INT. LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
LUCIA (20) and OLIVIA (20) sit on the sofa, facing each other. We hear echoes of a party throughout the house, but it feels like the whole world is just the two. Their knees touch. Lucia leans in. Olivia leans in.
INT. MONICA’S BEDROOM – LATER
LUCIA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHHHH
MONICA
Lucia, just-
LUCIA
AAAAGGHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhahhhhhhhhhh so stupid stupid stupid!
Lucia paces around the room while MONICA (20, supportive, but over this) watches from her bed.
MONICA
I’m sure it was fine.
LUCIA
DUDE…
MONICA
Or it wasn’t that bad. Or as bad as you thought.
There is just no way that’s true. Lucia keeps pacing, and Monica lets her.
MONICA
Wait, I don’t get it. So what happened? You made a move and she wasn’t into it?
Lucia shakes her head.
MONICA
She was into it?
Lucia shakes her head again.
MONICA
Did you make a move? I’m confused.
LUCIA
No no no it was just bad. It was so much worse.
MONICA
Dude, WHAT happened?!
INT. LIVING ROOM – FLASHBACK
Everything feels like slow motion. Lucia leans in. Olivia leans in. Olivia brings her hand toward Lucia’s face, and then…! Lucia grabs Olivia’s wrist.
LUCIA
Nice… bracelet!
A beat.
OLIVIA
Thank…you…?
LUCIA
(far too interested)
What are those? Beads?
OLIVIA
Yeah, um. My sister made it.
INT. MONICA’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
MONICA
Okay, so, there was a hiccup. That’s-
LUCIA
No. You don’t understand.
INT. LIVING ROOM – FLASHBACK
Lucia’s examining the bracelet and then nervously takes Olivia’s hand in hers. They’re shaking hands now. Making a lot of eye contact.
AFTER A WHILE:
LUCIA
Is something sticky? Or wet? I think I feel something sticky.
It’s so clearly her hand sweat.
OLIVIA
I think it might be your hand…
They both wipe their hands on their pants.
INT. MONICA’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
MONICA
Wow, I-… Is there more?
INT. LIVING ROOM – FLASHBACK
LUCIA
You’re such a good friend
INT. MONICA’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
MONICA
Damn.
LUCIA
Yeah.
The girls defeatedly stare out into space.
MONICA
And then what happened?
LUCIA
What do you mean? I came over here and started telling you about it.
MONICA
No, like what happened right after that?
LUCIA
(slowly)
I came over-
CUT TO:
INT. LIVING ROOM – FLASHBACK
Lucia and Olivia sit tensely beside one another.
LUCIA
(hearing a fake noise)
What? I gotta go.
Lucia sprints into the room adjacent to the living room. The party is at Monica’s house.
INT. MONICA’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
MONICA
Wait what? So this was like, twenty minutes ago?
LUCIA
Fifteen to twenty, yeah.
MONICA
Where’s Olivia?
INT. LIVING ROOM – PRESENT
Olivia sits on the couch in the exact same spot, staring into her cup idly.
INT. MONICA’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
MONICA
(fake angry but also actually angry)
OHHH my god, DUDE!!!!
INT. LIVING ROOM – CONTINUOUS
Lucia is kicked into the living room. Monica’s door slams shut behind her. She rejoins Olivia on the couch.
LUCIA
Had to take care of… a thing.
OLIVIA
Oh.
LUCIA
She sat on a nail.
OLIVIA
What?
LUCIA
It’s all good now.
OLIVIA
…Cool.
The prolonged silence is deafening. This is so awkward. It takes a while for them to even look at each other.
Finally, their eyes meet, and the music swells. Fuck it.
Lucia kisses Olivia.
Olivia kisses her back.
END.
Minh Pham is a 22 year-old queer Vietnamese American and recent graduate of Virginia Tech. She is a professional consultant from Northern Virginia, who writes in the evenings after long days of toiling away in the corporate machine. Minh has a passion for comedy, and the stories she wishes she could have had when she was younger.