Day Tripper | Teen Ink

Day Tripper

November 16, 2015
By Maggie_Estrada BRONZE, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
Maggie_Estrada BRONZE, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
4 articles 0 photos 0 comments

EXT. SCHOOL COURTYARD-AFTERNOON

LEO (15) sits, staring at his phone. His friends, ACE, TREVOR, and WYATT sit around him, tapping anxiously.

INSERT: Leo's phone screen shows a SOCIAL MEDIA POST with a picture of a CONCERT POSTER, A black and white picture of three scrawny guys with the words FROZEN ASSETS above a list of dates. Over each date, the words SOLD OUT appear.

Leo screeches at his phone.


ace

(whining)

How did it sell out in just 10 hours?

Wyatt

There was that eclipse last night.

Leo's protests grow louder. He shoves his phone in the group's faces.

INSERT: In the comment section, a comment by their friend KAY reads: "So excited! Got an extra ticket, anyone wanna buy?"

The group joins Leo in a chorus of shrieks.

Wyatt

DIBS.

Leo

THEY'RE MY FAVORITE.

ace

NOPE, I'M ALREADY ON IT.

Ace takes out his phone and dials.

INSERT: Ace puts Kay on speaker phone.

kay (v.o)

Hello?

trevor

KAY, I WILL GIVE YOU FIVE WHOLE DOLLARS.

ace

No no no no please give it to me. Please? I will die!

Wyatt

Please.

KAY (V.O)

You guys want the ticket?

A beat passes as the group stares at the phone, like a dog when it sees a squirrel.

KAY (v.o)

Sort it out amongst yourselves. I'll be here at my house. First come first serve.

Ace hangs up the phone.

LEO

I'm up for it. Let's race.

Trevor

Are you kidding? You'd have to freeze time to win a race against me.

Leo rolls his eyes.

EXT. STREET CORNER

The group forms a line, stretching, preparing for the race.

EXT. KAY'S HOUSE

Kay sits in her driveway. She holds the ticket in her hand. She puts her headphones in and taps her feet to the music.

EXT. SCHOOL

Ace, Trevor and Wyatt stand at the curb, getting ready to race. Leo sits, triple tying his shoelaces. Trevor scoffs.

Trevor

Hurry!

Leo stands and joins the group. They look at the street ahead of them.

ace

On three.

Wyatt

One.

trevor

Two.

leo

THREE.

MONTAGE: THE RACE.

--Ace books to the sidewalk, pushing through people, apologizing each time. He obeys the crosswalk.

--Wyatt takes the street. He weaves through traffic as cars beep and slam their brakes.

--Trevor hops fences and runs through backyards.

--Off to a late start, Leo runs straight ahead.

EXT. STREET-CONTINUOUS

Leo runs with all his might. He sees Ace and Wyatt in the distance, far ahead.

INSERT: In front of a cafe, Leo's SHOELACE gets caught in a bike rack.

He struggles to get it out, but sees it's caught in the bike's tire. He wiggles the bike, only tangling his shoelace further. The bike's OWNER exits the cafe and approaches Leo, frowning. He stomps his foot.

owner

If you're gonna try to steal it, at least take the helmet.

The owner unbuckles the helmet from his head and threatens Leo with it.

Leo takes off his shoe and runs away.

Owner chases him down the street, helmet in his hands.

EXT. KAY'S HOUSE

We see Kay, still waiting patiently in her driveway. She plays with the ticket in her hand.

EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD

Trevor, out of breath, sees Kay sitting in her driveway from down the street.

EXT. STREET

The chase between Leo and the bike owner continues.

The bike owner, waving the helmet, yells nonsense words and chases after Leo.

With an angry shove, he whips the helmet at Leo.

INSERT: The helmet lands right at Leo's feet, and he trips. As he falls halfway to the ground, TIME FREEZES and everything EXCEPT LEO stops.

INSERT: The time on Leo's WATCH is 3:24.

Leo catches himself from falling. He stands back up and looks around.

leo

Wh- what?

Everyone around him is frozen. A man at a food stand stares at a burger he flipped into midair.

A pigeon floats, a worm hanging out of its mouth.

A man in a dirty jumpsuit dangles off a trash truck, perfectly balanced.

EXT. KAY'S HOUSE

Kay sits, completely still. Her hand, with the ticket enclosed, reaches out to Trevor, who stands a few feet away.

EXT. STREET

Ace, also frozen, stands in a running position, a block away from Kay's street.

Wyatt sat down a few feet behind Ace, frozen in the act of tying his shoe.

EXT. KAY'S HOUSE

Leo charges up to Kay, who still holds the ticket out to Trevor.

INSERT: He tries to take it, but it's STUCK.

He tugs on the ticket. It doesn't budge.

He tries to uncurl Kay's fingers. They don't move.

He walks about 20 feet away, then charges back at her. He tries to grab the ticket, but misses entirely.

He slowly pulls it out of her hand. It doesn't move, but it begins to tear. He backs away.

EXT. KAY'S HOUSE

Leo runs back with an axe, and a roll of tape.

He gently tapes the rip in the ticket.

He swings the axe over his head, but stops it inches away from Kay's hand. He shakes his head.

He sits down and stares at his watch.

INSERT: It still reads 3:24.

leo

(mocking)

You'd have to freeze time to beat me. Meh.

Beat.

leo

They're not even gonna believe it.

Leo's eyes widen. He takes out his phone, and stands back up. He points his phone to them.

INSERT: Leo tries to open his phone's camera, but it's frozen.

He swipes and taps the screen, but nothing changes.

He drops his arms and puts his phone back into his pocket. He starts to walk away from Kay and Trevor, back towards the town.

MONTAGE:

--Leo pokes people. They don't move.

--He slaps the bike owner in the face.

--Down the street, he pets a large dog.

--He goes back, gets his shoe, and puts it back on.

EXT. PET STORE

Leo leaves the pet store with a small DOG BISCUIT. He approaches a small frozen dog who stands outside.

He waves the treat at the dog. No response. He holds it right under the dog's nose.

He sets it down at the dog's feet.

INT. BANK

Leo takes a CLOCK off the teller's desk and tries to wind it forward. He can't move the hands.

He looks out the window. Everyone remains frozen. He looks at the people in the bank, then around the counter.

EXT. BANK

Leo carries a wad of cash in his hands, his pockets. He sits next to a HOMELESS MAN on the ground. He offers a stack of money. The man doesn't move.

Leo re-enters the bank.

INT. TV STORE

Through the window, we see a row of TVs, all stopped on a conversation between two news anchors.

Leo picks up a REMOTE, and points it at the TV. He hits play.

INSERT: The OPEN sign on the door shifts, hitting the BELL on the handle. We hear a ding.

Leo flinches and looks outside. The TVs remain frozen. No one moves. He sighs.

EXT. STREET

Leo walks down the street, and stops in his tracks as he sees the TICKET BOX OFFICE. He looks around, and heads toward the door.

INT. BOX OFFICE

Leo enters the office, leaving the door slightly cracked.

We see two people standing still outside the window. Leo closes the curtains.

INSERT: One TICKET sits on top of a folder, next to the ticket clerk.

Excited, Leo steals it off the counter.

INSERT: The ticket reads "A.U.B. 9:30. Rain or Shine."

Leo ditches the ticket, searches the folder, and finds the FROZEN ASSETS ticket. He sighs in relief and jumps around.

INSERT: Leo's jumping and dancing causes the door to close.

Leo gasps, startled by the sudden noise.

As he puts the ticket in his pocket, he pulls the stacks of money he took.

EST. SHOT-CHURCH

INT. CHURCH

Leo approaches a BOX that says "For The Poor of the World." He stuffs the money in the box.

EXT. STREET

Leo sprints down the street, runs past everyone still frozen.

INSERT: He trips over the same HELMET he did before.

MONTAGE: TIME UNFREEZING.

--The man at the food stand watches the burger slam back onto the grill.

--The pigeon lands on a trash can, eating the worm.

--The trash truck drives ahead, the man still holds on.

--The dog eats the biscuit.

--Leo's watch changes to 3:25

Leo picks up his pace. The ticket SLIPS out of his pocket.

He keeps running, unaware.

EXT. KAY'S HOUSE

Leo, drenched in sweat, runs up to Trevor and Kay. Trevor waves the ticket in Leo's face.

trevor

See? Told you you could never beat me.

leo

No. Dude, believe me. Time actually stopped!

Trevor crosses his arms.

Ace and Wyatt approach the group.

Leo pauses, then points to Wyatt.

leo

The eclipse!

wyatt

Really? I was kidding.

Leo shakes his head.

leo

Whatever. I don't even need the ticket.

He reaches into his pocket. The ticket isn't in his pocket. He groans and waves his arms toward the sky.

ace

Okay then. Well, congratulations man.

He pats Trevor on the back. The group departs.

EXT. STREET

Leo walks home, head down.

INSERT: The TICKET he dropped earlier lays on the ground.

Leo laughs. He takes out his phone.

INSERT: His camera app opens this time. He takes a picture of the ticket, and sends it to Ace, Wyatt, Trevor, and Kay.

He struts down the street.

INT. CONCERT VENUE- THE NEXT DAY.

Trevor and Leo dance to the music in a crowd of people.

Leo taps Trevor on the shoulder.

LEO

I'm gonna get some water.

Trevor nods.

As Leo pushes through the crowd, he recognizes the BIKE OWNER from before.

The owner sticks his foot out.

Leo trips.

INSERT: Leo's face, eyes wide. He gasps.

FADE TO BLACK


The author's comments:

Thanks to my friends for existing so I can steal their names.


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