Screenplay Draft 1 (Working title - Simon Says)

EXT. THE PARK - DAY

SIMON is sat under a tree in the park. He is holding a small
notebook and pen. It is apparent that he is attempting to
write something he finds difficult.

Simon chews on the pen and frowns at the open page in his
notebook. He is not impressed with what he has written.

SIMON
(With gusto)
Hattie, you are the hat I never
want to take off.

He stares at the page for a moment, before furiously
scribbling through what he has read.

SIMON
(Muttering)
No, that's shit.

Simon flips through a couple of pages in his notebook. It is
clear he has been working on this for some time.

SIMON
(Reading)
Your eyes sparkle like the milky
way, I could stare into them all
night and day.

Simon pauses for a moment to consider this line.

SIMON
(Shaking head)
Definitely not.

He flips through a few more pages, stopping to read extracts
from his scribbled notes.

SIMON
With hair like a scented garden
of.. wild plants? ..You're perfect
because.. you always.. let me
finish the popcorn?

Simon shakes his head in frustration and flicks to a clean
page in his notebook.

SIMON
(Writing while speaking)
Hattie, you keep my soul as warm as
my head... If you weren't around
I'd wish I was dead...

He finishes writing this down, then looks contemplatively
across the park, chewing his pen.

SIMON
You like watching scary movies late
at night in the dark... Sometimes
when I look at you I think you'd
make a very pretty shark.

Simon reflects on this for a moment. He stares at the page
in his notebook. He then calmly closes the notebook, tucks
the pen into the spine, and holds it for a moment.

SIMON
Oh, screw this.

He throws the notebook violently across the park and drops
back into the grass in frustration.

EXT. THE PARK - DAY

Simon is holding a large, expensive-looking bunch of TULIPS.
He admires them for a moment, nods, and dials HATTIE on his
mobile phone.

HATTIE
(On phone)
Yeah hello?

SIMON
(Still smiling at his tulips)
Hi Hattie. Are we still on for
later?

Simon is far more interested in the phone call than Hattie,
who is picking at her fingernails.

HATTIE
What? Oh, um, yeah sure. Four
thirty, right?

SIMON
(Looking pleased with himself)
Cool. Oh and by the way, Hattie?

HATTIE
(Still disinterested)
Yeah?

SIMON
What are your favourite flowers?
Just out of interest?

Hattie examines her fingernails while she thinks.

HATTIE
Er, anything really. Except tulips.
I hate tulips. See ya later.

Hattie hangs up, leaving Simon staring at the tulips. After
a moment he walks to the nearest bin, dumps the tulips, and
leaves. As he walks away we see a price tag on the bunch of
flowers - it reads £14.99.

EXT. THE LAKE - DAY

Simon is walking through the park trying to come up with a
way to tell Hattie how he feels about her.

He stops and addresses an imaginary Hattie.

SIMON
(Gallantly)
Hattie, how would you like to be my
girlfriend?

He pauses to consider this, but shakes his head and
continues walking.

SIMON
Too formal.

Simon stops to address another imaginary Hattie.

SIMON
(Cheesily)
Hey Hattie, wanna come back to mine
and see what happens?

He shakes his head in mild horror and continues walking.

SIMON
Urgh, definitely not. Too creepy.

He kicks a stick into the lake, and stands there watching it
float away.

SIMON
(Quietly)
Hey, Hattie. Would you like to go
for a drink sometime, with me?

He nods to himself, satisfied, and walks away to meet
Hattie.

EXT. THE PARK - LATE AFTERNOON

Simon runs to catch up with Hattie. He is panting slightly
when he reaches her.

SIMON
(Red-faced but grinning)
Hattie! Hi. Hey.

He punches her awkwardly on the shoulder, but regrets it
immediately. She looks at him with barely contained disgust.

SIMON
So.. how are you?

HATTIE
(Rolling eyes)
Yeah, yeah I'm fine.

We notice that she doesn't ask him how he is. In fact, she
doesn't seem interested in conversation with him at all.
There is an awkward silence, as he looks at her brightly and
she takes a slow glance across the park.

HATTIE
So.. Simon... Why did you want me
to meet you again?

SIMON
Well.. erm, I just had something to
tell you, that's all.

Hattie seems impatient. She keeps checking her phone.

HATTIE
And you couldn't tell me over the
phone because...?

SIMON
(Falters)
Well.. I guess.. it's such a nice
day..

Simon gestures around the park, but Hattie is unconvinced.
She puts her phone back in her pocket.

HATTIE
Well you better tell me soon, I've
got to go and meet Greg in a
minute.

SIMON
(Confused)
Greg?

HATTIE
Yeah, you know Greg, my boyfriend?

Hattie peers past Simon, looking for Greg.

SIMON
..Y-... Your boyfriend?

HATTIE
(Still on the lookout for
Greg)
He said he's be along any minute.
Although, that doesn't mean much
from him, I mean one time I was sat
waiting for him for an hour and all
he had to say for himself was that
his cat had got stuck in the
bathroom, I was like, what kind of
excuse is that...

Hattie's voice fades out, and we see Simon's face drop as he
realises the girl of his dreams is out of his reach. Tears
well at his eyes, but Hattie doesn't notice - she doesn't
care.

HATTIE
(Sees Greg in the distance)
There he is! Well I've gotta go,
Simon, I'll see you some other time
okay.

Hattie walks away before she has even finished her sentence,
leaving Simon standing alone with tears in his eyes. He rubs
his eye with a sleeve, and as he does so, a pretty girl
walks past him down the path.

Simon's attention is captured by the girl. In beautiful
slow-motion, we see her flick her hair over her shoulder,
smile back at Simon, and continue walking.

Simon grins, and follows her down the path.