Copyright 2008 by James Finch. Not for reuse. It’s my strange dream dammit.
Two families were good friends for years.
They take a cruise together.
Middle son is too old for the kids stuff, too young for the singles nightlife.
His older brother is out hitting on cougars and living the Rick Springfield lifestyle.
Middle son tries it for a night, didn’t like it, is miserable.
Youngest daughter of other family is in the same boat. She’s miserable without her friends, books, the Internet.
Boy and girl hang out, there’s an age gap but they end up filling the time getting to know each other as friends.
Families return home.
Girl and boy hang out. Girl’s friends do not like this because boy has always been a jerk growing up to them.
Girl’s best friend (cousin of boy) goes missing. She’s unstable. She thinks she’s losing her best friend and hates him.
When boy moves into his own apartment, he and girl decorate it nicely and go out with her friends. He comes home to find it trashed.
Girl realizes best friend is gone off deep end. Girl and boy start to get friends together to find best friend.
Months pass, instead of growing apart, they grow together. Girl nearing 18, proposes to him using old friendship ring while they’re putting up “have you seen this girl?” flyers in search for BF.
More events of trashing, his car vandalized.
Boy, girl, girl’s gang of friends eventually take his old station wagon out to Girl’s parents summer cabin. BF has been hiding there. The find her, confrontation is a non confrontation. She agrees to come back with them and work things out.
They stop for gas and boy needs to change one of the tires. Girl gives boy her checkbook to go in and pay for gas. While he’s at counter, car pulls off. He says, “Well, I hope she has enough in here to cover my walk back…”
He buys a backpack and some supplies and straps the hub cap of the spare tire to his back.
BF is driving. She starts to try to convince the girl that this was all a scam, that the boy just wanted in her pants and to take over her life. That nothing is real. She’s seen it by observing him.
Girl’s friends, not into him that much, decide that she may be right. They start to turn on the idea of girl being with boy. Even if boy worked just as hard to find BF.
Gang goes back to summer house where they found BF. BF recruits every geek she can find from local area (Star Wars club) to “guard” the house and make sure boy doesn’t come back.
Boy eventually gets there. It’s an A roof cabin. The walls in each room don’t really go to the ceiling, there’s wooden scaffolding. Boy sneaks up on scaffolding and find girl and her friends in bathroom. 4 of them sitting in tub with girl on top of them. They’re trying to get her high so she’d be more receptive. She’s just a mess.
Star wars Geeks show up. BF coordinates them to watch the house and to keep boy out. BF chides them for all being in costume. They’re all dressed as bounty hunters from Star Wars lore.
One, dressed as a Boba Fett knock off, looks back into the house as they’re leaving…
BF suspects something, calls out to her friends to come get this guy.
Friends lock girl in bathroom. Friends and star wars Geeks get the bounty hunter kid who looked back into the house. They rip off his mask to reveal … boy’s older brother. The cougar hitting on one.
Boy slips down from rafters into the bathroom to see what is going on with the girl.
Girl confused. The friends made a lot of sense, maybe she hasn’t been herself. Maybe they’re right.
Boy points out all the things he’s done, how he’s given her his heart, how they — together — have made their life into finding her friend. It was a cause that they believed in together.
But girl is unsure. She can’t think, she can’t commit. She’s too young and too mixed up. She wants time to think.
Boy devastated. Boy walks out, everyone puzzled, he takes his brother from the kids and says to BF, “Well, you got what you wanted.”
Months pass. Annual cruise comes up. He doesn’t want to go.
Cruise liner is the usual mix of boredom. He returns to his room to find girl.
She’s got the ring.
BF is getting mental help. Friends were just sheep. She says she apologizes. She’s 18 now, gets down on one knee…
They kiss.
Song “With Arms Outstretched” by Rilo Kiley over closing credits.
The end.
Jim