Because She's Special [old script blurb]

 b =Bella  e =Eve  mc =MC  d =Dad  p =Papa  bm =Bella’s Mom  * =mc prns

Phase 1 - Preschool Playdates

   Prologue

Hey, Welcome!

Grab a snack and relax while I tell you a story.

...Once upon a time, there was a dragon that guarded a tower…

Because… He, um, worked for the wizard who lived there.

And… They lived happily ever after. Probably.

...Yeah sorry. I don’t do well on the spot.

Let me think… Oh! I know!

I’ll tell you about Bella.

[bg change from sky to sunset]

Now you might be wondering who Bella is and why I want to tell you about her.

She is a nerd obsessed with crappy band merch, architecture, and was my closest friend and first real crush-

-by real I mean not fictional heh.

 And as for why I’m telling you? That’s incredibly simple.

I’m very sleep deprived and can’t think of anything else to entertain you with. That and…

Because she’s special.

   Scene 1 - Meet The New Neighbors

The first time I met Bella was when we were five.

It was a quiet summer afternoon and my dads and I were sitting in our living room.

The new neighbors - a couple and their daughter - had called earlier asking if they could drop by and introduce themselves. They would arrive any minute now and I could hardly keep still while I sat on the couch beside Papa.

Dad glanced up from the book he was reading across the room.

d “If you keep squirming like that you’ll make a hole in the couch cushions.

p “I bet *they’re just excited to meet the new neighbors, right?

mc “Yeah! There’s finally gonna be another kid on the street. We can go to the park, play at her house, I can show her my room and my rock collection- I hope she likes rocks. If she doesn’t I don’t think we can be friends.

Papa and Dad laughed but were interrupted by three quick knocks on the door.

p “Oh! That must be them.

We all got up to greet our guests.

Papa opened the door to reveal a pretty but tired looking woman and a girl my age standing slightly behind her.

bm “Hello! We’re the new neighbors next door. It’s lovely to meet you all!

p “Hey, welcome to the neighborhood! Come on in and make yourselves at home.

The strangers entered the house while Papa closed the door behind them and we all proceeded to make introductions.

bm “I’m Margeret and this is my daughter Bella. I’m afraid my husband wasn’t able to join us due to his work.

d “That’s quite alright, I’m sure we’ll meet soon.

d “My name is Kade, this is my husband Nick, and our kid [mc].

I gave an enthusiastic wave towards our guests

p “So what brought your family here?

bm “we move around a lot for my husband’s work. He just got transferred to this city. But we aren't sure how long we’ll be staying this time.

bm “I work from home and we homeschool Bella so it works out quite well.

They kept talking about work and adult problems which was suuuper boring. So I turned my attention to Bella instead.

She was still standing slightly behind her mom, looking a little uncomfortable - like she didn’t know what to do now that they were inside.

  Question:

>Wave at her

I tried to get her attention by waving at her.

She noticed and stared at me for a second before she broke into a small, cheerful smile and waved back.

I liked her smile and wanted to see it a little longer so I made a funny face by sticking out my tongue and scrunching up my nose.

I felt a little stupid. But as soon as she started giggling, her smile getting wider I felt very happy with myself.

But then my attention was dragged away by Papa saying my name.

>Walk over and say “Hi”

I slide up next to her and smile.

mc “Hello!

She straightens and smiles back a bit hesitantly.  

b “Hi. I like your house.

mc “Thanks! I bet your house is cool too.

Bella shifted her weight from foot to foot.

b “Yeah, my room was bigger in our last house… but I really like the backyard at this one so it’s fine.

I nodded along. I figured it would be weird to move to a new place - but I had always lived in the same house so I wasn’t sure.

But then my attention was dragged away by Papa saying my name.

>Go back to listening to the adults

Seeing her look awkward made me feel awkward too.

Unsure how to approach her I just went back to listening to our parents talk.

Though I couldn’t help but sneak a few glances at Bella when she wasn’t looking - which was surprisingly rare. 

She kept glancing at me too.

We ended up having a staring contest until my attention was dragged away by Papa saying my name.

p “[MC], why don’t you take Bella to your room and have fun for a while?

Bella seemed to perk up at the suggestion.

mc “Sure! Follow me. My room is really cool!

I grabbed Bella’s hand and rushed upstairs to my room.

[change bg to bedroom 1]

When we arrived I let go of her hand and grinned proudly.

My rock collection sat in a pile on my dresser, while the clothes that should have been inside lay strewn around the other surfaces of the room.

Dad had told me to clean up before Bella and her mom arrived today…