Play 39: Anytime

CHARACTERS
VINCENT, 16
ANNA, 20

(They sit on a couch watching television, the room is lighted by relatively dim lights.)

ANNA
You should go to sleep you know.

VINCENT
Yeah.

ANNA
Then why don’t you.

VINCENT
I dunno.

ANNA
That’s a pretty bad reason.

VINCENT
I know.

(Beat.)

I gotta write my scene.

ANNA
But you’re watching TV now.

VINCENT
But I gotta write my scene. And I should practice guitar, and I havn’t played sax in a week probably.

ANNA
Then go do that.

VINCENT
I will.

(Pause.)

ANNA
You really should just go to sleep though. You can practice music and all that stuff tomorrow.

VINCENT
But I gotta study for finals tomorrow.

ANNA
Like you’ll actually study all day?

VINCENT
True.

(Beat.)

But I need to write my scene today.

ANNA
Why?

VINCENT
It is called “play-a-day.”

ANNA
So skip a day.

VINCENT
Can’t.

ANNA
Why? No one will care.

VINCENT
Yeah they will.

ANNA
Who? Everyone’ll understand you’re busy. And plus, pretty much everyone who’s tried it hasn’t done it literally every day. No one will care if you miss one day.

VINCENT
I’ll care.

ANNA
You shouldn’t.

VINCENT
And why not?

ANNA
Cause it’s one day, give yourself a break.

VINCENT
But if I miss one day, then it’ll be another, then another, then I’ll just stop altogether, and I really don’t want that to happen.

ANNA
It doesn’t have to.

VINCENT
But it will.

ANNA
You can just make sure it doesn’t happen again.

VINCENT
You don’t get it.

(Pause.)

VINCENT
This is what’s been hapenning with sax. I say, oh, I’ll practice tomorrow. Then I do it again and now I havn’t played in a fucking week!

ANNA
Relax, you try to do too much.

VINCENT
I don’t do anything!

ANNA
You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself.

(Beat.)

VINCENT
I know.

(Beat.)

But this is just like my webcomic, I did it three times a week. Then I let it slip to two, then once a week, then once a month. You know what happened to that.

ANNA
It doesn’t mean it’ll happen this time.

VINCENT
I guess not.

ANNA
So you’re not gonna write it tonight?

VINCENT
Fuck no.

ANNA
Good.

VINCENT
No no, I mean fuck no to you saying I’m not going to write it.

(Beat.)

ANNA
So you mean you are.

VINCENT
Yeah.

ANNA
You realize you have finals in two days and are underslept.

VINCENT
Yeah.

ANNA
You can be stubborn as hell you know.

VINCENT
Gotta be, that or I get lazy as hell.

ANNA
You need to relax.

VINCENT
I know.

(Pause, they sit watching tv)

ANNA
Just asking?

VINCENT
Yeah?

ANNA
If you’re staying up so you can write your scene, then why don’t you leave and actually go do it and then go to sleep?

VINCENT
I will.

ANNA
Then go.

VINCENT
Just another minute.

(Beat.)

ANNA
You know what you said about you being too stubborn is better than being too lazy?

VINCENT
(He responds without looking away from the tv)
Yeah?

ANNA
I think I agree.

VINCENT
(Still seeming to only be partially paying attention to the conversation.)
Yeah.

ANNA
Are you even listening to what I’m saying?

VINCENT
Yeah.

ANNA
You realize you just said “yeah” twice in a row.

VINCENT
Three times actually.

(Beat.)

ANNA
I always forget how you do that.

VINCENT
What?

ANNA
You always seem like you’re not listening at all even when you are.

VINCENT
Yup.

(She looks down at her watch.)

ANNA
Your minute's up.

VINCENT
What?

ANNA
You said you’d leave in a minute.

VINCENT
Oh yeah.

(Beat.)

Then one more minute.

(She sighs in annoyance.)

ANNA
Just don’t blame me when you fuck up your finals.

VINCENT
Sounds like a plan.

(Beat.)

So any ideas for a scene I shoud write?

ANNA
How about a teenage boy watching tv when he should be writing or going to sleep.

VINCENT
Hmm, promising.

ANNA
Really?

VINCENT
No, not really. Thanks for the thought though.

ANNA
Thanks for the passive aggressiveness.

VINCENT
Anytime.

(She punches him in the shoulder.)

VINCENT
Hey!

ANNA
Anytime.

(She laughs, he shakes his head and goes back to watching tv.)

(Blackout.)