By Your Side
BY YOUR SIDE
A play
in five scenes
By
Ong
Shi Min Nicole
For
Anderson Junior College’s Inter-House Drama Competition 2014
CHARACTERS
MAYA, 17. A young girl in her teens. Schizophrenic.
DEVIN, 17. Maya’s best friend.
MOTHER, mid-40s. Maya’s mother. The framing
device through which the story unfolds.
PSYCHOLOGIST, late-40s. Mother’s
psychologist. Apathetic and detached.
RILEY, 17. Maya’s childhood friend.
SCENE
1:
(Scene opens on a darkened stage. MAYA sits
on her bed in the middle of the stage, hugging a teddy bear. A single light
illuminates her face. Foreboding music plays as she speaks.)
MAYA
So,
how was your first day of school? (pause)
Urgh, it was terrible! I don’t have any friends in my new school. Everybody
seems to know each other already. I feel so… lonely. (pause) Why, don’t say
that! I’m sure lots of people want to get to know you better! (pause) But they
don’t know me. Not like you do. Sometimes, I don’t think they even know I
exist.
(DEVIN stands up
from behind the bed as she speaks.)
DEVIN
Don’t
worry….
(He walks around
the bed, towards MAYA, and sits beside her, establishing eye contact.)
DEVIN
and MAYA
(simultaneously)
I’ll
always be here for you.
(Lights.)
SCENE
2:
(Scene opens on a dark stage. MOTHER and
PSYCHOLOGIST sit at a table in the foreground. As MOTHER speaks, the stage
lights are turned on slowly, as if illuminating the past.)
MOTHER
I — I
just don’t understand. I mean — she seemed stable enough.
(Silence. The
sound of PSYCHOLOGIST’s pen moving across paper is heard.)
MOTHER
So
she was never the type to go out with her friends, but — she seemed — happy. So
wouldn’t there be signs? She’d — say something, or — ask me something, anything
— I just — I can’t…
(MOTHER’s voice breaks.
She hides her face in her hands.)
PSYCHOLOGIST
Perhaps
it would be best if you start from the beginning.
(Foreground freezes.
Stage lights go on.
In the
background, MAYA sits at a bus stop in her school uniform, listening to music
through headphones and reading a book. Dressed in casual clothes, DEVIN approaches
her from behind and cups his hands around her eyes. Delighted, MAYA closes her
book and turns to face him.)
MAYA
Devin!
(DEVIN removes
the headphones from her ears and sits beside her, smiling.)
DEVIN
‘Ello,
Maya. How was school today?
MAYA
The same
as always. Maths is a pain, as usual. What about you?
DEVIN
Same
as always. Fell asleep during lecture, homework, the usual.
(They grin at
each other.)
DEVIN
So?
Any plans for the weekend?
MAYA
No,
not really.
DEVIN
Great!
So I was thinking maybe —
RILEY
(off-stage)
Maya?
Is that you?
(RILEY enters
stage right. Maya stands, putting her book down on the bench.)
MAYA
Oh
my god — Riley? I haven’t seen you since primary school! How have you been?
RILEY
The
same as always, really. We moved around a bit, but eventually we settled down
here—say, you’re in AJC too?
MAYA
Well,
it is close to home, so…
(Clearly unused
to not being the centre of attention, DEVIN tries to get RILEY’s attention and
sulks when he is ignored.
MAYA looks back
at DEVIN, questioning; following her line of sight, RILEY sees her book and
goes to pick it up, forcing DEVIN to dodge out of his way.)
RILEY
Oh—Nicholas
Sparks! There’s a new Sparks movie coming out this weekend, isn’t there? Do you
want to catch it together?
(MAYA hesitates and glances from RILEY to DEVIN, much to RILEY’S
puzzlement. DEVIN seems sad but encourages her to reconnect with her lost
friend.)
MAYA
Sure. Why not?
RILEY
Great! So I’ll be picking you up around… eight?
MAYA
Okay. See you!
(RILEY exits stage left. MAYA turns back to DEVIN, still sulking on the
bench.)
MAYA
Oh, Devin, don’t be like that! I haven’t seen
him in ages.
DEVIN
Who was he, anyway?
MAYA
An old friend of mine. From before I met you.
(DEVIN continues to sulk.)
MAYA
Come on, I’ll treat you to ice cream on the way
home.
DEVIN
(relenting)
Okay.
(They exit. Lights.)
SCENE
3:
(MOTHER and PSYCHOLOGIST
are no longer in the foreground.
DEVIN sits on the left
of the table in the center of the stage, his legs pulled to his chest, staring
at the screen of his handphone. As MAYA enters stage right, presumably back
from a date with RILEY, he picks up his phone and dials. MAYA answers her
phone.)
MAYA
Devin?
(DEVIN stands, still on the table, turning to face MAYA accusingly. MAYA
does not see him.)
DEVIN
Where have you been?
MAYA
I was out — with —
DEVIN
Riley, right?
(He hangs up and jumps down from the table, startling MAYA.)
MAYA
When did you get here?
DEVIN
I’ve always been here. No one ever saw me—and
then you did. And now it’s like I
never mattered to you.
(He sits.)
I know I said I’d always be there for you, but…
it’d be nice if you could be there for me too.
MAYA
Devin, I… I never knew you felt that way.
DEVIN
I never let you know.
(MAYA stands there for a while, looking at him. Then she goes forward
and sits beside him, placing her hand over his.)
MAYA
I promise I’ll spend more time with you, okay?
I’m sorry for neglecting you.
(Foreboding music
creeps in softly over Maya’s words. Lights.)
SCENE 4:
(RILEY and MAYA enter
stage right, evidently back from another outing.)
RILEY
That was nice, wasn’t it?
MAYA
(seeming distracted)
Umm, yeah…
(They fall quiet.)
RILEY
Maya? We’ve been seeing each other for a while
now, and… I was wondering if… if you’d…
MAYA
(realizing what RILEY is hinting at)
I – Riley, I – I’m flattered, but I can’t –
RILEY
(hurt)
What do you mean you ‘can’t’? Is there someone
else?
(MAYA turns away, not replying.)
It’s this Devin person, isn’t it? The one you
keep talking about.
(DEVIN enters, unseen.)
RILEY
He’s the one who’s coming between us? He’s the
one snatching you away from me?
MAYA
‘Snatching me away’? What? Riley?
RILEY
I’ve always liked you. And when I saw you again
at that bus stop, I thought that maybe – why would you even lead me on like
that? I thought you wanted it too!
MAYA
Lead you on? I thought you wanted to be friends!
RILEY
We were friends! We’ve been friends for the
past seven years! I’ve had enough! I hate being friends, I hate it!
(MAYA starts forward, intending to confront him, but DEVIN holds her
back.)
RILEY
Devin won’t hang around forever. He’ll leave eventually.
Just like everyone else does.
(MAYA finds this offensive; DEVIN lets go of her
and lets her rip into him. MAYA stomps up to RILEY, seizing him by the collar.)
MAYA
Don’t
you say that. Don’t you dare say that! When you left, I had no one to confide in.
But Devin was there for me. He was there when no one else was. So don’t you dare
say that about him!
RILEY
I’ll
stay this time! I promise, I’ll stay! Just – just give us a chance.
(MAYA lets go of
his collar; RILEY stumbles backwards.)
MAYA
Don’t
say things you don’t mean.
RILEY
… I
don’t know who you are anymore.
(They stare at
each other.)
RILEY
I –
I’m sorry.
(RILEY exits
stage left. In the ensuing silence, MAYA begins to sniffle. She tries futilely
to wipe her tears away and begins to sob. DEVIN steps forward again to pull her
into a hug.)
MAYA
Oh
Devin, what will I ever do without you?
DEVIN
Shh.
It’s okay. Like I said, I’ll always be here for you.
(Lights.)
SCENE
5-Final:
(MOTHER and PSYCHOLOGIST are once again at
the office in the foreground of the stage.)
MOTHER
I
noticed after, that she was becoming more – more closed off. More distant. And then
she started coming home later and later and – what was I supposed to do?
(Once again, the
PSYCHOLOGIST is silent.)
So I
– yelled at her. I’d never yelled at her before. (pause) Sometimes I think – if
I hadn’t fought with her, then maybe, just maybe –
MAYA
(off-stage)
Mum?
(MOTHER starts,
turning towards the midground of the stage. PSYCHOLOGIST freezes.
MAYA enters
stage right, shrugging her bag off her shoulders and flinging it to the ground.)
MAYA
Mum,
I’m home.
(MOTHER stands
and goes to greet her.)
MOTHER
What
kind of time do you call this? It’s way past your curfew. Were you with Riley
again?
MAYA
Calm
down, Mum. I’m almost eighteen, you have to learn to let go. And no, I was with
Devin, okay?
MOTHER
Who
is this Devin? You’ve never told me about him before.
MAYA
You
know him! Devin, from my secondary school. We were classmates all the way from
Sec 1 to Sec 4. You know, my only friend in four years?
MOTHER
Maya,
you were never in the same class as a ‘Devin’. You went to a girls’ school.
(Silence.)
MOTHER
Maya,
who is he? Why haven’t you told me about him?
(MAYA does not
reply. DEVIN enters stage left, standing behind MAYA, quietly observing.)
MOTHER
Maya
Lee Yu Hua, answer me right this instant –
MAYA
(explosively)
What does it matter to you? You’ve never cared before!
Even when I had no friends, you just smiled at me and told me to try harder! I did try! But no one liked me! No one
wanted me! Until Devin! So don’t you try and tell me that he doesn’t exist! Because
he does!
(During her
tirade, MAYA catches sight of DEVIN. She grabs hold of his arm and pulls him forward.)
And
you know what? He’s right here!
MOTHER
Maya?
Are you – are you okay?
MAYA
What
is it?
(Silence.)
MOTHER
Maya,
honey, listen to me – there’s no one there.
MAYA
You’re
lying. Don’t you see him? He’s right here!
MOTHER
(trying
to reach out to her daughter)
Maya
–
MAYA
Leave
me alone!
(MAYA bats her
mother’s hand away—silence descends. MOTHER storms away from MAYA, returning to
her seat in the PSYCHOLOGIST’s office. Seeming to return to reality, she hides
her face in her hands, shoulders shaking.
MAYA walks
towards the front of the stage and stands in the middle, looking out at the
audience, as if she is for the first time perceiving something just beyond her
grasp. Her legs give way—she slumps to the floor. DEVIN crouches beside her and
places an arm around her shoulders. Contemplative music starts to swell.)
DEVIN
Shh,
shh, it’s okay. I’m here. I’ll always be here.
MAYA
First
Riley, now my own mother. Everyone leaves me in the end.
DEVIN
I’ll
always be here. I’ll never leave.
MAYA
(near
tears)
It
hurts, Devin. I don’t want it to hurt any more. Make it stop. Just – just make
it stop.
DEVIN
I
can do that, if you want me to. I can take the pain away.
(He places a
knife in her hand. Standing, he takes a step back.
Maya stares at
the knife. She raises it to her wrist. The music comes to a jarring stop and
the lights flick off; when they come back on, the stage is empty.
The focus returns
to MOTHER, still in PSYCHOLOGIST’s office. The PSYCHOLOGIST writes on a slip of
paper. He does not look up.)
PSYCHOLOGIST
I’ll
see you again next Friday at five.
(Not
comprehending, MOTHER staggers out of her chair. She goes to where her daughter
had been standing only moments before, looking out at the audience just like
her daughter had. DEVIN enters as the same foreboding music that announced his
presence in SCENE 1 plays. He takes MOTHER’s hand as the music slowly gets
louder.)
DEVIN
Don’t
worry. I’ll always be here for you.
(Lights.)