Editor’s Note: “A Slice of Life” is a new series started by In Depth Editor Kaitlyn Corwin. In a movie script style, RHStoday takes a glimpse into the life of the “humans” of Robinson High School. All script lines of the students are quotes taken from an interview with them. Have an idea for A Slice of Life? Email [email protected] or drop a note by room 112.

“The Real Humans of RHS”:

SETTING: SENIOR PICNIC TABLES, DAY

Friends TAYLOR NELSON (‘16), SHAINIQUA WILLIAMS (‘16), and JAY NOBLE (‘16) are sitting down at a table, reflecting upon themselves and what makes them unique.

TAYLOR: I know how to put on makeup right without looking all messy like a clown or something, running up and down the hallways. You have to look nice, you know? You’ve gotta fix your eyebrows… you don’t want [to look like] some of these monsters-

SHAINIQUA: I think a lot of people think I’m really quiet, but I’m not. I’m really outspoken. That’s because y’all don’t know.

TAYLOR: What do you mean we don’t know? We’ve been stuck with you for like thirteen years; we know. You’re loud. What about you, Donald?

JAY: Who’s Donald?

(Note: Donald is JAY’s birth name, but he prefers not to go by it. Naturally, TAYLOR and SHAINIQUA refer to him by this name whenever they get a chance.)

JAY: What’s unique about me is that people think I’m really mean, but I’m nice.

TAYLOR laughs.

JAY, in feigned disbelief: What? I am. I’m a nice person.

TAYLOR: That’s a lie!

NARRATOR (V.O.): Taylor and Shainiqua have known one another for thirteen years. Jay claims to have “just met these clowns this year.”

TAYLOR looks to JAY.

TAYLOR: You’re the clown, look at your hair.

NARRATOR (V.O.): When Taylor and Shainiqua first met, their relationship wasn’t exactly loving.

TAYLOR: I think you pushed me down [the first time we met]. You used to bully me.

SHAINIQUA: Yeah, we used to bully each other.

TAYLOR: No, it’s not “each other;” you bullied me, pushed me down. I started crying.

NARRATOR (V.O.): The girls claim that recess helped them to make amends and begin their long friendship.

TAYLOR: We started to hang a lot.

SHAINIQUA: Yeah, we stuck together like magnets! We just have a lot of stuff in common. That’s why we’ve always clicked with one another and I can tell her anything and she can tell me anything.

NARRATOR (V.O.): When the two girls entered their senior year, they met Jay. They immediately accepted him as one of their own.

SHAINIQUA: We’re all outspoken. [Jay] says how he feels out loud, but [sometimes] it’s too loud.

TAYLOR: You should see us in the hallway… we blast music. We don’t really care.

JAY: Cause at the end of the day, all of these children are irrelevant and we’re just better than all of them.

Cut to a nearby STUDENT, who gasps. Cut back to TAYLOR.

TAYLOR, laughing: I didn’t say that! That was him.

JAY: Yep, I said it! Jay Noble.

SHAINIQUA, laughing: His name is Donald, actually.

JAY, ignoring SHAINIQUA’s comment: Jay Noble, with the hair. The gay one, the black one, and if anybody’s got a problem…

JAY does a tough gesture.

JAY: What’s good?

TAYLOR and SHAINIQUA continue laughing, but slowly calm down.

NARRATOR (V.O.): Outside of school, the three friends enjoy shopping and eating pizza. However, unlike his two friends, Jay is more particular about what he likes to do in his spare time.

JAY: [I want] food, money, and not seeing any of these hoodlums again.

TAYLOR: I can’t with you…

JAY: And being where I want to be in my life…

JAY pauses for dramatic effect.

JAY, in sing-songy voice: Famous!

SHAINIQUA: He wants to be a celebrity, but I want to go to Florida State to be a nurse.

TAYLOR: I’m going with her to be a vet.

JAY: You’re gonna be nurses and whatever, and you can take care of me when I get hurt.

TAYLOR, to SHAINIQUA: Who said we were going to take care of him?

As TAYLOR and SHAINIQUA begin giggling again, ERIC VANCE (‘17) sits down at the table.

NARRATOR (V.O.): Like Taylor, Shainiqua, and Jay, Eric believes himself to be an outspoken individual and enjoys pointing out interesting things and laughing about them.

TAYLOR: I guess you could call [what we do] being a little mean sometimes but-

ERIC: Hey, meanness comes from honesty though.

NARRATOR (V.O.): The four of them poke fun at other students by giving them crazy nicknames. They have also given themselves nicknames as Jay

Cut to close up of JAY.

NARRATOR (V.O.): is Frederick Douglass. Shainiqua

Cut to close up of SHAINIQUA.

NARRATOR (V.O.): is Aretha Franklin. Taylor

Cut to close up of TAYLOR.

NARRATOR (V.O.): is Diana Ross. And Eric

Cut to close up of ERIC.

NARRATOR (V.O.): is Ronald McDonald.

ERIC: Really, when it comes down to it, [we’re] like the black version of Mean Girls. And instead of writing out a Burn Book and giving people names, we just say it. We throw it out there. It’s funny because some people are aware of their names and they wonder why. Or they’ll think it’s funny.

A fellow student walks by who is wearing glasses.

TAYLOR: If you look over there, you can see Harry Potter.

SHAINIQUA: Yeah, that’s Harry Potter with the bifocals.

Some time passes as the four pick out other individuals passing by and give them nicknames. Instead of hearing this dialogue, the NARRATOR’s voice is heard.

NARRATOR (V.O.): When Taylor, Shainiqua, and Jay met Eric, they thought he was also a senior and thought they would all four be graduating together. However, since Eric is a junior, at the end of the year, they may no longer see each other. But for now, the squad is alive and well. However, as of right now at least, the squad does not have a name.

SHAINIQUA: We didn’t think about that.

TAYLOR: What should we call ourselves?

JAY: The Three Devils?

TAYLOR: No, cause he’s part of it too. Don’t forget about Eric!

JAY: The Quadruple Devils?

TAYLOR: The Four Musketeers?

JAY: No, I don’t like that. That’s wack.

TAYLOR and SHAINIQUA laugh.

ERIC: We don’t really have one. We just-

JAY: Oh, I know! We’re the Real Human Beings, that’s who we are.

SHAINIQUA: The Real Humans of RHS?

TAYLOR: So then what is everyone else supposed to be?

JAY, deadpan: Animals.

TAYLOR, SHAINIQUA, and ERIC laugh harder then they’ve laughed the entire scene.

JAY, deadpan: But there’s a lot of hoodlums in this school. And it’s just ridiculous, it’s just a fact. I wake up every morning, crying, because I have to come here to this animal shelter.

TAYLOR, still laughing: You’re going to have to edit this a lot. I’m so sorry.