A Day Too Late By Jessica Gaube

2012

123 McInnis Crescent Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada S4R3E9 1 (306) 527-6008

FADE IN: INT - HIGH SCHOOL - DAY SUBTITLE: 2006 A high school court yard filled with students. SARAH -16 a blonde care free type is walking with her friend KATIE - a self evolved 17 year old brunette. Sarah is day dreaming while Katie rambles on. KATIE I can not believe Christmas is almost here. It is coming so fast. Sarah notices a girl looking at her from across the hall. TARA - 16 a very shy girl with long brown hair, starts walking toward her, but Sarah quickly turns around to Katie. SARAH Hey are we still on for lunch today? Im starving. KATIE Did you hear anything I said? I just asked you that. SARAH Oh. Sorry. Come on lets go. The girls leave walking past Tara without acknowledging her. Sarah looks back and sees Tara standing in the middle of the hall way - smiling. Tara turns around and walks into the distance. INT - BEDROOM - NIGHT SUBTITLE: PRESENT DAY Sarah wakes up screaming from a terrible dream. She is sweating and looks around the room in a panic. SARAH Holy shit! It was just a dream! Sarah gets up and starts walking toward to the bathroom. She splashes her face with water and tries to calm her self down while she stares at her self in the mirror.

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2.

SARAH Its been 6 years Sarah. You need to start pulling your self together. It was only a dream. She dries off her face, and walks back to her room. When she arrives, she notices an old obituary card that reads, "Tara Berner July 11 1990 - December 16 2006." Sarah puts down the card and walks back into bed. She lays down and starts to cry. INT - BEDROOM - MORNING The noise of a alarm clock goes off startling Sarah. She slaps it off and gets up from her bed. She grabs some clothes and starts to get ready for school. INT - UNIVERSITY LOUNGE - DAY Sarah enters a lounge filled with working students. She sees Katie sitting at a table with her school books. Katie looks up and smiles and waves her over. Katie moves her belongings out of the way and makes room for Sarah. She is casually sipping on her coffee, and notices Sarahs odd expression. KATIE Whats up with you? It looks like you havent slept in days. Sarah sits down, and starts to pile her books onto the already crowded table. SARAH Ummm thanks.....? Thats just what every girl wants to hear. KATIE Im sorry but its true. Im your friend, and I feel like its my duty to tell you the truth. Sarah rolls her eyes, and says nothing. KATIE Here - I bought you a coffee. Its your favorite - chai latte with a extra shot.

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3.

SARAH Oh my god you are a life saver. As Sarah reaches for the coffee Katie pulls it away out of reach. SARAH What are you doing? KATIE You can have the coffee - on one condition. SARAH (PUZZLED) And what condition would that be? KATIE You tell me what is going on with you. SARAH What do you mean? KATIE Look at you. Your cranky, tired, and you seem to have a lot on your mind lately that you are deliberately not sharing. Sarah leans back in her chair, and folds her arms. All her emotions are moving to the surface, but she keeps herself composed. SARAH I dont know what your talking about. Im fine - really. KATIE Really Sarah? Your not going to tell me anything? Sarah shrugs her shoulders fighting even harder to control back her emotions. SARAH You wouldnt understand Katie. You dont know anything about what I feel or what Im going through. KATIE Well at least let me try! Im your best friend.

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4.

Sarah gets up from her chair, and starts to gather her belongings. SARAH Right - cause the first thing you say to me is that I look terrible? That sounds like a true friend hey? Katie sits in silence - stunned. Sarah has never spoken to her this way. KATIE Im sorry Sarah. I thought I was being your friend. SARAH You wanna know why Im so upset lately? Katie nods cautiously not sure what to expect. SARAH I had a dream about Tara last night! And it reminded me that I refused to talk to her because of you! I feel guilty because I didnt give her the time of day, and now shes dead! There! Happy now? Sarah storms off and doesnt turn back. Katie sits in silence, and tears slowly start to form in her eyes. CUT TO EXT - UNIVERSITY PARKING LOT - DAY Sarah gets into her car and begins to cry. She slams her hands down on her wheel letting all her frustration out at once. Flashes of the accident begin to appear in her mind. A newspaper article states,"DEADLY HIGHWAYS! Teen girls, young man killed near Regina among dead. It was probably the worst collision theyve ever seen..." INT - BEDROOM - DAY Sarah walks into her bedroom and lays down onto her bed. She checks her phone and realizes she has a message from Katie.

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5.

KATIE (ON THE PHONE) Hey Sarah Im really sorry about what happened at school today. I never knew you felt that way about what happened between you and Tara. I never meant to upset you. Will you please call me back? We have been friends far too long to let our friendship slip away. Okay, call me. Bye. Sarah hangs up the phone and sits in silence. She grabs her diary and begins to write. SARAH V/O Dear diary, I had a huge fight with Katie today. Probably our biggest one yet. I guess I cant really blame her for wanting to know whats going on with me. She is my best friend, I really should just be honest with her. But how do I start after I said she is responsible for why I didnt talk to Tara that day? I said it out of anger, I didnt even mean it... INT - LOUNGE/BAR RESTAURANT - NIGHT Sarah walks into a casual lounge/bar and immediately starts to look for Katie. She notices her at a small table and walks over. KATIE Thanks for meeting me. SARAH Of course. What are you drinking? KATIE Pinot Noir. Its really good. SARAH Ooh that does sound good. KATIE I figured youd say that. So I ordered you one before you got here. The waitress walks over with the glass of wine and places it in front of Sarah. (CONTINUED)

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6.

Sarah acknowledges the waitress and smiles. KATIE Here is my peace offering to you. Im sorry for being a unthoughtful friend. SARAH Its okay. I cant really say I deserve being friend of the year either for how I have treated you the other day. Katie looks down and takes a big gulp of her wine. SARAH I never really talked to anyone after Tara passed. I left it all bottled inside and didnt let anyone in. KATIE I dont blame you. You were going through a lot, and I knew in time you would come to me. I just never thought it would be like this. Sarah and Katie both begin to giggle while they sip on their wine. SARAH I hope you know that I dont blame you for what happened between me and Tara back then. Its something that happened and I cannot go back and fix it. I chose not to speak to her - not you. Sarah looks down scared of what she is about to say. SARAH What I really need to do is let go of Tara. She was a true friend to me, but if I dont move on, it will continue to haunt me for the rest of my life. I will end up loosing everyone that I care about that I still have right here. SARAH So what I am trying to say is that Im sorry. I hope you forgive me Katie. I never want to loose you. (CONTINUED)

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7.

Katie smiles and walks over to Sarah on the other side of the table and hugs her. KATIE You will never loose me Sarah. Just know that. You are my best friend and always will be. SARAH (GIGGLING) Okay. Katie walks back to her side of the table and both girls raise their glasses and smile at one another. SARAH Cheers to us! For always being their for one another and to moving on. The girls cling their glasses together and start to laugh. EXT - GRAVE YARD - DAY Sarah enters the graveyard carrying a bouquet of flowers looking at all the stones under the snow. She approaches Taras grave that is piled with snow. She kneels down and brushes off the snow so her stone is revealed. She places down the bouquet of flowers in front of it. SARAH Goodbye Tara. She gets off her knees, and wipes a tear from her eye. She then begins to walk away leaving everything behind her. SLOWLY FADES TO BLACK.