(The scene opens on a bare stage, with a single spotlight just left of center. GRACE sits calmly in the spot in a folding chair, as though waiting for an interview, smiling serenely at her audience.)
GRACE: My name is Grace.
(Light changes, which will repeat every time G.T. Grace speaks- GRACE tableaus, half-lit, while G.T. Grace speaks.)
Good Time Grace (From here referred to as G.T. Grace): Good-Time Grace, if truth be told. Number scrawled on nearly every bathroom wall from here to Washington DC in the lip liner of other, less honorable girls.
GRACE: I know I’ve been quoted as the girl who “ will take your gray skies, and paint them all to shades of blue.”
G.T. Grace: It’s the other way around really. I’ll take my paint box and muddle your colors until everything is gloomy. It’s only who I am. I don’t mean to make you sad.
GRACE: I hate to leave this place- as long as I’ve lived here, I’ve always been welcomed, and had more friends than I honestly know what to do with.
G.T. Grace: Not that they really mind much. Friends, just like me, are for the good times. Times like this, when there’s nobody to talk to but yourself, is when you make those realizations.
GRACE: I couldn’t have done it without the loving support of my boyfriend, Smith.
G.T. Grace: Probably won’t speak of him again after next week. He’s getting boring to me, I think. Boys leave me cold. They’re only good for one thing, and it’s cash. Cold, hard cash.
GRACE: The past four years, I’ve been a leader in our community.
G.T. Grace: Though, what kind of leader, I’m not really sure.
GRACE: I’m very concerned about the growing rates of drug and alcohol abuse in teens, so I’ve been working to reduce it for the past three years, and I think we’ve made great progress.
G.T. Grace: Wouldn’t it be great if they knew that I can’t convince one of my only friends to stop smoking and getting smashed on school nights.
GRACE: And in my spare time, oh, I volunteer a lot, helping with a local children’s group, but my guilty pleasure is that I like to knit.
G.T. Grace: My guilty pleasure is knitting, it’s true- but in my spare time, I run a subversive website chronicling all the problems with society, using language that would make these people cringe.
GRACE: If I could have one wish for the world, I think I’d have to say that I would wish for everyone to love each other.
G.T. Grace: Love each other- ha. In what way would more loving be a good thing for me? Those disgusting hands that creep across your skin are the reason to beg for love? Those hurt eyes when you walk away are why you say your prayers?
GRACE: Now, as most of you know, I read the announcements every morning.
G.T. Grace: Even though half the time, the cheery voice is false, and my teeth clench around their names.
GRACE: So I think you should all know, that I love Jesus.
G.T. Grace: I love Jesus, because Jesus will always love me, and most days, he’s all I’ve got.
GRACE: And I love all of you.
G.T. Grace: Even the jerks I walk the halls with.
GRACE: After today, we’ll all move on into the world- a little wiser, a littler older, but each and every one of us will have learned something in these four years.
G.T. Grace: I never said it had to be positive.
GRACE: And I know you will all support me in the future, just as I support you.
G.T. Grace: Although I’ve never really been supported here. Not at all. They’ve always called me stuck up, or too damn depressed for my own good. Not that I’m really surprised, just slightly hurt. I’d never have expected that the nail’s head would throb quite like this.
(Fuzzy lighting on BOTH)
BOTH: My name is Grace. Good-Time Grace, actually. I grew up in a small town, and in a small town, everybody remembers everything- except what really happened. When I was a kid, there was this boy, and some things happen that linger in the fuzzy recesses of my mind as a bad, but nearly imaginary memory. But as the rumors flew, I lost control. I was suddenly Good-Time Grace, no matter that my clothes were loose and modest, or that my face boasted no makeup. I was the worst kind of tease- the kind that wasn’t. I’m older now- old enough to know what it means, and to notice the things I lack, and the things I receive. I am appreciative, dear town, dear friends, dear loved ones. You have given me what I always dreamed of- A title.
(GRACE steps into center, smiling broadly.)
GRACE: I’m so privileged to have the honor of giving this speech. I don’t have much else to say, except that we did it, and how proud I am of the accomplishments we made. And so, for the last time, this is Grace-
G.T. Grace: Good-Time Grace, actually-
GRACE: Over and out.
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