Star-watching

Star-watching Written by Joe Lorenzo Alimagno

WRIFILM A51 Assignment Dr. Clodualdo del Mundo

1

EXT. DRIVEWAY - NIGHT JOSEPH and LANA are lying on the concrete driveway, hands intertwined.

They are both 19 years old. Joseph is in a jacket while Lana is in a tank top. They have matching yellow suede shoes, though Joseph's are already faded and worn out.

Joseph's thumb traces the lines on the inside of Lana's hand, while Lana's forefinger traces through the hairs on the back of Joseph's. Their grip is relaxed, almost like you could pull them apart with very little force.

"Kelly Brown" by The Earlies softly plays on Joseph's mobile phone - it is on the ground by their heads. The song's guitar riff is in tune with cricket sounds.

Joseph and Lana are facing opposite directions - Joseph, at the withering potted plants a few meters from where they are, Lana, at the cracks on the weathered white wall. They both face the sky after a few seconds.

Do you love me?

JOSEPH

Joseph squeezes Lana's hand.

A shooting star passes by and they both look on opposite directions again.

JOSEPH Do you think we could ever get married? I mean, in the long run. Like after everything is over.

LANA Maybe. I don't know. It's too far from my mind right now.

JOSEPH Me too. I can't believe our other friends are getting married already, though. I mean, we just graduated high school about two years ago and already they're getting married.

2

LANA Some of them have kids already, too.

They both laugh faintly.

LANA (CONT'D) What are your plans, anyway? I mean, after college and stuff. We're both graduating soon.

JOSEPH Yeah, just one more year and we're done.

LANA Yeah.

They both face the sky again.

JOSEPH I don't know. Maybe work abroad? I've always wanted to live in New York.

LANA Yeah you have. Since high school you've been telling me that.

Another shooting star passes by.

JOSEPH Yeah... Yeah. Well what about you? What are your plans? Do you still want to start that restaurant?

LANA Well I do, but my supposed partners... I don't know. I think they've kind of lost their enthusiasm about it. I still want to though.

JOSEPH Well that's good. At least you still want to even if they don't. If you want it enough anyway then you'd make it happen.

LANA You'd fight for it, yeah.

3

JOSEPH Yeah, exactly. You'd fight for it.

"Kelly Brown" by The Earlies repeats on Joseph's phone. Lana stares at the phone while Joseph closes his eyes.

LANA Hey it's the same song again. I think the playlist is done.

JOSEPH It's okay. I like this song.

LANA I'm kind of sick of it.

JOSEPH Let's just finish it one last time.

EXT. DRIVEWAY - DAWN The wind rustles the nearby bushes. An old flower, barely hanging on, finally falls to the ground. A few black ants rush out of it and onto the concrete.

The sky is becoming a bluish shade of gray. The couple looks up at the sky again.

Two shooting stars appear across the sky, almost simultaneously.

LANA Oh wow. Did you see that?

JOSEPH Yup! Amazing, isn't it?

LANA Very. But you know I've always wondered how meteor showers happen. And like, how come people can predict them and stuff.

JOSEPH Meteor showers happen when a bigger meteor enters the atmosphere of the Earth, where it breaks apart because of heat and stuff.

4

LANA Wow. So if you think about it... What we're doing now is just... Watching meteors explode and die.

Magical, isn't it?

JOSEPH

LANA Kind of sad, actually.

JOSEPH I think it's amazing, regardless.

I guess so.

LANA

Lana looks at the crack on the wall again. Joseph keeps his eyes steady on the moon slowly fading away.

On Joseph’s phone, a graphic is displayed: “Battery Low.” JOSEPH Astronomers are trained, I guess, to see the signs of a meteor coming, and they can judge if it'll break apart and make a meteor shower.

LANA Wouldn't it be great if everyone always knew when meteors would come? That way we'd never miss a shooting star.

JOSEPH We could always wish on every single one, and never miss.

LANA If you wish for the same thing over and over, maybe it will really come true.

JOSEPH Maybe. People wish for the same things over and over for that very reason anyway.

5

LANA Do you think anyone has really gotten his wish granted?

Lana laughs a little at the absurdity of the idea.

JOSEPH Probably not. Some wishes, I guess they're not meant to come true. No matter how many times you wish for it.

Joseph laughs along, but his eyes almost regret the laughter.

Tears start forming along his eyelids, though his face wrinkles, obviously in contempt of them.

JOSEPH (CONT'D) You know you never answered my question.

For the first time, Joseph looks at Lana, and she looks back.

She has tears in her eyes too.

LANA I'm afraid I'm not sure of the answer.

JOSEPH It's simple. Do you love me? Do you still love me?

There is complete silence in between them. Joseph's phone display's a graphic saying "Battery Empty."

The sun has almost completely risen now.

LANA Maybe not like before. Not anymore.

Joseph squeezes Lana's hand tightly, but Lana still doesn't squeeze back. She pulls her hand away but Joseph is still holding on tightly.

He looks at her one last time, through tears, and decides to let go.

Joseph keeps his hand on the ground, where their hands were intertwined just a few minutes ago, and lets his tears stream down his face.