This is the first screenplay I wrote, based on a short story I wrote my junior year of college, and I’m still rewriting it, many years later, because it’s not quite done yet. So this is some approximation of the plot, but it’s evolving.

It’s 1994. CINDY, 17, finishing her junior year of high school, lives in Long Beach, NY, a beach town on Long Island. Her older sister, SIMONE, 18, is about to graduate from high school. They live with their parents, EMILY and MARK. Cindy is passionate about photography and plans to take a class that summer. Simone is going to Binghamton in the fall to study dance and theatre.

One night, Simone invites Cindy to go to a party with her, and Cindy agrees. She doesn’t usually go to parties because she’s a little shy, but she sees her friend MARIA at the party, and her crush, SEAN, who she works with at the local movie theatre. What she also sees is Simone drinking at the party, which shocks her: their father is a recovering alcoholic, and no one in their family drinks. She leaves the party, upset with Simone. The next morning, though, Simone still hasn’t returned home and Cindy and her family learn that, while DANNY, Simone’s boyfriend, was driving her home, they were hit by another car blowing a red light, and Simone was killed.

After the funeral, some approximation of life goes on for the Harris family. Cindy starts her photography class with Maria, and she tells MR. AARONS, the teacher, that she wants to use the class to document Simone’s life.

Maria encourages Cindy to come out to another house party, and she does, having an OK time until Danny shows up. He’s a mess. He suggests that they do some of the things together that they were planning to do with Simone. Cindy agrees, but only after she realizes these activities could be helpful to her for her photography project.

Danny and Cindy start to spend time together—they go to a concert in the city; Danny practices driving with Cindy; they go to Point Lookout, where Danny and Simone were right before the accident; they go to the carnival on the boardwalk. Through it all, as Cindy and Danny grow closer, Cindy documents their time together for her project. At the carnival, Danny gets annoyed with Cindy after she sees Sean and wants to spend time with him.

Cindy realizes through all of these interactions that she didn’t know her sister as well as she thought she did, a point brought home when she picks up some photos at the drugstore and gets some of Simone’s, too. There are photos of Simone with a guy Cindy doesn’t recognize. A few weeks later, when she and Mark bring his car to the garage for an inspection, Cindy recognizes one of the mechanics as the guy from the photos.

A few nights after the carnival, when Cindy’s parents have gone out of town on a prearranged trip for their anniversary, Danny comes over. He wants to see Simone’s room again before he leaves for college, and to apologize to Cindy for being weird at the carnival. Cindy and Danny end up having sex—it’s Cindy’s first time—and the immediate aftermath is not good for either of them. Danny accuses Cindy of using him for her “project” about Simone, and Cindy accuses him of using her as a proxy for Simone. He says Simone would never treat him like such crap, and Cindy shows him the photos of Simone and the mechanic. Danny leaves, devastated.

Photography exhibit. Cindy sets up her project in the main hallway of the school. Her project is called Structuring Absence, and includes photos and text. Her parents come to the exhibit, and love her work. Sean is there, too, and is really impressed. It’s another side of Cindy he didn’t know existed. As Cindy is about to pack up for the night, Danny walks into the building. He says he wanted to see her before leaving for school, and he wanted to see her project. As they walk out of the building together, they apologize to each other again. He says he’s going to miss her, and they have one last kiss.

First day of senior year. Cindy and Maria walk down the main hallway, admiring their art work. Cindy walks up to the third floor and opens her locker, tacking up a new photo of herself with Simone. Sean walks down the hallway, and, seeing Cindy, tells her he’s gonna have some competition. She tells him, no, he won’t, and as the hallway fills up with other students, she kisses him.