Domino’s

On stage: couch and chairs, a low table, as if a lounge. Megan enters, carrying plates of carefully prepared finger food. Hears the doorbell, moves to the door.

It is Lucy. She seems slightly surprised to see Megan.

Lucy Oh, hi. Um, is Patrick here?Megan He went out to pick up, um, sorry, I get all the names mixed up.Lucy Michael?Megan Abby.Lucy Oh, right. Um, can I…Megan Oh course. Sorry. Come in.Lucy Thanks.

Lucy sits. Megan hovers, uncertain, then sits. Awkward.

Lucy I’m Lucy.Megan Megan.Lucy Right.Megan Help yourself, if you want.

She offers Lucy a plate. Lucy looks at the food.

Lucy Did you make this?Megan Some of it.Lucy Sorry, I’m just allergic to dairy. It brings me out in welts. Megan Sounds ugly.Lucy Yeah… So have these got any…Megan I don’t know. Not in the filling, but the cases were from a packet, so…Lucy Can you get the packet? I don’t want to be a pain, but, you know -Megan Welts.Lucy Yeah.

Megan leaves. Returns with a pastry case packet.

Megan Looks fine.Lucy Cool… Do you mind if I just look at the packet?Megan I can read.Lucy I just like to be careful.

Megan hands over the packet.

Megan How long do the welts last?Lucy Maybe a week. Depends on how long before I realise. Like, if I take an

antihistamine straight away, it’s not too bad… Yeah, see, may contain traces of dairy.

Megan Traces?Lucy Means just a little bit.Megan I know what traces means.

Megan leaves with the package. Lucy surveys the room, the rest of the food. Megan returns, her attitude towards Lucy now decidedly grumpy.

Lucy Thanks for that.  I know it seems a pain, but I have to be -Megan No trouble.Lucy So, have you been here long?Megan Came last night.Lucy Oh, wow. How are you finding it all?Megan I don’t know what you mean.Lucy Are you enjoying it?Megan Not really, no. Are you?Lucy Well, it’s different, isn’t it?Megan Why?Lucy Well, you know. This is my place.Megan Not any more.Lucy Okay.Megan I know you used to go out.Lucy What?Megan You and Patrick. I know you used to go out.Lucy He told you that?Megan Why wouldn’t he?Lucy It was a while ago.Megan Yeah, it was.Lucy Where are you from?Megan Sorry?Lucy Your English is very good. Asian, right?Megan What is your problem?Lucy I don’t have a…Megan I’m from here. Wellington. I was born in Wellington.Lucy Oh… But you went away.Megan No.

Megan takes a pastry and makes a show of enjoying it. Lucy tries to work out what is happening.

Megan These are good by the way.Lucy Oh, shit.Megan What?Lucy You’re not the exchange student, are you?Megan No.Lucy It’s just, Patrick said his parents were having an exchange student, for the

summer.Megan That’s next month.Lucy So you’re…Megan Patrick’s girlfriend.Lucy I’m so sorry. He didn’t say anything about…Megan I don’t suppose he did.Lucy No, I knew he had a girlfriend. Just not about tonight. I didn’t know you’d

be here tonight.Megan Well I am. Sorry about that.Lucy No, it’s great. Good to meet you.Megan Yeah.Lucy Sorry, I’m such a dick sometimes.

Megan offers her no reprieve. Awkward silence. Both are relieved to hear a car in the driveway.

Megan That’ll be them.Lucy Yeah.

Enter Patrick and Abby, carrying boxes of Dominos pizza. They are upbeat, enjoying themselves, their mood in stark contrast with Lucy and Megan. Patrick dumps the pizza boxes on the table, not noticing the tension.

Patrick Somebody order pizza? Hi Lucy.Lucy Hey, again.Patrick Oh, you’ve met Megan? Megan, Lucy.Megan The exchange student.Lucy You said your parents were getting an exchange student.Patrick Yeah, over summer.Lucy It’s almost summer.Patrick Summer means after Christmas.Lucy I didn’t know that.

Abby notices the food.

Abby Oh, did you make food?Patrick Nah, she’s just got a few… Oh.Megan I told you I was going to do some food.Patrick I thought you meant chippies or something.Megan Sorry.Patrick Nah, it’s great. The more the better.

Patrick sees Megan is not impressed.

Patrick No, come on. I didn’t know. How was I meant to know?Megan Um, because I told you.Lucy Abby, this is Megan, Patrick’s girlfriend.Abby Yeah, I know. We met last night.Patrick We had to have pizza. It’s an Alex thing. You had to be there. Megan It’s fine. It’s no big deal. She won’t be able to eat it.Patrick What?Megan She’s got a dairy thing. Brings her out in ugly welts. I suppose you must

have seen them.Patrick Hold the phone.

Patrick looks quickly through the boxes, present one to Lucy.

Patrick Buffalo mozzarella. Lucy At Dominos?Patrick Rico was working. I bought the cheese at Moore Wilson’s.  Lucy Thanks. That’s very sweet.Megan Yeah, he’s like that.Patrick Well, shall we eat? No point letting it get cold.Megan What about the others?

Patrick It’s just Michael. He’ll bitch about the pizza anyway.Magan Did you not get him something special at Moore Wilson’s?Abby So, Lucy, when did you come up?Lucy This morning. I fly back down Monday. Got an exam Wednesday.Abby I thought your parents moved.Lucy Yeah, they’re on the West Coast. Dad got this thing in his head that if he

sold up and moved somewhere cheap he could invest the difference in augmented reality.

Abby What did your Mum say?Lucy That his reality’s already augmented.Abby So where are you staying? You can come back to our place if you like.

Mum would love to see you.Lucy Pat said I could stay here. Megan I thought you were all staying?Patrick If you want to. Like, later on. If driving’s not an option.Megan Can I talk to you in the kitchen for a moment, please?Patrick Sure. I’ll just get another piece of pizza. You want some?Megan I’m fine.

Patrick flings open the box and the lid obscures one of Megan’s plates. Exit Patrick and Megan.

Abby She seems nice.Lucy I so didn’t know who she was.Abby It is sort of funny.Lucy From where you’re sitting.Abby Best seat in the house. Where are his parents?Lucy Away for the weekend… Yeah, might not be a good idea to stay.Abby Come back with me… Did you see Flossie?Lucy I know, right?Abby You hadn’t heard she was going to be -Lucy No one had.Abby She didn’t even talk to anyone.Lucy Michael went over later. I saw him.Abby But she didn’t come to us.Lucy I guess she feels bad.Abby She should feel bad.Lucy Did you talk to Alex’s parents?Abby Yeah. They seem better, I think.Lucy More pleased to see us.Abby I think his father was glad, to have a chance to speak.Lucy I’d never been to an unveiling before. I didn’t really know what to expect.Abby I don’t think they did either. I think they just kind of made it up.Lucy It was nice though.Abby Kind of.Lucy Yeah, kind of.Abby I haven’t heard that much from you.Lucy It’s been busy down there. What about you?Abby Yeah. Busy.Lucy Michael’s lovely.Abby He is.

Lucy Going over, I mean, to talk to Flossie. I saw her looking at me, and I looked down, pretended to be reading the headstone. But he went right over.

Abby Was this a mistake?Lucy What?Abby This. Coming back here. Part me just wants to just stop thinking about it. I

just want, I want my life to be about more than this. Is that awful?Lucy No. It isn’t.Abby It’s like, I always used to love thinking about my past. Like my childhood

and that. It was like a blanket, you know. A warm, comfortable blanket, and sometimes I’d just want to go and snuggle into it: the smells, and the songs, and the jokes. That used to be my favourite thing, getting together with people and talking shit about the past. But now, it’s like… like the blanket’s been brought in off the line before it was properly dry, and even though it feels the same, it’s got that smell, you know, that never goes away, and you just can’t get properly comfortable anymore, because you can’t ignore the smell. Does that make sense?

Lucy Um, you lost me with the blanket, to be honest.Abby Yeah, not my best metaphor.Lucy Started well.Abby I called Alex a bad smell, practically. This is why I didn’t say anything

today, at the cemetery. Was I that bad, at the funeral?Lucy I don’t think people remember what other people are like, at funerals. Abby I got pretty drunk, at the reception. That’s not right, I don’t think you call it

a reception. Lucy Wake?Abby Whatever it was, I got pretty drunk. Now, when I see his parents, they’re

always polite, but they have this look on their face, like I said something they can’t quite forgive. Do you remember? Do you remember what I said?

Lucy Yeah, I took notes. I have them on my phone somewhere.Abby I should get better friends… I think he’s still in love with you.Lucy Who?Abby Patrick.Lucy It was just a school thing.Abby Okay.Lucy Promise you won’t say stuff like that when he’s in the room.

Patrick enters, unnoticed.

Patrick Stuff like what?Lucy She’s got a little thing for Michael. I said it’s best not to -Abby I really haven’t.Patrick You were talking about me, weren’t you?Lucy Yeah, that’s all we talk about.Abby How’s Megan?Patrick She says it Megan.Abby And she’s not here.Patrick She’s making dessert.Abby How long are we staying?Patrick Long as you like. Do you have to leave?

Abby Not really. I just...Lucy She has a blanket that needs airing.Patrick You see Flossie there?Lucy Did you talk to her?Patrick I am never talking to that bitch.Abby Maybe she had her reasons.Patrick We all had reasons. But we didn’t all just run away.

Front door opening. Michael enters, with Flossie.

Michael Hi guys. Look who I found.Flossie Hey.

Patrick stands, walks over and hugs her.

Patrick Flossie. Great to see you. It’s been a while.Flossie A whole year.

Lucy and Abby half stand, caught awkwardly, there being no room to go forward for the hug, and Flossie doesn’t move. Megan enters from the other room. She walks to Flossie, holds out her hand.

Megan Hi. I’m Megan. The au pair.Flossie Right. Flossie.Patrick She’s my girlfriend.Flossie Are you allowed to do that, date the au pair? I didn’t even know you had little…Patrick She’s not. She was joking.Megan I’m actually an exchange student.Lucy I did apologise.Flossie I feel like I’ve missed something.Patrick Quite a lot, actually.Megan You can stay the night. Everybody’s staying the night.Flossie Yeah, I might just -Michael Oh, you did not get fucking Dominos.Patrick See what I did there?Abby This is what they argued about the whole night.Megan What night?Abby The night of the ball.Megan Oh.Lucy The night Alex died.Megan I know that.

Michael and Patrick are sat about the pizza. Michael holds a piece up by way of exhibit. The others move across, Megan taking a plate of her food and handing it around.

Michael Seriously, look at that shit. This is their thin crust, and it’s not thin, or crusty, and the sauce is the worst kind of salty shit, and the toppings are clumped, and the cheese is tasteless.

Patrick Mozzarella isn’t a tasty cheese.Lucy Mine is.

Patrick Really?

Patrick moves in and takes a bite out of Lucy’s pizza, while it is still in her hand.

Lucy Okay, never do that again.Patrick There’s plenty more of it in the box.Lucy My point.Patrick See, your argument would hold more weight if it wasn’t for the fact that

you then go on to champion Pizza Hut, which I think it is well established, is total shit.

Michael I’m not denying it’s shit. At $6 a pizza, it would be unreasonable to expect anything else. But what I’m saying is there are degrees of cheap shittiness. And Pizza Hut -

Patrick Provided the pizza you ordered at the after ball, and how much of it did we eat?

Michael People were doing other things. They were getting changed, they were trying to  find out where -

Patrick Whereas, a mere three hours later, Dominos arrives and there’s not so much as a crust left.

Michael Three hours later and we were three hours more pissed, and a whole lot less choosey.

Patrick And yet still nobody ate the Pizza Hut.Abby Or told they loved you.Michael And anyway, my pizza got left in your room, which you had locked half the

night, while you tried to -Patrick Just eat a piece. Eat a piece now and tell me it’s any worse than Pizza

Hut.Michael You get vegetarian? I’m vegetarian now.Megan Tried to do what?Michael Sorry?Megan You said he locked the door, while he tried to…Michael Did I? Oh. Don’t know, sorry. See this is awful.Patrick You’re only eating the crust.Michael I’m a vegetarian.Patrick The crust is hardly the fairest indicator…Michael If the crust is bad the pizza’s bad.Patrick That’s a rule is it?Michael It’s a law.Abby Alex’s father took the video.Lucy What video?Abby The video we made for Media, with Alex in it. He didn’t want it, when I

offered it to him at the funeral, but last week he emailed me, and asked me to bring it along. And he took it.

Flossie I liked his speech today. It was a good speech. He looked better, I thought.

Patrick Do you have it here? We should play it.Abby No, sorry. It was on a flash drive.Patrick Shame.Flossie Actually, I have something for you guys. I made up, um, this will sound

weird. I know I bailed on you all, and I’m real sorry, and I can’t even

explain it properly, but um, I had a heap of photos from the ball, from the whole night, and I made up albums for you all.

Megan That’s really sweet.Flossie I didn’t get you one. Sorry, I didn’t know -Megan No, no of course.Flossie Shall I get them out now? Would that be okay?Partick Yeah, cool.

Flossie goes to her bag and pulls out the little albums she’s had printed. She hands them out, and each recipient offers her a hug. Megan sits behind Patrick and looks over his shoulder. At first they silently flick through the memories, and the mood turns cautious, almost reverential.

Abby This is amazing. Thank you.Flossie Least I could do.Abby I’d forgotten about Jade’s dress.Michael I hadn’t.Megan Who’s that?Patrick That’s Alex.Lucy Where? Which photo are you looking at?Megan Second page.

They all look. Silence.

Patrick That’s when they just arrived back from trying to get served at the bottle store.Abby They did get served.Patrick They didn’t. They asked for ID.Abby Heidi had ID. But the hotel security confiscated it.Patrick Who told you that?Abby Alex did.Megan Who did he go the ball with?Patrick Who?Megan Alex. Who was Alex’s date?

Awkward moment.

Lucy Abby was.Megan Oh, sorry. It’s just, you’re not in the pictures with him.Flossie They’re my photos. Abby didn’t want to be in my photos.

Clear this is a polite lie.

Patrick Here’s the photo. Here’s the evidence! Pizza Hut. Box open. Pizza untouched.Michael Maybe it’s only just been opened.Patrick Open the box, pose for a photo.

Flossie on Abby’s shoulder, looking at the album.

Flossie Sorry, I didn’t know if that one was okay. It felt okay, but now I’m not…Abby No. No it should be there.

Lucy Where?Abby Last page.

Megan has Patrick’s album and flicks to the end.

Megan What is that?Patrick It’s Michael. That’s the mini skip they jumped into. That’s him climbing out.Megan And that’s how he died, right?Patrick Not then. Three of them went out to the balcony to jump, but only Michael

and Andy did it.Megan And then later, he went back by himself?Flossie I don’t want to be rude, but I’d rather not have to explain this to you now.Megan That is kind of rude.Abby It’s just that, you know…Patrick How’s that dessert?Megan I’ve only just put it in. And once it’s out it’s going to have to cool down.Patrick I thought you might want to check on it.Megan You fucking check on it.

Plenty would like to say something, but nobody does.

Lucy This is a good one of you.Abby Oh, no, look at the hair. They don’t tell you that at the hairdressers. They

don’t tell you what it’s going to look like eight hours later when you’re too tired and drunk to avoid the cameras.

Lucy Mine was worse. Abby Should have worn a hat. Michael, are there any photos of you and that

hat?Flossie I couldn’t find any. I couldn’t find many of Michael at all.Patrick Where were you all night?Michael In your room.Patrick Spying on your mama.Michael Seriously. After the jump, I went to take a shower because that was some

filthy shit in there, and yours was the only empty room. And then I couldn’t get out.

Realises this was the wrong place to take the conversation.

Patrick You never said you were…Michael It doesn’t matter.Megan How do you get locked in a shower?Michael I wasn’t. It was stupid. I forgot to take my clothes through with me. My

clean clothes were back in my room, but I didn’t walk back out through the room without my clothes on.

Flossie Who would have seen?Abby Whoever was in the room. Who was in the room?Michael I don’t know. I just heard people. They probably came and went, but I

didn’t want to look.Flossie I didn’t know you were so shy.Megan But it was Patrick’s room. You would have needed a key, right, in a hotel?

Michael I jumped between the balconies.Megan But you had a key.Patrick Sure.Megan So it was you. It must have been you he heard. I was probably in there

some of the time. But mostly I was -Megan Who did you go to the ball with?Patrick Lucy. I told you this. What the hell? I didn’t even know you then.Megan You told me you’d broken up before the ball.Patrick But we’d already bought the tickets. And then we decided it was easier to

still go together.Lucy We decided?Patrick You agreed.Lucy I told him I’d go with him so long as he could go the whole night not

mentioning getting back together.Flossie How did that go?Patrick Dominos. Three boxes open, all empty. Coincidence? I think not.Michael It’s later in the night.Megan So you couldn’t come out of the shower because Patrick and Lucy were in

the room? That’s right, isn’t it?Abby Okay, can we please stop doing this?Megan I’m not doing any -Abby Can we please all put the albums away? Flossie, I’m sorry, these are

lovely, they really are, but I don’t think this is the right time and place to be looking at them.

Megan Would you like me to leave the room?Abby It’s just getting weird, okay? I can’t explain that, but I just… I’d rather not

look right now.Megan Really, she can speak to me like this? This is okay?Patrick Sorry. Maybe we should just…Flossie Do you want some help in the kitchen?Megan We could get down on our hands and knees and scrub the floors.Patrick You could get us some glasses, for drinks. And there’s stuff in the fridge

downstairs. If you don’t mind.Megan Delighted.

Megan and Flossie exit.

Patrick Okay, that was fucking rude.Michael I think she was trying to help you.Patrick Well, that worked out. She stays pissed off for weeks you know.Abby Got yourself a keeper there.Michael It was you. You were the reason I couldn’t get out of the shower.Patrick I don’t care. There was nothing to hear.Michael Okay.Lucy Are you all right?Abby Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bit of a shock. I mean, I’ve thought about it, of

course I have. But it’s different. Seeing it is different.Lucy We can just stop. Patrick, where’s the music?Abby No, I want to. I want to look. I want to remember it all. I want to remember

it, and at the same time I want to forget.Michael It wasn’t your fault.

Abby I know.Michael It wasn’t anybody’s fault.Abby I should have -Lucy Don’t.Abby Why not? Why not say it?Lucy Because we’ve all got a hundred things we wish we’d done or said that

might have made it different.Abby But if I’d checked my phone.Michael And if I hadn’t jumped, and if George hadn’t dared us, and if Heidi hadn’t

brought that whisky, and if we’d gone for a walk when Chrissie suggested it… It’s not about you. Doing this makes it about you, and you don’t get to do that.

Abby I said I’d go to the ball with him, when I didn’t want to. I spent most of the night ignoring him.

Michael He knew that. He didn’t care. He was happy as.Patrick You’re eating that?Michael I’m not allowed?Patrick You don’t like it.Michael I’m punishing myself.Patrick There’s meat on it.Michael Saturday exemption.

Flossie and Megan return, laden with drinks and glasses. They are sharing a joke, having apparently bonded.

Flossie Okay, make a circle. Drinking game.Patrick No, we’re talking.Flossie Albums out, glasses filled. Megan and Patrick are a team, I’m the judge. Michael What’s the game?Flossie Where’s Wally?Lucy Don’t get it.Flossie Wally is Peter Roebuck. I swear, every second photo I took, he’s in it

somewhere. And I don’t even remember being at the ball. Abby Oh my God, you’re right, look!Flossie Albums closed.Abby Sorry.Flossie When I say go, you turn to the first page. First person to find Peter/Wally

calls it. If the sighting is confirmed, they get to nominate the drinker.Lucy Okay. Game on.Flossie Everybody in?Michael So ready.Patrick Prepare to die.

Abby nods, the least enthusiastic of the four.

Flossie And, first page only, on my word - Go!

Furious scanning, Megan realises she doesn’t know what Wally looks like, Patrick is explaining when Lucy raise her hand, just before Michael calls it.

Michael Wally!

Lucy I’ve already got it.Michael You didn’t call it.Lucy I had my hand up.Abby Where? I can’t see it. Which photo?Patrick Top right. He’s sitting by the pot plant.Abby Oh, yeah.Michael So it’s mine right? You’re the judge.Flossie Well, I can’t confirm the sighting now, can I, because Patrick’s already called it.Lucy Can we just clear up how we call it? Do we shout out, or put our hand up?Flossie Shout, definitely.Lucy Well you didn’t make that very clear.Flossie So that one’s a practice round.Lucy You’re actually a bit of a shit judge.Flossie And I hold grudges, so you know - page 2, go!

Again they turn. This one is harder. Megan, it turns out, is highly competitive and has snatched the album from Patrick to study the photos.

Lucy Wally!Michael Where? Where is he?Lucy Top photo. That’s him with his back to us, by the lifts. You can see his red

shirt. He was the only guy there with a red shirt.Michael That’s not him.Flossie She’s right. Call your victim.Lucy Michael.Patrick Or have you given up drinking too?Michael It’s Saturday.

Michael empties his glass. Refills.

Flossie Page 3. And…

Patrick snatches the album back.

Megan What are…Patrick I know what he looks like.Megan If you’d told me he was wearing a red shirt.Patrick I showed you a photo.Flossie Go!

Michael’s hand is straight up.

Michael Wally! Bottom photo, left hand corner, holding a beer bottle.Flossie That’s Chris.Michael Bullshit.Flossie Drink again.Michael Well no, show me where he is first. I don’t see him.Flossie Yeah, I don’t think he’s on that page.Michael This is bullshit.Abby When you’re losing.

Michael drinks, refills. Smiles at Abby.

Flossie Page 4 - Go!

Scanning, Patrick calls it first.

Patrick Wally!Flossie Okay, where?Michael Ask Megan. They’re a team. They both have to know.

Megan’s eyes flit down to where Patrick is pointing.

Megan Bottom photo, he’s holding the dress, no, behind the person holding the dress.Flossie Yep. Choose your victim.Abby Michael’s keen.Patrick You’d know. Lucy. I call Lucy.Megan I don’t think it’s your call. Flossie asked me.Patrick What does it matter?Megan I’m staying here tonight, remember. So how drunk you manage to get her

is irrelevant.Lucy Okay, not even a little bit funny.Megan Glad we agree.

Lucy empties her glass. Refills.

Lucy I don’t want Patrick. Ever. Under any circumstances. But one year ago this week, one of my very best friends died beside a hotel miniskip, and today I stood in the cold wind and cried over his grave, and I happen to think that gives me the right to get just a little bit drunk if I want to. Do you have a problem with that?

Megan Not with that, no.Lucy And you didn’t even know him.Megan Next page please.Flossie Page 5 - Go!

Heads down, scanning. Abby’s head comes up. At first she doesn’t speak.

Abby Middle photo. On the couch, holding the pizza.Michael She didn’t say Wally. You have to call Wally.Abby It isn’t Wally. It’s Alex.

Others look, but don’t make the connection.

Patrick So?Abby He’s holding pizza.Patrick Everybody is. Abby Look at the box on the ground. It’s Domino’s.Patrick That was the point of the photo. To piss off Michael.

Patrick realises he’s the last to understand.

Megan You said the Domino’s came later.Patrick It did.Lucy So what’s he doing there? He died before one thirty. The police said he

died before one thirty.Abby So that’s a ghost? That’s a photo of a ghost?Michael No. He was alive when the pizza came.Patrick So I’m wrong about the time the pizza arrived? My bad. Next page.

But Flossie sits stunned, close to breaking. She is shaking her head.

Michael What?Flossie What time did the text to you get sent?Abby 1.25am.Megan What text?Abby From Alex. Telling me he was going to do the bin jump, and asking me to

go down to the front and let him back in.Megan But he didn’t arrive. That must have been awful.Abby No. I didn’t get the text. I left my phone in my room. Then later I fell asleep

without checking it, and we were woken by the police, after the guys emptying the bins found him.Patrick So maybe this is a  photo at 1.15.

Michael We didn’t even get to the hotel ‘til midnight. Remember the front doors got locked at 1pm? Normally it was 12, but they moved it back for us especially. And then Heidi must have come in after 1, because she had to get past security and they confiscated the alcohol.

Abby And then it was after they got back that we went down to the boys’ room for that whole seance thing.

Flossie And it wasn’t until the end of that, that people started bitching about Pizza Hut. And then there was the whole thing where everybody was trying to find you, and you disappeared… That photo is taken later. Way later.

Lucy So what are you saying?Flossie I don’t know. Nothing. I’m not saying anything.

Silence as they contemplate the image.

Abby He looks happy.Patrick So, what? He jumped, didn’t miss. Then went out for a second time. Or he

was going to jump, bailed, tried again later?Abby Why wouldn’t he have told me? If he thought I’d got his text, he would

thought I was still down there, waiting for him. Patrick Perhaps he went down and checked and saw you weren’t there.Flossie Okay, let’s not do this.Michael What do you mean?Flossie Let’s not talk about this.Michael Because?Flossie Because I’d rather not.Michael Maybe I want to.Flossie I don’t think you understand.Michael Well obviously not. That’s the point. It’s why I want to talk about it.Flossie What does it matter? It’s not going to bring him back. He’s still dead.Michael You think I don’t know that?

Patrick She’s right. We’re better off just not thinking about it.Abby I can’t not think about it.Megan Are you all insane? You have to go to the police with this.Patrick What?Megan The police have to know.Patrick Why? So they can change the time of death on a document nobody’s ever

going to read?Megan So they can see if it’s important.Patrick It’s not important. It’s just time. 1.30 or 2.30 - what difference does that

make?Megan Maybe the time of death makes a difference to the cause of death.Lucy The cause of death was he jumped off a balcony and missed the bin. And

this hasn’t got anything to do with you, so I think it would be better if you didn’t say anything.

Stand off between the two. Megan does not flinch, refuses to let it go.

Megan Was it easy to miss the bin? Did anybody ask that question? You jumped. Was it easy to miss the bin?

Michael Hesitates. No. The bin was directly beneath the balcony. The others looking at him as if he has betrayed them. Sorry, but that’s the truth. It was almost impossible to miss the bin.

Flossie See? This is why we don’t talk about it. We keep talking, and we’re going to say things that can’t be unsaid.

Megan So you mean, perhaps he deliberately jumped to miss?Lucy Shut the fuck up.Megan Why should I?Lucy Because you don’t know anything about this.Megan I know that none of what you’re saying makes any sense.Flossie Then it doesn’t make any sense. Let’s just leave it.Abby Why didn’t you tell the police?Michael Tell them what?Abby They interviewed us. They interviewed all of us. So why didn’t you tell

them how hard it would have been to miss the bin?Michael I was in shock, and they’d been out to look for themselves.Patrick Okay. So to them, it wasn’t that difficult to understand.Megan Because they thought he was going to jump, because that’s what he told

you he was going to do. But now we know he didn’t. How is that not important?

Abby Maybe she’s right.

Flossie moves towards the front door.

Michael Where are you going?Flossie I can’t handle this shit, all right? I’m sorry, but I just can’t.Patrick So you’re going to run away again.

Silence, as Flossie considers this. When she speaks, it is a struggle, and sensing this, the others fall respectfully silent.

Flossie Okay, I never wanted to have to say this. I promised myself I would never say this.

Lucy You don’t have to say anything.Flossie You know how I had an older brother, and five years ago he died in a car

crash?Abby Yeah.Flossie There was a police officer, and he wasn’t sure it was an accident. He

thought that maybe Duncan had driven off the road deliberately. He thought that was more consistent with evidence at the scene. If you lose control, you brake, and steer out of it, if you fall asleep your foot comes off the accelerator. But if you want to crash, you run straight and keep the speed up…

Abby You never told us.Flossie We never told anyone.Abby That’s awful.Flossie We told ourselves that isn’t what happened. The other police officer told

us it was inconclusive, that there was nothing to be gained from investigating, that it would always be inconclusive, and it was better for us if we just kept thinking of it as a terrible accident. She was very kind. And that’s what we tried to do, but the thing is this. Once that’s been said, it can never be unsaid. You can pretend you’ve forgotten about it, but you can’t forget about it. It’s always there… Maybe I had forgotten, I’d forgotten that it was there, anyway, so had Mum and Dad, I think, but then there was Alex, and I couldn’t handle it, and I couldn’t trust myself not to tell you why I couldn’t handle it, and then you’d have to live with what I’d had to live with… the uncertainty, and the blame, the cold, remorseless guilt. Mum understood. She organised it all for me: the gap year, the job in the UK, the visas and everything. And she made me promise not to contact you, not to try to explain… You saw them today, you saw his parents. You saw how they’ve managed to cling on to the world with their fingernails, how centimetre at a time they’re dragging themselves back towards some sort of peace. You do this, you even raise the possibility that this wasn’t an accident, and that’s the end of it for them. I promise you, they never come back from that. The hope never returns to their eyes.

So, no. You can’t tell the police. That would be an act of unimaginable cruelty. Patrick, tell her. Tell her what Alex’s parents were once like. Tell her how far they’ve still got to travel.

Flossie collapses into a seat, buries her head in her hands. Patrick moves forward and offers silent comfort.

For a long while, nothing is said.

Michael She’s right.Abby Of course she’s right.Megan It’s convenient, don’t you think?Lucy Get out! Just get out and don’t come back.Megan Not your call.Lucy Patrick, tell her to get out.

Michael Why?Lucy What do you mean, why? You heard her.

Michael I agree with Flossie. We have to make sure Alex’s parents never hear of this. But maybe the only way to do that is for all of us to be satisfied there’s nothing here to discover. Maybe the thing to do now is talk about, try to work it out.

Patrick There isn’t anything to work out.Michael You want to believe that. So do I. But that’s not the same thing as it being

true.Abby He was happy though. He seemed happy. Look, look. That’s not the

photograph of someone who’s about to jump off a third floor balcony.Flossie Don’t. Don’t even have this conversation. I promise you, it’s poison.Abby He knew we were just going to the ball together so we had someone to

arrive with. It wasn’t anything… I told him it wasn’t -Flossie You see? You see what happens?Megan So let’s talk about the other possibility, then.Patrick Maybe we should all just take a moment first. Megan, come into the

kitchen and we’ll see if we’ve got everything ready for -Megan Don’t touch me!Patrick Okay. I just …Megan Want me out of the way. I get it. And I’m going. I’m going to the kitchen so

you can all talk about things I can’t understand. Like how come none of Alex’s so called friends want to hear about the possibility that somebody killed him.

Megan storms out. Patrick looks around the group, apologetic.

Patrick She’s been under a bit of pressure lately. I, um…Lucy Go and talk to her.Patrick I’m not sure that’s a good idea.Flossie I’ll go.

Flossie leaves. A long silence, all reluctant to be the first to say it.

Lucy Is it possible?Abby What?Lucy You know. That somebody -Patrick No.Abby But if -Patrick The police investigated it. They said he jumped and missed the bin.Abby But they only thought that because he texted me, to say he was jumping.

And now we know he didn’t.Patrick No, we don’t know that. Maybe he jumped and succeeded, and then tried

again. Michael It was filthy in there, and in the photo he’s wearing the same clothes.

Everybody would have noticed.Patrick So he jumped later.Abby We don’t know that.Patrick We don’t know he didn’t, either.Lucy So doesn’t that make Megan right? Isn’t this what the police are meant to

decide?

Michael What about Flossie?Patrick Exactly. We have to think of Alex’s parents. Michael No, that’s not what I meant. I meant, shit, okay, I shouldn’t say it. Lucy Yeah you should.Michael What if she knows something? What if that’s why she doesn’t want us to

go to the police? I mean, who disappeared off the face of the earth the next day? Is that crazy?

Abby Yeah. Yeah, it is.Lucy There was no one there who would have wanted to hurt Alex.Patrick We weren’t the only people in the hotel.Lucy Flossie wouldn’t have come back here. And she wouldn’t have included

that photo.Michael Maybe she didn’t notice.Lucy If you killed someone, you’d be careful about the photos you chose.Abby You wouldn’t do a  photo album at all. Michael I’m not saying Flossie killed him.

Flossie enters, unnoticed, carrying small dessert plates.

Flossie Say what?Michael Nothing. It’s getting ridiculous. Let’s leave it.Flossie You seriously think I could have killed him?Michael No. I just said that. I just said you didn’t.Flossie Why did you even need to say that?Patrick Nobody thinks anybody here did anything to hurt Alex. Alex was our

friend.Flossie But somebody said it, right? Somebody said it might be me. Who? I think

I’m entitled to know who is accusing me of being a murderer. Michael No one said -Flossie So what did they say?Michael I just said that… No, fuck it. I didn’t say anything.Flossie Is that right, boy who was stuck in the shower all night, so that

conveniently nobody saw you, ever. Michael Are you saying I’m lying?Flossie I’m saying you’re hiding something.Michael Okay, sure, I’m hiding something. But it’s got nothing to do with this.Flossie Maybe you should let us be the judge of that. Or the police. That’s their

job, right? Patrick Five minutes ago you were saying we couldn’t go to the police.Flossie Five minutes ago I didn’t know people were accusing me of murder.Lucy Nobody said that.Michael Although maybe you’d like to explain why you’re being so aggressive all

of a sudden.Flossie You try being accused of killing your best friend. You bet I’m being

aggressive.Michael Nobody accused you of that.Patrick Nobody accused anybody of that.Abby What are you hiding?Michael What?Abby About the shower. What are you hiding?Michael Nothing relevant.

Lucy Just leave it.Abby So we’re not talking about this?Lucy I just think… What’s to gain?Abby Well, if somebody killed Alex -Patrick Nobody killed Alex.Lucy You know that for sure?Patrick Fifteen minutes ago if anybody had said that, you’d have said they were

out of their mind. And what’s actually changed since then? The realisation that he must have made the jump later than we thought. What is wrong with us?

Abby No, but Michael said it would be hard to miss. I didn’t know that. And if he didn’t jump, why didn’t he let me know? And if he did jump twice, why are his clothes clean in the photo? And Michael heard something in the room, and we don’t know what it is. I’m sorry, but I think we should talk about this.

Enter Megan

Megan No, we shouldn’t talk about it. We should go back to the police.Lucy Can you not say we, please. There’s no we. You’re not part of this.Megan Are you just going to let her say that to me?Patrick What do you want me to do?Megan I want you to know what to do without having to ask. I want you to behave

like somebody who is more interested in his current relationship than some slut who dumped him back at school.

Lucy So slut is a word you use to mean ‘woman I don’t like.’ What are you, a man?

Michael That would explain Pat’s reluctance. Sorry. Joke... Bad joke.Flossie We’re not going to the police. You can’t open this back up for his parents.

Not unless you’ve got a very good reason to, and we don’t have a very good reason.

Megan I think the fact none of this makes sense is a very good reason.Patrick Vote. We vote, and whatever the majority decide, we go with.Megan We’re not doing this by vote. We do what’s right.Lucy We again.Megan I’m in the building. Get used to it.Lucy You weren’t in the building a year ago.Megan Lucky for you I wasn’t.Lucy What’s that supposed to mean?Abby I’m not ready to decide. There’s something I need to know.Patrick Let it go.Flossie So that’s your vote?Patrick Yeah, it is.Flossie That’s two for let it go.Megan You know what I think.Flossie Michael?Michael Okay, I’m with her. I think we owe it to him to at least tell someone.Flossie But what about -Michael I know. I know that.Megan Two each.Patrick Thought you didn’t want to do this by vote?

Megan Might be about to have my mind changed.Flossie Abby?Abby I still want to know more before I decide. What? For the last year, I’ve

been living with not knowing what might have happened if I’d have just looked at my phone. And now it might be that it made no difference. I think I have the right to ask.

Lucy Ask what?Abby Michael. What did you hear? When you were in the shower, what did you

hear?

Michael thinks hard about whether or not to answer. Shrugs.

Michael Okay. Fuck it. Sorry Lucy, sorry Patrick.Megan You told me you didn’t -Patrick I didn’t. I don’t know what you think you heard, but we were just talking.Michael Arguing.Patrick Maybe. For some of it.Abby About what?Michael I didn’t hear it all. But Patrick was, he was definitely asking Lucy to

reconsider. And Lucy wasn’t happy about it. She wanted to get back out to the party. She kept telling him to let her go back out, and he wouldn’t. It got - I almost went out. If I’d had something more than a towel to wear - I suppose I should have gone out.

Abby Is that all?Megan Are you still in love with her?Lucy Can we just keep to the night in question, please?Abby It’s not much. No offence, Pat, but we all knew you were still hoping to get

back with her. That wasn’t a secret.Michael He didn’t know she was going down to Otago. That’s when I remember he

really lost it.Megan How lost it?Michael It was hard to say, with the -Megan I’m asking her.Lucy He didn’t hit me. I wasn’t frightened. I was just annoyed. He’d promised

me he wouldn’t mention it, and then I was spending half the night in his room going through the same old shit.

Abby Okay. That’s nothing. It’s nothing to do with Alex. You should have just said that.

Michael Didn’t feel like any of my business.Flossie What’s your vote?Abby We don’t say anything. It’s nothing. He jumped later. You’re right. We

can’t do that to his parents. I can’t do that to his parents. So unless anybody can think of anything that’s relevant… You good with that?

Lucy Hesitates. Yeah, sure.Patrick I know this seems wrong to you. But let us have this, eh? It’s our thing.

Tomorrow it’s over. We move on. But tonight, let us have this.Megan I’ll get dessert.

Megan leaves. The five exchange looks, seek refuge in emptying their glasses, refilling them. Say nothing.

Megan returns with dessert, a baked cheesecake. She takes responsibility for handing out the slices. People murmur their thanks, concentrate on eating, mutter compliments. The tension is still there. This isn’t over.

Lucy puts down her plate.

Lucy I slept with him.Michael Who?Lucy Alex.Abby When?Lucy You want a list?Megan You don’t look surprised.Patrick What? It’s old history. It’s not… I’m pleased. I’m pleased for Alex. How

can you not be pleased for Alex?Lucy I think you knew. Abby asked if we knew anything else that was relevant. I

think that’s relevant.Patrick I didn’t know.Lucy It wasn’t just me going down to Otago. Alex was, too. We’d decided. We

were going to be in the same hostel. I haven’t been able to tell anybody that. I had to stand there at the funeral and listen to everybody talk about poor Patrick and Abby, losing their best friend. And I had to keep quiet, when I’d lost the first person I’d ever been in love with.

Patrick Thanks a lot.Abby So he was happy.Lucy What?Abby He seemed so happy, at the ball. And he was. He was properly happy.Lucy Thank you.Flossie Too happy to jump.Megan And the bin was hard to miss.

This sinks in. Michael turns to Patrick, harsh now, accusing.

Michael You haven’t asked the question.Patrick What?Michael The question. You haven’t asked the question you have to ask.Patrick I don’t know what you’re talking about.Megan You haven’t asked her when. You haven’t asked her if she slept with him

while she was still with you.Patrick I don’t want to know. What good would knowing that do? It can only hurt

me. Why would I ask?Michael Because it’s what we do. It’s just what we do.Patrick Well I’m not.Michael Because you already knew.Patrick How could I know?Lucy When I told you about Otago, that’s when you got angry. Did he tell you?

Did Alex tell you he was going? And then when I told you, you made the connection. Did you?

Patrick This is bullshit. This is just crazy talk. What the hell, guys? What are you saying?

Megan We’re not saying anything. It’s not for us to say. But we do have to tell the police.

Patrick Why?Megan If you haven’t done anything, there’s nothing to be afraid of.Michael Who calls them?Lucy I don’t think it’s a phone call.Michael We’ll do it tomorrow. It should be you. And me. We’re the ones they’ll

need to talk to.Patrick And me too, I suppose.Michael I’m sorry man. I’m not saying I think… You’d do the same. Think about it.

You know you would.Patrick Okay. Sure. I’ve got nothing to hide. But they’ll go to Alex’s parents. I

didn’t do anything, I don’t think this changes anything, but it will change it for them. It will destroy them. I don’t understand why that doesn’t matter to you.

Flossie They were happy together. They were making plans to study together. Hearing that’s not going to hurt them.

Patrick You’ve changed your tune.Flossie I haven’t. It’s fine. They’ll be all right.Patrick Okay. Well thanks, guys. It’s great to know what your friends think of you.

Amazing feeling. Truly, thank you.

Patrick slumps in a chair. Nobody knows what to say.

Lucy Is it still okay if I come back with you?Abby Of course. I’ll get a taxi.Megan Um, I can drop you. I need to get going anyway.Patrick So now you’re all leaving me?Michael I’ll stay.Patrick Thank you. Seriously. Thank you.Flossie I can sleep on the couch.Abby Should we stay to help with the -Flossie We got it.Abby Okay. Thanks.

The three girls prepare to leave.

Patrick I don’t get a hug goodbye?

Megan walks across. A strange, confusing hug.

Megan I’m sorry this is weird.Patrick You’re sorry?

The three move to the door. Are about to exit…

Patrick It was an accident.

Stunned silence. The floor is Patrick’s.

Patrick We got into a fight. They had, they’d been together while we… It was why she broke up with me. Because they’d decided, they’d decided to go south together… I didn’t go in there to hurt him. I went to call him on it, that was all… I pushed him, I guess, and he hit at me, and we wrestled,

and we ended up on the balcony, and… I can’t tell you how he fell. I  don’t know how he fell… I just remember, looking down… Not looking down at him, but looking down, you know. Down into this dark hole, this bottomless hole… And I’ve been falling ever since.

Nobody moves. Nobody speaks.

Patrick You can’t tell anyone... How would that make anything better, telling anyone?

Flossie walks across, embraces him. Nobody else moves.

Lights slowly fade.