Agree to Disagree

Act i, Scene i: High School Track

Jessica:  Come on! [Out of breath] And why not?

Caleb:  [Out of breath] I told you. I’m going to do football instead.

Jessica:  Why are you going to do football over cross country?

Caleb:  Because.

Jessica:  Because!? [Out of breath] You gotta have a better answer than that!

Caleb:  Because I like football, ok? [Out of breath] Football’s my sport. It’s what gets me pumped up. Besides, you’re not gonna do track this year. [Out of breath] You’re gonna do rodeo!

Jessica:  This isn’t about me, [Out of breath] this is about you.

Caleb:  How is this about me? Why do you care [Out of breath] if I do football instead of cross country?

Jessica:  Because all you do in football is tackle people and get hurt! [Out of breath] I don’t want you to get hurt.

Caleb:  Well, you’re gonna do rodeo instead of track! You’re [Out of breath] just as likely to get hurt doing rodeo as I am doing football!

[Both stop running]

Jessica:  Not even! Football you can get concussions, break bones-

Caleb: And rodeo you can die! Horse falls on you. Horse bucks you off into metal fence. Roping steer runs you through with it’s horns-

Coach Smith: [Yelling] Hey! Are you guys running or talking? I can’t tell.

Jessica:  Running of course, Coach! [Aside to Caleb] At least some of us are going to be running.

Caleb:  Hey, I’m not the only one that’s not going to be run-

Coach Smith:  Hey, I want you two talkers to do one more lap on the track, and then stretch for 90 seconds!

Caleb:  [Out of breath] Ok, Coach!

[Both start running again]

Jessica:  This isn’t over [Out of breath] yet. . .Caleb? Caleb! Stop ignoring me.

Caleb:  [Out of breath] I was thinking- Do you really mean that?

Jessica:  Mean what?

Caleb:  The whole [Out of breath] “I don’t want you to get hurt” thing.

Jessica:  Of course! [Out of breath] I don’t want you to get hurt! That’s why I don’t want you to do football-

Caleb:  I don’t want you to get hurt either. [Out of breath] That’s why I don’t want you to do rodeo.

Jessica:  Rodeo is a part of me. It’s [Out of breath] what I was raised with. It’s what my family does. When I’m flying down the arena, I feel the most alive. Kinda like when you finish a cross country race and you have that feeling like “Yeah, I just did that”.

Caleb:  Football is the same way for me. It’s my family’s thing and [Out of breath] how we spend time together. There’s nothing else in the world like scoring the winning touchdown.

Jessica:  Fine, fine! I guess [Out of breath] we’ll just have to agree to disagree.

Caleb:  Yeah, and promise me you won’t get hurt.

Jessica:  I’m not gonna-

Caleb:  Just, promise me.

Jessica:  Alright, alright. I won’t get hurt, but you need to promise me too.

Caleb:  I won’t get hurt either.

Coach Smith:  You guys are doing an awful lot of talking! Caleb! Don’t let Jessica be taller than you! You’re running hunched over! And Jessica! Why are you running like a cheerleader? Your hands are going all over the place!

Caleb:  Sorry, Coach!

Jessica: [Aside to Caleb] You’ve gotta admit, you’re gonna miss Coach!