Consequence (3)
ERIC What kind of songs? SEBASTIAN Punk songs, mostly. Ever hear of the band MxPx? Well, I can play about 5 different MxPx songs, and that pretty much finishes off the extent of my guitar playing abilities. ERIC (smiling) Perfect. Follow me. Eric beckons to Sebastian with his hand. Sebastian and Eric disappear through the crowd, and the camera moves into a position where it is now viewing the band playing. The song ends, and the crowd cheers. Akinshigun takes over the microphone. KIN Thank you. Tonight, I would like to welcome a new friend of mine, his name’s Sebastian. As Kin is talking, we see Sebastian walk onto the stage from a door in the back. He is handed a guitar by Eric, and instructed to walk to the front. He looks hesitant, but does it. KIN Here he is. Say hi to the nice people, Sebastian. The crowd laughs. SEBASTIAN Uh, hey. The camera cuts to a view of the crowd from much closer, a member of said crowd’s head turned up. CROWD MEMBER Let’s hear some music!! OTHER CROWD MEMBER YEAH! MUSIC! Eric comes up next to Kin and says something into his ear. Kin leans back in towards the microphone again. KIN I’ve just been informed that Sebastian is musically inclined in the area of punk rock. Let’s hear some of that, eh Sebastian? The camera cuts to a view of Sebastian talking into Kin’s ear. Kin covers the microphone with his hand and leans towards Sebastian. SEBASTIAN I uh, kind of doubt you’ll know any of the songs that are within my very limited playlist. KIN Eric’s already told me, you only know some MxPx songs. Trust me, we know ALL the MxPx songs that you could possibly know. What songs can you play? SEBASTIAN Well, you probably know them, I can play Punk Rawk Show, Do Your Feet Hurt, GSF, Southbound, and Rock and Roll Girl. You know those, I assume. KIN Yeah, we know ‘em all. He turns around to talk to the rest of the band, hand still covering the microphone. KIN OK, guys, we’re gonna’ play some MxPx. Southbound, got it? BAND Sure thing. ERIC That’s a good one for ya’ Sebastian, seeing as how you just got here. Kin gets back on the microphone and addresses the crowd. KIN Let’s hear some music! Sebastian will be our lead vocalist for a while. Come on Sebastian, anyone can sing punk rock. Sebastian walks up to the microphone, and begins to strum the first few chords of the MxPx song “Southbound”. As Sebastian sings the song, the camera continually switches between close-ups of Sebastian’s intense vocals and views of the band itself and the crowd below them, pulsing and dancing to the music. About a minute into this, the camera cuts into a close-up once again, and the scene then fades out, fading into a new scene. The song fades as well. The scene is now of Sebastian, asleep on a bed, halfway on the bed, halfway off. He is clad in the same clothes as the previous night, minus the shirt. Kin appears in the scene, slapping Sebastian on the back to wake him up. Sebastian lifts his head up, and groaning, puts it back down. SEBASTIAN Wha…where am I? KIN You my friend are in my condo. SEBASTIAN Shit, what time is it? KIN (looking at his watch) It is… He pauses for effect KIN 2:37. P.M. SEBASTIAN Wow man, that’s kinda’ late. What time did we get in here in the morning? KIN I think it was sometime around 3 or 4. Sebastian gets up, letting out a sigh of exhaustion. KIN Why? Tired? He says it in a condescending kind of joking tone. SEBASTIAN Yeah, yeah, I am. Oh well. Man, I gotta go make a phone call. KIN Oh let me guess, your “Sierra” SEBASTIAN Yeah. KIN Pussywhipped…… He says this as Sebastian walks away into the other room, heading for the phone. Sebastian waves his hand at Kin in a dismissive gesture. SEBASTIAN Yeah yeah yeah, shutup. KIN Hey man, I used to have a girl just like your Sierra. Totally in love with her, blah blah blah, all that good stuff. We went out for the entire duration of high school, the whole time. I sent her flowers for no reason, all that stuff. Thing was, she never did stuff like that for me. SEBASTIAN You want flowers? KIN No! You moron, that’s not the point. I mean that it’s the little stuff that counts, and she didn’t show me her love in any kind of way. She never kissed me, I always kissed her. She never held my hand, I always held hers, get my point? SEBASTIAN I see. KIN And then, graduation day comes rolling around. Afterparty. Kin takes a drink from the drink that he’s been waving around this whole time. There’s a flashback, a scene of Kin at a party with some girl, acting out the following story. KIN (Voice Over) So anyways, we’re at this party. I go to talk to a couple of my friends, and as usual, not only does she not make any kind of gesture as to come with or anything, nor does she say where she’s going. I did, by the way. Anyways, she walks off. Disappears. So about half an hour later, some guy at the party gets up on a chair and shouts “There’s two people fucking in the bathroom! They’re bein’ loud as hell, too!” The scene cuts back to a view of Akinshigun waving his drink around, Sebastian nods at this last comment. The scene cuts back to the flashback. Oh yeah, and the name of my girl was Candice. So anyways, this guy gets up there and yells this out, making sure to get everyone in the party to shut up and come to the door of the bathroom to hear this couple getting it on. So I also go up there, and I’m standing right next to the door, can hear everything. I recognized the uh, “encouragements”, shall we say, as those of my beloved Candice. I was in denial. I pull back from the door, a look that my friends later tell me is of complete horror, and say “No, couldn’t be”. Scene cuts back to the condo SEBASTIAN That sucks. KIN Oh, it gets worse. Scene cuts back to the flashback. KIN (Voice Over again) So here I am, at this party, my girlfriend of four years, the love of my life, fucking this other guy in the bathroom. Couldn’t be any worse, right? Wrong. See, it could’ve been just me and her that new who it was. But nooooo…..she decides right then to yell out his name. He reciprocates with a very enthusiastic, “Who’s my bitch? Are you my bitch, Candice?”. At which point, the entire crowd around the door turns to look at me with faces that look like a cross between pity and laughter. I just stand there, in a daze at what the bitch has done to me. A few minutes pass, and they come out of the bathroom, not realizing that the ENTIRE party has stopped to hear this little love session, and when they come out, they are greeted with cheers and clapping. Candice takes one look at me, and gets a kind of “Oh shit” expression on her face. I can’t even look at her. I storm out of the party, she follows for once, and I ask her how long she’s been cheating on me. She responds by asking how long we’ve been going out. Four years, I say. Four fucking years. She tells me that she’s been cheating on me for about 3 years and 10 months. And so, I hopped a plane to here. The scene cuts back to the two teenagers standing in the condo, Sebastian with a stunned look on his face. KIN So anyways, here’s the lesson, treasure what you’ve got, Sebastian. SEBASTIAN Wow man, I had no idea. I’m sorry. KIN Don’t be, I’m not. Oh, and the rest of the gang know nothing of this little bit of my past, so I’d really appreciate it if you wouldn’t tell them, eh? SEBASTIAN No problem. KIN Thanks. I’ll leave you alone to talk. Later. SEBASTIAN Cya later, dude. Sebastian picks up the phone, and as he’s dialing, the scene fades out. The scene fades back in, Sebastian in his own condo now, pouring himself a glass of coca cola from a large bottle, while watching TV. It’s night outside, we can see that it is dark. Sebastian is clad in all black, black pants with a black, long-sleeved, collared, shirt. He is considerably more tan than the last scene, and we see words at the bottom of the screen, saying “7 months later”. Sebastian comes around the bar, and picks up the reciever of the phone. Sebastian picks up the phone and dials Sierra’s number. SEBASTIAN Hi, is Sierra there please? SIERRA Right here. Hey. What’s up? SEBASTIAN Not much. Went out to the beach party again last night. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been here for seven months. SIERRA Yeah, it is. SEBASTIAN I miss you s omuch, it’s really getting to me. I haven’t seen your beautiful face in almost a year. SIERRA I miss you too. SEBASTIAN Sorry I haven’t called in so long, I’ve been busy. SIERRA That’s alright, it’s only been a week. SEBASTIAN Yeah, I know, but a week is a long time. SIERRA Not really. SEBASTIAN Umm...ok, whatever. Anyways, so what’ve you been up to? SIERRA Not much. This summer’s been a pretty big drag. Saw Kyle again the other day though, he and I ran into each other at the mall. And...nevermind. SEBASTIAN Nevermind what? SIERRA Nothing. SEBASTIAN Doesn’t sound like nothing. SIERRA Well, it is, alright? Back off. It’s just that I realized that you probably didn’t want to hear about the boring uh conversation that Kyle and I had. SEBASTIAN Whoa, hey. What’s wrong, sweetheart? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to press, ok? SIERRA Yeah, I know, I’m sorry for yelling at you like that. Look, Sebastian, I have to go right now, my mom needs to use the phone, but I’ll call you later tonight, ok? SEBASTIAN Yeah, OK. Love you. SIERRA Cya. We hear a click on the other end of the phone, and Sebastian looks at his receiver in slight dismay. He talks to himself. SEBASTIAN She didn’t say it back... Sebastian sits down on his couch, and looks at the analog clock hanging above his TV. We can see that the clock reads eight’o’clock. He sighs, and flips on the TV. The song “Time and Time Again” by the Counting Crows comes onto the soundtrack. The scene fades into another one of Sebastian mixing himself a drink at the bar, the clock now reading nine. This scene then fades into another scene of Sebastian looking at his laptop screen, the clock reading ten. This now fades into a scene of Sebastian sitting in his lounge chair, reading, glancing at the clock that now says eleven. This fades into a scene of Sebastian pacing around his apartment, now without a shirt or shoes, looking with a very worried expression at the clock, that now reads 12 o’clock. Sebastian takes his cordless phone, and heads out to his balcony. Boddah wraps himself around Sebastian’s legs. SEBASTIAN Hey bud. Boddah purrs. SEBASTIAN Yeah, I love you too. But you’re no Sierra, Boddah. Sebastian picks up the cat, and, petting Boddah, looks out over the balcony at the waves crashing on the dark beach. The moon is high, and the scene fades out. The scene fades back in to Sebastian in the same position, but it’s now morning. He’s sleeping, and the rising sun wakes him up. As he wakes up, he hears knocking on his door. It’s Kin and Andrea. KIN Yo, Sebastian! He pounds on the door. KIN Open up, dude. ANDREA (we can hear her talking to Kin) You think he’s home? KIN (to Andrea) He has to be, he’s not at Cole’s and he’s not at my place, and he didn’t come out with us last night. He pounds on the door again. KIN SEBASTIAN! You in there? ANDREA Sebastian! Everything alright? Sebastian gets up and moves quickly to his door. He opens it. SEBASTIAN Hey guys, what’s up? What’s with all the racket? KIN We were wondering what the hell happened to you. Though maybe you had a sailing accident when you went yesterday, you know you should really take someone with you when you take that boat out. And where were you last night? You should’ve come with us, we had a blast, we were shooting beer cans out of the losers on the beach hands with air rifles from up on the roof. It was fun as hell. SEBASTIAN Yeah, sounds like it would be. Sorry, I called Sierra, but she couldn’t talk and said she’d call back, so I waited up till around 2 or 3, but she didn’t call back. Which in and of itself is very strange, she’s not usually one to stand me up in any regards. KIN I see. Well, we just came by to see if you were OK and to let you know, the volleyball tournament starts today, be out on the court in an hour, alright? SEBASTIAN I completely forgot about that. Alright, count me in. See you guys in an hour? KIN Yeah. ANDREA Alright, see ya’ there. Kin and Andrea walk off down the hall, their conversation echoing in the building. The scene fades out, fading into one of Sebastian walking towards the volleyball court, clad in shorts and his sunglasses. Sebastian approaches the court, and it appears that he is a little bit late, the players are standing around idly, his team on the court waiting for him. KIN Ah, there you are, Sebastian SEBASTIAN Sorry I’m late. KIN No problem. KIN (to everyone) Alright, everyone! Let’s begin, shall we? We all know the rules, and since there are only 4 teams this should be rather easy to organize. Lets go, my team and our challengers will play first. Next will be Andrea’s team and her challengers. The championship game with then be played between the two winning teams. Volley for serve. He tosses the ball over the net, and the game begins. The camera rotates around the players and the game slowly, zooming in for close-ups on each player as the ball comes to them. The camera zooms in on a close-up of Sebastian, going up for a spike. He comes down, but his ankle is twisted, the camera is a close-up of his foot coming down at the wrong angle. SEBASTIAN OW! FUCK! KIN What?! What is it? What happened? And watch your language, there’s a little kid right there. The camera cuts to a view of the same little kid as before standing on the wooden ramp, observing the volleyball game. SEBASTIAN Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry. Anyways, it’s my ankle. I landed wrong. Ow! KIN Can you put weight on it? SEBASTIAN I’ll try. He does, and collapses into the sand. KIN I’ll take that as a no. Well, you’re out of the game. Go up to your room and get some ice. SEBASTIAN No, I’ve been waiting for like 3 months for this tournament, man, I need to play. KIN No, you don’t. You need to go get some ice. Andrea pipes up from on the sidelines. ANDREA Yeah, Sebastian, you need some ice. RYAN Yeah, they’re right dude, you need to ice it, you don’t wanna play on it and make it worse. ANDREA I’ll help you up to your condo, let’s go. SEBASTIAN Agh! I can make it on my own, thank you very much. He takes a step and falls again. ANDREA Obviously not. Come on, I’ll help you. KIN Alright, get in here Jeff, you’ll play for Sebastian. Sebastian, go get some ice and if it swells up, go see a doctor about it or something. ANDREA Come on. She helps him up and puts his arm around her shoulders, propping him up. They walk towards the building. The game resumes behind them. The scene cuts to one of Sebastian and Andrea coming into Sebastian’s condo. They walk into the living area, and Sebastian sits on the couch, his leg up on it as well. Andrea goes directly to his freezer and makes an ice pack out of ice cubes and a paper towel. ANDREA This should do it for now. Cole can drive you to a doctor later if need be. She puts the ice on his ankle, and he leans forward to hold it there. The camera zooms in on a closeup of the two of them, their faces close together, looking into each others eyes. Andrea tries to kiss Sebastian, planting her lips on his, closing her eyes. Sebastian responds instantly, pushing her away and pulling himself away at the same time. Sebastian stares at her, his face a mixture of bewilderment, anger, and surprise. SEBASTIAN What the hell did you do that for? Andrea approaches him, putting her hands on his shoulders. ANDREA Oh come off it Sebastian, you’ve been flirting with me ever since you got here. SEBASTIAN What?! You’re out of your mind! She comes closer and tries to kiss him again. He pushes her away with all his strength. ANDREA Fine! Tend to your own damn ankle then! She storms out of the room, leaving Sebastian sitting there very confused. The scene fades out to one of later that night, Kin sitting in Sebastian’s lounge chair, talking to him. KIN So she just kissed you, just like that? SEBASTIAN Yeah man. KIN And you did what? SEBASTIAN Pushed her away, of course! KIN Just checking. And then what happened. SEBASTIAN She claimed that I’ve been flirting with her the whole time I’ve been here, which is NOT true, and then tried to kiss me again. I pushed her away again, and the stormed out of the room, commenting on how I could take care of my own damn ankle. KIN I see. Man, that’s not good. You going to tell Sierra? SEBASTIAN Yeah, of course I am. I’ve got nothing to hide, so why not? KIN Why don’t you tell her in person? SEBASTIAN Huh? KIN Where are you from again, Sebastian? I heard rumors, but you never did tell me. SEBASTIAN I’m from Wauwatosa, Milwaukee. Right near you. Went to Tosa East. KIN Whoa, wait, you’re the infamous Sebastian Thomas who went to Tosa East? The one that not only managed to get a 4.0 every single quarter of high school, but also to pull over one hundred pranks on the principal and the school in general without ever being caught? SEBASTIAN (laughing a bit) Yeah, that’d be me. You guys over at Brook Central ever hear about what I did to his car? KIN No, I never heard that one. What’d you do? SEBASTIAN See, the thing is that our principal just happened to be loaded. KIN Ok... SEBASTIAN So, one day, he comes to school driving a shiny, vintage Jaguar Roadster. 1956, to be exact. Scene cuts to a flashback of the principal driving a shiny Jaguar into the school parking lot, a big smile on his face. Scene cuts back to the condo. KIN Oooh, that’s a NICE car. Scene cuts to a view of Sebastian and Kyle in chemistry class, burning a hole in the teachers bag with some type of chemical. SEBASTIAN Uh-huh. So anyways, it just so happens that that was the semester that I was in chemistry. We were learning about acids at the time, to be exact. Cuts back to condo. KIN I can see where this is headed. Cuts to a scene of Sebastian and Kyle with chisels, in the school parking lot, chipping away the paint. SEBASTIAN So my friend and I, we carefully chip off a little of the black paint, actually, a lot of the black paint, on his car, but we do it so as not to damage the car itself, just the paint. So now he’s got a car that is spotted a bit more like a real jaguar. Back to condo. KIN Ok, sounds pretty average to me. Cuts to a scene of Sebastian and Kyle in science class, huddled over a bottle of black touch-up paint. SEBASTIAN I’m not done yet. We then mix up a bit of black touch-up paint, our own special brew. Like I said, we’d been learning about acids in the science right? Well, lets just say that this brand of touch-up paint did exactly the opposite of what one might want it to. KIN I see. SEBASTIAN Oh yeah. So we chip of the paint, and mix up this special blend. So then, the question is, how do we get him to use our touch up paint?
Copyright © 2000 Henry L. Bean |