The Boy: Part 1A Screenplay by DarrinReay This is a short screenplay about a boy who is the subject of bullies. He meets a girl who is also the subject of bullying. OVER BLACK: The sound of crying- followed by thudding as if somebody is being punched repeatedly. As the thudding stops, we hear the sound of footsteps scurrying away in a hurry. We hear the voice of our narrator: MICHAEL BECKET. MICHAEL (V.O.) It's kind of strange. People say that bullies become who they are because they went through a time in their lives when they were being bullied... I believe they do it for their own delectation. INT. GYM - LOCKER ROOM - DAY There is a small, fat boy lying on the ground, head-to-toe in mud... bruises are all over his face. This is MICHAEL BECKET. Michael is crying on the floor, arms curled up to his face. A teacher walks into the locker room. TEACHER Come on, Becket. Time for your next- The teacher stares down on Michael, noticing the bruising on his face. TEACHER (CONT'D) Are you going to tell me what happened? Michael glances up, his red-eyed face looks scared. MICHAEL (V.O.) At this point, I had two choices. Lie, say I fell over and let the bullying continue or come clean, tell the teacher the truth but still get the s**t kicked out of me. He stands up to his feet, picking up his backpack... MICHAEL I'm fine. ... and storming past his teacher and out of the room. The teacher has a face of concern, he follows Michael out of the locker room. INT. GYM - HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS Michael is storming down the hallway, followed by his teacher who grabs his arm, swinging him around. MICHAEL Please don't hurt... (notices teacher) Why are you following me? TEACHER Listen, Michael. I know a thing or two about bullies, you don't want to be labeled a tattle-tale, I understand that but you can't go through your life living like this. In constant fear that your next beating is coming- A group of boys walk behind the teacher, trading looks with Michael. MICHAEL I told you that I'm fine. Just leave me alone. The scared Michael leaves the Gym doors, walking out of sight. The teacher stops and stares at him disappearing as the doors slam shut. MICHAEL (V.O.) I know what you are thinking. I should have told the truth. You're right, I should have but what good would that have done... they would get a warning, a slap on the wrist and sure the bullying would stop for a few days but it would then commence again. CUT TO: INT. SCHOOL - LUNCH HALL - LATER A group of teenagers are sat at the lunch table. They are whispering and laughing but then it goes into a serious conversation. FRED I saw Michael talking to Mr. Garrison after gym class today. ANTHONY I swear if he told him anything, i will kick the- FRED He didn't. He took one look at us and bailed. He made the right choice! Michael enters the lunch room. He walks up to the table where the lunch trays are. He picks one of them up. ANTHONY (O.S.) HEY, TUBSY! NO PIES ON TODAY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? The room fills up with laughter. Even the lunch ladies snicker. Michaels face turns redder than a beetroot and he drops the tray on the ground, running out of the hall. One girl does not laugh. A tall but fat girl looks furious as she walks up to Fred and Anthony. MICHELLE You're not funny. You're pathetic, feeding on the fear of a young boy. You have no idea what you're doing to him. The two boys begin to laugh, along with their friends. FRED I don't care what I'm doing to him. He's a fat s**t who should learn to take it easy on the pies. (looking girl up and down) Kind of like yourself, fatty. Michelle's face gets more angry. She slaps Fred and then runs off out of the wall. Fred laughs as he sits back down. CUT TO: INT. SCHOOL - HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS Michael is sitting on a set of seats. His eyes are watering and he looks as if he's going to cry. Michelle walks up, sitting down next time. Tears are also in her eyes. MICHELLE You shouldn't listen to them, they aren't worth it. Michael turns and faces Michelle, they both trade looks. He is hesitant to talk. MICHAEL (V.O.) At first, I thought it was all just one sick joke... that the other students had paid her to come and talk to me- to be nice to me. He opens up his mouth, stuttering at first but becomes cool. MICHAEL It's kind of hard to ignore them, especially when it's the whole school too. MICHELLE What goes around comes around. Anthony and Fred are going to get what is coming to them. Maybe not today but pretty soon, I promise you. MICHAEL It all just gets a bit too much for me. I've often thought about ending my life, I mean... who would miss me? MICHELLE Your family would miss you. More people than you know would miss you. Don't do it, just be strong. You can get through this! Michael creates a little smile on his face, Michelle does also. MICHAEL How come you are being nice to me? MICHELLE I figure we're the same, you and me. MICHAEL How did you figure that out? You don't get bullied almost twenty four seven. Michelle looks away, more tears form in her eyes as passerby's stare at the two of them. MICHELLE I used to. (pause) In my old school, every gym lesson, every break, lunch and free time I had... I was taken away, beaten and forced to keep silent or I would get it again the next day. That happened for two years until my mom found out and transferred me to this school. I guess i wasn't pretty enough for the other girls. Now I keep myself to myself because I too have thought about suicide. Michael stares at her as tears begin to trickle down her cheek. MICHAEL It's okay, everything is okay now. You've had a chance to start fresh. Don't turn to suicide. And believe me, you are pretty enough! They both stare at each other, eyes locking onto each-others. In their minds, sparks fly and they instantly connect with one another. MICHELLE I'll make you a deal, I won't turn to it if you don't. We can get through this together! They both smile even more... any wider and they would look like The Joker. MICHAEL (V.O.) I don't remember a time before that day when I ever felt that happy. It was the best feeling in the world and I didn't want it to stop. Call me cheesy but I believe this was love at first sight. It had to be, right? The sound of the school bell can be heard. Michelle stands up, smiling at Michael as she turns around and walks in the opposite direction. Michael has a huge smile on his face. Meanwhile, on the end of the hallway, Anthony and Fred watch as Michelle walks away from Michael, Fred whispers into Anthony's ear. CUT TO: INT. SCHOOL - LUNCH ROOM - MOMENTS LATER Fred runs down the corridor, catching up to Michelle. FRED So I want to say sorry about before. Michelle turns to Fred, a shocked face is on her but also a surprised and happy face. MICHELLE Really? FRED Yeah. I forgot to say that you were ugly and that I'm glad you got bullied in your old school, expect more here. Fred walks away from Michelle, leaving her upset and broken. She runs out of the school doors. CUT TO: INT. HOUSE - MICHELLE'S ROOM - NIGHT Michelle is lying on her bed, deep in thought. Sounds we hear: CRYING, LAUGHING, THUDDING FROM PUNCHES, SHOUTING. Michelle takes a piece of paper and pen, she begins to write paragraphs onto the paper. She bursts into tears once she has finished, opening up her bed side cabinet. Revealing a bottle of, PAINKILLERS. MICHELLE I can't go through the bullying anymore. Painkillers, huh? Maybe they can take away the pain of life. She opens the lid... closes her eyes and begins to swallow the full tub of painkillers. She rests her head against the pillow and closes her eyes. She seems peaceful. INT. HOUSE - KITCHEN - MORNING Michelle's mom is making breakfast- Bacon sandwiches. MICHELLE'S MOM (shouting) Michelle, breakfast is ready. Hurry up, you're going to be late for school! There is no answer. MICHELLE'S MOM (CONT'D) Come on, darling! Don't make me come up there. Again there is no answer, she begins to walk up the stairs.... then she approaches Michelle's bedroom door. It is locked. MICHELLE'S MOM (CONT'D) Come on, this isn't funny. Open up this door, now! She bangs on the door but nobody answers still. A door at the end of the hall opens up, a boy walks out. This is Michelle's brother. BROTHER Mom? What's wrong? MICHELLE'S MOM It's your sister, she won't answer me and she won't open up her door. Can you get the door open? BROTHER She's probably just on her period. The brother walks up to the door, he tries the handle just to make sure. BROTHER (CONT'D) Sis? Are you alright? Silence. MICHELLE'S MOM Told you. With one great big kick, he smashes the door open and they both enter the room. They freeze on the spot for a moment as they stare at the WHITE FACED, DEAD BODY of Michelle. Her brother runs over to her, attempting to wake her up, her mom grabs the phone, bellowing as she dials for an ambulance. BROTHER (crying) Michelle! Come on, wake up, little sister! Please, wake up! You can't leave me! He rests his head against hers, his tears drip onto her face. He turns to his right, staring at the words she had wrote. MICHELLE (V.O.) Mom, brother... I am so sorry. I know that when we moved here, I promise that I'd never turn to suicide again. I made that promise because everything had changed, times were happy and times were great. But there was a bully at school today, feeding on the fear of those weaker than him, feeding on my fear and threatening to bring back the painful memories of my past... threatening to make my life hell. I couldn't go through it all again. Just know that I love you both, now and forever and I am always looking down on you. FADE TO: We read: "One week later!" INT. CHURCH - DAY A priest is stood at the front of the church, he is looking into the bible. PRIEST Let us commend Michelle to the mercy of God... The voice of the priest is faded out as we pan around to see Michael sat there alone at the back of the church. Tears are in his eyes. MICHAEL (V.O.) At this moment in time, it felt like my whole world had been crushed and torn apart. I only spoke to her once, but it felt like a lifetime to me. I miss her already, i need her to come back. CUT TO: EXT. GRAVEYARD - LATER Everybody is gathered around the open grave, the coffin is just about to be lowered down. Michelle's mom steps forward to the coffin, kissing it. Her brother steps forward, kissing it also. Then, the coffin begins to lower down slowly. PRIEST We therefore commit Michelle's body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life. It all goes silent, Michael stares at the floor but Michelle's brother walks up to him. BROTHER You're Michael, right? He quickly looks up, nodding his head. BROTHER (CONT'D) I want to show you something. Her brother goes into his pocket, taking out the suicide note that Michelle had wrote. He hands it over to Michael and he opens it up... he begins to read it. MICHELLE (V.O.) Michael, I know that we promised each other that we wouldn't turn to suicide but I guess that you are stronger than me. Although I am gone, I want you to keep a hold of that promise and make it through these tough times. Show me that somebody can rise up from the darkness of their life and shine brighter than ever before. Do that and you will make this angel in heaven proud. He begins to smile as he reads it but then bursts into tears straight after. FADE TO BLACK: MICHAEL (V.O.) Reading that letter made me determined to make it through these tough times but it also made me determined to stop people like Fred and Anthony. It was time to put an end to their suffering. FADE OUT. THE END
© 2013 DarrinReayReviews
|
StatsAuthor
DarrinReayWashington, Tyne and Wear, United KingdomAbout© 2013 Darrin Reay. Eighteen years old from Washington, United Kingdom. Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. more..Writing
|
![[send message]](https://www.writerscafe.org/images/mail.png){kind=small}
![[befriend]](https://www.writerscafe.org/images/friend.png){kind=small}
Share This
Email
Facebook
Twitter
Read Request
My Library
Flag Writing
