Outcast Society

Scene 4

A café. The walls are dark blue and small round tables are packed into the space with just enough room to sit a few people around each.

The group of four are sat around a table in the corner, all with various drinks in front of them. Darren is sat next to Martin, their chairs close together. No one is really paying them any attention.

Darren: (laughing as he talks) And then Kristina just bursts into the room, absolutely soaked with the seaweed in her hair, and she just goes 'I think it's drizzling a bit outside'.

(The group, except Kristina, laugh loudly, making a woman at the next table glance over her shoulder at them)

Kristina: And that is why I class it as my most embarrassing moment.

Martin: It wasn't that bad.

Kristina: (deadpan) I found a shell and a small rock in my bra.

(Sara laughs into her hand, trying her hardest to calm herself)

Darren: (wistfully) That day was priceless. (he takes a drink of his coffee)

Kristina: Fine, what's your most embarrassing moment?

Martin: (quickly) You don't want to hear this.

Kristina: Oh but we do now, isn't that right Sara?

Sara: (setting her drink on the table) I'm really curious now.

Darren: Okay fine, so Martin was part of this stage club last year-

Martin: (pleading) Please don't tell this story.

Darren: Shush darling, it wasn't that bad.

Martin: (holding his head in his hands and groaning) maybe not to you.

Kristina: Come on, keep telling the story.

Darren: Okay, so Martin was part of this stage club that did all these drama productions and stuff and I was roped into helping make the scenery since I was the best in my class at design technology or something like that. We didn't really know each other by this point, but we'd seen each other around so it wasn't like we were deadly enemies. Okay, so it's like an hour or so before the first performance and I'm behind the scenery doing some last minute organising and stuff, and I should mention that at this exact moment, I was wearing jeans that were a size or two too big and I was constantly tripping over the hems.

Sara: (muttering to Kristina) I've got a bad feeling I know how this ends.

Darren: Anyway, Martin was sent to help me because he's really freakishly tall-

Martin: (exasperated) Remind me why I like you again.

Darren: (quickly, turning to Martin) Because I'm adorable. (He grins cheekily and turns back to the girls) And anyway, he's all 'is there anyway I can help' because he's such a gentleman, and I make him help me stabilise this board with part of the background on, so I reach up for this rope that's wrapped around a bar further back because the board itself is kind of front heavy, and at that exact moment, I trip over my jeans. So of course, Martin tries to catch me because he's sweet that way, but he sort of half catches me and ends up ballroom-style dipping me, the whole arms around my waist and everything. Our faces were a couple inches away from each other and we were basically touching from the waist down, and we didn't even know each other that well at the time, so of course we start blushing a bit. This would have been embarrassing enough at the time, but as I fell, I let go of the rope.