Mom, Please

By
Lydia Rogers

INT. BATHROOM - DAY

MELANIE, 15, stands in front of the mirror and applies
foundation to a reddish-brown spot under her collar bone,
the mark is still visible. She grabs her hoodie from the
sink, zips it all the way to her neck and pulls up the hood.
Melanie grabs her backpack and quickly makes her way down
the hall to the living room. She walks out the front door,
quietly closing it behind her, and walks down the
sidewalk. Beads of sweat quickly begin to form on her
forehead as the sun beams down on her.
INT. CLASSROOM - DAY
Melanie sits in the back row of her math class working on an
assignment as the teacher walks around the room and assists
students.
She sweeps her long hair behind her ear and notices the boy
in the seat next to her, BRANDON, sitting sideways in his
chair, looking at her. They exchange glances and Melanie
quickly returns to her work.
BRANDON
You seem to know what youre doing.
Melanie keeps her eyes on her notebook.
BRANDON
Are you good at math?
Melanie finally glances at him. He looks back, waiting.
MELANIE
Um, I dont know. I guess.
Well you
me. This
Pre-Calc
what the

BRANDON
are probably better than
is my third try at
and I still dont know
hell is going on.
MELANIE

Oh.
Melanie looks at her notebook again and lets her hair fall
back in front of her face.
BRANDON
So, do you think you could help me
with the homework?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

2.

Melanie silently takes in a deep breath and pushes her hair

back again. His wide smile causes her eyes to widen briefly
in surprise.
MELANIE
Uh, sure. Which one do you need
help with?
BRANDON
All of them.
Melanies jaw drops and her eyebrows furrow.
BRANDON
Im just kidding.
MELANIE
Oh.
BRANDON
Well I mean I do need help with all
of them, but Im not gonna torture
you. How do you do number three?
As she SCOOTS HER DESK closer to his, students in the front
of the class look back. Brandon chuckles and flashes her
another smile. Melanies cheeks grow pink.
BRANDON
Wow, you have very pretty eyes.
Melanie freezes for a brief moment, then quickly looks down
at his textbook, letting her hair cover her face once again,
and begins flipping through the pages.
MELANIE
Um, thank you.
BRANDON
Any time.
SOUND OF SCHOOL BELL RINGING
BRANDON
Well, looks like youre off the
hook. Thanks anyway though.
MELANIE
Oh, yea. No problem.
Melanie quickly shoves her book and notebook in her
backpack, stands up and rushes past him. He smiles after her
as she walks out the door.
(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

3.

INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT

SOUND OF TV comes from the living room.
Melanie sticks a frozen dinner in the microwave and leans
against the dirty counter. Her mother JACKIE, 34, and her
mothers boyfriend HAL, 40, talk loudly in the living room.
HAL
(From the living room)
Hey Mel, bring me another beer,
would ya?
Melanie gasps as her breath catches in her throat. She gets
a Budweizer from the cluttered fridge and takes it to the
living room. Jackie glares at her as he hands him the
beer. Hal keeps his eyes on the TV.
HAL
Thanks, Doll.
Melanie quickly turns back to the kitchen and avoids her
mothers gaze. She gets her dinner out of the microwave and
begins to stir it as Jackie enters the kitchen. Jackie
stands with her chest pushing into Melanies shoulder.
JACKIE
What do you think youre doing?
Melanie turns her head away slightly to avoid the smell of
whiskey.
JACKIE
You think youre his doll now, huh?
MELANIE
Mom, please.
JACKIE
Dont "mom, please" me. I told you,
dont think I dont know what
youve been doing.
MELANIE
Please, stop.
JACKIE
You need to stop trying to be such
a sneaky little slut.
Jackie pinches the back of Melanies hip and she flinches
away.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

4.

JACKIE
Im not gonna have you screwing
things up for me like you always
do.
HAL
(annoyed)
Jackie, get your ass in here. What
are you doing?
JACKIE
(To Melanie)
Dont let me catch you near him.
Jackie turns and slightly stumbles back to the living room.
Melanie stares down at her microwave dinner as her tears
fall into it.
INT. CLASSROOM - DAY
Melanie and Brandon sit in the same seats during a lecture.
Melanie intently takes notes and Brandon relaxes in his
chair with his hand resting over his mouth. Towards the end
of class, Melanie notices Brandon smiling at her from behind
his hand. Before realizing it, she smiles back at him, then
quickly turns back to the board. As she tucks her hair
behind her ear, she notices his shoulders shaking
with laughter out of the corner of her eye. She looks down
with pink cheeks and bites her lip to stop from smiling
again.
SOUND OF SCHOOL BELL RINGING
Melanie quickly packs her backpack and walks out the room.
BRANDON
Hey, Melanie!
Brandon jogs to catch up to her and gently nudges her arm.
They continue down the hallway side by side. Melanie looks
down as they walk.
BRANDON
So that lecture made no sense.
MELANIE
Really? I thought it was fine.
BRANDON
Thats just because youre a
genius.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

5.

MELANIE
Maybe if you took notes during
class.
Surprised with herself, Melanie peeks up at him. Hes
already smiling back at her.
BRANDON
Or maybe if we hung out more, some
of your brains would rub off on me.
He nudges her again.
BRANDON
What do you say?
They stop walking and face each other. Melanie tilts her
head and narrows her eyes slightly.
BRANDON
Yes, Im asking you out. Thats
what this is.
MELANIE
Oh. Um, I dont know. Ive never
reallyBrandons smile widens as she fumbles with her words. She
closes her eyes, inhales deeply then looks back up at him.
MELANIE
Im sorry. Yes. Sure. We can hang
out.
BRANDON
Great. Ill pick you up Saturday
night.
Brandon shoots her one last smile, lightly touches the side
of her arm and turns away down the hallway. Melanie lets out
a long breath as a smile creeps across her face.
INT. LIVING ROOM-DAY
Melanie enters her home through the front door. Jackie and
Hal, both drunk, are ARGUING LOUDLY in the living room.
Jackie throws an empty beer can at Hal. Melanie attempts to
quickly get past them to her room but Jackie grabs her by
the wrist and pulls her to the couch.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

6.

JACKIE
Where do you think youre going?
You started this shit.
Jackie stands over Melanie, still holding her wrist tight.
Melanie winces.
HAL
Oh, come on, Jackie. Dont bring
her into this.
JACKIE
I knew youd try to defend your
little whore. What is it about her
that you men love so much?
Melanie begins to sob. When she tries to pull away Jackie
digs her nails into her.
HAL
Now, what the hell are you talking
about?
JACKIE
I see the way you all look at her,
with her pretty little face. Maybe
if you didnt have anything to look
at.
Jackie releases Melanies wrist and slaps her across the
face with the back of her hand, knocking her off the couch.
Hal grabs Jackie from behind and pulls her away while she
screams. Melanie scrambles to get up, runs to her room and
locks the door behind her.
INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT
Melanie stands in front of her mirror and vigorously applies
makeup to the bruise on her cheek. It still shows on her
pale skin. She tries brushing her hair so it falls over her
face. She takes a step back and examines herself.
She checks the clock on her wall, it reads 7:26. She moves
the curtain back from her window just as Brandons car pulls
in front of her house. She quickly slips on her shoes and
grabs her sweater. As she jogs down the hallway she hears
the KNOCK on the front door. Melanie stops at the end of the
hallway and watches Jackie walk over to the door. She opens
it and Brandon stands there smiling at her with a small
bouquet of flowers.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

7.
BRANDON
Hi there, Im here for Melanie.
JACKIE
For Melanie? Why? Who the hell are
you?
BRANDON
Um, Im Brandon. We go to school
together.
JACKIE
Well, she isnt going anywhere with
you.

As Jackie begins to close the door, Melanie drops her

shoulders and begins to take a step back towards her room.
Then she runs up behind her, grabs the door handle and pulls
the door back open. She pushes past Jackie, but she grabs
her by the arm and tries to yank her back.
MELANIE
Let go of me.
Melanie snatches her arm away, grabs Brandons hand and
pulls him towards his car. Jackie SCREAMS after them and
slams the door.
INT. CAR- NIGHT
Brandon and Melanie sit in silence in his car. They are
still in front of her house.
BRANDON
Well, that was interesting. Is
everything alright?
MELANIE
Im so sorry about that. Its fine.
BRANDON
I see. Would you like to chat about
anything?
Melanie plays with a button on her sweater. Brandon reaches
over and takes one of her hands in his.
MELANIE
You dont need to worry about it.
He notices her tears falling onto their hands and goes to
tuck her hair behind her ear. She flinches slightly and he
sees the bruise across her face.
(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

8.

BRANDON
Melanie.
MELANIE
Actually, this might not be a good
idea.
Melanie turns to the car door, reaches for the handle but
hesitates.
BRANDON
Hey, you dont have to go back in
there. We still gotta go out and
have a nice time.
She turns back to him and tries to hold back her tears.
BRANDON
You should always have a nice time.
You deserve that.
MELANIE
You dont really know anything
about me, or what I deserve.
BRANDON
I know that youre a beautiful girl
with a beautiful mind. And you can
let your voice reflect that. All
you have to do is speak.
MELANIE
I doubt that would make a
difference.
BRANDON
Ah, youd be surprised, Miss
Melanie. Just give yourself a
chance. I can see you have it in
you.
Brandon wipes a tear from her face and kisses her cheek. He
squeezes her hand and she squeezes back.
BRANDON
You ready?
MELANIE
(Relieved)
I think so.
Brandon starts the car and they pull off into the street.

9.
INT. LIVING ROOM- NIGHT
Melanie enters through the front door. Jackie sleeps on the
couch in the dark with the TV QUIETLY BUZZING. Melanie takes
a deep breath, slowly walks to the couch and kneels in front
of her mother. She gently shakes her arm and whispers.
MELANIE
Mom?
JACKIE
What do you want? Done fooling
around with your little boyfriend?
MELANIE
Mom, can I talk to you please?
JACKIE
What?
Melanies breath shakes as she tries to fight back tears.
MELANIE
I...just need to tell you that I
love you.
Jackie laughs and tries to sit up.
JACKIE
No, I dont need to hear any of
this shit.
MELANIE
Please, mom. Listen to me. Please.
Jackie lays back down and stares at her.
MELANIE
I know we never talk. You never
want anything to do with me
but...youre my mom, and I really
need you.
JACKIE
Stop it, Melanie.
Jackie turns away and tears fill her eyes.
MELANIE
I know the guys in your life
never treated you right...Dad and
Grandpa...they didnt treat me
right either. You have to know
that, mom.
(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

10.

JACKIE
Yea, I know it wasnt right. And
now Hal left me, too.
MELANIE
Im sorry to hear that.
JACKIE
Youre just sorry you didnt get a
chance to get your hands on him.
Melanies shoulders drop and she looks down.
JACKIE
Oh, stop. I know you two never did
nothing. I just got so screwed up
in my head after what happened with
your dad and Michael...I didnt
want that to happen again with Hal.
He really made me happy and I
wanted someone to only want me.
MELANIE
Well...I want you, mom. I want you
to be happy and I want you to feel
better.
Melanie takes her Jackies hand.
MELANIE
I think we both deserve to be
happy, and maybe...we can just do
that for each other.
JACKIE
Im sorry, Mel. I wish I could
take back everything that happened
to us...what I did to you. But I
cant fix everything now. I need
help.
MELANIE
I want to help you. I think I can
help you, if you just let me.
Everything can be better if we try
together.
Jackie nods at Melanie with tears in her eyes and pulls her
into her arms.
End.