HOMECOMING BY JEFFREY LO
ELLA and MOIRA having catching up after 15 years.
ELLA: Oh my god.
MOIRA: I know!
ELLA: You’re messing with me.
MOIRA: I’m afraid not.
ELLA: I said that?
MOIRA: Yes!
ELLA: My gosh…
MOIRA: I asked you to be my date to homecoming and you said you could never be my date for homecoming!
ELLA: Did I say why?
MOIRA: No!
ELLA: Why didn’t you ask?
Pause.
ELLA: Gosh. I’m so embarrassed.
MOIRA: Don’t be, it was 15 years ago.
ELLA: Still.
MOIRA: we were 17!
ELLA: I know but…
MOIRA: What’s important is that we’re here now.
ELLA: But –
MOIRA: It’s fine… I swear.
ELLA: … ok.
Beat.
MOIRA: So.
ELLA: So.
MOIRA: How has life been?
ELLA: Oh, it’s been fine, I guess. You know how it is.
MOIRA: Yeah, totally…
ELLA: You?
MOIRA: About the same really, depending on how you look at it.
ELLA: Right… right…
Awkward silence.
MOIRA: Well, I guess we’ve fully caught up then. Nice to see you!
They laugh.
This breaks the ice.
ELLA: Sorry.
MOIRA: Why?
ELLA: I don’t know. I feel like I’m just not being a good conversationalist right now.
MOIRA: The Ella Nguyen I knew was always a good conversationalist.
ELLA: The Ella Nguyen you knew was 17. Much easier to hold a conversation with a 17 year old…
MOIRA: I guess… I feel like most people are awkward when they are teenagers and better when they grow up.
ELLA: That’s true.
Beat.
ELLA: So what do you do now?
MOIRA: For work?
ELLA: Yeah.
MOIRA: I brew beer.
ELLA: You brew beer!
MOIRA: Yeah!
ELLA: I never woulda guessed you’d become a beer brewer –
MOIRA: In high school we barely knew what beer was.
ELLA: Right.
MOIRA: Bu.reallyt yeah, that’s what I do. I brew beer.
ELLA: How many beers?
MOIRA: We have an IPA, a double IPA, a pilsner and we’re working on some other things… blendy type stuff.
ELLA: Really cool!
MOIRA: Yeah! Do you drink beer?
Pause.
ELLA: Not really, no.
MOIRA: I see.
ELLA: Sorry, sorry.
MOIRA: Why are you sorry?
ELLA: I don’t know. Because that’s what you make for a living and I don’t… drink it.
MOIRA: What, am I going to hate on a recovering alcoholic because she doesn’t wanna drink my beer?
ELLA: Right. Right…
Beat.
MOIRA: You seem tense.
ELLA: Do I?
MOIRA: Are you ok?
ELLA: Yeah.
MOIRA: Are you sure?
ELLA: Yeah.
MOIRA: What’s on your mind?
Silence.
ELLA: Why…?
ELLA stops herself.
MOIRA: Why…?
Pause.
ELLA: Why am I here?
MOIRA: To catch up with your high school best friend, I thought.
ELLA: Right but why?
MOIRA: Why not?
ELLA: We haven’t spoken to each other in 15 years.
MOIRA: Hence catching up.
ELLA: But why catch up?
MOIRA: I say again – why not?
ELLA: Why did we stop talking?
MOIRA: I don’t know…
ELLA: It was because what you mentioned before. Was it not?
MOIRA: Maybe…
ELLA: You asked me to homecoming.
MOIRA: Yes. And you said no.
ELLA: And so we stopped being friends.
MOIRA: I don’t remember. Maybe.
ELLA: Well answer this. When you asked me to be your date to homecoming. What way was that?
MOIRA: What do you mean?
ELLA: Be your date in what way?
MOIRA: … You know what way.
ELLA: And because of that way we stopped being friends.
MOIRA: I thought you didn’t remember any of this.
ELLA: I do.
MOIRA: Ok…
ELLA: If we stopped being friends back then because of this… did you think anything would change now?
Long silence.
MOIRA stands up.
MOIRA: I guess I had hoped so.
MOIRA exits.
ELLA: Bye.
Lights fade.
END OF PLAY.