Lights Up on a School Classroom. Ms. Stoller is sitting behind the desk. Travis cautiously opens the door, he sees her, she waves him in, then he walks in the room with a backpack and stands in just inside the door.

Ms. Stoller: Hi Travis, come on in. Finally a nice day outside huh?

Travis: Yeah finally.

Ms. Stoller: How are your other classes going?

Travis: Good.

Ms. Stoller: Good! What did you have this morning?

Travis: Chem and um… APUSH

Ms. Stoller: Ooh busy day.

Travis: Yeah

Ms. Stoller: Hanging in there?

Travis: Yeah

She gestures to the front of her desk. Travis walks to it and stands there. Ms. Stoller pulls out an essay.

Ms. Stoller: Travis, I wanted to talk to you about your essay.

Travis: Okay

Ms. Stoller: Are you sure this is your work?

Travis: Umm-

Ms Stoller: (interrupting) It’s just…. This really doesn’t sound like you.

Travis: I mean, I don’t know…

Ms. Stoller: Here, let me show you. “Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo, is a tapestry of interwoven stories, meticulously demonstrating the epochs of post-revolutionary France.” (she looks at him and stands up) Epochs?

Travis: Well, you know… (he coughs) I’m sorry. (He clears his throat.) I know what those words mean. (He takes the paper)

Ms. Stoller: Well I would hope so.

Travis is silent

Ms. Stoller: Look, I just want to make sure that all these words are your own. Unfortunately, now, it’s very easy for kids to cut a few corners when it comes to their writing.

Travis: Yeah, I get it.

Ms. Stoller: Get what?

Travis: Well, just that people do it.

Ms. Stoller: Why do you think people do it?

Travis: Cause they don’t like writing.

Ms. Stoller: Maybe.

Travis: Or they don’t think their writing’s good enough.

Ms. Stoller: Why else?

Travis: Maybe people can’t – maybe they have other things going on.

Ms. Stoller: What kind of things?

Travis: I don’t know

There is silence

Ms. Stoller: Are you okay?

Travis: Yeah. I’m just – yeah.

Ms. Stoller: You look a bit pale. Have you eaten today?

Travis: Well, not really.

Ms Stoller: Travis. Here.

She pulls out a small bag of Cheez-Its from her desk and gives it to him. She gestures to a chair in the front row, and he sits down and puts his backpack on the attached desk.

She pulls out a bottle of water from her desk, gets up, walks around her desk, and gives it to him.

Ms. Stoller: Here, have you drank any water today?

Travis: I don’t think so.

Ms. Stoller: (Disappointed) Travis. You have to take better care of yourself.

Travis is silent. Ms Stoller sits down

Ms. Stoller: How are your parents doing?

Travis: Fine

Ms. Stoller: Okay. Please give them my regards.

Travis: Sure

Silence

Ms. Stoller: Anyway, I want to get back to this paper. (Pause) It’s just important that you’re not being graded on anything that isn’t yours. That wouldn’t really be fair to you, would it?

Travis: Uh huh.

Ms. Stoller: Now, this paper talks a lot about the relationship between Valjean and the Bishop. Tell me about that.

Travis: Okay, sure well-

Travis begins looking through the paper.

Ms. Stoller: No, just talk to me about it.

She takes the paper from him.

Travis: Okay. Well, Valjean doesn’t have anything, so he steals from the Bishop. But the Bishop forgives him and even gives him his candlesticks.

Ms. Stoller: Why do you think he does that?

Travis: Because he believes in him?

Ms. Stoller is quiet.

Travis: But the Bishop gives him hope again. And if it wasn’t for the Bishop, Valjean would still be a guy who’s just lost. I guess you can kinda see the Bishop in all the good things that Valjean does after that.

Ms. Stoller: Now that’s interesting. But I don’t see that anywhere in here. Instead, all I see are a bunch of big words that don’t mean anything. (She looks at him.) Travis, do you know why I became an English teacher? Well it’s not because I enjoy calling kids out, or hanging up all these posters. or anything. I became an English teacher so I could hear what kids really had to say. Not what some stupid site online thinks kids have to say.

Travis: If you want me to add that stuff, I can redo it-

Travis reaches for the paper.

Ms. Stoller: No, I just want to talk about it. (She sees his arm) How did you get that cut on your arm?

He flinches and stands up

Travis: Oh, it’s nothing.

Ms. Stoller: You sure?

Travis: Yeah.

Silence

Travis looks at a poster on the wall

Ms. Stoller: Are you okay? What’s the matter?

Travis: No, just the poster.

Ms. Stoller: The 1984 one?

Travis: Yeah I know that one.

Ms. Stoller: You read it?

Travis: Yeah I liked it, it’s good. Well I’m sure you’ve read it.

Ms Stoller: Tell me about it

Travis: Well in the book, the government has total control over people right? And they’re trapped. So that kind of made it like- I mean they obviously weren’t free-like in the moment but-I don’t know.

Ms Stoller is silent

Travis: They kinda-I mean they took away their future. I mean if you’re trapped now, how can you even think about planning for any kind of future.

Ms. Stoller: Is that how Valjean felt about prison?

Travis: Yeah I guess.

Ms. Stoller: How did he feel about the other inmates?

Travis: What?

Ms. Stoller: How did he feel about the other inmates?

Travis: Well, the book doesn’t say too much about that.

Ms. Stoller: Well then, take a guess.

Travis: I don’t know. I guess they probably didn’t treat him too well.

Ms. Stoller: Why do you say that?

Travis: Well, I guess that’s just how people are?

Silence

Ms. Stoller: Can you read this sentence? (She gives him the paper and then points to a line on the page)

Travis reads it.

Ms. Stoller: No, out loud.

Travis: “Marius’s guilt after seeing all of his friends die is Victor Hugo’s way of telling us about how pointless the revolution really was.”

Ms. Stoller: Tell me about that.

Travis: I can change it.

Ms. Stoller: No

Travis: I’ll just change it, okay?

Ms. Stoller: No. That was the one idea that I think came from you. Through a whole paper of nonsense, I finally found something real. Tell me about it.

Travis gets up to leave

Travis: It’s okay. I don’t even know what I was saying.

Ms. Stoller: (She stands) Travis, I am not going to grade this because I know you can do much better. I would like you to redo it. But I want to talk about it, so you don’t make the same mistakes.

Travis sits on the chair, She sits on her desk.

Ms. Stoller: Why did you write that?

Travis is silent

Ms. Stoller: Why does Marius feel guilty?

Travis: Because he’s alive.

Ms. Stoller: And?

Travis: And his friends aren’t?

Ms. Stoller: Did he kill his friends?

Travis: No

Ms. Stoller: Then why does he feel guilty?

Travis: Because he does.

Ms. Stoller: Why?

Travis: I don’t know.

Ms. Stoller: Well then think about it.

Travis: I am.

Ms. Stoller: No, you’re not.

Travis: Yes, I am.

Ms. Stoller: Then why does he feel guilty?

Travis: Maybe he wants to, I don’t know.

Ms. Stoller: No one ever wants to feel guilty.

Travis: Well, maybe he does.

Ms. Stoller: I don’t think so.

Travis: Then, he doesn’t.

Ms. Stoller: Then why is he?

Travis: Because, maybe he thinks it should’ve been him.

Silence

Travis: I mean, what did he do that was so special? He’s not better than anyone. He was carried away unconscious. He was useless. And now he spends every day wondering if he had just done a bit more or made their lives a bit better when they were still around. But I guess it doesn’t really matter because you either die or live with the fact that you didn’t. So if both options suck, then what’s the whole thing really about?

Silence

Ms. Stoller: You know, Travis, no one should have to go through what you’re going through. Did you know I taught your brother?

Travis gets up to leave

Travis: I bet he never cheated on his papers.

Ms. Stoller: I give you a pass on the paper.

Travis stops

Travis: What?

Ms. Stoller: I’m giving you a pass.

Travis is frozen

Travis: Really?

Ms Stoller smiles and rips the essay in half.

Travis: (exhales deeply) Why?

Ms. Stoller: You deserve it.

Travis: (still frozen) Why? I didn’t do anything.

Ms Stoller is silent. She walks over to him and gives him the torn up essay.

Travis: No I don’t no I don’t no I don’t-I messed up. I messed up. I was stupid. I was stupid-I was stupid-I-I cheated I- NO I DON’T

They make eye contact.

Travis: (breaking down) Thank you.

Ms. Stoller hugs him. He continues to cry.

Lights fade out

End of Play