his roommate angrily waving a toothpaste container around. Annie’s hand reaches out to his to see it better, and he shifts his body to face her. They’re both laughing and Annie can’t look away from him. Their legs bump up against each other under the booth. He glances at her lips. 

 

James quickly places his phone down on the table and starts typing again, almost as if he entirely forgot he wasn’t alone. Annie shifts awkwardly in the booth and takes a sip of coffee. Annie twitches her hand closer to James’ but chickens out and retracts her hand incredibly fast. She just stares at her hands in her lap.

 

END FLASHBACK

 

CUT TO:

INT. OPEN FIELD - NIGHT

James is gone and Annie sits alone in the dark field. She takes another swig of vodka and lays on the grass.  Annie sighs and looks up to see STEPH, her unfiltered, fiery best friend, looking at her with a sad, pitiful expression.

 

STEPH

You’ll find someone else.

 

ANNIE (shaking her head)

No, no, that’s not it.

 

STEPH

(forcefully)

You’ll find someone else.

 

ANNIE

(mumbling)

I don’t know if I want to.

 

STEPH & ANNIE                       

(speaking over each other)           

  

STEPH

No, you will find someone new, and they will be better and not an asshole who leads you on for months. You’re a beautiful, strong woman who can get someone who cares for her, treats her right, and communicates like a grown ass man. You deserve someone who shows you love the way you show love. You can do better, Annie. You need to do better, because you can’t let your heart hurt like this for someone who treated you like a
backup plan.

​

ANNIE

He’s not a bad person, he makes me laugh and we had Really fun times together. I really like him and I can’t - I don’t know if I want to move on, and I know he’s not into me I know but I can’t not be into someone like him. I don’t know if I want to do better. Fuck. I want to just hate him but I fucking can’t. I fucking can’t and instead I’m just trapped in a room of two-way mirrors where I see him,  see everything, the world moving on around me, and to the world I’m just an empty room of mirrors.

 

The pair finishes their rants and Annie’s chest is heaving. 

​

She closes her eyes and when she opens them, Steph is gone. 

The rumble of party music whispers in the distance, and Annie turns her head to the noise.

 

CUT TO:

FLASHBACK

 

EXT. OPEN FIELD - NIGHT

A small group of people are dancing to music. There’s shouting and laughter, cans on the ground, and flashing lights. 

​

INT. OPEN FIELD - NIGHT

Annie is dressed in a party outfit and James stands to her side. Alcohol cans are in their hands and they somewhat stumble into each other until they’re side hugging. His arm is slung around her waist and her head is leaning against his chest. They whisper unintelligibly to each other. Everything else fades away. They begin to sway, turning to face each other, and they begin slow dancing to the sound of the crickets and soft hums.

 

ANNIE

You’re so warm.

 

JAMES

Mhm.

 

His chin rests on her head, her face smushed into his chest.

 

ANNIE

This is really nice.

 

JAMES

It is. You’re nice.

 

Their swaying hesitates and James looks down into her eyes.

​

They hold their gaze and his eyes flicker to her lips. He tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. His head bends down to meet her lips and they kiss, briefly. Both of them are breathing intensely and Annie reaches an arm around James’ neck, pulling him in for another kiss. As their lips touch,

Annie’s eyes close.

 

END FLASHBACK

 

CUT TO:

INT. OPEN FIELD

Annie is standing and opens her eyes to find herself back in the field, alone. She is still staring into the distance, but there is no music playing, and no one else is there. She looks down to see the vodka bottle still in her clutched hand.  It is nearly empty.

 

She shakily sits down and hugs her knees to her chest. She begins to cry silently. She looks over to where James is no longer sitting.

 

ANNIE

(softly)

How am I even supposed to get over something that never really happened?

 

She doesn’t wipe her tears, but instead, takes another sip of vodka. She doesn’t wince anymore. After she swallows, she notices James has appeared by her side. Annie is unfazed by his appearance.

 

ANNIE

(CONT’D)

It’s like we didn’t even get a middle. I didn’t get a middle. Just a shaky beginning and a quiet end.  There’s supposed to be a middle.

 

She laughs, exhaling from her nostrils, devoid of emotion.

 

ANNIE

(CONT’D)

And now I just have to pretend that we, us, didn’t feel like the world was spinning and that you were it for me. You were never for me and you knew that, didn’t you.

 

A beat of silence.

 

ANNIE

(CONT’D)

I just feel so goddamn stupid. A fucking gullible girl who thinks a moment is more than a moment. A kiss is more than a kiss. I’m just stupid. Stupid, fucking stupid.

 

Annie faces the audience, looking dead-on.

 

ANNIE

(begging for permission)

Am I even allowed to mourn something that never was? Something that was never going to be? Something so foolishly, ridiculously, obviously one sided?

 

The tears fall freely, her face covered in a sheen from them. James has disappeared again, leaving Annie alone in the field again. She attempts to stand, dizzying herself and stumbling, falling backwards where she lands -

 

CUT TO:

FLASHBACK

 

INT. CAR - AFTERNOON

Into the passenger seat of a car. She is put together, dressed nicely and peeks at James in the driver’s seat. Her knee is bouncing, visibly anxious.

 

JAMES

Those dumplings were incredible. I’m so full, I’m gonna sleep for like eight days.

 

ANNIE

I know. I wish I had leftovers for tomorrow but there was no way

I wasn’t going to finish them.

 

Beat.

 

Annie starts, as if to say something, but no words come out.

 

ANNIE

(CONT’D)

I-

 

JAMES

(interrupting)

Shit, I still have so much work to do.

 

Annie blinks and falls quiet again. She gulps.

 

ANNIE

Same.

 

She closes her mouth and stays quiet while James parks. They fall into a silence, staring straight at the road ahead. They exit the car slowly, a few feet of space between them.

 

We see James, aloof and content, meandering towards his dorm.

Meanwhile, he is oblivious to Annie’s heartbroken expression. She is blinking, growing more and more upset the further they walk. She gradually falls behind. Her lip is trembling and her eyes blink rapidly, trying to dissuade tears. One slips out and she quickly moves a shaky hand to rub it away.

 

James keeps walking, unaware that Annie isn’t in step with him. Annie squeezes her eyes shut until the world goes dark.

 

END FLASHBACK

 

CUT TO:

INT. OPEN FIELD - NIGHT

Annie is standing in the same position as she was in the flashback. The vodka bottle swishes around in her hand, her knuckles white.

 

ANNIE

(slurring)

And you’re just gonna go on like nothing happen-en-ended. Nothing, nothing, nothing.

 

BEGIN MONTAGE OF A REALITY IN WHICH ANNIE AND JAMES HAD A

REAL, START-MIDDLE-FINISH RELATIONSHIP.

 

Each scene only shows a snippet of the imaginary life. There is something off about each scene - every moment has discreet alterations (in the set, costuming, actions, etc.) to feel like a distorted, incomplete reality. They mirror some classic Rom-Com shots.

 

ANNIE (V.O)

(gibberish)

Nothing nothing nothing nothing.

A middle. Together, together.

Just once. Please. Please, please. Something. Anything.

Fuck, damnit. Please.

 

 

 

CUT TO:

INT. CAR - AFTERNOON

James and Annie are seen talking in the car as before, but this time, they stop and stare at each other. The two lean in to kiss each other, but just before they do 

 

CUT TO: 

INT. OPEN FIELD - MORNING

James and Annie lay next to each other on the grass, looking at each other sideways. There are scattered books and paper around them, long abandoned. Just as Annie is about to brush James’s hair with her fingers -

 

CUT TO:

INT. CAFE - AFTERNOON

The pair laugh loudly at each other, heads bowed and knees touching. Their laughs sober and Annie glances at James with a toothy grin. Their hands slowly start to move towards each other, and they begin to hold hands. Before fully interlocking their fingers -

 

CUT TO:

INT. KITCHEN - DUSK

Annie mixes batter by a stove while James hugs her from behind. They’re laughing; he keeps sticking his finger in the batter and she tries to shoo him away. He swipes at her face with the batter and she crinkles her nose. He leans down to kiss her neck when, just before he does 

 

CUT TO:

INT. CHAPEL - NIGHT

James and Annie are dancing, wearing fancy attire. They are spinning, dipping, and laughing. Just as James spins Annie into his chest -

 

CUT TO:

INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT

Annie and James are seen fighting, pointing fingers and shouting at each other. Annie storms away with her hands thrown in the air, and James grabs for one of her hands and pulls her close. Before they can fully hug - 

 

CUT TO:

INT. LIBRARY (HARRY POTTER ROOM) - DUSK

Annie lays in James’ lap. They sit against a bookshelf. He strokes her hair as she cries softly into his side. They’re somber, quiet, and grasping at each other. As James goes to hold Annie’s face in both his hands, they touch foreheads, and James gets up to leave -

 

CUT TO:

INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT

Annie is alone, clutching a pillow in her lap. There is a clock on the wall beside her, the hands on the clock never moving, but instead stuck on the time 11:56PM.

 

She is silently crying, staring directly into the audience. Her eyes are blank and emotionless, her lips drawn into a thin line. She doesn’t move - the only thing moving are the tears trailing over her cheeks.

 

Annie intensely closes her eyes once more and the world goes dark again.

 

END MONTAGE

 

CUT TO:

INT. OPEN FIELD - NIGHT

Annie is again alone in the field, back to reality. The vodka bottle in her hand is empty. She is still staring into the audience, the same expression marring her face as it did in the bedroom.

 

Finally, for the first time throughout the real scenes, Annie lets go of the vodka bottle. It falls sideways and lands in the grass where James had been sitting, Annie’s hand limp a few inches beside it. Again, just not quite able to reach.

 

THE END