C: Hey
Maggie: Hey
C: so, do you have anything you want to say to me?
Maggie: Yeah, I'm sorry that I treated you like crap, can we still be friends?
C: Why did you act like you hated me?
Maggie: Because my loser ex boyfriend didn't like you and forced me to think that way. I am so sorry!
C: I miss hanging out with you.
Maggie: Me too.

Me: Good evening this is genevieve speaking
Dad: Hi gen, it s your dad
Me: Dad- I was thinking of you lately trying to remember some of the things we did together, the conversations we had.
Dad: Remember when we played basketball during that summer vacation?
At that beach-where was that beach?
Me: I can t recall.
Dad:Hmmm me neither.
Me: But I remember your pea soup. And the time you stopped me in the hallway and told me the answer to the riddle-
so I would look smart when you asked everyone else. I only have a few other clear memories the others-
I m not sure if they re real memories or just images from old photographs.
Dad: It s ok. I think you're a very smart girl, and you re doing so well. I wish I could be with you.
Me: I really miss you- still.
Dad: I know. Don t worry so much about the little things; everything will come together in the end.
Me: Ok, I love you.
Dad: I love you so much. Bye.

Me: Hello?
Mama: Hello, Buzzy?
Me: Yeah, Mama, it's me.
Mama: You're voice has changed so much. You're my big nine-year-old girl now, huh?
Me: Yeah, nine years, seven months and (pause) sixteen days. I'm almost ten.
Mama: Did you get the card I sent you? Sorry I couldn't send you something, but I'm still looking for a job.
Me: Yeah, I got the card. Butterflies are my favorite.
Mama: I almost got you one with a rabbit pulling a man out of a hat.
Me: Silence
Mama: You know I love you?
Me: Yeah.
Mama: You know I miss you?
Me: Then why don't you come home?
Mama: You know I'm trying to get better. I've been dry for almost seven months.
Me: Why don't you come back here and finish drying out?
Mama: It's hard to come back when you've been gone for so long. Gets harder every day.
Sometimes I think you're all better off without me. I made you miserable when I was there.
Me: We're more miserable without you.
Mama: Really? Are you, honey? Because I'm miserable, too. Minnesota's a horrible place. I'm going to
pack my bags this very second and head right back to California. I promise to never have another drink
as long as I live and I promise to live well into my seventies. Sound like a deal?
Me: It's a deal!

1--hello?
2--hello, kae, this is ---.
1--oh, hi ---.. how are you?..
2--look, i'm glad we talked earlier. obviously, you'd had
some things on your mind that you needed to share with me--
1--yes..
2--and i needed to hear it, boy, did i ever.. i'd never
realized before what a basketcase i've been.. girls, when they broke up with me,
would just do it fast--so abruptly--often through email--and
usually they'd just say that they'd started getting serious with
someone else and wanted to settle down and that was that.
i wonder now if they hadn't been telling me the whole story..
1--oh, really?..
2--yeah, because now that you've pointed it out,
i can see that my possesive behaviour, my jealousy,
my anger, my secrecy--all these things--i can see that
they've been patterns in my relationships for a long time now..
1--really.. wow..
2--yeah, i know.. crazy, isn't it? and unfortunate, that no one else cared
enough to try to help me help myself by pointing out how i drive people away.
no wonder i'm 41 and alone..
1--oh, ---, don't say that..
2--no--it's true, its absolutely true. and i just want to thank
you--that's why i called you back--(sorry about saying "fuck you"
before on the phone and asking for my curious george hat back--sorry about that--you
can actually keep it--i said some things i didn't mean in the heat of the moment,
there)--but no, really--i want to THANK you. our time together has been really special.
1--for me, too--really, i--
2--thank you, kae, for all you've given me. i think you're a great girl.
and a great lay. and did i mention, superfine?
1--aw, ---..
2--well, toots, i'll miss ya. take care of yourself. i know you'll find someone else to love you in no time flat.
as for me, wish me well, will ya? don't forget me? and all the fun we've had?
1--no, never, ---..
2--i'm gonna hang up the phone before i have to hear you say goodbye, okay? ready? three, two one--
[CLICK]
1--[INTO AN EMPTY RECEIVER] goodbye..

Me: Hello?
Tom: Hi. Um. ...Is this Georgia?
Me: Yeah.
Tom: This is Tom. Um. ...I know I haven't talked to you since...I don't know when it was...whenever it was I talked to you last.
I just thought it was about time I look you up-see what you're up to. How are you?
Me: (stunned) Good. Good! ... How are you?
Tom: Hey, do you still have the snakes?
Me: Oh. Yeah. Well, Lemony died last winter, I'm so sad about it, but I still have Proteus. How about you?
Where are you? I haven't talked to you in so long. This is so weird...
Tom: I know. Sorry I never responded to that email you sent when I accidentally sent you that mass mail.
I just...this last year has been so weird...I..I wouldn't have known what to say.
Me: Well, it's good to hear from you now. How are you?
Tom: Um...well....I'm Mormon now.
Me: Are you kidding me?
Tom: Seriously, I'm Mormon now. ...Yeah, I know.
Me: Tom...
Tom: I know.

Me: Hi
Him: Hi
Me: I was so afraid to hear your voice. I'm trembling.
Him: Why?
Me: I wasn't ready I guess. It was like when we first met in person. I was scared. I almost didn't want to.
Him: You didn't want to?
Me: Not really. I wanted to up until the moment before. I realized then that I didn't really have feelings as strong as I had thought.
I'm too young to have to stay with the same person forever.
Him: Oh... Well, if there's love, then...
Me: No, you don't understand. You say if the feelings are strong then the relationship can make it through anything.
There aren't strong feelings anymore.
Him:...
Me: I stayed with you for five years because I was scared of my own feelings.
Him: ...
Me: And I hope you understand and don't take it personally now that we're apart.
Him: How can I not?
Me: You're a wonderful person. You take care of everyone. I can only hope to be that selfless when I grow up... eventually.
Him: You are grown up.
Me: I made you think that. But I'm not. I'm a stupid kid.
Now, I need to get to the real reason why I needed to talk to you.
Him: Ok...
Me: The last time we spoke I wasn't able to express this. I didn't know how to put it in words.
Him: ...
Me: For five years I've had doubts about my feelings for you. I realize now that I've been in love with the idea of you.
I've been chasing a fantasy. But you're a person. A human being. And I'm not ready for that yet.
I loved how you made me feel when I was alone. I'll always love the idealized version of you.
But I don't love you. I never really did.
Him: How is that possible?
Me: Never underestimate the power of denial. Remember that line? From American Beauty?
Him: Yes.
Me: Anyway, I wanted to get my true feelings out. Not just the sugarcoated version that I expressed to you last week.
And now that you know that there will never again be an "us," we can both move on.
It's hard to believe that we went from what we were to what we are now, isn't it?
Him: I'll still wait for you. I still love you with all my heart.
Me: I'm sorry you're wasting your love on me.
Him: I'm not wasting my love.
Me: Well, I'll never love you back. I don't think I'm ready to be friends.
So... Goodbye.