Vegas Boy

SCENE 1--

We see our main character and narrator ROBBIE ROSS.  He lights up a cigarette.

ROBBIE
I'm watching the news tonight, and I see a church group protesting about Vegas, and how the city is evil in God's eyes.  WAKE UP CALL CHURCHES!  The only god in Vegas is Frank Sinatra and his bitch Lady Luck, and I'm sure neither one of them is looking down on Vegas.  What do they want out of us?  This town was founded by Bugsy Segal, and the mob.  The closest thing to royalty here is The Rat Pack, and there's so much gilt and glamour that you have to wear sunglasses at night.  What a great place to grow up.  Where else can a good little church girl from Alabama come, get dressed up in a bright pink tube top and mini skirt, go to a club, and spend the night with her tongue down your throat.  In the morning you wake up in a strange hotel room, your pants are hanging from the ceiling fan, and all the money that was once in your wallet is now gone.  You walk in the bathroom and on the mirror in red lipstick is written, "Thanks for the big tip, I will always remember you." You should be mad, but since the night was a blur anyway, and you have five new hickeys strung about your body you figure it was money well spent.  So, churches, I have a little advice for you.  Sit down, shut up, roll the dice, sip the martini, and smoke the $500 Cuban cigar, while getting a back-rub from a beautiful Asian woman because, That's Vegas, baby!

FADE OUT

CUT TO:

INT. ROBBIE'S BEDROOM -- MORNING

Robbie is laying in bed, asleep. 

ROBBIE
(V.O.)
That's me.  An all-American Vegas boy, born and raised.  Never without a cigarette and a story.  Thing is, my little world filled with night clubs and Denny's coffee is about to fall apart at the seams.  I'm going away to college tomorrow.  No, not just going away to college, but going away to college in Cedar City, Utah, the home where the restaurants close at 5. I don't even get up until 5. With nothing open, I think I may starve.  I have one day left with my friends.  One last day to do as much damage to myself as possible.  Now I know what you are all thinking.  Drinking, drugs and sex.  Well, I am not going to lie to you.  Yes, drinking will be involved, but drugs and sex...sex, perhaps....but definitely no drugs....okay, maybe some drugs, but, hey, what can I say?  I am a Vegas Boy.

His alarm clock goes off; 5:30am.  He wakes up, and looks around the room, finally realizing that two guys are in the room with him.

ROBBIE
What the f....

He is wrapped up in his own blanket, and taken outside.

EXT. ROBBIE'S HOUSE -- MOMENTS LATER

He is thrown in the back of the car.

ROBBIE
Now this may seem like a bad circumstance, but the two guys who just threw me in the back of the car are actually my two best friends, James and Jeremy.

JEREMY gets into the driver's seat.  

JEREMY
Hope it was a good sleep because it's the last you'll be getting until you leave.

FREEZE FRAME on JEREMY.

ROBBIE
Jeremy, here, is kind of the unofficial leader of the gang.  A night out with him seems to go on like a week, in a good way.  I've known him since the fourth grade, and from the moment I've met him, he's been getting me into trouble.

JAMES gets into the passenger seat.  He looks at JEREMY.

JAMES
I can't wait to see his face when we gets there.

FREEZE FRAME on JAMES.

ROBBIE
James is our Don Juan.  A True Romantic.  It's sickening, really, but he's always great for date ideas.  He's a preppy, loving anarchist.  I didn't even know they made those, but James is the proof it can be done.

The car leaves.  They end up in front of KRIS's house.

KRIS
Hey boys!  Where's Robbie?

A Sound is heard in the back.

KRIS
You put him in the trunk didn't you?

JEREMY
He looked tired when we picked him up so I thought I would let him catch a little more sleep.

JAMES
Yeah, he can stretch out in the trunk.

Kris gets in.  They leave, hitting a speed bump.  An "Ouch" is heard.

JEREMY
Watch those bumps, buddy boy.

From inside the trunk, Robbie lights his Zippo for light, and speaks monologue into the camera.

ROBBIE
How could my supposed best friends do this to me?  Kidnap me, throw me in the back of a car, and pick up the one person that I care about seeing me in my ducky pjs.  Kris is what I would refer to as my dream girl, but I've been stuck in the friend zone for about three years now.  She is one of those beautiful souls that was just born in the wrong time.  She should have been part of the woodstock generation, protesting war, sipping coffee in a Bohemian refuge listening to great minds touching on genius while writing her memoirs about the intolerable cruelties that it is to be an intelligent American stuck in a Regan administration.  Instead she was stuck with us in what she would call a meaningless period of time that sets importance on what kind of coffee you get at Starbucks.  End quote.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I'm glad she's here, but a shower, clothes and tooth brush would have made me happier about my current circumstances.

The car stops.  We see they have stopped at the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign.  Jeremy gets out and opens the trunk.  Smoke bellows out.  Robbie has been smoking.

JEREMY
Is there anywhere you don't smoke?  Where did you get those anyway?

ROBBIE
I sleep with them.

KRIS
Nice hair, Rob.

ROBBIE
Oh thanks.  I was going for that 'Just Kidnapped' look.

JAMES
Yeah, sorry about that, but there was no other way to get you out of bed before noon.

ROBBIE
God, it's not even noon.  What time is it?

JAMES
6am.

ROBBIE
Six?  Are you out of your mind?  Why did you get me out of bed at six in the morning?

JEREMY
To show you this.

Everyone looks out over the strip as the sun rises.

ROBBIE
It's nice, Jer.  But I've already seen it.

JEREMY
Yeah, you have seen it, but only if you just happen to still be up at dawn.

ROBBIE
And what?  It's supposed to look better with sleep in my eyes.

KRIS
Just shut up and watch the sun rise with us.

She slides into Robbie's arms.

ROBBIE
(V.O.)
Holy shit!  What just happened?  I have known this girl for like three years and the most I've ever gotten was a hug after I gave her a ten pound teddy bear and roses after one of her plays.

ROBBIE
I guess you guys are right.  It does look better like this.

JEREMY
There's just something about waking up early that makes it special.

ROBBIE
Sure, waking up.

Jeremy goes into car and grabs a bottle of champagne, and four glasses.

JEREMY
Here's to drinking double, seeing triple, and dating quadruple.

ROBBIE
Here's to Vegas.

KRIS
Here's to friends.

JAMES
No, here's to last days.  The stories that we made, and the ones yet to happen.  Here's to friends who kidnap you at the crack of dawn and show you all the wonderful things you're leaving behind, but most of all to new beginnings because the books that are our lives are not ending.  Just a new chapter being written.

Everyone toasts and drinks.  They watch the sunrise.

ROBBIE
Good old James.  You can always count on him to be able to put into words what everyone else was thinking.  So there we were watching the very last sunrise of our childhood.  It was the most beautiful and sad sights to ever have been held.

Jeremy hands Robbie some clothes, toothbrush, bottle of water and a comb.

JEREMY
Here, take these and change.  We can't take you anywhere like that.

Everyone sits on the side of the car, waiting, until Robbie emerges.  He does so, looking like a million bucks.

JAMES
How do you do that?

ROBBIE
Do what?

JAMES
Three seconds ago your hair looked like crap, and with a bottle of water and comb, you come out looked like a goddamn hair commercial.

ROBBIE
What can I say?  I'm the fucking anti-Christ.

JEREMY
So, where do you want to eat?

ROBBIE
Do you even have to ask?

JEREMY
No, but it gives the illusion I was giving you a choice.

KRIS
Going where?

JAMES AND JEREMY
Denny's.

EXT. DENNY'S -- LATER

Everyone piles out of the car.

ROBBIE
Ah, Denny's.  My home away from home.  I have spent a good year of my life sitting the comfy booths.  It's the only place you don't have to speak to order.  Just simply point at the food you want and grunt.  The last safe refuge for the man that has had too much to drink but can't go home yet.

KRIS
So, tell me again.  Why do you guys always come here?

ROBBIE
It's kind of like our version of "Cheers".  Everyone knows our name.

A waiteress walks up.

WAITERESS
Hi Robbie.

ROBBIE
See?

JAMES
It's the last true form of the American melting pot.  It doesn't matter if you high priced lower from the upper east side or the bum sleeping in front of the high rise apartment, everyone eats at Denny's.

JEREMY
We just eat here more than most.

KRIS
Ah, I see.  I thought it was just because you guys never have any money, the coffee's free, James can hit on the waitresses, Jeremy can nurse his hangovers, and Rob can smoke his cigarettes.

JEREMY
Well, when you put it that way that does kind of have a nice ring to it.

WAITERESS
What will you be having today?

JAMES, JEREMY, AND ROBBIE
Coffee.

KRIS
You guys are so predictable.

WAITERESS
And you?

KRIS
I will have a coffee please.

Everyone looks at her.

KRIS
I never said I wasn't predictable as well.

KRIS
There's just something about Denny's coffee.

JAMES
What, the conformity of it?

ROBBIE
Excuse me?

JAMES
(Non-chalant)
Yeah, everyone drinks coffee.  Cops.  They drink coffee.  Eat donuts too.  That's why I don't eat donuts.

KRIS
No, it's just you get real coffee here.  You go to some place like Starbucks you get like a thousand different flavors.  At Denny's you don't have hazel nut butter apple crunch.  You order coffee flavored coffee.

JEREMY
Well, not when James orders it.  It's more like coffee flavored creamer.

JAMES
I don't put too much creamer in my coffee.  I just don't mix well with caffeine.

ROBBIE
And what?  Does the creamer cancel out the caffeine?

JAMES
Have you ever seen a baby strung out on caffeine?  No, that's because they're always drinking milk.

JEREMY
Don't you ever make sense?  I remember the time you went on and on about..... 

 The camera pans up as Robbie watches the conversation with a smile on his face.

ROBBIE
(V.O.)
It went on like that for hours.  Everyone telling tales about years past like a bunch of war vets sitting in a VA bar.  I must have gone through a pack just sitting there, listening.  For a while I even forgot I was leaving.  It was just another night out with the boys.  No worries, no drama or fights, just coffee and friendship.  We didn't really talk about anything, but we seemed to say everything.  I wonder if they even have Denny's in Utah.

ROBBIE
So, what is next on the agenda?

JEREMY
Pool at your house.

JAMES
We figured we would let you beat us once more for old time's sake.

KRIS
I am so bad at pool.

JEREMY
Don't worry.  After playing Robbie, you'll feel even worse.

CUT TO:

ANGLE ON

A 9-Ball rack, as it is smashed, spreading balls across the table.

ROBBIE
If there's one thing I understand it's pool.  James understands women.  Jeremy understands partying.  I understand pool.  9-ball.

Robbie hits a nice jump shot, knocking in the 9-ball with the 4-ball.

JAMES
I didn't even get to shoot.

JEREMY
It's better that way.  Look at it from this point of view, you didn't miss a shot the entire game.

JAMES
You're right.  That's the best game of pool I've ever played.

KRIS
Rob, can you come over here and show me how to hold this damn thing?

ROBBIE
Yeah.

He goes over to her, but the camera stays with James and Jeremy.  They sit on chairs facing each other.

JAMES
I've been wondering something for a while now, and I want you thoughts on the subject.

JEREMY
Ok, shoot.

JAMES
Now, I have to warn you.  It's kind of an abstract idea, but I just can't figure it out myself.

JEREMY
Just ask me already.

JAMES
Ok, here it goes.  How do blind guys know when they're done wiping their ass.

JEREMY
That's it.

JAMES
Yeah.  How do they know?

JEREMY
James, I think you have too much time on your hands.

Jeremy gets up to shoot, but right before he shoots, he stops.

JEREMY
(Under his breath)
How do they know?

Camera pans to Robbie teaching Kris.

ROBBIE
Okay, now rest it on your thumb.

KRIS
Okay.

ROBBIE
Now, pull it back and hit the ball.

She does so, hitting the 3-ball in.

ROBBIE
See?  Not bad.

KRIS
I had a good teacher.

ROBBIE
Do I know him?

KRIS
Maybe.  About your height.  Brown hair.  Smokes a lot of cigarettes.

ROBBIE
Sounds like a jerk to me.

KRIS
He can be, but deep down he's a pretty good guy.  Kinda cute when he blushes too.

ROBBIE
....um......

KRIS
Not too great when it comes to words though.

She slides out, and begins to chalk her cue.

ROBBIE
(VO)
Um.  The best I could come up with was um.  I'm great with words.  Antidisestablishmentarianism.  See.  I can't believe she set me up for a witty come-back and I retort with um.  If that would have been James he would have swept her off of his feet with some poetic sonnet pulled out of his ass.  She would have giggled.  He would have smiled, and case closed.  Beautiful kiss.  But me, I said, um...

JEREMY
Ready for our next stop?

ROBBIE
Sure, where is it?

JEREMY
It finally cooled down enough to go to the park.

ROBBIE
Sounds good.

JEREMY
Let's get going.

Everyone starts to leave, but Kris.

JEREMY
Are you coming?

KRIS
I'll be there in a sec.

JAMES
We'll be in the car.

Everyone leaves.  Kris chalks her cue, and shoots, sinking the 9-ball on a 3 rail shot.

JEREMY
Kris!

KRIS
Coming!

She lays the cue on the table.  The camera lingers on the table for a moment.

FADE TO:

EXT. THE PARK -- NIGHT

Robbie sits next to James on the jungle gym.

ROBBIE
I wondered why we always came to the park, but, like clock work, there we were every Friday night.

Camera pans to James.

ROBBIE
James liked to sit on the plastic castle.  He would lean back on the railing and look out over the strip.  The things he would come up with after taking in the view still astonish me.

JAMES
Do you think the stars are real?

ROBBIE
Huh?

JAMES
I mean, even if you got into a spaceship the second you were born, you could never reach our little sun let alone other galaxies.

ROBBIE
So?

JAMES
They're intangible, like God.  God's intangible too.  No matter what you do in your life, you'll never reach them.

ROBBIE
What's your point?

JAMES
I'm saying that if you believe in something as far out as stars, it would only seem to reason that you would believe in God also.

ROBBIE
Come again.

JAMES
Or you can look at it this way.  Maybe they are both self-inflicted illusions.  If you believe in something you can't see, God, then you can believe in something you can see, stars.  It gives even the biggest atheist at least a feeling of not being alone in the universe.  And without a place in the universe, man is left with a feeling of pointlessness so to keep from going crazy man has created both stars and God.

ROBBIE
James, you may very well be the most interesting person I've ever known.

ROBBIE
Kris spent most of her time of the swings humming songs recorded in the 70's.

Robbie is pushing her.  As Kris is singing a song.

KRIS
God won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz.  My friends all drive Porsches

KRIS
  I must make amends.  I wish I could write songs.  I don't get how an artist can condense such poetic ideas into a few simple words and then make them rhyme.

ROBBIE
Don't you have books and books of poems that you have written?  Don't they rhyme?

KRIS
I said poetic ideas, not mindless drivel.

ROBBIE
How do you know it's drivel?  You never let anyone see your work.

KRIS
Rob, I read poetry.  I know what's good and what's bad.

Robbie sits on the swing next to her.

ROBBIE
That's funny.  In school, my English teacher made us study Poe.

KRIS
What's so funny about that?

ROBBIE
Every day she would read us his most world-renowned poems.  The Tail Tale Heart, The Raven....

KRIS
So?

ROBBIE
I thought it was crap.  It just goes to show what is mindless drivel to some may be earth-shattering poetry to others.

She hugs him.

KRIS
Thanks, Rob.

ROBBIE
My favorite part of the park was talking to Jeremy on the benches.  He used the gazebo style frames as a classroom of sorts, where he would instill knowledge on those who didn't quite get all the angles on the game of life.

Robbie lays down on the bench.  He lights up a cigarette.

JEREMY
Why do you sound so down?

ROBBIE
Um, I'm leaving Vegas.  Everything I care about is here, and I'm about to be banished to a fun-less wasteland, commonly referred to as Utah.  I think I have the right to be a little down.

JEREMY
You're looking at it all wrong, buddy boy.  You're about to leave a place where you're a dime a dozen and go where they have never seen anyone like you.  Here, you're just one of the guys, but there, you're a Vegas Boy.  The only cocktail drinking, cigarette smoking trouble causing stud within a five hundred mile radius.  No longer will your havoc causing tendencies be common and almost mundane.  Instead they will be infamous and notorious.  The stories that will ring from the school carrying the name of Robbie Ross and his wild exploits will reach every ear for 10 miles.  No, my friend, you are not being banished to a fun-less wasteland.  You are being delivered to the promised land of little church girls just dying to get a taste of pure evil.  You just became the perverbile apple in the garden of Eden, and every broad is gonna want a bite, and you're down?  Ha!  I'm the one being left here without a co-captain.  Who is going to strut with me at a party in just our boxers when you leave?  James?  I don't think so buddy boy.  Now I'm just a guy standing in the middle of a party in just his undies.

He takes Robbie's cigarette and puts it in his own mouth.

JEREMY
I should be down.  Everything is going to change after you leave.  I'm losing a brother and being left with a romantic and a poet.  In a week's time, my life will be filled with Confucius and Janis Joplin.  My party schedule doesn't stand a chance with you gone.

There is a few moments of silence.  Robbie lights another cigarette.  He begins laughing.

JEREMY
I don't see what's funny.

ROBBIE
James in his boxers at a party.  I'm sorry, but it's a funny visual.

JEREMY
Oh shut up.

ROBBIE
Ok, I'll stop.

Silence is broken by Jeremy's laughter.

JEREMY
I guess it is pretty funny.

They are now both laughing.

ROBBIE
Where to?

JEREMY
Kris' for a drink.

ROBBIE
Now that's the best thing I've heard all night.

They walk together over to Kris and James.  When they see James, they begin laughing all over again.

JAMES
What's so funny?

JEREMY
Nothing man.  Nothing at all.

They walk to the car.

ROBBIE
(VO)
I think I finally understood why we spent so much time here.  It wasn't like a club.  Here, you could actually talk.  It was an open think tank, Bohemian refuge, and classroom all rolled into one.  The park.  Who knew?

CUT TO:

INT. KRIS' HOUSE -- LATER

Robbie is doing many bartending tricks.

ROBBIE
I wanted to be a bartender ever since I saw Tom Cruise in "Cocktail."  Flipping bottles, pouring drinks, getting people smashed.  It just seemed cool to me.  That's why I loved coming to Kris' to drink.  I took care of the liquor.  Kris provided the music.  James had a lock on bar room conversation, and Jeremy always had a new concoction I could whip up and try.  Our own private night club.  Frank himself would have felt at home sipping martinis and shooting the breeze.

KRIS
I have to get something. 

Kris puts down her guitar, and leaves.  James sits down with Jeremy.  They are smashed.

JEREMY
The dog.

JAMES
What?

JEREMY
The blind man.  He shows it to the dog.  One bark for yes.  Two barks for no.

JAMES
And Rob called me interesting.

Robbie sets down two drinks.

ROBBIE
That's a vodka tonic for James, and a jack straight for Jeremy.

JEREMY
Robbie, how do you think a blind man tells when he's done wiping his ass?

ROBBIE
Don't know.  Why don't you go into the bathroom, close your eyes and find out?

JEREMY
This guy!  You are a thinking man, my friend.

He stands up.

JEREMY
Gentleman, if you will excuse me I have an experiment to do.

He leaves.  Robbie sits down next to James.

ROBBIE
Jeremy is quite a guy when he's drunk, huh?

JAMES
Why are you sitting here talking to me?

ROBBIE
Excuse me.

JAMES
God, Robbie, are you blind and dumb?

ROBBIE
What the hell are you talking about?

JAMES
How long have you liked Kris?

ROBBIE
Since the moment I lay eyes on her.

JAMES
Then stand the fuck up and get her.

ROBBIE
I said I liked her.  Not the other way around.

JAMES
What, do you need a written invitation before you catch on?  You're a smart kid but when it comes to women you're useless.  That poor girl has spent the entire day trying to get you to make a move on her and you're here talking to me.  If you don't do something now, you'll hate yourself for it.

ROBBIE
What am I supposed to do?  Run in there, throw her down, and say I'm taking you now.

JAMES
If that's what it takes to get you off this damn couch, then yes.

James begins to take off his pants.

JAMES
Look, Robbie, there are times in your life to stand back and see what happens and there are times in your life when you put all of your chips on the table, take a deep breath and hope you get the card you need to fall on the river.  You've sat back for 3 years, so tonight go all in and see what happens.

ROBBIE
What the hell are you doing?

JAMES
I'm taking off my pants.

ROBBIE
I see that, but why?

JAMES
I'll tell you why. Wearing pants is just conforming to society.  I'm not cold.  I don't need them to weather the elements.  They're just another restriction put on us by the government.  I don't care if it's not the norm.  The point of living is going against the norm.  No longer will I abide by the rules made by the public.  I make my stand, here and now.  Damn the man.  Down with pants!

He drops them, leaving Robbie stunned.  Jeremy comes out of the bathroom, hesitates and then rushes to hug James.

JAMES
Why are you hugging me?

JEREMY
You're at a party in your boxers.  I knew God wouldn't leave me here without someone to party with.

JAMES
I think Jeremy just came on to me.

ROBBIE
Well, you don't look half bad in your boxers.

KRIS
(OS)
Rob, will you come here a minute.  I need to show you something.

ROBBIE
Just a sec.

Robbie looks at James.

JAMES
Go find out if it was worth the bet.

JEREMY
Come here James.  I need to show you something.

Robbie stands up to leave, looks over his shoulder to see Jeremy with his pants around his ankles trying to teach James the strut.  Robbie reaches the door and walks in.  

ROBBIE
Hey.

KRIS
Hey.

ROBBIE
You, uh, wanted to show me something.

KRIS
Oh, right.

She pulls out her journal and hands it to Robbie.  Robbie starts to open it.

KRIS
No don't read it now.  Read it when you get to school.  It'll give you a reason to think of me.

ROBBIE
I don't know what to say.

KRIS
You never were good with words.

ROBBIE
Antidisestablishmentarianism.

KRIS
What?

ROBBIE
Nothing.  Forget it.

KRIS
Rob, can I ask you something?

ROBBIE
Sure.

KRIS
Why didn't you ever ask me out in High School?

ROBBIE
What!

KRIS
It's like I've been stuck in the friend zone for 3 years.  I thought for sure you were going to ask me out that time after my show when you gave me the roses and the teddy bear, but it never came.

ROBBIE
Wait, what!

KRIS
I'm telling you that I've liked you since the moment we met.

ROBBIE
Since the moment we met.

KRIS
The very first time you got out of your Mustang and walk up to say Hi to everyone at the park.  All I wanted you to do was walk up to me and sweep me off my feet.  Why?

ROBBIE
You're telling me this now.  I have 5 hours left in town and now you tell me.  Great, just great.  I have had the most charming, beautiful, intelligent women to ever exist waiting for three years, and I never even knew it.  Un-fucking-believable.  The girl of my dreams actually liked me back and I did nothing.  I must be the dumbest most thick headed son of a ....

KRIS
Do you want to play a game?

ROBBIE
Play a game.  Sure, why not?  I can't do anything else wrong, so why not play a god damned....

Kris kisses him.

KRIS
Okay, now.  It's your turn.

Robbie drops the book, takes her in his arms and kisses her, as we.......

FADE TO:

FADE IN:

Robbie is in bed.

ROBBIE
(VO)
She liked me.  She actually liked me.  I spent three years trying to get this girl's attention and all I had to do was ask.  Now everything I ever wanted has happened and I have to leave.

There is a yawn OS. 

ROBBIE
Did I wake you?

He kisses her forehead.

KRIS
Yeah, but it is a good thing to get awakened  by.  Why do you think it took us so long to get together?

ROBBIE
Because I am a stupid stupid boy.

KRIS
Yeah, you're probably right.

ROBBIE
Hey.

KRIS
It's funny how things work out sometimes.

ROBBIE
Yeah funny.  I get the thing I want the most and now I have to go.

KRIS
Hey, I waited 3 years for you to finally wise up and kiss me.  I can wait a couple months for winter break.

ROBBIE
Really?

KRIS
You didn't think you were getting off that easy, did you?  No.  Now that I have you I'm going to try and keep you for as long as possible.

Moment of silence.  Robbie sighs.

KRIS
You have to get going, don't you?

ROBBIE
Yeah.  Yeah, I do.

KRIS
I guess we'll have to go and wake the boys up.

ROBBIE
I guess you're right.

Kris begins to get up.

ROBBIE
Hey Kris?

KRIS
Yeah.

ROBBIE
You want to play a game first?

CUT TO:

ANGLE ON

The door opens as Kris and Robbie come out, in each other's arms.  Close- up on Jeremy in his boxers on the couch.  He wakes up.

JEREMY
Looks like you guys had a good time last night.

KRIS
I guess we could say the same thing about you guys.

Pull back to reveal Jeremy in James' arms.  James is still asleep.  Jeremy yelps and falls off couch, waking James. 

ROBBIE
I gotta get going.  If I don't leave now, I'll miss orientation.

JAMES
That's right.  You're leaving.  We had so much fun last night, I almost forgot.

ROBBIE
I know.  Me too.

KRIS
Me three.

JAMES
It doesn't even feel like it's time for you to go.  Last night can't be your last night.  It just can't.  Who's going to listen to my moronic theories on life?

He stands up and joins the two in a hug.

JEREMY
There is no reason for everyone to fall apart now.  There's time for that in the car.

ROBBIE
Get over here.

He stands outside the circle before he is pulled in.

JEREMY
(emotional)
Alright, alright.  People and their stupid emotions.  It's pathetic really.  Faggy hugging circles!

ROBBIE
Jeremy, shut up.

Everyone laughs, sharing their last real moment together.

CUT TO:

EXT. ROBBIE'S HOUSE -- MORNING

Robbie is putting the last items in his car.

ROBBIE
Well, I guess that's all of it.

JEREMY
Not quite.  We all pitched in and got you something.

He hands Robbie a cigarette case with the Playboy logo on it.

JAMES
It matches your lighter and now you won't have bent up cigarettes.

ROBBIE
Guys, I don't know what to say.

JEREMY
Thanks is always a good start.

Robbie hugs Jeremy.

ROBBIE
Thanks guys.  Thanks for everything.

JEREMY
Just don't forget to write, buddy boy.

ROBBIE
I won't.

He hugs Kris.

KRIS
Don't forget to come back.  Remember, we have three years to catch up on.

He kisses her.

ROBBIE
You couldn't keep me away if you wanted to.

He hugs James.

JAMES
And don't forget us.  We're family.  Once and always.  Don't forget that.

ROBBIE
How could I?  You're too weird to forget.

Robbie stands back to take one last look at his best friends.  The monologue begins as Robbie gets in the car.  He sits for a moment, and then lights a cigarette, holding it out the window.  He waves, and pulls out, as you catch a glimpse of his license plate; Vegas Boy.  The camera pulls back as Robbie's car leaves, leaving the three friends together.  James has left his pants behind as a final reminder of their last night together.  Several interior and exterior shots of Robbie  driving ending as he drives past the "You are now leaving Las Vegas" sign.

ROBBIE
(VO)
There they were, standing in front of me was what made Vegas Vegas.  It wasn't the casinos, clubs or Alabama girls looking for a good time.  They were just the backdrop for what is the real heart and soul of Sin City.  What made it so fun was the people who lived here.  I was right.  It was a great place to grow up.  But I was right for all the wrong reasons.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I'm still a Vegas Boy, and I will be until the day I die, but last night showed me something.  Frank Sinatra is still God, but he looks over a town that has more to offer than just gilt and glamour.  He rules over a community filled with friendships, stories, and romances finally realized.  The things I'm going to miss the most aren't the activities you can only do in Vegas.  I'm going to miss the things that you will find in any town strung across America.  So, if you ever find yourself heading towards the jewel of the desert, let me give you a little advice.  Sit down, relax, strut through a party in just your boxers, talk about the stars, drink Denny's coffee, and light up a cigarette after getting the one thing in the world your heart desired the most because That's Vegas, Baby!