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Written for my Theater 2 class last year. The whole class had to write a ten minute play of their own. Then, out of those twenty-odd plays, five were chosen to be produced for the stage, one of which was this one. I won a Student's Choice Award for, "Most Promising Playwright" for it.

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(The set is a teenage girl’s bedroom, with a bed, a full length mirror, and a desk setting our stage. ALEX is standing is the corner of the room, looking anxious, like he might have somewhere to be. LILLY walks onstage wearing a party dress.)

LILLY
Well? What do you think?
(She turns in the dress to show ALEX the whole thing)

ALEX
(He makes a disgusted noise in the back of his throat)
Maybe you should slip into something a little more comfortable…

LILLY
(She acts offended)
Like what?

ALEX
Like, unconsciousness.

LILLY
You are such a—

ALEX
(Cuts her off before she can finish her sentence)
A what? Douche bag? Jerk? a**? Just what could you possibly call me that could possibly make things worse right now? I’m already rock bottom, babe—I’m stuck here with you.

LILLY
(She ignores him to the best of her ability and continues to examine herself in the mirror, tossing her hair around her shoulders in various positions and making “kissy-faces” in the mirror)
So? Did you like the other one better than this one? Or this one better than the other one?

ALEX
(He sighs, coming away from his corner to give the dress an honest once-over)
I liked that pink shirt you wore last week better.

LILLY
(She turns away from the mirror to face him)
There’s one problem with the rose blouse. I wore it last week.
ALEX
But…what’s wrong with wearing a pink shirt two weeks in a row?

LILLY
Duh! Everything is wrong with me wearing a rose blouse two weeks in a row.
(ALEX groans, puts his hands on the back of his head, and returns to his respective corner)
What’s your deal with me, anyways?
(ALEX looks up, confused)
Why, in these last three days, have you so immediately hated me?

ALEX
(Dismissively)
I don’t hate you, Lilly.

LILLY
(This throws her off of her train of thought)
What?

ALEX
You’re just painfully insolent and annoying, that’s all.

LILLY
(She pauses a moment to disguise the hurt from his insult)
Then why don’t you leave?

ALEX
You and I both know that I’m not going to do that.

LILLY
Why not?

ALEX
Because I need the money that your father is giving to me for protecting you.
(He sighs)
And boy, he’s not paying me enough to take care of a prude like you.


LILLY
(She looks over what he is wearing: A black t-shirt and jeans, nothing fancy)
Is that what you plan on wearing to the party tonight?

ALEX
(He looks down at himself)
Yeah, as a matter of fact, it is what I’m wearing. You got a problem with that?

LILLY
(Muttering to herself)
At least black goes with everything.
(ALEX begins to tap his foot impatiently while LILLY continues to examine herself in the mirror)
Really, though, I’m curious—why do you hate me so much?

ALEX
Hah, I don’t really think that you want me to be very honest. And, like I said, I don’t hate you, Lilly. I’d just rather go home than spend god knows how long with you.

LILLY
(She turns from the mirror again and faces him)
Really. I want to know why you’re acting so…mean, Alex.

ALEX
(He slowly walks from his corner to LILLY again)
I don’t have to be nice; I just have to keep you alive, because if I keep you alive, I get paid.

LILLY
(She folds her arms)
That’s your only reason for keeping an innocent civilian alive?

ALEX
(He laughs, rather harshly)
I wouldn’t exactly call you innocent, sweetie.

LILLY
Yeah? What exactly am I so guilty of, then?

ALEX
(Sarcastically)
Because you’re just so damn charming.

LILLY
(Playing along with the sarcasm)
See, I knew that you would fall for my charms eventually.

ALEX
(Continuing to be sarcastic)
I am always at your service, princess.

LILLY
(She makes a disgusted noise in the back of her throat, breaking the sarcasm)
Princess! You’re funny.

ALEX
The funniest.
(He sighs and sits on the bed)

LILLY
(She continues to look herself over in the mirror)
How does my hair look?

ALEX
(He does not look)
It looks fine, your majesty.

LILLY
You are too weak and immature for your own good.

ALEX
(He stands up quickly and takes LILLY’s wrist. She tries to yank it out of his grasp, to no avail.)

LILLY
What are you—

ALEX
What did you say about weak?

LILLY
(She laughs bitterly and pauses in her struggle)
The immaturity part was proven perfectly.
(She grimaces and wiggles in ALEX’s hold)
You know, you can let me go—you’re going to leave an unattractive Indian burn on my arm.

ALEX
You are so selfish!

LILLY
(Her volume is on the verge of screaming and she is obviously whining)
Why can’t you just like me?

ALEX
Because you, you are unlikable! I don’t see why anyone would want to preserve your life—even your father.

LILLY
(She stops struggling, shocked, extremely hurt, on the verge of tears. She speaks, much softer now)
I don’t understand your animosity, but all that I can say is…it’s confusing. It’s uncalled for. And you’re…you’re mean. I haven’t done anything to you. And…although I don’t want you to go—mostly because I value keeping my life—I think that you should go, because although I may be selfish, and I may be pretty standoffish…I’m still a kid. You’re the adult. You’ve done your growing up—I still have my time to change. But you—you’re always going to be the aggressive jerk that abuses teenaged girls. You will never be loved. You don’t get a new start. You’re stuck with me for as long as I need you here. I have my impression of you—it won’t change anytime soon. You keep calling me selfish? You only recognize selfishness because you’re selfish, too. All you want to do is go home and do what? Play video games? What on earth would you do to be able to live with yourself if you left? If you leave, I’ll probably get killed just because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don’t think you’d be able to live with yourself. I think that the guilt would eat you alive from the inside out, because, even though you claim to not like me, my death would likely destroy you—in the event of my death, it would be all your fault.

ALEX
(He lets her go. LILLY rubs her arm and returns to her mirror, much less confident about herself in the way that she walks now. ALEX sits on the desk, feeling awkward about what he just did)
I’m…


LILLY
You’re what?
(She snaps)

ALEX
That was totally uncalled for.

LILLY
I was or you were?

ALEX
I…I was.

LILLY
At least you realize that.
(She pauses for a beat)
Are you sorry?

ALEX
Not particularly, but I’ll say my apologies anyway.

LILLY
My father really does care about me, you know.

ALEX
If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have hired me.

LILLY
Really. I want an apology, Alex.

ALEX
Good luck getting one.

LILLY
If you don’t apologize…
(She fumbles for a threat)
…I’ll….I’ll tell my dad that you hurt me!

ALEX
Fine—as long as I don’t quit, I’m okay with losing a job.
(Silence for a beat or two)
Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I’m just upset that I’m stuck here.

LILLY
Oh, so you have somewhere to be tonight?

ALEX
I didn’t say that. I just said that I didn’t want to be here.

LILLY
And what’s so bad about being here, huh? We’re paying you to stay here, to eat our food, to sleep in our house, and to watch me for a few hours a day. How bad is that, Alex? Huh? Tell me. Really. I’m dying of anticipation to see why you hate it here so much.

ALEX
(He sighs, seeming to have no answer. He jumps off of the desk while LILLY turns from her mirror to face him)
You remind me of someone I used to know.

LILLY
Who?

ALEX
Doesn’t matter in the least.
(He takes another deep breath)
What matters is…that person did some bad stuff. To me, to my family, to my friends…and she acted just like you. Standoffish, high-and-mighty…really, really selfish.

LILLY
I’m not all that high-and-mighty.

ALEX
You go ahead and keep on believing that, sweetie.
(He takes a beat)
She acted just like you when she was—how old are you?

LILLY
Seventeen.


ALEX
She acted just like you when she was seventeen. And you know what happened to her? She died alone. She grew up past seventeen, sure, but she grew up only to lose everyone…everything. And you, princess, you…are going to end up just like her—old, alone, and hated.

LILLY
So…you do hate me.

ALEX
I repeat myself: I never said that I hated you.

LILLY
Then stop implying that you hate me, for god’s sake.

ALEX
I’m not trying to imply anything.

LILLY
Then what in the hell are you still doing here?

ALEX
I’m trying to get a point across to a painfully insolent young individual who never knows when to shut her overactive mouth.

LILLY
Why are you trying so hard to get me pissed off at you?

ALEX
Because I want you to want me to leave.

LILLY
That’s not going to happen. I don’t want you to leave at all, Alex.

ALEX
(He pauses, confused)
Wh…what?

LILLY
You heard me. I don’t want you to leave.

ALEX
But…I’m being an a**—I’ll even admit it this time. I’m being a complete jerk… For a second there, I thought that a demon might have been possessing me or something.

LILLY
I’m aware that you’re being an a**…a jerk…possessed. Whichever. I’m also aware that you’re trying really, really hard to be a jerk. You actually like me. I can tell.

ALEX
(He snorts)
Someone’s conceited.

LILLY
That’s what I’m saying. You’d rather be a total jackass than admit that you like me.

ALEX
Boy, you’ve got that wrong.
(He shifts his weight nervously and looks around the room, his eyes hitting everywhere but LILLY)

LILLY
Do I?

ALEX
You do.

LILLY
Then, really…what are you still doing here?

ALEX
I’m earning a paycheck.

LILLY
Why are you trying to get fired?

ALEX
Because…because…

LILLY
Do you even know?

ALEX
Nope.
(He pops his lips on the P)

LILLY
Okay…so…now that that’s a bit clearer…

ALEX
Yes…?

LILLY
Which dress do you like best?


ALEX
(He sighs, almost lovingly)
The blue one that you had on earlier. I liked that one.

LILLY
You mean the cerulean one with the periwinkle lace?

ALEX
Yeah. Sure.

LILLY
(She smiles and exits)

ALEX
(He sighs again and falls onto the bed)

LILLY
(She peeks back into the room)
Hey, Alex?

ALEX
Yeah, Lilly?

LILLY
You’re kind of awesome. Don’t leave while I’m changing, okay?

ALEX
I wasn’t planning on it, sweetheart.

LILLY
Thanks…for being a good friend.

ALEX
Sure, kid.
(LILLY exits)
Sure.

This was really cute. ^^

I agree with Aloysia Bloodfur-- I don't really like this sort of thing either. The girl was a brat and the guy was a jerk, but the way they toyed with each other was very realisitic. I love how you mentioned the guy's purpose for being there but didn't waste too much time on the little details. While I wondered just what it was he did and why he was needed, I could get enough of a guess from the description. <3~