Questions

Matthew Baamonde

EXT. NORTH BOSTON – BY THE WATER

JACK and LÉA are walking side by side through crowds of pedestrians along a breezy boardwalk. The remains of the summer sun reflect off of nearby buildings and light the bay in a red orange glow.

Still uncertain if this was meant to be a date or just a friendly outing with a classmate, Jack awkwardly tries to find a balance between giving Léa room and being romantically close.

Léa, clearly a lover of conversation, is rambling as they walk, but focusing more on the beauty and excitement of the world around her.

LÉA

…so in realistic terms, we’re talking about a bunch of people from all over the planet pursuing a very expensive, emotionally draining… dream… that will ultimately not pay off for most of them.

JACK

How do you know that?

LÉA

Averages. Statistics. I mean, look around next time you’re in class. Only two of those fifteen or so kids are actually going to ‘make it’ in the music industry.  The rest are going to end up getting ‘real jobs’ and having to make music their hobby.

JACK

So what’s the trick to not become one of the other thirteen?

LÉA

I think the real question is how do you become one of the two? And that depends if you’re a fatalist or if you believe in the personal empowerment to control your future.

JACK

You mean like destiny versus free will?

LÉA

Are you a believer Jack?

JACK

(hesitating)

No.

LÉA

(giggling)

So sure?

JACK

I think they’re both bullshit rationalizations so people will feel more…  complete… at the end of their lives. I think people will pick which ever is more convenient to justify their place in the world.

LÉA

That’s a little cynical don’t you think? So then what do you believe Jack?

JACK

I don’t believe either of those… or well, maybe some combination of both… in that we are given a set of predetermined circumstances and rules that we can’t control, like for example- the laws of physics, and we are forced to live by it, but what we do within those circumstances is what really matters. Like a test to our creativity and drive to either make a better life for ourselves within them or to somehow overcome them and achieve a new life in a new plane of existence.

LÉA

See, I think…. I think that it all comes down to how much drive you have. Like deep down, you know what you really are and if you have the drive, you will eventually achieve whatever you want. Like take for instance the fact that there are a lot of other guitar players, vocalists, whatever, in our music school. I guarantee that there are a few guitarists better than you, and God knows there are a ton of vocalists better than me. So why don’t the rest of us just give up and quit? – Oh, hey, there’s this really cute coffee place I found with my roommate up here. Do you want to stop in?

JACK

Lead the way.

The two round the corner and cross a back alley that leads to a small chain of stores. Léa leads them across a street and up to a quaint café with the name, “Not Starbucks.”

INT. NOT STARBUCKS

Jack and Léa ENTER the old fashioned, yet strangely eccentric, wood framed restaurant. Its sparse decoration is unlike most coffee shops and it has a warm, welcoming atmosphere. An elderly couple, apparently the owners, are speaking with some customers at the far corner of the store and turn to wave to them.

Jack and Léa choose a table by a window and sit across from each other. Léa’s hair falls over her face and she smiles as she brushes it back. Jack can’t take his eyes off of her and tries to hide the growing grin across his mouth.

LÉA

I love it here. It’s just so…

JACK

Cozy?

LÉA

Yeah… makes me want to cuddle. Hey! You never answered my question.

JACK

So ask me again.

LÉA

Why are you here? What’s your motivation for pursuing something so difficult and so competitive like music?

JACK

Well, maybe I’m not the ‘best’ guitarist, not that I think there is such a thing, but there are things I can do that no one else can.

LÉA

(giggling)

Oooh? Like what?

JACK

Well… that’s my secret.

LÉA

Oh-ho Mr. Mysterious. Alright, well, you know you’re not the only one with secrets.

JACK

Tell me one of yours.

LÉA

Oh, c’mon. Like what?

JACK

I don’t know, it’s your secret.

LÉA

Yeah, but… ask me a question.

JACK

Alright.

(hesitating)

Is this a date?

Léa blushes and looks away, gazing out the window of the café into the dimming sun. She doesn’t respond for a moment and begins to chew on the end of her thumbnail.

LÉA

I told you I have a boyfriend, Jack.

JACK

Yeah, I know, I’m sorry, I just-

LÉA

But my boyfriend doesn’t watch the setting sun with me and listen to me bitch about my life. He doesn’t trek through Boston with me and he isn’t even as damn cute as you. Do you know why?

JACK

Look, I-

LÉA

Because I don’t have a boyfriend Jack. I made that up because I thought you were just another sketchy guitarwanking music guy who was trying to hit on me.

JACK

I am a sketchy guitarwanking music guy and I am trying to hit on you.

LÉA

I know.

JACK

But you still didn’t answer my question. Is this a date, Léa?

LÉA

(grinning)

Well that entirely depends on how it ends.

Matthew Baamonde is a student at Berklee.