ClaraBean
You know I’m in class right now. Trying to LEARN.
Holden
Well yes because I’m right here next to you trying not to learn...
Holden
so maybe its time we got to know each other.
ClaraBean
I don’t want to get into trouble, and everyone calls me Clara Bean.
Holden
I dont wanna get you in trouble Clara Bean...
Holden
but Ive been sitting next to you for months...
Holden
and I cant go another day without talking to you or I might explode.
ClaraBean
Not much for grammar, are you?
Holden
Grammar is for nerds.
ClaraBean
Are you calling me a nerd?
Holden
Girls cant be nerds silly.
ClaraBean
Aren’t you a Lit Major? How can you think so little of grammar?
Holden
Words are for artists words should be free of rules words should just BE
Holden
and Im setting them free in my own way.
Holden
I have learned the rules of grammar so now Im free to ignore them.
Holden
No one told Picasso which order to lay down his paints.
ClaraBean
Haha, you are NOT Picasso. Oh no! Here comes the warden Miss Haverstock.
ClaraBean
Cool it for a minute.
Holden
Consider it cooled.
ClaraBean
Coast is clear. Miss Haverstock sure is an odd ball.
ClaraBean
I’ll bet she could keep an actual nest of bees in her beehive.
Holden
Shes a spaz and her enormous hair cushions her fall whenever she trips.
ClaraBean
Haha! Okay that was funny.
ClaraBean
You’re funny, Holden, but we should really pay attention.
Holden
How can I pay attention when I have you sitting next to me?
Holden
You smell like cardamom and coffee and lemon
Holden
and I think Im drunk on your scent and dont ever wanna be sober.
ClaraBean
Stop, you’re making me blush.
Holden
Pink looks good on you. Go out with me, Beanie.
ClaraBean
I already have a boyfriend who is a REAL man.
Holden
You think Im subterranean don’t’cha?
Holden
You think Im some poetry reading weirdo who dresses funny and has no future right?
ClaraBean
If the shoe fits.
ClaraBean
You probably think I’m just some nowhere chick because I’m a cheerleader
ClaraBean
and my boyfriend happens to be the quarterback who’ll probably go pro.
Holden
I think your boyfriend is nowhere for sure but you Clara...
Holden
are definitely a somewhere chick
Holden
I see an unusual girl inside waiting to break free from your pristine shell.
ClaraBean
You’re sweet, but the answer is still no.
Holden
Go out with me. Theres a club nearby. I read there a few nights a week.
Holden
I have a strong following of six or seven people!
Holden
The manager said if I get ten people to show up he will gimme a free beer.
ClaraBean
Sounds like you’re all the rage.
Holden
Come listen to me and see how the other side lives.
Holden
You dont gotta be a square just because everyone thinks you should be a square
Holden
be a circle Clara Bean or better yet a triangle.
ClaraBean
Why are you even talking to me? Are you just doing this for kicks?
ClaraBean
So you can laugh about me later with your hipster friends
ClaraBean
and tell some unflattering story about me on stage?
Holden
My friends bet me I wouldnt.
ClaraBean
So I’m a bet. Please leave me alone
ClaraBean
or I’ll raise my hand and tell Miss Haverstock you’re bothering me.
Holden
Clara puh-leese! They bet me I wouldn’t have the guts to talk to you in class
Holden
but I always wanted to but was afraid your lunkhead boyfriend would pound me.
ClaraBean
Fine Holden, you’ve got one chance to impress me.
ClaraBean
Don’t look at me, but tell me what color my eyes are? Don’t look! I’m serious.
Holden
How can I write with my eyes closed?
ClaraBean
Look the other way, dummy!
Holden
Clara Bean your eyes are green but not just regular green
Holden
a neon sort of green that maybe glow in the dark with flecks of gold
Holden
that seem to dance when youre happy.
ClaraBean
Well, yes, I suppose that’s correct.
Holden
Youre blushing again.
ClaraBean
Am not! It’s just hot in here.
Holden
Sure sure look Im a poet and making girls blush is something ive done before
ClaraBean
I’m going to be a doctor and actually save lives...
ClaraBean
so your kind of silliness I have no time for, understand?
ClaraBean
Your charm is wasted on me.
Holden
Oh so youre better than me because youll be some lady doctor?
ClaraBean
I’m only saying that we’re different. It just wouldn’t work.
Holden
Different like Romeo and Juliet?
ClaraBean
No, different like The Bride of Frankenstein and Count Dracula.
ClaraBean
Hardy har har. Holden, I am stopping this now. I want to learn.
Holden
You think youre gonna learn something from miss haverstock?
Holden
Only thing I ever learned was how to nap.
ClaraBean
I learn a lot, because I have ambition. You do not.
Holden
You dont believe words can change the world?
ClaraBean
You can barely SPELL and you’re going to change the world with your words?
Holden
I spell just fine I just choose not to sometimes words are power
Holden
and I like to take words and reshape them to my needs.
ClaraBean
The rules of grammar are important.
Holden
No theyre not. Emotion is important.
Holden
Someday Ill write a book or a poem
Holden
or give a street corner performance that will save lives.
ClaraBean
Now you’re just being silly.
ClaraBean
When I’m a doctor, I’ll save lives
ClaraBean
but you will never be a doctor so how can you save lives?
Holden
Because words have more power than anything
Holden
and you dont wanna be a doctor you wanna be an artist
Holden
you smell of frustrated artist.
ClaraBean
I admire your ambition, if not your narcissism.
ClaraBean
Maybe I will come see you do your poetry stuff.
Holden
Its not just poetry I tell stories about my life
Holden
about my awful parents and how they shipped me off to military school
Holden
and forgot about me and about how they refused to pay for my college
Holden
and think Im the worlds biggest disappointment
Holden
but you know I make it funny and sometimes I rhyme.
ClaraBean
I didn’t know you had it so rough.
Holden
I know you had it rough too.
Holden
I know your parents died when you were young and youve been alone
Holden
and maybe you being a cheerleader and dating the BMOC...
Holden
is your way of being accepted somewhere and feeling normal
Holden
when you know deep down youre not because youre like me.
ClaraBean
How do you know about me?
Holden
I heard your lousy boyfriend talking in the locker room.
Holden
He told his friends hes dating you because you have no family
Holden
and he says “those” kinds of girls are always “easy.”
ClaraBean
What do you want from me, Holden?
Holden
I want you to come see me tonight at the bowery poetry club.
ClaraBean
So you really are a beatnik?
Holden
Spend one night with me Clara Bean you wont regret it.
Holden
I want you to experience something new that will shake up your world.
ClaraBean
Fine. It sure beats passing notes back and forth in the middle of Miss Haverstock’s history class.
Holden
Youve been so desperately trying to fit in you sacrificed your true nature.
ClaraBean
What’s my true nature?
Holden
Youre an artist at heart a visionary.
ClaraBean
Sometimes I do see the future.
ClaraBean
I see people communicating with tiny computers instead of pencils and paper
ClaraBean
and then I see people communicate using just their minds, maybe by 1980.
Holden
Sometimes I see the future too.
ClaraBean
What do YOU see?
Holden
Me kissing you in a dark alley at 11:35pm tonight.
ClaraBean
That’s a very precise vision.
Holden
Well they always kick me offstage by 11:30 for the monkey act.
ClaraBean
☺ See you tonight! I will try not to be my usual perfect self.
Holden
I want you as imperfect as possible Clara Bean.
