· · ·

That's cool man, let me finish up,

I'll be up in a minute.

DAD

Alright, alright.

He and Mason slowly start to drift around the venue.

DAD (CONT'D)

(back to Mason)

I guarantee you, you didn't do

anything wrong. These high school

love things, they never work out.

Here, come here.

I mean, everyone's just changing so

much. The odds of two young people

staying on the same wavelength are...

MASON

Yeah, but still --

DAD

Look, and I also guarantee you that

every day of your life that you spend

crying over some silly girl is a

complete waste of time.

MASON

She wasn't a silly girl, though. I

mean, she's a serious person. I

really thought we were --

DAD

What?

MASON

I don't know.

DAD

Here's the truth. Women are never

satisfied. Ok? They're always

looking to potentially trade up and

that's, I'm sorry to say, what I

think has happened to you my fine

feathered friend.

MASON

What does that even mean?

DAD

It means don't hand over the controls

to your self-esteem to Sheila.

MASON

Sheena.

DAD

Alright. It means you are responsible

for you, not your girlfriend, not

your mom, not me. You. And if you

truly take care of you, you will be

amazed at how much girls like Sheena

start lining up at your front door.

MASON

Great.

DAD

Yeah, you know, you just gotta

separate yourself from the pack in

some way. Excel at something, you

know, and then you have your pick of

the litter when them front-running

hussies start sniffing around.

MASON

So what you're saying is, I should

take up lacrosse.

DAD

Exactly. Or you could, you know,

start a band. Worked for me a long

time ago. I think it's still working

for Jimmy. Or you just keep taking

pictures.

MASON

She hated the pictures I took of

her.

DAD

Alright. I'm sick to death of her,

okay? I only met her a few times

and yes she was cute, alright. But,

truth be told I always thought she

was a little bit, you know, a little

bit too square for you. Y'know, not

quite the same vibe.

MASON

You really thought that?

DAD

On some subtle, lower level. I mean,

uh, I wasn't surprised when it turned

out she was interested in some

knucklehead lacrosse player, okay?

I mean, bottom line is, it's all

timing with these things. Y'know.

I mean, uh, take your mom and me.

Y'know I think I probably turned

into the boring castrated guy she

wanted me to be fifteen or twenty

years ago, y'know? And man I'm not

saying she was wrong to be pissed.

I'm not, I'm just saying that, y'know,

she could have been a little more

patient... a little more forgiving.

MASON

Would've saved me that parade of

drunken assholes.

Dad gestures zipping his lip, saying nothing.

MASON (CONT'D)

So what's the point?

DAD

Of what?

MASON

I don't know, any of this.

Everything.

DAD

Everything? What's the point? I

mean I sure as shit don't know. I

mean, but, neither does anybody else.

Okay, we're all just winging it, you

know? I mean the good news is you're

feeling stuff. You know? And you

got to hold onto that. You do. I

mean you get older and you don't

feel as much. You're skin gets

tougher. The point is those pictures

you took. Thousands of submissions

from all over the state and you won.

MASON

Well, I got silver. And nine other

people did, too.

DAD

I'm gonna kill you. I'm tryin' to

tell you that I believe in you,

Mason. I think you're really special,

and if some girl doesn't see that,

then fuck her, y'know?

Jimmy's at the mic.

JIMMY (O.S.)

Hey, this next one goes out to a

young man in the house --

DAD

Woo-oho!

JIMMY

Known him since he was just a small

boy, now he's all graduated from

high school, making me feel old.

Happy high school graduation, Mason.

He plays his guitar, and the band kicks in... sounding pretty great.