THE GREAT AMERICAN LOSER

Dark Comedy

Jessica DiGiacinto



Synopsis 

After her previous vacation plans get disrupted, 25 year old EMMA DANIELS heads to her suburban Massachusetts home for two weeks of respite from a lonely, lame existence in New York City.

Avoiding any and all conversation about her social life with her eccentric parents, JANICE and PAUL, Emma meets her old childhood friends STEW and MOLLY at a neighborhood bar. JACK, a shy acquaintance from high school catches up with the group, but before he and Emma can connect, the crowded bar erupts into cheers. JONATHAN BROOKS, hot and fit and 44-years-old, stands in the middle of a bunch of eager Coeds. Emma and her group are not as excited to see Jonathan, seeing how he taught – and terrorized -- them throughout high school.

As Stew and Jack discuss Jonathan’s penchant for making anyone’s life miserable who wasn’t pretty or popular, Emma remembers back to her high school days. She finds herself in Jonathan’s a film studies class entitled “The Great American Loser”. When Jonathan asks a younger, nerdier Emma a question, she completely embarrasses herself, and instantly becomes the laughing stock of the entire class.

Back in the present, Emma runs through the bar to the bathroom in an attempt to rid herself of the memories. Before she has a chance to calm down, Jonathan, along with two drunk college coeds, bursts into the bathroom. Emma pushes past him, but Jonathan finds her a few minutes later, strangely drawn to Emma’s face. “I know you,” he tells her. When Emma coughs up that he used to be her high school teacher, Jonathan is surprised.

The next day, Emma and Jonathan bump into each other, and Jonathan asks Emma out on a date, an invitation Emma declines. Unused to being snubbed, Jonathan continues to pursue her, until she finally agrees.

As Emma finds herself falling for a man who was the cause of so much heartsickness and embarrassment in high school, she tries to ignore the concerns of her friends and parents, as well as fight her own nagging doubt that something underneath Jonathan’s cool, confident demeanor threatens to not only destroy their relationship, but Jonathan himself.

No matter who we become, two simple facts remain: high school was hell, and the past can be a bitch.

Copyright 2010 Jessica DiGiacinto
All Rights Reserved