An Education (5 page)
Authors: Nick Hornby
JENNY
struggles for something to say.
struggles for something to say.
JENNY
Oh.
DAVID
Where to, madam?
JENNY
makes a face.
makes a face.
JENNY
I only live round the corner. (
She pauses
.) Worse luck.
She pauses
.) Worse luck.
DAVID
I’ll see what I can do.
DAVID
changes gear to slow the car down.
9changes gear to slow the car down.
EXTERIOR: DAVID’S CAR/STREET NEAR JENNY’S HOUSE - DAY
The Bristol is crawling along the road at walking pace.
10INTERIOR/EXTERIOR: DAVID’S CAR , JENNY’S HOUSE - DAY
DAVID
I suppose cellists must go to a lot of concerts.
JENNY
We don’t go to any concerts. We don’t believe in them.
DAVID
Oh, they’re real.
JENNY
So people say.
DAVID
Smoke?
DAVID
reaches across
JENNY
while driving slowly, opens the glove compartment and takes out a packet of cigarettes.
reaches across
JENNY
while driving slowly, opens the glove compartment and takes out a packet of cigarettes.
JENNY
I’d better not. (
indicating
)
indicating
)
I live just up there.
DAVID
pulls over near
JENNY’S
house.
pulls over near
JENNY’S
house.
DAVID
Why don’t we believe in them?
JENNY
He’d say there’s no point to them.
DAVID
lights a cigarette.
lights a cigarette.
DAVID
Your father, this is?
JENNY
(
darkly
)
darkly
)
Oh, yes. They’re just for fun. Apart from school concerts, of course, which are no fun at all, so we go to those. The proper ones don’t help you
get on.
get on.
DAVID
Which, of course, is what is so wonderful about them. Anyway, you’ll go one day.
JENNY
(
heartfelt
)
heartfelt
)
I know, I will. If I get to university, I’m going to read what I want and listen to what I want. And I’m going to look at paintings and watch French films and talk to people who know lots about lots.
DAVID
Good for you.
JENNY
(
laughing
)
laughing
)
Yes.
DAVID
Which university?
JENNY
Oxford. If I’m lucky. Did you go anywhere?
DAVID
I studied at what I believe they call the University of Life. And I didn’t get a very good degree there.
JENNY
smiles.
smiles.
JENNY
Well . . . Thank you for driving me home.
She gets out of the car and takes the cello.
DAVID
stares after her for a moment, then drives off.We start to hear . . .
11DAVID
stares after her for a moment, then drives off.We start to hear . . .
INTERIOR: JENNY’S BEDROOM - DAY
. . . Juliette Greco ‘Sous le Ciel de Paris’.The sound of the French music plays as we pan across
JENNY’S
bedroom to find her singing along, next to her Dansette record player.
JENNY’S
bedroom to find her singing along, next to her Dansette record player.
Suddenly there’s a thumping noise - someone underneath her is banging on the ceiling impatiently.
JACK (
out of sight
)
out of sight
)
I don’t want to hear French singing. French singing wasn’t on the syllabus, last time I looked.
JENNY
sighs and reaches for the volume control. She turns the music down so low that she has to lie down and put her head right next to the Dansette to hear it.
sighs and reaches for the volume control. She turns the music down so low that she has to lie down and put her head right next to the Dansette to hear it.
Close on
JENNY
as she silently mouths the words along with the almost inaudible track.
12JENNY
as she silently mouths the words along with the almost inaudible track.
INTERIOR: JENNY’S HOUSE - AFTERNOON
JENNY,
her parents and
GRAHAM
are eating afternoon tea - neat fish-paste sandwiches, Battenberg cake, best china.
her parents and
GRAHAM
are eating afternoon tea - neat fish-paste sandwiches, Battenberg cake, best china.
MARJORIE
Battenberg?
GRAHAM
Thank you. (
As
MARJORIE
serves, the cake breaks up
.) I actually like the crust.
As
MARJORIE
serves, the cake breaks up
.) I actually like the crust.
JACK
So where are you applying, Graham?
JENNY
looks embarrassed. She knows what’s coming.
looks embarrassed. She knows what’s coming.
GRAHAM
I’m not sure yet.
JACK
When will you be sure? You can’t let the grass grow under your feet, young man.
GRAHAM
I might take a year off.
JENNY
winces.
JACK
looks at him as if he’s just said he’ll take all his clothes off.
winces.
JACK
looks at him as if he’s just said he’ll take all his clothes off.
JACK
What for?
GRAHAM
(
mumbling
)
mumbling
)
I don’t know. Maybe do some travelling.
JACK
Travelling? What are you, a teddy boy?
Close-up of
JENNY
- she knows what’s coming, and can’t bear it. Beat.
Close-up of
JENNY
- she knows what’s coming, and can’t bear it. Beat.
JACK
(
nodding at
JENNY)
nodding at
JENNY)
You know she’s going to Oxford, don’t you? If we can get her Latin up to scratch.
JENNY
sighs.
sighs.
So she’s studying English at Oxford while you’ll be the wandering Jew . . .
JENNY
looks at him curiously.
GRAHAM
steels himself to speak.
looks at him curiously.
GRAHAM
steels himself to speak.
GRAHAM
Mr Mellor . . . I’m not a teddy boy. I’m an
homme serieux
.
Jeune
. No.Yeah. I’m a
homme jeune serieux homme
.
homme serieux
.
Jeune
. No.Yeah. I’m a
homme jeune serieux homme
.
JENNY
winces again. Her father stares at
GRAHAM. GRAHAM
blushes.
winces again. Her father stares at
GRAHAM. GRAHAM
blushes.
EXTERIOR: JENNY’S HOUSE - EVENING
It’s the day of the youth orchestra concert.
JENNY
, her mother and her father are on their way out of the door.
JENNY
is in her school uniform, with her hair scrubbed back in a severe ponytail and is carrying her cello.
JENNY
opens the front door.
JENNY
, her mother and her father are on their way out of the door.
JENNY
is in her school uniform, with her hair scrubbed back in a severe ponytail and is carrying her cello.
JENNY
opens the front door.
MARJORIE
Ooh!
MARJORIE
and
JENNY
have seen something on the doorstep, and
JENNY
stoops to pick it up - a large basket of flowers.
and
JENNY
have seen something on the doorstep, and
JENNY
stoops to pick it up - a large basket of flowers.
JENNY
They’re for me!
MARJORIE
(
curious
)
curious
)
Who are they from?
JENNY
opens the card that’s attached to the handle.
opens the card that’s attached to the handle.
JENNY
Gosh. Him.
JACK
leans over
JENNY
and stares at the flowers in disbelief.The bunch of flowers has created in
JACK
the kind of panic and fear more typically associated with a biochemical attack.
leans over
JENNY
and stares at the flowers in disbelief.The bunch of flowers has created in
JACK
the kind of panic and fear more typically associated with a biochemical attack.
JACK
What’s this?
MARJORIE
(
drily, knowing the trouble this will cause
)
drily, knowing the trouble this will cause
)
Jack, I’m afraid Jenny has been sent some flowers from a chap.
JACK
A chap? What kind of chap?
JENNY
(
patiently
)
patiently
)
He’s wishing me luck for tonight.
JACK
Is that all he’s wishing you? Where does he get the money from?
JENNY
He earns it, I expect.
JACK
Earns it? Why isn’t he at school?
JENNY
Can we just go? Otherwise the good-luck flowers will actually be responsible for me actually missing the concert. Which would be ironic,
n’est ce pas
?
n’est ce pas
?
JACK
I don’t like it.
MARJORIE
Objection noted. Jenny?
JENNY
Noted.
Gesturing at the flowers.
JACK
There’s got to be ten bob’s worth of luck here. That’s a bit much for a schoolgirl, isn’t it? You can’t leave it out. Even
I’d
burgle a house that had flowers outside. They’ll think we’re made of money.
I’d
burgle a house that had flowers outside. They’ll think we’re made of money.
MARJORIE
puts them inside the house, shuts the door.
puts them inside the house, shuts the door.
Thank you, Marjorie.
INTERIOR: COFFEE BAR - DAY
JENNY
and two school friends,
HAT TIE
and
TINA
, are sitting at a table in a typical late-’50s coffee bar, sipping cappuccinos.
JENNY
is easily the most attractive of the three - and also, we will see, possibly the cleverest.
HAT TIE
is slower than the other two and a lot frumpier;
TINA
is pretty and sharp rather than clever. She is also the least middle-class of the three - she’s clearly a scholarship girl. They are all dressed in an unflattering and unambiguous school uniform - no attempts to disguise it with more fashionable accessories.
and two school friends,
HAT TIE
and
TINA
, are sitting at a table in a typical late-’50s coffee bar, sipping cappuccinos.
JENNY
is easily the most attractive of the three - and also, we will see, possibly the cleverest.
HAT TIE
is slower than the other two and a lot frumpier;
TINA
is pretty and sharp rather than clever. She is also the least middle-class of the three - she’s clearly a scholarship girl. They are all dressed in an unflattering and unambiguous school uniform - no attempts to disguise it with more fashionable accessories.
JENNY
is holding a copy of Camus
’ The Outsider
and smoking pretentiously, and seems to be practising some kind of pout.
TINA
starts to slurp the froth from her cappuccino with a spoon, inelegantly and noisily.
JENNY
tuts her disapproval.
TINA
sighs and puts her spoon down.
is holding a copy of Camus
’ The Outsider
and smoking pretentiously, and seems to be practising some kind of pout.
TINA
starts to slurp the froth from her cappuccino with a spoon, inelegantly and noisily.
JENNY
tuts her disapproval.
TINA
sighs and puts her spoon down.
JENNY
Camus doesn’t want you to like him. Feeling is bourgeois. Being
engagé
is bourgeois. He kills someone and he doesn’t feel anything. His mother dies and he doesn’t feel anything.
engagé
is bourgeois. He kills someone and he doesn’t feel anything. His mother dies and he doesn’t feel anything.
TINA
I wouldn’t feel anything if my mother died. Does that make me an existentialist?
JENNY
No. That makes you a cow.
HATTIE
Une vache
.
.
Laughter.
15EXTERIOR: STREET/COFFEE BAR - DAY
JENNY, HATTIE
and
TINA
emerge from the café, talking.
and
TINA
emerge from the café, talking.
JENNY
After I’ve been to university I’m going to
be
French. I’m going to Paris and I’m going to smoke and listen to Jacques Brel. And I won’t speak. Ever.
C’est plus chic, comme ça
. . .
be
French. I’m going to Paris and I’m going to smoke and listen to Jacques Brel. And I won’t speak. Ever.
C’est plus chic, comme ça
. . .
She breaks off. Parked outside a tobacconist’s booth on the other side of the road is the red Bristol. She looks towards the booth, and
DAVID
emerges with a copy of the
Times
and a packet of cigars.
DAVID
emerges with a copy of the
Times
and a packet of cigars.
Oh, crikey!
(
to Hattie and Tina
)
to Hattie and Tina
)
Wait here.
JENNY
crosses the road to talk to him while the others watch.
crosses the road to talk to him while the others watch.
DAVID
Hello.
JENNY
Hello. Thank you.
DAVID
How did it go?
JENNY
Oh, fine. I think. I mean, I didn’t mess my bit up. And no one got thrown out of the orchestra afterwards.
DAVID
Always the mark of a cultural triumph. Listen. I’m glad I ran into you. What are you doing on Friday?
JENNY
Going to school.
DAVID
I meant the evening.
JENNY
(
embarrassed
)
embarrassed
)
Oh.Yes. Of course. Nothing.
DAVID
Because I’m going to listen to some Ravel in St John’s, Smith Square. My friends Danny and Helen will be going, too, so it wouldn’t be . . . I’ll tell you what. I’ll come and pick you up, and if your mother and father disapprove, then you can have the tickets and go with one of them. How does that sound?
JENNY
doesn’t know what to say. She looks at
doesn’t know what to say. She looks at
DAVID,
and his eagerness to please seems to convince her.
and his eagerness to please seems to convince her.
JENNY
Thank you. And I’d like to go with you.
DAVID
Seven? And we’ll probably go for a spot of supper afterwards.
JENNY
(
flat disbelief
)
flat disbelief
)
Supper.
DAVID
If you want to.
JENNY
The trouble is, we’ll probably have eaten.
DAVID
Well, if you’d like supper, then, perhaps on Friday you could . . . not eat?
JENNY
(
embarrassed again
)
embarrassed again
)
Oh.Yes. Of course.
JENNY
smiles and rejoins her friends on the other side of the road.
TINA
and
HATTIE
are standing there almost with their mouths open, amazed. She doesn’t say anything and starts to walk on.
TINA
and
HATTIE
run to catch up.
smiles and rejoins her friends on the other side of the road.
TINA
and
HATTIE
are standing there almost with their mouths open, amazed. She doesn’t say anything and starts to walk on.
TINA
and
HATTIE
run to catch up.
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