Outcast Society

Scene 3

A hall. There are a few tables around the edges and two pushed together with drinks and plates of biscuits laid out on it decoratively. Adults in matching shirts with 'OUTCAST SOCIETY' printed across the chest stand around, talking to the 30+ teenagers there. The teenagers are either talking to an adult or talking to each other, exchanging stories or swapping advice.

Sara and her brother, Aaron, enter. Aaron is dark-haired like his sister, but he has brown eyes to match while his sister has blue. He looks around the hall as if amused by the set-up.

Aaron: Sure you don't want me to stay?

Sara: You'll only be bored. And anyway, aren't you meeting your friend soon?

Aaron: If you want some support, I'll tell them I can't go.

Sara: (Smiling at her brother) You don't get out the house enough anyway. I'll be fine. I have my phone on me.

Aaron: Okay. (He kisses her forehead) I'll see you later. Will you need picking up?

Sara: I'll make my own way home.

Aaron: Alright then, bye.

(Aaron leaves. Sara looks around and double checks the address on the business card Kristina gave her. A woman in her early 30's in one of the Outcast Society t-shirts walks up to her.)

Grace: (Kindly) First time joining us?

Sara: Yeah, my... friend told me about it and I said I'd go.

Grace: Well, I'm Grace. It was my friend who set this organisation up ten years ago.

Sara: Really?

Grace: Yeah, her son was an outcast in his school and hated it so much he took his own life. Since then, she's been determined that no other child should be in that position, so she set up the Outcast Society.

Sara: Wow...

Grace: Sorry, I just made the whole conversation plummet. Anyway, what's your name, petal?

Sara: Oh, Sara. Sara Moore.

Grace: That's a lovely name.

Sara: Thanks. I was named after my grandma. (Pause) Can I ask you something?

Grace: Of course

Sara: Do you... Are there any people who aren't.....

Grace: Straight? (Sara nods) Oh, petal, you get all sorts here. Don't worry, I've been working here since it started, I've seen the entire spectrum twice over.

Sara: (seeming more at ease) Oh, that makes me feel better.

Grace: Stop me if I'm stepping over a boundary, but is that why you're here? Did someone say something? Or is it a matter of not wanting to feel alone?

Sara: Bit of both. Mainly, a girl at school called me a dyke and a faggot for no reason. It... It stung.

Grace: Oh, I can completely relate. Some people just get a strange sense of happiness from making other people miserable. They are the people who aren't worth keeping in your life. Try not to listen to what they say, most of the time it's just better to tell them they aren't worth your time.

Sara: Well, that's not what I've always been told to do if someone's mean to you.

Grace: They were never the ones being bullied. Why don't you go talk to some of the other teenagers? I'm sure you'll find some common ground soon enough.