SYNOPSIS

MARY has been accepted to a prestigious college somewhere on the East Coast. We travel with her and witness her life quickly decay into an endless stream of late nights, binge drinking, food runs, limited sleep, and situations which a week earlier she would have considered unthinkable. She is no longer the perfect student and is now rediscovering who she really is. She meets friends along the way in a world that is sometimes heaven but often more like hell.

This film focuses on the essence of the main characters. Each principal is ruled by a simple, straightforward desire, clearly stated at their introduction, in subtle manner. This desire, this need, presents itself repeatedly, sometimes subtly, sometimes blatantly, depending on the character's mental and physical state.

The characters all want love, but they all express this need in different ways, need it in different forms.

The principal theme of the film is a spiraling downward. Mary drops out of the sky at the beginning. Her self esteem appears to lower throughout the course of the film. The sun sets progressively earlier and eventually appears as if it will never return (increasing emphasis on night scenes and party, as opposed to the daylight of class, healthy living and schoolwork), eventually becoming one endless night. In the course of this evening the principals short-circuit their collective consciousness, allowing it to ebb, leaving exposed the undefended, and unable to defend from, subconsciousness in its native form. Elements of socio-economic downward mobility: Fairly well-off kids frittering away their education, attempting to find themselves in a pubescent jungle, wrought with danger. (Depict this visually when possible.)

Second theme is that of Mary's disenchantment with the education process, which she perceives as modifying one's behavior to win the acceptance of the teacher. As she continues her descent she feels college to be all the more ludicrous.

The third theme is the phenomenon of group identity. Mary enters a world where she not only loses herself, but she is asked to take on an identity that is dumbed down and completely foreign to her. This regimentation comes more into play as the film progresses.

The fourth theme is that of love; how they all want it and how they go about getting it. All the characters shine some sort of beacon. Mary's is the brightest of all. She is the archetype of divine love.

Principal Cast:

• VANESSA, Mary's best friend and roommate is insecure. She wants to feel all men want her, no matter how she behaves toward them. All of her girlfriends' love interests hold special appeal. She is very jealous of Mary, and doesn't hesitate to try to undermine her at any opportunity, within reason.

  Still, there is a connection between Mary and Vanessa. Mary has been introduced to a new world by Vanessa, and they often communicate, subtly at times, very intimately on this level. This connection is quite prominent when the two party together.

• VIC questions his emotional maturity. He makes up for this by wanting to be the mack daddy. When he has been drinking he reveals a very belligerent, confused little boy.

  Because of Vic's instability, he is often a loose cannon, the flashpoint for many a volatile situation. Sometimes these can be fun, but often they end in tragically. Vic has found himself thrust into an abstract world where his subconscious is offered no protection.

• DUDE is a renegade Catholic boy, on the sexual warpath. He holds the idea of spirituality in high regard, though, and is trying to come to terms with this paradox. He sees in Mary his ideal of purity in spirit, the fortune of innocent love. He is captivated by her story of sex at a young age. Dude is receptive to Mary's true self, picks up on this image and is drawn to it, as are others. Dude is the only one, though, that accepts this without hostility.

  When Dude is drunk, or in some altered state, the vision of Mary remains with him, is all the more apparent due to his inebriated condition. Because of this, to him Mary personifies true love.

• MARY is a beacon of love burning in the night, a homing signal for emotions kindled at a young age, waiting for them to return. She is very perceptive, but questions the reality of this. As such she is fragile and appears a fairly easy mark for other more aggressive personalities. In truth, though, she is a very strong person. The story deals with her realization of this fact.

FILM OUTLINE

• We hear the sound of an airplane. Fade in to the close up of Mary's hands, clasped as if in prayer, as well as from nervous tension. A voice is heard informing passengers of the final descent.

• Mary in an airplane, looking down at the trees as the plane prepares to land, musing as to what college life will be like for her. She is not so much afraid of flying, but of landing.

• Opening credits to sound of plane noise becoming deeper, deeper, like a widening spiral, going down.

• Stills of a young Mary and of Michael on the couch, Mary's legs across his lap. Erotic glimpses, close ups. Eyes, hands, legs, lips. Maybe with infrared, or a Diana camera. Slightly dreamy.

• Mary meets Vanessa in dorm. A little awkward, sparse, very simple and quiet scene.

• The two quickly begin to make the adjustment to college living, exploring the environment, curious. They go to a frat party. They discover they have access to all of the beer they can possibly drink, and it's free. They socialize. The place is crawling with lonely kids their exact same age with nothing to do but party.

• The girls get drunk, make a late run to the "food truck".

• The girls meet a few groovy guys at the truck and pair up for a bit on the walk back to the dorm.

• The guys turn out to be engineering geeks and Mary and Vanessa both decide they're losers. So they lose them.

• Mary and girlfriend end up at the stadium. She speaks out of her head that she was a little apprehensive but that college is a blast! She doesn't miss home at all, can't believe she was there only 24 hours ago, crying on her little bed. Now she's hanging out at a big college campus drunk out of her mind, with the world in front of her, full of opportunity. Allegory of her college career (and the film plot) as the field ahead, seen through newly drunken eyes.

• Mary in class. It's quite dry. We get a feel for what her major is and witness her first hangover. Large, impersonal lecture hall, with close, uncomfortable seats, not enough leg room, and a tiny writing surface on the right side. Mary is left-handed. She's scrambling to write down important course info before the class is over. Class ends before she gets it all, though.

• Mary meets friends on her way down the hill to dinner and the dorm. They decide to go for an early happy hour. Take advantage of the descent down the hill as an allegory, expanding on the downward spiral theme set up in the credits (Mary's airplane). This metaphor occurs in terms of physical descent (the hill) as well as descent in time (i.e. the scenes growing increasingly darker as the film develops). Image of sun setting on Mary, close-up as she ponders alternate futues: one safe and secure, drunk with her buds, the other sitting in a dark study hall looking over boring lecture notes. (Show this visually) She opts for the former.

  Mary: I don't know. I'd better go and study.

  Vanessa: Study what? It's the first day of classes.

  Mary: And it's getting kind of dark. It's not all that safe.

  Vanessa: What? Suit yourself. Bye, Mary. (The gang starts to walk away.)

  Mary: (After reflection) Hey, guys...

• Happy hour. We're introduced to the local pub, a stone's throw from the dorms. Sun is still shining. The girls are seated at a high table on stools, talking about the first day of classes, guys. Someone mentions a "first day of classes party" at one of the frats later. They decide to go eat, change, hit the party scene. Vanessa says she's not going to eat, since it's easier to get a good buzz on. Mary is very much curious about all of the new points of view she's being exposed to. In high school she was very much the good girl, except for her one little secret. Vanessa spies Dude and Vic for the 2nd time. She decides to score with one of them.

• Frat party scene. Vanessa and Mary congregate in the frat atrium with dorm friends before going down to where the music is. Mary has on her college T-shirt while Vanessa is more suave. Glass menagerie effect through the beveled glass of the outside windows with the chandelier. The group look like points of light mingled in with other points of light. Mary and Vanessa start drinking heavily, at Vanessa's insistence and Mary's reluctance.

• The girls go to bar for refills. SRI serves them, giving their beers a few added shots of tequila. The drinks are more like straight tequila with a splash of brew. Close up of the cups on the bar.

• Enter Vic, who has his eye on Mary. She is like an angel, an apparition. The two don't actually meet at this point.

• Mary, Vanessa, KUMAR, Dude, and a few others standing around in a circle. Vanessa takes a big hit from the joint being passed around.

  Vanessa: (Handing joint to Mary) Okay, toke the fuck out of that mother fucker.

  Mary: I don't know. I'm pretty messed up. Those drinks were strong!

  Vanessa: You hear that weak shit? What I have to live with? I'm not letting you off, Mary, 'til you toke that mother fucker!

  Dude: Aw, she doesn't have to hit it if she doesn't want to.

  Vanessa: Yes she does! I'm not rooming with some dope virgin!

  Fellow: Are you a dope virgin, Mary?

  Dude: She's pretty dope, alright. (Vanessa frowns, noticing the budding chemistry between the two.)

  (Mary impulsively takes a big hit, holds it in coughing some. Looks up at the crowd for approval. Cut.)

• Mary walks down a stairwell, very drunk and high, trying to navigate. Show this mostly as a subjective shot, blurred, distorted through Mary's drunken eyes. Her inebriation is not like the well-defined state that you normally see in films, but more like the subdued terror of a drugged animal that finds herself no longer able function properly, whose reflexes are off to the point of being utterly defenseless. At the bottom of the steps she runs into CRAZY MAN, who blocks her way. Crazy Man is disheveled, with the haze of druggedness about him. His face is starkly lit, falling off to shadow. He looks at Mary with unfocused eyes, not really looking at her at all, but targeting the thought he is trying to convey. He says to Mary, in a low, yet strong voice: "My connection to the world is tenuous at best. (Pause) I had her then I lost her. I embraced her, but now she's gone." (At this point Crazy Man is lost to his own introspection. He moves his arm so that it is no longer a barrier to Mary. When he does this we realize that his arm had been partially supporting her. She stumbles a bit when he moves it. He continues speaking,) "How many more suns? How many more seasons?" Mary walks past him and continues, in an attempt to find the lady's room.

• Vanessa and Dude having rigorous, noisy sex in Mary and Vanessa's dorm room, which we've already established by its layout and symmetry. We cut to Mary in the next room (bathroom) vomiting and in a very bad way. She eventually begins knocking on the main door asking if she can come into the room. She eventually drops all pretense of cordiality and barges in, collapsing on the floor by her bed. The amorous couple are finished at this point and start talking to Mary. Vanessa eventually realizes she's about to get sick and makes her way to the bathroom. Dude talks to Mary. They actually have a good rapport, considering the circumstances. Vanessa comes back into the room and gets back in bed, claiming to be alright. Dude proposes the absurd question, "You girls hungry?" Mary looks up, weighing the question. "I could eat something," She says.

• Close up of moths circling about the fluorescent lights of the food truck. Vanessa gives Mary the lowdown about Dude at the food truck.

• New scene. Vic, lying in an anonymous bed musing. "I'm soooo fucked up. Where am I? Party, pick up some chick that digs me. Yo, I'm a studsel. Wasted in some sorority girl's bed. Margarita. Wasted in Margarita's villa. We're going to get down. Drunk, high... Dry? Ha ha. College, this is wild, man." (Pause) "I hope I can get it up. What if I can't?" He glances down at his crotch. "Shit, use your tongue, man. You studsel McPudsel... Why are you talking to yourself?..." Sorority girl comes into room, wearing a white robe. Vic raises his hands to try to touch her. She instructs him to lie back and let her do all the work. He obliges, collapsing on the bed. She goes down on him a spell, then sits up, taking off her robe squatting down on top of him. Close up of Vic's face, being carried away. Scene whites out with his sighs. "Oh, it's so beautiful." His sighes almost convey pain.

• Mary lying awake in bed, monitoring her heart and the sound of crickets outside. We hear a voiceover. Mary feels great excitement, as if she's passed some milestone, a rite of passage. She is alive, feels this sense of urgency, knows she needs to take a direction quickly, but doesn't know which way to go. Camera gets progressively farther as Mary muses, eventually settling far away from her dorm room, her window very small in the night air. The farther away the camera gets the louder the crickets become. Eventually their noise drowns out the scene. Fade sound. Quick image of a younger Mary kissing Michael. Mary's Voiceover: Am I happy? Am I sad? Is this great fun or am I beginning to go insane? Relax, Mary. Live a little. Don't be so introspective."

• Dude in his math class, musing. The class is pretty dry. He's thinking about Mary.

• The girls at the Pub, talking about classes, boys and parties.

• The boys at the other side of the Pub listening to some poetry. They're talking about girls, of course. They've decided to form what is dubbed, "The Pussy Posse". This is after a fellow confesses he can't get his mind off of girls and what's in between each pair of their legs. (Include the appropriate hand, arm and mouth gestures.) End focused into Vic. He's taking this to heart, looking around, licking his chops.

  Poet (sounding like Jim Morrison): In the future, everyone will speak in strange and exotic languages, all unknown to you. You may call them foreign. They're not foreign. The only foreigner in the room will be you. You must reach these people, form a basis of communication, find a universal language. But the only thing you will find in common is your mutual isolation. If you discover this truth, you may still not get an A. There is no class. There is only life.

• Vic has another sighting of Mary. He's dying to really get to know her. She's become a symbol of his desire. So far they've met, but Vic has always been on the periphery. The audience knows more about him than does Mary. She's not even aware that he's Dude's roommate.

• Mary in dorm room studying, eating a snack. Enter SAPNA, out of the darkness of the hallway, into the light of Mary's room and within her sight. She appears like some dream. She says the girls want to go to Collegetown. She decides to go.

• Mary quizzes Vanessa about what happened with Dude the night before. Vanessa reveals all, enticing the other girls, who hadn't heard about it. Mary gets moralistic, says she can't imagine sleeping with some guy she just met at a party the same night. Vanessa calls her a prude. Mary retaliates. In the course of the discussion Vanessa admits that she's never had an orgasm. Mary surmises that Vanessa doesn't really enjoy sex. Vanessa becomes livid, ridiculing Mary for talking about things she doesn't know anything about since she hasn't even had the chance of knowing what it was like to being with a guy. "Oh, maybe you imagine when you're alone with you're right hand, Mary." Another girl retorts, "Oh I couldn't believe Mary would touch herself like that... She's left handed anyway." They all have a good laugh at Mary's expense. Mary screams, "I bet I had better sex than any of you when I was thirteen!" They all look at her and get serious, intrigued.

• Mary recounting her coming of age with MICHAEL story at a submarine sandwich shop. She goes into detail for the sake and titillation of her girlfriends. When this narrative is going on, once the sub shop scene is set, show a young Mary in Michael's lap on the couch. They're playing some game. He's hiding something from her and she's all over him. Close up of her laughing, then closing her eyes in passion. Close up of the kiss and of her lying on top of him, spreading her legs like a butterfly. Dissolve back to the submarine shop. Mary shows the girls the picture of Michael. Vanessa says, "This is the guy, your teacher? Girl, you didn't say he was black..." Mary asks what difference it makes. Another girl asks about how big he was. They take turns teasing her, playfully. Mary says, "You're all so childish, I can't believe it! It wasn't anything like that. It was, well, special, you know, spiritual" Confirms friend's suspicion: "He must've been hung like a horse." They laugh. Mary admits, "Yeah, he was pretty big... but when you're 13, pretty much anything is big." They all laugh. Mary feels like she's finally in the house with her girlfriends.

• A bar from the distance, surrounded by shadow. Lots of noise going on inside. Accent and contrast the cold exterior and howling wind to warmth inside, fogged up windows, amber bar lights.

• Noisy bar scene. Mary communes with alcohol, this time freely. The boys are philosophical, throwing quarters at the bauble boy above the bar. His head bounces up and down. Mary's face, seen through her drinking glass. She confides to Vanessa that she initially thought she was such a bitch.

• Mary, Vanessa, Dude, Vic and a few others at a noisy restaurant/bar. They are playing a drinking game and ordering stiff shots with beer. Everytime they order shots to go around the lights dim, a smoke machine blows out smoke, sirens go, police lights flash as does a strobe light. Dialogue about how much fun they're having and how nice Vic seems to be (Vanessa to Mary). The girls notice Vic has his eye on Mary. Mary quizzes Vanessa about Vic.
  Mary: So who is that guy?

  Vanessa: Dude's roommate. You like? Well, I've got a serious pussy lock on Dude, but you can have his roommate if you like.

• Segue to the inside of a local movie house. The crew is watching that film classic From Out Of The Blue at the midnight movie. Rowdy bunch. Close up of Mary mouthing the words to the scene where Carol throws wine on Michael. "Wait, wait! I love this scene. She stands up and pantomimes Carol's actions then falls over into the aisle, convulsed with laughter. She then yells, "Paratrooper" and proceeds to roll down the aisle, curled up in the fetal position. All of her friends follow suit, first shifting over then rolling down the aisle one by one. They end up all tangled up at the foot of the screen, laughing raucously. The audience stands and gives them an ovation.

• Shift mood. Mary has bursar problems and can't seem to resolve them between her bill and loan check. After being shuffled back and forth from one long line to the next, she breaks down and cries. There is an older fellow, the PROFESSOR, watching her. He comes up and offers assistance, helps her through the process. Asks if she wants to have some coffee with him, She accepts.

• They talk at a cafe. He explains his research. Meanwhile she sees her homies, the guy Vic she's had her eye on (because he has his eye on her, you see.) The Professor's soliloquy is an incredible barrage of indirection about fractals.

• New scene. Two girls (in shadows), are talking and toking up, see gang of friends (in harsh light) coming into party and they connect immediately (scene beginning). We have one fellow swoop into the shadow for hugs, and to take a toke. Their communication sets the stage for standard behavior, where people are thus exposed, in a world of strangers, trying to come up with a universal language that they can live with.

  AMICA is beginning to freak out. She feels oppressed by the fact that she is the only black person there. She crawls on her hands and knees and hides behind the couch. Her friend tries to console her, but she is too stoned.

  All principals are at this party. Characters are beginning to feel comfortable around each other, feel as if they have a sense of community, all the same age, and a newly forged norm of accepted behavior. Amica and Sapna embracing, Sapna saying, "I love you, Amica." Everyone takes to pot smoking, and their inner characters come out. Vic and Vanessa clash, though both are intrigued with each other. Vic ends up behaving strangely, but in an entertaining fashion. He walks on his knees worshipping Mary with folded hands:

  Vic: You're a good girl. You're the one we have to impress to gain favor. "Oh, teacher teacher, please give me an A."

  Vanessa: What about me?

  Vic: You're a bad girl. You need to be chastised. You need a spanking.

  Vanessa: A spanking, huh? You man enough to do it?

  Two fellows playing air guitar and mouthing words to the stereo. The stoned girls are sitting back and thoroughly entertained by this. It's almost as if they're really at some concert, right at center stage!

  Vic spanks Vanessa seated in a chair in the center of the room amidst non-stop revelry. Vanessa has thrust herself between the Vic/Mary worship scene, as is her wont. She revels in the depiction of being the bad girl, leading up to the spanking, fulfilling both of their senses of exhibitionism. Dude and Mary's eyes meet during the Vic/Vanessa spanking thing.

  VERONICA sitting on the couch, quietly smiling. Gestures with both arms: "These are my friends."

• Dude walking home through cemetery after the party, stone-faced. He's just trying to get home, trying to persevere.

• Dude walking home through the cemetery after the party (DUB VERSION). He is very high. First shot of a backlit Dude and the silhouettes of tombstones. He is talking to himself. Series of close-up jump cuts of his conversation. Strong lighting. Flashbacks of Mary's face, shoes, hips, lips, etc. during key moments of the party, and of kids standing around in a circle smoking pot, laughing hysterically, a memory of the party Dude just left.

  Dude Voice-Over:

  • "Is there a common language, a universal landscape in which we can share our versions of the truth without risk of harm? Or are we doomed to stand in a circle, thin smiles hiding our fears until our faces crack? Dude is into some heavy shit tonight....
  • She's there. She's really there. She permeates this whole space, like a beautiful shadow...
  • I'm in a fucking cemetery!...
  • She's the one. She's the girl...
  • Somebody's following me...
  • I'm fucking in love with Mary! (crying)...
  • Dude, you're freaking out. Nobody's there...
  • This is real...
  • I'm so wasted. When will this stop? I don't want to be high any more. I need my everyday mind... I'm okay. I'm an okay guy...
  • How come they call you Dude? That's fucked up. That's not even your name. It's important for people to know the real you!
  • Why am I talking to myself?
  • I have to talk to her. Am I just making all of this shit up?... This is love. This is what they've been talking about since, forever. The ancient Romans, Greeks. Vergil, Catullus, Horace, Sappho. Shit. I understand it now. All this time I never knew.
  • (Seated on a grave, leaning against a gravestone, masturbating) I'll swear it on the bible. I love you, Mary Born, grasping, gasping, Immaculate... You, my love, are everywhere. I'll hold you dear forever.
  • This is insane. I'm in a fucking cemetery and I'm jerking off and it's 3 in the fucking morning. Joe College."

• Sunrise like a guided missile, quickly rising. Cut to Dude's face, eyes closed. He's in his own bed. Same expression as the end of the cemetary scene. He opens his eyes and begins to talk directly to camera:

  Dude: It's amazing how a few CC's of passion can keep one warm, full of hope throughout the day. I'm a student. I go to college. My future is unknown, at least to me. I don't even know if I like my major or this place, or where this path may lead. But I get up and do my thing. Why? Well, what else is there to do? And I bide my time until the world's a shadow. Because shadow is where lies mystery and love. And love is life.

  The above is accompanied with a mellow beat and melody, as Dude walks and talks directly to the camera. Walking in sunlight, the scene ends to complete shadow, save for Dude, who is well-illuminated, just like in the previous scene. We see no more sun for the rest of the film.

• Scene centers about the frat, which is all dressed up, as are the boys. Vic begins to expand his volatile side, the questions he asks, the faces he makes in the company of his close friends. Finally the girls show up in groups and with their escorts. Mary and Vanessa arrive and they're greeted by Vic and Dude. There's a bit of mingling that goes on and the night slowly begins to develop.

• Segue to dormroom scene. Well-dressed, BUSTY GIRL is sitting in contrasty, dim lighting, trying to have a conversation (really a monologue) with TOMMY. She's drunk and almost falling out of her dress. She ad libs about her current problems and concerns, in an indirect way. Her speech contrasts her provocative style of dress: Her concerns are those of a child, stuck in a strange place without friend or family, trying to sort out a normal existence. Tommy, in contrast, keeps eyeing her breasts.

• Billiard room. Vic begins to become belligerent again. At first it's endearing. He tries to express himself and quizzes his audience as to whether or not they "get what he just said." If they claim they do but it turns out they didn't he berates them. Vanessa finds this refreshing. Dude just rolls his eyes: He's heard it all before. Mary is fairly neutral at this point, but is getting very drunk, trying to keep up with Vic and Vanessa. The couples are separated and Mary and Vic find themselves in the billiard room after a little dancing. Vic is starting to become a little unpredictable, but Mary isn't paying close attention. She's grown used to him and doesn't perceive him as a real threat, is taking in the billiard game.
  Vic: (Begins to explain the relative rarity of three-body collisions and how two-body collisions are much more common.)

  Mary: That's pretty interesting.

  Vic: Really?

  Mary: Yes, Victor, I mean what I say.

  Vic: You're not just bullshitting me, are you?

  Mary: No. You could let your guard down every now and then, you know.

  Vic: I want to let my guard down, Mary, because I really like you.

  Mary: I like you, too, Victor.

  Vic: And I've been in this fucking school for three years and you're the only one who's ever called me "Victor."

  The boys start to roll their eyes. Someone says, "Yeah, we like you too, Victor. Like you to leave. (High five)

  Vic: See, they don't know shit. Assholes. But they're not like you. (Pause) What makes you so special? Why's the camera always on you? (Pause) I want to know you, Mary. To really know you.

  This kind of dialogue goes on for a spell, Mary being cheerful but Vic being more and more aggressive, crowding in on her, while the frat boys keep playing billiards, oblivious. Finally Vic starts to take his pants off and pull up Mary's dress, pushing her down on the love seat they've been sitting on. Mary freaks. The billiard players freak. Vic is on top of Mary, trying to pull down her panties. The fellows roll him off of her and he falls on the floor with a thud, shouting obscenities. Mary runs out in terror, losing her shoes as she escapes into the night air, her head reeling. What just happened? Vic tries to chase after her, but is stopped by pool sticks jamming the door. He paws through the sticks and snarls like a caged wild animal.

• Mary gets to the dorm completely disheveled, flustered. Happens across Sapna in the TV room. She decides not to explain what happened other than to say it was a bad scene. Sapna's watching TV, some stupid late night program. Mary gets into it. They both hang out on the couch while Sapna rolls a joint, lights it, offers it to Mary. Mary tries it, for the first time. They have a brief conversation, then laugh at the TV show some more, as the drug takes its effect on Mary. Ultimately Sapna gives Mary a massage and proceeds to seduce her, all to the somber light of the TV glow. At this point Mary is too far gone and too jaded to resist. We fade to the physicalities of Sapna motions on top of Mary, bathed in TV light. Mary protests in vain, drunk and high out of her mind, "I don't know about this, Sapna, I don't think this is a good scene. Sapna, I don't think, I'm not sure..." Sapna shushes her in a calming yet firm fashion. She's not taking no for an answer. Fade.

• School. Mary's first academic test. She's completely out of it, depressed, unprepared. She daydreams the length of the period, We go into her daydream in detail, filmed with infrared. We come back to present time and Mary hasn't written a thing and there are only 15 minutes left in the period.

• Mary and girl friends walk down the hill. This walk is very different from the previous one. Mary is withdrawn. The girls don't know quite how to handle all the weirdness that happened the previous night. A few are toking up. It's dark. One of the girls comments on how it gets dark so early.

  Mary: We're like zombies, that's why. Vampires. Sunlight hurts our eyes. The very act of appreciating daylight is peccant.

  Vanessa: Don't be such a pedantic bore, Mary.

  Girls approach a rival gang of girls from another floor. Body language and looks show it to be a real face off. Vanessa goes out of her way to dis one of the girls as they walk by.

  Mary: (After long closeup of her about to lose is) We're all so fucking junior high school!

• A scene of Mary in isolation. Kind of "after the disaster" scene in which she desperately tried to study, but gravity has taken its toll. Mary in her dorm room at her desk, books all around. She is sound asleep, arms winding through a river of books. Fade.

• Mary on a walk alone, at night. She's walking carelessly, already well-removed from the cautious girl who entered college. She runs into Dude playing basketball. Dude informs Mary that Vic's been kicked out of the frat, and is on the verge of being expelled. There's a chemistry developing here. Dude is on his way from basketball, but walks around with Mary, basketball tucked under his arm. They go back to the court. In this scene Dude makes it known in clear terms that he thinks Mary is an angel and loved her the moment he saw her. What about Vanessa? He's lost patience with her, though it's obvious he likes Vanessa a lot. But his attraction to Mary is another beast altogether. He's more than a bit confused. Dude is sitting court side now with Mary. He tells her he wrote her a poem. He says this as he's twirling the basketball, playing with it. A little bit of indirection here. He puts the ball into his lap and recite's Dude's Poem:
  From far away to near
  I came and now I'm here
  To play for you
  To sing to you
  Play hoops for you
  Burning up that court
  In this sweet night air
  To smell that dear fragrance
  Of your hair,
  Taking me back...
  Been far too long since I've felt this way

  The poem is accompanied with silent visuals of Dude's ball game, which Mary never saw, yet imagines. "Burning up that court" is paired with Dude dribbling fiercely by a defender. "In the sweet night air" is paired with a basketball in slow motion sailing in foreground to a black sky. "To smell the dear fragrance" is paired to Dude in present time reciting his poem, then close up of Mary's neck and hair as she listens. "Taking me back" is paired with Mary and Dude's bodies intertwined. Flash forward? "Been too long" is read in the present, showing Dude finishing his poem Afer the poem it is apparent that Mary is touched, is enamored with the sincerity in Dude's eyes.

• Mary and Dude begin walking back to the dorm. A progression of sheer black mixed with snippets of the two well-lit as they pass by distant lights in silhouette. Make this contrast stark. You can really see nothing when it's dark. kind of like an animated strobe effect. Mary comments on Dude's poem, how it made her feel alive, seemed perfect. They end up in a state of repose, embracing. Mary confides, "Sometimes I feel we're all slowly going insane." Dude responds, "You're a dreamy girl, Mary."

• Mary back in dorm. She and Vanessa are sitting on a couch listening to music. They talk about the upcoming frat formal. Vanessa is expecting a visit (and call) from her high school boyfriend, and wonders if Mary can go to the formal with Dude, since she'll be busy. They start to toke up. Mary decides to broach the subject of Dude: "Wow, you're like going to go out on Dude?" "Listen, Mary, he's sweet, and he's a good fuck, but he's just a guy." Phone rings. Vanessa answers. It's MARK. Vanessa has an increasingly incomprehensible conversation with him as Mary muses. Vanessa and Mark are very intimate. She feels very comfortable with their communication and secure in his company.
  Vanessa: Yeah, how did you guess? (Cups phone) He always knows when I'm wasted. He's the best. (Back to phone) Yeah, I'm there, baby."

  In course of conversation Mary offers a few asides to Vanessa, but grows increasingly distant. Finally:

  Mary: You need love, too. Listen to you. What are you doing with Dude? He's not just like this "fuck."

  Vanessa: Just a second. (Cups phone) What?"

  Mary: He's not just a "fuck." Why would you say that?

  Vanessa: What are you talking about? Are you fucked up?

  Mary: He's not a "fuck." If he's a fuck, then you're a "fuck." I'm a "fuck."

  Vanessa: (Laughs) What are you talking about? You're fucked up. Just chill. You have to chill on it. (Back to phone) Oh, Mark, my roommate's fucked up! (Mary laughs at this. Vanessa touches her leg.)

  (Mary gets up and walks from scene. She has conflicting emotions, evidenced by laughter and a look of disgust.)

  Vanessa: Oh, yeah. I don't know. It's really like, different. Hey, listen, I'm like so wasted right now. I can't even... I wish you were here, baby. I just don't know. I can't even figure out how to get off the phone right now, so I'm just going to drop it, and then you'll like be here and surprise me and tell me how I'm your baby girl.

• A high Mary encounters Sapna in hallway. Mary snubs her. Sapna starts to cry but Mary won't have any of it.
  Mary: You just stripped me and did that thing to me when I was really fragile, and I just can't deal with it now. I'd like to beat the shit out of you! I have to go. (Closes her door and locks it.)

• Mary, locked in her room, sitting on the floor naked, trying to meditate She is still high, yet feels she can reach her higher self through breathing exercises. Every time she breathes in she sits up and the light intensifies. She ultimately opens her eyes, catching her reflection in the mirror. She laughs sardonically. "Mary, you're a pathetic loser, just like everybody else." Fade.

• The Formal. Dude picks up Mary. Mary utters the prophetic words: "These parties, they're like roulette, a crap shoot. You never know whether or not you're going to have a good time." Everyone is mellow at this party and she's warmed up to the boys in the frat, especially after realizing how they stuck up for her and tossed Vic out after he attacked her, without her even having to be involved and all. The band is a blast. Everyone is having a grand ole time. They go to Dude's room where a lot of them party. It's martinis and cigars. Somebody tosses out the notion of doing mushrooms. Mary and Dude decide to try. Mary confides in Dude that he's the first person that she's really connected with, but doesn't want to get between him and Vanessa. Dude lets on that he knows all about Vanessa and her high school honey and that it's a testament to Mary that she didn't spill the beans. "It makes me think even more highly of you." Pause. "And what about Vanessa." Pause. "Screw that bitch." They both laugh.

• Board games and drinks after the mushrooms. The evening grows very strange. Mary and Dude start to trip in a big way. The game becomes an afterthought and the two connect on a higher level for a spell, at least in Mary's mind. But then things become strange. Mary rolls the dice then stands up and promptly leaves the room, saying she needs some air. She wanders around a spell then finds her way to the shower, chases out a bunch of guys and collapses in the shower in her formal gown, Back to Dude, trying to maintain control, lying back in a chair, staring at the ceiling. Someone comes in, saying, "Hey, Dude. That chick's upstairs taking a shower in the men's room. Dude says, after a long pause, "What?" Repeats, "Your girlfriends upstairs in the 2nd floor bathroom acting weird." After another long pause, Dude says, "I wouldn't say she was my girlfriend, man." He muses on this, much too long, needs help going to see to Mary.

• Mary is literally freaking out in the shower, vomiting on hands and knees, holding on for dear life.
  Mary: (Some unintelligible noises. She's in a bad way.) 60 feet, down 2 1/2. (Pause) 2 forward. 2 forward. (Vomits.) That's good. We're all alone! We're all alone! God, I don't want to go out like this! I'm so scared..."

  Mary looks up. Camera from above. Fade to more sound of the shower, Mary retching.

• Professor calls Mary the next morning. She's very much out of it, but glad to hear his voice, to be alive. They set up a time to have coffee.

• Sapna attempts suicide. Her room quickly becomes a focal point.

• Mary calls Professor. He comes back and picks her up. They deal with business, then have a very late dinner. She can't stand going back to her suite. (Everyone's gone since Vanessa is still out of town and Sapna is now in hospital.) Stays at professor's house. The professor consoles her with the words, "Your dear friend had trouble waiting for the ending. Life is too short as it is." Mary muses, "I thought about doing that. So foolish. We have to kick and scream just to keep going. It'll get us sooner or later. Take advantage of the time we have. The weeds aren't so bad. They shield us from the Sun."

• Professor's house is a throwback to Mary's house when she was growing up. Very staid and quiet. He sets her up in the guest room and lets her use his study while he goes downstairs to finish up some work. Mary muses, then takes a shower and sits down to write her mom a letter. She ends it with, "I can't say I'm completely happy, Mother, but I'm living life. I'm living life."

• Mary is feeling more or less together, but definitely shaken by the suicide attempt of someone close to her. Her stint at college has been one social scene after another, but Mary still feels very much alone. Her belief in divine love is waning, as is her belief in the major she has more or less chosen for herself (fine arts with a minor in computer informations systems). At least things are on the up and up and she's been repulsed by the absurd notion of ending her life.

• We find Mary sitting in the studio working on her art project. Dude comes in and they console each other over the suicide attempt of Sapna. Dude and asks Mary is she wants to go grab a bite at the reception across the way where there is also a performance piece going on.
  Dude: Did you see her?

  Mary: Yeah. She's okay. I guess she's okay. I feel so responsible.

  Dude: She just didn't up and become suicidal this week.

  Mary: I'm not so sure about that.

  Dude: Well, you're not to blame. (Pause) You know why she tried to do it?

  Mary: I should have talked to her. I should have listened.

  Dude: Come on, Mary. A person who is everywhere is nowhere.

  Mary: What?

  Dude: (Pause. Shrugs and laughs.) Hell. I don't know what I'm talking about. Look, they're having a reception over at the museum. You want to go check out the free food?

• Mary and Dude go over to the museum and scarf down as much cheese, crackers, raw vegetables and wine as they can. Then they go check out the show.

• The piece is titled "Bathed In Light" by the avant-garde performance artist Lucy Istaranza, a dark and exotic woman of great beauty. Her show consists of a belly dance (slow and sensuous) to the accompaniment of drum and trance-oriented Bangra, illuminated by a series of slides with words that project onto the wall and her body. The slides are captioned:

  • Love is...
  • Life is...
  • Sex is...
  • Happiness is...
  • To Dream is...
  • Light is...

  Et cetera. There are also some slides with snippets of phrases from the music that is playing. Her piece consists of the artist dancing amidst the slides, light and words painted on her body, her fragmented shadow formed on a series of panels along the wall.

• Mary and Dude take this all in for a while, then are tickled by the stoic and serious attitudes of the members of the audience, who are all standing above, along a balcony. The two make a casual, yet definite, connection. This marks end of film.

• Credits roll to close ups of the belly dancer doing her thing.