COLD OPEN – COMMUNITY GYM – ELECTION NIGHT
Folded chairs, a bake-sale table, a projector with county results. Katy squeezes Shawn’s hand. Cory clutches a foam finger that now says “DO GOOD (quietly).” August, Ava, Dewey, Mikey hover by the cookies.
Announcer (on mic): With precincts reporting… the new Head of the School Board: Shawn Hunter.
Roar. Shawn freezes, then grins, then immediately looks terrified.
Katy: Small win: the vote. Big win: the work.
Cory: And a speech. With verbs!
Shawn (to mic): Thank you. Tomorrow we listen, we fix small levers, we make big days. Tonight we… eat a cookie.
Ava (to August): I’m crying at a municipal result.
August: Democracy: the original group project.
Smash to titles.
ACT ONE
SCENE A – HALLWAY – NEXT MORNING
Campaign posters replaced by a simple sign: “Thanks. Bring your ideas.” Kids drop index cards into a box.
Shawn passes by, jacket on, eyes soft. He fist-bumps Mikey; ruffles Dewey’s hair; takes a suggestion card from Ava and pockets it like treasure.
Ava: I asked for a plant in every classroom. Plants are morale.
August: I asked for soap that smells like not despair.
Dewey: I asked for… (sees someone) air.
Enter NAOMI PARK (freshman, artsy, kind, new to school), balancing a camera and a notebook. She and Ava bump shoulders, then click like magnets.
Ava: You’re new. I’m Ava. I have a binder and too many opinions.
Naomi: I’m Naomi. I have a camera and appropriate opinions. Your jacket is legendary.
Ava: Best friends. Probably.
They cackle. Dewey watches, thunderstruck.
Mikey: You okay?
Dewey: My heart just discovered percussion.
SCENE B – CORY’S CLASSROOM – LATER
Dewey paces with a notebook labeled “Operation Ask.”
Cory: Talk to her like a person, not a dissertation. Ask for a specific thing at a specific time.
August: “Would you like to get hot chocolate after school tomorrow at the corner place?”
Mikey: And we’ll teach you to breathe. Oxygen is underrated.
Ava (popping in): Who’s breathing?
Dewey (panics): No one! Hypothetically!
She’s already waved and gone; Dewey slumps.
Cory: You’ve got this. Small win = you ask. Big win = you respect the answer.
Dewey: What about a medium win where she says yes and I don’t implode?
Cory: That’s just called Thursday.
SCENE C – HALLWAY – AFTER SCHOOL
Naomi photographs the trophy case; Ava flips through her planner nearby.
Dewey (approaching, rehearsed): Naomi. Hi. Would you like to get hot chocolate tomorrow at the corner place? As a date? With me? I can be less many words in real life.
Naomi blinks… smiles.
Naomi: That was many words in a sweet way. Yes. Tomorrow. Four?
Dewey: Four is a number I respect.
Ava (beaming): I’m so happy for— (realizes) Oh! I will… not come. Boundaries! New muscle. Love this for us.
Naomi (to Ava): You can help me pick a sweater and then vanish.
Ava: Deal.
Dewey floats away like a balloon that chose college.
ACT TWO
SCENE D – MATTHEWS APARTMENT BUILDING – SATURDAY, 3:30 PM
Cory, August, Mikey huddle in the lobby with “disguises”: trench coat (Cory), beanie & giant sunglasses (August), and a newspaper the size of a poster board (Mikey).
August: We’re only walking them to the corner to make sure the corner is safe, then we retreat.
Cory: Classic security detail. Low profile.
Mikey (peeking from behind comically tiny magazine): Do I look low profile?
Cory/August: No.
Dewey appears in a clean sweater, holding a book voucher like a talisman.
Dewey: Promise me you will not—
Cory: We will not interfere.
August: Which is not technically the same as observe.
Dewey squints. The elevator dings. Naomi steps in, camera swapped for a tiny purse. It’s cute. Dewey’s brain blue-screens; then they head out together.
Cory (whisper): Operation Dad-acent begins.
They follow… at a ridiculous distance.
SCENE E – SUBWAY PLATFORM → TRAIN – 4:05 PM
Naomi & Dewey decide to hop one stop to the corner café because adventure. The trio of “adults” oozes down the stairs behind them.
On the platform, Cory hides behind his coat like it’s a cloak of invisibility; August pretends to be very fascinated by a service-change poster; Mikey unfolds a newspaper so large it swats a commuter.
Commuter: Sir.
Mikey: Sorry, I’m being… small.
Train screeches in. Dewey/Naomi get on. So do the spies, spreading out like very obvious pigeons.
Naomi (to Dewey, amused): Do you feel… watched?
Dewey: By fate? Yes.
She smiles, lets it go. The spies sway—Cory slaps a pole dramatically; August almost sits on a trombone case; Mikey’s paper collapses over his head like a tent.
SCENE F – CORNER CAFÉ – 4:20 PM
Naomi and Dewey at a small table. Hot chocolates with tiny marshmallows. Conversation is actually… lovely.
Naomi: I moved a lot. Cameras make new places make sense.
Dewey: I made new hair once. Didn’t work. But… I like making sense of people.
Naomi: Favorite book?
Dewey: Today: the one where the main guy finally shuts up and listens. Yours?
Naomi: Today: the one where two weirdos find a third place that feels like home.
They grin. It’s going well.
Behind them, a trench coat fidgets. A giant paper looms. August tries to order “one latte of anonymity,” then scurries back to his seat. Cory lifts the coat to sip and reveals his whole face; Mikey attempts to hide behind a potted plant that is eight inches tall.
Naomi glances, recognizes Cory immediately. Her smile tightens.
Naomi: Is that… your history teacher in a trench coat?
Dewey (tiny): …Yes?
Naomi: And Mikey behind a bonsai?
Dewey: …Yes.
Naomi: And August behind a subway map that says “Don’t Do This”?
Dewey: (miserable) Yes.
Naomi sits back, breathes.
Naomi: Dewey, I like you. But I can’t like being a group project.
He wilts.
Dewey: You’re right. I’m going to un-invite my entourage.
He stands, turns, and project-teacher-voice like a pro:
Dewey: Mr. Matthews, August, Mikey—thank you for caring. Please stop.
Cory flinches like he’s been Feeny’d.
Cory: You are absolutely correct. We are leaving immediately. (to Naomi) I’m very sorry. This is not the lesson I wanted to teach.
Mikey: I wanted to make sure no one bumped you. But I… bumped everyone.
August: We conflated safety with surveillance. We will go now.
They retreat, mortified, knocking precisely three chairs and one very patient potted plant.
Naomi (to Dewey): Do you want to try again… without witnesses?
Dewey (hopeful): Yes. Please.
They reset. They talk. It’s better.
ACT THREE
SCENE G – SCHOOL BOARD OFFICE – MONDAY AFTERNOON
A tiny crowd. Shawn stands with Hernandez, teachers, parents, and three kids (Alyssa, a seventh grader, and August) holding a paper.
Shawn: First small win: we publish the pop-quiz policy. First big win: we fund two quiet rooms and seed the Friday Labs pilot for January. Today. Signed.
Applause—not a roar, but real. Shawn blushes, signs, hands the pen to the seventh grader.
Shawn (aside to Cory): I thought winning would feel louder.
Cory: The work is quieter. And stickier. Like good caramel.
SCENE H – SCHOOL YARD – AFTER SCHOOL
Ava and Naomi sit on the steps; Dewey approaches with a humble smile, August & Mikey hang back at a respectful distance.
Dewey: Thank you for the second half of the first date.
Naomi: Thank you for the apology with nouns. Also, your friends are… intense.
Ava: They are also retractable. New policy: we do not third-wheel unless invited.
Naomi: Deal. And… I’d go out again. Maybe a bookstore this time. Without extras.
Dewey: My favorite number is two.
They grin. Ava nudges Naomi conspiratorially.
Ava: He’s a good weirdo.
Naomi: So are you.
They’re a triangle that works—when the triangle’s points keep their distances.
SCENE I – CORY’S CLASSROOM – LATE AFTERNOON
Cory writes on the board:
SMALL WIN: the YES
BIG WIN: the TRUST
The door creaks; August, Mikey, Dewey slip in.
Cory: Gentlemen, on the subject of being idiots: I apologize.
Dewey: Accepted. For my part, I summoned a parade to a picnic. I’ll set better boundaries.
Mikey: I will buy a smaller newspaper.
August: I will separate “care” from “control.”
Cory: People change people… and sometimes people embarrass people they love. Today we learned how to stop.
They share a sheepish laugh. Naomi taps the window; Ava waves beside her. They’re headed to do literally nothing but sit and talk. Everyone smiles.
TAG – SUBWAY – LATER THAT WEEK
Dewey and Naomi ride the train, calm, cozy. At the far end of the car, Cory enters… sees them… freezes… backs out of the car like a cartoon.
He bumps into Shawn on the platform, who’s posting a small flyer: “Friday Labs – Volunteers Needed.”
Cory: Small win?
Shawn: Bright bulbs. Big win?
Cory: The kids who get to turn them on.
They fist-bump. The train pulls away. No spies aboard.
END.
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