EXT. – HIGH SCHOOL – DOOR #17 – SAME
JAMIE stubs out the joint and throws it into the forest. He has not taken a puff since we left them.
DEVIN
What’s the point of it if you get rid of the joint after one puff?
JAMIE
Not in the mood. I’m working on stopping, anyway.
(pause)
What do you want to do when you grow up?
DEVIN
I haven’t really thought of it yet. Probably do something that’s close to you. Best friends, remember?
JAMIE
I know what I want to do. I want to work as a waiter.
DEVIN
A waiter?
JAMIE
Yeah. It’s just a normal job, you know? Something a regular guy would have. No more fucking around, and without a college degree, that’s all I’m getting.
DEVIN
And you’ll be able to support yourself like that?
JAMIE
It doesn’t take much to live. If I live at all, that is.
DEVIN
Jamie, live at all...
JAMIE
I’m almost 18, Devin. But that doesn’t really matter.
DEVIN
18...that’s when you can get tested for...it...without parental consent.
JAMIE
Mmmhmm...
It finally dawns on DEVIN.
DEVIN
You lied about your age and did the presymptomatic testing, didn’t you.
It is not a question.
JAMIE
Last week. You know the day I skipped school and didn’t tell you about it? You were so mad...I went then.
JAMIE stands up, but still just stares at the forest.
DEVIN
You told me you would take me with you. that I could be there. Damn it, Jamie!
JAMIE
Slap me later, maybe it’ll make an impact.
There is a silence, both of them waiting for the other to talk.
DEVIN
You got the results?
JAMIE
On Saturday.
(he pulls out a folded piece of paper from his pants)
Here they are.
DEVIN
I don’t want the paper, I want you to tell me.
JAMIE
Positive. The test came back fucking positive.
DEVIN’s legs seem to fold underneath him. He nearly collapses against the wall.
DEVIN
Positive? You’re positive for Huntington’s Disease.
JAMIE sits next to DEVIN, the paper still in his hand.
JAMIE
We knew I could be. 50-50 chance of having it since my dad does.
DEVIN
You’re dad got it young, right?
JAMIE
Yeah. The symptoms started when I was four, so he would’ve been 24. Apparently the average onset is 35, but some people get it really late. I remember when I was little I didn’t understand why we was dropping things. Then he started to twitch and move funny. When you’re young, it’s scary when Dad changes. We didn’t even know what Huntington’s was, back then.
Pause.
DEVIN
Isn’t the age you start to deteriorate decided by how many repeats of the bad gene you have, or something?
JAMIE
Yeah, or something like that...
DEVIN
How many repeats, Jamie? How many do you have?
JAMIE
The clinic doesn’t tell you themselves, just say if you’re positive or negative and hand you the paper. The paper is what tells you everything.
DEVIN
You haven’t looked at the paper yet, have you?
JAMIE
No.
DEVIN
You’re never going to look at that paper, are you?
JAMIE
Never.
The two sit silently together, JAMIE playing with the paper in his hands. DEVIN doesn’t press to have his friend look at the paper, and Jamie is content to do nothing.
DEVIN
(extending hand)
Hand me the paper.
JAMIE complies.
DEVIN stands up and turns to face the security camera. The light is still blinking, its eye ever on.
DEVIN unfolds the paper and, holding it near his face level, faces the print side towards the security camera, but we cannot read what it says.
DEVIN
I am Jamie O’Carroll’s best friend. If anyone is watching this, I’m holding the information about Jamie O’Carroll’s life in my hands. Information about how long he’ll live. Guess what: I don’t care what some test says, and I don’t need to know.
DEVIN rips the paper down the center, then continues to rip until his is holding handful of scraps. Marching down the steps to the forest, Devin tosses the scraps in the air and returns to JAMIE, sitting down next to his friend.
JAMIE
Thanks.
DEVIN
No problem.
We pan to the forest, the two boys barely on screen, and see a scrap of paper sitting on the ground before wind blows it away.
