7

9.14.06
Lying down in a bed of grass, roses or linen

Jessica
Have you ever wondered why people don’t get along?

Cot
Hah! Heh, no! heh heh, I mean, yes. Yeah, totally.

Jessica
Seriously jackass, think about it.

Cot
Umm…

Jessica
Can I be lame for a moment?

Cot
Sure, go ahead.

Jessica
Ok. So. We are in love.

Cot
Yeah…

Jessica
And we’re lying here, peacefully and happily, and arguably, we are getting along.

Cot
I’d be willing to argue with that.

Jessica
Shut up, are you going to take me seriously or not?

Cot
Ok, ok, sorry. Go on.

Jessica
That’s it.

Cot
That’s all?

Jessica
Yeah, don’t you see what I mean?

Cot
Not really…I mean, I agree with you, but I don’t see where you’re going.

Jessica
These moments, when everything is serene, and we lie here together, ignoring the world together, doesn’t it make you wonder? When everything is right, don’t you wonder what makes the world go wrong? Well, fine, but I do. It makes me worry…

Cot
That I don’t-?

Jessica
No, It makes me worry, when I’m happy, that I shouldn’t be. That there is something wrong with being happy. But then I wake up again, and I realize that I am happy, and that I should be grateful, and I wonder why all over again.

Cot
When I’m happy I get sleepy. Or maybe being sleepy makes me happy.

Jessica
Yeah, me too…

Cot
But right now I’m wide awake.

Jessica
Yeah. Me too.

Cot
Wide awake.

Jessica
Does that mean you aren’t happy?

Cot
I don’t know. You tell me.

Jessica
You aren’t happy. Do you want me to say sorry? For keeping you up?

Cot
No.

Jessica
Good.

Cot
I rarely feel like saying I’m sorry.

Jessica
Yeah - me too.

Cot
We are a lot alike.

Jessica
Yeah, me – yeah.

Cot
Do you ever wonder why people can be so alike?

Jessica
Well, yes, but no. But really, all the time.

Cot
That’s confusing.

Jessica
You ask me why people are so alike? Well, I don’t know why. But I do know that there are a billion different reasons why, and that is so huge and daunting, I don’t even want to think about it. But still, sometimes, I try to piece it all together.

Cot
That’s…confusing.

Jessica
Confusing…conFUSing…CONfuSING…G’nisuf-noc.

Cot
FusCONing. Con-Sing fu.

Jessica
Sounds like a martial art.

Cot
Jessica…

Jessica
Yes?

Cot
You ever wonder why people people don’t use each other’s names more often when they talk to one another? Like just then, wasn’t it weird that I said your name to you? I mean, I never say your name. Do I?

Jessica
I should hope so…

Cot
Sometimes when I look at you, I don’t even think about your name. I just think about your face, which I’m used to, or about things we’ve done or memories or whatever. But I never think about your name when I’m with you.

Jessica
Cot. Cot cot cot cot cot cot cot cot cot cot cot cot cot.

Cot
My name’s different, it’s unique.

Jessica
And my name isn’t?

Cot
No.

Jessica
But I am, right?

Cot
When I see you, I never see your name in my mind’s eye. You’d think that I’d see big black letters on a big white field: JESSICA.

Jessica
I see your name wherever I am.

Cot
J. E. S.

Jessica
Do you even think of me when I’m not there?

Cot
S. I. C.

Jessica
Who even are you? How did I get here? How did we both wind up in this place at the same time? What the hell is going on?

Cot
Hey, remember that time we forgot each other’s last names? That was weird.

Jessica
Sometimes I think that you are incredibly ugly. Then other times I think that you are hot.

Cot
Which one am I now?

Jessica
What do you care? You can’t see you right now.

Cot
Which one am I now, which one am I now?

Jessica
You tell me how I look first.

Cot
Me first. Me me me me me. I asked first, so you tell me which one I am first.

Jessica
Ok…

Cot
I promise I won’t get angry. And I promise that I’ll tell you how you look right after…

Jessica
Ugly.

Cot
Oh…

Jessica
What about me?

Cot
…

Jessica
How do I look right now?

Cot
I was going to say beautiful…

Jessica
Was? What am I now?

Cot
Beautiful, I guess.

Jessica
Woohoo!

Cot
Man…

Jessica
Ok, you aren’t as ugly anymore. Well, you won’t be when you start smiling again. C’mon, smile a bit for me. Aren’t you going to smile?

Cot
You have smashed my happy moment.

Jessica
You didn’t ask if you could be lame first.

Cot
I shouldn’t have to ask anymore. I’ve been asking since we met.

Jessica
We’ve been asking since our first date, like, freshman year of high school. It’s tradition now. It’s a religious rite. You gotta ask, otherwise it’s sacreligious.

Cot
How could anything having to do with love be sacreligious in any way?

Jessica
Do you remember our first date?

Cot
No. And I don’t think I love anything else in the world.

Jessica
Neither do I.

Cot
I really don’t remember anything about you or us from before this moment.

Jessica
Which moment?

Cot
This moment. The moment when you asked me about the world.

Jessica
I don’t remember who you were before we met.

Cot
We’re like characters without exposition.

Jessica
Yeah…

Cot
We have so much in common.

Jessica
We have so little to not have in common.

Cot
Yeah…yes. Yes. I do love you.

Jessica
Me too. I love you too.

Cot
Thanks.

A KISS, PAUSE, then:

Jessica
Do you ever wonder what love is?

Cot
All the time.