Our Lady of Delaware

A Screenplay

By Melanie R. Bird

Emma's parents died when she and her brother were very young. The children went to live with their aunt and uncle. Some time later her uncle dies as well. These losses impressed Emma in such a way that she came to see life as something that was very hard. She did not expect much from it. Once she graduated high school she attended University of Delaware. Fast forward to her senior year with her roommate Jen.

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Jen Milano (Jeniffer Anistan) is the youngest child of an Italian family from Northern New Jersey. She transferred to UD after an unfortunate college romance. As the baby of the family she is used to much attention .... Emma needs very little. Jen enjoys being with Emma because she remains the center of attention. Emma loves Jen and does not feel the need to compete with her.

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Enter Peter, a young man headed for the ministry. He meets Jen and Emma but is drawn particularly to Emma. Jen loves both Emma and Pete. It seems that they often end up hanging out. Pete sees Jan as someone with needs while Emma requires very little. Emma sees her role with Pete as a helpful one. She believes in his calling and is happy to focus on him and his future. Once they are engaged and Pete has Emma by his side he focuses more on his future too. While Emma is his future wife, Jen is something of a parishioner .... he is a shepherd.

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This begins to be something of a problem for Emma. She tries to draw a boundary line on her relationship to Pete and gently let Jen know that she cannot be the third wheel. Pete ignores the boundary line and one evening ends up going home with Jen. This occurs because they attend a party where Pete begins to drink a bit too much. Emma tries to encourage him to leave but he shrugs her off. After Pete makes an off color joke, Emma decides to head home. Jen offers to help Pete home and they make out before heading back to their apartments.

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The following morning, Jen lies to Emma about the previous night. They head out to classes and meet up with Pete. Emma senses that Jen and Pete are friendlier then usual and then realizes that Jen has lied to her. She stops as Jen and Pete continue, then turns abruptly, walking rather blindly across the sidewalk, over a curb and into the street where she is hit by a car.

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Later in a hospital bed with a broken collar bone, she is visited by Jen. Jen is cute but self centered. She doesn't quite yet realize the extent to which she has hurt her friend. Emma turns her face to the wall. She has nothing left to give Jen ... or Pete for that matter. A sobered Jen retreats to the library for some self examination and a good bit of self reproach. One of the professors, Greg Hughes (Hugh Laurie) observes her distress. He has always liked Jen but respects the student / teacher boundaries. He is thoughtful and kind. He helps Jen overcome a good bit of her momentary self hatred without negating her need to change.

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Pete also has visited Emma and received his ring back. Emma is not an arrogant person. She is simply someone who is easy to take advantage of. She takes up very little space. She is collected by her aunt and returns home to convalesce. They have a beach house. Emma and her brother hang out some .... he loves his older sister and thinks she ought to know that it is okay to receive sometimes.

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Jen and Pete care deeply about Emma and no longer see each other. Greg and Jen do begin to see each other after graduation. Pete heads over to see Emma one more time. He is met at the door by the auntie. Aunt Grace steps out to talk with him on the porch. She wants him to understand that Emma is not the kind of person that asks for anything. She wants him to know that if he is going to be with Emma he will have to look for ways to take care of her. Pete concedes that he was being ignorant but he would like another chance to make it up to Emma. Aunt Grace steps aside and Pete steps into the room to be with Emma who is seated by a sunny window. Coming up beside her, hat in hand, he asks her for another chance to be there for her. Emma is silent for a moment, then asks Pete to pass her reading book on the table.