Girls These Days (A dramatic dialouge)

BACKGROUND: Holly, Michelle, Maggie and Rachel are roommates in college. They are junior buisness, marketing, political science and film majors. Although they are all really smart, their conversations do not necessarily reflect their intellect. It is a Wednesday night after class. They just finished eating dinner and are all watching TV together in the living room.

HOLLY

I want a boy to text me.

MICHELLE

Is that a joke? You're seriously so annoying. You have been texting Chris, Wyatt and Jacob this entire week.

HOLLY

No, I havent....

MAGGIE

Holly, yes you have. You made me read some of them and I helped you respond to like 50 of the message.

MICHELLE

Seriously, and stop complaining. The only people who text me these days is y'all and randomly Ben the cheeto-head and I refuse to respond.

HOLLY

Well I just meant I want a boy to like me.

MAGGIE

All three of those boys are obsessed with you.

RACHEL

Yeah shut up Holly. Jacob told you he loved you this weekend.

HOLLY

Oh my God, whatever he was so drunk. He probably says that to every girl to get them to sleep with him.

MICHELLE

Yeah and you did sleep with him. Maybe I should start telling guys that I love them so I can at least get one of them to kiss me.

HOLLY

What if I'm pregnant? I've been really hungry all day today...

RACHEL

To Michelle

Umm I don't think guys like that. I'm pretty sure they would get freaked out and run away. Remember when Allie dated David and she said "I love you" before he did. They broke up like two weeks later.

MAGGIE

They  broke up because he cheated on her not because she said "I love you" first.

RACHEL

Yeah and I bet he cheated on her because she said "I love you" first and it freaked him out so it drove him to cheat.

HOLLY

Seriously y'all, am I pregnant?

MICHELLE

Stop. You aren't pregnant and even if you were your body wouldn't be able to respond that quickly. He shacked here like three days ago. I'm pretty sure you don't develop symptoms of pregnancy that fast.

HOLLY

Even if I was pregnant, I would be on Teen Mom and would be the viewers' favorite.

MAGGIE

It's called Teen Mom. You are 21. And out of all the ridiculous things that come out of your mouth, that one is right up there with the time you thought Rose and  Jack were real passengers on the Titanic.

RACHEL

Can I tweet that?

HOLLY

NO. And how was I supposed to know they weren't real. Titanic was a true story so it could have easily been true.

MICHELLE

Allie thought that too.

HOLLY

SEE Maggie, I'm not the only one who is retarded and besides the only reason you knew they weren't real is because you are a film major and you probably googled it when I said that just to make sure.

MAGGIE

Trust me, I didn't. I'm pretty sure its common knowledge that Jack and Rose WERENT REAL PEOPLE.

RACHEL

Well to her credit, Molly Brown was real and she was in the movie. But yeah Holly, you and Allie are pretty dumb for thinking they were real. I mean seriously...

HOLLY

Whatever. Y'all are just jealous because that's probably what Jacob and I will turn out to be. Just like Jack and Rose except he won't die.

MICHELLE

What about the part about Rose being engaged to someone else?

HOLLY

Well I could see that happening because the guy she was engaged to was rich. So, I can be engaged to a rich guy and marry him but still hook up with Jacob on the side.

MAGGIE

I think some of the things you say take years off my life.

RACHEL

To Holly

You kill me.

Missing

Mrs. Burlingame violently opened Caroline's bedroom door.
"Caroline, Caroline," she said as she violently shook her 21 year old daughter, home for summer break.
It took a second before Caroline's eyes opened, glazed and red as they focused in on her mother.
"Hmmwhat," Caroline mumbled, alcohol reaming from her breath. 
"Who brought you home last night?" Mrs. Burlingame demanded. 
"Um Catherine and Sarah," said Caroline with her eyes closed, determined to go back to sleep. 
"Really? Because Mrs. Acomb has called twice asking if Catherine slept here because she didn't come home last night."
Caroline's eyes flew open as she tried hard to remember the previous night's events: pregame at the Acomb's backhouse, a stop at the Boot...Fat Harry's.... she couldn't remember the rest. The last thing she remembered was trying weed for the first time and the drive from that parked spot next to Tulane and the ride to Fat Harry's with the windows rolled down and a mix of the music and wind blowing through her hair as she felt a new kind of drunk that she wouldn't like later. Her hangover took over her body and she fell back asleep. 

The first three times Sarah heard the "Sex and the City" theme song, her half-asleep self figured it was her TV that she had left on. The forth time, she jolted awake. When her feet it the floor, her body automatically fell sideways but caught herself on the wall. She finally found the source of the ringing underneath a pile of clothes she considered wearing the night before. Shit, she thought to herself. Why do I have Catherine's phone. Suddenly she remembered talking to Catherine at the bar and saw her walk away. Seeing her cell phone left alone on the bar grill order station counter, she had grabbed it, convinced she would see her later at some point in the night. She called the most recent number back, Elizabeth, Catherine's sister, to tell her she had Catherine's phone.
"Hey, it's Sarah. Catherine left her phone at Fat's. Whats up?"
"My parents are freaking out. Catherine didn't come home. Do you know where she is?"
"Last time I saw her she was at the bar. Todd and I took Caroline home because she was throwing up on the patio. I'll call around though and let you know what I find out."
"Ah okay, thanks. I seriously think my parents are about to call the police."
"I'll try to call you back soon. I'm sure she is fine though."
"Yeah, just let me know what you hear."
"Bye."
"Bye."

Gretchen woke up early like every morning no matter how much alcohol she has consumed the night before. She already talked to her mother about how she left the bar without seeing Catherine and had no idea where she might be. She didn't have a boyfriend or a crush so it was unlikely she had gone home with a random boy. Catherine wasn't like that. Catherine was considered "the mom" of the group: looked out for everyone, carried band-aids in her purse and modeled her wardrobe after Jackie O. Her phone rang and Sarah's name was on the caller ID. 
"Hey, whats up?"
"Umm you don't happen to know where Catherine is do you? Elizabeth just called me and her parents are freaking out. They're apparently about to call the cops."
"No, I got a ride home with Parker. Y'all were all still out when I left. What happened?"
"Well Todd drove Caroline and I home when she started vomiting all over the patio but I have Catherine's phone so I am driving around just to make sure she's not passed out at the bar or on a park bench or something."
Gretchen looked at the clock. It read 7:15.

Hours passed without a word about where Catherine was. Everyone was at home for the beginning of summer break. Sarah, Gretchen, Caroline and Catherine were all scheduled to attend a high school luncheon to talk to the current seniors about what college was like and what to expect. It was scheduled for 1 o'clock. Catherine still didn't show. The guilt sank into Sarah. She had Catherine's phone. What if Catherine was in danger or something and needed to call for help? This was very unlike Catherine. Catherine was a merit-scholar, a virgin, the smartest out of their friends and the most innocent. Catherine wouldn't go somewhere without calling her parents or at least one of us. All four of us had each other's numbers memorized by heart.
All three of the girls felt at the bottom of their stomachs: something is wrong.

The police where finally called around the time the luncheon let out. Each of her best friends were questioned. Caroline, the valedictiorian and the most paranoid about everything, lied about the fact she had tried marijuana. Sarah and Gretchen, both high and drunk tried to recall to the police the best they could to remember each small fact they could about the night. Once the four girls got to the bar, they all spread out to talk to different people, met back up again to gossip and spread out again. Each story was different. Each story was hazy. Each story didn't give the police enough evidence to track her down. She didn't leave a trace.

She was eventually found, untouched. Perfectly fine. But she doesnt remember anything about how she got anywhere. The police dropped the case but the night still leaves all of us crazy about the events. Even now when the four of us get together, we find ourselves excluding ourselves to the corner of the room to put together pieces that still dont make sense.