Chapter 1
Ext. A pathless barley field. Night. A clean cut teenager WESLEY MURR is walking with his best friend, IAN WILSON a rebellious and nearly silent teenager. Ian is drunk and stumbling. Wesley laughs.
WESLEY: Ian, you’re going to fall over again. We’re officially out of town, so let’s just sit.
Wesley leads them to a slightly shorter section of the barley field and sits down. Ian sits next to him.
WESLEY: Finally. My legs ache. I don’t get how you can just walk for hours, especially when you’re drunk.
Short pause.
WESLEY: It’s a nice night. Pretty cold, but a good kind of cold. It’s just cold enough to be sorta uncomfortable, which I like. That might sound kind of masochistic, but I don’t mean it like that. I just mean that sometimes it’s nice to know that the world is stronger than man. Does that make sense to you?
Ian nods.
WESLEY: Good, because it didn’t make any sense to me. You know, I like this field. Normally the stars are pretty bright in our town, but it’s even brighter out here. I think that’s the big dipper up there.
Wesley points at the sky.
WESLEY: You know I love our town, but sometimes it’s nice to be out of it. Of course, it’s not very far to get away. The whole town is so small. I’m sure you think differently, though. I bet you think it’d take hours of driving instead of walking to get away from our town.
Ian nods.
WESLEY: I wish you didn’t hate our town. There’s some good people in it. You’re my best friend, you know. If we didn’t have this town, we wouldn’t be friends.
Short pause.
WESLEY: I know you’re not happy and it’s terrible that you’re not happy. I don’t know if you’re sad or scared or angry… I don’t know what reason you’d have to be so unhappy. You say it’s because of this town, but I’m not sure. I think there might be other reasons. I just don’t know what they are.
Short pause.
WESLEY: It’s like the movie E.T., right? It’s like… you don’t say a whole lot and what you do say, I have to decipher. But you don’t have to talk for us to be friends. And even though we’re really good friends you still have to leave. You need to get away and I’m not angry at you for that, I’m just confused. Because E.T. had his home planet to go to, but you don’t.
Short pause.
WESLEY: You shouldn’t have gotten drunk tonight. You’ll be hungover at Sunday school tomorrow. Your parents will be angry. I guess they get angry at that kind of stuff easily, huh? For good reason, though. You shouldn’t be drinking, especially at our age. It’s not right.
Short pause.
WESLEY: Well, I guess you don’t need to hear that right now. I’m just glad I found you before you hung out with those guys. They’re not good people, Ian. Those road trips or whatever they call them? It’s scary. We never know where you go or when you’re coming back. Or if you’re coming back. You know, sometimes you scare me, Ian.
Ian turns to look at Wesley.
WESLEY: Well, you don’t actually scare me. Your actions scare me. You’re going to get yourself hurt one day.
IAN: ’m sorry.
WESLEY: No, I don’t mean to make you feel bad. There’s no reason to be sorry. It’s just… I don’t know why you do the things you do. What are you trying to do? Are you trying to prove yourself to somebody? To those guys?
IAN: No.
WESLEY: Is this spite? Are you angry at somebody?
IAN: Not at you.
WESLEY: Well, that’s good. But you are angry.
IAN: Sorta.
WESLEY: At your parents?
IAN: No.
WESLEY: At God?
Ian scoffs.
WESLEY: You’re angry God.
IAN: I can’t be angry at something that doesn’t exist.
Pause.
WESLEY: I worry about you a lot, you know.
IAN: I’m not the one that’s brainwashed.
WESLEY: Finding comfort in God’s light is not the same as being brainwashed. I don’t understand how you can reject the comfort and stability of the Church after all it’s done for you. Not just that, but you’re denying yourself salvation. I just don’t get how you can push away all these wonderful things you’re being offered.
Short pause.
WESLEY: Well, maybe I do understand it sometimes. Not the rejection, but the doubt. I don’t know. It’s all very confusing. But God is loving, soothing and stable and I shouldn’t doubt Him. I know I’m not making sense. I’m hardly making sense to myself.
IAN: He only loves some.
WESLEY: Well… That’s fair, right? I mean, would you love somebody who hurts you?
IAN: If God is so much stronger and wiser than man, then why would he be offended by trivial things like people liking sex or jacking off?
WESLEY: It’s not that simple. It’s hard to explain.
Short pause.
WESLEY: You know, sometimes I feel like I’m just floating around. I wish I had something to hold onto because I feel like I’ll just be sucked into a black hole or something if I don’t grip hard enough onto an unmoving, stable pole. And it’s like, I don’t know what that pole is supposed to be in my life. But I feel like if I don’t find something stable soon enough then I’ll just... float away.
Short pause.
WESLEY: I don’t know what I’m saying. Don’t listen to me, I’m a little sleep deprived.
Long pause.
WESLEY: Ian, can I admit something to you?
Ian nods and shrugs.
WESLEY: I don’t doubt that God is real but sometimes… sometimes I wonder if Latter-day Saints are right about Him. Maybe the Catholics have it right or the Lutherans or Protestants. Or anybody else, really. Because I can’t imagine a God that would punish somebody like you, Ian. I mean, I guess you really are the definition of sinner according to any religion. But you’re not hurting anybody but yourself. In fact, you’re kind and you listen. And I like to think that you really do care. You’re a good person.
Short pause. Wesley gets flustered and looks away from Ian.
WESLEY: But I don’t know. I shouldn’t doubt God.
IAN: Wesley?
WESLEY: Hm?
IAN: Stop talking about God.
WESLEY: Why?
IAN: I don’t want you to think about him at all. Not during this.
Ian puts a hand on Wesley’s shoulder, and Wesley freezes. Ian slowly kisses Wesley. After a brief moment, Wesley pulls away. He’s stunned silent.
IAN: I shouldn’t have done that.
Wesley slowly shakes his head, trying to understand what just happened.
WESLEY: No. Do it again.
Ian hesitates for just a moment before kissing Wesley again. It’s slow and sweet for a while, but turns more passionate when Wesley puts his hands on Ian’s shoulders. Ian gently pushes Wesley to lie the both of them in the grass. Ian is sitting on top of Wesley when Wesley slowly breaks the kiss, as if very gradually coming out of a trance.
WESLEY: This…
IAN: Should we stop?
WESLEY: I… I don’t know.
Ian gets off of Wesley, but Wesley is still lying down. Wesley is still significantly dazed.
WESLEY: I can’t-… No… No, there’s some mistake here. This isn’t right.
IAN: I’m sorry.
Wesley sits up, a little less dazed than before but still unfocused.
WESLEY: This... is a sick dream. A nightmare.
IAN: It’s not. I’m sorry.
WESLEY: You-... I almost-... Ian. Let’s just…
Wesley stands up and doesn’t look at Ian. He’s trying to dissociate from the situation.
WESLEY: Let’s go home. The sun will rise soon and I’m tired.
Ian stands up.
IAN: You told me to keep going. I thought-
WESLEY: Listen to me, okay? I don’t have feelings for you and I never will. I don’t know what you mean by kissing me but I don’t like you like that. I don’t like you and I never, never will. Do you get that?
Ian doesn’t respond.
WESLEY: I shouldn’t even have to say this, Ian! I don’t know what you do with those guys you hang out with, but I don’t want to be any part of it, okay? You do what you want but it’s not for me. Why can’t you get that in your head?
IAN: You asked me to kiss you again. You kissed back, Wes.
Wesley gets in Ian’s face and speaks very quietly.
WESLEY: We will never talk about this again. Never. No matter who you are or where you are in the world, you will never tell a soul. Whatever just happened dies tonight, you understand? It dies tonight.
After a long pause, Ian barely nods. Wesley turns around and walks away.
WESLEY: We’re going home.
After a moment of hesitation, Ian follows Wesley.
End scene.
