All Out of Lemons (Short Film) By David Raygoza

July 14th 2011

TALKING HEAD INTERVIEWS In quick succession we watch a three teenagers give their variations on the saying "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade". TEENAGER #1 When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. No wait, I take it back. You should probably wait for some sugar before you start making the lemonade. TEENAGER #2 When life gives you lemons...you probably just found lemons. TEENAGER #1 Unless youre diabetic, then you probably shouldnt be drinking lemonade and these life lemons need to go somewhere else. TEENAGER #3 When life gives you lemons, hey! Free lemons! TEENAGER #1 Maybe a pie. Like lemon meringue. TEENAGER #2 Look, all Im saying is, who gives out lemons? TEENAGER #3 When life gives you lemons, make sure the "Thank You"-card is hand written, texts and emails dont seem very sincere. TEENAGER #1 Are there other ways to use lemons besides food? Does any one know? TEENAGER #2 Life doesnt do that. And if it does, then I must be all out of lemons! A shot of TEENAGER #3s smile fading.

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EXT. COMMUNITY POOL

MORNING

Its EARLY in the morning, before the sunrise, and the sky is DARK BLUE. Trees WAVE, RUSTLE, and surround a community pool, DIMLY lit by small lights, where a YOUNG WOMAN is swimming. As she does a couple laps back and forth, TEENAGER #1, whos name is WESLEY, enters with towel in hand and a backpack on. He sets his things down, until he notices the young woman. As hes on his way to leave she stops by the pool edge. YOUNG WOMAN Hey. Wesley, right? WESLEY stops and turns around. WESLEY Yeah. YOUNG WOMAN Im Stacey. WESLEY Yeah, I know. You were Cinderella. STACEY You dont have to leave. WESLEY No, I do. I just remembered I left mySTACEY Youre what? WESLEY My stove on. STACEY Yikes! WESLEY Yeah, and Ive got like 40 cats so... INTERCUT SHOT OF A KITTY STACEY The cat meat market isnt looking very good these days. Maybe time travel back a few centuries?

(CONTINUED)

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WESLEY Did I say cats? STACEY Yeah. WESLEY I meant antique colonial dolls. I collect them and if I dont get back now they wont really be worth anything. STACEY Say they survived the civil war! WESLEY Im not sure American Girl sells many charred, scarred dolls. STACEY Well they should! Make those "American Girls" tough! Show them theres worse things than boys out there. WESLEY Right, like house fires. STACEY Stay. WESLEY I dont know if I should. STACEY Why not? WESLEY This is sort of mySTACEY AND WESLEY Alone time. WESLEY Yeah. STACEY Me too. Maybe its about time we let someone in on our "alone time". WESLEY Wouldnt that defeat the purpose?

(CONTINUED)

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STACEY Not everyday. Just every now and then. If we like the way it ends upSTACEY AND WESLEY Working out. STACEY We already, finish each othersWESLEY Sandwiches. STACEY Sentences. WESLEY What the hell. Why not? WESLEY starts running toward the pool and does a CANNON BALL in. CUT TO INT. THEATRE OFFICE DAY

Later in the day, at a student office seemingly modeled to reflect the Corleone office in The Godfather. Light coming in through the blinds, a KINGPIN sitting behind a desk. Teenager #2, whose name is ROY, screams at KINGPIN ROY You need to tell him! Meanwhile the KINGPIN prepares himself a sandwich. KINGPIN Sorry Roy, cant do it. ROY Yes you can. KINGPIN Nope, sorry. ROY You know its your fault theyre investigating me! Fix this!

(CONTINUED)

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KINGPIN Whos investigating you? ROY Your father! The principal, remember? Michael says the pills were mine. With a MOUTHFUL of sandwich KINGPIN They werent? ROY No. Theyre yours. KINGPIN Sounds like a problem. ROY So fix it! Tell your Dad it was you. He wont punish you for it. Takes another bite of his sandwich KINGPIN Youre right. But the administrationLoses interest and munches on his sandwhich ROY Finish yourKINGPIN Sentence? ROY Sandwich. KINGPIN puts his sandwich aside. KINGPIN The administration IS going to want to punish someone. ROY So why me? KINGPIN Because. You came in here and asked me for help.

(CONTINUED)

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ROY I wanted a small bump on my GPA! A little help with my grades so that I wouldnt have to sit in summer school! KINGPIN Youve done it before. Summer school is practically an extension of your year. Whats the problem? ROY The problem is, Im not stupid. I just have bad luck. KINGPIN Thats a bit silly dont youROY Shut up! Just listen, please. Freshmen year I got lazy. By the time I realized that I needed to grow up and do my work it was too late. Sophomore year Derek stuck those drugs in my locker. KINGPIN He was expelled. ROY Yeah, but I still got AEP for 6th months. I lost half the year. I couldnt catch up! Im not stupid but Im not a robot. And now its Junior year andKINGPIN Now its Junior year and suddenly Roy Newman wants to be valedictorian. You knew what you were getting into. I gave you a window of opportunity, I said "Roy, I can bump your grades up, but youre going to need to do me a favor too." and you said "Yes, sure, I want that, Ill do anything not to sit with those morons all summer." I gave you a chance, so dont pout. I wasnt the one who screwed the pooch. The job was simple. Get the steroids to coach, we win the season.

(CONTINUED)

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ROY I gave the steroids to Michael. KINGPIN And he got caught. ROY And I take the fall? KINGPIN And you take the fall! Because it was your job. ROY gives KINGPIN a scorching DEATH glare. KINGPIN pulls out a small container filled with pills. KINGPIN Dont give me that look. You know what youve got to do. ROY stands up and heads for the door. ROY Yeah. I know what to do. INTERCUT SHOT OF WHAT ROY WISHES HE COULD DO (JUMPING OUT OF HIS SEAT HE SCREAMS AND LUNGES AT KINGPIN) But then hes back to reality. KINGPIN Hey! Look. Here it is again. Michaels not the only QB weve got! Theres still dozens of guys out there who need a little...pep.Im giving you a second chance! I wont let you fall. And if you fall doing this Ill make sure you fall light. But if you rat on me I cant help you. And then you hit the ground hard. So are you going to stay? Or go? CUT TO INT. KITCHEN NIGHT

That night, in a kitchen. Teenager #3, whose name is REBEKAH, lays her left arm on a cutting slab and holds a knife in her right hand. She presses the blade against her wrist, closes her eyes and THE PHONE RINGS. (CONTINUED)

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She rushes over to pick it up, knife in hand. REBEKAH Hello? Yes, mom, everything is fine. Im actually about to go to sleep so could I call you in the morning? No, I feel fine Im just tired from school and band and theatre and my friends and Im just tired, you know. Okay. Yes. Good night, mom. Love you. She looks over by the phone, to the spot on the counter where she left her suicide note. After a breath, she heads back to the cutting slab. Placing her arm back in position, she steadies herself. The blade of the knife presses into the surface of her wrist AND THE PHONE RINGS. She gives a big sigh, sets down the knife, and heads toward the phone. REBEKAH Hello? Hey, I cant really talk right now. No, Im fine. Yes, Im sure. Okay calm down. Yeah Ive met Wesley before. Im glad you two hit it off so well. No really, Stacey could we talk later. No Im not mad at you. Im just tired. I dont know, Ive been exhausted lately. Our school is like this hormonal oven, radiant with drama! I wish I was as strong as you, Stacey. INTERCUT SHOT OF WHAT SHES BEEN TRYING TO DO. (WITH INTENSITY, SHE SLICES AT HER ARM, ONLY TO REVEAL A MECHANIC "STRONGER" LAYER UNDERNEATH) REBEKAH (CONTD) So Ill talk to you later, all right? Okay, good night. REBEKAH begins to take small steps toward the knife and the cutting slab again. Standing a few feet from the counter, she reaches her hand out to grab the knife AND THE PHONE RINGS. She smiles to herself, and puts the knife and the cutting slab back in the drawer.

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SPLITSCREEN SHOTS For our finale we see the epilogue of all three characters. WESLEY walking away, holding hands with STACEY as the sun rises. ROY confronting the principal: PRINCIPAL Are you sure? ROY Yes. Hes in room 182 when all this happens. PRINCIPAL Roy, thats a pretty strong accusation. But if it ends up being true, you could be saving our school from a world of legal hurt. Ill look into getting you that class credit. REBEKAH speaking into the phone, no knife in sight: REBEKAH Hey Roy, yeah I can talk, whats up? TALKING HEAD INTERVIEWS WESLEY Dont over speculate the good lemons, they arent usually booby trapped. Well, okay, maybe be a tiny, little bit apprehensive. ROY Life can give some pretty spoiled lemons, so maybe grow your own. REBEKAH Maybe youve already got your lemons and you dont even know it. WESLEY And who cares? REBEKAH Youre stronger than that.

(CONTINUED)

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ROY You dont need lemons. Let me let you in on a little secret: Were all out of lemons. ROLL CREDITS