Sofia Cacho and Diana Felix

Ms. Storer

English 3H

26 November 2019

Act I
It is early on a Friday morning, hours before school starts. Julieta is sitting on the couch in her
living room. It is a large space, dimly lit by a few scattered lights. Her laptop is open to
collegeboard.com, where she eagerly awaits for her SAT scores to be posted. Her father, a gruff,
balding man, sits quietly on the other side of the couch, sipping his coffee and watching the news
on the television. He, too, has been eagerly waiting for her scores to arrive.
Dad: Any updates?

Julieta: Three more minutes, dad. It goes live at 7.

Julieta is a pretty, outgoing girl who is liked by everyone. She has a lot of friends in school, with
who she spends most of her time. Despite all of this, Julieta is still in AP classes and maintains
her grades, much to her parent’s approval. However, due to increasing pressure by her friends,
she has spent more time partying and less time studying.

Julieta, excited: My scores are up!

Her father gets up and rushes over to look at her screen. However, both of the smiles on their
faces are wiped away as her scores show up on the screen.

Julieta: I...I don’t understand...How did I do so bad?

Dad, disappointed: You went down from a 1250 to a 1100...You would have improved if you
had just studied!

At this moment, Julieta’s mother, a tall, bright woman, enters the room and addresses her
daughter.
Mom, smiling: Hi sweetie! How did the SAT go? If you got up to a 1300 your father and I will
take you out to celebrate tonight!

Seeing the looks on their faces, the mother's smile quickly disappears.

Dad: She got an 1100.

Mom: Mija...we talked about this! You slacked off all month and look what happened. Think
about your future!

Julieta: I know, mom. It’s fine. I'll try to do better next time.

Mom, angered: Oh no, don't blow me off! No more parties this month, you're staying in to study
for next month’s SAT. Think about all the opportunities you’ll have with a 1300! We just want
you to succeed!

Dad: Your mother is right. Think about your future. Partying may be fun, but college will lead
you to success.

Julieta: Okay, whatever you guys say. I have to go get ready for school now.

Julieta leaves the room as her parents look at each other, concerned.

Act II
It is later that day and Julieta is sitting with her friends at lunch. The 8 of them sit on a yellow
bench across from each other in a noisy cafeteria that is bustling with movement and loud
teenagers. On Julieta’s right sits her best friend Emma, a tall blonde with a loud and outgoing
personality. And on her left sits her boyfriend Alex, the star wide receiver on the school’s varsity
football team. The large group chats among themselves as they eat their lunch.
Emma, excitedly: Whos ready for the party in a few weeks? It’s gonna be at Matt's house since
his parents are gonna be out of town! Literally everyone’s gonna go, I even heard that some
college frat boys are gonna show up! It’s gonna be the best party this entire year!

Julieta: Well, actually-

The friend group cheers and cuts her off.

Emma, laughing: Honestly, anyone who doesn’t go is lame. They're gonna be missing out on so
much.

Julieta, laughing nervously: Well, about that guys, I don’t think I’m gonna be able to go. I didn’t
do so well on my SAT and my parents kinda grounded me. They said I can’t go out this month.

Alex: What? No, you literally have to go. Parties aren’t fun without you there.

Emma, to Julieta: Thats so dumb, tell your parents that you have to go. You can retake the SAT,
but you can never relive that night.

Friend group nods and murmurs in agreement

Julieta: They’re not gonna listen to me! They were so disappointed. They want me to study every
week until I take it again.

Emma, sincerely: Okay, but just realize that you will never get to relive high school again. Do
you want to look back and regret staying home instead of going out and having fun with your
friends? These are the only times in our lives where we won’t have real responsibilities. Once we
graduate, we’ll have to get boring jobs and stuff will never be the same. We’re only teenagers
once, and we really have to make the most of it. Plus, we’re almost adults! If your parents are
really gonna be that strict, me or Alex can just drive by at around 10:00 and just sneak you out!
How’s that sound?
Alex, enthusiastically: Yeah we’ll sneak you out!

Julieta, sheepishly: Mmm...I don’t know, maybe it’ll just be better if you guys go without me. I
really don’t want to disappoint my parents again.

Alex, smiling: Come on, just think about it babe.

Emma, rudely: And remember what I said about the people who don’t go.

Alex: Emma has a point.

Julieta, frustrated: Fine, I’ll think about it, I guess.

Act III
It’s a month later on a Friday, and Julietta is laying on her bed after school. She’s looking up at
her blue ceiling and white walls, which have been feeling like a prison lately. She has not gone
out all month. Her parents had forced her to stay home and focus on school and studying for the
SAT, which is tomorrow. Suddenly, her phone buzzes. She looks to check the notification, it’s a
group video call from Emma and Alex. She excitedly picks up, wishing she could have seen them
more this month.

Julieta, excited: Hey guys!

Alex, slightly annoyed: Hi, I feel like I haven't seen you in ages.

Emma, bluntly: So are you coming tonight or what?

Julieta, surprised: Oh my God, I completely forgot that was today-

Emma, bluntly: Or are you gonna ignore us, like how you have been all month?

Julieta: What? Emma, don’t be this way. You know I wasn’t doing it on purpose! My parents
wouldn’t let me go out and they kept taking my phone. And you guys always ditch school, so I
would rarely see you guys there.

Alex, angered: If you had wanted to see me or any of our friends, you would have found a way.
You didn’t even try!

Julieta, confused: I really don’t understand why you guys are acting this way. But if it means
anything, I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.

Emma, bluntly: You can make it up to all of us, if you show up to the party tonight.

Julieta: Umm...well, yeah, I guess I’ll ask my parents right now. I’ll call you back in a little, bye.

Emma rolls her eyes and ends the call.

Julieta then calls for her parents to come into the room.

Julieta, sheepishly: Hi, I was just wondering if I could go to a party tonight at Matt’s house. All
my friends will be there. It’s just, I’ve just been working hard this entire month, I think I deserve
a little reward.

Mom, sweetly: Honey, I know this last month has been kind of hard for you, but just look at how
good your grades are now!

Dad, encouragingly: And remember your SAT is tomorrow! I really don’t think it’s the best idea
for you to go out tonight. Your gonna be so tired for tomorrow and you won’t score as well as I
know you can! I’m sorry mija, but you just can't go out tonight. You would be throwing all your
hard work away.
Julieta, disappointed: Well, I mean, I guess you're right.

Mom: Of course we are! We’re just looking out for you.

Mom and Dad exit the room.

Julieta calls Emma and Alex back.

Julieta: Hey. My parents said no. I’m sorry guys, but I just really can’t. My SAT is literally
tomorrow.

Emma, upset: Suit yourself, I just want to let you know that I really don’t want to be your friend
anymore. Don’t try to talk to me at school. I just don’t think we’re really the same type of person
anymore and we should go our separate ways. And it's not just me, everyone in the group agrees,
you’re just lame now. Sorry!

Emma leaves the call.

Alex: Yea, I’m sorry too, but I think it’s best if we break up. All my friends have been asking
why you don’t go out anymore and it’s kinda ruining my reputation. I can’t date someone who’s
so different from me now. I don't want to hurt you, I hope you understand. Bye Julieta, I’ll see
you around I guess.

Alex leaves the call.

Julieta is left staring at her reflection in her black phone screen. Tears pool in her eyes and she
begins to sob.
 Act IV
Julieta continues to cry into her pillow. Without her friends and her boyfriend, what did she have
in life? What would she do now? As she thinks about these questions, she is suddenly jerked
away from her pillow as her phone buzzes. It is a notification that Emma has posted on her
Instagram.

Julieta, frowning: She posted already? I bet she’s having so much fun without me.

Julieta scrolls through the post and sees Emma and all of her old friends at the party, drinking,
laughing, and dancing. She feels a twinge of regret for not having gone with them, but then she
wonders, if they’re having so much fun, why did they want her to go so bad?

Julieta: They don’t really care about me, they just want to drag me down with them! They aren't
really my friends if they don’t want what's best for me, like my parents do.

Julieta tosses her phone to the side and continues to cry into her pillow. After a moment, her
mom and dad enter the room, concerned.

Mom: What’s wrong, sweetie?

Dad: Are you crying?

Julieta: Yeah, but it’s nothing, just my friends giving me a hard time.

Mom: What did they say? We heard Emma and Alex on the phone.

Julieta: Just that they didn't want to be my friends anymore since I won't go party with them.

Dad: What? Why would they say that?

Julieta: I don’t know. I know partying all the time is bad for me and I know they weren’t good to
me, but I miss my friends and I kind of want them back. Is that bad?

Mom: Listen, sweetie, life is about balance. Yes, it's fine to go party once in a while, but you
can’t neglect your studies just to go party all the time, especially with people who don’t want the
best for you. I hope you understand that we were trying to help you succeed when we asked you
to stay home this month. You can see that your hard work paid off! Your grades are better than
ever and I’m sure you’ll do amazing on the SAT tomorrow. We wouldn’t ask you to do anything
we know you couldn’t do.

Julieta: You’re right, mom. I know you guys truly only want the best for me, and that's why you
push me to be great.

Dad: Remember, we love you! Call us if you need anything.

Julieta: Okay, I love you too.

Julieta’s mom and dad leave the room as she turns over on her bed. She pulls out her SAT book
for one final practice test. A calm focus washes over her as she puts aside her thoughts about the
party and opens the book. She decides she will do the best she can on her test, and forget her
fake friends that only wanted to peer pressure her.