Characters:
DAVID – a single man in his mid-to-late thirties, a successful businessman. He loves HELEN but refuses to acknowledge it.
HELEN – a seventeen-year-old girl who is very insistent on getting what she wants. She loves DAVID and wants to convince him that they should be together.
Setting:
DAVID’s home at the end of a work day. The simple living room consists of a worn sofa, a well-stocked bookshelf, and a coffee table. The front door is mid-stage right.
[Enter DAVID through the door. DAVID has arrived home from work. He walks through the front door and places his briefcase on the table. He takes off his jacket and there is a knock on the door as he tosses it onto the sofa. Enter HELEN behind the door.]
DAVID:
[opening the door, he is surprised to see her] Helen… hi.
[HELEN is wearing a rather fitted outfit, which confuses David because she usually wears loose, comfortable clothes. She carries her backpack.]
HELEN:
[smiling] Hi, David. How was your day?
DAVID:
It was good… Why are you wearing that?
HELEN:
[nonchalantly] My friends and I sometimes dress up on Fridays, just for fun. Don’t you like it?

DAVID:
It’s… it’s nice. What are you doing here?
HELEN:
I had to stay after school to help with the prom committee. I got home just as you did, and I wanted to talk to you, so I came over here right away. Can I come in?
DAVID:
[hesitating] I don’t think that’s a good idea.
HELEN:
[unsmiling now] Why? You always let me inside your house when I come over.
DAVID:
[lying] I have a lot of… um… a lot of paperwork to do… You should go home.
HELEN:
No, I really have to talk to you. I need to tell you something.
DAVID:
No, what you need to do is go home.
[HELEN stands in the doorway and crosses her arms, unmoving. It is clear she isn’t leaving. DAVID holds her serious gaze for a moment, then steps aside and lets her inside the house. He closes the door behind her.]
DAVID:
What do you want, Helen?
HELEN:
[tossing her backpack aside and nuzzling up to DAVID] I just wanted to say… [she starts trying to loosen his tie flirtatiously]
DAVID:
Hey—
HELEN:
I love you. I’ve loved you for a long time now. And I know you love me too, David.
DAVID:
[horrified] I… let go of me. [pulling away from HELEN] Where did you get that ridiculous idea?
HELEN:
I’ve seen the way you look at me, David. When you think I’m not looking, I see those sideways glances of yours… You think I’m beautiful. You love me.
DAVID:
Thinking you are beautiful and loving you are two different things. You are a very pretty girl, Helen—
HELEN:
Don’t call me a girl. I’m a woman.
DAVID:
You’re a girl.
HELEN:
I’m seventeen years old. I’m not a child. I’m a young woman. A woman. And guess what? I’m in love with a man. I love you and I know you love me back.
DAVID:
Stop being absurd—
HELEN:
I’m not being absurd! I’m being truthful. You should be truthful, too.

DAVID:
I… The truth…?
[There is a silence as DAVID tries to decide between telling HELEN the truth and sending her home. He doesn’t answer. He turns away and sits on the coffee table with a sigh. His face drops into his hands.]
HELEN:
[sensing his inner defeat] Aha! I knew it! See, I knew it—you do love me! You’re in love with me!
DAVID:
[quietly] Yes… I do. I am. But it doesn’t matter.
HELEN:
It doesn’t matter? [shocked] What—
DAVID:
Don’t you understand? [growing serious] I can’t love you, Helen, and I won’t allow myself to be around you anymore.
HELEN:
I… I don’t understand. If you love me and I love you… why wouldn’t you want us to be together as a couple? Why would you reject me like this?
DAVID:
Are you blind? Look at yourself, Helen—you are seventeen years old! I’m going to be forty very soon. I’m too old for you. I wouldn’t jeopardize you this way.
HELEN:
It wouldn’t jeopardize me. No one would care! My friends would all think it was cool that I’m dating an older man, one who has a house and a car and a job. I wouldn’t care what anyone else thinks anyway. All I care about is you, and you obviously care about me as well. Why can’t we just be together like we’re supposed to?
[DAVID’s hands run over his face again. HELEN freezes as the lights dim and a spotlight hits DAVID. He runs his hands through his hair and begin to pace the floor and talk to himself.]

DAVID:
[to himself] Why is this happening? I didn’t mean to fall in love with her… God, this is so wrong! She’s a kid. It makes sense for kids to develop crushes on adults, right? But nothing happens because the adult doesn’t do the same. It’s wrong… I can’t believe myself. I know that I don’t just have a crush on her… I love her. I love her personality, the way we get along, the way she relies on me. The thing is, I’m old enough to know what love really is. Helen is just infatuated. She’s too young to know what love is really like… She’s too young for me to love! It’s insane! I love her, but I can’t… I won’t!
[His hands resume their place to his face as they were before the lights went down. The lights lift and HELEN walks over to DAVID. She places her hands on his shoulders and he pushes her away.]
DAVID:
Don’t touch me, Helen.
HELEN:
Why?
DAVID:
You need to go home. I don’t want you coming here anymore. It’s not good for you or me. You just shouldn’t be around me, alright?
HELEN:
[growing angry] I haven’t been around you… Not for weeks now!
DAVID:
What are you talking about?


HELEN:
I’m talking about you totally avoiding me! You… Oh my god, you were leading me on! How could I have been so blind! All this time you were just leading me on!
DAVID:
What? Helen, I don’t know what you mean.
HELEN:
[scoffs] Oh, don’t act like you don’t know. You don’t really love me. No one does anymore. [frantically] It’s been a year since my father died and my mom is still grieving over him. Some days she doesn’t even acknowledge my existence! I mean, I miss my dad, but she doesn’t even really see me anymore because she’s too wrapped up in him. I would spend time over here where I knew—I mean, where I thought—I was loved… but it was all just a lie! After all the time I spent with you, thinking you might actually love me, you turn around and you start pulling away from me. This is the first time I’ve seen you in weeks. You were trying to trick me all this time, and I’ve been too blind to see this rejection!
DAVID:
[bewildered] You don’t even know what you are talking about
HELEN:
I do! You hate me! Everyone hates me! Now I have nobody left to love me. Not my dad… not my mom… not even you! I have nothing.
DAVID:
You don’t have nothing, Helen. What about your friends?
HELEN:
That’s different. They don’t get me like you do. You understand me… you know me. But now that I see the truth and you don’t really love me, I see that I don’t have anything anymore.

DAVID:
So love is everything to you?
[HELEN nods. DAVID sighs and leads HELEN toward the sofa where they sit down together. He takes her hands and looks directly into her eyes.]
DAVID:
Look at me, Helen. Will you listen carefully to me?
HELEN:
Fine. What?
DAVID:
When your father died, it was obviously a very traumatic and emotional time for you. That kind of loss is almost unbearable. I was happy to fill the void, to become the necessary father figure when you needed me. As sad as it was to see you crying, I was proud to be the shoulder you cried on. I was honored that you would trust me when you felt so vulnerable. Over time, as you stopped crying so much and simply began to spend free time over here, I developed feelings for you. Seeing you after I got home from work became the best part of each day. I knew that it was wrong for these feelings to develop, but I didn’t think it would be a problem. I thought that if I just kept them hidden, and if neither you nor anyone else found out, things would be okay. Then, just recently, you began to reciprocate those feelings. You started to get this dreamy gaze when you looked at me. You lingered longer than necessary at the door. You kept forgetting things here so you would have a reason to come back and retrieve them. When I started to see the signs, I knew it was time to stop seeing you altogether.
HELEN:
[slowly realizing] So that is why you basically cut yourself off from me?
DAVID:
Yes.

HELEN:
Whenever I called and you said you were still at work… Whenever I knocked on the door and you said you were busy with paperwork… You were just trying to avoid me.
DAVID:
I also wanted you to avoid me. I didn’t want this to evolve into something bigger.
HELEN:
I still don’t understand. There are plenty of relationships in the world with large age gaps. And you look so much younger than you are, and I look older than I am. Why couldn’t we just deal with it and be a couple like two normal people in love? Nobody I know would think this is weird.
DAVID:
Helen… think for a moment. It isn’t just about your reputation; it’s also about mine. With me being so much older than you, I could be in serious trouble with the law. Even though you think you are a woman, you are still technically a minor. In the eyes of the law, you’re a child. I’m an adult. Does that sound like a good thing to you? Do you want me to get arrested? Do you want to see me being led away in handcuffs for something I did not do? I’m trying to stay away from you so that won’t happen.
HELEN:
Then we… [thinking for a moment, then lighting up with an idea] We could keep it a secret! We wouldn’t have to be public about our relationship. If I just keep coming over every day, we could have a secret relationship that only exists in this house, just you and me. Please, David… [putting her hand on his shoulder and trying to lean closer, but DAVID pulls away and she stops]
DAVID:
No, Helen.
HELEN:
But why? Why not even in secret? Nobody would have to know!

DAVID:
Listen to me, Helen! You aren’t thinking clearly, and you aren’t hearing yourself or me! You. Are. A teenager. What am I? I. Am. An. Adult. You’re young and you are allowed to make mistakes. I can’t expect somebody whose brain is still growing and developing to make all the right decisions. I can’t expect you to be held responsible for all the wrong decisions you make. That is why you are still a minor—you aren’t accountable for anything. But me? I’m supposed to be the responsible adult. I cannot afford to make mistakes because I would be held accountable.
HELEN:
[finally beginning to admit defeat, she is crestfallen] So… this really is no? There’s nothing I can do to convince you?
DAVID:
This really is no. I will always say “no” to you about this. You and I may not like it, but I have to be the grown-up here. You’re like a child throwing a tantrum, but I can’t give in. If that means refusing to give you what you want, so be it. I will always say “no” to this.
[HELEN sits in silence for a moment as she reflects on this. She leans back against the sofa. DAVID sits there watching her.]
HELEN:
[shyly] Can I… will I still be allowed to come over on some days like I used to?
DAVID:
That probably isn’t a good idea.
HELEN:
Oh. Are we… still friends?
DAVID:
[shaking his head] No.

HELEN:
What are we?
DAVID:
We’re neighbors. We might be acquaintances. Nothing more than that. That’s all we can be.
HELEN:
[quiet for a moment, then nodding slowly] Okay.
[DAVID stands up but HELEN stays seated. She shifts forward, placing her chin in her hand. She is thinking deeply. Her stony appearance makes DAVID uncomfortable and he shifts nervously. Finally, after a few minute’s silence, he speaks.]
DAVID:
Should I get you a glass of water, or… something?
HELEN:
[looking up] No, thank you. I have homework… I need to be responsible.
[They both flash one another a fleeting smile, emitting quick, brief laughs, before he goes to pick up her backpack. He hands it to her as she is walking by.]
HELEN:
Thank you. [she starts to walk out the door, but she stops just as she opens it and turns back to DAVID] I won’t try to convince you that we should be together anymore—which I still think we should be… but will I at least still be allowed to wave good-bye to you when you leave for work in the mornings and I get on the bus? Like we did before?
DAVID:
[smiling] I think that would be just fine. Good-bye, Helen.
HELEN:
Good-bye, David.
[DAVID gives HELEN an awkward pat on the back as she leaves. Exit HELEN through the door. He closes the door behind her and goes to sit on the sofa. He takes off his tie and sits there for a moment, thinking. He gives a gentle smile one final time.]
[Curtains.]