FADE-IN

EXT. OUTSIDE HALLS OF RESIDENCE – DAY

Girl A steps out of a car, closes the door behind her. She closes

THE CAR DOOR

then looks up at the

HALLS OF RESIDENCE

GIRL A (VO)

I’m terrified.

BLACK SCREEN

SUPER: “You’ll make lots of friends.”

THE CAR

pulls away. Girl A walks towards and through the door of

HALLS OF RESIDENCE

GIRL A (VO)

But what if school had been a fluke, everything up to now, all my friends exceptional people, not like the rest of the world?

But the words came true: I made lots of friends.

INT. KITCHEN – DAY

Girl A walks through

THE KITCHEN DOOR

BOY (VO)

Her.

Girl A looks at the boy’s

STEAMING MUG OF TEA

GIRL A (VO)

Scent of tea hangs on the air, rises from his mug.

Girl A walks in and sits at the opposite end of the table at which Boy is sitting. Boy’s fingers tighten around

THE MUG

BOY

What’s wrong?

GIRL A (VO)

Nothing. Acrid smoke last night, change over him.

SUPER: Shot of boyfriend smoking a spliff.

BOY (VO)

Boyfriend. Still, mightn’t last.

INT. CORRIDOR – NIGHT

Girl B sees Boy at the other end of the corridor.

GIRL B (VO)

Him.

INT. BOY’S ROOM – NIGHT

Girl A and Boy are sat on floor cushions in front of a television screen, which is the only light in the room. On the floor next to them, their Friend is asleep.

BOY (VO)

We watched a film together, she and our friend, huddled on floor cushions, the screen illuminating our faces, spring breeze through the open window. Our friend fell asleep, and it was like we were alone, alone and complicit when he gurgled in his sleep and we looked at each other. I thought then of putting my arm around her…

(Boy’s hand moves, his fingers twitch, he looks over at Girl A)

…but I didn’t. Had we been properly alone, then I would.

INT. BOY’S ROOM – NIGHT

Boy sits on the floor cushions in front of the television, playing a videogame. The screen is again the only light-source in the room. Girl B sits next to him, but a little apart from him.

GIRL B (VO)

How many nights had I sat with him in his darkened room watching him play videogames, sharing his pain in each failure, his joy in each success, thinking ‘is this what a relationship is’? I suppose that never crossed his mind: he only had eyes for her.

BLACK SCREEN

GIRL B (VO)

Dedication.

INT. BOY’S ROOM – DAY

It is morning. Boy wakes in his bed.

BOY (VO)

Last night I dreamt she came to me amid a crowd of our friends…

EXT. BOY’S DREAM – DAY

Boy and Girl A stand by a wall which fades into whiteness at either end. Around them stand a few people with indistinct features.

BOY (VO)

…We embraced as if for the first time; I felt the solidity of her narrow shoulders, soft back below her ribcage. We stood like that, looked at each other, friends except I could feel her breath on my lips. I tried to resist; people were watching; the boyfriend. She leaned forward, touched my lips with the gentlest flick of her tongue, barely perceptible. I pushed forward, our tongues writhed like an ocean in a storm, I was surprised by the wetness, the warmth…

INT. BOY’S ROOM – DAY

BOY (VO)

…I woke.

EXT. UNIVERSITY CAMPUS – DAY

Girl B is walking across the campus. It is raining.

GIRL B (VO)

The rain was warm as I walked across the campus. I felt the weight of each drop on my skin. My whole body ached for him. There must be more, the physical stuff, more than just a feeling, but he might never show me that. I wished that I was pretty like her, but at least I was here…

(She stops walking and looks up at the rain)

…I am here.

EXT. UNIVERSITY CAMPUS – DAY

Boy is sitting on the grass. It is sunny.

BOY (VO)

Summer’s nearly here, soon we will be torn apart, forced to leave behind our new friends, our crushes,

(SUPER: Momentarily flash image of Girl A)

for the brightest part of the year.

See you in September.

Keep in touch…

BLACK SCREEN

BOY (VO)

…Please keep in touch.

SUPER: “You can’t just sit around waiting for love; you have to reach for it.”

INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE BOY’S ROOM – NIGHT

Girl B knocks on Boy’s door. She rocks nervously on her heels.

GIRL B (VO)

I’ll tell him, no more waiting, I’ll tell him.

Boy opens the door. The B talk for a moment, then Boy invites Girl B in. She walks through and Boy closes the door.

SUPER: “He rejected you? Well, you can’t just make love happen, you have to be patient.”

INT. BOY’S ROOM – DAY

Boy is sat on the edge of his bed looking out of the window. Sunlight pours through the window.

BOY (VO)

Strange. Had she always felt like that?

INT. GIRL A’S ROOM – DAY

Girl A’s room is exactly the same layout and furniture as Boy’s room, but in reverse and with different objects across the desk, covers on the bed, etc.

Girl A is sat at her desk, looking at the screen of her laptop. On the screen is a Facebook-style photo of her and Boy together. In the photo Boy has his arm around her, and by the way his other arm is visible at the edge of the frame, it is obvious that he took the photo.

GIRL A (VO)

Sometimes I wonder if he fancies me, but no, I think he’s just like that…

(She closes the screen of her laptop and looks at the window)

…Nine months isn’t very long to know someone.

EXT. UNIVERSITY CAMPUS – DAY

THE SKY

is overcast. Boy looks across the grass at

THE UNIVERSITY

BOY (VO)

A year already? I remember standing at my back door and the clouds were as grey and wind-filled as they are now…

INT. / EXT. THE BACK DOOR OF BOY’S PARENT’S HOUSE – DAY

Boy is standing in the door-frame, looking up at an overcast sky.

BOY (VO)

Soon, I thought, soon my new life begins…

EXT. UNIVERSITY CAMPUS – DAY

BOY (VO)

…But now it must lie dormant, as if dead, for three months?…

BLACK SCREEN

BOY (VO)

…How can I go back?

MONTAGE – PASSAGE OF SUMMER

- – Grass sways in a garden where Girl B sits reading a novel

- – Boy receives an email from Girl B. He smiles.

- – In the text box of an IM window the words “how are you? ” are typed. The cursor clicks ‘SEND’.

- – Girl A watches her boyfriend walk away from her. A tear runs from her eye. Her phA vibrates in her pocket. She pulls it out to see she has a message from Boy. She smiles as she reads it, though she is still crying.

- – A pen lies by the side of a a half-begun love-letter Boy had started to write to Girl A.

- – The empty corridors and bare rooms of the Halls of Residence.

GIRL B (VO)

Summer passes, passions fade. Emails irregular, cursory, IM arbitrary, the few public interactions, text on screen as well. Handwritten letters too old-fashioned. We all agree we miss it, but we wouldn’t go back, we’ve moved on.

EXT. UNIVERSITY CAMPUS – DAY

Girl B, Boy, Girl A, and their Friend are walking together along the path, talking and laughing. It is late afternoon, but the sun still shines brightly.

BOY (VO)

They were all beautiful though.

I thought you were all beautiful.