In the Shop and After School

November 20th, 2010, 1pm PST

Location: The NRH auto shop. Jon Baron, Marty Savini, and Kevin Reilly are working on Friedman’s 1967 Mustang convertible. Music blares loudly from a boombox.

Jon is under the hood, tightening several nuts with a wrench. 

Kevin: So, how’s everything looking under there?

Jon: Fan-fucking-tastic. This engine you found is a beauty. The car is one hundred percent vintage parts,  now.

Marty: Sweet.

Kevin: Why don’t you and Marty do the waxing and buffing? I’ll work on the leather.

Jon: [Picks up two jars of auto wax and hands one to Marty] Sounds good.

Kevin grabs several clean rags and a tube of leather conditioner and climbs into the car. 

Kevin: Doc F is going to flip when he sees his ride all pimped out.

Jon: Have you guys caught the YES laser-light show at the Planetarium, yet?

Marty: Has that started, already? It was still Floyd the last time I checked.

Jon: Yeah, they changed the bill last week. We went the first night. It was fucking packed.

Kevin: Who’d you go with? Doesn’t seem like your kinda’ scene.

Jon: There’re a few stoners among us…Denise, Sandy, Jaime…

Kevin: Mmm…Jaime…that girl is fine.

Marty: Kind of a bitch though.

Jon: She brought Tom Rosen to the show.

Kevin: What the fuck is going on around here? I tried to hit on that cute nerdy girl, Laurie Pence at the school party last month, and she tells me she’s dating David Weber.

Marty: Why don’t you go out with Stacy? She digs you.

Kevin: Too familiar. I like dating outside the box.

Marty: Outside the box is where you’re gonna’ stay, if you keep chasing nerds and Star Crew chicks.

Kevin: It worked for Joanne. She’s dating a nerd.

Marty: Joanne gets what she wants.

Jon: [Rubbing wax into the hood] I wasn’t sure about Tom. Didn’t like him too much during the election campaign. I voted for Gold.

Marty: Me too.

Kevin: Me three. Now that girl is hotness on fucking steroids.

Marty: Good luck with that. The only person who’s got a shot with that chick is Doc F.

Kevin: No freaking way.

Marty: I’m just sayin’… So, what about Tom, Jon?

Jon: He was totally cool. The boy can roll perfect joints with one hand. We got blitzed out in the parking lot before the show.

Kevin: So him and Jaime…they’re really a thing?

Jon: As far as I can tell. They spent half the night making out. 

Kevin: [Shaking his head] That’s just weird.

Jon: He’s perfect for her. Quiet, but tough, you know? Smart. She’ll trash talk him, and he’ll shut her down with, like, two words.

Kevin: Lucky bastard.

Marty [Straightens up] Okay, the wax is on. Time to buff.

Kevin: Cig break, first.

Jon: I hear that.

Kevin pulls a pack of Marlboros out of his jeans pocket and hands Jon and Marty cigarettes. Passes around a lighter. Just as they’re lighting up, the shop door opens, and Will Friedman enters, carrying a large thermos in one hand and a stack of Styrofoam cups in the other.

Marty: Yo, yo, yo! 

Kevin: [Grinning widely] Doc F!

Friedman: I thought you guys might like some coffee.

Jon: We were just taking a cig break.

Friedman: [Fills cups with steaming, black coffee and hands them around] Perfect timing. I’ll join you. [Takes a cigarette from behind his ear and lights it] So, what’s up? Fill me in.

Kevin: [Proudly] It’s done, man. Finished. We’re just putting the shine on it.

Will: You guys rock. 

Marty: Your car fucking rocks…thanks to us! [Raises a fist, which Kevin promptly punches]

Will: I don’t know what to say. [Bows] Thank you.

Kevin: [Waves his cigarette] It was our pleasure. A fine ride, for a kick ass Principal.

Will: [Pondering] I’m working through what possible compensation I could give you for this awesome accomplishment.

Kevin: [Laughing] You’ve been paying us, man! I’ve made almost a thousand bucks working on this car.

Friedman: In this condition, in this market, it’s worth a hundred thousand. I’d say I got a bargain.

Kevin: [Looks Friedman in the eye and nods] Righteous.

Will: [With a businesslike air] Well, first of all, the obvious…[pulls out a checkbook and rapidly writes three checks, which he hands around]…three hundred apiece, as an extra thanks and in acknowledgement of the ridiculously professional job you’ve done.

Jon: Right on, man. Thanks!

Will: Next: You guys rebuilt this baby, so you ought to be the first to benefit from it. I say we all drive down to Malibu this weekend and spend a day on the beach. Eat lunch, have afternoon drinks. On me.

Kevin and Marty: Fuck, yeah!

Jon: I hear that. Count me in, too.

Kevin: It’s been so warm, the girls’ll be out in bikinis even though it’s November.

Will: One of the great joys of life in Southern California. It’s thirty degrees right now, in New York. No girls walking around in bikinis.

Kevin: You grew up on Long Island, right? I bet you’ve made a lot of trips down to the beach.

Will: Every chance I could get. I used to skip school and go down to Jones Beach with my friends in that car. [Points at the Mustang]

Kevin: Girls, too?

Will: [Pulls on his cigarette. Exhales.] Sometimes. There were always a lot of girls at the beach, though. We weren’t the only ones skipping, and there were tons of college students, too.

Marty: Does it ever feel weird?

Will: What?

Marty: [Gesturing around] This…the whole 80s retro thing. Doesn’t it feel weird? I mean, that’s when you were in high school. 

Friedman: Yeah, I graduated in 1986.

Jon: It must feel like a time warp…seeing everyone walking around in 80s gear, talking 80s talk, 80s programming on TV, radio…

Will: [Laughs] Sometimes, yeah. It’s wonderful though.

Jon: [Puts his hands up] You don’t need to convince me. I think New Ridgemont High rules.

Will: What do you like about it the most?

Jon: [Points around the room] This. You’ve put a lot of money into the shop, and there’s a full roster of tech classes: auto repair, carpentry, plumbing… There’s more going on here than at the community college.

Marty: It is pretty fucking cool, Doc. No school in an area like this would ever offer this much shop.

Will: I believe in it. These are some of our noblest professions. The world is only as beautiful as its craftsmanship.

Kevin: Okay, that is totally righteous.

Will: [Laughs and finishes his coffee. Takes a final hit off of his cigarette and flicks it to the floor.] I’ve gotta’ take off. This weekend? Saturday? 10AM? I’ll pick you guys up?

Kevin: [Grips Friedman’s hand] You know it, man.

Marty and Jon: 10AM!

Will: [Opens the door and then turns, giving them the OK sign] Be seeing you!

All: Later!

November 20, 2010, 5:30pm PST.

Location: New Ridgemont High’s back parking lot after football and cheerleading practice. Jaime Cohen, Valerie Saunders, Elizabeth Goodman, and Sandy Kendel are sitting on the hoods of their cars, which have been parked in a tight circle, their headlights creating a pool of white light between them. It is dusk, and the sky has taken on a deep purple and blue hue, punctuated by the occasional sparkling of a newly visible star.

Liz: [To Valerie] It must be hard, though. I mean, with cheerleading and football, you must see him all the time.

Valerie: Actually, it hasn’t been hard at all. He was so offended at being dumped that he totally ignores me now. 

Sandy: You have to admit, it was a bit drastic, chucking him like that. And on the phone, no less.

Valerie: He’s turned into a real asshole. “I’m top dog, ‘cause I play football” and all that shit. His crap about “blacklisting” Jaime for breaking up with Carl was just one example. He does that sort of stuff constantly. I actually saw him give some poor nerd a goddamned wedgie in the hall last week. I wanted to punch him.

Sandy: Ah, giving nerds wedgies. The finest of the 80s traditions.

Valerie: It’s pathetic, whatever decade it is.

Jaime: But you and Mike have been together forever.

Valerie: Since Junior High. I’d say that’s long enough.

Jaime: [Sighs] I guess. It’s just that everything’s changing so much. It feels like the old crew is falling apart.

Liz: It is, but so what? Everyone grows. Evolves. You can’t expect to have the same friends forever or at least, not all the same friends.

Valerie: I can barely stand talking to Denise anymore. She’s such an airhead.

Liz: [Laughs] She’s always been like that, Val.

Valerie: Yeah, I know. I used to think it was cute. Now it just annoys me. I mean, how long are we gonna’ act like this?  We’re graduating next year. You can’t give people wedgies and giggle like an idiot in college. You’ll be a fucking outcast.

Sandy: She’s gonna’ go to UCLA. She’ll pledge SDT. Everyone will be cute and bubbly. They’ll all date football players. Denise will fit right in.

Valerie: Ugh. Sounds awful.

Jaime: Yeah, I am so done with that scene. Football players are just morons. [Looks apologetically at Sandy] Present company excluded, of course.

Sandy: [Laughing] You’re right. Football is just a high school thing for me, anyway. They don’t have football — or any varsity sports — where I plan on going, after graduation.

Jaime: So, you’re sticking with Vassar?

Sandy: Yeah. I wanna’ do French and comp. lit.

Jaime: [Shakes her head] And I said you wanted to learn French just to get into that foreign exchange student’s pants. I’m sorry.

Sandy: I won’t lie and pretend that wasn’t a consideration, at least at the time. But I’m really digging it now. Mr. Longo rules.

Liz: You see, Jaime? Everyone evolves.

Jaime: Carl isn’t evolving and apparently, neither is Mike.

Liz: Almost everyone.

Jaime: Well, Tom is definitely evolved. Highly.

Valerie: Why didn’t you bring him to my party last week?

Jaime: I’m still thinking about how I want to…integrate him into the crew.

Liz: I’d drop that. Tom Rosen isn’t integrating into anything.

Jaime: You know what I mean. It’s gotta’ be the right time, with the right people. He’d fucking hate Denise, and I don’t want him running into Carl.

Sandy: Why? Are you afraid Carl’s gonna’ kick his ass or something? 

Jaime: The opposite. I’m afraid Carl will say something stupid and Tom will kill him and bury him in a hole out in the desert.

Liz: I could totally see that. He’s so J.D. You know, from Heathers.

Valerie: Holy shit, you’re right. 

Sandy: That’s freaky. 

Liz: So, it’s been really good with him, huh?

Jaime: Yeah, it has. I still can’t believe it.

Liz: What’s so great? The sex? At our last sleepover, you said he fucked like a champion.

Sandy: Do I really have to hear this part?

Jaime: No, it’s not that. Don’t get me wrong, the sex is amazing and there’s a lot of it, but that’s not the best thing about dating Tom.

Liz: It’s official? You two are dating now?

Jaime: Yes.

Valerie: So, what’s so great about him?

Jaime: I can be myself when we’re together; say whatever I’m thinking; act however I’m feeling. I can be bitchy, I can be sad, I can be happy…it doesn’t matter. He’s cool with it.

Liz: That’s awesome.

Jaime: And he’s private, you know? Not a showoff. After being paraded around the school by Carl like a goddamned trophy, it’s a relief to be with someone who doesn’t think of me as a boost to his cred.

Valerie: I understand why you didn’t want to bring him to my party, but let’s hang out together sometime, OK?

Jaime: I promise.

Liz [Lies back on the hood of her car and stretches] I love this time of the day. It’s so beautiful.

Jaime: [Quietly, as if she is reciting] I wish I could stop time, just before the night falls…hold still the twilight…live forever under the purple sky.

Sandy: Jaime, that’s beautiful.

Jaime: [Looks down] I’ve been…writing…a little.

Valerie: What have you been writing?

Jaime: I don’t know…thoughts…feelings…impressions. Nothing formal.

Liz: Is it Tom’s influence?

Jaime: A little bit. I mean, I’ve been doing it for years, on and off, but he’s really encouraging…wants me to take it more seriously. He says I have a “unique perspective.”

Liz: He’s very perceptive. You never really fit the Star Crew stereotype. I’m glad that someone else noticed and that you’re embracing it.

Jaime: I love writing. It’s liberating. I’m gonna’ take Mr. Jameson’s Writing Workshop in the Spring.

Valerie: I think that’s a great idea.

Liz: And you pooh-poohed me, when I said that people evolve. You certainly have. Sandy has.

Sandy: At Central, I wasn’t interested in anything other than sports and getting laid. If you’d told me that a year later I’d be studying French literature and applying to Vassar, I would have laughed in your face.

Liz: It’s the school…and Principal Friedman.

Sandy: Totally. This place is magic.

Liz: [Looking at Jaime] You didn’t like it though, at least, not at the beginning.

Jaime: Yeah, it freaked me out a little, but I was still in the Central mindset. Cheerleading and the crew…that was it. Now that I’ve been here almost an entire semester, it’s rubbed off on me. I get it now. There’s energy here…good energy. All you have to do is tap into it.

Valerie: So, what’s everyone doing tonight?

Sandy: I’ve gotta’ get back home. If I don’t finish Madame Bovary, I won’t be able to participate in the discussion tomorrow.

Liz: I don’t have anything going on.

Valerie: Neither do I.

Jaime: You guys wanna come over?

Liz: Can we read some of the stuff you’ve written?

Jaime: [Looking slightly panicked] Oh, I don’t know.

Liz: What? Are you embarrassed?

Jaime: A little, yeah.

Valerie: Jaime Cohen embarrassed. This has to be a first.

Jaime: [With a dignified air] It’s important to me.

Liz: All the more reason to share it with your friends.

Valerie: If it’s important to you, it’s important to us!

Jaime: Okay.

Liz: Cool! [Slides down the hood and gets into her car. Starts it and rolls down the window] See you two, in a few. Bye Sandy! [Waves as she backs out of the lot]

Sandy: [Calling after her] Later! [Hugs Jaime] Catch you tomorrow, baby. [Waves at Valerie and gets into his car] Au revoir!

Valerie: A bientot! [Turns to Jaime] That’s half the French I know. ‘Bonjour’ is the other half.

Jaime: See you at my place?

Valerie: You know it. [Kisses Jaime and jumps over the door of her convertible, into the driver’s seat. Pulls out in a cloud of dust]

Jaime looks up at the sky for a long moment and then turns to her car. She is smiling.