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The Loneliest Disease
The scene is in a high school hallway. The halls are empty except for two people. Hailey is a seventeen year old girl that is walking down the halls. Tyler is a seventeen year old who is by his locker putting his books away. Hailey accidently bumps into Tyler causing him to drop all his books and hit his head against his locker. Tyler lets out a noise of pain. Hailey continues to walk as if nothing happened.
Tyler: (Frustrated) What the heck!? (Picks up his books quickly, puts them in his locker and slams it angrily.) That hurt you know!!
(Hailey continues to walk without acknowledging Tyler.)
Tyler: (Starts to walk towards Hailey hastily) Hey I’m talking to you! Are you deaf or just stupid?
(Hailey reaches her locker at the other end of the hall. She stops and opens it, still without acknowledging Tyler).
Tyler: (Reaches Hailey at her locker and slams his hand on the locker next to hers making a loud noise.) Aren’t you going to say sorry?
Hailey: (Begins to put things away in her locker and speaks indifferently) Sorry.
Tyler: (angrily) That’s it? You didn’t even mean it! Are you being serious right now?
(Hailey continues to act unresponsive to Tyler and this angers him even more.)
Tyler: (a sudden realization occurs.) Wait, I know who you are! You’re the crazy girl, right?
(Hailey pauses for a moment. Then she continues to put things in her locker but at a faster pace.)
Tyler: (smirks) You are, aren’t you? (Taunting) You’re the girl who sits in the back of all her classes without talking to anyone. You’re the girl who ran out of Spanish class that one day for no reason and had some kind of breakdown in the hallway. You’re the girl who everyone makes fun of. You’re the freak. The loser. You don’t care about anyone or anything. You’re cold. Heartless.
(Hailey is putting the last of her things in her locker quickly, eager to leave the situation.)
Tyler: (Provoking) I heard that you didn’t even cry when your own mother died.
Hailey: (Slams her locker shut with a very loud noise and shoves Tyler back. Yelling angrily) I have a dissociative disorder you inconsiderate jerk! (Hailey is breathing heavily and she and Tyler just stare at each other for a moment)
Tyler: (Regretful and softly) Hailey, look, I’m so-
Hailey: (puts her hand over her ears) No, just shut up. (Yells) Shut up! (Puts her hands down and looks at Tyler hatefully) I’m sick of people like you who always come up to me mocking me! You call me a freak, and I know I am! But there is nothing that I can do about it. Trust me, I’ve tried! I take so much medication, that I’m numb. I don’t feel anything. I never feel anything!
Tyler: (remorseful) Hailey, look, I didn’t know-
Hailey: It’s true. I didn’t cry when my mother died. I haven’t cried since I was nine. Because it doesn’t seem real! (yells) Nothing seems real! And that’s why I don’t talk to people. I can’t tell what’s real from what’s not real. I can see everyone around me, but to me… to me it’s like they’re not there. (Runs hands through hair and speaks softly) This doesn’t even feel real right now.
Tyler: (apologetic) Hailey, I’m sorry okay! I didn’t know, I don’t think anyone knows. I’m sorry, if I had known-
Hailey: (laughs bitterly) If you had known, you would have done what? Not torment me because you pity me? (hatefully) So because you didn’t know, it gives you an excuse to treat me like that? To treat anyone like that? Are you being serious right now? Whether you knew or didn’t know shouldn’t make a difference. But no, you and all of your other popular friends go around bullying other people to make yourselves feel more important. You tell me that I don’t care about anyone, but look at yourself!!
Tyler: (remorseful. Runs hand through hair) Hailey, I am so sorry, okay? None of us knew that you have that… that illness, if-
Hailey: (indifferent) You know what Tyler? Save it. I don’t want to hear anything that you have to say. (coldly) You know, you call me crazy, and I guess I am. But I would rather be crazy than a judgmental hypocrite like you.
(Hailey turns her back and exits. Tyler stays on stage for a moment, then exits in the opposite direction as Hailey)
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Bullying is never okay. Don't be so quick to judge someone.