“Most of us can’t have children, a lot of us never live long enough to try. Only other CFers know what this feels like, but we’re not supposed to fall in love with each other.” She stands up, determined. “So, after all that CF has stolen from me—from us—I’m stealing something back.”
Ohhhh, yes. The moment Stella stands up to CF. Stella has been denied so many parts of life that we take for granted, and she feels the weight of those absences every day. This is a girl who doesn’t allow herself to want things she knows she can’t have. But all those things, all those buried dreams, are embodied in Will. And he’s right there, within reach, but she can’t touch him. So, from the opening pages of the script, I started building to this moment, when we see Stella stay behind as her friends head off for Cabo. And throughout the script, she’s consistently pushed out of her comfort zone until she comes to this moment, the moment wherein she finally chooses to go for it, to be with Will, even if it’s five feet apart. This is the moment Stella finally unlatches the door of the invisible cage she’s built around herself and lets herself dream of a life beyond her illness. Stella is the thief now. This, if it’s not too immodest to say, is one of my favorite scenes.
Fun Fact: So, I firmly believe that any coincidence is a sign that I’m on the right track. Call me silly, I don’t care. Here’s why it matters: I’m writing this scene and suddenly I’m writing Stella with a pool cue and I’m like, “what the hell is this pool cue doing here?” Then Stella holds it out, like an extension of her arm and I’m like, “A pool cue? OMG. Yes! Stella, that’s perfect!” And she’s like, “Uh, yeah, I know. That’s why I’m showing it to you.” (Yes, I talk to my characters and they talk to me. Truth.) And then I thought, there’s no way a pool cue is five feet long. No way. That would be too lucky, right? I mean, what are the odds? Turns out the odds are pretty damned good. You can imagine my glee when a quick Google search revealed that the length of the average pool cue is about five feet. Eeeeeeee!! Stella knew! As soon as I saw that, I knew it was no coincidence. And that pool cue turned out to be everything.
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