Introvert 3rd Draft
- 1. EXT. BUS STOP - DAY James and Neil sit together at a bus stop. JAMES Being single really sucks, man. NEIL It's not so bad. JAMES Easy for you to say. You've had relationships. NEIL Yeah and I hated them, didn't I. JAMES Why? NEIL Didn't have any time for my mates. JAMES I'd have time. NEIL Nah. You don't want a girlfriend. Don't get one. JAMES I do want one. I just can't talk to girls. Or anyone really. Besides you. NEIL Oranges are not the only fruit, mate. JAMES Um. Yeah. NEIL Definitely not the only fruit. INT. A NICE RESTAURANT - EVENING James hangs up on Neil. James, approximately 18 years old, sits alone at a restaurants booth. He is wearing a suit and tie. He looks awkward, uncomfortable and alone. Clearly nervous, he constantly adjusts his tie, checks his watch and checks his underarms for sweat. He stares down at the table and plays with his headset, muttering nervously under his breath. JAMES Pull yourself together, man. Come on, James. You can do this. A shadow falls over him and he looks up with shock, quickly shoving the headset into his pocket. We see Liza, also around 17 or 18. She's a cute, girl-next-door type. Not knockout gorgeous but pretty and friendly. She's not quite
- 2. as smartly dressed as James, but she is wearing a modest dress and light makeup. She looks at James, slightly nervous about catching him talking to himself. LIZA Uh, sorry I'm late. The train was delayed. JAMES (stammering) No, no, don't worry. Hi. Hi, hey, how are you? James leaps up to take her coat, before realising there's nowhere for him to put it, so he simply hands it back to her. LIZA I'm fine. And you? JAMES Yeah, good, yeah. He gestures to her seat awkwardly and she sits, him following suit opposite her. There is a silence. LIZA So, JAMES (simultaneously) I- LIZA Sorry, you go. JAMES Uh, thanks for coming. Sorry, I didn't, I mean. Um, I wanted to ask in person, but, um, You know, it was easier... Over text. LIZA Oh, don't worry. Thanks for asking. JAMES Yeah. Uh, no, it's... you're welcome. Another silence. JAMES So, uh, what were you going to say? LIZA When? JAMES You know, just now. LIZA Oh... Uh, sorry, I can't remember.
- 3. JAMES Oh, cool. I mean, uh, yeah. That's fine. Pause. JAMES I, uh, I bought you this. He picks up a red rose from the bench next to him and hands it to her. LIZA Oh, thank you... That's really sweet of you. JAMES (blurting out) I don't love you. LIZA What? JAMES Well, uh, I read that you give red roses to someone if you, you know, love them. So if you thought that meant I love you, I don't. I mean, not now. Uh, not yet. Liza looks at him, slightly shocked. He can't bare the silence and so carries on talking. JAMES They only had red roses at the shop. I, uh, I wanted pink, that means I appreciate and respect you. Which, uh, I do. Pause. LIZA Thank you. JAMES No, you're welcome, that's fine. I'm going to the bathroom. He practically leaps off the seat and hurries away, leaving a perplexed Liza staring at the red rose in her hand. INT. RESTAURANT BATHROOM - EVENING James storms into the bathroom, breathing heavily. He punches the wall next to him and buries his head in his hands. A pause while he gathers his thoughts. He pulls out his phone and calls Neil. NEIL (O.S.) Hey, man. How's it going?
- 4. JAMES Shit. NEIL (O.S.) Oh. Too bad. JAMES Seriously, Neil. This sucks. I really like her. NEIL (O.S.) Oh. A pause. JAMES I'll have to use the headset. NEIL Fine. Just say what I say and don't make it too obvious. INT. A NICE RESTAURANT - EVENING James sits down opposite Liza. He's wearing a bluetooth headset. We can immediately see the change in him. He seems confident and relaxed. Instead of wearing his suit jacket, he's carrying it over his arm. His sleeves are rolled up and he's loosened his tie a bit. Liza looks up from her phone, confused by the sudden change. JAMES Sorry. LIZA No worries. JAMES (gesturing to her phone playfully) I'm away for 2 minutes and you're already texting your side guys? LIZA (laughing) No. I was wondering if you'd ditched me. JAMES Ditch you? Babe, you're adorable. Why would I ever ditch a girl like you? Liza looks down at the table, blushing and smiling. James leans over and takes her hand. She looks up, a sparkle in her eye. She likes him. INT. NEIL'S ROOM - DAY James sits cross-legged on Neil's bed, using a textbook to
- 5. write notes, obviously some kind of homework. Neil is sitting next to him, doing the same. Neil seems like a calm, confident and friendly guy, a good friend. NEIL (without looking up from his notes) So how'd it go? JAMES Good, yeah. Really good. Neil puts his pen down and looks pointedly at his friend. NEIL You don't sound that enthusiastic. Didn't you do what I said? JAMES Uh, yeah. I did. NEIL But? JAMES It went really well. But, uh, she tried to kiss me. A pause. NEIL Nice. JAMES It wasn't, I kinda ran away. NEIL (interested, wistful) You didn't want to kiss her? JAMES Course I did. But, you know. Nervous. NEIL Oh. Neil goes back to his work, apparently lost interest. JAMES So what do I do? NEIL How should I know? JAMES Well, like... How... Do you kiss, you know. Well. Neil looks at James' earnest, vulnerable face and sighs. NEIL
- 6. I'll show you. JAMES What? Why? How? NEIL I'll kiss you. Because I care about you and I want you to be happy with Liza. JAMES But I'm not gay. NEIL Neither am I, you twat. I'm doing this as a favour. JAMES So this isn't a gay thing? NEIL Obviously not. It's a mates thing. JAMES Well, okay. I guess. Pause. NEIL So, you need to take the back of her neck. James takes the back of Neil's neck. He's clearly uncomfortable. NEIL A bit tighter. James does as he's told. NEIL Look into her eyes. Tilt your head. Take her waist with your other hand. Then kiss her. The two kiss. INT. JAMES' ROOM - EVENING James and Liza sit on the bed clearly watching a movie. James is wearing the headset. NEIL (O.S.) Have you got your arm around her? James puts his arms around her, which she responds to by looking up at him smiling. NEIL (O.S.) You haven't kissed her yet, have you. Kiss her, you pussy.
- 7. James does. EXT. THE SOUTHBANK - AFTERNOON Liza and James walk along the beautiful London Southbank, hand in hand. Liza excitedly points out sights and James smiles, often touching his headset before replying. EXT. THE PARK - DAY Cute couple montage cliches. EXT. THE BEACH - DAY Cut to cute little montage of cliche, couple frolicking on the beach type activities, except involving the headset at all times. James even runs in the sea in trunks, still with his headset on. James and Liza sit on a blanket on the beach, huddled up together under another blanket, looking at the sea. LIZA I want to tell you something. NEIL (O.S.) Shit, that's not good. JAMES What is it? LIZA Thing is... Well... I... I love you. NEIL (O.S. panicked) Oh, shit. JAMES You what? LIZA I love you. James feels a change. He feels confident, euphoric, happy. He takes off the headset and chucks it to the side. JAMES I love you too. He kisses her, and we see the headset lying abandoned on the ground. NEIL (O.S.) James? James? INT. NEIL'S ROOM - DAY A knock on the door, it opens and we see James, happy and
- 8. excited. Neil is unimpressed, emotionless. NEIL Wasn't expecting you. JAMES Your Mum let me in. I have to tell you about yesterday, man, it was so perfect. NEIL Cool. James sits down. JAMES She told me she loved me, dude! I said it back, we kissed, we watched the sun go down on the beach, it was like a movie or something. It was like I finally felt confident. Like I can actually talk to someone that isn't you... I've never felt that way, I've always hated being around people but it's so different with her. It was amazing. NEIL You turned off the headset. JAMES Yeah, isn't it awesome? I did it, man! Alone. NEIL But you turned off the headset. JAMES Yeah... I know. NEIL And what about me, James? JAMES What... What about you? NEIL What do you expect me to do? Just sit around while you spend your time ignoring me. JAMES What are you talking about? NEIL Did you fuck her? Did you fuck her on the beach in public like the slag she is? JAMES What the fuck?! NEIL How the fuck am I meant to know
- 9. what's going on if you do a dumb thing like turn the headset off?! JAMES Neil... NEIL You've fucked it all up. She never wanted you, she wanted my words. She doesn't care, she never will. She's just a whore that doesn't know shit about you. I know you, I made you confident, I made her love you. Then you just ditch me? Take that fucking headset off the second the little bitch shows affection? JAMES Fuck you, Neil. I don't need this shit. I don't need you. Not anymore. I have Liza and she'd be happy for me that I got confident. Fuck you. James gets up and leaves. Neil furiously grabs his phone and makes a call. NEIL Hey. Come round to my house tomorrow, I need to tell you something. About James. INT. NEIL'S ROOM - DAY Liza listens to a recording of Neil talking as James and Liza are on a date. NEIL (O.S.) Tell her she's beautiful. JAMES (O.S.) You're so beautiful, babe. Seriously. LIZA (O.S.) James... thank you. NEIL (O.S.) You're welcome, beautiful. JAMES (O.S.) You're welcome, beautiful. Neil stops the recording and tears stream down Liza's face. NEIL I'm sorry. I didn't know how far he'd take it.
- 10. Silence. LIZA So when he said he loved me...? NEIL It was all me. I told him to say that yesterday. Then I realised it had gone too far. Liza puts her head in her hands. NEIL I only did it because I thought he genuinely liked you and just needed some help. If I'd known it was all just a bet he made with his mate I never would have... LIZA It's okay. You thought you were just helping a friend. You went too far but I forgive you. It's him I don't forgive. Pause. LIZA Thanks for telling me, Neil. She gets up to leave. NEIL Liza? Sit back down. (She does) Don't you wanna talk about it? LIZA No, that's okay. NEIL He's such a bastard, honestly. He screwed me over as a mate and he screwed you over as a girlfriend. He doesn't deserve you. He takes the back of her neck, just as he'd told James. NEIL You're sweet and kind and beautiful and I meant every word I told James to say... With every word he leans a little bit closer to her until by the end of his sentence he kisses her. She closes her eyes and kisses him back as he gently lifts up his phone as snaps a picture of the two. EXT. BUS STOP - DAY James sits at the bus stop. Liza walks up to him then sees who it is and stops. LIZA Oh. I thought Neil would be here.
- 11. James clenches his fists and says nothing. LIZA Do you not have the decency to speak to me after lying to me for months on end. James is confused but continues to not say anything. LIZA What kind of sick arsehole tells a girl they love them for a bet? JAMES What?! LIZA You know what. Enjoy your lonely life. She's about to leave when James reaches forward and slaps her, hard. She stares up at him, holding her cheek, then spins round when she hears the voice come from behind her: NEIL Normally I don't condone violence but I'll allow it here. LIZA What? NEIL What kind of dirty, fucking whore kisses their boyfriends best mate the day after telling him she loves him? It slowly dawns on Liza what's happened. LIZA But... Neil... You said... (to James) James, I- NEIL Don't talk to him. Fuck off. He deserves better. Liza pauses, but then leaves in tears. Neil sits next to James at the bus stop. JAMES I can't believe I hit her. NEIL She deserved it. JAMES I've never hit someone before. NEIL Ah well. JAMES
- 12. But she did cheat. NEIL Yes, she did. She wasn't the one for you. JAMES Who is? Pause. NEIL I guess you'll find out. Be patient. JAMES I will. Oranges are not the only fruit. Neil takes James' hand. James goes to pull away but Neil clenches tight, not letting him. James gives in and holds Neil's hand back.