The Way The World Is

A short play that details a deep, emotional story portrayed by a caring teacher and a troubled teen.

(Enter CROSS, followed by CHASE. He appears to be in trouble, having head lowered.)

CROSS: Alright, Chase. Have a seat. We need to talk about what happened today. Don’t you think?

CHASE: I don’t think we do, sir.

CROSS: Why do you think that, Mr. Michaels?

CHASE: Because, sir, there’s nothin’ to talk about. What happened is in the past now. Don’t ya’ think, Mr. Cross?

CROSS: Yeah, that’s true, but we must later evaluate the past so that in the future, we can learn not to do it again.

CHASE: With all due respect, sir, I don’t think I share your point of view.

CROSS: Why’s that?

CHASE: Well, sir, if we just move on from what happened, and don’t talk about it at all, well then maybe we can forget it happened entirely.

CROSS: Is that possible, though? To forget something entirely?

CHASE: I wouldn’t know sir. You’re a lot older than me, and a lot smarter. You would know a lot better than I would.

CROSS: You’re probably right, kiddo. I still think we need to talk about what happened.

CHASE: (Angrily.) Why can’t you just let it go?

CROSS: Because, kiddo… I can’t.

CHASE: That’s not an excuse. Not even a reason. I want a real answer, Mr. Cross.

CROSS: Because, Chase, it’s the good thing to do. When you see someone knocked down, you help them back up. You don’t kick dirt in their face and laugh about it.

CHASE: You do if that’s what keeps you from getting in trouble.

CROSS: Who taught you that?

CHASE: My dad.

CROSS: Interesting man. I don’t believe I’ve met him.

CHASE: No, sir.

CROSS: I’d like to some day, if that’d be alright?

CHASE: It wouldn’t be, sir. He passed away a few years ago.

CROSS: Oh, I’m… I’m sorry.

CHASE: It’s alright. We were never really that close, if I’m being honest. He had limited visitation after my parents got divorced. He was abusive…

CROSS: To you or to your mother?

CHASE: To my mom and to me… Why am I telling you this?

CROSS: It’s easy to open up to people if you try. Now, do you think we could return to the issue at hand?

CHASE: What issue is that, sir?

CROSS: The fact that I found you in the men’s locker room, being kicked and punched by the entire football team. Chase, why did they do that to you?

CHASE: I don’t know.

CROSS: You don’t know? Surely they said something to you.

CHASE: They used a lot of derogatory terms.

CROSS: Such as?

CHASE: I’d rather not repeat them, if you don’t mind.

CROSS: That’s fine, kiddo.

CHASE: Mr. Cross?

CROSS: Yes?

CHASE: Do you think it’s wrong to be gay? Do you think it’s wrong that, if I’m a guy, I like other guys? I suppose what I’m asking is… Do you think I’m going to hell because I’m gay?

CROSS: I think that the way religion views homosexuals is very misconstrued. I think what they’re really afraid of is not that you’re gay, but rather you’re different. They can’t understand that because in their eyes, and in the eyes of the god they worship, it was not in his natural plan for the world. It just kind of happened, you know what I mean?

CHASE: How do I deal with that, though?

CROSS: That’s a question that only you can answer, kiddo.

(They fall silent. CROSS starts to grade papers.)

CHASE: Do you need me to leave, Mr. Cross?

CROSS: You can stay as long as you’d like, kiddo.

CHASE: Have you ever thought about what happens after you die?

(CROSS drops his pen on the floor and looks up.)

CROSS: Why do you ask?

CHASE: I’ve just been wondering… What would happen if I did die, and then… Where do I go after that? Do I just fade away into nonexistence, or do we go somewhere? A heaven? A hell? I just want to know where I go after I die.

CROSS: Well, kiddo, there’s no reason for you to know, is there? You’re not dead, and you’re not going to die, right?

CHASE: (CHASE is very silent for a moment.) Well… Seeing as how I’ve opened up this much… I don’t think I want to live anymore, sir.

CROSS: Why?

CHASE: Because, Mr. Cross… I just don’t.

CROSS: There’s no just saying, “I don’t want to live anymore.” There has to be a reason, Chase. What’s happening? Is it at home? Is it the football team? Has what happened today happened before? Come on, Chase, talk to me.

CHASE: Sir, I don’t see the point in talking about it.

CROSS: Have you tried anything?

CHASE: Sir?

CROSS: Have you tried to kill yourself, Chase?

(Silence falls on the two.)

CHASE: Yes.

CROSS: How?

CHASE: Is that really necessary?

CROSS: Yes.

CHASE: I took my dad’s old revolver and put it in my mouth one night, but I couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger.

CROSS: (He sighs heavily and looks down at his hands. They lapse into another silence. CHASE stands to leave.) Sit down, Chase. Please, sit down.

CHASE: (He sits back in the chair across from CROSS.) I don’t really see the big deal. It’s not like anyone will notice I’m gone. My mom will be able to feed herself for once. The team won’t have a crappy player to worry about anymore. You won’t have a stupid student to teach. I jus-

CROSS: Stop talking right now, Chase. Right now.

CHASE: Sir, I-

CROSS: No. No, you’re wrong. Your mother won’t eat because she will be torn apart with grief. The team won’t play anymore because they will be in mourning, and they will tear themselves apart because they know it was partly their fault. I would stop teaching, because if I can bring back one student from the brink, then I’m not doing my job right. You have so much to live for, Chase. You know... There’s a quote I love, by Robert Frost…

CHASE: The one about the two paths?

CROSS: No, no… This one isn’t as well known. Frost said, “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” Do you know what that means, Chase?

CHASE: I think so…

CROSS: It means, kiddo, that no matter what life throws at you… No matter what hardships you face… You will get through it. Humans are the most resilient beings there are… On this planet, anyhow.

CHASE: But, sir… It’s not fair! Why does my life have to be crappy? Why do all these people around have it so good, so easy, and I have to work two jobs with my mom, worry about scholarships, and bust my a-

CROSS: Please, I’m still a teacher, this is still a school.

CHASE: Sorry… I bust my butt working towards college, and a future, and it amounts to nothing, sir. It’s just not fair!

CROSS: Life isn’t fair, kiddo. I’m sure you’ve heard that before.

CHASE: Yeah, I know,  but… I’m gay, right? I like boys. I think they’re attractive. That’s not right, though. That’s WRONG. I’m not right, and I’m a shame to my mom, my dad, my friends… I’m not supposed to exist. That’s what you said, right? I was outside God’s plan?

CROSS: Outside, maybe, but does that mean that He has instantly forsaken you? I’m not a religious man, Chase, but from what I’m hearing… You are. Don’t you believe that you can be forgiven for everything if you confess and atone?

CHASE: Yeah.

CROSS: Don’t you believe that if you put all of your faith in God, he will show you the way? He will save you?

CHASE: Yeah…

CROSS: Isn’t it taught that God loves all creation?

CHASE: Yes, but…

CROSS: Then tell me why the hell he wouldn’t love you for who you are?

CHASE: I don’t know! The pastor told me-

CROSS: To hell with the pastor! If he’s telling you that you’re worthless because you think about men the same way others think about women, then he needs to reevaluate his own existence. We look up to the men of God because we believe that they’re all good and just, and yet we often find that they can be corrupt too.

CHASE: What do I do, then?

CROSS: Find your own faith. Don’t blindly follow that of those before you.

CHASE: What if I find that I don’t have faith?

CROSS: Then you live your life to the fullest, and know that you lived a good one.

CHASE: How can it be like that, though? Why is…

CROSS: Kiddo… That’s just the way of the world...