MAN: File. Open. Innocence.
[Lights shift. A BOY and GIRL appear. Laughter.]
GIRL: You're so funny!
BOY: Looking, you mean!
GIRL: Yes! Funnyface!
[She touches him. They freeze. Uncertainty. She lets her hand drop. Laughter.]
BOY: Why are you laughing?
GIRL: Why do you think?
BOY: It's not funny.
GIRL: What isn't?
BOY: That.
[He touches her. Silence.]
GIRL: You didn't like it?
BOY: No, I did.
GIRL: Me too.
[Pause. Laughter.]
BOY: You're laughing again.
GIRL: I can't help it.
BOY: Are you pulling my leg or something?
GIRL: No.
BOY: You are.
GIRL: I'm not.
[She kisses him.]
See. Not pulling.
[Silence.]
BOY: Good.
MAN: File. Stop. Replay.
[Lights flicker.]
BOY: You're laughing again.
GIRL: I can't help it.
BOY: Are you pulling my leg or something?
GIRL: No.
BOY: You are.
GIRL: I'm not.
[She kisses him.]
See. Not pulling.
[Silence.]
BOY: Good.
MAN: File. Close.
[Lights shift. He revels in the memory.]
Hah! Those days! Those glorious days! Such hope! Anything was possible! Anything!
[He laughs.]
File. Open. Happiness.
[Lights shift. BOY and GIRL.]
GIRL: It's perfect.
BOY: You like?
GIRL: It's ... amazing.
BOY: Yup.
GIRL: Our own house.
BOY: Uh-huh.
GIRL: Our home. We'll have children here. In this place.
BOY: Children. Yeah. Maybe. Lots of sex. For sure.
GIRL: You're bad.
BOY: You make me bad.
[He kisses her. Pause.]
GIRL: Are you sure this is what you want?
BOY: Pretty sure. Yeah. I'll put down a deposit.
GIRL: No. I mean this. Us. Marriage.
[Pause.]
This is what you want?
BOY: Yes.
GIRL: Good.
BOY: I want you.
GIRL: Want?
BOY: Need. I need you. I do.
[They kiss.]
GIRL: I need you too.
MAN: File. Stop. Replay.
[Lights flicker.]
GIRL: Want?
BOY: Need. I need you. I do.
MAN: Love! Love! The word is love!
[The BOY and GIRL kiss.]
GIRL: I need you too.
MAN: File close.
[Lights shift. He dances wildly around the room.]
One little hiccup! Otherwise brilliant! Brilliant! Those days! Not everyone has such days! It's something special! Some people never experience!
[He dances. Laughs. Sings. Stops. Silence.]
File. Open. Disillusionment.
[Lights shift. BOY and GIRL.]
BOY: I punched him in the face! That's what!
GIRL: You hit him?
BOY: Yes! Right in the nose! Blood everywhere! All over his shirt!
GIRL: Oh my god. Are you okay?
BOY: Yeah. I'm fine. He went to the hospital!
GIRL: The hospital?
BOY: Yup! He'll think twice before he opens his mouth like that again!
GIRL: You shouldn't have done that.
BOY: Why not?
GIRL: Because. It was stupid.
BOY: I was defending you!
GIRL: You weren't defending me.
BOY: I was!
GIRL: From what?
BOY: From him! What he said!
GIRL: No. You were mad. Your feelings were hurt. You threw a temper tantrum.
BOY: I couldn't just walk away―could I?!
GIRL: Why not?
BOY: People would have believed him!
GIRL: So?
BOY: So! It isn't true!
[Silence.]
Is it?
GIRL: Yup.
BOY: All of it?
GIRL: Everything.
[Pause.]
BOY: Oh.
[Pause.]
I ... I thought ...
[Pause.]
I mean ...
[Silence.]
You must think I'm really stupid.
MAN: Yes! Stupid! Näive!
GIRL: I don't think that.
MAN: She did! She knew!
BOY: Why him?
MAN: Stupid boy!
GIRL: I don't know. I was a teenager. It just happened.
BOY: You didn't pick him out of the crowd?
GIRL: No. He picked me.
[Pause.]
BOY: Did he rape you?
GIRL: What?! No! Why would you think that?!
BOY: I don't know.
GIRL: You'd ... you'd be happier if that were true! Wouldn't you?! You'd rather have something awful happen than accept the fact that I used to like another guy!
BOY: You really believe that? That I could wish that? It isn't true. I didn't. I don't.
GIRL: It's none of your business what I did with him.
BOY: What did you do? What exactly?
GIRL: I'm not going to give you a play by play. It's none of your business.
BOY: I think it is. It is my business.
GIRL: I knew this would happen. That's why I didn't tell you.
BOY: You've been intentionally hiding this? Keeping it from me?
GIRL: You're being really childish.
BOY: What else have you been hiding?
GIRL: Oh, c'mon.
BOY: I'm serious. What else?
GIRL: I didn't always know you. Okay?
BOY: So you just took whatever came along?
GIRL: Yeah. I made do.
BOY: And you don't think I have a right to know the details?
GIRL: It's none of your business what I did before I met you!
[Pause.]
BOY: No. It's not. Not anymore.
GIRL: What's that supposed to mean?
BOY: I don't know. I have no idea. I'm just talking. Saying words.
GIRL: Are you breaking up with me?
BOY: Maybe. Why not?
GIRL: Over him?
BOY: I can't believe you slept with someone else!
GIRL: Before I met you!
BOY: Someone else!
GIRL: Before I even knew you existed!
[The BOY cries. Pause.]
Hey. Hey. Come here. It's okay.
[She holds him.]
It's no big deal. Just the past. There's no going back. It's over.
[Pause.]
BOY: I thought I was the only one.
GIRL: You are. The only one I ever loved.
BOY: Why couldn't you have just waited?
GIRL: Because. I didn't know you were coming.
[Silence.]
MAN: File. Stop. Replay.
[Lights flicker.]
BOY: I thought I was the only one.
GIRL: You are. The only one I ever loved.
BOY: Why couldn't you have just waited?
GIRL: Because. I didn't know you were coming.
[Silence.]
MAN: Close file.
[Lights shift. He broods. Silence.]
One little thing!
[He thrashes about wildly. Kicks at his chair.]
One blemish! One impurity!
[He picks up the chair and smashes it into the ground.]
It's still a diamond!
[Smash.]
Not a rock to be thrown away!
[Smash.]
A clod of dirt! To be stepped on!
[He hesitates. Stares at the mangled chair in his hands.]
So stupid. A waste.
[Pause.]
I wasn't innocent myself.
[He drops the chair.]
Not completely.
[Silence. He stands motionless.]
File. Open. Regret.
[Lights shift. BOY and GIRL.]
BOY: We're about to get married!
GIRL: So?
BOY: I have a right to know!
GIRL: I thought we were past this.
BOY: Well, we're not!
GIRL: Then why did you propose?
BOY: Because! I love you!
GIRL: If you really loved me, you'd forget about all this. You'd accept me for who I am. You'd love me for it.
BOY: That's not who you are.
GIRL: Who I used to be. My past. It's just baggage. I slept with a few boys.
BOY: A few?
GIRL: Yes. A few. So what?
BOY: How many?
GIRL: It doesn't matter.
BOY: Not just him?
GIRL: No. Not just him.
[Silence.]
BOY: How am I supposed to walk around town? How am I supposed to look people in the eyes? In the grocery store. At the gas station. Every guy I see, I'll wonder if he's seen you. Been with you. I'll picture you in bed with every stranger. Touching them. Pleasing them. Letting them defile you.
GIRL: Why would you do that? Think something like that?
BOY: I can't help it.
GIRL: What's wrong with you?
BOY: How many?
GIRL: Stop.
BOY: How many have you fucked?
GIRL: Don't say that word.
BOY: Fucked!
GIRL: It isn't like you.
BOY: You don't know me! Okay?! You obviously don't know me! I mean, this whole thing is just an illusion! There's nothing real here! It's melting away!
GIRL: This is so stupid.
MAN: Stupid! Yes!
GIRL: I can't believe you thought I was a virgin.
BOY: Well, I did.
MAN: Idiot!
GIRL: I never said that.
MAN: Never! Not once! She didn't say!
BOY: No. I just thought.
GIRL: You were wrong.
BOY: Yeah. I was wrong.
[She touches him.]
Don't touch me.
[Pause.]
GIRL: So ... I'm not good enough for you now?
[Pause.]
I'm tainted or something? Is that it?
[Pause.]
I'm not a good girl anymore?
[Silence.]
MAN: File. Close.
[Lights shift. He broods.]
File. Open. Replay.
[Lights shift. BOY and GIRL.]
BOY: I was wrong.
[She touches him.]
Don't touch me.
[Pause.]
GIRL: So ... I'm not good enough for you now?
[Pause.]
I'm tainted or something? Is that it?
[Pause.]
I'm not a good girl anymore?
[Silence.]
MAN: [To the BOY.] Say something! Say something!
[Silence. The MAN broods.]
File. Stop.
[The BOY and GIRL freeze. The MAN approaches. He strokes the GIRL's face.]
I was tainted. Not her.
[Pause.]
It was me.
[Silence. He turns away.]
File. Close.
[Lights flicker.]
No. Wait.
[The BOY and GIRL remain frozen.]
File.
[Pause.]
File. Delete.
[Lights fade on the BOY and GIRL. Then the MAN.]
