ACT ONE

A spotlight illuminates CAMERONas he moves slowly, as though suspended in water. We can hear underwater sounds. Underneath this, the quiet pulse of a heartbeat.

CAMERON. I look up through the shimmer of the swimming-pool water to the surface where the quality of the light changes. Cocooned in its coolness, I close my eyes and count: one second, two seconds, three seconds…

The sound of the heartbeat quickens.

My chest gets tighter. Just a few more seconds… fifteen, sixteen, seventeen… The chlorine stings my eyes. My chest feels tighter, but I must stay here at the bottom of the pool. Twenty-three… twenty-four… twenty-five… I can’t hold any longer – I need to take a breath. Just one breath. (Takes a breath.) Water fills my nostrils, my lungs. (Frantic, afraid.) I try to kick, kick, kick. But the surface gets further away.

We hear the sound of beautiful music.

Then suddenly I am surrounded by the most beautiful sound: silence. I let go. Give in to the water. Am I drowning?

We hear the sound of someone shouting CAMERON’s name, as though through water. Suddenly the shouting becomes clearer as though the voice has finally burst out of the water.

The lights go up and we find CAMERONsitting on the floor of his classroom, with his cl