As Good As

CHARACTERS
Tuscan- a good-looking teenage boy
December- a good-looking teenage girl
Girl- the voice of a teenage girl


SCENE ONE
(The stage is dimly lit. The noise of falling rain and occasional thunder is in the background. DECEMBER and TUSCAN are both wearing all black. They have ski masks on their heads, but not covering their faces. They are staring at something on the ground in front of them. They‘re shivering. Laying beside each of them is a shovel. People are standing at the back of the stage dressed in black with their hoods up. They do not move.)


DECEMBER
I…

TUSCAN
I can’t believe you did that.

DECEMBER
Me? I didn’t… I mean… no. I didn’t. Don’t blame this on me.

TUSCAN
But it’s your fault.

DECEMBER
It’s not my fault.

TUSCAN
Well it’s not my fault.

DECEMBER
Maybe neither of us are to blame.

TUSCAN
Someone is to blame. These things don’t just happen.

DECEMBER
Right…

TUSCAN
We- we’ll have to do something about it.

DECEMBER
Not it. She. Her. She’s a person.

TUSCAN
Then we have to do something about her.

DECEMBER
She might still wake up.

TUSCAN
She’s not going to wake up.

DECEMBER
Should we check? Look for a pulse or something?

TUSCAN
I’m not. I know she won’t wake up.

DECEMBER
Are you sure?

TUSCAN
Yes. Look at her. There’s no mistaking it.

DECEMBER
Good. It’s better that she’s dead, really. In the end.

TUSCAN
How can you say that?

DECEMBER
How can you not? You know you’re thinking the same thing. You didn’t want her around any more than I did. It’s just better this way.

TUSCAN
I guess you’re right. But you still shouldn’t talk like that. People will think that you killed her.

DECEMBER
Stop blaming me! It wasn’t me! If anything it was both of us, but not me!

TUSCAN
Calm down, I’m not blaming you! I didn’t say that I was your fault. I said that people might think it is. But she did it to herself.
DECEMBER
That’s it. It’s her fault.

TUSCAN
Exactly.

(TUSCAN and DECEMBER continue staring at the spot in front of them as they stand in silence. There‘s a large thunderclap and both of them jump. The stage flashes.)

DECEMBER
Do you see that?

TUSCAN
What?

DECEMBER
The paper. Right there.

TUSCAN
Oh. Yeah.

DECEMBER
See what it says.

TUSCAN
You see what it says.

DECEMBER
I don’t want to get any closer to her.

TUSCAN
And I do?

(DECEMBER takes a small step back. TUSCAN reaches down and picks up a piece of paper.)

DECEMBER
Is it…?

TUSCAN
It’s a note. A letter.

DECEMBER
What does it say?

TUSCAN
It’s addressed to us. It’s from her. Written by her.

DECEMBER
What does it say?

TUSCAN
I can’t believe it! She spelled my name wrong!

DECEMBER
What does it say?

TUSCAN
‘Dear Tuscan and December,’

DECEMBER
It’s addressed to us! I can’t believe she’d do that!

TUSCAN
I just said that!

DECEMBER
Shut up! What else does it say?

TUSCAN
‘Dear Tuscan and December,’
(TUSCAN looks at the paper while DECEMBER continues to stare at the spot on the floor.)

GIRL (V.O.)
‘Did we know each other in a past life? I don’t say this because you’re familiar- no, I’m fairly certain that I never had the pleasure of meeting your acquaintance until that first day freshman year- but because I can’t think of any other reason why you hated me so much. As soon as I walked in the door it’s like I set off alarm bells in your head. It seems unlikely that I offended you in a previous life, but why else would you come at me with such a vengeance? I never did anything to you, yet every single day you tried your hardest to make my life a living hell.
First it was just little things. You’d snicker at my hair or insult my secondhand clothes. You’d whisper behind your hands and get the others to laugh at me with you. Then you stopped me from making friends. If I sat with someone, you stopped them from talking to me. You spread rumors, all kinds of rumors, to keep people away from me. So I was isolated. But so what? It wasn’t a change from middle school. I could handle that. But you didn’t stop there. Since I wasn’t absolutely miserable, you took it further. You had to make sure that I suffered.
So I started getting tripped in the halls. Things like mice, bugs, dirt, milk, and rocks would find there way into my book bag. My lunch money would go missing. People would accidentally drop food on me at lunch. You started telling the teachers about how I was cheating on tests, doing drugs, and coming to school drunk. You dedicated a day of school to spitting on me.
At first, I thought that you just didn’t care about my feelings. But then as things got worse, I knew that you were actively trying to hurt me for your own sadistic pleasure. It was a sport, hurting me. I realized that you did it for fun, for entertainment, just because you could.
That’s when I started thinking about killing you. I wanted to tie you down to the train tracks and watch you get cut to ribbons. I wanted to slip rat poison into your food and watch you choke. I wanted to shoot your brains out and watch the blood hit the ceiling. I’d thought of all kinds of amazing fantasies. But I couldn’t go through with a single one of them. I’m not a murderer. I couldn’t knowingly take another person’s life. I just couldn’t. I tried to make myself, I had a gun and everything, but I couldn’t. I just… couldn’t.

DECEMBER
Stop.

TUSCAN
‘So then I started-’

DECEMBER
I said stop!

TUSCAN
December. You… we have to read this.

DECEMBER
I don’t want to!

TUSCAN
We owe her this much. You can’t just run from this.

DECEMBER
We don’t owe her anything! She did this herself! It’s her fault, not ours! I don’t have to listen to this!

(DECEMBER runs off the stage. One of the people in the background stop her before she can exit. They drag her back and force her to her knees before returning to the back to stand. She kneels in front of the spot in the floor and begins to sob silently. The rain gets louder.)


GIRL (V.O.)
So then I started planning my death. I had nothing to live for, after all, and even more to die for. By now you’ll know whether or not I was successful. In all likelihood, I’m as dead as you wanted me to be. Deader, even. I don’t regret it. Well, I might. Who knows what’s out there. In the beyond. Perhaps I’ll burn for eternity. At least I finally got away from you.
So, I just have one last question for you. A final request, if you will. What did I do to deserve this? This kind of pain, this kind of torture. Was it because I was different? It’s always because of the differences, isn’t it? Humankind’s inability to accept people who aren’t carbon copies of what they think people should be. Was it my hair that bothered you? My skin? My accent? My religion? My gender? My sexuality? My clothes? My interests? My attitude? My intelligence?
Wasn’t I pretty enough for you? Wasn’t I interesting enough for you? Wasn’t I athletic enough for you? Did you have no one else to use as your scapegoat? Or was I just not good enough for you?
Well, it doesn’t matter anymore. You’ve seen me to an early grave. That’s right, you have. If anyone asks, make sure they know that it’s all your fault. You’ll be proud to take credit, right?
(GIRL pauses like she’s holding back tears.)
I hope you’re happy with what you’ve done.

DECEMBER
S-s-stop, p-please!

TUSCAN
‘Sincerely, No One.’

DECEMBER
I d-didn’t do it! It wasn’t my fault! She did this to herself!

TUSCAN
But if it hadn’t been for us…

DECEMBER
No, she was sick! She wasn’t thinking straight. These kinds of things happen all the time to kids and they never wind up dead. It’s not my fault!

TUSCAN
It was. It was both of our faults. It says it right here.

DECEMBER
No! The note! Everyone is going to know!

TUSCAN
The police will find it. They’ll know.

DECEMBER
They can’t! It’ll ruin me! It wasn’t my fault! They’ll blame me all because of her! Her idea of a sick little joke before she went! But it wasn’t me! It wasn’t! It wasn’t!

TUSCAN
December-

(DECEMBER jumps up and steals the note from TUSCAN. She tears it up and shoves it into her pocket. There is a long thunderclap and the stage flashes wildly. Slowly, DECEMBER picks up her shovel.)

DECEMBER
Come on.

TUSCAN
December… what are you…?

DECEMBER
Come on! We have to do this! We have to make sure that no one ever finds out!

(TUSCAN picks up the shovel. Both of them act as if they are picking up dirt and dumping it into the spot where they had been staring. They do this for a while as the thunder and rain picks up. Eventually they both stop and hold their shovels while looking at the spot on the ground. The people in the background walk forward and crowd around them. Silently, they pull the ski masks over their heads so that only their eyes can be seen. All of them walk offstage. The rain and thunder stops, and the lights go down.)